Why a movie in between

The last movie review seems out placed in between all my serious posts. So, I will explain why this movie was worth writing about. Recently, in Delhi there was a candle light vigil, people marching to 'India Gate' for justice on 'Jessica Lal murder case'. Then, there was another march by common people in Varanasi, after the bomb blast. These two examples, I think fair enough to say that the movie (RDB) has atleast forced people to think and take some action over their nation's plight. People seemed now more then ready to support any protest against corruption and bureaucrat’s high handedness. Though, effect is very small but 'there is something'. RDB's director must be given credit for this. When the movie was finished, some young lads were laughing and shouting, like this movie is just another joke as other movies. While taking my dinner, I heard one lad saying that it's impossible, what they have shown in the movie but in very serious tone. The solution given in the movie for nation's plight was stupid but the questions raised were powerful enough to make people think of what they are doing for improving their nation. It's a good thing, as in India you get more people cribbing then acting their own responsibilities and the movie questioned this attitude. Delhi and Varanasi march show that people are more active for keeping the harmony in society and ready to oppose corruption.

Rang de basanti

After a long time, I finally decided that I should have a break and watch movie. My opinion about most of the Hindi movies is as it should be 'pathetic'. Though, there are always exceptions. 'Dil chahta hain' is one of my favorite movies. After that there were many just missed, half part good, so so, where is the story, another copy. After getting out of campus, watching English movies has also come to a stand still. Free campus LAN, dedicated efforts of many people and their heights of concentration & patience in downloading movies were the main inspiration for me to spending my highly prized 10 hours a day in watching movies. As praise to all their effort, I also dedicated my valuable time in building a movie repository for me which I share with my friends very generously :). Now, alas all that is gone sigh. So, I had decided that there is no point in wasting my time in any theater and also paying for that.

I had read all the great reviews about RDB, some classified as a one of the greatest, well meaning movie, some said bollywood is changing, the hype goes on. Adding to that there was also some extra peer pressure, as one of the guy had seen this movie and described it as movie worth watching. Other friends were also interested in watching RDB, and they wanted my company, more importantly, my credit card for buying the tickets online. I tried to wash my hands by handing over my credit card but my fortune had something else in mind :(. We were not able to get tickets for continuous 3 weekends!!! That’s when I realized, I need to have a check on this.

Finally, yesterday, I was able to book tickets and landed in the theater. I will not here give any detail about my JIT (Just in time) habits, in short, I was able to reach movie hall just 10 minutes late. Movie hall was full and for some surprise there were some babes coming with their father or uncles...!! First sign of my good luck was that being 10 minutes late; I was spared of watching all those jewellery ads with fat models dancing. Movie had already been started and story was just about to start. For all, who don't know about Hindi movies, bollywood's highly talented directors always keep a separation between movie and its story. Sometime they forget one of them, so, you can easily distinguish the ingenuity of director from crap.

As the RDB's story goes, story started very early, though it gave me some indigestion as one of the English actress was speaking perfect Hindi without any hint of different accent. And topping that with also swearing in Hindi!! Though the scriptwriter has kept the censor board happy with slight change of words and the very famous obscenity (Maa ki ..) which frequently appears in all the hindi college goers, came as very polite saying. Movie story then started moving fast with introduction of all the characters in the setting of a posh college, guys driving racing bikes and SUVs and eating in his own family 'Dhaba'. That was still ok, as, we are accustomed to this image of middle class in hindi movies. Still, RDB have some more realistic settings like which I was able to relate as a former :( college goers. There was one huge OAT, which they called classroom (though it appeared as Surajkund), friends competing for beer drinking (that’s a very healthy tradition in all non-banned alcohol states), having a campfire party, then racing on bikes (though not as good as shown in the movie), sardar's canteen joint with broken TV (FTV is another commonality) and general college lingo. I think most of the collegiate can relate to these things.

RDB's story had its own twists and turns, character getting serious sometimes, having a brawl, crying then hugging but all these ended with flirting and dancing. People love happy endings, so the saying goes. Movie was going smoothly till the first half and all the merrymaking of characters was well directed. Second half was a googly. All the main characters became fighters for the people's right, crying aloud on nation's plight and pitfall of democracy. Nation's plight also there in first part but was ignored or very subdued. After death of one heroic character, everyone was marching to 'India gate' and sitting on candlelight vigil. So, from here, story started getting loose. Indians are known for there delusions and are famous for smooth transitioning from reality to dreams and vice versa. Main characters turned killers and then they hijacked one radio center. Movie ended with some hard hitting (though much realistic than all the crap of other hindi movies) dialogues and death of all male main characters, girls were left to cry. Sad end, that’s very uncommon in hindi movies after all.

At the end, I can pin point somethings which were indigestable in the movie, a British lady speaking perfect hindi (kudos to the actress who spend many hours in perfecting her hindi accent), 40+ Amir khan as a young college student (though at one point, he justifies his looks by saying that he has already passed the college 5 years back). Some scenes and dialogues were also loose strings like "Soniya to abhi bacchi" says the uncle Amir, though perfect in real life but the character speaking was a fellow college goers. Amir was crying like all is lost, scene was taken superbly but director forgot to tell Amir to speak less, when you cry so hopelessly, that many words don't come out of your mouth. The laughing break, in the last hijacking scene was also an oddity. Heroism in the last few scenes was looking like someone trying to finish a good work in a hurry. On the plus point, though movie was not perfect at many ends, was able to convey the message successfully. All credits to movie team for putting there sincere efforts, it showed in the movie. Editing was pretty neat and music was also great. So, I finally have to agree with my other friends that this movie is worth your money and time.

Religion again

As I noted down in last post that all religions are started by men, so why do we find females as more ardent religious followers? One common reply may be they want to simplify everything and they don't want to think and argue over a already preplanned solution for faith in god. Though, it suffices for the general perception about women, even I could have agreed to this some years before, when I was in college. But now if I see to this I can attach one more thing to this solution that women don't see the faith in god as essential for their justification of their existence. They simply don't need these god's rationales to feel happy about themselves. They all are already aware that they are crucial for human society. And I think everyone knows this but simply just can't see the connection between these two points. Nature of man is more full of doubts and insecurity. I am not saying from this from only my behavior but from all the friends I have or people I ever have met. Females are always appear more sure about themselves, though they also face the similar doubts about themselves in their teen age but as they grow up, they realizes their importance in society. Whereas, males have to fight, struggle and justify their position and importance in society. I am not saying this rule is followed by all but yes by majority it is. Majority of males find themselves struggling to rationalize their existence, their need to be present their where they are. Females also have similar doubts but they all share one great significant rational that they are necessary for human reproduction and development. Here, again both sexes are necessary for reproduction but female as a role of mother attach themselves to their children much more than the father does. It doesn't mean fathers love their child lesser than mothers but they undertake their responsibilities for complete family by acting as an external interface to society. Human infant also takes a long time to learn and is completely dependent on his/her parents for everything.
Leave aside this parent talk; females do need some more security for their identity as part of a larger group. But instead of depending on only religion, they rely more on social customs. They take religion as part of their customs and stick to it. It may also explain why they are more than ready to customize some new ideology to suit there existing beliefs. They may be credited for incorporating different changes in the religious practices. When you find Christians going to a temple of "Velankani Mata" in south India or Muslims going to the grave of some "Pir" (wondering seers), I really wonder because these customs are prohibited by their religions. Christians usually go to churches and they worship jesus with a pantheon of prophets and saints. Whereas, statue of "Velankani Mata" is dressed as similar to Hindu goddess "Durga" in some places. Even these temples are same as of Hindus. Muslims as per their religion are not allowed to worship any other then "Allah" or "Prophet Muhammad". But if you go to south East Asia or north Africa, local flavors have changed this and you find huge numbers of prophets, seers, "dargah" and other signs of mysticism which is also prohibited in Muslim religion.
The social customs followed are used to define the culture of that region. This is what females try to relate with their identity. Human females form the culture. This idea, I have borrowed from Orson Scott's book "First Meetings in Ender's Universe". In the book, ender's parents have a argument on this context of what define human society. The conclusion they reach was that females form the essential part of human society and males are expandable to one extent. :(

That’s the reason, why most of the societies have male warriors only. Though females also take part in the wars but most the societies try to limit their participation and keep them away from the danger zone.

OK, it means I have to go and fight and girls will rest at home...this is really bad.. :((
Where is human rights and their equality campaign? I want equal rights.

That was a short digression, I guess, most of the people who will realize this truth of human society will give the similar reaction only. So, if a man realizes its lesser importance to his society, what he will do to make himself more secure? The feeling of insecurity give rise to many different kind of aggression focused on females. This is the main cause or repression of females in different societies. To justify their position in society, males tend to repress females and take pride in that.
In past, there were frequent wars and small fights which used to give a let out for male aggression. More importantly, frequent wars used to provide male a chance to prove that he is also important in society. A society in safe haven will have more important status for women, as expandable males are not need for the security of the society. This kind of safe haven is not possible in practical sense as there will be always some danger to the society either from other groups or some other natural causes.

A society, in a highly dangerous region and war prone area, has better balance of power between man and woman. Males have a chance to prove their worth for the society by going in wars and females can do their part in child and home care. They both play different responsibilities which are equally important for a sustainable society. Now, in this society, decrease the number of wars, put some law against fighting, this will reduce the burden on males but insecurity of their cause will pass on this burden on females. Atrocity and repression of females will increase as males try to justify their importance in society. Males will take over all the matters concerning the society and reduce the importance of females in sustaining the society. They will try to limit females in homes and child care. This is exactly what happening in society, today.

In USA and some western countries, history is fully loaded with frequent wars. Even these regions were busy fighting in recent past. Both the males and females were sure of their position in society. Females got more freedom as males were busy killing each other. We can credit two world wars for the freedom females have in these societies. After the wars, imbalance has again come to these societies. No wonder, western decision makers are still pushing for more wars to let their males have chance to show their usefulness.

All people cry for equality but they forget that nature has made man and woman differently and for different responsibilities, and both these responsibilities are equally important for society. So, what’s the solution to remove this imbalance without wars and fights?

In past, European societies used exploration as a tool to decrease this pressure in society. They conquered the world by this way. In present, in the same manner space exploration can be used to reduce the pressure. Again, westerns got this. Space exploration is essential for keeping the balance in the society and keeping all the human equal chance to show their worth for the society. Its human nature to search and explore new horizons, this is the way nature made humans to keep moving, to keep looking.

Religious Fundamentalism

After hearing so many rhetorics on religious fundamentalism, I noted one thing common to all religions. All major prophets, god's incarnations or the persons who are credited for starting new religions are all man. Not a single woman is there who started her own religion.
Anyway, I myself as a fellow male find this thing amusing and. good :). But aren't we missing something crucial here? Religion as normally defined is sharing one ideology or theory of god. Religions have some of their own common customs but these normally cover way of praying to god. Some religions cover some other part of social custom but almost all the social customs which people follow are molded out of there own location and popular thinking of that local region.

Take Christianity, they have one god theory and they define Jesus as son of god, not god but a prophet. They have church as the place of pray. They have a custom of taking siesta which is mostly followed by people in Europe only. There costume is highly dependent on the region's favor. Still, we can define western costume as part of their religion. Though, this dressing is not due to religion but due to westerners influence as they are mostly Christians and new converts easily related Christianity with these people.
I will leave Hindu religion here, as it is the most diverse religion existing now. In Hindu religion, you can choose your god, you have a very wide existing pantheon and even if you are not satisfied with that you can customize your god, religious body after some tussle will accept that and one more to their pantheon. It is same with the old religions which existed anywhere in the world, like roman, Greek, Egyptian or Chinese. All these old religion were and are highly flexible and accommodating to new gods. Other then the list of gods, there are no restriction on a person following these religions. Their way of prayings are different, they believe in many gods and the place they pray has different names.
Muslim religion is compared to other religion is little advanced in the sense that they have broader set of customs defined under religion. They have one god as in Christianity, they have a custom of five times praying, place of worship is called mosque; they have a gathering on Fridays in mosque similar to Christians' Sunday mass. One extra thing added here is their family system.

Other religions, though abhor incest but they are silent over other family issues. In Hindu religion, you have a strict caste system and marriages are allowed inside the caste only. This custom was though a late edition and it was not part of early Hindu religion. In Muslim religion, only clan marriages are allowed, people choose their partners from their close relatives only, meaning their cousins. Incest is not allowed. Dressing is also though not part of religion is influenced by Arabian cultures as this part has almost all Muslim people.
Other religions have a very similar customs, some having a mix of these religions or little bit modernized form. List of gods, prophets, worship place and name varies but other customs which people follow are dependent on that region's history and social evolution. In Christianity we have different sects; in Muslims we have similar variations. One sect pronounce other sects non-religious. These sects effectively cover any conflicting customs which are not suited for a particular region and its social history and modify the new religion for its regional people. So, it’s more of customizing.

Now, what’s the function of religion? It provides counseling services, provide some faith based products which motivate its consumers and help them to give some meaning to their life. It also helps them to justify their existence and give them an identity which is shared by large group. Being part of a larger group helps people feel more secure. Faith in god helps them to restrain themselves from some habits which are harmful for their society. Counseling helps them to recover from day to day problems. It’s a wonderful service product, essential for normal functioning of all human beings in balance with their nature.

Kudos to all people, who invented this product and launched it initially. Like all other service products like education, coaching, healthcare, this product also requires a business like approach. And that’s what all people preaching do. They sell their product and make new customers, help them to differentiate from other non-followers with a new identity, provide a set of rules which help them to justify their existence. Its really a humble experience if I see this as a manager, everything have been executed in highly successful manner. Consider brand management, marketing, sales or operations, religions are best brands we have, they have widest marketing and sales network, their operations are much more efficient than any other company or industry. Now, from this perspective again compare all these religions. In Christianity, they have their headquarter in Vatican City. Though different sects have their own head offices but as for all subsidiaries, main corporate office is handled from Vatican only.

Muslims also used to have their caliph, but they didn't had that strong control as what exercised by pope in Vatican. After the fall of caliph, their corporation is in disarray, all sects are trying to gain more control and they have become weak as a brand. That’s why people from other religion feel free to take a potshot on their customs, its just part of market competition. Also, there are some people who are taking advantage of this condition and trying to modify this company as their own fancies. This is just part of managerial struggle to take the prime position as of CEO. As for any other corporate, decision making body consist of high ranking religious mullahs and they all are trying to prove that they are biggest advocate and ideal candidate for the corporates long lasting culture which is here religious customs.

Human Rights and Plague

Whenever I hear any cry over human rights, images of people dying from bubonic plague appears in front of me. People dying, crying over their loved ones and most importantly, people looking hopelessly on their future. Anyone will ask, why?
Human rights, as defined currently, have borrowed their complete terminology from western European countries. Also, these same countries were the prime victims of plague in 13-15th century. Cities were wiped out, boundaries of countries were changed and people ran around hopelessly from the wrath of nature. It was a brutal slaughter of humans and a harsh reminder of insignificance of humans in front of nature. So, what it did to the people who survived this onslaught!!
There were many reactions. Some found solace in completely submitting their life to the religion which in its false notion gave them hope that they are cared by some supreme being above nature. Some accepted their nothingness and worked to gain some hold, to control nature. Some tried to delude themselves and others by proclaiming authority, people flocked to them as people were looking something to hold on and give them meaning of life. Some even gave up everything and became wanderers and explorers, uncovering the mystery of nature became their life's sole aim.
It was an explosion of ideas, thinking and reasoning. Renaissance started from this, as well colonialism and industrialization. Experimentation and reasoning gave these European an edge over other civilization. As per managerial point of view, for a strong team, trust and respect are most important, the nature provided impetus for the same. Horizon of a person's identification with their clans, town, family, and town expanded. People forgetting their difference, huddled together. Their identity of themselves became dissolved, class difference which existed at that time lost its stronghold and mutual respect, added with individualism dominated the history thereafter. Value of human life increased manifold. People started talking about shared rights of all humans which are natural to a human. Nature of human was considered from their point of view as per that time's thinking and culture.
People realized the difference between the limitations they put on themselves due to their beliefs and faith. Society, controlled by some aristocrats was seen to be a barrier to human's natural growth. New form of society started to evolve which where entry to controlling class was not restricted by birth. That was the dawn of capitalism. Amassing huge capital was a mean to join the aristocracy. Though, its birth was to remove this class difference altogether but this process gave rise to some different classes.