My Hero! I love Shah Rukh Khan
1. He has the cutest boyish smile – and the twinkle in his eyes Oooooh! I normally go for the hot muscular bodies but something about the guy just works for me.
2. He is non-filmy and comes through as fairly grounded – even though he is this huge larger-than-life hero
3. He is a good father and a family man
4. Oh Did I mention his good looks? ~ never mind, it can be repeated
5. He’s versatile, like the papplu that makes the winning hand. You can pair him with any leading lady from Kajol and Shilpa to Anoushka and voila – you have a hit
6. You can watch him in brooding intense roles as the hockey coach of a woman’s team and it works, you can watch him as a shy dude or a cold and unscrupulous Don, it works
7. Oh did I mention the boyish dimpled smile – oh I did – never mind
8. He is from Delhi and that is nice
9. He proudly proclaims that he is a Joru Ka Gulam, that is so refreshing! He comes through as humane and normal. Either he is a damn good actor or is genuinely grounded and balanced.
10. But most of all I love him for the way he has refused to back down in face of the bully boy tactics of Raj Thackeray and his tribe.
I love his Badshahi Andaaz here
Article from Bollyspice
This is Shah Rukh Khan’s request to those threatening to stop the screening in India of his latest movie My Name is Khan releasing next week. At the London press conference on Wednesday, King Khan was quizzed about his stand and candidly spoke about it. “As a Hindi film hero who’s given an iconic status, it scares me to say anything. Our stakes are very high. I want to apologize to Karan Johar, Kajol and the MNIK team because what I say and believe is going to affect their work and I have no idea how to change that.”
His recent comments supporting Pakistani cricketers playing in India has cause right-wing organisation Shiv Sena to threaten the screening of his film in Mumbai. They have even burnt effigies of the actor as well as Aamir Khan who has the same stand.
In the past although his colleagues have apologised to Shiv Sainiks, Shah Rukh has a different approach to it. “I really don’t know what the issue is about and what do I need to apologise for. Am I supposed to retract to I’m an Indian but I don’t want anyone to come to my country?”
This incident has also affected Shah Rukh emotionally. “When a film releases, you are tensed but highly excited and I work for that excitement. But this time I am just sad and it is not jetlag.”
Amitabh and Jaya Bacchan apologised, Karan Johar apologised. I never understood why. But Shah Rukh took a stand! I truly love and respect him for this!
If I were Empress of the World
Of course in my own eyes I already am! But public opinion bhi maangta hai na!
Well if I were the Empress here is what would happen
1. Window Shopping would be classified as aerobic exercise. So would sex.
2. The entire globe would be wi-fi enabled and no one would pay for internet
3. The entire world would run on solar energy and people using fossil fuels and trying to make money out of selling essential stuff like food, water and power would be thrown in jail. I’d take them out of the dungeon on a day I was bored and have them try to kill each other. GO NINJA GO! (I would like to classify jeans, shoes, tees and sweaters as essential too, but kuch zyada ho jayega!)
4. Similar would be the fate of people trying to make money out of other people’s misfortunes like disease and death
5. But special treatment would be meted out to rapists, child abusers, people who are intolerant, people who are bestial and cruel and curb other’s religious and personal freedom. They would be put into padded cells in lunatic asylums in solitary confinement. I think they’re nuts anyway ….. They could wither away frothing in the mouth and talking to themselves.
6. I am getting increasingly disillusioned and angry with the recent Shiv Sena attack on Shah Rukh Khan over IPL. These bully boys have to be stopped. If I were Empress, those pricks from Shiv Sena would already be in solitary confinement where they could not spew their poison. The people from the media who are giving them a platform to spread their poison would be in dungeons awaiting their duel to death for my entertainment and the Govt would be sent to the hospital to be physically castrated. They are morally and spiritually eunuchs anyway, since they allow this nonsense to be replayed again and again.
Mumbai 26/11 revisited
Once you fool me, shame on you
Twice you fool me, shame on me
In a way 26/11 was some kind of a rude awakening for us in India. We realized that we could not rely on people we had elected to lead us. We do not have true leaders. We also realized that we grossly neglect people who are actually going to protect us.
This is a lesson we should keep revising, otherwise we are going to be in trouble.
I think 26/11 hammered the final nail in the coffin of the Raj Thackeray types. There is no taker for the Marathi Manoos kind of philosophy. Our forces are secular and they are the guys who are going to be our armor against terrorism. We have a person from Chennai or Rajasthan who will protect us in Mumbai …. some one from Maharashtra who will protect us in deep south.
Another thing that I feel has happened is that we grew up a bit. Its rather like kids squabbling in the yard for a bigger share of candy, and they suddenly find that a bully is attacking the yard itself! We can no longer take comfort in the fact that we are a huge country. We have internal divides so deep – they need to be patched up. Cynical politics will ensure that the rift remains.
With China breathing down our necks right now, and the fact that we have never made friends with our other neighbors, we are isolated!
Another lesson we learnt was that the leadership failed miserably. We do not have adequate systems in place. Our democratic system ensures that the lowest common denominator is the winner ….. and we have bad leaders, chosen on a whim or a populist basis.
We had years, nay, we had centuries of apathy in us. Not our fault. We’ve been ruled by foreigners for a long long time. So we have never been participatory in the running of our country.
We need to be participatory. We need to question, to demand accountability. People join the politics for certain reasons you know. Of course self improvement and money is a biggg factor. But somewhere in their minds is also a desire to do something for the country. Unless we raise our voices, give them our feedback, how do they know that they work they are doing is adequate or not? That they measures they take are reaching us or not? We should not wait for the polls to give our silent and often shocking feedback.
I think the change has started …. it remains to be seen how effective it is. Ours is a vast and overpopulated country. But 26/11 left hardly any one untouched ……
The ripples started, and they should not be allowed to die down ….
Edited to add ….
Do check it out
I am Cowgirl, I am Indian … MIND IT!!
Signs that the above holds true for me …. or any other right thinking Quick Gun Murugan person in vilayti guize or not!
1. Designates time of the year by pickles – Summer = Mango Pickle, Winter = Gobhi Shalgam pickle, Autumn = Nimbu Pickle, any other season mirchi pickle and mixed pickle
2. Can eat pizza like roti, you know with fingers, tearing up bits and dipping into the sauce it comes with – after dosing it generously with chilli flakes
3. Can eat dosa with fork, knives and spoons, you know, slicing pieces and forking it into the sambhar that comes with it, and spooning it into the mouth
4. Has a Pavlov syndrome : Say Bedekar, Murukku, Mathi, Samosa and the mouth waters. One does not even have to see it for the watering to start. This syndrome attacks out of country Quick Gun Murugans more acutely than the home bound desis
5. Suffers loss of appetite if asked to eat dal chawal with cutlery and thinks eating mango with cutlery is sacrilege
6. Head automatically bows down when passing any temple, church, gurudwara or the like
8. Will look at people from same community with disfavor specially if they are richer than you, and people from other communities with total suspicion
9. Will be completely superstitious but show the world that they dont believe in mumbo jumbo – but say Shani and they take cover
10. Can accomodate and adjust – to anything potholes, power cuts, water shortage, kachra, stray cows, but the moment you say anything against Ma, Behn, Baap, God they will riot
11. Think Katrina is the desi equivalent of gori mem
12. Think Priyanka is better because she is desi
13. Thinks weddings are social outings
14. Thinks visiting temples in far off places is vacation
15. Visits the neighbourhood temple to catch up with news of the colony
Feel free to add more
We are like this only Part 3
This hilarious article was written by an Expert from Baan, Netherlands,after having spent two years in Hyderabad. I salute the writer! Havent laughed so hard in the past few days. Definitely needs to be on my blog!
DRIVING IN INDIA
Driving in India For the benefit of every Tom, Dick and Harry visiting India and daring to drive on Indian roads, I am offering a few hints for survival.
They are applicable to every place in India except Bihar, where life outside a vehicle is only marginally safer.Indian road rules broadly operate within the domain of karma where you do your best, and leave the results to your insurance company
The hints are as follows:
Do we drive on the left or right of the road?
The answer is “both”. Basically you start on the left of the road, unless it is occupied. In that case, go to the right, unless that is also occupied. Then proceed by occupying the next available gap, as in chess. Just trust your instincts, ascertain the direction, and proceed. Adherence to road rules leads to much misery and occasional fatality. Most drivers don’t drive, but just aim their vehicles in the intended direction.
Don’t you get discouraged or underestimate yourself except for a belief on reincarnation, the other drivers are not in any better position. Don’t stop at pedestrian crossings just because some fool wants to cross the road. You may do so only if you enjoy being bumped in the back.
Pedestrians have been strictly instructed to cross only when traffic is moving slowly or has come to a dead stop because some minister is in town. Still some idiot may try to wade across, but then, let us not talk ill of the dead.
Blowing your horn is not a sign of protest as in some countries. We horn to express joy, resentment, frustration, and romance or, just mobilize a dozing cow in the middle of the bazaar.
Keep informative books in the glove compartment.
You may read them during traffic jams, while awaiting the chief minister’s motorcade,or waiting for the rainwater to recede when over-ground traffic meets underground drainage.
Occasionally you might see what looks like a UFO with blinking colored lights and weird sounds emanating from within. This is an illuminated bus,full of happy pilgrims singing bhajans. These pilgrims go at breakneck speed, seeking contact with the Almighty,often meeting with success.
Auto Rickshaw (Baby Taxi): The result of a collision between a rickshaw and an automobile, this three-wheeled vehicle works on an external combustion engine that runs on a mixture of kerosene oil and creosote. This triangular vehicle carries iron rods, gas cylinders or passengers three times its weight and dimension,at an unspecified fare.
After careful geometric calculations, children are folded and packed into these auto rickshaws until some children in the periphery are not in contact with the vehicle at all. Then their schoolbags are pushed into the microscopic gaps all round so those minor collisions with other vehicles on the road cause no permanent damage. Of course, the peripheral children are charged half the fare and also learn Newton’s laws of motion enroute to school.
Auto-rickshaw drivers follow the road rules depicted in the film Ben Hur, and are licensed to irritate. Mopeds: The moped looks like an oil tin on wheels and makes noise like an electric shaver.It runs 30 miles on a teaspoon of petrol and travels at break-bottom speed. As the sides of the road are too rough for a ride, the moped drivers tend to drive in the middle of the road; they would rather drive under heavier vehicles instead of around them and are often “mopped” off the tarmac.
Leaning Tower of Passes: Most bus passengers are given free passes and< during rush hours, there is absolute mayhem. There are passengers hanging off other passengers, who in turn hang off the railings and the overloaded bus leans dangerously, defying laws of gravity but obeying laws of surface tension. As drivers get paid for overload(so many Rupees per kg of passenger), no questions are ever asked Steer clear of these buses by a width of three passengers.
One-way Street: These boards are put up by traffic people to add jest in their otherwise drab lives. Don’t stick to the literal meaning and proceed in one direction. In metaphysical terms, it means that you cannot proceed in two directions at once.So drive as you like, in reverse throughout, if you are the fussy type. Least I sound hyper-critical, I must add a positive
Rash and fast driving in residential areas has been prevented by providing a”speed breaker”; two for each house. This mound, incidentally, covers the water and drainage pipes for that residence and is left untarred for easy identification by the corporation authorities, should they want torecover the pipe for year-end accounting.
Night driving on Indian roads can be an exhilarating experience (for those with the mental makeup of Chenghis Khan). In a way, it is like playing Russian roulette, because you do not know who amongst the drivers is loaded. What looks like premature dawn on the horizon turns out to be a truck attempting a speed record. On encountering it,just pull partly into the field adjoining the road until the phenomenon passes. Our roads do not have shoulders, but occasional boulders. Do not blink your lights expecting reciprocation.The only dim thing in the truck is the driver, and with the peg of illicit arrack (alcohol) he has had at the last stop, his total cerebral functions add up to little more than a naught.
Truck drivers are the James Bonds of India, and are licensed to kill.
Often you may encounter a single powerful beam of light about six feet above ground.This is not a super motorbike, but a truck approaching you with a on, usually the left one. It could be the right one, but never get too close You may prove your point posthumously. Of course, all this occurs at night,on the trunk roads. During the daytime, trucks are more visible, except that the drivers will never show any Signal. (And you must watch for the absent signals; they are the greater threat). Only, you will often observe that the cleaner who sits next to the driver, will project his hand and wave hysterically. This is definitely not to be construed as a signal for a left turn. The waving is just an statement of physical relief on a hot day. If, after all this, you still want to drive in India, have your lessons between 8 pm and 11 am-when the police have gone home and – The citizen is then free to enjoy the ‘FREEDOM OF SPEED’ enshrined in our constitution.
Having said all this, isn’t it true that the accident rate and related deaths are less in India compared to US or other countries!!??
Citizen Action by bloggers
I got a letter from our very own IHM, and decided to do my bit about this isssue instead of sitting on my backside moaning about the system. We are the system truly
I decided to given this website very evocatively named Never Forget 26.11.08 some international webbie love
I request you all to visit the article so that it stays on the top and google can get to it.
I also request you all to visit the website www.neverforget.in and do your bit for our country.
Thanks 1conoclast, it is a tres magnifique effort.
Pride India
I got this today in my mail and wanted to share it. We owe them – big time
Pride India
Smita (Bhatnagar) Sahay
December 13, 2008
This happened a year ago. I was travelling by train from Indore to
Mumbai. I had just concluded a hectic six day workshop at one of the city’s premier schools.
As I stowed my suitcase under the aisle berth, I looked forward to a good night’s sleep.
The coach was an A.C 2 tier, and the four passengers in the coupe were already in their seats. Two men, two women. Perfect.
One of the men, the younger one, looked a little weird, I thought. His face was a little lopsided, with the symmetry slightly askew. He had very short, almost crew cut hair.
Not wanting to stare, I hung my handbag on the peg above my berth, and settled down on it. I then pulled out my mobile phone and dialled my husband’s number to give him a “sit rep”(’situation report’, in naval parlance. My conversation, alas, is peppered with service terminology, which is the direct result of being in the company of service personnel-my father, father-in-law, and now, husband).
While I was on the phone, three well built young men came in and plonked themselves on my seat. Asking my husband to hold the line, I looked enquiringly at them. One of them pointed to the berth above mine, signalling that it was his. I nodded and went back to my conversation.
As I spoke, the three, while laughing and joking amongst themselves, slowly started hogging up more and more of the berth, while I shrunk more and more into one corner, until I reached the extreme limit of shrinking. Extremely cramped, I cut off my phone conversation, and declared to the three that I wanted to lie down and would they please move out?
One of them pointed to a notice stuck above the berth that said that passengers could use the berth to lie down only after 9 p.m. Until then everyone had to sit.
Before I could give a fitting reply, several of which were on the tip of my tongue, and without my realising it, the young man with the lop sided face was beside me. In a very soft, calm manner, but with a cold gaze, he asked the three to get up and move to the next coupe. The three men looked at my ‘rescuer’, one of them looked ready to say something, but one look at the young man’s eyes, and they quietly moved out.I turned around to thank the young man, and his “Not at all, Ma’am”, gave away, to me, his profession.
“Are you in the services?”
“Yes, Ma’am. Infantry. Came to Mhow for a short course.”
“My husband’s in the Indian Navy. My father and father-in-law were both in the Army.”
One question led to another, and our conversation soon turned to the current situation in the country, and especially in Kashmir.
By now our co passengers had joined in. None of them had ever been north of Delhi, and they more than I, wanted to get a firsthand account of how bad things were in the valley.
The Army Major (whose name I shall not disclose) then held us spell bound for the next couple of hours with his experiences, of which a few are mentioned here.
As a young officer, his first day in the unit was also the first time he killed a man (a militant), that too at close range. After the incident was over, he was distraught, and it was the care and counselling of his seniors that brought him out of his depression.
He spoke of the utmost trust and camaraderie that he shared with his unit members, which was more valuable than any money in the world, because that was what their lives depended on.
Like a true soldier, he also spoke of values and just behaviour, even towards the enemy. Once during the Kargil war, his unit had surrounded a post occupied by Pakistani soldiers. They fought fiercely, and finally overcame the enemy. The Pak soldiers, though in mufti, fought with all their medals on, as they knew they were going to die, and wanted to die a true soldier’s death. After it was over, the Indian Major had his men identify the soldiers from their I- cards, and sent a letter to their unit in Pakistan praising them, requesting that they be honoured accordingly. It was later learnt that the request had been carried out.
His own face was lop sided because it was shattered by shrapnel during the Kargil conflict. He had a rod in his back and legs, which is why he could not offer his lower berth to one of the lady passengers.
He was full of praise for the Army doctors, who reconstructed his face, and “made it almost as good as new”. We all asked him what his family had to say about his new face.
“My wife and six year old daughter feel I look more handsome now”, he said with a laugh.
He said the toughest job was to flush out militants holed up in houses in villages. (I was reminded of this while watching the recent Mumbai carnage).
“It’s a game of extreme patience and vigilance. The exercise takes place mostly at night and entire villages are cordoned off for the task.”
While the army personnel grew more experienced at tackling them over a period of time, the militants too became smarter.
“These days they aim not for the chest or head, but for the thighs,
where the main artery is located. At times, if a soldier injured in the thigh is not rushed to medical help immediately, we risk losing him.”
I listened spellbound, my sleep long forgotten. I could see the other passengers similarly engaged; horrified, but unable to break away. It was almost an ‘ancient mariner’ kind of scenario.
At one point I asked him whether he had received a bravery award for all he had done.
“No Ma’am.”
“Why not?”
“Ma’am, if the Army had to give out awards to everyone who has done what I did, they would soon run out of medals. ”
His answer stumped all of us. What we thought of as extraordinary bravery was in fact an everyday and routine affair for most Army personnel in Kashmir and other insurgency-hit areas.I sat quietly, reflecting on a real life example of selfless service.
“What motivates you people?”, asked one of my fellow passengers.
“Love for our country, its people, and pride in being an Indian.”
This simple statement brought out the goose pimples on my arms. I remembered how as a child whenever we went to see a movie, the National Anthem played at the end, when we all stood up to attention. Independence Day and The Republic Day were never holidays meant to sit at home, but to go out and march and hoist the national flag. “Jai Jawan Jai Kisan”, was the slogan that popped out almost everywhere, worshipping the two different kinds of people who protected and respected Mother Earth.
We still need these two people, one to feed us and the other to protect us.
“Love for our country, its people, and pride in being an Indian.”
I’m sure each one of us has the same pride buried somewhere deep down inside. Its been in the attic of our minds for far too long. It’s time we brought it out, dusted it, and displayed it proudly in the mantelpiece of our hearts, so we can see and feel it with every beat, and have our actions governed by it on a daily basis.
“Jai Jawan, jai Kisan, jai Hind.”
Smita (Bhatnagar) Sahay
W/O Capt P Sahay (Indian Navy)
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