Author: farooq Page 39 of 45

Aaj ki Story: Cricket

On June 27, 2013

Kal dekh raha tha twitter par kaayion ko Tennis ke khel me Federer ki haar ka gam manaate hue, kuch aalochak khusi bhi mana rahe the. Wahi, Nadal-federer waali ladaai. Hua yun ki dono hi haar gaye. 🙂

Khair, mujhe isme ruchi nahi thi. Par “tennis” se hamesha sanyog se mujhe ek hi cheez yaad aajati hai. Nahi aap kuch galat andesha na lagayen, waise vichaar nahi vyakt karne wala main yahaan…

Tennis balls se to ham bas cricket me hi khelte the kisi zamaane me. Jee, Tennis ball Cricket keh lijie aap.

Gendbaazi kiya karte the. Technical terminology me , medium rafter keh sakte hain. Zaheer bhai ka milta julta action tha, ye ham socha karte the. Afsos, tha nahi.
Dheemi gend kaafi mashoor thi. Waise dheemi shayad hare k gend hi hua karti thi. Bohoton ko chakma dejaati thi parantu….aur out hone par, “ye kya hogaya? “ waale expression bhi dila jaaati thi.

Par raftaar kam hone ke kaaran aksar ek aad beech ke spell hi milte the. Ya kabhi ek aad over. Wo bhi doston ki meherbaani rahi to. Wicket na bhi loon to economical hi rehta tha.. Ab gend me tezi hi nai rehti thi, to maarna thoda mushkil tha. Line-length sahi tha.
Tailender banke ballebaazi bhi ki kaafi. Square cut kiya karta th, achaa maarta tha. Ye main nahi log kehte the.
Par hota yun tha ki maidan me peeche run banane ke avsar nahi Milte the. Chote ground hone ke kaaran, seema seemit rehti thi.
Fielding kaafi kharab thi., kaafi kharab. Ground fielding khaaskar ke. Kaafi run galaaye hain..
Ek aad baar crucial maukon pe run deke match bhi harwa diya tha team ko. Kaafi gaaliyan mili thi…

Par catch lapak leta tha, kabhi kabar. Ek baar kaafi saleekhe waala catch liya.. Jaisa Pollard ne Dhoni ka lia tha. Uchalte hue boundary par.
Kaafi Waah waahi batori us din. Sabne socha 6 aur Maine bana daala out!! Mahaul jam gaya tha..
Yaad Aate hain kaafi wo bachpan ke Cricket se jude din… Gali me.. Chat par.. Aangan me… Maidanon me… Bas cricket…
Kabhi plastic.. To kabhi cosco.. Kabhi rubber kabhi khanna (yahan ka hard cosco) to kabhi synthetic.. Sabhi gendon se khela hai.. Cricket. Khela hai. Achaa ya bura, abs ach me nai padta farq.
Fir jab jamshedpur choota… Dheere dheere Wo chootta Chala gaya. Bach gayi to mast waali yaaden…

Yun mauke to kayi mile.. Firse khelne ke… Par Wo Bachpan waala junoon nahi bacha.
Busy hogaye doosri cheezon me.

Kabhi in mohalle ke bachon ko khelte ladte Dekhta hoon., bas dekhke khush hojaata hoon.

To ye thi #AajKiStory, jald hi doosri bhi

gali cricket

sunaunga… Achaa Naa lage to bataiega.. Shukriya !! 🙂

Raanjhanaa :My Review

By farooq

On June 21, 2013

In Movies & Entertainment

Cast: Dhanush, Sonam Kapoor, Swara Bhaskar, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayub

Director: Anand Rai
Dhanush makes a grand entry into Bollywood by doing what he does best. A Hysterical lover.

And this time he does it with added cuteness in Hindi with certain charm and accented originality. He is undoubtedly the star of Raanjhana, a love story with amazingly written dialogues and screenplay, that keeps you hooked in anticipation of what comes next. A love story that lets you feel the pain of the protagonists’ love, dilemma, innocence through the shifting window of time, through which Kundan (Dhanush’s character in Ranjhnaa) grows and so does his love for Zoya (Played by Sonam Kapoor).
AR Rahman puts his magic in the songs and makes you connect with the plot. Songs are literally the type which can make you dance, with the crowd as well as in the solace of your bedroom.
Kundan is the perfect epitome of teen innocence and craziness, trying to be different in “professing her love”. He is persisting, even enjoys 16 slaps that are offered by the lady he is in love with. In a perfectly depicted scene of how a hysterical lovers act around India, he cuts his wrists making Zoya hug him. She gets sent to Aligarh to study as her family comes to know about this, while our Lover boy waits in Benaras. Old school, some would say.

But when Zoya returns. She had left those old benaras days behind her. But the hero’s persistence remains intact. He makes sure that she doesn’t get married by employing tricks then and now, on Zoya’s insistence. Why ? Well lets leave that as a suspense.
Filled with twists and turns, this is not just a love story about these two. There’s politics and power, there’s the benaras flavor, friends who will always have your back.
Apart from Dhanush, his onscreen friend Murari, played by Mohammed Zeeshan Ayub, who has some of the best dialogues to his credit, does a great job. Highlighting the plight of small town lovers he comes up with, “Mohalle ke aashiqon ke pyaar ko aksar engineer doctor hi udaa lejaate hain”. While dhanush is crazy for Zoya, Bindiya (Played by Swara Bhaskar of Tanu weds manu and Aurangzeb fame) is crazy for Dhanush, with bold dialogues like, “baapu ke kapde to phaad diye, hamare kab ” to which Danush replies, “Kundan ke pyajame ka naada itna dheela nahi, ki blouse ke huk se khul jaye”
Murari and Bindiya put the life in the first half of the movie, while the politics in the second, coupled with some great one-liners and scenes involving Dhanush makes it worth a watch.
Director, Anand Rai utilizes these two characters to keep the tempo going with their amazing dialogue delivery and support to the leads. The knack with which Dhanush has understood the character and puts his life in it in every scene is amazing. The credit also goes to the director for it.
Sonam‘s is a character that you will hate, although chances are you will hate her acting as well. Except scenes where she is crying, where she surprisingly does emote, she is the only flaw in casting. It’s an all-out Dhanush movie.
To sum up, Ranjhna is a story of a hindu boy being in love with a Muslim Girl, in the town of Benaras. The colorful town, filled with vibrant images of religious diversity, but stark opposition when it comes to marriage.

Avoiding a few clichéd plot elements, one can enjoy this lovely outing of Dhanush. A Good entertainer, one shouldn’t miss.

I’m going with 4 out of 5, for this Dhanush Starrer. Indulge yourself.

Man of Steel: My Review

By farooq

On June 19, 2013

In Movies & Entertainment

Cast: Henry Cavill, Russel Crowe, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon

Director: Zach Snyder

It’s the simplest of Superhero stories, with effective usage of flashbacks in between, explaining everything that could cross your mind, in just one Sci-fi’d adventure. Super-man origins or Man of Steel as it is called is Mesmerizing. A good start to a promising series.

Krypton. A planet, which is on the decline, is on the verge of an attack from General Zod played by Michael Shannon, a rebel who is trying to bring back Krypton again to its glorious days. Jor el, played by Russel Crowe, and Lara, played by Ayelet Zurer, have krypton’s first natural birth after years, and foreseeing of what was coming, they decide to launch him (Baby Superman) out of krypton, with a genetic codex with all of Kryptonian data in his cells, so that one day, krypton might live again. A ray of hope.

Russel Crowe and Ayelet zurer: The Superman's Original parents.

General Zod and his army are ultimately arrested and sent to a phantom land to die, but before that Zod already kills Jor El. Since, Jor had taken the kryptonoan codex and put it all into his new born, kal!!

With krypton getting destroyed, along with our Supersman’s mother, and General Zod and his army escaping, superman got delivered on earth. His new home and with new parents in Martha and Jonathan Kent. Growing up was tough, first he had to adjust to the earth’s atmosphere and then the surroundings, where it was difficult to keep his powers hidden from others. But with his father’s consoling words, he finally grows up controlling it all, until one hurricane takes away his father. And a death which Clark could have avoided with his powers, yet just for the sake of not letting it out to the world as that moment wasn’t right.

Superman trying hard to hide his powers, but situations keep arising, where he has to do otherwise

Living on with a nomadic life, of forged identities and controlled anger he ends up meeting Louis lane, played by Amy adams, the journalist from Daily planet who ends up uncovering the truth about him.

Meanwhile, General Zod ends up locating Superman and makes a deal with the inhabitants of earth to hand him over to him to save themselves, else face consequences.

General Zod played by Michael Shannon

The story unfolds into what Zod does next and how Superman has to face a choice of getting back his world, the krypton or saving the Earth from Zod.

This whole simplified story, where Superman comes to know about his origins, what ended up turning him into the kind of person he is now, who even after being an alien living on earth has controlled himself into not showing his powers. The reason of it all has been explained beautifully by using flashbacks then and now. Zach Snyder, the director, has made it simple without any sort of attempt to complicate it even by a bit.

SuperMan: MAN OF STEEL

In simplest terms, it’s about an alien invasion on Earth to take back one of their own kind and in return destroy the whole earth to establish their own world, as they don’t have any other. And how this one, Alien who has been living on earth for 33 years tries to stop them.

The treatment as I told earlier has been simple, yet effective in bringing out the human emotions and sensibilities attached. Be it the way in which Clark’s dad consoles him or how for his mother, he is that valuable gem. Or how, even in the face of calamity, some men never leave others to suffer.

There is one scene in the movie, where Superman is trying to rise above his limitations, (of being weak in the Krypton’s atmospheric conditions) and on the other a journalist’s boss holds on to her (when she is stuck in the debris) even though there is the greater risk of both of them dying from it. The superman near the Krypton’s atmosphere like condition and the human saving another’s life even by risking his won. This scene, of two different beings, doing what it takes to save humanity will touch you.

Man Of Steel

Chords like these are what Zach Snyder touches beautifully and makes this origin a wonderful watch, with some really great physical action along with the mesmerizing sci-fi content.

Henry Calvin makes an impressive start to the superman adventure that unfolded with this movie, wearing a suit with undies tucked in (something which is a first), and not just does makes it look great but even explains from where does the suit came from. He brings in the character of Superman with years of consoling, where humility and understanding are visible, to life.

The pretty AMY ADAMS as LOUIS LANE

Amy adams, is pretty in her role as the journo from Daily Planet. While Shannon playing Zod makes an emphatic impression with his rage to save his planet Krypton and how he never wanted to kill Kal’s father and how he regretted it. That regret is visible in his eyes, even though it’s being very subtly shown.

But one other person that makes sure he will be remembered is Russel Crowe. As superman’s dad, he shows what a leader is. The opening scenes featuring him, where he fights on the army of Zod, are such a treat to your eyes. The action scenes are wonderfully shot and so are the visuals. Russel deserves a big applause for it.

Fuora : Antje Traue

Also, amazing are the fight scenes between Faora played by Antje Traue, and Superman, the action scenes which she is part of, makes a solid case of special effects making it look real, and making it look fantastic. This German is surely good in action stuff and sure does look hot.

Kal el, or Clark’s (as he is called by his earth’s parents), played by Diane Lane as Martha Kent (mom) and Kevin Costner as Jonathan Kent (dad). Both of them do put up a good show. Putting themselves at risk for the sake of their alien child and making sure that he does not go astray. They put that into their characters. Scenes in flashbacks, where the child Clark is depicted as someone trying to break free and where his father consoles him are reassuring.

Superman isn’t some cult classic that is on display here, just a great start to a promising series. Special effects were mesmerizing and dialogues were not typical superhero-tailored. Calvin makes a Superman that realizes his potential and is faced with dilemmas, and is aptly portrayed by him.

It’s good entertainment. Nothing really new here of course, but instills faith in the idea of Human spirit, and even an alien can vouch for it.

I’m going with 3.5 out of 5 for Man of steel, it sure packs a punch and a promise for more to come.

Be Bold Stay Real

By farooq

On June 17, 2013

In Random Philosophy

It’s a strange democratic setup that we live in. for the record books, we are the largest democracy of the world. Our constitution promises us several rights. One of the most prominent one is the Freedom of Speech. This freedom implies, that an Indian citizen has the right to air his/her views without any compromise. We have prominent dailies, some 70000+ number of newspapers in almost all regional and national languages, 24×7 news channels airing different views and numerous live examples that will make you believe of our Right to freedom of speech .

Not that it isn’t true; we do have a fairly better understanding and implementation of this system in place, of course. And we do have a variety of views on the political or cultural sphere, where everyone is allowed and they enjoy the freedom of free speech. At least comparatively, we do have a better system than others.

But, (yes, there’s always a But when it comes to the magnitude of a country like India), the natural instinct of the people over here is almost otherwise. Maybe it is ingrained in us through generations of hard work and “ teaching”, where in a family we are asked not to Answer our elders back with argument as it amounts to disrespect, we are told not to disrespect or disagree with our teachers as they know more than us, we are even told never to say NO when a boss asks to do something as that might hamper your chances of a promotion and likewise many instances where our superiors, colleagues, elders, stop us to do things the unconventional way.

The Road taken is always preferred rather than exploring the Road that was not taken.

To this point, where one needs to keep their worldly possessions, relations, would-be prospects, etc is to some extent justified. Justified to suit their excuses, which they give.

The problem starts when one translates these habits, acquired to justify their requirements, into the domain of national, cultural, religious issues. For some, it is completely fine to stay aloof of all the happenings and even with knowledge of it all, staying mum on those issues. This staying mum policy is specifically increasing on conflicting issues. Issues, where hardly there are prevalent voices supporting that cause or there is fear of being stereotyped or branded a rebel. Some do take a stand, but that depends on when he finds the support of likeminded people who are pitching out with their opinions.

On occasions, where even after knowing that there are things which are wrong, things about which one should speak about, things that should not be kept inside the closet of one’s heart but should traverse to your mouth and things that the world needs to listen about rather than an audience of your living room.

Numerous times, I’ve faced situations similar to these and am sure that I’ll continue to face them. For instance, raising my voice on the language–conflict in our college and how that is hampering the communication process raised lots of questions, but the ones’ suffering from the same never did that before me. Some, of course came out in support and some supported without making themselves public.

To my numerous blogs on Narendra Modi, where I never shy away from professing my hate towards him, to my outrage when people don’t stop hating CSK for its’ success, I’ve been vocal about it all.

Why should one toe the majoritarian view always? Some of the folks just take it for granted that only their view holds the supreme truth and anything other than that is plain bullshit.

I’d bullshit that actually.

When, it comes to being bold about your views, one should not look for avenues for support, instead of airing whatever that is in your mind to be heard by the people concerned, why should you just keep your thoughts simmering in the nest of your thoughts?

One other example which put lights into what I said above is, the mention of the Online Like Debate community. These communities of people have their views intact, but won’t comment on your views with that. Rather, would support the only one’s opposing it by liking their replies, but won’t say for the fear of spoiling relations, outlook, etc.

For me, people coming out in the open, airing their views, no matter how conflicting it is to what I hold, holds high regard. Reason being they don’t fear what they have in their mind and are okay with telling it, as well.

It’s time to be Bold and Stay Real, rather than sit back and Wait for the “right” time to say something.

This post was Written for Be Bold Stay Real contest at BlogAdda

Fukrey : My Review

By farooq

On June 16, 2013

In Movies & Entertainment

Cast: Pulkit Samrat, Manjot singh, Varun sharma, Priya anand, Vishaka singh, Ali Fazal, Richa Chadda

Director: Mrighdeep Singh Lamba

Producer: Farhan Akhtar, Ritesh Sidhwani

Genre: Comedy

Runtime: 139 minutes.

Its’ one of the best mad comedies to have graced Indian screens after Delhi Belly, and yes, Delhi becomes the backdrop yet again.

The story is about 4 “Fukreys” or loosely translate to people not having enough money, yet showing off.

Fukra 1 is Lalli, played by Manjot Singh. Who wants to explore the college life more than what his “correspondence course” offers. His girlfriend already vying for guys with more moolah, and his task was only to drop her to college. Realizing the same, he also makes up his mind to roam in front of her, with other girls just to show it off. Colleges’s which Manjot aspires to go to, are difficult to get into for a student like him. Also noteworthy is the story of how he gets looted everytime he walks out from the Gurudwara.

Fukey 2 and 3 are chaddi-buddies. One of them is the cool dude, played by Pulkit Samrat and is named Honey. While the other is somehow like his sidekick, called Choocha played by Varun Sharma, who is crazy and a little idiotic. But this idiot has been blessed with a gift. The gift is that he dreams some weird stories where our Hunny is often rescued by him from dangerous situations. And his dreams are decoded by Hunny to form a lottery ticket name which is a sure shot guarantee to win.

Fukra 4 is Zafar, played by Ali Fazal, who is an aspiring singer with no luck in terms of making it big. Even though he comes from a family of limited means, his only aim is to become a musician. Even at the cost of his long time girlfriend Neetu and a family to support.

Apart from these 4 fukras, on which the film revolves around, there are many notable characters that are part of the story which have their own importance.

Fukrey

The three ladies in the movie are a treat as well. Priya anand, palying Priya, a typical Delhi girl and love interest of Pulkit (Hunny), is a easy to eye character. The simplicity of a Punjabi girl coupled with innocence, is what this girl oozes with. Scene where she decides to be friends with the hero is innocence personified. Refusal to even talk at first, and then she agrees to come to the terrace. Pulkit flies in a kite near her with a message for friendship, “Fraadnship karni hai to kanni de”, which means “fly the kite if you want to do friendship”. What follows that is the hero jumping terraces to come to her and then charming her, only to act that she didn’t liked all of this and running away. This is what mohalle waali flirting is and has been shown brilliantly. There’s more to follow here, which I leave for you to see in that one scene.

Priya Anand in Fukrey

The second lead is Neetu maa’m, played by Vishaka Singh, yes the same Neetu who plays Zafar’s love interest and who is now the Accounts teacher that Lalli starts taking tuitions for exam preparations. The scene in the bus where she agrees to teach him, makes you laugh at the way a co-passenger reacts to their “business”, where she asks him to come in the evening for tuitions.

There is a time in the movie, where both Lalli and Zafar land up at the door of Neetu asking each other, “How do you know her? “ what follows is equally hilarious, where Neetu is blamed for giving dhoka by Lalli.

And last, but definitely never the least. At least not here in Fukrey is Richa Chadda playing the role of Bholi panjaban, who is Bholi for namesake. Someone, who runs almost all illegal activities under one umbrella, be it betting on sports, making pirated CDs, ponzi schemes, escort services and even internet based fraud mails, etc are all done by her. With African bodyguards for company and a mouth blurting out expletives, our Bholi is one helluva Lady. Richa fills in her raunchiness, something that she had in Gangs of Wasseypur as well, in this character of Bholi panjaban. But not just that, she does a great job in scenes where our Choocha, the dreamer tries his craziness on her.

Don – “Bholi panjaban”

Now, the plot revolves around, how the three fukras, Lalli (Manjot), Huney( Pulkit) and choocha (varun) will arrange for the money to be invested to get seats through backdoor entry in college as well as for the leaked 12^th board papers. Reason being, they just won’t be able to score the kind of marks that these colleges require to get admitted to. Huney and Choocha have already failed their 12^th twice and as their teacher says them, this may just be their hattrick of sorts. Although college life is what they dream about, of girls, bunking classes, and an unrestricted life. But the only glitch is that they ought to pass with good marks, which is a distant and impossible dream.

Fukrey

Here enters, our Panditji, played by Pankaj Tripathi, a jugaadu watchman, who is ready to provide them the exam papers a day before, and in his words, “Papers choo gaye hain”. But then this has a price, and for fukreys like these two it is a Big price. Also, interested in the papers was Our Lalli, but then who is gonna pay that big an amount?? Not his dad who is scolding him enough for everything he does. Also, coming into the picture is our 4^th fukra, Zafar who is in dire need of money to help his ailing father, and he is the one suggesting that they ask Bholi Panjaban to invest in their crazy plan.

Plan. The plan is to invest on the God-gifted talent of Choocha and Huney. Of investing in the lottery ticket that Huney decodes from the dream of Choocha. Investor is Bholi, the guarantee is Lalli’s dad’s Shop and then the Real game of these Fukreys’ start.

What follows is how they end up failing first, and how they make it all right in the end.

Fukrey is the kind of comedy that made Delhi belly and partly Go Goa Gone a hit. The raw real life scenarios, great timing of dialogue delivery, unintentional comic scenes and non fabricated dialogues, an ensemble of good casting, a good screenplay with a solid storyline.

The minor area of concern was the character of Zafar, something that doesn’t go well with the scheme. Like, you wonder for a guy whose love is singing, is still not able to give his best shot even in some of the rare opportunities that he gets. But then, ofcourse, there are people like that and you just cannot expect a polarized mini-story at its every point.

Fukrey

The songs are good. The Rabba song, which plays on when Choocha, Huney and Lalli get inside the college for the first time actually sums up the mesmerizing thoughts of the young lads and is kind of the youth anthem that defines youth, although a bit on the fun side. Ambarsariya is again a really good soulful track, Sona mahapatra has done a brilliant job in putting life into it and the picturization of the same on Priya and Punit’s story fits well. Other songs are decent, with the fukrey title track and Jugaad sounding good. Although the party song by Mika isn’t much to brag about and is a feeka types.

All in all, the movie has been a great comic experience and a promising debut for its young stars as well as the recent faces. Punit and Priya, are surely the ones to look forward to in the coming days of bollywood.

I’m going with 4/5 for Fukrey. Don’t miss this laugh-riot unless you are allergic to laughing your heart out.

Getting Back the group… and the Friendship

By farooq

On June 14, 2013

In Fiction & Poetry

Getting back the Gang

Sameer

One month. Yet the routine that he had been part of has been the same. Waking up in the middle of the night, and not able to sleep post that. At 3’o clock his eyes were wide open. They say its’ the “devils’ hour”, but then for Sameer he was no less than a devil now. Cursing himself for everything that had happened. Time went on, till it was 6!! Three hours of his life’s recent happenings, all flashing in front of his wide open eyes, like a 3-hour Bollywood movie. He was monotonously going through his early morning chores and just like every day, skipped the breakfast yet again and then rushed to his office even before it was time.

Deepti

She hadn’t slept the whole night. Browsing through various channels, without even bothering what was playing on the idiot box, ending up watching advertisements more than the shows which were being played over there. It was a regular scene in her room for the last one month or so, Although while watching these, sometime back she used to doze off. But not tonight. It just went on and on. It was 6. Now, she got into the act of getting ready for her office. It was a Monday.

Exactly a month back, they Sameer and Deepti, called it quits.

Sameer and Deepti both worked in the same office. They had studied in the same college, along with Rahul, Azkia and Robin. The gang of five. They were one of the “hot and happening” gangs in the college, bustling with something or the other.

But things began to change when the two love birds of the group, decided to call it over. It has been over a month that this decision of theirs, has affected not just them but others as well. The group had slowly started falling apart. The evening hangouts were regularly called off due to either Sameers’ “work” or due to Deepti’s “headache”. And with these two doing this constantly, this also had a big effect on the others as well. It was time to put things back on track. Azkia was determined to do something. She chanced upon We Chat’s Youtube channel and Downloaded We Chat. She got together with Rahul and Robin got together late at night on Sunday, on WeChat. Each pitching in with ideas on how to stop this non-sense going about.

The plan was made.

Rahul, in his very carefree tone, “yaar, kaise wapas milaya jaaye inlogon ko?”

Robin : “There’s no need to patch things up between them, what we only want is why they become friends again ??”

Azkia: Exactly!! These two idiots did a big mistake to come into a relationship in the first place, and now when they have realized it, we shouldn’t interfare in that. But what we can do is, let them openly talk about the whole thing and become friends again.

Rahul: So, you are saying, it is a good thing that they aren’t together ?

Robin: Happy realisation Rahul baba 😛

Azkia : Hahahaaha..

Rahul : So, you all knew that they were not in love ?

Robin: Yo!

Azkia: Of course, you idiot!! Except them everyone knew.

Robin: Hey Az!! Add Rahul baba to that list as well 😀

Rahul: You #$@$

Azkia : hahaha now chill both of you, concentrate on the task at hand. Tomorrow we have to bring them together with us, and let them talk about it.

Robin: and get those days’ back!!!

Rahul: Ohh hell yeah man!!

Azkia: Done!! Now GOODNIGHT.

Robin: GN

Rahul: Goodnight. 🙂

8’o clock

Sameer

Getting early to office was something new that Sameer had been trying out for a month, keeping him occupied. And not just being an early bird, but even leaving late. Engrossing himself in work was what he was doing, or at least trying to. It was kind of a shock to him, as to how things have changed. He missed talking to Deepti, and also the whole gang. Confused as to what had went wrong, the hasty decision to get into a relationship or to get out from it.

Deepti

Office was something that didn’t interested her anymore. The work that was fun before now had turned into a torture. Everything reminded her of the time before. But then she had to. Now, instead of going office in Sameer’s Car, it was the Office cab that arrived at her doorsteps. Getting into the cab where everyone chit-chatted their way to office, she just puts in her earphones, with the shuffle on. Not caring what the music was, but just to let others not to disturb her already disturbed mindset.

Office

Reaching office, while discussing the plan for the day, Rahul, Robin and Azkia reached office only to find Deepti and Sameer already there. While Rahul and Robin went ahead to have a little talk with Sam, Azkia went over to Deepti. Now, even though both of these, Sameer and Deepti, were sad yet they didn’t wanted to let others in the group feel the same for them and reacted as if everything was fine with their lives. Now, the task of Rahul, Robin and Azkia was to let them come together not face-to-face because that would put a risk of a possible breakdown by any of these two and even break their resolve of not “putting things out in the open”. Doing which, chances were high that things could get even more complicated. So, all these three carefully by asking random stuff, pitched in with, WeChat. Now, WeChat is a mobile messaging and voice messaging service which is free of cost and is super-fast and is available on iPhones, Android, Symbians and BlackBerry. They even ended up downloading the same on their phones. And adding them to a new group, while standing there.

The plan was working

Now it was time for the real action.

10’o clock

Robin started the proceedings by posting a group pic of the five of them. And then Azkia and Rahul started with their crazy talk about “those” days. Now, with Sameer and Deepti added to the group and in their contacts, which they made sure before so as to leave them with no other option. One important feature of WeChat is that it tells you the time of the last visit of the user as well. And hence they all knew who is there and who isn’t.

With voice messages just a press away, yes, here you just have to press it long to record your message and the moment you leave it, it’s sent. Simple. And so, when the series of messages started pouring in, with occasional smile from among these three. Now, for the first few messages, all knew that both Deepti and Sameer were listening and watching the messages getting exchanged in the group chats, but suddenly for the last five minutes, Sameer wasn’t there. So, they upped the ante by repeatedly messaging random old pics and videos which had all these five in them. And with continuous notifications ringing in, he had to keep aside the work and see those.

The plan was working. Sam just checked them out.

At lunch break, everyone was asked to gather in the canteen. Rahul, Robin and Azkia gathered and after a while Deepti came in too. But there was no sign of Sameer. Azkia silently messaged Robin, asking what needs to be done.

Robin thought for a second and then,

Robin: Hey guys, we are eating together after a long time. Let’s have a click together. Deepti reacted as if she didn’t hear it. They all jumped close near Deepti and took a pic, and Robin immediately posted it to the Group chat. And they just hoped that Sameer would just check the pic, and the caption, “You are missing the awesome lunch. Poor sam!! ”.

One minute, and we could see that there was a smile on Deepti’s face. A smile everyone had been missing for a long time. Rahul cried, “Hey, Sam just sent over a a smiley” And Robin said, “and now a voice message too”, with a big grin. Putting that on loudspeaker mode, “Kameenon, jaldi kya hai.. Main bhi aarha hoon” To which everyone was laughing their ass off, and just came Sam from behind.

He wasn’t laughing, but he didn’t look sad as well. He sat at the only place that was available, next to Deepti. No one started any specific topic, just their random office stuff, little bitching about boss, their upcoming weekend plans, etc. Meanwhile, Azkia needed some water and Rahul went to get it for her, doing which he got the teasing, “awwww” from Robin and a laugh across all the faces. A minute into this, Azkia said, hey I’ll be back. To which all of them said in unison, “awwwwwwww” to which a blushing Azkia remarked, “Shut up!!” and left.

Deepti, having understood already as to what was going on, asked Robin, “What are you waiting for?? Isn’t the plan working now?? “. Robin smiled and left in a jiffy. So now, it was Deepti and Sameer at the table.

Sameer: What crazy bunch of friends we have!!!

Deepti: Yep, we do.

Sameer: You saw what we all did with Rahul and Azkia a while back. Doesn’t it remind you of a time gone by?? Of, how they used to tease us the same way??

Deepti: and how, we ended up taking things seriously post that??

Sameer: and how this ended up turning up our friendship into something which wasn’t there??

Deepti: Sigh!!! Couldn’t have agreed more. And now, we have screwed up everything. We didn’t just break away with our relationship but what we had before, our friendship, our whole gang. Everything.

Sameer: Have we?? We are still sitting here, talking and having fun with our gang. Have we lost it all??

Deepti was silent. She didn’t had an answer to this. But she understood, everything was not lost. Meanwhile, Azkia, Rahul and Robin were watching these two chat through from the sidelines. The lunch break was over. They got back to their desks, but the WeChat continued. Jokes flying around about other office staffs, mimics, pics, etc with occasional smileys and “hahaha” from Deepti and Sameer as well.

5’o clock

The day got over. Deepti’s cab was waiting outside. All the others were coming down. And the strange thing was that Sameer was not doing his daily Overtime, rather coming down. Sam, shouted from a distance, so guys, what’s the plan for today?? Party at my place?? Azkia replied back, “Dude, today is Monday not Friday!! “ Deepti shouted in, “When we are all together, Kya Monday kya Friday? “with a big grin.

Looking back on that time, where we ended up building up our friendship by bridging the gaps left due to the fallout of Deepti and Sameer’s relationship. And how, technology and Nostalgia played an important part in making it all possible. One year has gone, and Robin, Azkiya, Sam, Deepti and I are still together going strong on our friendship. Continuing with our occasional fun on WeChat.

This post was written as part of a #WeChatNow contest in association with Indiblogger.

To Modi, without Love

By farooq

On June 9, 2013

In Politics & Social Issues

I chanced upon this article in Firstpost via a friend, which is a backlash on the detractors of Modi. Well, it appeared more like a Bhakts’ outburst on the people who continue to criticize his hero of “growth and development”. The hero, popularly known as Feku Modi.

First of all the writer starts off pretty philosophically, when we are polarizing Modi, we are hypocrites who have given “normal” human being his “controversial” image, which caused by the people who dislike him.

Fair enough, but like many other ModiBhakts, they simply forget mention the reasons for the hate towards Modi?

Anyways, the article, tries to ‘logically” defend the detractors’ claims by citing three reasons for the criticism and explaining why it is NOT so.

Now, there seems to be numerous allegations that the Gujarat CM has been accused of, not just the ones pending in the judicial courts or even the doubts on the “clean chits”. But then if you’re a Bhakt, does any of it matter ?

Modi not apologizing after the riots is the first allegation that the haters blame Modi for.

The writer cites the examples of other riots taking place in India from the time of Independence and none of the “accused parties” apologizing for it. Be it the riots of ’84 or the numerous state riots. But lest he forgot, that here Modi was the only one who had been implicated in this manner and one of the rarest distinctions for a Chief Minister. Not only “N” number of cases were registered against him, but he has been made to appear before committees put up for criminal investigations.

Imagine a chief minister coming out with a statement like, “Every action has a reaction”!! His love for Newton in comparing the Laws of Motion, with the riots of this magnitude, where the people of one community were made to suffer, is in itself sad when a CM is seen justifying the act. The riots happened in times of 24×7 news channels and to be insensitive to what message people would get from it, and to try and win the “Hindu pride” throughout was what remains etched in people’s mind and not JUST the fact that he showed no remorse or apology.

Besides, there have been numerous accounts where he has been famously accused of allowing the police to let loose the mob and avenge the lives of the Sabarmati express victims. Policeman, itself helping the mob in clearing away Muslim dominated regions, killing, rapes, burning of whole colonies, were all done with the help of the Police force. Officials from the police forces have even gone on to give statements against Modi accusing that it all happened at the behest of him. And to think, that a CM did nothing to stop this brutality.

Modi’s false Developmental claims

Well, you don’t earn a tag of “feku” just without doing anything.

Why Modi is called feku ?

The term “feku” is derived from “Phenku” which means to throw. Usually used for people who lie often. Narendra Modi is called feku because of his false development claims, making up facts which do not exist and even claiming accolades for work he has not done. He has strengthened this image by saying wrong names, incorrect historical information and irrelevant comparisons in his speeches.

When people accuse Modi of claiming all the development works as his own, where it goes like many of the projects that were started by Chimanbhai Patel, the CM of the congress government and which got completed under Modi’s tenure luckily, they refute back with the statement that even the UPA government at the centre enjoys the fruits of 5 YEARS OF NDA RULE!!! Well , even assuming that they do, should we assume that there ain’t any difference between both the centre and the state governments. And that you are taking credit of others’ work like the other governments are doing. Wo kare to main kyun nahi ??

But then, your story does not end there. You not only claim of what you have NOT DONE but also things that are YET TO BE DONE!!

The Gujarat Model that is very much part of your propaganda is not a model of Growth and development but pure industrialization where your industrialist friends have benefited.

To throw some light on your “feku” developmental speeches, there will be a whole lot of things that would be lighted and the shadow of darkness on your followers who never fail to tow your “Vibrant Gujarat” lines. Although, I doubt that anything will help them in realizing this.

Hub for Investors: An RTI data had blasted Modi’s claims of 63.5 per cent implementation of memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed during 2003, 2005 and 2007 vibrant Gujarat summits, which is a platform for Modi to highlight the state’s “growth”. Reports say that only 25.25 per cent of MoUs signed during these summits were implemented. And figures available from union commerce ministry say that only 16 to 17 per cent of MoUs signed in Gujarat were implemented.–

2. Growth across Gujarat: Even the development of Gujarat is not uniformly distributed, the Eastern belt fares as the worst in terms of development. Farmer’s committing suicide is a regular scenario. According to RBI, Gujarat ranked 17 among the 18 largest states in India about spending on social sector which was just 31.6 per cent of the budgetary expenditure in Gujarat, much less than other states.

3. Happy Minorties: When it comes to development, the Muslim pockets fare even worse. Many of them having been reduced to slums, and there has been a growing fear among the community of similar backlash like 2002. There had been leaflets flowing during the time of riots to not do business with the community, and although that fear might have slowly been reduced yet the situation isn’t any good at all to talk about.

Gujarat happens to be one state which didn’t implement the minority scholarship schemes for students from low income Muslim community citing lack of funds, where the central government spends half of the money. And it is only that money (the 50% coming from the centre) which is being used. There is no cooperation from the Gujarat government

4. Handsome earning: According to NSSO 2011 figures, the average daily wage a labourer in the informal sector in urban areas can expect in Gujarat is Rs.106 against Rs.218 in Kerala (which ranks first). In rural areas, Punjab ranks the highest at Rs.152 a day while Gujarat stands 12th at Rs.83.

5. Healthy Children: Human Development Report 2011 said around half of Gujarat’s children were malnourished. The United Nation’s Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said, “Almost every second child in Gujarat under the age of five years is undernourished and three out of four are anemic. Infant and maternal mortality rates have reduced very slowly in the last decade…. One mother in three in Gujarat struggles with acute under-nutrition….”

How can one forget that, “Girls malnourished due to being beauty conscious” said by the Guj CM.

6. Educated Gujarat: The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) election manifesto claimed to have achieved 100 per cent enrolment in primary schools and reduced the overall dropout rate by 2 per cent. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) statistics show that Gujarat ranks 18th when it comes to success in keeping children in schools!!!

7. Wealthy Gujarat: Statistics of the NSSO show that the percentage of reduction of poverty between 2004 and 2010 was the highest in Odisha at 20.2 per cent, and the lowest in Gujarat, at 8.6 per cent. Even though the per capita income is higher than the national average, the per capita monthly expenditure in both rural and urban areas is low when compared with other States and the national average.

8. Fresh Air: When, Modi talks about Growth and development, one should read it as Industrialization, industrialization at the cost of the environment. The industrially developed South belt actually boasts of environmentally dead zones, if these stats are to be believed. The Comprehensive Environmental Pollution Index (CEPI) where the levels of air, land and water pollution measurement technique and according to statistics from the Central Pollution Control Board, Ankleshwar and Vapi in Gujarat top the list of 88 severely polluted industrial areas in India. Ankleshwar has a CEPI rating of 88.50 while Vapi’s is 88.09. Of the 88 areas, eight are in Gujarat. Even Dhanbad in Jharkhand, with its intensive coal mining and a longer history of pollution than the Gujarat centres, ranks only 13th on the list. Anything over 70 on this index is considered to have crossed critical levels, that is, the pollution exceeds the capacity of the environment to handle it and it becomes a dangerous health hazard, but then that is what Gujarat’s development and growth is all about.

Being at the rejecting end of United States:

Well, imagine a Prime Minister not getting a US visa??!!

His supporters may definitely say, the US approval is not required, although the same ones were jubilant when their hero was seen on the TIMES cover!! Boasting, as to how even the US accepts his authority!! Wow, hypocrisy on display for you.

And the last point of being arrogant and authoritative

Having an image larger than the party, he fits quite perfectly in the mindsets of the “polarized” community for whom he happens to be the hope.

What recent example can one cite then the one displayed just yesterday, a mob, calling itself Narendra Modi Army protested outside Advani’s house, so that he paves the way for NaMo to become PM. This was fuelled by the fact that Advani didn’t went to the Goa party meet. Goa, one of the few states left under the BJP leadership, a state having nominal population. Imagine the supporters doing all this to their own senior leader. Especially of the magnitude of Advani, because of him Vajpayee didn’t take any harsh steps against Modi after 2002 riots.

If this does not scare you enough, one should just look at the kind of language Modi supporters speak in the online media. Hatred spews from each of their words, your one statement against Modi may invite ten abuses from each of the hundreds of Modi-fied fans available there. Bashing the minority religion, their religious leaders, mocking their religion, culture, etc isn’t a new thing.

And if this is the trailer which Modi wants to show us, at least I don’t want to watch the whole movie.

Sources: NSSO, Central polution Control Board, and images from Google

Ye Saali Internship 2: 10 Things every salesman should know!

By farooq

On June 4, 2013

In Others

One month. It has been one month since I started with Yeh Saali Internship. One month of Hardcore Sales, in the shining sun and accompanying loo. The journey has been quite a learning experience. And no matter how much I crib, or curse it, it has put in a lot of lessons inside my head.

And yes, there has been respite from the heat from the past week. Rain has what brought about this particular change and yep, the happiness is visible across all faces. Work, of late has made me get used to it. Now, even the irritating customers, do get a trademark smile in return for their frown. The art of smiling back even in the worst of cases (of whatever I’ve faced till now) is now what I have gained control of.

Learning the tricks of the trade is confusing, especially here in Sales. Reason being, although all these customers use the same product, might have the same problems as well, their solutions vary to a great extent. You just cannot generalize among your clients and that is something that I’m getting used to.

There is a lot to learn that I got through this one month of Yeh Saali Internship as a Salesman.

10 things that every salesman should always keep in mind:

Talk to your immediate boss, regularly. To the extent of telling him each and everything that you do during the working hours. It would be great to take him in confidence and even show-off a little of your skills to impress him. Always laugh at your boss’ joke, no matter how bad it may be.
Don’t tell your products’ price upfront. Talk through the benefits, the customers’ requirement, problems, etc and then bring in your price. The moment you say the price, the customer starts making the decision to buy or not to buy. If he didn’t like the price, he won’t properly listen to what you say afterwards.
Pay special attention to his problems, even though how idiotic they may sound. When you listen, they will listen to you.
There are many customers’ who won’t have any product knowledge, but will have lots of reasons of blaming you or your products. Explain them, politely. And never ridicule them when they throw any baseless criticism, tackle them calmly.
Have detailed knowledge about the products you sell, price, warranty/guarantee, after sales service, bulk-discounts, etc are must.
Know what all things your competitors’ product range lacks or has more than your products. Will keep you grounded when it comes to exaggeration and also will help tackle loyal customers of competitor.
Never be hesitant to pitch your products, there are opportunities everywhere.
Distributors’ or retail outlets having products similar to yours’ are hotspots where you can convert prospects into your customers. Can also be used to clear doubts regarding your products.
Always end a conversation with a handshake and do put on a smile. It does work wonders, on your second call, your chance of selling increases. And always be ready to visit/call the prospect regularly.
And last, but not the least. Enjoy selling.

PS, there are plenty more things that a salesman needs to do. These were the ones that came to my mind, feel free to share tips in the comment section.

Happy selling!! 🙂

Ye Jawani Hai Deewani: My Review

By farooq

On June 1, 2013

In Movies & Entertainment

Ye Jawani Hai Deewani: My Review

CAST: Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, kalki Koechlin, Aditya Kapoor

DIRECTOR: Ayan Mukherjee

If you just cut small pieces from your favourite clothing and then stitch it together into a new dress, it might not end up becoming another favourite of yours. Even though, those pieces still are your favourite, the “new dress” won’t give you that amount of comfort. Well, Ye jawaani hai deewani just ends up becoming that “New cloth”. You can see a very strong effect of movies like Rock on, Zindagi milegi na dobara, and Ayan’s own Wake up sid! and all of this with added philosophy and an extra oomph factor.

It is not like you won’t like this movie, it is not bad at all, but there will be a sense of having already seen-it-all. When something on similar lines have already been made into cult status, another one coming your way has to be of that level and this is where this falls a little short.

But judging this purely on this new outing of Ranbir and deepika, it is indeed entertaining, thoughtful and charming.

The story is of Naina (Deepika) and Karan, who prefers to be called Bunny (Ranbir), with contrasting personalities. Naina, the scholar who is studying medicine has been a bookworm, taciturn, having no friends all her life. A life based on parent’s wishes and pressures, is what she had lived this far.

While Bunny is a flamboyant, charming guy who has dreams to fly around the world and explore each of it, bit by bit. How he defines his wish is, that he wants his life to have raftaar (Speed). He loves flirting and has this saying that, “flirting is very good for health, like yoga”.

Naina and Bunny have studied in the same class long before, along with Aditi(Kalki Koechlin) and Avi (Aditya roy kapoor). Although Aditi, Avi and Bunny are the best of friends, Naina had no connection with all these, until one day Naina meets Aditi and how her, not-caring-too-much-about-life attitude and her plans for a Trekking trip to Manali makes her look deep into his own life. Also, Aditi is in love with Avi, but he is always in search of “greener pastures”.

Fed-up with the whole ONLY-STUDY schedule, she decides to have a break. A morning letter at the dining table for her mom and a last-minute arranged trip to manali, tags her with Bunny and friends.

A crazy ride, where Naina discovers herself, rather reinvents herself, ends up falling for the charming bunny, but ends up not disclosing her feelings to him. Reason being, Bunny has a totally different plan for life. Love, marriage and family are things he wants to be away from, and then there is his dream of Globe-trotting.

8 years down the line, at Aditi’s marriage they again meet and the romance mushrooms again. At the same time, Aditi, has found herself a rich-engineer(played by siddharth kappor of Delhi belly fame) to get married to, while Avi, with his drinking and gambling habits (Carrying forward from where he left in Ashiqui2) has lost it all and is now bankrupt. But more than that, what he misses is their friendship that got ruined because of Bunny’s career plans, where he just couldn’t find time for anything.

How, Why and when it all falls back into place is what the movie is all about.

The movie brings along the innocence in its characters and tries to pack in little life lessons in them. Ranbir kapoor is definitely a star that leaves no stone unturned to make the movie his own; emotions come flowing down from him. Be it, those scenes with Deepika or with his friends, or even his dad (Played by the Farooq Sheikh). One particular scene where Farooq waits for his son, who usually comes late at night, and has already made plans for Manali without telling him, is where the father-son relationship has been shot beautifully. It does not exaggerate anything, neither the dad’s care, nor his son’s, just sweetly says it all.

Deepika is all guns blazing here as well. She not only looks her geeky best in the first half, but uses her sexy sarees to make you go Wow!! She can just cry and smile at the same time, and still look good. And man, she does act unlike many others.

Kalki koechlin is again has amazing bubbly character in the movie, credit for her to be choosing roles that suites her. While, Aditya is very mediocre as Bunny’s friend, emoting is what this young lad still needs to learn.

There is a blink-and-a-miss scene of Rana duggubati in the movie and you wonder why he needed to be there??

Songs are really good and have been timed perfectly. They do bring in an added energy to the plot. The foreign location shots are amazing too, making you want to just go and explore (Another ZNMD reminder).

Overall, the movie isn’t at all bad, it is actually good. The only point of contention being that it will remind too much of Zindagi Na Milegi dobara, with an extra oomph factor with it. But other than that, I would recommend a watch.

I’m going with 3/5 for Ayan Mukherji’s Ye Jawani Hai deewani, its good if you don’t start comparing with other movies of same genre.

[You can also read the reviews of Deepika’s other hits: Raamleela, Piku, Finding Fanny]

An untitled post..

By farooq

On May 31, 2013

In Random Philosophy

Battling my eyelids by rubbing their sleep off, and trying to focus on this screen to type something down on this keyboard. No, it’s not any report that I need to submit anytime soon nor an exam preparation.

It is just simple blabber coming out of my mind right now that is being written out here. If this whole blabbering ends up going well over say, 400 words, I’ll just transfer it to the wordpress blog and post it for everyone.

Now, since I said above that this might actually become a blogpost, I’ll have to find a suitable topic or to structure it to give some sort of meaning, for it to actually make any sense. Right ??

Of course, I am right!! (experienced hoon bhai)

There should be some structure, some agenda, some flow of ideas, something this something that. Right ??

Well, if you are looking for an answer from me, then dude, sorry to disappoint, I have no idea!!!

I don’t want to make any sense out of this, or hell I don’t want to make any sort of sense tonight. I just feel like blabbering something. The only vague thought that is floating around my head, is to be as non-sensible as I can.

Hey, I just checked this post just crossed the half-way mark of the initial deadline of 400 words for it to become a blog!! Yay!!

Duh!

Damn this obsession with milestones, dates, memoirs, etc!! why do I have to follow the rules, codes, traditions, etc to actually make sense or to make things work??

Why everyone has to follow a strict code of “ethics”, rules, arrangements, falaana dhimkana ??

For those who don’t know me personally, and happen to believe that this is some sort of a drunk post, again sorry to disappoint. Neither do I drink, nor is this post because of that.

I’m tired.

No, not of writing all this down even when I’m a little sleepy, but of many things in my life. My own life seems so strange to me, as if I have started living it inside someone else. And I’m not blaming the problems in general; everyone has some of their own. It has to do with something else.

This strangeness has just built on itself. Each year, each month, each week, each day, and every possible breakup of time has put in their best to make it like this. I’ve started finding faults. Not in others, but in myself.

Finding myself out there to be blamed for my own strangeness!! Yes.

But then who bothers??

Around 25% of the people who are going to see this link, of a random blabber are going to click on it. Half of them would just not bother to completely read the whole thing. Among the ones, who do that will just mouth a few words towards me (of course not of praise) for wasting their time, and among those few half left, some would not let their laziness lose to pitch in a few comments, and if et all there are any left, I might have to explain as to what this was all about.

So, the only thing I am looking forward to is those few souls, dropping in.

But now, having exceeded the initial deadline of 400 words, I have doubts as to how many would flock down to share that strangeness with me. Long posts repel or doesn’t excite audiences, is a fact one should learn really fast. Or even a blog with no pictures to grab people’s attention??

Yes, I’m doing it all. No pictures. No Title. And a long Cribbing post.

Then again, a question comes, why should I bother if the audience doesn’t want to read that much, or like why many are interested in a t20 rather than a test match??
PS: I started writing this post some 40 minute back, wrote whatever random stuff that crossed my mind. It’s just my whining, cribbing, etc coming out in a flow. Sorry, if it didn’t make any sense to you, you’ll surely have company.

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