Often I've heard people talking about fashion and its trends, saying things like 'Red is the new black'. For a Neandersexual man like myself, such jargons have been difficult to understand, until today. Today when I heard Salman Khurshid saying that Narendra Modi is 'impotent', the one phrase that came to my mind was, "Salman Khurshid is the new Digvijay Singh". Digvijay Singh is known for his prowess in voicing his mental diarrhea, but since long seems to have taken sabbatical. Meanwhile, other Congress leaders appear to be trying tirelessly to fill the void, with Khurshid on the forefront. The thought that scares me the most is that what if Digvijay Singh is not on a sabbatical, but actually training other congress leaders in the art? Nooooo!
Since I am a man, and one that likes to observe, I like to think that I know a thing or two about human nature, especially about males. If a man himself is not able to perform well, to make himself look better, he may try to prove other males totally inadequate, sexually or otherwise. 'Overcompensation' is the term used for this kind of behavior. Also, males and females, at times, are known to try and defame the other person when their romantic/sexual advances are not met with welcome and are denied the pleasure. Their ego is hurt when they receive a blow of rejection. I leave it on the sensible readers to take a pick in Mr. Khurshid's case. There may be another case which we may consider. It is quite possible that Salman Khurshid may have confused Elections with Errections. No? I would like to add, in any situation, remarks like these are highly sexist. Do we really want such sexist Politicians? If he has such respect for a fellow male, I highly doubt his ideas on 'Women Empowerment', a cause so close to Rahul Baba's heart. While the paid media is busy portraying Rahul Jee as an entertaining fool, He once again 'rose to occasion' and criticised Mr. Khurshid's use of the term. Why drag Rahul Baba in Khurshi-Modi feud? Khurshid, after the noise made by BJP and other parties on the use of the Hindi word 'Napunsak', which means impotent, clarified that he meant it in a figurative way and not literally. Offcourse he meant it figuratively. what did you buffoons think? He, afterall, is an Oxford alumni. He may have displaced sense of values, but Language? No, Sir. He has an excellent command over it. And hence, we may also conclude that, in his sense of the word, every Chief Minister of every state that ever saw a riot, be it Delhi, Kashmir, Assam, Muzaffarnagar etc. too are Napunsak/impotent. Now, I personally cant agree more. What about you?
Usually the week goes by in the grind, leaving one totally exhausted as the weekend approaches. Lethargy overtakes the enthusiasm and so most weekends are spent at home, trying to recover, rejuvenate and prepare oneself for another week's grind. After spending such few weekends in a row at home, one gathers courage for an outing, and so did I. Only, my big adventure was going for a movie in a multiplex theater, which turned out to be a rather unpleasant experience. After a long time, I went to watch a movie with a friend. Even today standing in the theater while the National Anthem is played before the movie starts gives me goosebumps. I know, its silly; otherwise why would people be still moving around? After settling down, before the movie started, we had to endure a series of movie trailers and advertisements. Wait, aren't we being charged for the movie? And since we are, why the ads? I know, this is an ancient tradition, but that does not make it right, now does it? I do not talk ill of people who enter late, for I too have been guilty of the same many a times; but could you please not step on my toes and keep you butt at a good distance while you dance in the dark through the narrow passage to reach your seat? A piece of advice - I'm sure your cell phone has a 'torchlight' facility, unless ofcourse its an ancient specimen. If it does, please use it to find you way to your seat and spare me the pain. just 10 minutes into the movie and I was distracted by high pitched cacophony from seats behind. A group of girls seemed like they had something really important to discuss about. I tried to ignore and it worked. The noise subsided, atleast for a while, and then suddenly a new wave of dissonance arose. I was sure they had something unavoidable to be discussed, like some National security issue. I'm an inquisitive being and so I couldn't help but try to make sense of what they were chirping about. Lipstick! they were talking about their Lipstick! Sucking all the frustration in, in a choked voice, I turned around and said, "Gals, do you mind?", as calmly and politely as I could. Solace, for a while. I have a habit of switching my cell phone to silent whenever I'm in a theater. Only about 5 minutes after the girls went quiet, my phone started to vibrate. A call from an unknown number. I was expecting a call from a client the same day. Since I didn't want to disturb others, I quietly sneaked out of the hall and attended the call in the passage. "Hello." "Hello, Sir. I'm from Airtel. We have a scheme..." "Teri Maa ki...!", instead of using any vituperative epithets, I chose to disconnect the call and return. Back at my seat, amidst cellphone rings, SMS alerts and keypad tones from random directions, I was enjoying the movie...until someone's kid started crying at full volume. Where do kids get so much stamina to scream? they eat so little! Another important question is, if these two are miserable taking care of their teething child, should the others too be forced to go through the same hell? why bring your kid to a cinema hall? Shouldn't children below 5 be banned from such places? Take your kids to a garden. Please! The air condition usually fills up the bladder for most of us normal mortals. And so, toilets at movie theaters are full as soon as there is an intermission. Dont get me wrong, I'm not complaining about the Que, just stating a plain fact. The movie post-intermission went uninterrupted, mostly, except once when one of the lipstick gang dropped their cellphone under their seat and exactly at that moment it started ringing. The Justin Bieber ring tone combined with the frenzy to search the cell phone was cherry on the cake. The movie ended and subtitles were rolling on the screen. Remember, how in school as soon as the bell rang kids rush outside? It was kinda same here too, only that one baby-step at a time. It was hard not to stamp on someone else's feet, but with determination one can achieve the impossible, and it was achieved. I fail to understand why are people in such a hurry to rush out of the hall that it could result into a stampede! chill people. Take a seat till the ones-about-to-miss-their-train clear the way. Back at home, As I reminisce over the whole affair, I can proudly claim that going to a movie theater is no less an adventure than any other. It teaches one the importance of anger control/management and sharpens one's communication skills. So, whenever you are too bored with your comfortable life at your home on weekends, do go for a movie at your nearest multiplex.
what happens when two damaged individuals take a journey together? Highway revolves around this question. A simple plot of a girl, Veera tripathi (Aliya bhatt) getting kidnapped by Mahaveer Bhati (Randeep Hooda), and held for ransom, moves ahead with a journey through beautiful and scenic roads of Uttarakhand and unfolds into a very delicate treatment of one of the most sensitive issues - Child abuse. Even while having such a serious issue as one of the supporting pillars of the story, the movie does not get too serious and retains its entertainment value. Entertainment while dealing with a social issue - a pleasant surprise! It seems like at some point, the director decided to chop off all the unnecessary scenes, resulting into a gripping storyline. Without forced jokes, the characters make the audience laugh. There is no 'Koochi-kooing', so its a safe watch with kids and elders. There are some scenes in the movie that will remain in one's mind even after leaving the theater, in a pleasant way. I personally have two such favorite scenes -
Aliya Bhatt's dance sequence and
the small conversation - Veera : "ek goli mein ek admi to mar jayega na?", Bhati : "Do...Jispar chale hae, aur jo chalave hae."
Aliya Bhatt shows a lot of potential and I shall look forward to her better performances in future. The role had a lot of scope and an experienced actor could have done much better. To totally appear and be the character that one plays, is mark of a matured actor; Randeep Hooda has it. Another character that deserves a mention is 'Aadoo' played by Durgesh Kumar. Though Aadoo has only a small role, he manages to leave a mark. He even makes audience clap for his dance performance. if you've already seen the movie, you'll know what I'm talking about; if you haven't, when you do, you'll agree. A. R. Rehman's music does little to add to the movie. It shall remain only something to be used for the promotions. Take away the music, and yet the quality refuses to diminish. For some mysterious reasons, the movie 'Ye Jawani hai deewani' was portrayed as a movie having Travel/Journey to do something with the main plot, which I beg to differ, immensely. Highway does justice to this idea. Being subjected to crass movies in past few weeks, I was loosing hopes with Hindi Cinema. 'Highway' restored my hopes. Hats off to Writer/Director Imtiaz Ali for this masterpiece.
If you haven't watched this movie, go for it. Rating 7/10
Before I express my views, let me first make it clear that I'm not an AAP supporter. I try to look at things from an unbiased perspective. Lets be honest, we all laughed when Teena Sharma slapped Ajaz Khan in a debate on India News. It was amusing to see two members of the same party stooping to a new low on a national news channel. BUT, was that the real reason for the chuckles? No, don't answer the question yet. Let us use our imagination and reverse the roles of Teena sharma and Ajaz Khan. This is how the scene would proceed -
From the initial conversation we assume that Teena Sharma was answering a question and Ajaz Khan interrupted her.
Teena Sharma : आप मुझे बोलने देंगे या बीच में रोना रोयेंगे के...(will you let me speak or keep crying about...)
Ajaz Khan : SHUT UP!
Teena Sharma : (ऊंची आवाज़ में )आप तमीज़ से बात कीजिये, आप बदतमीज़ी कर रहे हैं। (In raised voice, almost screaming) behave yourself, you are misbehaving.
The News/Debate Anchor intervenes, apologises to Ajaz Khan for the misbehavior and demands the same from Teena Sharma. Teena Sharma calms herself down and tries to duck the situation by denying any misbehavior.
Suddenly, Ajaz Khan slaps Teena Sharma, on camera!
Outrageous, Right? Is this scene still amusing? Will you still laugh after the roles were reversed? Now, let us come back to the original question. What was the real reason for the chuckles? - A MAN getting SLAPPED by a WOMAN in public. That's funny. Isn't it? The reverse would be outrageous, but this was funny.
The host demanded an apology from Ajaz Khan for raising his voice, but why was Teena Sharma spared the same when she slapped him? For a raised voice, shouldn't Teena Sharma, or for that matter anyone else, reply verbally? Had it been Ajaz Khan to slap Teena Sharma, the man would have found himself behind bars. I wonder what action will now be taken against Teena Sharma. Nothing and nothing at all justifies physical abuse, regardless the gender of the victim. Sadly, our society identifies only Women as victims of violence and abuse. If a Man complains about physical/mental abuse by a woman, he isn't man enough, and hence shall be laughed upon. Right?
Those who say Love doesn't need a special day to be celebrated, clearly have no clue about how the female mind works. Though no one can fully understand the complexities of a female mind, there are a few basic rules and theories that apply to all, and one of them is - no matter what, a girl or a woman has/gets she will compare it with the other females she knows. If she does not, man, know that you are one of the rare lucky ones. Treasure her more than your own life! why and how does this relate to the Valentines Day? Heres how - No matter how much you care and love her for the rest of the year, which we all do in our own silly ways, she will expect something more on this particular day; and not because she wants to, but because the other women too are getting that special treatment. No, its certainly not enough anymore these days to look at her as if she was magic while she stands in front of the mirror and combs her hair after a bath...or as if she were a great mystery, a beautiful one, when she'd be cooking in kitchen or sitting on the sofa and reading something. It doesn't matter if you carry all the heavy luggage, allowing her to carry only her purse or hand bag nor if you sit besides listening her talk about all the gossip from her work, friends and neighborhood. Your sacrifice of a good cricket game on TV for her Saas-bahu or some other emotional drama daily soap is something that never counts. What? did you say something about spooning? Wasn't that something that you both enjoyed? If you mention that dead arm and the boner that you ignored, looking at her peacefully asleep - you shall receive the one liner - 'All men are Dogs.' Do you celebrate Valentine's day because you want to express your love or because everyone else is celebrating it? Do you celebrate it because you want to tell her how special she is and make her happy or you are afraid that if you don't she might get upset? Do you celebrate Valentine's day because you really love her or because if you don't, you aint getting any tonight?
No, you don't need to answer the questions aloud. If it made you thing for a while, they have served their purpose. A relationship is not something to be celebrated with gifts and pleasantries for a day, but with silent sacrifices and sweet nothings, every minute, every hour, every day for the rest of the life, so that it lasts for the rest of you life.
Since I am a man, and one that likes to observe, I like to think that I know a thing or two about human nature, especially about males. If a man himself is not able to perform well, to make himself look better, he may try to prove other males totally inadequate, sexually or otherwise. 'Overcompensation' is the term used for this kind of behavior. Also, males and females, at times, are known to try and defame the other person when their romantic/sexual advances are not met with welcome and are denied the pleasure. Their ego is hurt when they receive a blow of rejection. I leave it on the sensible readers to take a pick in Mr. Khurshid's case. There may be another case which we may consider. It is quite possible that Salman Khurshid may have confused Elections with Errections. No?
