Wednesday, January 24, 2007

'Reality Bites' in guardian 6th feb issue

The big brother racial discrimination controversy has snowballed into an uproar, touching a very raw nerve in multicultural UK. Jade Goody’s eviction by a massive 82% votes shows that her public image has received a massive thrashing, and even though she has been trying to retrieve her public image by interviews and her latest will to visit India it would take some time before the people hurt by her comments would forgive her for the act.
But is the problem Jade or is the issue bigger than just her?
From New York to England, France, Italy, Spain, Ireland, Wales, India, South Africa and Scotland, racism is a reality which we live in and each one of us faces it in some form or the other , just that the protagonist’s keep changing with changing regions. Celebrity big brother has shown us a mirror to what we very proudly and sometimes arrogantly call as a ‘civilized society’.
New York, we are told, is the melting pot of the world and America, the land of opportunity.
Many Americans would like to believe they are a nation that has built its superpower status by throwing its borders and arms open to the immigrants of the world. But is it the case?

In November, Michael Richards, the man who could do no wrong as Kramer in the Emmy award winning Seinfeld, shocked his fans by bursting into a lengthy, racist rant after being heckled by a black audience member during a stand-up comedy performance in LA.

The verbal attack continued for about three minutes. "Throw him out. He's a nigger. He is a Nigger. Look, there's a nigger," he said.

Richards later apologised, but the damage was done.

In Great Britain the word 'Welsh'(meaning the natives of the country of Wales)is Anglo saxon in origin, It's meaning is 'foreigner', So to this day long after the anglo saxons invaded these small islands which belonged to the Celtic tribes, the natives inhabitants are still called 'foreigners' in a dead language in there ancestral homeland. This is very interesting to see where Britsh racism began ,and how this mentality about racial differences manifested itself later in Ireland Scotland and then the vast empire.


As far as India is concerned, it is fighting a battle with herself to move beyond an ugly past. The temples have caste barriers, homes have separate glasses for the men and women who mop our floors and clean our bathrooms, all men who grow beards and wear skull caps may be terrorists, treat the North-east like a separate country comprising people who affectionately call 'chinkis', and when it comes to finding brides for the sons, it is insisted that fair is lovely. Outside India, put all brown folk into one room, and they will even set aside their differences to whisper in snide bewilderment about the ringlet-haired black people whom many of us still call Negroes.
The fact that we have stopped respecting each other is evident throughout the world, Some where on the surface and at some places below the carpet but its existence cannot be ignored.

Now, to the television show itself. Industry insiders will concede (if you catch them drunk) that there is nothing quite as contrived as reality TV. Essentially it's all about human conflict so masterfully manipulated that it looks spontaneous, instead of staged. But think about it — what is natural about locking up a disparate bunch of men and women (usually, has-been starlets or wannabe stars) in an enclosed space and allowing them no contact with the outside world?

It's a show designed for dysfunctional dynamics. And as we all have a sneaking suspicion, even the participants are acutely aware of the need to perform. After all, the longer they get to stay on in the 'house', the more money they make. We, the television viewers, are the masters of their fate, and they can never forget that they are always on stage. It's almost like a striptease artist on display for a voyeur she can't see, but one who not just watches her all the time, but pays her bills as well.
And here's the fascinating bit — when one of the abuses was blipped out on television, everyone thought Shilpa had been called a 'Paki'; actually she had been called a c***. But once that was revealed, no one made too much fuss about it. Why? If this is about ideology, is racism that much worse than sexism? Is being called a 'dog' (which she was) somehow more acceptable than being called an 'Indian'? Whether we like it or not, this is the sort of grossness that apparently makes reality TV both repulsive and rivetting; but it's a baseness innate to the very idea of the show.
Musicians like Birmingham-born Apache Indian (otherwise known as Steven Kapoor) warn against the trivialisation of the racism debate. He writes about leaving England for India since he could not feel at home there. He talks about how "stani" is the latest slur in town, reserved for immigrants from Afghanistan, Pakistan and 'Hindustan'. Nobody paid him extra money for his pains


Racism is serious business. Cheap television is simply good business.
Let's not forget that distinction.

And instead of playing Peeping Toms on some banal television show, let's turn an eye inward . Then, we may find a real reason to be angry

Sunday, January 14, 2007

Black or White- or is it Grey?

'Middle-class Indians love the judiciary. We look upon the sage men in black as new-age incarnations of Walter Raleigh, spreading their robes across puddles of corruption and sleaze and enabling a genteel jump across the muck and the slime.

If someone were to draw up a list of institutions that we still believe in, I suspect only two would qualify — the Indian Army and the judiciary. If soldiers protect the nation’s physical well being, the courts are the gatekeepers of its conscience.' Barkha dutt


Small wonder then that we blindly support every attempt by the judiciary to insulate itself from external control. This is because we believe in the independence of the judiciary.

But should this independence mean freedom from accountability?

It may be a worn-out cliché, but after all these years, it's a question still in search of an answer: who will judge the judges?


Barkha firstly i dont think the Indian Army and the judiciary system are the only 2 institutions we look upto, i personally have lost faith in our Judiciary. Cases like Jessica and Priyadarshini get justice because of a public outcry and media coverage but what about those thousands of cases which go unheard of, cases which come in the news as a flash and then loose sight before even being discussed.I remember a spanish women was raped at Srifort during the Osian film festival a few years back, the police kept giving assurances but nothing happened and so many more cases where our police and then the judicial system have left citizens heads drop in shame.The decisions on Manu sharma and Santosh singh are welcome, but i doubt how much time would this last for,


And on who guards the judicial system? How objective can the judiciary be about itself? Should there not be some external, independent, representation on the council?

It is no one’s case that ministers or MPs must be on the council —

You and I may not believe that a minister, or even a nominee of the President, is above suspicion. But surely, an ombudsman or an elder statesman, or even a group of eminent citizens should be able to find place on such a judicial council? Britain just set an example by appointing a former naval officer as its ombudsman on judicial appointments. Why should any Indian judge resist a similar move here?

But, in a country where the Chief Justice of India is on record saying that at least 20 per cent of all judges are corrupt, there has hardly been any public debate around the provisions of the Bill. The judiciary’s most autocratic weapon — contempt of court — keeps even the normally bulldog-like media meek as lambs. The result: very few cases of judicial corruption ever become public. Most remain hushed whispers in the corridors of power — to be used as useful information to strike an even more useful bargain.

And finally, judges are as human as you and me. In a state where its become the survival of the strongest and justice has been crippled by those who have the power and money hence dictate terms, there maybe its only the common man who can rescue the country.

We need another fight for FREEDOM, non voilent as the Mahatma said but Independence is what we want, from this currupt, polluted , distastefull and unjust SYSTEM........


'I believe that history is never static, and that time and context can alter both meaning and symbolism' Mohan das karamchand Gandhi



SATYAMEV JAYATE

PEACE

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Smell my UNDIES£$")

'RAP_D went for celidh together,
it was hogmanay,
had a feeling it would be special,
Faizan you missed it Re'


'Mein pagal nahi hoon, utrye aur koi aur Taxi le lon tum' thats how it started, Atty's words of wisdom could have meant the trip could have ended before it started but destiny had other things in mind,,,...


The journey to Edinburgh was usual with the never ending calls by Rishab , Athar trying to hit on Dorty and Rajat and Vivian*( censored), i was observing all this meanwhile if you are wondering what was i doin..........

Edinburgh was windy, stormy, rainy ohk all three together with about a hundred exclamation marks, taxi to the international student guest house costed 9£ and he very conveniently told us that he took a longer route because the other side was blocked, i could have reached Bombay( by Air Deccan atleast) for that kind of money.,
After a half an hour of flying here and there we somehow found the exact house at bukloo or bucckloo street whatever it was…….we entered thinking of beer,cigs and girls partying inside with half of Glasgow university there ,trying to make the best use of Calum’s amazing hospitality…….
To our amusement there was D lying on a sofa , a girl reading the newspaper, Calum perpetually smiling and his friend wondering what next to do?....D tried convincing them to leave early so that we could have a pre booze session but Calum being Scottish was adamant not to give us the keys, after a few minutes of conversations and a few lies of using the loo and resting for a bit, D decided to tell them his real idea , Calum smiled and took a glass himself…….Cheers

Good morning/afternoon/evening ladies and gentleman Rap_D present HOP MANY 2007.

A few beers down already D had planned in his mind to get sloshed that night (I think from glasgow itself), R and P had a mission in hand to hug and kiss ( make out :u wish ) with as many girls as we could, Atty was the only one who had come there looking for nothing but a great time come 007, Dorty I think had something in mind which I could never figure out, only her very frequent messaging told me that she had an active sex life which she had left for us, to come and celebrate new years in edinburg but for her misfortune didn’t turn out to be as good as her last night in bed,

We walked a mile to princess street,
To see a few policeman shouting,
Hogmanay has been cancelled due to rain,
Go back home in a taxi(another 10£ aarrghh)

That’s when we decided on Hop many and doing a pub crawl, hoping to visit a lot of pubs, a lot of beer and get lucky hopefully…….
Rishab khanna had till then started looking at all the girls he saw with his goal clear in mind , action sorted ,plan in place, with only Execution to be done(so did I actually), D was already too high to think and A was wondering if we could sit in one pub for over 8 minutes……..

From pub to pub,
We kept crawling,
Till we found a place which was ray,
A French guy with D dancing,
And we took his girls in our tray…..

That was the moment, I have never seen anyone dance with so much Joy, he was loving the challenge(that’s D for you) and trust me would have given goose bumps to most dancers who saw him that day, Rishab me and Athar where busy chatting with girls around and Dorty still messaging ,
We celebrated midnight in the same club as well and it was one Moment, they played their ritual Celidh song and we guys went bizzerk when the clock hit 12……
With a few more dances by D (with other people now) we thought of going to a new club now, Rishab had started his kissing and hugging till then, and if someone had filmed it, we could have sold it as a soft porn,
Attar on the other hand was laughing his guts out at the weirdness of D and sometimes me and Rishab.

Dorty thought enough messaging,
Lets go back home re,
D thought we should go drop her,
And she misses the morning bus ,we all prayed….

Me and rishab went with Dorty for the longest walk of my life , in between hugging anyone whe met and distributing cigarettes for Barter..:D,….after about 2 hours of all this we went around looking for a club where we met, Rajat and Vivian dancing Cozy and called D who had Given Attar an experience of his life, where he had learned never walk ALONE with a drunk friend …….The most amusing was that he left him on a bench and came to us, and after about 15 mins of conversation ,with a very straight face said ‘I left him on the bench!!!!' ,,,hhahahhaha it was hilarious, and i could only imagine Amitabh batchchan of Sharabi that time- man ,on the road ,dancing- drunk….

We went back searching for D, and………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………he is sitting with a women telling him stories about Assam, Rishab and Attar had given up on him and so had I ,so we decided to move ahead and grab a few more hugs before the night finishes…

We ate fish and chips,
It was 4 in the morning there,
Walked to the bus stand ,
To find it closed he he he

Rishab wanted to pee and found paying 1£ too expensive for it, D’s idea of using the car as a shield didn’t work as it left half way…..Im sure it did not embarrass him, not at that night at Edinburg………

We made D sleep in an ATM, yes we DID that, and after chatting we went and had coffee at the bus station which had opened till then….

To put Icing on the cake Dorty came to the station and we were seen hiding faces and when caught, she asked us--

Dorty: is the bus coming?

Attar:no(looking at rishab)

Dorty:but your friend had tickets?

Pranay:uhhh.....ya but he is not picking his phone

Dorty:is there coffee here?

Rishab:poisin it!!!!(to pranay)

But it worked out,
And we all got in the bus safe,
We sang all the way through,
To most people’s disgust as I say………….


We lived a dream together, woke up walking strength to strength, came back with memories….it was one ‘HELL OF A NIGHT’……..

ps-Thanks guys for a really special hop many and for friendship (read brotherhood) for all times to come,……………………….



LOVE

for more read http://phoren-se.blogspot.com

Monday, January 08, 2007

Madness is Love

Madness is Love

instead of studying for my exam which is about 3 hours from now i have been thinking of plays and theatre all night(its 4 in the morning now)...and to top it all i think of blogging......a close friend had once told me

There is always some Madness in love,
but there is also some reason in that Madness....

in the search of myself i have been going through some astounding findings, at first i thought i love theatre then i thought na its the love for Art then came culture now ,,,......

i think its creativity

i love something which is my own, something which has been created by me, something which i can call Original,

I love dreams and fantacy as long as you follow them, its just one life and so much to do, so much to see and achieve …….hahhahh if you go by slayer
‘In the depths of mind insane, fantacy and reality are all the same’
its hard to see it in the ‘Real’ world context with everyone doing the push and pulls of the modern world for surviving,,,

I don’t know if dreams come true
Don’t know if I would get through
When I would see light,
I would miss the night

Its been a long walk,
With more miles to be hopped
As long as I believe in myself,
I am sure the road would end

Dreams are meant to be chased
So that we can help create
A new definition of height
To make the world more bright

Love can make you go nuts,
It can make your brain map bust
But what is life without Love?
















EMPTY……



Psychopath, Psychopath
Psychopath Psychopath
Psychopath Psychopath

Going for caffiene and some Nicotiene,