Kamal in CHAKPAK.COM
Jan 31, 2008
Mithun: A paradoxical Phenomenon
India is a very mysterious land and it is also just as varied. You have more than 100 languages and as many racial equivalents. In a land so rich it is absolutely impossible to find any chance of agreement on any single issue. The query here is who would be crowned the best star actor in this culturally rich diversity. The names that spring to your mind are many. There is Sanjeev Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan, Rajesh Khanna, Kamal Hassan, Dilip Kumar and finally Mithun Chakraborty, not to exclude Uttam Kumar the predecessor king of Bengali cinema. Now no one can deny they need to see how the racial question divides India. The northern Indians have never accepted either Bengali or Southern male stars, whatever the persona or talent. While Hema Malini,`Vyjanti Mala and Sharmila Tagore have ruled the box office, no one other than Mithun from regional cinema has ever made into the top three coveted male star positions, as far as box office is concerned never mind the artistic merits of Pyar Jukhta Nahin and Disco Dancer, they were super hits. Mithun Chakraborty defies this so called bigotry as he was born of regional cinema and then despite his Bengali accent and looks, became one of the top most star in mainstream Bollywood without having to resort to the charity or support of Yash Chopra or Ramesh Sippy. Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan made their super hits and all the quality movies with Sippy’s or Chopra’s. In this way Mithun is a paradox and enigma, as he was labelled a poor man’s Amitabh, despite Jaya Bachchan saying in 70s that he was more talented than Amitabh Bachchan and that is on record. Now looking at the resume no other actor has a movie like Mrigaya-The Royal Hunt, and no one ever will have the courage either in Hollywood or Bollywood to attempt that, in fact it seems to have inspired Apocalypto, it’s a tribute to Mrinal Sen, Mithun Chakraborty and Mamta Shanker, which is unique in the world of cinema, even if you disregard the three national awards he won on the basis of his talent, rather than by influencing the jury’s like Hum Tum and Black, which has become rife today, in fact national awards have become a joke in last few years, but he and Sanjeev Kumar won them when they were genuine. Hum Tum was a second rate version of Harry Met Sally done by a second rate Sharukh Khan copycat Saif Ali Khan, who landed a national award just as Amitabh Bachchan did in Black, a copy of Miracle Worker the great movie about Helen keller from the 60s, if anyone deserves an award in black it’s the child artist who some how managed a natural performance despite the pretentiousness which engulfed black. How this award was attained only god can answer that question or the jury. Mithun Chakraborty has proven himself in multi-starrers like Ghulami opposite Dharmendra and Naseer Uddin Shah and in Hum Paanch too, where he was the best again. But also he has the versatility to play a romantic hero as in Prem Pratigya one of the best romantic movie on Indian screen opposite Madhuri Dixit, and that is what deserves to be called a love story, not the designer monstrosities that the Chopra’s make in the name of love. I have yet to see Amitabh Bachchan play a romantic lead himself convincingly. In Kabhi Kabhie and Silsila all he did was frowning and brooding over lost love, in Bemisaal and Jurmana he was angry , name one love story like Aradhana or Amar Prem or Safar where any emotion of love has been ever been expressed by him convincingly in any movie. He was the angry young man of the 70s and had comic timing and his physique suited action roles, which were very popular in the 70s and 80s, but name any great love movies and you, come up with zilch; Kabhi Kabhie belongs to Rakhee, Shashi Kapoor, Sahir and Khayyam. There is no doubt whatever anybody says about Mithun Chakraborty’s dancing talent. He was the best and still is the best dancer Hindi screen has produced. Whether it is ethnic or disco dancing he has always been superb. Just watch him in Zeehale Muskin the song from Ghulaami or song from Disco Dancer. They are all done by him stylishly and flawlessly. Kamal Hassan can dance but Rajesh didn’t even try neither did Dilip sahib, as for Amitabh Bachchan he copied the steps from Albela and Mootilal in every movie, at least he has the grace to admit it, but look at it today, Hrithik is the best now and he can do about five steps which he repeats in every movie hilariously. Mithun chakraborty was never cast by big movie houses he had to content himself with the so called B- grade cinema, yet he made gems like Ghulaami, Prem Pratigya, Gudia and Jallad. His bilinguality is another asset, while no one can deny the richness of Bengali cinema and its diversity, no Hindi actor has contributed to that, but Mithun has to Hindi cinema, that’s a compliment to him and an asset for Hindi cinema. The only other actor from India to rival him is possibly Kamal Hassan with Sadma and Ek Duje Ke Liye but his movies have never got the popular Bollywood appeal and he only appeared in a handful, unlike Mithun Chakraborty who is still working in Hindi mainstream like Elaan and Chingaari, despite Mani Ratnam and Amitabh Bachchan trying to discredit him in Guru he still managed too give the best performance in the fist half. The second half is comprehensible to only people who have no clue as to how a screenplay should be written as the journalist of Madhavan and Mithun chakraborty totally disappear in the second half which was a paradox in itself, as the script seemed to indicate the movie was a battle between the immoral industrialist Guru and the honest journalists Madhavan and Mithun Chakraborty. To glorify Abhishek Bachchan, Amitabh Bachchan had to dub this incompetent actor very shabbily, in an awfully unrealistic speech from a stroke ridden man, Amitabh Bachchan didn’t even give any consideration to the fact that a man suffering from a stroke would be dysphasic or stutter or stammer, he went on his Baghban like sermonising while Mr Ratnam, the director has been left to be a laughing stock at the expense of the Bachchan's, I wonder what Mr Ratnam’s got to say for himself as I believe Mithun Chakraborty has raised some serious accusations about his role being ripped off, which is obvious as he and Madhavan are absent from the court scenes all together, what an idiosyncrasy and how convenient for the Bachchan’s. I feel more sorry for people like them rather than Mithun who has a rich resume with movies like Gudia which were in competition in Cannes (not a single other stars has that merit,) and Titli which again won numerous international awards world over. While Gudia and Titli might not set the Indian box office on fire, their artistic merit like Mrigya-The Royal Hunt is unquestionable. Finally can I inform you that in 1987 a Russian magazine voted Mithun Chakraborty as one of the sexiest men on the planet, I think the only other actor is Dharmendra who was voted so by Italians in the 70s. So much for the North Indian bigotry as to Mithun as a second rate to Amitabh Bachchan, in fact I would think Mr Bachchan should take a bow to Mr Chakraborty and learn a few things from Mrigaya, Gudia and Titli rather then keep making second rate remakes of Hollywood classics like Miracle Worker and godfather as Sarkar and Black, after all it is originality which is immortal rather then even a master fake. I hope this is not taken as a racial or linguistic comparison. I am talking of the talent of an individual rather than creed or religion, language or age.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Time to Think
Outsource Parliament
22 Oct 2008, 0017 hrs IST, Jug Suraiya
Is it time we outsourced our Parliament? With a global recession looming, the need of the hour — as Wipro CEO Azim Premji has stressed — is for every
one, from companies to governments, to be lean and mean. If parliamentary sessions are anything to go by, our MPs are far from being either when it comes to getting on with the job: this year Parliament has met just 32 times (instead of a desirable minimum of 100), the lowest number of sittings since independence. Parliament costs the country Rs 440 crore a year to run. Or rather, to dawdle. This apart, there’s the incalculable loss of cost overruns thanks to legislative delay. Even when Parliament does meet, the event is more akin to a three-ring circus than to a meaningful attempt to tackle the huge and complex problems that beset the world’s most populous democracy: the well of the House is stormed; epithets and more tangible missiles are freely hurled. In a new twist to parliamentary theatre, a Bodo MP from Assam reportedly attempted a ‘striptease’ in the House in order to address — or undress — the issue of intercommunity clashes in the state. At this rate, the Union Cabinet might well redesignate itself as the Union Cabaret. How much longer can we continue to afford such literally criminal dereliction of national duty (125 MPs in the current Lok Sabha are so-called ‘history-sheeters’, and have a record of crime)? Taking a tip from Indian Premier League cricket which sources the best players from around the world, irrespective of nationality, suppose we were to have an Indian Parliamentary League comprising legislators from across the globe with tried-and-tested credentials in honesty and efficiency. Far from being a surrender of our sovereignty, a return to foreign rule, such an arrangement would in fact give Indian voters greater global choice in selecting their representatives. More choice means more democracy and more, not less, freedom. India could have a dream team of legislators which could include an Obama or a McCain (depends on who wins and who loses the US presidential race), a Clinton (Bill or Hillary, take your pick), and a Sarkozy (Carla, not Nicolas). As with all BPO operations, our new Parliament would be elsewhere, i.e. not in India. This alone would entail a huge cutting of costs in terms of ministerial housing. Currently, each mantriji’s Lutyens’ bungalow in New Delhi is valued at over Rs 150 crore. With ministers, along with other MPs, having been outsourced, all this super-prime real estate could be encashed to fund public coffers. The country would also save a vast amount of money on foreign junkets made by our parliamentarians. As all of our new IPL representatives would already be in foreign parts (from where they’d conduct our parliamentary proceedings via teleconferencing and the internet) all those expensive VIP (Visiting Indian Parliamentarian) trips abroad would be obviated. Our new VIPs — Videshi Indian Parliamentarians — would also not require the large-scale security bandobast that disrupts traffic for hours at a stretch and makes daily life a misery for the common citizen. With the IPL VIPs physically located far from New Delhi, the local police would no longer have VIP protection as their first — some would say their only — priority and perhaps could spend some time on preventing and solving crimes. There’s only one snag in the scheme. It’s a truism that all people get the government they deserve. What if our dysfunctional Parliament is nothing more — and nothing less — than a true reflection of the innate anarchy of our Indian ethos in which the rule book exists for one purpose only: that each and every rule in it be flouted, the more flagrantly the better? Would our videshi parliamentarians succumb to anarchy by association and become as unruly as the present lot? That’s the rub. As the old joke goes, when Lee Kuan Yew boasted that in two years he could turn Bihar into Singapore, Lalu responded that in two weeks he could turn Singapore into Bihar. He might have added: And in two days Bihar could turn Lee into a Lalu.
22 Oct 2008, 0017 hrs IST, Jug Suraiya
Is it time we outsourced our Parliament? With a global recession looming, the need of the hour — as Wipro CEO Azim Premji has stressed — is for every
one, from companies to governments, to be lean and mean. If parliamentary sessions are anything to go by, our MPs are far from being either when it comes to getting on with the job: this year Parliament has met just 32 times (instead of a desirable minimum of 100), the lowest number of sittings since independence. Parliament costs the country Rs 440 crore a year to run. Or rather, to dawdle. This apart, there’s the incalculable loss of cost overruns thanks to legislative delay. Even when Parliament does meet, the event is more akin to a three-ring circus than to a meaningful attempt to tackle the huge and complex problems that beset the world’s most populous democracy: the well of the House is stormed; epithets and more tangible missiles are freely hurled. In a new twist to parliamentary theatre, a Bodo MP from Assam reportedly attempted a ‘striptease’ in the House in order to address — or undress — the issue of intercommunity clashes in the state. At this rate, the Union Cabinet might well redesignate itself as the Union Cabaret. How much longer can we continue to afford such literally criminal dereliction of national duty (125 MPs in the current Lok Sabha are so-called ‘history-sheeters’, and have a record of crime)? Taking a tip from Indian Premier League cricket which sources the best players from around the world, irrespective of nationality, suppose we were to have an Indian Parliamentary League comprising legislators from across the globe with tried-and-tested credentials in honesty and efficiency. Far from being a surrender of our sovereignty, a return to foreign rule, such an arrangement would in fact give Indian voters greater global choice in selecting their representatives. More choice means more democracy and more, not less, freedom. India could have a dream team of legislators which could include an Obama or a McCain (depends on who wins and who loses the US presidential race), a Clinton (Bill or Hillary, take your pick), and a Sarkozy (Carla, not Nicolas). As with all BPO operations, our new Parliament would be elsewhere, i.e. not in India. This alone would entail a huge cutting of costs in terms of ministerial housing. Currently, each mantriji’s Lutyens’ bungalow in New Delhi is valued at over Rs 150 crore. With ministers, along with other MPs, having been outsourced, all this super-prime real estate could be encashed to fund public coffers. The country would also save a vast amount of money on foreign junkets made by our parliamentarians. As all of our new IPL representatives would already be in foreign parts (from where they’d conduct our parliamentary proceedings via teleconferencing and the internet) all those expensive VIP (Visiting Indian Parliamentarian) trips abroad would be obviated. Our new VIPs — Videshi Indian Parliamentarians — would also not require the large-scale security bandobast that disrupts traffic for hours at a stretch and makes daily life a misery for the common citizen. With the IPL VIPs physically located far from New Delhi, the local police would no longer have VIP protection as their first — some would say their only — priority and perhaps could spend some time on preventing and solving crimes. There’s only one snag in the scheme. It’s a truism that all people get the government they deserve. What if our dysfunctional Parliament is nothing more — and nothing less — than a true reflection of the innate anarchy of our Indian ethos in which the rule book exists for one purpose only: that each and every rule in it be flouted, the more flagrantly the better? Would our videshi parliamentarians succumb to anarchy by association and become as unruly as the present lot? That’s the rub. As the old joke goes, when Lee Kuan Yew boasted that in two years he could turn Bihar into Singapore, Lalu responded that in two weeks he could turn Singapore into Bihar. He might have added: And in two days Bihar could turn Lee into a Lalu.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Live Within Your Means....
Hi!
Look... What I have Got for you...
By Emily Wax The Washington Post
October 15, 2008
GURGAON, India — With her flowing hot-pink Indian suit, jangly silver bangles and perky voice, Bhumika Chaturvedi, 24, doesn't fit the stereotype of a thuggish, heard-it-all-before debt collector. But lately, she has had no problem making American debtors cry.For the past three years, Chaturvedi has been a top collection agent at her call center, phoning hundreds of Americans a day and politely asking them to pay up.
With the U.S. financial crisis plunging Americans into debt, her business is one of the fastest-growing sectors in Indian outsourcing. It also is one of the few sectors of outsourcing in India that is still aggressively hiring.Sitting in a narrow cubicle, her headset switched on, Chaturvedi listens every night to increasingly disturbing tales of woe from the other side of the globe."My mortgage payments are just too high, honey. I just can't make the payment this month," a weeping woman with a Southern accent recently told her in response to a call for a $200 credit card payment. "I'm sure y'all heard about the credit crunch and gas prices. I'm flat broke."
"Ma'am, I am here to help you," Chaturvedi calmly said. "Maybe you could make a small payment, $100 or $50, anything that you can."Few places in India absorb and imitate American culture as much as call centers, where ambitious young Indians with fake American accents and American noms de phone spend hours calling people in Indiana or Maine to help navigate software glitches, plan vacations or sell products.
The subculture of call centers tends to foster a cult of America, an over-the-top fantasy where hopes and dreams are easily accomplished by people who live in a brand-name wonderland of high-paying jobs, big houses and luxury getaways.But collection agents at this call center outside New Delhi are starting to see the flip side of that vision: a country hobbled by debt and filled with people scared of losing their jobs, houses and cars."Lately, 25-year-old Americans are telling me that they are declaring themselves bankrupt," said Chaturvedi, raising her eyebrows in shock. "These days the situation is so emotional, so fragile. We have to have so much empathy and patience.""It's like people are totally drowning," said Omkar Gadgil, 24, who goes by the alias Richard Rudy and was a math major in college.
He is brainy and considered the office expert on the intricacies of debt collection. "There has just been years of overspending and now, the crash," he said.In the past, debt-saddled customers often were annoyed by Chaturvedi's calls from the open-air office at Aegis BPO Services. But now they seem depressed, defeated. Even men sob into the phone, several agents said.Chaturvedi's ability to work deftly around the standard line, "The check is in the mail," is now being challenged by clients throwing out new responses: "How do you expect me to pay? This is the worst crisis since the Great Depression."Chaturvedi, using the pseudonym Carol Miller, said she has never seen it so bad. Many of the young employees say they are flabbergasted at just how widespread the financial ruin appears to be.
Talking to so many anguished Americans has taught these agents a lesson: Live within your means.
Look... What I have Got for you...
By Emily Wax The Washington Post
October 15, 2008
GURGAON, India — With her flowing hot-pink Indian suit, jangly silver bangles and perky voice, Bhumika Chaturvedi, 24, doesn't fit the stereotype of a thuggish, heard-it-all-before debt collector. But lately, she has had no problem making American debtors cry.For the past three years, Chaturvedi has been a top collection agent at her call center, phoning hundreds of Americans a day and politely asking them to pay up.
With the U.S. financial crisis plunging Americans into debt, her business is one of the fastest-growing sectors in Indian outsourcing. It also is one of the few sectors of outsourcing in India that is still aggressively hiring.Sitting in a narrow cubicle, her headset switched on, Chaturvedi listens every night to increasingly disturbing tales of woe from the other side of the globe."My mortgage payments are just too high, honey. I just can't make the payment this month," a weeping woman with a Southern accent recently told her in response to a call for a $200 credit card payment. "I'm sure y'all heard about the credit crunch and gas prices. I'm flat broke."
"Ma'am, I am here to help you," Chaturvedi calmly said. "Maybe you could make a small payment, $100 or $50, anything that you can."Few places in India absorb and imitate American culture as much as call centers, where ambitious young Indians with fake American accents and American noms de phone spend hours calling people in Indiana or Maine to help navigate software glitches, plan vacations or sell products.
The subculture of call centers tends to foster a cult of America, an over-the-top fantasy where hopes and dreams are easily accomplished by people who live in a brand-name wonderland of high-paying jobs, big houses and luxury getaways.But collection agents at this call center outside New Delhi are starting to see the flip side of that vision: a country hobbled by debt and filled with people scared of losing their jobs, houses and cars."Lately, 25-year-old Americans are telling me that they are declaring themselves bankrupt," said Chaturvedi, raising her eyebrows in shock. "These days the situation is so emotional, so fragile. We have to have so much empathy and patience.""It's like people are totally drowning," said Omkar Gadgil, 24, who goes by the alias Richard Rudy and was a math major in college.
He is brainy and considered the office expert on the intricacies of debt collection. "There has just been years of overspending and now, the crash," he said.In the past, debt-saddled customers often were annoyed by Chaturvedi's calls from the open-air office at Aegis BPO Services. But now they seem depressed, defeated. Even men sob into the phone, several agents said.Chaturvedi's ability to work deftly around the standard line, "The check is in the mail," is now being challenged by clients throwing out new responses: "How do you expect me to pay? This is the worst crisis since the Great Depression."Chaturvedi, using the pseudonym Carol Miller, said she has never seen it so bad. Many of the young employees say they are flabbergasted at just how widespread the financial ruin appears to be.
Talking to so many anguished Americans has taught these agents a lesson: Live within your means.
Friday, October 10, 2008
DRONA or DARAWANA
Hi !
Drona has been released and the hype has been punctured. The way the movie was projected, that is First Super Hero who is here to save the world,First Super Hero with a lady Body Guard; whose Body is guarded by the Super hero himself most of the times, the CGI created special effects and the Joco-serious Villian , with the Jocker attitude and the our Mogambo type costume.....
It was all messed up. Nothing worked..I was convinced from the veery beginning that DRONA would be the greatest Blunder of 2008. C'mon man, Abhi.. doesnt have that X factor ... that persona that guides the audience to the theatres... The Movie has been the delight of the C grade theatres,the very next week; the theatres who are busy all the year round with "Jawani Ki Jalan" type movies.
Infact, Nothing could have saved DRONA.The film lacked the heart of any movie and that is the story.. You cant fool the people again and again by the CGI created shit, when hell lot of Hollywwod is released in Hindi these days, after all they cant create the MAtrix or attempt Lara Croft..then why the shit , again and again, I wonder.
This film should have been made on a 20 cr budget. It could have been achieved by having LESS CGI, more comic book mode, a few more people instead of the awful waste of effort on the Riz Rizaida persona, and instead of Prague a village setting for Drona’s growing up. This would have made the film less of a liability and perhaps even more appealing.
This is what the Boxofficeindia.Com comments:-
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Drona looks set to incur huge losses the sort which have never been witnessed before. The film has a budget of 50 crore and release costs of about 6 crore taking the total cost to 56 crore.
Drona has been released and the hype has been punctured. The way the movie was projected, that is First Super Hero who is here to save the world,First Super Hero with a lady Body Guard; whose Body is guarded by the Super hero himself most of the times, the CGI created special effects and the Joco-serious Villian , with the Jocker attitude and the our Mogambo type costume.....
It was all messed up. Nothing worked..I was convinced from the veery beginning that DRONA would be the greatest Blunder of 2008. C'mon man, Abhi.. doesnt have that X factor ... that persona that guides the audience to the theatres... The Movie has been the delight of the C grade theatres,the very next week; the theatres who are busy all the year round with "Jawani Ki Jalan" type movies.
Infact, Nothing could have saved DRONA.The film lacked the heart of any movie and that is the story.. You cant fool the people again and again by the CGI created shit, when hell lot of Hollywwod is released in Hindi these days, after all they cant create the MAtrix or attempt Lara Croft..then why the shit , again and again, I wonder.
This film should have been made on a 20 cr budget. It could have been achieved by having LESS CGI, more comic book mode, a few more people instead of the awful waste of effort on the Riz Rizaida persona, and instead of Prague a village setting for Drona’s growing up. This would have made the film less of a liability and perhaps even more appealing.
This is what the Boxofficeindia.Com comments:-
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Drona looks set to incur huge losses the sort which have never been witnessed before. The film has a budget of 50 crore and release costs of about 6 crore taking the total cost to 56 crore.
As of now the India theatrical share is heading for 10 crore (4 days nett 9 crore, 5 crore share) and Overseas for 3 crore (4 day gross 3 crore, share 1.75 crore) giving it theatrical revenue of just 13 crore and revenue from other sources may be about 10-12 crore. So the total revenue for Drona will be about 25 crore on a cost of 56 crore meaning massive losses in the region of 30 crore.
Drona is certain to be the grandmother of all disasters in terms of losses. Films like Umrao Jaan (2006) and RGV Ki Aag (2007) were amongst the biggest debacles ever but the losses on Drona will be more than the combined losses of those two disasters. Umrao Jaan(2006) lost around 10 crore while RGV Ki Aag(2007) lost around 15 crore. This year another super debacle Love Story 2050 also lost 15 crore but a 30 crore loss is double of we have ever seen before for any film.
Although most of the trade knew Drona was not going to be a huge hit as was being projected prior to release with the makers claiming to make Drona 2 as they were super confident of Drona, the sheer volume of losses has still shocked everyone.
Friday, October 3, 2008
The Days Gone By..
The festival season has started. Its all about Loads of MITHAIS and New clothes.. We were so crazy about these days. Five days Chutti.. What else you want? Days were spent planning new clothes and my Father used to take all of us to his friends cloth shop where our clothes were stitched, Same cloth .. Same color.. No Zip in the half pant as it may result to accident if you stuck your P_ _ _IS... , This is What he said?
DURGA PUJA has arrived. Early bath and hurry to the Puja Pandal in the GRP camp. The entire day was spent in the PANDAL.. children from the locality would come with their new dress and we would to have delight .. and how can one forget the DELICIOUS 'Khichdi". in the afternoon..
The evening... WOW.. that was the party time.. We used to get 10/- and it was more than enough.. If you had some savings of yours then you were KING. Chakri, Jhoola, Plane... So Much.. in so Little... Egg Rolls.. Bikaneri Namkeen.. Toy Gun... The whole World was ours..
Roaming around to watch each and every pandal of the city was an obsession. How good the days were?
Then came DIWALI and KALI PUJA. New Dress again..patakhe, Mitahais and KHEER... No five star can prepare Kheer better than my MOM,, and I bet on that.......
We used to 'PATAKHA PHOD' Competition, the whole night. an there were no Clean Environment Activist, those days... The next was the video day.. In UP , the next day after DIWALI is called PARUA.. that means NO WORK day.. No work for anything.. Even tools and the cattles are left free in the fields to graze the whole day.. No WORK.. Full ARRAAM.. Complete SHUT DOWN.. We used to plan movies that we want to watch the whole night..VIDEO ON HIRE... the Whole locality will be at our door.. the dinner was early.. We were so excited,,,,,we used to watch movie for the whole winter night without a blink..........
The days are gone.. Gone is the peace of mind....
Bring Back,, Bring Back,, Bring Back .. My Pony to me.......
Love for Ever
Chandra
DURGA PUJA has arrived. Early bath and hurry to the Puja Pandal in the GRP camp. The entire day was spent in the PANDAL.. children from the locality would come with their new dress and we would to have delight .. and how can one forget the DELICIOUS 'Khichdi". in the afternoon..
The evening... WOW.. that was the party time.. We used to get 10/- and it was more than enough.. If you had some savings of yours then you were KING. Chakri, Jhoola, Plane... So Much.. in so Little... Egg Rolls.. Bikaneri Namkeen.. Toy Gun... The whole World was ours..
Roaming around to watch each and every pandal of the city was an obsession. How good the days were?
Then came DIWALI and KALI PUJA. New Dress again..patakhe, Mitahais and KHEER... No five star can prepare Kheer better than my MOM,, and I bet on that.......
We used to 'PATAKHA PHOD' Competition, the whole night. an there were no Clean Environment Activist, those days... The next was the video day.. In UP , the next day after DIWALI is called PARUA.. that means NO WORK day.. No work for anything.. Even tools and the cattles are left free in the fields to graze the whole day.. No WORK.. Full ARRAAM.. Complete SHUT DOWN.. We used to plan movies that we want to watch the whole night..VIDEO ON HIRE... the Whole locality will be at our door.. the dinner was early.. We were so excited,,,,,we used to watch movie for the whole winter night without a blink..........
The days are gone.. Gone is the peace of mind....
Bring Back,, Bring Back,, Bring Back .. My Pony to me.......
Love for Ever
Chandra
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