A thought on Politics !

A thought on Politics!

Way back in 2002, I clearly remember the day when load shading started in Maharashtra. 3 Hours a day in municipal cities & 6-8 hours a day in villages. Then slowly it increased to 6 hours a day in cities & 10-12 hours in villages. Our then chief minister very confidently promised us that, within 2 years load shading will be stopped. Today we are in 2013; load shading is still going on. Due to increase in population the demand of electricity must have increased by now. Maybe due to this reason this problem is not yet solved. It was also announced that within 10 years Maharashtra will have surplus power by 5000 MW. Today our state is having backlog of 5000 MW. And this number could have increased by few thousand megawatts. But due to lack of power some big companies shifted their plants in other states like Gujarat. Hence load is reduced. But my question is different. How exactly Maharashtra government has acted on this issue? How many new power plants have been initiated? And if they are initiated, what is the status? Power plants worth capacity of 4270 MW are under progress from last 6 years. Even if they get completed in next 2 years, are they going to serve the existing backlog of 5000 MW? And what about the future requirement? Power plants worth 8850 MW are under planning stage. God knows when they will get commissioned. It takes 2-3 years to complete a power plant project & start production. If government would have started one project at a time, still we could have commissioned 5 power plants in state in 11 years! What is the problem? We don’t have space OR We don’t have manpower OR We don’t have money??

From so many years we are hearing this again & again that “There has been a draught this year. This is going to affect the crops”. There may be several reasons for draught which are uncontrollable. But what action Maharashtra government has taken on controllable reasons?  Maharashtra government has not started any major water project in last few years. We have one of the largest seashore in India. What are we doing with it? For how many years people in Vidarbha & Marathwada are going to suffer? You can’t provide water; you can’t provide electricity then what the hell our farmers are supposed to do? As per the nos. from irrigation deptt., only 20% sown land in Maharashtra is irrigated. We are ranked 19^th in country in irrigation. And our central agriculture minister says, “Farmers of Vidarbha are inefficient!”. Well ….efficiency is defined as Output/Input. If there is no Input, there will be no output. Then farmers commit suicide. But still we wait till the death toll reaches 10000!

Mr. Ratan Tata announced to shift Nano project from West Bengal. Within few hours from this announcement, Gujarat’s technical team met Mr. Tata & proposed him to shift his plant to Gujarat. Few days after this, I read our chief minister’s statement in newspaper, “I am hopeful to get Ratan Tata’s appointment soon”. This is not acceptable. Gujarat got the project, and he is hoping for mere appointment. If Gujarat government can shift entire manufacturing base of country to Gujarat, why can’t we atleast sustain what we have? Why the industry in Maharashtra is centralized only in Western region? Why can’t we have 2^nd Automobile hub of state in Vidarbha? Why can’t we have IT parks in other cities? For how many years people from eastern Maharashtra will be migrating to Pune & Mumbai?  

Few days before, 12^th Five year plan (Panchwarshik Yojna) is made & submitted to central government. Few shocking truths came forward during this process. While reviewing the outcomes of educational section of 11^th five year plan, it is observed that all targets for Maharashtra are achieved. Because there were no targets set for Maharashtra in it. Not a single new university was proposed for our state. And none of our leaders had taken objection on this. Because they never knew this!

It’s not about pointing a particular party. Because these Kakasahebs, Mamasahebs n Raosahebs are there in every political party. Just rewind few years in your mind; the issues which are listed above were the burning issues at the time 2004 elections. Then they were repeated for 2009 elections. And same will be used for 2014 elections. Now let us question the opposition parties. Why they allowed this to happen?  Let us put aside the figures of corruption. Because it needs separate attention. But the issues mentioned above are just underlining “We Care a damm” attitude of our leaders.

Many such problems can be listed out & can be elaborated. But let us focus on the real problem. What is it?

The problem is we don’t have leaders who believe in constructive politics. Now, what is meant by constructive politics? Politics doesn’t only mean eliminating your enemies. It also means to connect with the people. It doesn’t only mean to just highlight their problems & creating issues. It also means to own & solve their problems. It doesn’t only mean to create your impression. It also means to create your footprints. It doesn’t only mean “grabbing the opportunity”. It also means “Creating the opportunity”. Politics doesn’t mean just go on asking questions to your opponents. It also means to be answerable sometimes.

Leaders should consider their voters as stakeholders!

Now, in democracy, stakeholders are not limited to particular cast, religion or region. While defining & implementing new policies leaders must think about every stakeholder. And this is where the destructive politics starts. Our policies are made in such a way that, irrespective of its benefit to some stakeholders it damages all other stakeholders. For ex; while allotting reservations to a particular cast, no provisions are made for the other casts which are getting affected. OR while declaring special economic zones in an area which will be beneficial for industrial development, its after effects on other industries are not considered.

Leaders are elected as representatives of a territory & NOT the rulers of that territory. They are bounded by a constitution & NOT there to bound the constitution. They should become the Idols & NOT be Idle. They are responsible for the development & NOT there to develop the irresponsibility.

This also calls for change in our mindset. Development never happens in one day. We should be clear about our definition of development.Development is an endless process in which every stakeholder gains something at the end of every stage in it. And before entering to new stage, every stakeholder should have a sense of belongingness. Stakeholders should respect their gains. Development will start the very moment when all the stakeholders start thinking that this development is “for them & by them”.

Constitution has given us the right of voting. First of all, we have to use that right. And we have to use that in a right way. Let us keep our eyes & minds open. We have not chosen our friends based on their cast. So we should not choose our leaders based on that.

It’s a high time to think. It’s a high time to act. Because if we don’t think now, soon there will be a chapter in history,”Ek Hota Maharshtara!” And if we still don’t act, there will be a new chapter, “Ek Hota Bharat! “

Chinar

If you really like this write-up then please go for voting in coming elections. It will be real a “like” to this.

The Youth

The Youth

Where is today’s youth? Working in MNCs & waiting for their increments, incentives OR Sitting in coffee shops, multiplexes with their friends OR some of them in colleges preparing for GRE or Tofel, in short finding the ways to get out of this country OR if you still can’t find them ,search them on Facebook. I don’t have figures, but majority of youth is at one of the above 4 places. Well…we are a free country & everyone has a right to do whatever he wants. Even I am sitting at one of these above places.  But I have few questions which I never asked. Today I am going to ask these questions to myself. Let’s see, how best the youth in me can answer.

First question, When I was in college , Why not for single time I thought about appearing for UPSC or other civil services exams ?

Well, I came from a middle class family with a very average intellectual level. How can I pass this examination?

But then my performance in school & college was decent throughout. Why did I assume that I can’t pass UPSC ?

Well….It needs a hard work & dedication.

But then I was never lazy about studies. I could have done that hardwork.

 Well….My parents wanted me to complete my degree .

Offcourse, they wanted it. But did they ever stop me from thinking about UPSC?

Not Really….

Then Why I didn’t go for UPSC?

Actually…who the hell wants to go for this government jobs yaar ?  I was very clear. I will simply get my degree & then will fly to UK or US. Who wants to live in this country? I have seen my father doing government job. I know ,what problems he faced due to dirty politics.

But did my father run away?

No he didn’t. He served there for 30 years maintaining his dignity & core values.

Then why I didn’t go for it?

Actually….I don’t want to face any problems yaar. I just want to live a comfortable life . What I will get after UPSC or IPS? A post of Collector in UP or Bihar! Or a post of ACP in Gadchiroli! Why should I own the problems of whole city? I don’t want to solve their problems. I don’t want to fight with criminals.

Then who will fight with criminals?

Well…I care a damm ! Let anyone do it.

And that’s the reason. Today’s youth cares a damm!

Second question, When I am working in a company & complaining about salary hikes, Why I am not thinking to start my own business?

Well….I don’t have financial backup to start it.

Oh really….But what about that old man who met me in Jalandhar last year? He migrated from Pakistan to India at the time of Partition. He had nothing in his hand. But he started his own business. And today he is the owner of 6 companies in Jalandhar. What financial backup he had?

Well….He had no other option. He had nothing to lose. So he started it. Whereas, I am a well-educated man. I working in a good company. I am getting good salary. I want to get married soon. I want to book my own flat. Why should I lose all my savings in the business? And it’s very difficult to run your own company. Who the hell wants to deal with that stuff yaar?

But if I start my own firm, I can give jobs to lot of needy people from my own city. It will in a way help my country’s development?

Well…Why should I  think about those needy people? I think about my own benefits only.

But Why I can’t see the benefits in doing my own business. Agreed…It’s a tough job. It needs thorough knowledge. But then, when my education will help me? I surely have that intelligence to gain that knowledge.

Boss…It’s not about intelligence. It needs lot of patience to make money out of business. I can’t wait for that. I want salary at the end of every month. That’s it…..And it needs lot of courage to invest your own money in business. I don’t have it.

that’s the answer…. Today’s youth doesn’t have patience & courage.

Third Question, When I am spending money in multiplexes or shopping malls on all wanted things, Why not for a single time I think about poor people of my country?

Well….I have already said , I care a damm! Is it my mistake that my country is poor? As a responsible citizen I am paying all taxes to government. That’s all I can do. I am not earning for charity.

 Well…. no one has asked me to do charity. But do I realize that by just buying the unwanted things, I am increasing the demand for that stuff unnecessarily? And which in a way responsible for the increasing inflation in country.

Hey….Why should I think about all this? Just because someone can’t buy it, I should not buy it. Is it making any sense? All my friends have it. I must have it.

But did I ever discuss with my friends about useful utilization of money? No… never . Actually in my college days, I never had sufficient pocket money . So when I started earning, I started spending as per my wish.

Accepted! But do I realize, that I owe something to this society ? I am proud of my education. But apart from this degree & some knowledge, education has given some sensibility. Have I lost all my sensibility?

Yes….I have lost it.

Here is the answer…. Today’s youth has lost their sensibility.

Fourth question…. When I am commenting on facebook about social issues, am I really aware about the social problems in this country?

Offcourse I am! How many examples should I give? Recently, after this Delhi Rape case, it was youth who marched on Rashtrapati Bhavan & all other places in country.

Yes Off course it was youth. I appreciate it. But do I realize that, the guys who were involved in this crime were also the part of youth of our country?  Yes….criminals are amongst us. They are not coming from Mars or Jupiter.

Hey….I can’t control the thinking of whole world.

But can I atleast make myself aware about all this? Before commenting or criticizing the government or giving some weird solution, can I atleast go to the root cause of the problem?

My god…. If I just go on finding the root causes , when these issues will get solved ?

Well…they are anyway not getting solved by my comments .

So should I stop making comments?

No ….Actually I should stop my habit of making conclusions.

Here is the answer…..youth should seek for solutions rather than conclusions.

I am not proud in asking all this questions to myself. But atleast , I am proud that I am coming across these questions these days. There are lot questions which are still unanswered. But I am sure that, journey towards finding these answers will change me as a human being. Because one thing I have noticed in my journey so far….. Truth lies within !

Chinar

My Generation Movies !

Movies that made me believe,

“Life is Beautiful”

I can’t forget the day when I saw movie “Lagaan”. It was probably the best movie I had ever seen. Everything was so good about it.Lagaan actually changed the trend of Indian Cinema. It proved that, love story, rivalary, comedy are not the only criteria to make good movies.  It’s   also   not   necessary    that  ,   only established stars can give successful movies. A good story with an excellent script & then supported by   “  made   for  the  character ”  acting can give commercially &critically successful movie. Lagaan changed thinking of film makers in many ways. One of them is, some filmmakers realized that songs are not made just to give relaxing brake to audience. Songs can be an inseparable part of the story which helps in taking the story ahead. A R Rahman’s music in this film was awesome. It was a perfect application of Indian Classical Music. Lagaan’s theme had a struggle, love story, thrill etc.But none of these things were pasted just to increase the length of the film.Every aspect came as an integral part of story.Maybe this was the reason that audience happily enjoyed a 3Hrs. 30 min long story. And this became the speciality of all Ashutosh Gowarikar’s movies.  Ashutosh’s every character speaks with the audience. Lagaan brought back the concept of “Director’s movie” which was lost somewhere after 1970’s movies.

This was just the beginning. The first decade of 21^st century was flooded with good movies. Shortly after Lagaan,  Dil Chahta Hain  was released. A  Story of 3 friends, finding ways of their life. Till today, this movie has great impact not only on me, but on my entire generation. You can ask any guy of my generation, one of his favorite movies has to be Dil Chahta Hain !  People do appreciate an average story if it is told in an interesting way. This was the high point of “DCH”. Just about same time, a wave of Bhagat Sing movies thundered on Box Office. Approx 5 movies on Bhagat Sing released on same day. One of them was The Legend of Bhagat Singh!  I think this was the only movie which actually focused on Ideology of a Great man called Bhagat Sing. All other Bhagat Sing movies including old ones always portrayed only a loud character of Bhagat Sing. This movie showed that, all the freedom fighting activities done by Bhagat Sing & his friends were not just the deeds out of anger. His deeds were supported by a justified thought process. Bhagat Sing was not a guy who just got carried away by freedom fighting movements. He had a vision for his country. He not only lived for his vision, but happily died for it. All these above points were distinctly pointed out in that movie. Off course it wouldn’t have been possible without unbelievable screen presence of Ajay Devgan & all his costars.

Then came a movie which was a milestone in real sense. Sanjay Leela Bhansali introduced the term “Darkness” in a way which no one ever imagined. One of the film critics rightly said that ‘Black’ is a cinematic Gem which should be seen at least twice to understand its emotional depth.  Maybe in addition to its theme it was the performances given by Rani  Mukherji &  Amitabh Bacchhan which added more gravity in those emotions. But those emotions were really painful. So it can’t be said that it was a treat to watch Black, which was the biggest achievement of this movie. But yes, it was truly a masterpiece from Sanjay Leela Bhansali.

After Lagaan, everyone was asking Ashutosh Gowarikar , What Next ? Ashutosh came with a movie which can be called as his best work till date. The movie was “ Swades”. I feel, whenever a discussion regarding best hindi movies ever is going on , some movies like Pyasa, Anand ,Black  or Swades should be kept in a different bracket.. And then we can rate the other movies.Swades portrayed journey of a man from urban life to rural or the real life. A Nasa scientist comes to India to meet his childhood caretaker.During his stay in India, he realizes the importance of motherland. He gets disturbedby unethical traditions & level of poverty in the country. He also observes the brighter side of his country which lies in its strong relationship values. He finally decides to come back to India leaving his comfortable life in US. Every scene in the movie was expressing something. As a Writer & Director of the movie, Ashutosh rightly commented on many aspects of Indian culture.Also after the likes of Kuchh kuchh hota hain, Kal Ho naa ho & Main hoo nnaa & what not, film industry had got a Superstar Shah Rukh Khan but audiences had lost an actor Shah Rukh Khan. But Ashutosh found that actor. Shah Rukh actually lived the character of Mohan Bhargav. As a SRK fan, I can distinctly point out this as a career defining role of SRK.

 

          I remember Munnabhai MBBS movie as the first movie I saw with my new college friends in first year. This movie not only introduced a new version of Sanjay Dutt but also gave birth to a “common man” Director Raju Hirani. He has a distinct ability to comment on everything in common man’s language. He found a potential comedian in Arshad Warsi. And truly Munnabhai is incomplete without Circuit! Though based on a comic theme, this movie succeeded to highlight some neglected but important aspects of human life. It highlighted the importance of Love & care in human life.Munnabhai in his unique style speaks on the “once upon a time” nobel profession of medical science which unfortunately has now become an emotionless or more importantly a passionless profession. Yes, there were funny dialogues & instances but everytime there were some messages given to the society.Munnabhai was a trendsetter movie in terms of situational comedy. Second film in the series was “Lage Raho Munnabhai”. This time Raju Hirani gently took out Mahatma Gandhi from his every photo frame in the country and placed him directly into the heart of audience. No one has ever looked at  Gandhian Philosophy in such a way. This movie made us believe that Gandhian Philosophy is timeless! This movie lived to the expectations or even exceeded them.

 

       There are several things that made ‘Lakshya’, a distinguished movie. Not many times we see introduction of a hero as a loser. And a kind of loser who doesn’t even know that he is lost. Lakshya portrayed a journey of a aimless boy Karan towards a matured person. And Hrithik Roshan’s astonishing performance underlined the difference between the two phases of Karan’s life. As a Director, Farhan Akhtar impeccably showed his touch. Boman Irani played a father who never really believed his son’s ability. But when his son calls him from warfront, father breaks into tears. This scene showed perfect father-son relationship which exists in every Indian family.

 

Though the theme was focused on Karan’s life, and his journey in Indian army was just used as platform, Farhan used that platform to show life of soldiers in army. Some action scenes during the war were really brilliantly filmed. It showed a true story of a breathtaking war operation done by Indian soldiers during Kargil war.

 Om Puri speaks about a soldier’s thinking about war,

“ sab log hum faujiyo se kehte hain ki jung bahut buri hoti hai…main kehta hu ke ye baat ek fauji se badhakar kaun samaz sakta hain…..par kya kare….Uparwale ne to ek hi dharti banayi thi. Magar  insaan ke laalach ne uspe lakeere kheech di. Ye tera…ye mera…Main to shukar karta hoon ke chand aasman me hain…warna insaan uske bhi tukde kar deta”

 

           Filmmakers were really attempting different subjects now. A movie like’ Rang de Basanti’  is a classic example of this. This movie directly connected current Indian youth to the youth before independence. Movie speaks about mentality of today’s youth. It warned the society that if this youth is not given its due Rights ,it can turn into violence.  The movie in a way didn’t support any violence but it rightly showed the glimpses of it. The movie pointed out the exponentially increasing gap between Politicians & youth. This movie created an everlasting impact on Indian youth.

 

Aamir Khan’s first Directorial venture “Taare Zameen Par” released as a much awaited movie. I will term this movie not as a milestone but as a Landmark of matured Hindi cinema. This film was a need of a time. “Every child is special” is not just a thought, it’s actually a learning for the society. The film commented on how we are killing every child’s childhood by pushing him into the unnecessary competition. The character “Ishan” in the film resembled with every child in our society. As a writer, Amol Gupte spoke about children psychology in a different way. Ishan is a innocent dreamy boy who couldn’t cope up with this materialistic world. Slowly he transforms into a confident boy who may not cope with the world but at least can stand distinctly in this world.  If we talk about performances in the movie it was again “made for the character” acting by everyone. I am really short of words to describe Aamir’s acting in this movie. I can say, a point where all actors stop acting, Aamir started his acting from that point & reached to the level of sky. Maybe a Marathi word can describe it , “Sarvang Sunder Abhinay”!!

 

        Hindi movies never really concentrated on sports as a subject. But in late 2007’ Chak De India’ released . Though a theme was about hockey, movie succeeded to highlight the lacunas of entire sports culture of India. It also showed the way to improve this sports culture. Movie was a perfect example of team building. I heard, many corporate companies in India, arranged the special shows of this movie for their employees. The reason was, movie showcased a perfect display of the term “Teamwork”.

The movie was filmed exceptionally well in every aspect. Maybe it was the strength of Yashraj Banner that could create a Hockey World Cup event in its real sense. Apart from all this, movie knowingly or unknowinglly commented on unreasonable expectations of all of us from our so called Idols. We all are extremely impatient when it comes to a failure of our Idols. Sometimes we love hating our own heroes for their momentary failure. We as a society should also learn sportsmanship spirit. This movie was a great learning & watching experience.  Off course, once again SRK proved his metal as an actor.

 

While writing this article, I mainly focused on movies between 2001 to 2008. There were lot of other movies which also made this era very special. India’s first ever science fiction movie Koi Mil Gaya followed by Superhero Krishh were really entertaining movies.Ram Gopal Verma showed his class by Sarkar & Sarkar Raj. Sanjay Leela Bhasali’s adaptation of Devdas was a good attempt, though not of Bhansali’s class. Some nice love stories from Yashraj like Veer-Zara, Hum-Tum kept love alive within us.

After Legend of Bhagat Sing, Raj Kumar Santoshi returned with “Khaki” which was a unique thriller movie. Madhur Bhandarkar showed his unbelievable sense about off the track subjects through Page 3 & Fashion. Nagesh Kuknoor’s “Iqbal” was a touching experience. Mani Ratnam’s Guru was a his best work till date.

 

I know that there are “n” numbers of movies before & after this period which were brilliant in their own ways. But these are some movies which impressed me & helped me in changing the way of looking towards life. I thank each one who was involved in making of these films.

 

Chinar