Thursday, November 29, 2012

Death of a Robot?




After all most four years, the curtail finally came down upon a life. Last four years Ajmal Kasab lived a life without a home but many name except his own, a terrorist, a gunman and a Jehadi. Everyone, including his country, his peoples and his handlers, disowned him. However, for India, crores of taxpayer money spent to keep him alive so one fine morning he can walk to the gallows healthy with his last word ‘Allah Maf Karna’ (Oh God, forgive me). All these four years he was getting envious hospitality under strange condition. Every Indian whoever experienced that sixty horrible hours of Mumbai carnage wanted him dead. I am not a saint, I too wanted him dead may be wanted more horrific than something he died. However, when one morning I read about his execution there was not much happiness or joy that I felt or there was not any reason for which I felt like celebrating. Mater of fact I felt little other way and I was shocked by my mindset and my remorse. May be the cause was that the news was so unexpected and came from nowhere or may be I was not among those peoples who lost their loved ones. After all, I am a human and do not clam to a human with high quality but one with some simple values. We all are human indeed and not the animals who were planned calmly, then remote controlled these young innocent peoples and guided them to act as a demon. No religion tell their people to kill the innocent one. It is an act of madness. During his only one on camera interrogation, when asked the meaning of ‘Jehad’, his reply was blunt, a primary school dropout had no idea about it, he said he was doing it because he believed he was going rewarded handsomely by his handler. Pakistan is always safe heaven for these thugs and fund unlimited as oil reach countries are certainly very generous for these purpose. However, the time will arrive when everyone going to repent for creating these monster. The combo of  USA Government and Osama Bin Laden, set a perfect example.

Kasab was born in Faridkot, Pakistan to a family belonging to the Qassab community. Hailing from a poor family, his father could not provide him with new clothes on Eid, so he left his home in 2005, engaging in petty crime and armed robbery with a friend. In late 2007, he and his friend encountered members of Jama'at-ud-Da'wah, the political wing of Lashkar-e-Taiba, distributing pamphlets, and was persuaded to join. Kasab was found guilty of 80 offences, including murder, waging war against India, possessing explosives, and other charges. The trial court sentenced him to death  and the death sentence was upheld by the Bombay High Court as well as  was upheld by the Supreme Court of India. It was all over for Kasab when his  plea for clemency was rejected by President Pranab Mukherjee.

Kasab was shifted from Mumbai’s Arthur Road Jail to Pune on November 19. He was taken on a special flight late at night and whisked off to the Yerwada jail. “He was escorted by senior officers of the Crime Branch, commandos of the Quick Response Team and officers of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police. The team reached the jail in the early hours of Monday morning. Few jail officials were aware of the identity of the prisoner. In a top secret operation, 25-year-old Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving gunman of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, was hanged in Pune’s Yerwada Central Jail at 7.30 a.m. on Wednesday,21st November 2012.

Kasab described by the media with many names apart from his own, as a pawn, a robot and a puppet yet he have to pay the price for the crime he committed but only after brainwashed by his peoples who are sitting at the back and enjoying their life, a Kasab means nothing to them.

!!!Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.-Martin

Thursday, November 22, 2012

The Tiger who Roared from his Den!!




This post cannot be termed as tribute to Bal Thackeray as I cannot pay respect to him like others I mentioned in my blog. My personal feeling is that the celebrities who were present there were not for the respect but performing their duty or having some personal interest. I have some mixed feeling about him and by writing so I may hurt my Maharashtrian friends but I cannot hide my feeling for the sake of it.  The main reason why I never regarded him to fit for due regards because his lack of respect towards women. We can forget some of his ridiculous and derogatory remarks against prominent women like Mrinal Gore, Sonia Gandhi and others. Then because they way he and his clans always behaved as if they are the ruler of Mumbai. For me nobody is bigger than the country we live in and the integrity of our motherland is more important than the vested interest. Barring twice, when he have to travel to Lucknow for some legal dispute, Bal Thackeray never set his foot out of Maharashtra and the reason for it best known to him only. He mainly voiced his sermon from his home Bandra, Dadar Shiv Sena Bhavan and Shivaji Park. Very often he travelled to others part of Maharashtra and those were too during various election campaigns. However, there is no doubt that he was a good cartoonist, equally good orator and having great sense of humour. Once during the facilitation ceremony of Lata Mangeshkar he mentioned himself as ‘Asur’ while comparing himself to Lata. ‘Asur’, can be termed as a person who lack musical sense but also have other meaning too, ‘a monster’. Therefore, I agree with former chief justice of India Mr. Katju that “He lived with the anti-national ‘sons of the soil’ (bhumiputra) theory to create a vote bank for himself.

Balasaheb Keshav Thackeray

Balasaheb Keshav Thackeray born in 23 January 1926 in Pune. Thackeray began his professional career as a cartoonist with the English language daily the The Free Press Journal in Mumbai, but left it in 1960 to form his own political weekly Marmik. His political philosophy was largely shaped by his father Keshav Sitaram Thackeray, a leading figure in the United Maharashtra movement, which advocated the creation of a separate linguistic state of Maharashtra. Through Marmik, he campaigned against the growing influence of Gujaratis, Marwaris, and southern Indians in Mumbai. In 1966, Thackeray formed the Shiv Sena party to advocate more strongly the place of Maharashtrians in Mumbai's political and professional landscape. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Thackeray built the party by forming temporary alliances with nearly all of Maharashtra's political parties.

The posterboy of rightwing Hindu and Marathi chauvinism, he never plunged into electoral politics and never contested any polls. Thackeray was also the founder of the Marathi-language newspaper Samana. Thackeray's famous comment to Time magazine after the demolition of the Babri Masjid was a vituperative "Kick'em out!".  The anti-Muslim stance fuelled by the demolition led to Mumbai's worst-ever riots in December 1992-January 1993. It continued for another two months in some small pockets, followed by the retaliatory March 12, 1993, serial bomb blasts in the city. These incidents were largely responsible for catapulting the Shiv Sena to power in Maharashtra in the 1995 assembly elections.

In 2002, Thackeray issued a call to form Hindu suicide bomber squads to in response to Islamist suicide bombers and other violence. In response, the Maharashtra government registered a case against him for inciting enmity between different groups. Thackeray has attracted controversy for his praise of Adolf Hitler. Thackeray harped on emotive issues like "Mumbai for Marathis" and "jobs for sons of soil"

On various reason I cannot write a tribute to Bal Thackeray and I am happy that I am no longer stay in Mumbai. At least, I can express my thought freely without being arrested. I wondered what happened to the Maharashtra Police, sad to see that once highly regarded police force acting so amateurish like a personal body guard.



!!!Legacy cannot bought or left by an external force, only remain by leaving unaccounted goodness!!!

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Mother of all Election!!



It was 1977, since when I started following USA presidential election. That was between democrat candidate Jimmy Cater and Republican Gerard Ford. However, the current concluded presidential election had it all. Until last phase, Mitt Romney was edging over Barack Obama but it was Sandy (the cyclone) which left peoples of New York and New Jersey under neck deep water but it rescued Barack Obama and finally gave him the second chance.

Barack Hussein Obama

Barack Hussein Obama,  born August 4, 1961, is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office.

Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Obama is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School. He served three terms representing the 13th District in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004, running unsuccessfully for the United States House of Representatives in 2000.

He received national attention during the election and primaries of the 2004 U.S. senate in Illinois which he won, and his keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. After a close race in the 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries, he won his party's nomination against Hillary Rodham Clinton. In the 2008 presidential election, he defeated Republican nominee John McCain, and was inaugurated as president on January 20, 2009. Nine months later, Obama was named the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

As president, Obama ended U.S. military involvement in the Iraq War, increased troop levels in Afghanistan, signed the New START arms control treaty with Russia, ordered U.S. military involvement in Libya, and ordered the military operation that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden. In May 2012, he became the first sitting U.S. president to publicly

United States Senator from Illinois
Personal details
Born
Barack Hussein Obama II
August 4, 1961
Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
Political party
Democratic
Spouse(s)
Michelle Robinson
Children
Malia, Sasha
Alma mater
Occidental College
Columbia College
Harvard Law School
Profession
Community organizer
Lawyer
Awards
Nobel Peace Prize


Willard Mitt Romney

Willard Mitt Romney, born March 12, 1947, is an American businessman who served as the 70th Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007. He was the Republican Party's nominee for President of the United States in the 2012 election.

Raised in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, by his parents Lenore and George W. Romney, Mitt Romney spent two and a half years in France as a Mormon missionary starting in 1966. He married Ann Davies in 1969. Romney had participated in the political campaigns of both his parents.

By 1993, Romney had begun thinking about entering politics, partly based upon his wife Ann's urging and partly to follow in his father's footsteps. He decided to challenge incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy, who was seeking re-election for the sixth time.  Romney changed his affiliation to Republican in October 1993 and formally announced his candidacy in February 1994. In addition to his leave from Bain Capital, he stepped down from his church leadership role in 1994. Elected Governor of Massachusetts in 2002.  Romney did not seek re-election in 2006, instead focusing on his campaign for the Republican nomination in the 2008 U.S. presidential election. He won several primaries and caucuses but lost the nomination to John McCain as he withdrew from the race and ultimately endorsed McCain. In 2011, he began campaigning for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, eventually winning enough caucuses and primaries to be nominated with his chosen running mate, Representative Paul Ryan.

70th Governor of Massachusetts
In office  January 2, 2003 – January 4, 2007
Personal details
Born
Willard Mitt Romney
March 12, 1947
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Political party
Republican
Spouse(s)
Ann Romney
Alma mater
Brigham Young University
Harvard University
(MBA, JD)
Profession
Management consultant, Venture capitalist, Private equity
Positions
Cofounder and CEO, Bain Capital
CEO, Bain & Company
CEO, 2002 Winter Olympics Organizing Committee 

Expense
Spending on the 2012 U.S. presidential campaign was the highest ever, soaring beyond $2 billion as independent fundraising groups financed advertising to promote their favored candidates. Notwithstanding a weak economy, the 2012 general elections was the most expensive in US history, costing a whopping USD 6 billion, with the presidential race alone accounting for USD 2.6 billion.

Polling Data
Poll
Obama (D)
Romney (R)

Final Results
50.5
47.9
Obama +2.6

!!!Pity, Spending billions only for accusation and allegation that too only in the name of Election Campaigns!!!

Thursday, November 8, 2012

A Dream Merchant – Who Sold Unlimited Love!




We are week away from the release of “Jab Tak Hai Jahan”, Yash Chopra’s last work. I was travelling when I came to know about his sad demise. I am not a big film buff but I am certainly a fan of most his work. He was one of the rare gentleman and great human being that we could found in a place like Bollywood, other name came to my mind was the late Balraj Sahani. It will be unfair if I doesn’t pay a little tribute to him.

Yash Chopra was born on 27 September 1932 in Lahore. He was a film journalist but then initially worked as an assistant director to I. S. Johar, and then for his director-producer brother, B. R. Chopra. Chopra received his first directorial opportunity in 1959 with the social drama Dhool Ka Phool, produced by his elder B   .R. Chopra. Yash Chopra made another hard-hitting social drama, Dharmputra,  which was one of the first films to depict the partition of India and Hindu fundamentalism. The film marked the debut of Shashi Kapoor in a fully fledged role and was awarded with the National award for Best Feature Film in Hindi. Theatrical screenings of the film were disrupted by violent demonstrations in response to its raw depiction of the partition riots and related sloganeering. 

Chopra's collaboration with his brother continued in the form of the 1965 film Waqt, the film became a commercial and a critical success. One of his best work was 'Ittefaq',  a suspense movie based on a Gujarati play, depicting the events of a single night with Rajesh Khanna in the lead role. Shot in a month and on a low budget, the film was deemed unusual by critics as it was one of the first Hindi films which did not have any songs or an interval. it was eventually declared a semi-hit at the box office and won Chopra another Filmfare award for best director. In my opinion it was the one of his best work.

In 1971, Chopra founded Yash Raj Films, thus terminating the creative collaboration between him and his brother. His first independently produced film Daag. He then made a number of classic cult films starring Amitabh Bachchan and scripted by Salim-Javed notably Deewaar and Trishul which were great hits and remain popular even today. These films set the trend for the late 70s and 80s, establishing Bachchan as a superstar, in his role as the angry young man. Chopra won yet another Filmfare Best Director Award for Deewaar. Chopra produced, directed and scripted two more films starring Bachchan, unlike his earlier action oriented films, the two cinematic outings were romantic dramas, First, it was Kabhi Kabhie in 1976 followed by Silsila in 1981. Chopra was responsible in shaping Shah Rukh Khan's career. He made Darr, Dil To Pagal Hai, Veer Zaara and last one Jab Tak Hai Jahan with Shah Rukh Khan. Yash Chopra was known to often cast the same actors in his films. His most famous collaborations being with Amitabh Bachchan, Shashi Kapoor and more recently Shahrukh Khan and Rani Mukherji.

My personal choices are Ittefaq, Chandni, Deewar, Kabhi Kabhie  and Trishul.

Filmography

As Director :

Dhool Ka Phool, Dharmputra, Waqt, Aadmi Aur Insaan, Ittefaq, Daag, Joshila, Deewaar, Kabhi Kabhie, Trishul, Kaala Patthar, Silsila, Mashaal, Faasle, Vijay, Chandni, Lamhe, Parampara, Darr, Dil To Pagal Hai, Veer-Zaara, Jab Tak Hai Jaan.

As Producer :

Daag, Kabhi Kabhie, Doosra Aadmi, Trishul, Noorie, Kaala Pathar, Silsila, Nakhuda, Sawaal. Mashaal, Faasle, Vijay, Chandni, Lamhe, Darr, Aaina, Yeh Dillagi, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Dil To Pagal Hai, Mohabbatein, Mujhse Dosti Karoge, Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai, Saathiya, Hum Tum, Dhoom, Veer-Zaara, Bunty Aur Babli, Salaam Namaste, Neal N Nikki, Fanaa, Dhoom 2, Kabul Express, Ta Ra Rum Pum, Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, Chak De India, Laaga Chunari Mein Daag, Aaja Nachle, Tashan, Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic, Bachna Ae Haseeno, Roadside Romeo, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, New York, Dil Bole Hadippa, Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year, Pyaar Impossible, Band Baaja Baaraat, Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge, Mere Brother Ki Dulhan, Ladies vs Ricky Bahl, Ishaqzaade, Ek Tha Tiger, Jab Tak Hai Jaan.

!!!Hope his family carry on his legacy with same dedication and conviction!!!