U, Me Aur Hum

It was sad that the vivacious and gregarious Kajol, who was awaiting the release of a very special family film, “U, Me Aur Hum”, lost her father a day before. Life has a way of striking death blows, that leaves one completely numb and shocked. Incidentally, the film also refers briefly to the relationship of the protagonist (played by Kajol) and her father.

Coming to the film, what I liked:

1.The courage of the Devgans to produce a film on a diabolic disease with complete commitment.

2. But, of course, Kajol’s stunning performance. Her performance is heart wrenching and pulls at your heart strings.

3. The concluding scene between Ajay and Kajol.

4. The scenes where Kajol forgets everything and the world just swirls around on a busy road.

What I disliked:

1. Verbalising about emotions - everything from love to relationships to marriage when subtleties can be made to work brilliantly.

2. Too much of close-up shots.

3. The inane beginning and the portrayal of the couples (Divya Dutta is irritating to say the least whereas Summet Raghavan, who plays her husband, is completely lovable).

4.The adult jokes (not at all required for the script).

For more, read http://www.rediff.com/movies/2008/apr/11hum.htm

A few thoughts about the way the disease has been dealt in the film: Should a patient suffering from Alzheimer’s disease be left with the family or under institutional care ? The film is clear on this — a patient suffering from the disease can recuperate best with the spouse/family. It completely rules out institutional care as a method of  curing such patients. Though spouse/family is the best healer of any disease, I really don’t know if institutional care can be completely ignored..

Like father, Like Son?!

I read this interesting piece of news about celebrated director-actor couple, Mani Ratnam-Suhasini’s son, 17-year old Nandan Mani Ratnam, being seen at a communist congress at Coimbatore.

“I see Marxism as the most cogent, comprehensive and highly developed complex of theory and practice, and it has impressed me…”, he has reported to have said. He has also written a booklet “The Contours of Leninism” with chapters on theory, Marxism, democratic dictatorship, materialism and vanguard.

Though it is too early to say whether Nandan would follow his parents or discover a new calling, he is definitely somebody to watch out for!

Have you checked your name in the electoral rolls?

With elections around the corner, have you checked whether your name is in the electoral rolls?  I did and found not only my name in the voter’s list but also the polling booth where I will vote. I got mighty thrilled  at finding all this information at the click of a mouse. You can access www.ceokarnataka.kar.nic.in, click on the name of the constituency, and a list of polling booths pops up. You can click on the polling booth that is closest to your residential address and more often than not, you will find your name in the list. Or, you may probably need to click on the names of a few more polling booths randomly to find your name. Believe me, it is not too much of an effort and it is worth the trouble.

‘You have to know what’s enough.I don’t want to drive a Bentley or a Rolls Royce’

“Intense media scrutiny, public expectations, money and fame..How do you maintain your balance?

Well, I don’t think I will be affected by all that. I don’t really like being in the news apart from the sports pages. As for the money, whatever I’ve earned until now is enough for me to live a very good life. I have a good job with Indian Airlines. You have to know what’s enough. I don’t want to drive a Bentley or a Rolls Royce.”

Indian Captain M.S.Dhoni on how he maintains his sanity in this age of easy fame and money.Read his interview here

Numbers are fine. But, what about quality?

If the Karnataka government is to be believed, the number of out-of-school children has dropped from a whopping 10.54 lakh to a mere 72,365. This is based on the children’s census conducted in 2008. The drop in number has been credited to the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyana - a nation-wide programme launched for universalisation of elementary education in the country.

According to the state SSA cell, Karnataka, compared to other states, has recorded an unprecedented success in attracting children to school. The number of out-of-school children has been reducing every year. The gap in the number of children enrolled in school and drop-outs has further reduced. Logically then, the number of children who continue in school has increased.

Going by the numbers, Karnataka can take pride in being perhaps one of very few states in the country to trigger and sustain an education revolution. It is true that more and more children are attending schools. But, what about the quality of learning that takes place in these schools? Or, for that matter, the reading and comprehension levels of children? If we are indeed priding about the drop in numbers, should we also not worry about the quality of teaching, the teachers that are churned out by the education system, the condition of teacher training institutions in the state, the working conditions of teachers vis-a-vis their contemporaries in private schools and the challenge of making teaching more relevant and contemporary than ever before?

It is a known fact that the infrastructure in government schools has improved drastically in the last decade or so. Equipping schools with adequate physical infrastructure continues to be a major problem but this problem can be addressed with community participation, growing income levels in society and corporate participation. What should bother us or worry us more is addressing social issues — how best can we convince parents, who struggle to provide two meals a day to their family, to send their children to school instead of seeing in them a means of livelihood.

How feasible is it then to expect parents to send their children to school when the entire family is starving? The mid-day meal scheme can at best be an excellent motivator but that will still leave the entire family, which is under abject poverty, to look out for daily wages. If the immediate geographical location does not offer any means of solace, the family is then forced to move to other “greener pastures.” This, then raises the issue of migrant labour. A substantial number of out-of-school children belong to migrant families and no scheme or programme can claim complete success unless it reaches out to and includes all segments of society.

Purely by numbers, the government seems to have won the first battle — that is to enroll children in school. But, the bigger battle is to ensure that these children remain in school and get quality education. This would then perhaps trigger the much needed social revolution and be the change agent to take education to the next level.

Love it is

It was definitely not love at first sight. There was nothing romantic about our first meeting. Yeah, there was a spark of love but nothing to indicate that I would fall madly in love with him.

He was not the typical “TDH” M&B hero. To be frank, I am prejudiced against dark skin and he was actually dark. Oh God! Should you have done this to me when the whole world is full of chocolate, fair and handsome men? I asked myself. Anyway, now that I had chosen to live with him and share my life, I had no choice.

He too seemed to share similar feelings about me. There was hardly any communication between us when we were together. Whenever we were alone, which was very rare, he would either fall asleep or keep to himself. I would continue to do what I liked.

When women are wooed…

We will soon be celebrating yet another international women’s day. When the existence of women is toasted by the world. When she is lauded for her achievements. When she is appreciated for being multifaceted. When she is wooed by the market. When shopping malls, beauty parlours, commercial establishments, hotels, restaurants, cafes, pubs, offer her a bit of everything. When corporates and office establishments declare a holiday to let her have an outing. When reams of news print is written on “women firsts”, “women leaders”, “women trailblazers” et al. When we pride ourselves on electing the “first Indian Woman President”. As a nation, we will whip up the feel good factor about womanhood and feel nice about it.

But, was 20007 better for women that we can gloat about it and celebrate in 2008? Are we actually better off than last year to celebrate international women’s day on a larger scale? Have we, as a society, grown more mature and more tolerant so that women both in the public sphere feel more safe and secure than ever before ? Is there any one reason that will make women in our lives feel proud of our actions? Anything at all…

Meanwhile, I fervently hope that the society will be a better place for women to live in 2008. Is it too much to ask for?