It all seems like the Indian art cinema movement has come alive with the making of such sensitive movies like Aamir and now Mumbai Meri Jaan which deal with present day issues like terrorism and cultural & religious cliches. The latter has been the subject of much discussion in the media for its strong portrayal of the Mumbai train blasts of 2006 – branded as India’s 7/11. It’s to be noted that Mumbai is one of the few cities of the world that has repeatedly been in the eye of storm. On the one hand is the human saga of hardships and the rigor that the Mumbai lifestyle is bound to guarantee. On the other is the repeated assault on its self-confidence and dignity which the citizens have bravely overcome through their high spirits.
August 2008
A Question of Language
Are we taking our Marathi baana (pride) too far? a few weeks ago I reluctantly accompanied my friend who is a native of Kanpur to the MSRTC (ST) bus depot. He wanted to reserve a ticket for Nashik. Before I go further, I want to clarify that my friend is an educated MBA and a computer Engineer from a reputed institute and not the typical Paraprantiya (outsider) that one would associate with North Indians. Anyway, with his credentials in mind I didn’t know what the fuss was about and why was he asking me to come along? shouldn’t it be easy for any commoner to negotiate from the time-table, pay the exact fare and get his reservation done?! I realised how wrong I was in my logic.