Self imposed dicatorship in a democracy aka castration of DEMOCRACY

Up…Up…! Maharashtra, Down…Down…! India…

They blame Sachin Tendulkar for saying that Mumbai is for all Indians. They beat up the representatives elected b the people in the scared sanctum Sanctorum of democracy for the reason that they do not take an oath in Marathi. They plan to give a saree to Kareena for her backless poster in Kurbaan calling it vulgar. They say that Mr Bachchan is no one in Maharashtra as he was not born there. They kill people from other parts of the country who come to their place looking for a job to earn their daily bread and survive.

According to me, this is sheer bastardy, cowardly and a mother f***ing act. Who the f*** are these people to tell us what to do and what not do? Who are they to decide how the nation should be run and who should do what? Which mother f***ing a**h**e gave them the freedom to do all these. I also live in the country and have been taught and made to believe that I have the freedom of thoughts, expression, work, information and travel.

It is high time that we put a shitty end to the self proclaimed goddam “trouser wallahs”. Mumbai is very much part of India Inc and every Indian has the right to work, live, enjoy, experience and make love in Mumbai. If someone thinks otherwise, let them go back home and shoe all these feelings up their a** and brood over it. We, the civilized community in India inc just can’t help it.

If some shitty political party thinks that they are the protectors of Mumbai and they are the people who fought for the pride of maharashtrians, either they are insane or they are politicians (aka bastards). The sense of pride and belonging needs to come from within. It is a subjective thought and people have to develop it n their own. It is not something that can be enforced. If u wanna have Marathi pride grow, please do good for people. Provide them a better lifestyle, take steps to improve social living, take steps to close down all brothels and sex trade in Mumbai, Take steps to improve the level of education, Take steps to prevent crimes and underworld activities, Take steps to empower women, Take steps to help the people who still live in slums, Take steps to educate people that Allah, Krishna and Easo are one and the same and that we should respect each other’s beliefs.

If u do all these, then there is no need for imposing any so called regional sentiments on people. People will respect you and will build a sense of pride and responsibility on their own. Till the time u don’t do this, please do not open your shit smelling mouths in our “saamna”. I know that u are illiterate and uncultured to understand the pun that I intended.

I know atleast a dozen of these so called trouser-wallahs who preach ram raajya in the day and visit brothels and have beef at night. So, please do not try to teach cililized and educated community of India on ur values, It seems just like a** f***ing for me and mind u…I am not gay.
One should understand that Mumbai is a metro in India and that is the business hub. It should encourage people from all parts of the work to come and work there. Only then can it improve the economy and value of the place and that of the country. That is how you should be proud to call urself a Maratha and no be teaching some one ur language when that person does not want learn it. I don’t wanna learn ur language as I am not interested. It is my decision and my choice. Who the f*** are u to impose ur decision on me?

Where were these people when the 26/11 attacks happened? Where were these people when the malegaon blasts happened? Where were these people when the train blasts happened? Where were these people when the Mumbai riots happened…oh yea…They were right there as they themselves created the riots and took 300 odd lives of many sons, fathers, daughters, brothers and sisters.

Don’t try to impose ur decision and fanaticism on me as I am educated, I can think, I am an intellect and I am not an eunuch or a politically castrated impotent soul. Have these lunatic and fanatic people thought about the state of Mumbai f people from all over the country had not contributed to its growth and the country’s growth?

The government machinery is unable to fight against these bastards. I don’t understand how they can protect common people like us, in his country. Their faces seem to me like s**t ad s**t and only s**t. Abe, their maa ki a***h…lol

Movie review: Vennila Kabbadi Kulu (Tamil, Nov 2009)

Movie review: Vennila Kabbadi Kulu (Tamil, Nov 2009)

I know that I am a bit lagging time here when I write my thoughts and review of VKK. The movie was presented to the audience 8 months back or so and I got an opportunity to experience it only today. After experiencing it, The “something” that I felt was that I had missed an opportunity to experience something really wonderful 6-8 months back. There was a lag of that much time for me to experience it…An experience by name Vennila Kabbadi Kulu…

The script is awesome…Real homework and research have gone into the making f the movie. It is a great revelation that such talents exist in Tamil cinema. Undoubtedly, Tamil cinema is going through one of its best phases both commercially and aesthetically. In my whole life till now, this was the first time that I saw Kabbadi being presented in the real spirit of a sport. I never knew that Kabbadi was such a glamour sport until I saw the on screen presentation of VKK

All the performers are new faces but don’t see so in any frame. I wonder how such talented people can be ignored by the industry. The mileu of rustic, rural, traditional underdeveloped India is well illustrated. I think the key to the success of this one is the sincerity that has gone into the making of the movie, The makers had a sincere intention behind he movie and that is what got reflected in the final product.

The sporting scenes are picturised very stylishly and crisply that it does not even have the slightest rustic feel of one of the oldest sports of India. The romantic feel is very fresh and captured with sincere passion. It breaks the conventional concepts of romance being equated to like…love and make love with some cloth shedding as many of our film makers interpret it to be. The emotions ma it be love, revenge, passion, sorrow and regret and are communicated very effectively through unconventional means and it opens new dimensions to cinematic perceptions. This needs to be appreciated and acknowledged much.

A feel of experiencing cinema is what prevailed in me after watching this movie. I am definitely looking forward to the next venture by this team even though I do not know anyone by name. The casting was apt for teacher roles and all the performers did more than expected justice to their roles. It couldn’t have been better. My rating for VK is *****


*****Landmark**** Excellent*** Worth a watch** Avoidable*Disaster

Movie review: Samastha Keralam PO (Mal, Apr 2009)

Movie review: Samastha Keralam PO (Mal, Apr 2009)

A total disaster…! This is how I would describe SKPO. I am not sure what the writer and director wanted to communicate to the audience. The film is a total waste of time and money. It has nothing new to offer and is a clichéd product which has been served stale.

I had high expectations from the writer Girish Kumar when I went to watch the film. My expectation was build from the script that Girish had drafted for Veruthe Oru Bharya. My expectation from Girish post VoB was a story of the common man told in a realistic way in a down to earth manner. However, all my expectations were shattered when I realized what Girish had to offer through SKPO.

The main problem with the film is that there is no focus in the screenplay. The film does not have a proper plot and the development of the plot through the proceedings is staggered and artificial. The characters do not have life in them and many a times seems like dumb caricatures. There is no logic in the proceedings and as a matter of fact, the proceedings are very slow and do not more forward much.

I have not seen any other movies of Bipin and hence do not have any introduction to his attitude and aptitude of filmmaking. I had some positive toughts on his style of film making after understanding the theme of One Way ticket, even though I have not seen it till now. That image has been damaged to a great extent after SKPO. He is successful in creating the mood and ambience. His visual sense is also commendable. I think what he lacks is script sense and needs some work to be done in that area. The way he has shot the song scene with Jayaram and Sera needs to be appreciated.

None of the actors in the film have anything to offer. All of them look disinterested in the whole proceedings. Most of the roles offered to the actors are clichéd and lackluster. None of them have the depth in the roles offered to them and hence turn to be dumb characters onscreen.

The cinematography is good and so is the director’s selection of locales for shoot. The performance of the antagonist is very bad that it projects like a sore thumb. The new girl Sera has a long way to go as far as performance is concerned. She has to do tons of homework if she wants to make a future in films.

One point that I want to emphasize here is that if Girish is trying to be Sreenivasan, then it is a big mistake. He should try to create his own identify rather than trying to adopt some one’s style.

The experience for two hours and half was not at all worth the money and time that I spent for it and hence my rating for Samastha Keralam PO is *. Films like this pull down the intellect of the audience and such films should not be encouraged to be made.

*****Landmark**** Excellent*** Worth a watch** Avoidable*Disaster

Movie review: 2 Harihar Nagar (Mal, Apr 2009)

Movie review: 2 Harihar Nagar (Mal, Apr 2009)

In these uncertain times making a film that appeal to the Kerala audience is a great challenge and a highly risky proposition. To make a sequel to a landmark in the history of Malayalam cinema is a perhaps the greatest risk that one can take at these times. Lal has done exactly that, taken the risk and emerged highly successful.

The success of 2 HN lies in the script that Lal has put together. It is very evident that enough homework has gone into the preparation of the sequel to one of the landmark films in the history of Malayalam cinema. The sketches of the four friends have been plotted flawlessly by Lal. The script is a perfect blend of comedy, emotional bindings, adventure and suspense.

The success of the sequel lies in the fact that the homework done is evident and as it should be the work is rewarded by the audience. The visualization is inline with the modern times and hence the connect with the audience is duplex. All the departments associated with the making of the film have done justice to the process of film making and as a result, the final product is truly shining.

All the performers have done compete justice to their roles and the actor who enacted the role of Freddy is someone to watch out for. He is a very promising youngster. Lal has done an extremely commendable job in developing the script of the movie and it can be described in one word as FANTASTIC.

The obvious references to the incidents in the first version give the audience an impression of a sequel. The new music version by Alex Paul is also commendable even though personally I think that the English lyrics could have been avoided and also avoiding all the remix gimmicks in the songs. The film is a pure entertainer and the experience that the film offers is worth the time and money that you spent for it.

My rating for 2 Harihar Nagar is ****

*****Landmark**** Excellent*** Worth a watch** Avoidable*Disaster

Movie review: IG (Mal, Apr 2009)

Movie review: IG (Mal, Apr 2009)

Film is a medium which you can use to communicate strong messages and concepts but it not always necessary to make a film to communicate your thoughts. There are many other effective ways to do that and that is exactly what happened to writer director B. Unnikrishnan’s latest offing IG. The film was supposed to be a dedication to the martyrs of the Mumbai attacks but fails to even create emotional or patriotic ripples in the audience.

The film fails to appeal in all departments. I did not find anything striking in any of the facades associated with a film. Unni had some truths to be communicated and the script was tailored to present these messages. The screenplay is shabby and loosely knit. I have always felt and believed that film makers should understand their strong areas and focus on mastering those rather than trying to be the jack of all trades. Film is a collaborative effort and hence the product gets benefited much from the many masters associated with it rather than the many rolling stones associated with it. I thin k Unni also faltered at the same point where many writer turned directors have faltered.

Direction is not his forte. He is a good script writer and his script can be enhanced and visually empowered by a strong director. This was much evident from TIGER which he scripted and left to Shaji Kailas to visualize. That is what lacked in IG. The direction was below average and not at all appealing. All the departments associated with the film performed badly and could not build the power required for the film’s mileage. The plot lacks logic and makes a fool of the viewer. The entire script is clichéd, clichéd and poorly clichéd.

Suresh Gopi looks very obese and disfigured. He looks disinterested in the whole proceedings. There are some multilingual dialogues which Unni has scripted, tailored for Suresh Gopi to perform but apart from those, Gopi looks totally wasted. I thin k Gopi should really focus on his physique and get back to shape at the earliest else not sure how he is gonna perform in his masterpiece roles in the days to come.

The dialogues lack clarity and the punch which one expects from such genre of films. The action sequences are poorly directed and are evidently poor. The shots are poorly set and many a times irritating. Cinematography was totally left to be improved. An actor of the caliber of Lakshmi was totally wasted in the movie without any respect being given to her stature.

The youngster actors who performed the roles of IG’s brother and his lover are promising performers of the future. John Kokein is wonderful as the antagonist. He has repeated his LIS act and has immense screen presence. He is a very promising budding performer. Nandini was also good in her cameo.

I think Unnikrishnan should really focus on writing scripts which has substance. Script writing is his forte and not visualization. His first venture, Smart City also had the same fate. Patches of the script of SC were good and the same is the case with IG. He has lost the mileage which he could have obtained by the success of Madambi. After viewing IG, I am forced to believe that Madami was a fluke from Unnikrishnan, even though I want to give him due credits for that.

My rating for IG is *

*****Landmark

**** Excellent

*** Worth a watch

** Avoidable

*Disaster

Movie review: Sagar alias Jacky (Mal, Mar 2009)

Movie review: Sagar alias Jacky (Mal, Mar 2009)

Sagar alias Jacky, the underworld prince and smuggler who made a ruckus in 1988 by shooting down his business partner and son of the then chief minister, for breaking the laws of the underworld, is back after a long 21 years as the king of the underworld.

A realistic adaptation of nexus between politics and underworld in the form of business partnership between the son of the chief minister – Shekaran Kutty and his protégé Sagar, which later turns sour owing to Sekharan’s over ambitious and inhumane attitude. Shekhar inflicts heavy causalities on Sagar, his comrades and family and uses his father’s political clout to escape from the country. However Sagar, the soft spoken but daring smuggler breaks all cordons to kill Shekhar and settles the score. Sagar surrenders to the law of the land and moves out of the scene.

That was Sagar 21 years back. Presently, he is a big player in the prized underworld ground of the middle-east. Sagar has grown very much in the last 21 years and has a wide spread empire of his own. His looks, reach, business, friends, army and what not has changed with time but what remains unchanged is the style and nature of Sagar. A well etched character from S.N.Swamy, once again.

It would be wrong to say that Sagar has changed with time. I think it is more appropriate to say that Sagar has moved with the times. He has imbibed the necessities of the changing times and hyper adapted to those. That justifies and convinces of the growth of Sagar from a local smuggler to one of the big fishes in the international underworld scene. When one becomes a big fish in the international playing ground, the opponents also tend to be bigger and that is exactly what SaJ is all about.

Heroism is built on villainy and the latter is the foundation for the former. Propagation of heroism requires larger than hero villains. When the playing field is similar to the one described above, heroism is guaranteed its mileage. The script writer in S.N. Swamy is successful in that context as he has put the right set of ingredients in appropriate proportion in this dish. Amal Neerad has proved beyond doubt that he is the promise of Indian cinema in the years to come.

The setting of the script and the contexts are well developed and properly adapted. The screenplay is properly sequenced and well scripted. The attitude of Sagar is visible in every scene he is present. It goes without saying that the character of Sagar and Jacky was safe in the shoulder of Mohanlal. The transformation of the eighties Sagar to te twenty first century Sagar has been enacted to perfection by one of the best actor Indian cinema has ever produced. It is very difficult for a great performer like Mohanlal to confine himself to an expression less, stone faced and quiet by nature Sagar and hence it would have been a great challenge for him to enact a new version of Sagar. It goes without saying that the on screen Sagar and Jacky are performance at its best by Mohanlal.

The homework done by the Amal and his team is very evident in the movie. It is visible in each frame in the proceedings. The locations have been charted properly and supplement the mood of the proceedings. Since most of the shots are canned in outdoor locations, I am sure that the art direction department could get some time off. Amal has adopted the RGV style of story telling and film making and has shown justice to the RGV school of cinema.

Amal and team has delivered a product that is very much inline with the taste of the times. The shots are thrilling and cuts are sharp. Another highlight of the movie is the music and background score. Gopi Sundar has done a very good job in terms of his compositions and bg score. The rehashed theme of SaJ is thrilling, exciting and multi faceted. Cinematography by Amal needs and salute as he has used the frames and shots as a character in celluloid. His unconventional shot angles, frame settings and progressions interlaces much with the theme and mood of SaJ.

The mood is thrilling, the proceedings are convincing and hyper paced, the presenters fit the bill to the T, the shots are stylish and racing, excellent bg score, and the visualization is stylish to the core. The conversations are all one liners and each of them has dragger sharp edges. The one liners have been properly and stylishly presented and hence the duplex connect with the audience is successful. The marketing design is commendable. A drift from the conventional mode of Malayalam cinema in movie making, distribution, release and publicity is evident and needs to be appreciated very much.

Special mention needs to be made to S.N. Swamy for etching out the characters and plotting the character maps in a very vibrant way. The screenplay is drafted in a mode that greets the times appropriately and that is why Mr Swamy requires special mention here. Sampath, who enacted the role of the senior Rossario is a revelation and needs a special round of applause.

This film takes you for a ride to a different plane and gives you a wonderful experience for two and half hours. This film is worth every penny that we need to spend for the experience and that proves the success of Sagar alias Jacky. My rating for Saj is *****.


*****Landmark
**** Excellent
*** Worth a watch
** Avoidable
*Disaster

Secularism…Myth or Victim of Indian democratic legislature???

Secularism…Myth or Victim of Indian democratic legislature???

Secularism is the assertion that governmental practices or institutions should exist separately from religion and/or religious beliefs. George Jacob Holyoake (1817-1906), British writer who coined the term "secularism."

The above definition of secularism is very attractive and enthralling. However the reality in India is really shocking and unimaginable. This is one area where Indians are hypocritical to the core. They preach secularism and practise communalism. The roots of communalism in India can be traced back to the first civilization movement of India. The fact is that even though the communal snake had lost its head over the years, the venom has already reached every nook and corner of the society. There is no step being taken to extract this venom and neutralize it instead it is being used for the benefit of all the three legs of democracy, in the world’s largest democracy.

The constitution is supposed to provide some rights to the citizens of the country and one of the rights which all of are supposed to have is the freedom of religion. The fact that exists in this country is that none of the rights promised in the constitution are available to the citizens of this country as all of them have been hijacked by the various legs of democracy. India is a diversified country in terms of beliefs, religion, caste, creed and cultures. The social systems that were prevalent in pre independence divided people on the basis of anything and everything.

Post independence, there should have been an effort to bridge the divide between the people of this country. However the power hungry class of this country did not take even a baby step in this direction. Instead they used this as a weapon for their own benefit. There is not even a single place in the country where you are not identified on the basis of religion. There is pot even a single applicatipon form in the country that does not ask for your religion. There is no government job that is offered without considering your religion and caste. There is not even a single student admission that is made in the country irrespective of religion or caste. There is no vote that is asked by politicians to the citizens of this country irrespective of religion and caste. There is no political party in the country that splits people on the basis of religious votebanks.

Ideally, the concept of religion should have been made free of any social tangles and left to the individual to practise. People should be able to make their own decision, express their thoughts and follow whatever they believe in and are comfortable with. Religion and castes should be made free form any links in the social, economical and political framework of this country. There should be standard code of conduct for all religions in the country.

Another action item that needs to be enforced is that money should be detached from religious concepts. The concepts of religions trusts should be abolished. Why do religions need money? The concepts of donations made by the people for any activities associated with their religions should be diverted to support the poor and needy and not to create five star prayer centres.

Once religion is made separate from all kinds of linkages to the requirements of survival, the dependence of religion will tend to cease and it will also reslut in a cesation to all kinds of segragation made on the basis of caste, creed and religion. There will be no reservations based on ur religion, caste and creed. There will be no columns asking for ur religion, in any application form in the country. There will be no religious votebanks in the country as there is no benefit of following nay religion or community. There will not be forced conversions as there is no benefits of those. People arefree to chose any religion that one wants and the hand of law governs any financials involved in the community.

Once the benefits associated with the religions move out, it will tend to me more of a practice than an obligation. Only then will people, power and money distance itself away from religion. Only then can forced conversions stop an dpreaching of the benefits of any religion end.
There is not even a single activity that is carried out in the country irrespective of ur religion and community. Inspite of all these, we call the country a secular one. This is what I question? How can u call such a country as secular? Shouldn’t it be called communal…?

Friendship…! My take on it…Contd…

Friendship…! My take on it…Contd…

Further to my first note on this topics, there are some more thoughts which popped up after the post of that piece of writing and hence some more thoughts on the same topic here as a continuation to the writing on my thoughts of friendship.

There is a large class of people who can be termed as opportunistic friends. This class of people believes in making friendship based on the forecasted returns that they can get from that relationship. I hate such people and consider them to be highly venomous.

There is another class of people who tend to be great friends with you but hate any visit of success to you and your family. They want themselves to be on the top always and want to dominate you al the times. They hate you being successful and want you to take advice and help from them always. They have your progression and success in life. This is not friendship but crass egoism.

There are some people who are in your friends circle and then stab you for no logical understandable reason, and that too from behind. I have not yet understood the psyche of such people even though I have met many people like that in my life. I think such people are cowards who cannot come face to face and speak their thoughts out. They are frustrated and psychologically unstable. They are jealous that their friends are moving up the ladder and enjoying things in life which they cannot even imagine of. They are introverts and hence are unable to discuss this with people around them. Since they are cowards, they cannot meet someone face to face. That is why they stab people from behind.

I shared my thought on diplomatic friends in my last piece of writing. I feel that this class of people is more dangerous than all the other categories of friends. This is because this class of people hurt you the most. That s because when you need them the most, they take show their diplomatic face.

With so many kinds of people around you, it is very difficult to get sincere friends. Friendship is a relation that needs to be nourished and not taken for granted. It needs proper understanding and interaction between all parties involved. Once broken, it is better to lave it and move forward in life than trying to repair it. I feel that the pain for a broken friendship relation or an experience of backstabbing can be overcome by inbuilt aggression seasoned with spirituality.

I have always kept away from harming anyone at least knowingly, but have been harmed, thrashed and stabbed by folks whom I considered very close to me for no reason in my comprehension. I still donno why they did those to me. Perhaps, it was a GOD given opportunity in my life to understand about the people around me and to experience and realize the experience of being cheated by so called friends. That experience also helped me to sieve out my list of friends and segregate the true ones from the hollow ones. It has helped me to be a mature and seasoned person in life. As someone who has read and understood Gita, Bible and Quran, I realize what good that incident has done to my life like all other incidents in life. Such incidents help you to move forward in life and acts as a fuel to your journey of life.

For me a true friend sis one whom you can rely on at all times and who is there for you at any time they need you. The relationship of friendship is pure and dignified. All people may not be able to comprehend it and experience it. A true friend is one who will take a hit to protect you and in that case you should return it by hitting back at the enemy with double the force. Only then will the sanctity of the relation be justified.

Spirituality…! My take on it…

Spirituality…! My take on it…

For me, Spirituality is a plane of belief that is above the shackles of religion and beliefs. It is a plane in which there are no inhibitions, no fears, no lack of confidence, no losses, no liabilities, no beliefs and no negative thoughts or energies. It is a plane in which you can experience the GOD inside you. It is a plane in which you are very focused on what you want to do and how to do it. The plane gives you energy and confidence for what is required to achieve your goals.

Spirituality is beyond all religions and religions beliefs. It is beyond all forms of idol worship that we follow. It does not have any form or shape. It is a feeling that one needs to experience. It is all about getting your thoughts focused and understanding what you want to do in life and how to lead a life.

Man is prone to all kinds of pitfalls in life because of the very essence of the existence. The essence of the existence is that we are not perfect and hence prone to mistakes. We face so many hurdles, blockades and pits in out path of life and immature people get unfocussed and lost many a times in the path of life. Spirituality if the guiding lamp post in such occasions and that man can use as a tool to complete his journey and reach the destination.

Spirituality is not about visiting places of working 7 times a day and coming out to kill people and pray to GOD to shower his blessings on only us and curse on the others around us. That is religious and spiritual blunder to the core. It is not about spending crores to please GOD but helping people in need at times of despair. It is not about travelling to places of worship and coming out and those places to indulge in what you believe are sins. These are religious mis interpretations and religious and spiritual business. GOD is not somethig that you can buy and see but is something which you need to experience. Religions makes you buy GOD and see GOD whereas spirituality makes you experience GOD as GOD is inside you.

Spirituality is not something that we can learn from our experiences. Experiences make you mature for sure but may not hand over the key to spirituality, always. The key to spirituality lies in deciphering the epics. I use the work deciphering and not understanding on purpose in this context because to imbibe the essence of what the epics say, it requires time, a proper interpreter and deep focus. Having said this, we come to the actual problem in all these, the interpreter. The interpreter is the problem because 99% of the folks in the world who claim to be interpreters are no actually one, they are mis-interpreters.

Epics from all religions aka religious texts preach the path to spirituality. The content of those texts are the steps to the plane of spirituality, if properly interpreted. In most cases, the probe comes because people do not interpret it properly and hence a disconnect happens between the texts and the common man. I believe that this is the root cause of issues associated with the lives of people because they are not provided or facilitated the spiritual quotient in the true sense of the world.

Spirituality is often mistaken for visiting places of worship. Let us examine this rationally. The logic of this practice is linked with good practices and thoughts that one should adopt. It has more to do with a social experience and relevance which is one of the key components of spirituality. The purpose of visiting a place of worship needs a social evaluation. Idol is a point of focus and many religions have put forward the freedom of expression in various forms. The various religions give the freedom of visualization of GOD in any form a devotee wants. It can be a child, a teenager, some one old, masculine form, feminine form, both of these combined, a book, a leading light or in any form in which anyone wants to visualize GOD. People are free to visualize GOD in any form they want and the form of GOD is the one that one can really focus on in expressing ones thoughts, feelings, aspirations, ambitions and sins (which are again subjective).

The form of GOD does not matter. What matters is the .way in which you reach spirituality through the medium of the form of GOD. We need to clear in out thoughts and actions. Many a times, we tend to justify out actions using our thoughts where as we should justify our thoughts first and then put those into actions. This is the essence of spirituality. It gives you a direction, proper focus and the knowledge to experience the eternal.

The factor of confidence is derived from spirituality. When does one have confidence? One has confidence when one knows that he can achieve and this feeling comes from the seasoning of the mind. This seasoning is a derivative of spirituality. When one goes through times of turmoil, we tend to feel let down and start cursing each and everything that we see around us. This is not a solution. The solution is to accept things that comes your way and fight to achieve. Fight to achieve 100 if you have lost 20. Fight a ruthless battle and fight to win…! That is again a derivative of spirituality. Smile and accept defeat and smile and win. Only spirituality can help you to achieve this.

It cleanses your mind, purifies your thought and helps you to have the feeling of “Yes, I can and Yes, I will” which is very important for anyone to move forward in life. It is only possible achieve this through spiritual seasoning. The quest for nirvana is never ending, but nirvana can be experienced if you are matured spiritually. We need to do our best and explore all options an fight all possible battles to win and achieve what we want in life. Then comes the invisible hand of GOD which takes the final decision aka fate, destiny, karma…etc. This realization is perhaps a successful completion of nursery level schooling in the spiritual school of thought.

There are laws and mysteries of nature that man cannot change or decipher. There re sciences to explore those and read the laws of nature. Astrology and Astronomy are some of those sciences which connect man with nature. Again the problem comes with the middlemen who interpret it. If you have spiritual seasoning within you, then all these mis-interpretations will not impact you. You can tide over all these so called social beliefs which maintain a faded demarcation line with superstitions.

Spiritual awakening and understanding helps one to be grounded, subtle and understand nature and yourself in depth. It helps you to understand the essence of life, the gift called life and the way life needs to be led. It teaches you to be mature in your thoughts and thought processes. It teaches you to fine tune your dealings and interactions. It helps you to deal with crisis and failure the same way as success. It teaches you to be exotic and broad in mind and a matured and seasoned approach to everything in life.

It helps you to hunt back when you are being hunted and to fight back even when you are losing grounds from all quarters. We fail either because we did not try to the required extent or because that is not meant for us. This realization is what makes man an intelligent animal, and only an intelligent animal can be spiritual.

Have a good day…!

Is Malayalam cinema breathing its last? If so, Why?

Is Malayalam cinema breathing its last? If so, Why?

It is a fact that something drastic is happening to Malayalam Cinema and that it has been ailing badly for quite some time now. Something that requires the serious attention of film lovers, is the big question whether Malayalam cinema is breathing its last? If I were to be asked this question, my response would be that Malayalam cinema is crippled, handicapped, infected badly, bed ridden and is on ventilator support. Unless something path breaking is done, the obituary date for Malayalam cinema is not far away.

The wheel has come a full circle for MC from being the most innovative, aesthetic, highly recognized, visually rich to clichéd, stereotyped, star centric, egoistic and visually stale. This is something that has happened over the years as a result of un professional and unsystematic approach. MC was never considered a professional industry and perhaps that is the biggest reason for its downfall.

The regional media which can boast of the films of the class of Chemmeen, Ara Naazhika Neram, Elipatthayam, Ammaye Kaanan, Madanotsavam, Thaniyavarthanam, Oru Vadakkan Veeragadha, Kireedom, Dasharatham, Bharatham is not fighting to find a foot hold, which is very fortunate. This industry boasts of the best talents in Indian Cinema right from performers to technicians. So, there is no dearth of talent here. The problem is with the clichéd and stereotyped content, unprofessional approach, star centric approach, self imposed limitations on the reach of cinema and above all, the unwillingness to change and experiment.

Take the sixties, seventies and eighties and you will find that MC was right there in the top. MC had a very influential presence in Indian cinema and it was one industry that everyone looked up to. It used to churn out the best in the industry and used to be the model for filmmakers from any other part of the world. There was a healthy competition among the filmmakers in MC and this helped much to improve the quality and content of cinema that were made in those days. Also, there was strong relation between cinema and literature at those times. Many works of MT, Basheer, Urub, SKP, Thakazhi were interpreted by filmmakers in their own creative way and presented in celluloid. This ensured that there was a creative interpretation of the works of literature which opened up and expose multiple facades of the same fruit.

Another most important factor which led to the making of good cinema was the strong theatre movement in Kerala. The theatre movement, which is undoubtedly the mother of all kinds of cinema was very strong in Kerala under the aegis of renowned theatre clubs like KPAC, Kalidasa, Kalavedi and N N Pillal’s team. This movement became more relevant during the emergency period in the late seventies as people saw this as a medium of expression of their thoughts, anger and frustration. The number of political satires, dramas and visions that were enacted on stage proves the strength of theatre movement in Kerala. So, naturally what happened was that cinema had to compete with theatre to get a strong foothold and hence film makers gave more emphasis to the content, quality and presentation which raised the bar.

Many strong film discussion forums were prevalent in Kerala during those times which ensured that films get discussed among a wider audience. This was very productive as people who had knowledge of cinema and who seriously viewed cinema either as a profession or as a medium could come under a common roof and discuss their thoughts. This facilitated the flow of ideas in all directions and ensures that productive discussion happened at all times. These venues helped filmmakers and aspirants to enhance their vision, focus, knowledge and thoughts about cinema. More than all these, such venues tempered filmmakers to view their own films with a critic’s eye.

Nila / Merryland, Udaya, Sobhana, AVM, - Does all these ring a bell? If not, it better because these production houses were very prominent in Kerala till the early eighties. The production houses had a systematic approach of film making and ensured that there is a healthy competition between them to be the best. Since they had a professional approach to film making, it ensured that the quality of the films never compromised for quantity. Also, failures did not affect their journey towards producing good cinema. The in house model that they practised ensured that a close collaboration between all departments of film making existed which proved beneficial to the final product.

Stardom was and is always synonymous with the film industry. Stardom is the twin brother of celluloid. The folks associated with the MC film industry during the old days were grounded and professional. This contributed much to the progress of cinema ands there was n communication blockades anywhere. All the channels of communication were open from all angles and hence ensured that cinema related communication could flow in all directions. The films made during those period were theme centric and not here centric. The films made during those times had a protagonist and not a hero. I say that because I maintain a strong distinction between a protagonist and a hero. Since they did not have the burden of heroism in the films, they had the broad options to innovate, experiment and try out different themes in celluloid.

A strong parallel cinema movement existed in Kerala till the early nineties. The works and thoughts of Aravindan, KG George, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, John Abraham, P A Bakker laid a strong foundation to serious cinema in Kerala. Heir legacy was carried forward by Bharathan, Padmarajan, Hariharan and T V Chandran who infact took cinema to a new heights. The films they made at those times still remain fresh in theme and presentation and are definitely an encyclopedia for budding filmmakers.

Commercial cinema also saw its height during this period till the early nineties with many film makers proving their mettle in this arena. Film makers experimented with various themes and concepts and presented their ideas on celluloid in such a way that the mass and class audience could imbibe them equally. Ramu Karyat, Sankaran Nair, Krishnan Nair, K Sethumadhavan, Kunchako, I V Sasi, Sibi Malayil and Joshi ensured that the heights of commercial cinema were maintained as long as possible.

During the nineties and the first decade of two thousand, the number of rich people in the state increased owing to globalization. Many of them ventured into film production without even knowing what a story board is. Film makers were mere puppets in their hands as many of them saw this as an opportunity to make money. This led to the downfall of perhaps India’s greatest aesthetic film making community. The producers who invested money saw an easy way to get returns and that was to erase the distinction between hero and protagonist and spreading a make belief that both are essentially the same. This led to many Kings, Narasimhams and Commissioners in the industry leaving the soul and essence of good cinema to starve to death. One king or one Narasimham or one Commissioner is fine and is very much necessary BUT too many of these feels like a totally spent force.

The technicians’ right from the director to the spot boy was not opting or willing for a change in the way things are done and in the creative department. The typical concept of a Malayalam cinema has not really changed much from the eighties and that is the prime cause of its downfall. No one was willing to freak out from the shackles of conventionality and experiment (a la Kamal Hassan act) and this led to duplicates and wannabe hitmakers filling the market place and leaving it crowded without any essence. This best example of this is the movie College Kumaran which had a whooping budget of 5 crores. Mohanlal laughed al the way to the bank with his salary of 1.5 crores but what good did that cinema do to MC?

The inability and the uninterested attitude towards change clubbed with total un professional film production methodologies paved the way for the downfall of MC. In addition to this, the amount of sycophancy increased by leaps and bounds during this period leading to Mammootty and Mohanlal bring the pivot of Malayalam cinema. There is no harm in this but the lapse is that no staircase is being put for the next generation to climb up. That is where the biggest blow is. The sycophants are self styled watchdogs of MC and they have ensured that there is no bridge for new comers to climb up.

To add oil to fire, there are innumerable unions and associations in MC and everyone wants to prove that they are more important in the industry and command the industry than anyone else. This egoistic attitude and the fight for proving the supremacy of the unions proved to the nemesis of MC. The government’s disinterested attitude towards MC industry further aggravated the situations. MC is not recognized as an industry in Kerala and hence no tax exemptions apply to MC. The self limited reach of cinema is a clichéd statement that all film makers make but the question that needs to be addressed is – What is done to ensure that it is mitigated? The answer is NOTHING.

There is no conscious effort by the industry or the government to ensure that the life of MC is extended beyond the M phenomenon. My line of thought is that MC will turn to be like Bengali, Assamese, Bhojpuri or Oriya cinema after the M era. There would still be films made in Malayalam but just a handful a year and that too lesser quality ones. No landmark work would be created in MC. The MC land would be dominated by Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and English cinema. I think the only one category of films that would survive the tide is perhaps soft porn films in MC, which are much popular and in demand all over India.

Take the quality of the theatres all over Kerala. One work to describe them is pathetic. This is another reason for the downfall of cinema. Who would want to watch cinema in a stinking, crowded, dilapidated movie hall in this twentieth century? People would better wait for 3 months for the DVD to be release and then watch it at home. Isn’t that a better option?

Fans associations in Kerala have turned to be terrorist groups rather than a bunch of cine goers. They are more interested in dictating terms to film makers than promoting the films of their favorite stars. I was also associated with an association of this kind few years back. At that time, we were more focused in promoting out favorite star’s movie and ensuring that it reached out to the maximum audience across Kerala. These days, what they do is to make a mess of anything and everything happening in MC thereby impacting even their favorite star’s stardom. They have no focus and have turned to be a bunch of hooligans. They think that they are a major force in MC but the fact is that they are nothing but dried bull shit. They cannot do anything in the industry as they neither can make their fav star’s movie a hit not make other star’s movie a flop. That is the sad and naked truth which these hooligans do not realize. The only thing that can do is get tickets and watch the movie on the first day of release.

MC has turned to be one of the worst film industry considering the degradation in quality over the decades. It is a pity that the industry which has the best talent in India is wasted due to an un professional attitude.

I have a 10 point agenda to put forward for the resurrection of MC and listed below are those.

Ban all associations in MC. Club all the associations into one and this should be separated from trade unionism.
Form a board of educated and experienced management professionals and let the control the production of all films made in the industry. This will ensure that film production is structured and made professional in all way. If a project is not feasible. It is better to drop it rather than proceeding with it.
Form a film advisory board with 60:40 ratio of film makers, film evangelists and industry veterans from Kerala (60%) and rst of the country (40%). This needs to be a non political body and their focus should be to ensure that quality is brought back to MC along with commercial upliftment in a generic level apart from the M pivot.
Recognize MC as an industry and give tax exemptions wherever possible. Give tax exemptions to films that are not doin well or the so called parallel cinema ao that some light can be shed there.
Another key focus of the advisory board should be to make progressive films in Kerala. It is high time we move away from the naluketu, deepam-deepam, kathir mandapan style of cinema. The board should approve films that are progressive and innovative. Big budget films should target India as a whole rather than Kerala alone. That is how MC can make a mark in Indian cinema now.
Encourage youngsters and fresh blood to come into the industry. Provide scholarships for people who want to join the industry. Let the government fund the initial couple of projects of the film makers till they get a strong foothold in the industry.
Revive studios in Kerala and give incentives to build production houses in Kerala. Let this be considered as SeZ and let tax exemptions come for these till the time the industry scales up to the expected range.
Ban all fan associations in Kerala and declare them as terrorist organizations.
Revive theatre movement in Kerala and form more educational institutions associated with theatre and cinema.
Improve the quality of the theatres in the state - Provide ample parking, Make all theatres digital, Implement advance ticket issue system..etc

It was a pain writing this piece, as I felt very depressed at the state of MC, being a person who has followed MC from a very young age. I do not have the stamina to write anything further in this regard. Lemme stop this by quoting Shakespeare “ My heart is in the coffin with Caesar and I must pause till it comes back to me” – Mark Antony in Julius Caesar.

Friendship…! My take on it

Friendship…!

I do not have any friends in my life. When I say this, I do not intend to be a loner, but I mean to state my outlook of friendship. I do interact with lot of people daily, keep in regular touch with them, extend favors to them, help them in time of need, have a social relationship with them and their families but for me friendship is much more than all these. Whatever I have detailed above is more of social networking than friendship. For me, friendship is mush more than all these and is a feeling of oneness and understanding rather than anything else.

The emotional bonding and understanding of each other is what friendship is for me. Such a bonding does not come out of a give and expect relationship. It comes only from a respectful and selfless attitude and that is what true friendship is for me. I have not been successful in friendship in my life till date and I do not want to wash any linen in public. I hold myself responsible to a good extent for not being successful and incompatibility being the other factor.

A give and take relationship does not essentially lead to a good friendship relation. It can result in a good social relation but may not be successful beyond that. Friendship is some relation in which all the parties involved fully understand each other right to the core. A good amount of openness for improvement, understanding each other’s weak areas more than the strongholds are traits of a good friendship relation.

When I say all these, I am fully aware of the tides of time which can season an individual or a relationship. The seasoning may include an optimization in communications and articulation as time progresses owing to the maturing of an individual due to his social progression in life. Proactive understanding and empathizing with each other is a great way of expression of friendship and building it. One key point that we need to understand that it is the liveliness of a relationship that maintains the freshness it and sustains the relationship. The same is true with friendship as well. Frequent interaction and communication is very much required for sustenance of the relationship.

Many relations break or get spoiled because of unnecessary egos, comparisons and misunderstanding owing to deficient communication. This is perhaps more true in friendship than anywhere else. That is where openness comes into picture because when things are discussed openly, there is no room for any of these issues indicated above.

Something which should never be tolerated in a friendship relation is cheating. It may seem to be rude but the folks who cheat their friends should be KILLED as it is something which should not be tolerated at all. That is the reward for cheating in friendship. I have had many bad experiences from my so called friends and that is why I don’t believe in friendship any more. I do not have time to go after all those who cheated me and repay them. I do not have anything to tell them and that is my attitude. There is another category of friends who are more dangerous than the cheaters and they are the ones who was has diplomacy gene in them. They are selfish and are cowards. They will not standby a friend at the time of their need and would be busy trying to save their ass and oiling it, at those times when you need them badly as a friend. Unfortunately, all those people whom I considered to be my friends turned be either cheaters born to whores or diplomatic bastards.

It is very bad to be cheated by a friend in a relation. One needs to be experience it to know the depth of the hurt it causes in your mind and that is why I say that it needs to be repaid by DEATH and only then will the law of karma be balanced in the universe.

I am starting all over again in friendship, after a self metamorphosis and am confident that I will go places in this arena. I have undergone a metamorphosis as I had to improve on so many factors in this arena and had to add on qualities which are much required in friendship. I know that I did not have these before and that is why I accept a part of the blame game in my failed friendship relations. After all, I am not a hypocrite.

Good bye Lucifer…!

Reservation in India…! Communal dictatorship revisited with democratic protection

Reservation in India…! Communal dictatorship revisited with democratic protection

Lemme start off with a question. Why is reservation required and what is the purpose of reservation? The answer is pretty straight forward – The concept of reservation was perhaps put forward to uplift the downtrodden classes in the country. In the past, caste and creed formed the basis of social positioning of the individual. At those times, it made ample sense to facilitate reservation based on caste and creed or the downtrodden masses and the whole lot was associated with the so called lower castes and communities. Over a period of time, the downtrodden masses have been uplifted much and facilitated a comfortable and affordable lifestyle. However, the process of reservation still continues and is catered in such a way that these castes and communities can take it for granted for posterity. That definitely does not make any sense at all and in turn is very unfair to the other sections of people in the country.

The so called backward communities and classes have progressed much in this country educationally, financially and politically. In spite of all these, they enjoy the boost of reservation and build a secure empire. On the other hand, the educated class, the working class and gets cheated many a times owing to the undeserved credits and opportunities being bestowed on the so called down trodden classes and backward communities, which in reality are not those any more.

Let me explain what I mean by those statements. I mean to say that the so called backward classes in Indian society have been enjoying the benefit of reservation right from independence and this has helped them much to move up in the society. I do not understand why they still need to enjoy the benefits even after fulfilling the requirements.
They have achieved whatever they were unable to in the past owing to the social and financial setup in their community. Why is it that they are still guarded by the policies of reservation? Let them now compete with the fellow citizens and achieve in a fair game what they want instead of using the reservation as a tool for moving up the ladder, which is shameful and totally unfair.

The main problem lies in the fact that reservation in this country is linked to and based upon the caste and creed of a person and not his income. Btw, In spite of all these who said India is secular? Let us discuss that in a different piece of writing as I do not want to deviate from this topic. My point is that the reservation criteria should be linked to the income and expenditure of an individual rather than his caste, community and creed. This model of a system will ensure that the people who gets benefited from the policy of reservation are the ones for whom it is intended. I believe that the system of reservation is intended to the upliftment of people who cannot move up in the society due to financial concerns. It is a fair deal on the part of the administration to support the financially backward classes in the country, till the time they become financially secure. Once they become secure financially, the reservation options for them needs to be withdrawn and they should compete with the others in the society to lead a life.

What is happening in the present scenario is that some communities get unduly benefited from the system of reservation in the country. Let us take for example the scheduled castes and tribes in the country. There is no linkage of income to the reservation facilities offered to these to the income and expenditure of these communities. It is assumed and can be taken for granted that anyone from these communities is eligible for reservation and thereby gets an undue advantage of it. I say that the income and expenditure needs to be taken into account when assessing the financial statement of an individual because nly then can we ensure that we tap all his income and ascertain that there is no black money handled by the individual.

The assessment of the individual’s reservation status needs to be diligently monitored on a yearly basis. Once the income reaches a level where the individual can sustain his family and career, the reservation needs to be withdrawn from that point onwards. Similarly if a rich and affluent person becomes bankrupt that he needs to be eligible for reservation till the time he gets back for a comfortable financial position in life. That is the way we can ensure equality to all the citizens.

I am not against reservation but I am much in support a fair reservation policy to people in need. People in need are the ones who are financially backward and not the ones who self label themselves as backward communities. Backwardness should be decided on the basis of income and expenditure and not on the basis of the caste, color, creed and sex.
I personally know of people from SC and ST classes who adore high positions in the society. They earn much more than their peers and contemporaries in society. Inspite of that, they are covered by the blanket of reservation which their children enjoy. This is very unfair to the other classes of people in the country as they are denied opportunities when the reservation folks get preference.

I have still not understood why inter-caste relationships are covered by reservation policies. Perhaps, it was introduced post independence to ensure equality and wipe out the barriers of caste and religion. Good at those time but seems like an itching sore thumb these days...! We live in the twenty first century and not in 1947. Such policies give an undue advantage to some people and deny rightful opportunities to a major section of the society. The youth of this country gets negatively affected by the advantage that the so called reserved classes get. Rightful opportunities are denied many a times to people who deserve it and in turn the many eligible people from the reserved classes get those opportunities. This is not a fair deal at all.

In the present scenario, it is practically impossible for a common man to reach the heights of his career in the public sector. This is because of the curse of reservation upon him. All the top positions in the government and public sector are reserved for the reservation class and hence your community and caste scores over caliber. This is very unfortunate as
Talent, Caliber, Potential are not considered and regarded for progression up the ladder. The government should try to make life fair for people who are impacted by the unpredictability of life and not let some communities and castes take undue advantage of all these communalist façade of the largest democracy in the world.

The danger of this trend is that this will aggravate communal bonding and opportunistic politics in the country. The reserved classes gets to clutter their folks together in the name of helping the community and in the already communal country, this will further squeeze the secular blood of the nation. It is unfortunate that any youngster or any job aspiring candidate in this country considers reservation as an arrogant and dictatorial challenge to their aspiration and passions. The government has no right to ask the people of this country to compromise on their passions and aspirations by using the control wand of reservation. Instead, they should ensure that the reserved class do not get carried away and becomes megalomaniacs owing to the security bestowed upon them by the unfair system of reservation in India powered and driven by the constitution.

Shahrukh Khan...!

Shahrukh Khan…!

The biggest name in the Indian film industry, The name that sells the most in Indian celluloid, The man whom India loves to watch the most on the big screen, The man whose name can rake the moolahs in box office, The man whose mere presence on celluloid can set the box office cash registers ringing, The man who is the brand ambassador of Indian cinema to the world, The man who has perhaps more fan following in the US than Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt. Adjectives and definitions get depleted when the context is Shahrukh Khan. Let me share my thoughts about this man in this piece of writing.

I have always envied the energy and positive vibes of Shahrukh Khan. This man comes with loads of energy and positive vibes and is a great connoisseur of establishing and asserting ones’s position and stature. He is someone who has established his stature in the industry with sheer hardwork and calculations. He started off as an underdog in the Indian film industry and turned to be one of the greatest stars that Indian cinema has ever produced, perhaps one in the top five ever. He has taken steps after meticulous calculation and have forced opened all the doors that are required to build stardom.

He has teamed up with a set of people whom he is comfortable with perhaps and the associated with them has helped him to create his own space in Indian cinema. He has selected the right kind of cinema which helped him to be were he is presently. He has tried to experiment with little success but his kind of cinema has helped him to be much above all.

He is definitely not the greatest actor or performer that Indian cinema has ever produced and he may not figure anywhere in the top, but hs is one of the greatest stars produced bu Indian cinema. He has carved a niche for his kind of cinema and that is what has worked in this favor and perhaps against him. He will definitely have audience for that kind of cinema but little support and viewers for any experimentation and diversification.

Shahrukh Khan’s aggression is what has made him successful. He is selfish for success and is willing to go to any extent to make success his guest. His record fifty two interviews to promote Don is perhaps the clichéd fact to establish this point. He is definitely not a Rajnikanth to create the biggest hits in Indian cinema without even giving a single session to the media as part of film promotions. I think this is where the success of Shahrukh Khan lies. He understands what he needs to do get things going in his favor and he is wiling to go to any extent to get it going. He always strives to beat his opponents and wants to prove that he is the best in the industry. This is a quality that needs to be appreciated as greed is what is required to be successful in life.

He may often be criticized for his arrogant ways of articulation and his hunger to be the best. He may often be criticized for being a megalomaniac, narcissist and pompous. However in the world of selfish, arrogant, greedy, self-styled, masked and hypocritical people one needs to put thrash down and trample others to create your empire and be successful and that is exactly what he has done. All of us can take a lesson or two from the quality of the king of Indian cinema.

Shahrukh Khan sells only with packaging and that is his success and the space that he has created in the industry. He is definitely not a Kamal Hassan to turn experiments into successes and hence his success lies in the conversion of his packaging into successes. This is exactly what he has been doing all these years.

I feel that the youngsters of this country should take inspiration from his real life story of a common man to one of India’s greatest superstars. His energy levels are really high and confidence and hardwork are his pillars of strength. The way he works hand for his packaging and space in the industry are perfect examples of how life should be lead.

Success is a passion for him and it is this drive that keeps him going. His passion for success is the driving factor behind his success and it has turned to be an obsession for him. His success is a perfect statement of the fact that you need to be greedy for success life and need to be obsessed with it to conquer heights. Dream of the stars, set the focus on the stars, reach for the stars and make sure that you reach it. That is my interpretation of Shahrukh’s success as a star and that is the motivation that I draw from his life. .

The curse of being middle class and the need for a federal system in India

The middle class in India are the ones who are rudely affected by any activity happening in the country may it be the new budgets, financial meltdown, tax policies or any strike called by any party headed by some gigolo.

Broadly, let us split the billion population of our country into three categories. The catgories are Poor, Middle class and Rich. We are gonna discuss about the poor and middle class here in this writing. Any movement in the country, whether positive or negative impacts these two classes of people. The tax systems of this country is very rude n these two categories of people and that is the reason why these categories keep on expanding in terms of numbers and people find it practically impossible to move up the ladder. They are forced to remain in the so called poor and middle class bracket for ever without being able to fulfill their quest to be rich and to be in a rich man’s world and lead a rich man’s life.

The government and the policies of the government in India squeezes the life out of the poor and middle class leaving them gasping for breath of survival in all contexts. The tax policies are framed in such a manner that the lion’s share of the income of these two classes are captured back by the government. In addition to Income tax, there is professional tax, numerous cess tax charges, service charges, VAT, user fees. My question is why is it that all these taxes are not computed as a direct proportionate figure to the income? Why is it that only the income tax is computed and linked to the income of the individual? The same individual is bearing the brunt of all the other bloody category of taxes and why is it that that is not considered in his favor? This is hypocrisy and sheer legislative arrogance.

Take for example a petrol hike in the country. The impact of this falls heavily on the middle class and the poor classes. The rich do not have to worry about these as the tax laws for them are different and they are not taxed as heavily as the middle class or the salaried class. What do I mean when I say that te tax laws are different for the rich? I shall explain that.

If you consider the rich class, most of their source of income comes from business or overseas. The tax for these incomes are not deducted at source unlike the salaried class in India. The exemptions that the government gives for the business class gives them much flexibility to reduce the tax paid by them. Also, the laws in this country have more loop holes than closed loops thereby giving all options to the rich class to evade tax. This is what I call as legislative double standards. Who said India is a socialistic country?

In this context, let us also talk about the need for a centralized federal system for India. A federal system that provides a common and uniform civil code in India is something that should have come into place in this country long back itself. I think it may not have come to place because of the poor education quotient of the people ruling this country. I refer to the legislature, bureaucracy and judiciary along with the fourth estate for not discussing this and making this a reality.

If we have a federal system in this country and remove this concept of TDS, what happens is that each expenditure and investment of everyone can be tracked and accounted centrally. This results in the direct linkage of expenditure and investment to the income thereby eliminating the scope of tax evasion. Such a system is never gonna come in this country because if it comes, the tax system becomes transparent and hence the rich cannot evade taxes. So the usual process is bound to follow. The rich will bribe the politicians and ministers and they in turn will shove this idea under the carpet, leaving the middle class and poor class to suffer and lead a down trodden life.

Take for example a strike that affects the transportation in the country. The people affected the most are the ones who rely on the government mode of transport. The rich ones can stay at home during this period and nothing is gonna to impact them. However if the common man fails to go to work for a day, he is destined to suffer loss due to this. Also something that we should understand is that during such a crisis, the government does not provide any support to the common man except for some stinking support statements issued by some political bastards.

It is good to create a mood for investment in the country and to increase the investment in the country. However in India, the people are forced to either invest or give the money as charity to the government. If the people are in a state of crisis, where they need more liquidity, who will support them?

Communist hypocrisy in Kerala

Today, I feel like writing about the communist hypocrisy in Kerala, which has been around for so many years and which I think is the biggest curse for the state and its development.

The state in which the world’s first democratic communist ministry came to power, is now being crushed under the bloody hypocrisy of communist politics in the state. The reason is the double standards of the communism that is preached and followed in Kerala. Take the development chart of Kerala – The development in Kerala is very slow placed (in fact a leach would move faster than the pace of development in Kerala) and the prime reason for this is red-tapism and unionism which happens to the maximum extent only in Kerala when compared to any other state in India.

In Kerala, there is union for everything in the world that you can think of. There is union for everything starting from daily wage labourers to ministers. The only section that is excluded from forming unions is the common man who is let to suffer at the hand of these unions, bureaucracy, legislature and judiciary.

Now lemme come to the topic of discussion on how the double standards affect the development of the state. The communists preach of their love for working class and the upliftment of the working class. The point is that the upliftment of the working class can come only through development and nothing else. The communists are opposed to development in the state. Can some one point out at least one industry in the state in the last 20 years? Can someone point out at least one worth investment in the state n the last 20 years? Don’t waste ur time searching answers for all these. There is nothing to point out.

If someone wants to start an industry in the state, he needs to bribe everyone with from the peon in the Secretariat till the chief minister. After doing all these by spending crores, he gets the permission to start an industry. Now the real problem starts, The bureaucracy starts to interfere and puts forward the rule book which if difficult for anyone to interpret even the folks who frames the laws. Sometimes, I wonder why we need all these laws and why these laws are different from state to state. Why don’t we have a common federal system in place which covers for the country as a whole?

After bribing the bureaucracy, if the entrepreneur thinks that that is the end of the whole affair, he is mistaken. It is actually the beginning. Then comes the so called big force called unions. He has to bribe them also to get things through. After all these, he can proceed to start the venture in Kerala. Why should an entrepreneur take such pain to do all these? If the venture is big, they can afford all these, however what if the venture is small or medium sized?

Even if the venture is started inspite of all the pains indicted above, the entrepreneur will always be a slave to all these categories of people. The demands will keep on increasing and all these demand s will have to met to get the venture operations going. In short, the politicians get a life long source of income.

I cannot think of any ventures which the communists have not opposed in the state. They have opposed each and everything that has come to this state and later accepted it. Also, even when they have opposed these in the full public glare, they have embraced this in private and tailored it for their sycophants for their benefits.

The biggest example is the Coca Cola incident which exposed their double standards. They took money from coke and gave the permission to start coke in Palghat. When this was exposed by the media and opp parties, they started their war against coke itself. The same happened with the self financing educational system in Kerala. Prior to this system, Kerala had one of the highest standards of education in India. With the coming of self financial institutions which started offering education with the sole intention of grabbing money, the quality of education offered took a steep dip similar to the bating average of Rahul Dravid.

Who cares for all these? The politicians want money and nothing else. They do not care for the common man and the education offered to the generations to come. They just want money and to make their family secure. Can u point out at least one communist leader in Kerala whose children are not in the US? Can u point out atleast one communist leader in Kerala who does not have crores of asset? The answer to both the questions above is NO.

The double standards have come to light in the Lavlin, IT park, Info park, SEZ, and every issue in Kerala right from the time of independence. It is not communism running in Kerala. It is corruption, double standards and hypocrisy that is being preached in the name of communism. Late the bloody communists of Kerala take a look at their counterparts in West Bengal. Let them understand how West Bengal has embraced progressive communism and how that has helped in the development of the state. NO one fears communism in West Bengal, people embrace it with grace but in Kerala it is a nightmare and is a blood thirsty vampire.

All the communists in Kerala have their sons and daughters in the US and Europe countries. Isn’t this against what they preach? All the communists have their families visiting temples and getting priority to get neat the lord. Isn’t this against what they preach? All the communists travel in foreign cars? Isn’t this against what they preach? All the communists spend money for their personal use and distinguish people of the state based on caste, creed, color, sex and financial status. Isn’t this against what they preach?

I don’t know my dear. All that I know is that to survive in this country and to live in this country, we need to pay hafta to the legislature, legislature and judiciary. I am in a snake eating land and I WILL eat the fleshy mid-piece.

Consider the number of opportunities that Infocity and IT parks could have created in Kerala. Folks from Kerala could have survived in the state itself and led a life here itself with investments. Now what happens is that people from Kerala struggle and build a life by going out of the state. Take a look at the people from any of the other cities. They have more opportunities within the state and hence they can plan for a long term settlement within the state unlike Keralites. I repeat - I am in a snake eating land and I WILL eat the fleshy mid-piece.

Sahara Packers and Movers - The worst in the world - A bunch of a**h**es and b**tar*s

Sahara Packers and Movers is undoubtedly the worst P&M companies functioning in the country. It is just a bunch of idiots operating under this name and fooling the hard earned money of people who fall into their traps. I had 2 instances of bitter experiences of shifting with Sahara. I opted for Sahara assuming that they would keep up their brand name and value. Alas...! The thought died a premature death and what was left was the rotten corpse.The idiots sitting there know only one thing, to talk to people, give unfulfillingcommitments and grab ur money. Apart from that, the b*****ds in this company do not have any commitment to the customer. I don't think they even know what customer relation is. I had to shift from Blr to Hyd and at perhaps the worst moment in my life till date, called up Sahara to check the options available for the shifting. Pat came the response from one of the marketing folks there by name Sumeet Jain. Sir, We will do this, that, and what not for you. Little did I realize at that time that the service of Sahara is restricted to thesewords only.An evaluation was done on my house hold items, an estimate was prepared and given to me. The estimate later turned to be much less than even half of the actuals. So now I understand that the estimation capabilities of the marketing folks of Sahara.The D day came and I got a call intimating that the great Sahara packers are coming over to my place to shift things. They came in a rush and went in a rush. That is all what I know. I had explained my requirements and asked them to bring cartons, the model that I showed them at my house. I was shocked to see that when they came, they came with cartons the size of which was 40% of the ones that I showed them. This shows the brains of the folks working there as they were planning to fill up the items in the same number of cartons. I wonderwhat their IQ ranges could be...35? less than that...? MaybeUndoubtedly, There was an argument on the rates and tranport modes which subsided as I succumbed to the demands. However, this poor man did not realize that that was the beginning. One day for delivery turned to be five days and arrangement and fixing at destination turned to be famous ISRO spy case, which never existed. It took 38 calls from my cell to track doan my belongings after the packing and all these times, I had to face blunt, ridiculous, dump, stupid and impotent answers from bloody a*ssh***s in Sahara office. Finally at 21:00 I traced my good to Begumpet ad had to bribe the lorry driver and policeman to get the items to my place. If I thought that was the end,sorry, it was the beginning of a whole new chapter.Another 9 calls, and that solved the problem. The lorry driver was instructed to deliver the goods at my flat on the fifth floor. As anyone would have done, he dumped all the 20 packets in my flat and left. The dismantled dining table, metallic cot all were left as it is and the work was over for Sahara.Another 17 calls to Sahara office, marketing folks, manager and the response that I got was not to disturb them. My calls were never attended to and they began disconnecting my calls as soon as they saw my number. To hell with Sahara, F**k Sahara, I am not in the mercy of any bastards and I know how to get things done and I have the confidence to do it. I started to look for my own options and came over and arranged the whole stuff myself. I have almost done 80% and am awaiting some carpenters to fix the cot and dining table for me. I am tired at the end of the day after the whole unpacking and arrangement but think it was worth as I could get my work completed.Sahara packers and movers SUCKS. It is undoubtedly the worst transporting agency in the whole world. It is a bunch of impotent bastards. To name a few who played with my happiness for a week –
Sumit Jain - A marketing executive who talks and talks but does not know what he is talking and doing.
Jitesh - A marketing manager who does not understand the meaning of marketing and customer relations. He is fit to me in a market but never fit to be a marketing manager. Can u imagine, A marketing manager not taking the calls of a custome for 3 days. He used to disconnect my calls as soon as he saw my number. I wonder, who taught him the concepts of marketing. Bloody mother f**king a**hole…
Bhaskar - I think he is worst asshole of the team. He never picks the call and is a money sucking bastard.
Manoj - I don’t want to waste my time talking about him., A total MFA and
The lady at the reception - No idea what the customer is talking and what should be done. "One min sir" is all what she know and then to transfer the phone to one of the bastards mentioned above.Worst of all, there is a complaint number to address ur grievances and I tried calling that number also. I was surprised to find Bhaskar bastard answering the phone. That shows the system in Sahara packers.I lost my money and wasted a week of my time in this transport deal. All this is because I employed Sahara packers and movers to take care of it and little did I know that Sahara is run by a group of MFB.Btw, I called up them another 9 times in the last one hour. None of the bastards are picking the phone. May be they recognize my number and are responding in the way that are taught to behave to customers or they all should be busy in mother f***ing sessions out there in Sahara.

It took a week for my belongings to be shifted to Trivandrum and it goes without saying that it was handled in a “perfect” non-professional way. The goods were delivered at 23:00 and we were asked to unload it. I had no option but to call up bastard Bhaskar again and anyone who has read this right from the beginning can understand what the response could be. We suffered a lot in getting the unloading folks to get the things unloaded and had to shell out another 600 bucks. This is what Sahara packers and movers have done for me.
I lost another 2000 bucks on fixing up my belongings and lost a week's time to understand the quality of service provided by bloody Sahara packers.

Hyd visit in Feb-09

Wow…!

This was my first response when I saw Hyderabad after yesterday, 5 months. Sometimes, I feel that it is steady and progressive development happening in Hyderabad because people as well as the bureaucracy and legislature there have tasted and realized the worth of a developed city and what development can do to them in terms of lifestyle, respect and money.

I came to Hyd in 2004 and in a 4 year span since then, I have witnessed an enormous growth of Hyderabad. The ring roads, Shamshabad airport, numerous flyovers, MMTS, numerous roads, road widening, mid-road gardens, numerous shopping malls and multiplexes, new SEZ areas…Hyderabad is rocking. In the past, I have discussed with people who have been born and brought up in Hyd and could understand that what we see now is a re-invented Hyderabad and the brain behind this re invention is none other than Mr Naidu.

Politically, the development could be to get the votes from the educated and high class community but the benefits of these developments are for all to experience. I feel that all the states should make this a role model for development. I have read that the same is happening with Gujarat even though I have not visited there even once. These kinds of progress should be set as bench marks for all states in India.

Andhra is not anymore the land of illiterate, poor and idiotic country bumpkins but it is the land of hitech and bluechips. I consider myself fortunate to be a spectator to the development and emergence of Hyderabad as the most promising city of India, a city that two presidents of the US wanted to visit see with their own eyes. The development and emergence of Hyderabad definitely had its share of influence on me.

The development barometer for our country should be calibrated using cities like Hyderabad, Gujarat and Noida. Once this is properly calibrated, it will indicate in pure black and white, the state of affairs of the other states of India. Development should be immune to politics and politicians. Unfortunately, our country does not have a system for such barometer and that could be where the other states are lacking. They are sustaining and not progressing.

The visit to Hyderabad after five months was eye opening and illustrative of the progressive attitude and vision of the development brains of Andhra Pradesh. What took me by surprise the most was the ORR from Gachibowli to Shamshabad and the stretch from Gachibowli junction to stadium.

Even though the brain behind the master plan of Hyderabad was Mr Naidu, his successor Mr Reddy took the unfinished job forward and ensured that the momentum is not lost. Thai could be perhaps of his realization that only a developed Hyderabad can woo people and business to walk towards the city and only then can money flow in. The benefits are for all to experience and enjoy. I believe that when someone lives in a place like this, it is sure to influence your thoughts and the so called destiny.

Investments should be properly streamlined and used in such a way that those investments invite prosperity. The ORR in Hyd is a typical example. This one cuts through many parts of Hyd which were previously termed as remote. However, with the commissioning of the ORR, those places are not remote any more. The development rains have tactically allocated SEZs in the surrounding regions so that there is commercial benefit from the ventures. This is sure to help and make the people around that area richer.

On another note, during this visit, something that I really enjoyed, experienced and revisited is the shared auto travel in Hyd. It is just amazing. It is infact an answer to the government transport facilities stating that we, the public do not give a damn and we know what to do and how to get moving. Any trip to Hyd is incomplete without the travel experience in shared autos and this time that was my only mode of commutation for q week and I had left my car in a different state of India…lol. The shared autos in Hyd empower people to travel and do not let the public transport system cripple and handicap them, when they even think of going out of their homes. Other states should definitely make this an example. Also, see the number of people who earn their living by this running this mode of transport. This is a strong and arrogant answer to the money exploiting auto wallas of Bangalore and Chennai. Btw, Kerala is also in the same league now.

My whole point here is that any development that takes birth in some neuron should have vision as the sperm and progress as the egg. Hyderabad is definitely one good example that can be taken as the benchmark. I think what we should try to do is overdo do what Hyd has achieved and they reset the benchmark. Good day…!