HAIL MODI or HATE MODI?

My take on Narendra Modi...

Gujarat elections are just a month away  and Modi has become a hot topic in almost every social gathering.The very name Narendra Modi invokes extreme reactions from people. I either meet people who are Modi fanatics or who have a strong dislike for this man. The kind of responses Modi evokes sometimes surprises me. Everytime there is a discussion about this man, I don't know what to make of him. I can neither support him nor can I completely disregard him. 

I wonder whether it is actually possible to have a stance on Modi. I wanted to learn more about him. The more I read, the more I was confused. I came across articles which called him an 'agent of change' and in the very same article he  was called the 'merchant of death'. Some spoke of his landslide win in the 2007 elections and some about how he had weaved his magic in Gujarat. With development as his Mantra, Modi definitely is a firebrand leader. His quick decision making abilities and the way he attracts business into his land is a truly remarkable lesson that every CM should learn.

Having said all this...Can Modi be called a complete leader? For me the answer is NO! He has been called as a mass murderer for his complacency during the Godhra riots. Instances from the Naroda patiya and gulberg society massacres are horrifying.I dread to even imagine something like this happening in my state. It's unfortunate that this firebrand leader was unable to stop the violence from escalating. Vibrant Gujarat now was once a bloodied Gujarat. It's shocking that Modi also had people like Maya Kodnani as the minister for child and women welfare in his cabinet. Sigh! 

It is important to live in the present. He has to be lauded for the changes that he has brought into Gujarat. But a black mark like the godhra riots can never be washed away from Modi's political career. 

For a minute, forget the Godhra riots and look at Modi... he surely is the leader that every state craves for. From political stablity to development, this man has literally transformed Gujarat. But, is it really that easy to forget?

With elections just a month away, I hope the aam aadmi in Gujarat is not as confused as I am. I guess they know what's best for Gujarat.

My addiction to F.R.I.E.N.D.S

It's 1 AM and I just finished watching the first episode of Season 5 of Friends. After watching five episodes back to back, I had to force myself to stop. I could just go on and never stop...

A few years ago, F.R.I.E.N.D.S was one of those shows which all my friends watched and I didn’t . I did watch a few episodes here and there, but was never addicted to it. How I wish I was!

‘Friends’ has become my new addiction. In spite of watching not less than six episodes a day, I still crave for more. With every episode the excitement just doubles and the addiction gets worse.
When compared to all the other shows that I watch, ‘Friends’ definitely holds a special place. Here are the reasons-

1.The simplicity of the plot: Six characters, two apartments and a coffee shop. It definitely is not a piece of cake to make the everyday lives of six ordinary people this interesting. Every episode starts with a monotonous everyday activity like breakfast together, watching TV or simply ‘hanging out’ together. After you watch three to four episodes of F.R.I.E.N.D.S , you crave to have a ‘central perk’ right below your apartment or you want friends like Joey and Monica. It definitely is a task to write about mundane things like getting a duck as a pet, going for an audition or just having coffee. The bottom-line is that the simplicity of the plot simply makes the show more enjoyable.

2.The Characters: Writing a show with one protagonist is difficult. Imagine writing a show with six protagonists. I wonder how the writers pulled it off. Each character is so neatly sketched out. None of the characters are similar to each other in any way, be it in profession or in personality. It’s amazing to see equal importance given to all six characters. The characters are so defined that an independent show can be produced with each of them.

I realised that I am addicted to the show when I started looking beyond the show. I started reading about the show, I wanted to know more about the characters, I watched bloopers on youtube. I couldn’t get enough of it. I started to look at things the way Joey or Phoebe would. Being a cleanliness freak myself, I could totally connect to Monica. I wanted to crack witty jokes like Chandler. I started relating everyday events to instances on the show.

Ah! I am addicted. I wonder what will happen once I finish all ten seasons.

This post is for all those people who love this show 

Back from a break

It has been an hour since I sat in front of my laptop to pen something down. I write a sentence...Pause...I go back to Facebook. I look at some of the status updates, comment on a few and raise an eyebrow about the rest. I minimise my FB page and an empty word document stares at me. Facebook can really be a distraction when you are trying hard to concentrate on a task which you have wanted to start for a while now.

I visited my blog after a year today. It was almost like I had forgotten my blog address. Having a blog of my own was something that I desperately wanted when I was in college. It was a perfect platform to write every thought that crossed my mind. For almost a year or two, I did write very regularly. Today when I visited my blog, I was disappointed to see that I haven’t updated my blog for a year. It looked lifeless. I wanted to write.

I decided that I don’t need a special or an interesting topic to write about. I just had to WRITE. I did not have a topic in mind but I still wanted to write.

Writing is one of those things that I love doing because it makes me feel good. It makes me want to write more. Now that I have some free time for a while, I have decided to write regularly.

So my new mantra is to write as often as possible. Write everyday if possible 

What part of DO NOT LITTER don't you understand?

I was waiting for an auto right outside office. I saw a man- around 24 years of age- walking towards the shop where I stood. My quick impression about him- good looking, sophisticated and seemed well educated. With a ciggy in one hand, he was engrossed in a phone conversation with someone. I must say, he had quite an impressive way of talking. I saw him ask the shop guy ' Bhaiyya, ek chewing gum '. I saw him tender the exact change. Then... He disposed off his cigarette, tore the chewing gum wrapper away and carelessly threw the wrapper on the road.

END OF STORY!


In spite of a dustbin being right there, that man did not bother to throw the wrapper inside the bin. Somepeople may not find anything unusual in what he did. But for me, my impression about him completely changed. 'I dont care' act of throwing away the chewing gum wrapper was a big NO NO to me. Pure irritation is what I felt when he did that. It might just be a small piece of wrapper that he threw, but it's still TRASH. Irrespective of whether it is an empty can of coke or a small piece of tissue, Trash is Trash.

Sometimes your very own friends who are as educated as you are, who talk about philosophies and ethics...Such sophisticated people are also among those who litter our roads and footpaths. It's not just the pan eating common man who spit and throw garbage on the road. Our so called 'High class' people dont mind rolling down their windows and disposing their empty bottle of aquafina right in the middle of a national high way ( Mind you! It does not happen only in ads, it happens in real).

I can bet that the very same people will never do such a thing in a foreign country. Just because there no punishment here, it does that give you the right to throw wherever and whatever? Is it really that hard to find a bin and dispose it appropriately? It definitely is not. If you cannot do something as simple as this, you have no right to complain about the roads and footpaths being dirty.

Upsurge

After having watched an entire day of coverage of anti corruption movement , I logged into facebook to check what was happening. I was surprised to see that almost all status messages were about the jan lokpal bill and anna hazare's fast unto death. Very strong messages abusing politicians, supporting the jan lokpal bill and slogans about corrupt free India. My question was, why has everybody become an activist all of sudden? Where were all these anti corruption messages when the scams broke out?

For all those people who posted slogans about the Jan lokpal bill, my question to them-

1 have you even bothered to read the provisions in the bill?

2. Do you even know what the bill is all about?

3. Do you know the differences between the government version of same bill and the Jan lokpal bill which is being demanded?

The problem with my generation or the youth is the instant knee jerk reactions. There was a euphoria among people about this mass movement. For some people, it was mostly follow the crowd mentality, ' everybody is supporting and I want to support too'. Hold on! Do you know what you are supporting? It is the sudden sentiments of the people that triggered the upsurge. But for how long will these sentiments last? A few years may be!

I might sound very pessimistic, but let's face it, a completely corrupt free India is a utopian idea. Jan lokpal bill is a positive step, but let's not forget that the bill has its own flaws.

BEING HEARD

I waited at the Dhabha impatiently for my order to be heard. ‘Ajay bhaiyya, ek plate roti’I shouted. No reply! Noticing that he did not take heed of what I said, I shouted again! Again no response. I grew impatient and restless... I wanted to be heard!

‘Being heard’ is the new game that everybody wants to win. Every person, be it in class or in an everyday situation, wants to be heard. But, what’s the big deal if you are not? Does it matter? Unfortunately it does. It matters because if you aren’t heard you aren’t noticed. And in the media industry, if you aren’t noticed, you don’t exist. You like it or not, it’s an inconvenient truth that we end up accepting.

For instance, what is it that we do during our guest lectures and newspaper sessions? We vie with one another to put forth our questions and opinions. We do it for two reasons, firstly for the obvious reason that we want to stand above the rest and secondly because we want to be heard and noticed.

Can one be ‘heard’ and ‘noticed’ by having an opinion about every other thing? Why is it that some people have extremely strong reactions which makes them heard? As a journalist is it good to be intensely opinionated? These questions popped up in my mind during one of our newspaper sessions. A mention about Tibetans in India resulted in a heated discussion with exchange of strong opinions and emotions. I questioned myself; Am I strongly opinionated? I was unsure of the answer. Does taking a stance on every issue play a role in being heard and noticed? I hope it does not!

Does this happen only within classrooms? Definitely not! Look around, you will find it happening even in our news stories. From Ayodhya verdict to appointing of Kashmir interlocutors- the idea of ‘being heard’ is a part of news. Why were the interlocutors appointed to resolve the Kashmir issue? So that the opinion of every cross section of the Kashmir society could be heard. To resolve an issue every side of the story should come to the fore.

So, the question is, is it important for us to be heard and noticed by everyone? Not necessarily. We just want the prominent one’s to hear and keep a notice of us. For instance, When Dr Roy came to class, each of one of us wanted to put forth our questions. We wanted to be heard and noticed by Dr Roy. Unfortunately, when most of us couldn’t get a chance to ask our question, we felt it was unfair. When even one party is left out, the concept of being unnoticed and unfair comes in.

Talking about fairness, all of us at some point during these three months of our course have felt that we were treated unfairly. During our dope sheets most of us were unhappy with what we got. We try to find meaning behind the prejudices that some people have which makes us feel that we have been judged wrongly. There is a possibility that people do judge you wrongly when you are actually right. This happens not only in class, it happens in the media as well. For instance, when Barkha Dutt was questioned by four journalists for her role in the Nira Radia tapes, she mentioned that it was wrong and unfair to judge her as corrupt without giving a chance to put forth her side of story. Is it unfair? Yes definitely, because her side of the story was not heard.

In these four months, I have realised that if you want to be noticed and heard you have to be loud and clear. It’s important to make your presence felt. When you are noticed people form an opinion about you. But then, I question myself again, does it really matter what others think of you? It doesn’t. But guess what, as I step into office every day, the other part of me does feel that you are only noticed on the basis of what others think of you.

Being twenty one!

Confused yet focussed, lonely yet surrounded by people, confident yet unsure!

Contradictory phrases aren’t they? I believe, that’s how every individual between the age range of 20 and 23 feels. When I discussed the same with a close associate of mine, he forwarded a mail which described this whole feeling of insecurity as quarter life crisis.

This is the period where we get to know ourselves better. We realise that in spite of enjoying people’s company, at times we really want to be left alone to ponder about questions that are unanswered. We like the freedom away from home but still crave for family. We want to feel independent but don’t want to be left alone.

Change is an inevitable part during this period. It becomes difficult to handle it because there is no way we can avoid the change. We desperately want to rewind and re live lives that we had a few years back. We want to go back to our comfortable cocoons than face the realities of life. But unfortunately there is no way that we can go back; we are left without an option other than moving on! We face the change, we accept it (without a choice) and we learn to move on.

The whole transition from that of a lazy college going student to a person with a certain amount of seriousness towards life is quite challenging. We start becoming more concerned and serious about how life would be after the next two years. We start thinking more in terms of what exactly we want from our career. We start questioning some of the strongest beliefs that we’ve had for years now. Acting immature no longer seems fun. We want to make a space where we can place ourselves and feel good about it. In short, the journey to make an identity for oneself begins.

It’s definitely the most crucial and difficult phase in life. But these ups and downs make life more interesting and challenging.
So, this post is dedicated to all those people who are going through ‘quarter life crisis’. Laugh and live through it! Everything will fall in place someday 