I may be able to resist Mme. Nicotine these days, but I can never resist a camel photo. And as for a whole silly, surrealistic one....Thanks, "b_e"!
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Tuesday, November 30, 2010
And yet again, camels
I may be able to resist Mme. Nicotine these days, but I can never resist a camel photo. And as for a whole silly, surrealistic one....Thanks, "b_e"!
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Khalas
In Memory of the lives of 15 Makkah Schoolgirls, lost when their school burnt down on Monday, 11th March, 2002. The Religious Police would not allow them to leave the building, nor allow the Firemen to enter.
Khalas: (Arabic): enough, no more, finished, that's it, the end.
It is with very mixed feelings that I post this. What about Saudi Arabia? OK, the now-the-terrorists-are-surrounded-oops-they-got-away saga is over. Also, muslims worldwide will still be getting offended about something, not necessarily cartoons. But overall, I'm afraid, Saudi Arabia won't have changed. So I would just end up trying to say the same-old same-old, but in different ways. Meanwhile, none of us are getting any younger. Carpe Diem. Seize the day.
The blog will remain here for as long as Blogger does. Maybe, millenia from now, extraterrestrial digital archeologists will chance upon it, and wonder about this "Kingdom of Saudi Arabia" where half the people wore black and half the people wore white. An earnest Zargian Ph.D. student will expound in his thesis the theory that the land was so inhospitable, only chess pieces could live there. The rules of the game involved moving around a black rock in ever-decreasing circles. He will speculate as to whether, had the rock been in the Southern hemisphere, they would have circulated in the opposite direction.
They will be visible until Haloscan decides to archive them.
The Camel, God's most ingenious creation.
Woman, God's most sublime creation.
Ma'a Salaama.
Hate Denmark For Its Freedom, Not America
In September of 2005, the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten printed the now-infamous "Muhammad cartoons," sparking riots across the Muslim world, the burning of Danish embassies, and scores of deaths.
The cartoons were part of a nationwide debate on fundamentalist Islam, following the murder and attempted beheading of Danish filmmaker Theo Van Gogh (great-grandson of Vincent's brother) by a man who claimed his movie offended the sensibilities of Islam.
A week later, the left-leaning newspaper Politiken reprinted one of the cartoons, and Denmark found itself with another week-long riot in response.
The decision to reprint was a journalistic act of protest after an alleged plot to murder the cartoonist was foiled by police earlier that day. Politiken stated in an editorial: "Regardless of whether Jyllands-Posten at the time used freedom of speech unwisely and with damaging consequences, the paper deserves unconditional solidarity when it is threatened with terror."
This gesture by the journalists, balls swinging in the face of those who threaten to bomb and behead them, was an unmistakable assertion that is not heard nearly enough: Free speech is more important than political correctness.
The most distressing aspect of the cartoon scandal was not the violence that resulted, but the quickness of so many in the democratized world to condemn the newspaper in a misguided attempt at cultural sensitivity. The most frightening sound-bites were not the numerous and open calls for the cartoonists' deaths by extremists, but the dogged repetition by apologists of that most ominous slogan, "there are limits to free speech."
Which, of course, is an eye-poppingly Orwellian and stupid thing to say. Nonetheless, the American media by and large opted to get behind this fundamentally oxy-moronic capitulation rather than support their colleagues overseas.
In the months that followed, a vast majority of US newspapers refused to publish the cartoons, or opted to avoid the topic entirely. Both Borders and Waldenbooks stores refused to stock the April-May issue of the magazine Free Inquiry because it included four of the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.
Comedy Central, ever boastful of pushing boundaries in its programming, refused to air a scene from South Park episode #10-4, "Cartoon Wars," that featured a depiction of the Prophet Muhammed. They did however permit the broadcast of a scene immediately thereafter in which Jesus defecates on the American flag (a clever bit of protest by writers Matt Stone and Trey Parker.)
In support of these self-imposed censorships, two arguments stood out as most-repeated: 1) A person shouldn't be allowed to yell fire in a crowded movie theater, and 2) It isn't all right to make fun of the Holocaust so mocking Islam shouldn't be allowed either.
Both are ridiculous.
The supposition that violence and hysteria are just a natural result of criticizing religion is obscene and condescending. Everyone can agree that trying to cut off an artist's head in response to being accused of having a violent temperament is, at the very least, ironic. The Danish cartoonists had the misfortune of being the first to very publicly point that irony out, but even at their most petulant and critical they still never hurt anyone. No one has ever died from hurt feelings.
As for the Holocaust, actually we can all make fun of it all we want, and we do.
Example:
Q: What's the difference between a pizza and a Jew?
A: A pizza doesn't scream when you put it in the oven.
If you think that's bad, in response to the Danish cartoons, the Iranian newspaper Hamshahri launched an international contest for cartoons mocking the Holocaust. But, unforeseen by the paper, it resulted in one of the most hilarious comebacks imaginable: Amitai Sandy, the publisher of Tel-Aviv, Israel-based Dimona Comix, launched his own contest for anti-Semitic cartoons with the proclamation: "We'll show the world we can do the best, sharpest, most offensive Jew-hating cartoons ever published! No Iranian will beat us on our home turf!"
A quick comparison of the two contests proves Sandy right. No one can out anti-Semite the Semites.
The apologists do have one well-intentioned point: Muslims, particularly Arab Muslims, have been egregiously misrepresented in the Western media. But in this instance, the reaction by the Danish papers to resist censorship has nothing to do with a "culture war."
The cartoon scandal isn't a clash between the Middle East and the West; it's the latest battle against religious fundamentalism and its desire to stamp out the expressions of artists and scientists. It's an offshoot of Gallileo versus the Vatican, Monty Python's Life of Brian versus the Anglican and Catholic Churches, Salman Rushdie versus Ayatollah Khomeini.
Islam is incidental. Any and all religious institutions must be opposed from influencing laws or stifling freedoms.
Maybe this is the reason, our national allergy to criticizing religion, which makes Americans so willing to let Europeans exercise our first-amendment rights for us.
The cartoons were part of a nationwide debate on fundamentalist Islam, following the murder and attempted beheading of Danish filmmaker Theo Van Gogh (great-grandson of Vincent's brother) by a man who claimed his movie offended the sensibilities of Islam.
A week later, the left-leaning newspaper Politiken reprinted one of the cartoons, and Denmark found itself with another week-long riot in response.
The decision to reprint was a journalistic act of protest after an alleged plot to murder the cartoonist was foiled by police earlier that day. Politiken stated in an editorial: "Regardless of whether Jyllands-Posten at the time used freedom of speech unwisely and with damaging consequences, the paper deserves unconditional solidarity when it is threatened with terror."
This gesture by the journalists, balls swinging in the face of those who threaten to bomb and behead them, was an unmistakable assertion that is not heard nearly enough: Free speech is more important than political correctness.
The most distressing aspect of the cartoon scandal was not the violence that resulted, but the quickness of so many in the democratized world to condemn the newspaper in a misguided attempt at cultural sensitivity. The most frightening sound-bites were not the numerous and open calls for the cartoonists' deaths by extremists, but the dogged repetition by apologists of that most ominous slogan, "there are limits to free speech."
Which, of course, is an eye-poppingly Orwellian and stupid thing to say. Nonetheless, the American media by and large opted to get behind this fundamentally oxy-moronic capitulation rather than support their colleagues overseas.
In the months that followed, a vast majority of US newspapers refused to publish the cartoons, or opted to avoid the topic entirely. Both Borders and Waldenbooks stores refused to stock the April-May issue of the magazine Free Inquiry because it included four of the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.
Comedy Central, ever boastful of pushing boundaries in its programming, refused to air a scene from South Park episode #10-4, "Cartoon Wars," that featured a depiction of the Prophet Muhammed. They did however permit the broadcast of a scene immediately thereafter in which Jesus defecates on the American flag (a clever bit of protest by writers Matt Stone and Trey Parker.)
In support of these self-imposed censorships, two arguments stood out as most-repeated: 1) A person shouldn't be allowed to yell fire in a crowded movie theater, and 2) It isn't all right to make fun of the Holocaust so mocking Islam shouldn't be allowed either.
Both are ridiculous.
The supposition that violence and hysteria are just a natural result of criticizing religion is obscene and condescending. Everyone can agree that trying to cut off an artist's head in response to being accused of having a violent temperament is, at the very least, ironic. The Danish cartoonists had the misfortune of being the first to very publicly point that irony out, but even at their most petulant and critical they still never hurt anyone. No one has ever died from hurt feelings.
As for the Holocaust, actually we can all make fun of it all we want, and we do.
Example:
Q: What's the difference between a pizza and a Jew?
A: A pizza doesn't scream when you put it in the oven.
If you think that's bad, in response to the Danish cartoons, the Iranian newspaper Hamshahri launched an international contest for cartoons mocking the Holocaust. But, unforeseen by the paper, it resulted in one of the most hilarious comebacks imaginable: Amitai Sandy, the publisher of Tel-Aviv, Israel-based Dimona Comix, launched his own contest for anti-Semitic cartoons with the proclamation: "We'll show the world we can do the best, sharpest, most offensive Jew-hating cartoons ever published! No Iranian will beat us on our home turf!"
A quick comparison of the two contests proves Sandy right. No one can out anti-Semite the Semites.
The apologists do have one well-intentioned point: Muslims, particularly Arab Muslims, have been egregiously misrepresented in the Western media. But in this instance, the reaction by the Danish papers to resist censorship has nothing to do with a "culture war."
The cartoon scandal isn't a clash between the Middle East and the West; it's the latest battle against religious fundamentalism and its desire to stamp out the expressions of artists and scientists. It's an offshoot of Gallileo versus the Vatican, Monty Python's Life of Brian versus the Anglican and Catholic Churches, Salman Rushdie versus Ayatollah Khomeini.
Islam is incidental. Any and all religious institutions must be opposed from influencing laws or stifling freedoms.
Maybe this is the reason, our national allergy to criticizing religion, which makes Americans so willing to let Europeans exercise our first-amendment rights for us.
Life through the T-glass
Tying all the experiences together I have to conclude that -
People never learn from the horrors of the past.
Religion has become the reigning obsession in this world.
What is affecting the world now is "The Ambition of Religions." I found several definitions for the word "Religion" in the dictionary:
1. Belief in and reverence for a supernatural power or powers regarded as creator and governor of the universe.
2. A personal or institutionalized system grounded in such belief and worship.
3. The life or condition of a person in a religious order.
4. A set of beliefs, values, and practices based on the teachings of a spiritual leader.
5. A cause, principle, or activity pursued with zeal or conscientious devotion.
Unfortunately any religion today is primarily about the last 4 points and not really about the first. Religion is more about rituals and making a point than pure, unadulterated belief. They have become movements of sweeping conversions, of forcing beliefs on those who do not want to believe. The spirit behind the teachings of religious leaders has been lost. Even in this most personal and indefinable of things, corruption has seeped in and perhaps can never be removed.
People never learn from the horrors of the past.
Religion has become the reigning obsession in this world.
What is affecting the world now is "The Ambition of Religions." I found several definitions for the word "Religion" in the dictionary:
1. Belief in and reverence for a supernatural power or powers regarded as creator and governor of the universe.
2. A personal or institutionalized system grounded in such belief and worship.
3. The life or condition of a person in a religious order.
4. A set of beliefs, values, and practices based on the teachings of a spiritual leader.
5. A cause, principle, or activity pursued with zeal or conscientious devotion.
Unfortunately any religion today is primarily about the last 4 points and not really about the first. Religion is more about rituals and making a point than pure, unadulterated belief. They have become movements of sweeping conversions, of forcing beliefs on those who do not want to believe. The spirit behind the teachings of religious leaders has been lost. Even in this most personal and indefinable of things, corruption has seeped in and perhaps can never be removed.
Cartoonists on the Danish cartoons controversy
Signe Wilkinson, Pulitzer prize winning cartoonist with the Philadelphia Daily
It can be argued that the editor of Jyllands Posten committed an error in judgement in publishing cartoons of the Prophet. But let us leave that aside for a moment and examine what a cartoon sets out to do in the first place.
An editorial cartoon, also known as a political cartoon, is an illustration or comic strip containing a political or social message, says Wikipedia . Most editorial cartoons use visual metaphors and caricatures to explain complicated political situtations, and thus sum up a current event with a humorous picture.
Cartoonist Wilkinson notes, "The (Danish) cartoons were criticizing violence and suicide bombing in the name of Islam."
That, I thought was a reality and cartoonists had every right to touch upon the subject. However, I do think using the metaphor of Mohammed was avoidable.
In a well reasoned article Hesham A. Hassaballa argued, "These caricatures of the Prophet were akin to publishing a cartoon of Jesus Christ as a Catholic priest being dragged away in handcuffs for sexually abusing a young boy. Christ is wholly innocent of the crimes committed by a minority of Catholic priests against young boys…”
However, he added, "The Muslim reaction went way too far. Most definitely Muslims had a right to protest …but to torch a Danish embassy (Syria), throw eggs at a Danish embassy (Indonesia), take over a European Union office at gunpoint (Gaza), and even beat two employees of the Danish company Arla Foods (Saudi Arabia) was completely unnecessary and--dare I say it--barbaric".
I quite liked this one too. But no, ‘judgement’ prevailed and we went with Brad and Angelina (I mean the Indian version – Abhishek and Aishwarya).
I think a cartoon commenting on the extreme reaction to the cartoons is definitely within the ambit of free speech. But given our country’s peculiar brand of ‘secularism’, even that is not a good idea…
You can see a bunch of brilliant ones - like this one - here.
Daryl Cagle has a great blog running on the issue as well, from a unique point of view. That of the professional cartoonist.
And now, some serious observations.
Hesham Hassaballa observed, "While I think it was wrong for the Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten to publish those cartoons, it cannot be denied that newspapers in Arab and Muslim countries have published cartoons that were offensive to non-Muslims, especially Jews."
This is an important point. In fact, let’s look at the issue more deeply. Muslims enjoy the right to practise their religion in democratic societies such as Europe, USA or India. But wherever they are in a majority, people of other faiths must abide by their rules. And these rules have a religious basis.
And this extends to an extreme level, as this news report makes clear: Saudi Arabia police razes makeshift Hindu temple. RIYADH: Saudi religious police have destroyed a clandestine makeshift Hindu temple in an old district of Riyadh and deported three worshippers found there, a newspaper reported.
Members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, or the religious police, stumbled across a room converted into a temple while raiding a number of flats suspected of being used to manufacture alcohol and distribute pornographic videos, pan-Arab Al-Hayat said. A caretaker who was found in the worshipping area ignored the religious police orders to stop performing his religious rituals, the paper added. He was deported along with two other men who arrived on the scene to worship.
Frankly, I don’t even remember this news being covered in India, leave alone any protests. And to think that despite this kind of attitude we invited King Fahd to be the chief guest at our Republic Day parade.
In a multi-cultural, globalised world Muslim societies cannot expect other faiths to ‘understand’ their sentiments. Unless they take some trouble to understand and live in a spirit of tolerance with these other faiths. Or even dissenters within their own faith.
The harassment of Aligarh Muslim University student Farah Khanum was a case in point. Farah was threatened by a section of the AMU students, who claimed they were interpreting what is moral in Islam, says, “Over a period of time, they had been harassing me and demanding that I quit wearing jeans and t-shirt and don a dupatta.”
Newsflash: Every Indian citizen has certain inalienable rights and freedoms.
The Supreme Court ruled that Aligarh Muslim University – despite its nomenclature - cannot be given the status of a ‘minority institution’. Whichever way that controversy is resolved, the imposition of a dress code on the women studying at AMU would be unconstitutional.
Apply one standard!
Writing in the Los Angeles Times, Tim Rutten noted: Nothing ... quite tops the absurdity of two pieces on the situation done this week by the New York Times and CNN. In the former instance, a thoughtful essay by the paper's art critic was illustrated with a 7-year-old reproduction of Chris Ofili's notorious painting of the Virgin Mary smeared with elephant dung. (Apparently, her fans aren't as touchy as Muhammad's.)
CNN broadcasted a story on how common anti-Semitic caricatures are in the Arab press and illustrated it with -you guessed it - one virulently anti-Semitic cartoon after another. As the segment concluded, Wolf Blitzer looked into the camera and piously explained that while CNN had decided as a matter of policy not to broadcast any image of Muhammad, telling the story of anti-Semitism in the Arab press required showing those caricatures. He didn't even blush.
No Indian publication - with the apparent exception of the Patna edition of the Times of India – had published the original Danish cartoons. But one fine morning the Hindustan Times cheerfully carried a 2 column technicolour picture of ‘Bharat mata’ – the controversial painting by M F Hussain ‘depicting the nation as a nude woman on a scarlet canvas with Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Gujarat and Goa inscribed across her body’.
No, it didn’t offend me – but the fact is some Hindu organisations had protested and the painting was removed from the auction. So technically, reproducing the image could have offended others. And printing the cover of this magazine could, as well.
In the same edition of the newspaper, Vir Sanghvi, editor of HT wrote: Of course we should be sensitive to religious sentiments. Of course we should try and avoid giving offence. But these are not absolute rules. If we do cause offence, then we are still within our rights as citizens of a free society to do so. And the people who are offended should simply avert their gaze.
I completely agree. But let this principle apply universally…
Breaking the silence as Mr Sanghvi notes : Liberal Hindus must end the double standard of the secular mindset and speak out as loudly against Muslim fundamentalism as they do against Hindu extremism.
If we do not do that, we discredit the whole concept of secularism. More important, we admit that our liberalism is not an absolute value but a convenient stick to beat Hindu extremists with while making shameful and unnecessary compromises with minority intolerance.
Well, I have taken his advice and added my voice. Please do not attempt to shout me down – as always, rational and well-reasoned arguments and comments are welcome!
And no, I will not 'balance' my views by also ranting against Hindu extremists in the same breath because that is irrelevant in the present context. I agree there could be things done which were not done ex refrence to the holy prophet. Though in the context of free speech, one cannot but agree with Mr Vir Sanghvi, one cannot understand why one cannot abstain from exercising such freedom of speech in matters of religion whatever religion it maybe when other avenues of creative expression are available. Why do something that is bound to be provocative and cause innocent loss of lives.
At the same time, the offended party must not overreact and protest in a civilised manner.
I find it easy to understand the why so many liberal Muslims are upset over the outrage because I tend to think like them. But to think the universe is made only of one set of people and only their views are the correct ones would be a mistake.
So I must agree with Hassaballa when he says that the caricatures of the Prophet were akin to publishing a cartoon of an abusive Christ.
I made much the same comparison myself with some Hindu deities, provoked by a sensible and controlled reaction to the cartoons that I saw in the Muhammad Ali area of Mumbai. Are the Muslims wrong in being upset over it? I think not. Their hurt is real and very understandable.
It's only fatwas that deserve to be condemned.
I think it is disgusting to see Muslim residents in Europe threaten those countries with violence and terrorism when those countries have been generouus enough to help many of them escape persecution in the countries of their origin and advance economically. They misused the freedoms that their democratic hosts have provided and used it to threaten, incite and provoke insane, abominal and absolutely unIslamic violence around the world.
And while there was an absolutely unnecessary morcha in Bangalore for an inconsequential thing that happened in a tiny newspaper published in a language that most Muslims don't know, you're right that there will be no protest against the religious intolerance of the Saudis against Hindus, Christians or even liberal Muslims that do not follow its puritan Wahabbi strain of Islam.
In the face of such remarkably insane behaviour by the followers of Muhammad, the saving grace for Muhammad's teachings is that there is a vocal group of Muslims that is standing up and saying enough is enough.
But that is the whole point why were the cartoons commissioned in the first place - The Bosten Globe did an excellent editorial on the issue.
Just like a Godhra is not a referrendum on Hindus in general, hardcore lunacy of one small section of Muslims too is not a true representative of reality. Of course, countries like Saudi have a universal 'ewwwie'ness (going by what some of my paki friends say). If you consider Religion's role as an Opiate, then Islam is what crack to a nigga.
Perhaps what the world really needs is more of "live and let live" and less of instigation & violence.
I have my complaints against Muslim extremism - especially those frankly stupid calls for Holocaust cartoons - but I also think that the Western media, press and blogs, have treated the whole affair rather patronisingly. The rights to be partisan and therefore express anything racist/sexist/anti-anything becomes our inalienable right, but I don't understand how a debate about free expression in the media cannot be tempered by a discussion about social responsibility. Cartoons about the Pope's edict against gay people or the pro-life fight in the States? Completely different, because there's a discernible debate raging around those issues.
I dont know why there was such a big fuss made out of a cartoon. Come on, no God is so small, that he gets pissed because of a cartoon. The funny part is, a Danish newpaper prints a cartoon of Muhammed there. All the way in Afganistan, people die because of the protests. Isnt that funny ??? About pseudo secularism in India, well, nothing much can be said or done. The minorities can be as fundamental as possible, but if something is done by the Majority, they say its very communal.
Reminds me of "Animal" the movie, where one of the character who is "Black" gets away doing watever he wants, coz he is black. [PS: that was a funny take by the movie makers. Well I feel that it is not wrong if cartoons make fun of a religion but they should not go out all the way to insult a particular sect. I agree that line b/w the two is thin but still..freedom of expression is important but so is respect for a particular religion. And I feel that the cartoons are well within the limits of decency. A nice work done by the cartoonist. The reaction of the Islamic world is totally uncalled for but in a way it was expected. Frankly speaking this gave publicity to the cartoons themselves. If the Islamic world hadn't reacted this way most of us won't have saw the toons.
I also condemn the brutal protests of Islam community over these cartoon issues. I think this points to the insecurity of the religion rather than the maturity of people embracing it. They are unable to come to terms with the contemporary world, they want luxurious lifestyle but when it comes to laws and rituals, they want to stick to their books. They need a self-introspection as to where they stand in the contemporary world. I felt that there are better ways of condemning and protesting instead of brutal bombings or torching of embassies. These point out to what extent they tread to let people know their voice. Holistic cleansing is what they need!!
Its sad that small things are considered a threat to such well established religions. Actually, more stupid than sad.
I believe freedom of expression should be used without hurting other people's sentiments. I dont see this whole incident as a controversy, I see this as a tragedy. Except the statements about the anti-semitic article published by Islamic newspapers. Honestly, that has nothing to do with this issue at all. If a Dane had murdered a Muslim, could he have justified it by saying that Muslims had murdered a Dane? A classic case of two wrongs making a right.
Freedom of speech is essential in today's society and if you start setting limits to it, the question is where do those limits end? Who decides what is right and what is wrong? That is why irrespective of whether it was provocative and caused a lot of destruction, the newspaper should not have apologized. However, there were was a valid statement of double standards that were raised by Islamic publications, about why Anti-Semitism is illegal in Europe (at least related to the Holocaust), and anti-Islamism isnt.
While I do not agree with Europeans banning anti-semitic speech and denials of the holocaust, on further examination, it is not the exactly same thing. In the case of the holocaust, the Jews were the victims, so anti-semitic speech is equivalent to the perpetrators of the crime ridiculing the victims. In this case however, most (if not all) modern terrorism is Muslims (a minority agreed,but Islam is the only common factor between them) hurting non-muslims, so it is a case of the victims satirizing the group whose members committed crimes against them.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Jaana To Ek Din Sabko Hai, Hai Na?
I have been feeling a good amount of depression of late. Well, depression might be the wrong word to use, feeling low is more like it. This is not even remotely connected to my previous post on depression.
Remember those TV commercials in the good old days when a woman draped in a black sari would want to tell you something with that surreptitious look on her face and the I-wanna-tell-you-a-secret look in her eyes?
Mujhe aapse kuch kehna hai. Kaise kahoon? Un dino mujhe bahut dard hota tha. Bahut pareshaani hoti thi........
Mujhe to in dino bhi pareshaani ho rahi hai. Before you start getting ideas about the dard I am referring to, let me explain.
Aajkal ke zamaane mein?Of course I know aajkal ke zamaane mein being in touch is not a problem. Email and phone zindabad, and being net savvy, I am very much in touch with people, though they live in all parts of India and abroad.
But can anything compensate for getting to meet them and having a cuppa coffee or hanging out in the favorite food joints, with endless hours of senseless, itsy-bitsy talks about anything and everything?
It’s not that I would get to meet them everyday, or even every month. There aren’t many things I regret not having done in life. The one single thing that I do regret is that I did never get to experience hostel life. Of course I have been deriving a certain level of vicarious pleasure from friends who actually do/did, including my wife but that is beside the point. In hostels, you spend some 2-5 years together with hundreds of people, depending on the type of course you are into. You get close to a few, depending on the type of person you are. The level of doing-everything-together gets such that they become second family for you. And then one day your course gets over, you pack your bags, attend a few farewell parties, hug each other, and go your own way in life.
How many times do you get to see these friends again? Once? Twice? May be a handful of times? Assuming that they live in the same city that you do. How many times even then?
That is the way of life, that is how the world goes- that could be your logic. True. But that doesn’t dull the pain you feel to see your friends go away. It just can’t.
So when these people are all busy with their placements and getting their suits made and shopping for their new job and stuffs, I wonder if the pain would be worse than it was the last time?
For these are the friends I have laughed and cried with. I enter a certain restaurant to be reminded of the number of times I had been there in the past and had fought over who would pay for the food. I enter a certain station, to be reminded of the endless cups of coffee I had shared, debating on everything under the sun and seeing the trains leave one by one. I walk down certain streets, go to certain stores, and it all comes back to me again and again. I see the faces of my friends, smiling at me, waving at me, and it is then that I feel the loneliness.
And trust me, it is worse than seeing your beloved go away from you forever. For you know that your beloved loves you no more, and is gone forever, for good.
But these friends love you all the same, and stay in touch with you. You chat with them, email them, call them up, and this brings back the pain all the more.
Especially if you are in a cribbing mood like I am in today.
It is craziness to expect them to stay with you forever. Both you and I know that the world doesn’t work that way. But in their short sojourn, they leave behind millions of memories that make you so nostalgic.
Remember those TV commercials in the good old days when a woman draped in a black sari would want to tell you something with that surreptitious look on her face and the I-wanna-tell-you-a-secret look in her eyes?
Mujhe aapse kuch kehna hai. Kaise kahoon? Un dino mujhe bahut dard hota tha. Bahut pareshaani hoti thi........
Mujhe to in dino bhi pareshaani ho rahi hai. Before you start getting ideas about the dard I am referring to, let me explain.
Aajkal ke zamaane mein?Of course I know aajkal ke zamaane mein being in touch is not a problem. Email and phone zindabad, and being net savvy, I am very much in touch with people, though they live in all parts of India and abroad.
But can anything compensate for getting to meet them and having a cuppa coffee or hanging out in the favorite food joints, with endless hours of senseless, itsy-bitsy talks about anything and everything?
It’s not that I would get to meet them everyday, or even every month. There aren’t many things I regret not having done in life. The one single thing that I do regret is that I did never get to experience hostel life. Of course I have been deriving a certain level of vicarious pleasure from friends who actually do/did, including my wife but that is beside the point. In hostels, you spend some 2-5 years together with hundreds of people, depending on the type of course you are into. You get close to a few, depending on the type of person you are. The level of doing-everything-together gets such that they become second family for you. And then one day your course gets over, you pack your bags, attend a few farewell parties, hug each other, and go your own way in life.
How many times do you get to see these friends again? Once? Twice? May be a handful of times? Assuming that they live in the same city that you do. How many times even then?
That is the way of life, that is how the world goes- that could be your logic. True. But that doesn’t dull the pain you feel to see your friends go away. It just can’t.
So when these people are all busy with their placements and getting their suits made and shopping for their new job and stuffs, I wonder if the pain would be worse than it was the last time?
For these are the friends I have laughed and cried with. I enter a certain restaurant to be reminded of the number of times I had been there in the past and had fought over who would pay for the food. I enter a certain station, to be reminded of the endless cups of coffee I had shared, debating on everything under the sun and seeing the trains leave one by one. I walk down certain streets, go to certain stores, and it all comes back to me again and again. I see the faces of my friends, smiling at me, waving at me, and it is then that I feel the loneliness.
And trust me, it is worse than seeing your beloved go away from you forever. For you know that your beloved loves you no more, and is gone forever, for good.
But these friends love you all the same, and stay in touch with you. You chat with them, email them, call them up, and this brings back the pain all the more.
Especially if you are in a cribbing mood like I am in today.
It is craziness to expect them to stay with you forever. Both you and I know that the world doesn’t work that way. But in their short sojourn, they leave behind millions of memories that make you so nostalgic.
I still remember how I used to get late in Purohit's Cafe and how I would be undecided about what to eat (which usually would be a Masala Dosa). I still remember how I and my friends would make plans for the forest trips, which did happen twice.
Lots of memories. Fights about who would pay (actually not pay) the restaurant bills, cribbing about low mobile phone balances, bitching about the coevals and the profs, and of course the unanimous view of everyone that Udaipur is a very boring place to be in.
I hope that they are happy, now that they are gone from this city as I've too, where people take a siesta with as much of seriousness and regularity as Malaika Arora Khan does with her fitness and beauty regime, the place also being the quintessential example of bundhs and raasta jam and chaos and disorder.
Of course life goes on and you learn to live with everything. You go out and make new friends. And the cycle is repeated, you seeing them go away again and again. But that is the way the world works, isn’t it?
I know these are some of the best buddies I have had and they will be with me, no matter what. I can talk to them, meet them once in a while, email them and emaul them with the pathetic jokes I crack (okay, that was a poor one). But I can never threaten them with dire consequences if they cannot make it to the local food joint or the shopping mall at least once a week.
I still remember the day when I had been to see them off.
"You know what’s so good about marketing jobs? You get to travel to a lot many places. So you never know, by this time the next year, I might be in the same city once again."
It’s almost been fifteen long years.
Not that I blame people or end up feeling morose. I have learnt to take these things into my stride and appear unperturbed. Aakhir jaana to ek din sabhi ko hai, hai na?
Lots of memories. Fights about who would pay (actually not pay) the restaurant bills, cribbing about low mobile phone balances, bitching about the coevals and the profs, and of course the unanimous view of everyone that Udaipur is a very boring place to be in.
I hope that they are happy, now that they are gone from this city as I've too, where people take a siesta with as much of seriousness and regularity as Malaika Arora Khan does with her fitness and beauty regime, the place also being the quintessential example of bundhs and raasta jam and chaos and disorder.
Of course life goes on and you learn to live with everything. You go out and make new friends. And the cycle is repeated, you seeing them go away again and again. But that is the way the world works, isn’t it?
I know these are some of the best buddies I have had and they will be with me, no matter what. I can talk to them, meet them once in a while, email them and emaul them with the pathetic jokes I crack (okay, that was a poor one). But I can never threaten them with dire consequences if they cannot make it to the local food joint or the shopping mall at least once a week.
I still remember the day when I had been to see them off.
"You know what’s so good about marketing jobs? You get to travel to a lot many places. So you never know, by this time the next year, I might be in the same city once again."
It’s almost been fifteen long years.
Not that I blame people or end up feeling morose. I have learnt to take these things into my stride and appear unperturbed. Aakhir jaana to ek din sabhi ko hai, hai na?
And naah, I am not crying like that baby in the pic. It is just the thought of that injection tomorrow that’s causing the tears to flow.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
The Last Drink
Apple with his four close friends, were performing their weekly ritual, meeting over drinks. Everyone was enjoying each others’ company.
After a few drinks all except Apple were down.
Apple wondered, whether he should be happy that he is awake and can still enjoy the drink or feel sad since he is alone to sip the last drink.
For those who haven’t fathomed the meaning out of this: drink is a metaphor for pleasures of life and sleep for death.
Time Value of Money
Apple and Orange were at the headquarters of a big company at Nariman Point, Mumbai's premier business district. Both were MBA students and had come to meet a manager in that company for some inputs on their project.
The meeting went well and Apple and Orange were gazing at the skyscrapers at Nariman Point.
“One day I’ll become the CEO of this company”, Apple exclaimed ambitiously. Then he asked curiously, “How much does the CEO of this company earn?”
“More than 4 crores (40 million) rupees per annum plus stock options plus bungalow plus Mercedes and many other perks”, Orange responded to the opportunity of showing his general knowledge.
“I won’t be happy with only Mercedes. Also I won’t travel in public airplanes. I’ll buy a private jet at company’s expense”, Apple said visualizing himself in the private jet.
“Yeah, we’ll earn big bucks”, Orange also shared the big dream.
It was time to reach home and both had to catch a local train, at CST station, around three kilometers from Nariman Point.
“We’ll go by cab, but I don’t have the money now. Please pay for cab, I’ll pay you later”, Orange requested.
Apple checked his wallet, it was empty.
“We’ll walk to the station. We won’t get time to walk when we’ll have private jet and Mercedes”, Apple started walking.
Both wished for some money, few lakhs if not crores from their future.
-- Time Value of Money: A dollar today is worth more than a dollar tomorrow.
-- In India: 1 crore = 10 million = 100 lakhs.
Innovation Everywhere
Orange, a thief went to a shop which accepted second hand goods. He used to sell most of his stolen goods in that shop, and the shopkeeper was aware of that.
This time Orange had all his bags, small and big, for sale. He used these bags while stealing goods and money.
Shopkeeper wondered and asked, “Are you planning to quit your profession?”
Orange replied, “No, but I have moved up the value chain. Now I use Pen Drive.”
God’s Own Kids
Orange was preparing for his MBA final placements. He was putting in as much time and effort as possible to get the dream job. Books were piled up of on his study table; he was searching from his laptop for as much information as he could swallow. Each and every second was precious!!
Lemon was loudly singing and playing guitar. Lemon was Orange’s roommate and classmate. He had just returned from a first day movie show and dinner in his favorite restaurant.
“Will you please shut up? I can’t concentrate in this noise”, Orange yelled at Lemon. “Noise? Dude, this is music. If you can’t concentrate that’s your problem. You don’t have brain to study this stuff. Don’t give me excuses of noise”, Lemon responded.
“I don’t have brain? I am the topper of the class. I had international summers. I have completed CFA level 2. I am the chairperson of cultural committee”, here came Orange’s reply.
Orange throws his CV on Lemon’s face. “Look at my achievements. I have everything that an MBA student can have. What do you have with you?”
“Nothing, except a PPO!”, Lemon exclaimed with a winning smile and resumed playing guitar and singing.
Future Synergy
Date – 26th January, 2015
Place – Mumbai
Place – Mumbai
CEO of the biggest Indian IT company, Lemon Corp had called a press conference to make an announcement. No one in the press was aware about what was going to be announced. All reporters were curiously waiting for the conference.
“IT industry and our company are at decisive point. The competitive advantage is not technology but talent. There is extreme competition among all players in this industry for talent“; the CEO started his speech on this serious note.
“We at Lemon Corp have always faced this challenging task of recruiting, training and retaining talented people. Decreasing hourly rate from clients and increasing salaries made the matter worse. We want to double our manpower every two years. We asked ourselves, is there any out-of-the-box way to get out of this situation? Now, we have got the solution for this problem.”
There was a long pause and everyone was waiting for his next words. “We are planning to acquire FastClone, a company with expertise in human cloning.” All were stunned with disbelief.
“What is the synergy between an IT company and a cloning company?” a reporter questioned the CEO. CEO answered, “I thought you would have guessed that!! We plan to clone all our talented employees so that we would never face human resource crunch. We have been closely working with FirstClone for some time, and we thought it would be perfect backward integration.”
“I believe it’s impossible, how you can clone a knowledge worker and expect the Clone to perform intelligent tasks?” another reporter questioned.
“Change begins at the top” the CEO smiled and he switched on the big screen behind him.
It was live, the same CEO was in Bangalore addressing press conference at same time!!”
Depression - it could happen to you
I did not know Perwez Shahabuddin. An IIT Delhi graduate, MS and PhD from Stanford, Professor at Columbia University, Perwez committed suicide in a Days Inn motel room in November 2005.
A copy of the book 'Final Exit' was found by his body. This is a 'how to' manual for terminally ill people who want to end their life. Of course, people use it to learn about painless ways to commit suicide as well.
His wife says Perwez had called that evening asking if he should bring home some groceries. The family cannot believe he would have taken his own life. But the police say that the professor's computer indicated he may have been planning this 'final exit' for a long time.
Television actress Kuljeet Randhawa was found hanging from the ceiling of her Juhu home. Again, there was disbelief among family and friends. They had no idea she was contemplating such an extreme step. But then neither did those who knew IITian Vijay Nakula.
Kuljeet was a close friend of model Nafisa Joseph, who committed suicide in 2004. Before that there was Natasha Singh. And of course there are many, many less high profile cases of suicide in the newspapers everyday.
All these individuals suffered from clinical depression. In some cases, they successfully 'hid' it from the world. In Nafisa's case, she was actually under treatment. But none of them ever imagined aisa mere saath ho sakta hai.
But, it can
A few years ago I read about how depression would overtake heart disease as the world's number one killer disease. I laughed back the theory then but here's the deal:
Approximately 20-25% of women and 12% of men will experience a serious depression at least once in their lifetimes. Of those who have experienced a major depression once before, approximately half may experience it once again.
I think it's time we shake off the stigma attached to any form of mental illness. The fact that people wait so long to share their experience shows that even in their minds, the doubt of 'log kya kahenge' exists.
Know that it could happen to you. Know that you too can kick it. Don't hesitate to seek help. Or to reach out and help others.
Inside the Black Hole and Beyond
Every act of life, from the morning toothbrush to the friend at dinner, became an effort. I hated the night when I couldn't sleep and I hated the day because it went towards the night.
- F. Scott Fitzgerald, author of The Great Gatsby
Astronomers define the Black Hole as a region where matter collapses into an object so massive and dense that nothing, not even light, can escape its gravitational pull. Depression is something like that.
A hole in your soul which sucks in and obliterates all that you are, all that you lived for - love, learning, laughter. It’s the human mind, collapsing into something so massively negative and dense that nothing, not even hope, an escape its gravitational pull.
And sometimes it seems like there’s just one possible escape from the pain. Suicide.
Those of us who have not been in this state of mind cannot begin to imagine what it feels like. Those of us who have, say a silent prayer for Nafisa and keep our secret. In another time and that faraway, forlorn place, the thoughts that crossed our mind… We lived to tell the tale, but never actually tell it.
Folks with B.P. and cholestorol problems swap stories. Slipped disc slips into conversation easily. Diabetics don’t shy from describing their condition. Bet you know more folks suffering from all of the above than you can count on the fingers of your two hands.
But do you know anyone who has been or currently is clinically depressed? You probably do, except you don’t know it.
Astronomical black holes cannot be seen directly (they emit no light, remember!). But they can be detected by their effect on surrounding clouds and stars. The walking and talking human black hole is similar. Rarely will you get a direct confirmation or admission of what’s going inside such a person’s head. ("He/ she seemed so normal…" is the common refrain of near and dear ones).
But there always are a number of indirect signs and signals. Except, with each of us luxuriating in our own little worlds and feeding off our own little problems, who was really listening? And even if someone did listen what would their response be beyond trying to ‘cheer you up’.
It doesn’t work and after a while, the world will conclude you are happy to be unhappy and command you to "Snap out of it". As if the clinically depressed person doesn’t want to.
Remember the black hole? Logic doesn’t work in that zone. Willpower is not enough. Depression is a medical condition.
It’s a permanent fog in the head caused by a chemical imbalance. The neuro transmitters that regulate emotions, reactions to stress, and basic drives like sleep, appetite, and sexuality aren’t doing their job. If it were that simple, you could simply pop a pill and get over it, like a stomach upset. But, the physical symptoms are rooted in psychological ones.
Clinical depression is literally seeing the world through a pair of dark glasses that distort and colour with gloom your view of everything – including yourself. It’s this distortion that causes the chemical balance in the first place.
The cycle feeds on itself and soon enough the negative 'spin' you give to everyday events and interactions develops a force of its own. You are, effectively, trapped in that metaphysical black hole.
Why we actually don these blinkers is the subject of intense research. Genetics plays a role, as do personality traits. Introverts, perfectionists, and over-achievers are all more prone to depression. So are creative people – like artists and writers. By these yardsticks, I was a sitting duck.
And if that weren’t enough, women are twice as likely to develop a major depressive episode as men. However, they’re also more likely to recognize the problem and seek help for it, which is what I did.
To cut a long story short, a dapper doc diagnosed the disorder as ‘dysthmia’. Never heard the term, have you? Well, get this. It’s a low grade, chronic form of depression. Not as severe as ‘major depression’ but something that stays with you so long you just assume you’re 'like that only'. Dysthmics even appear to function normally, they just don’t feel excited or happy about anything. Actually, they mostly don’t feel at all.
The medication doc prescribed was great. No it didn’t give a 'high' but it was like taking a mood elevator upto the very tippy top of the Petronas Towers. Emotionally Teflon coated, I felt like a whole new person. But that was part of the problem. I didn’t want to be another person. I wanted to be ‘me’.
That’s where the 'talking it out' bit kicks in. Cognitive behaviour therapy makes you realize the negative patterns of thinking you’ve entangled yourself in. And bit, by bit, a skilled professional can help you unravel the mess.
An important lesson I learnt: finding the right psychotherapist is like finding the perfect pair of jeans. If the first pair you try doesn’t fit, you don’t give up, right?
Well, the second shot hit bulls eye, and thanks to a very empathetic and perceptive counselor I became aware of the importance of 'self talk' . The constant chatter in our heads that most of us are barely aware of, but which shapes how we think about ourselves. And therefore feel, and act. A depressive state arises when our internal 'critic' becomes vicious and literally attacks us.
The result of this constant negative feedback in our own heads is low self esteem - feeling worthless and hopeless.
It doesn’t matter how beautiful, rich or successful you might appear to the outside world. Or how ‘strong’ you have always seemed to be. In your own thoroughly warped view of the world, your life sucks completely.
The other trap you’ll find a clinically depressed person in: 'learned helplessness'. For example, after several failed relationships, you might be convinced that 'no matter what I do I'll never be in the right relationship'. And lo, it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. When, with the help of therapy, a depressed person is able to generate alternative possibilities and explanations for why things happen, he or she begins to at last see the light.
Until then, words like 'always', 'never', 'perfect' and 'impossible' dominate your thinking. When you screw up on something it’s 'I’m a complete idiot' or 'I’m never able to get things right' and not 'Oops, I goofed up this time'. Recognise and clamp down on the use of this 'all or nothing' vocabulary and the entire perspective changes. This is but obvious to 'normal' people but a huge revelation when you are in the twilight zone.
Of course, nothing is as simple as it sounds. You can accept these arguments at an intellectual level and still be unable to actually 'change' or adopt new patterns of behaviour.
It’s a slow, sometimes frustrating process but one that gradually builds the emotional velocity to escape from that black hole.
And one fine day you realize – “I did it!”
Like diabetics who need to watch their insulin levels, a person who has once been depressed always needs to be vigilant. Because there are times when you can sight that black hole in the distance. It’s only human to feel sad and low at times, but relapsing into the old and negative patterns of thinking is what you constantly have to guard against.
Rediscovering the people, places and passions you really enjoy is one habit you have to carry on. It also means making the time and effort to meet with friends one looses touch with, and to keep the ‘crazy’ side of a person alive.
As for the Black hole. As in metaphysics, so in astrophysics. There are no absolutes. After nearly 30 years of arguing that a black hole destroys everything that falls into it, Stephen Hawking recently admitted he was wrong. It seems that black holes may after all allow information within them to escape.
It is in fact now believed that the black hole eventually shrinks to a tiny kernel, at which point a growing torrent of radiation begins to leak out. So, if an object falls into a black hole it is not completely obliterated. Instead, the black hole is altered as it absorbs the object.
Something similar holds true for the human soul. You emerge from the ‘black hole’ not as a diminished but a different, often much richer and more empathetic person.
Because there are too many people out there I can recognize now, spinning in their private black holes. Unable to open the door when opportunity, and happiness comes knocking. "It’s not the end of the world", I want to say to them all.
Why me, is a question many of you must be asking. Well, as a wise man once put it: "One ceases to recognize the significance of mountain peaks if they are not viewed occasionally from the deepest valleys."
The view from up here – it’s truly beautiful.
Useful: Identifying clinical depression
Facts about depression:
- According to the WHO unipolar depressive disorder is the leading cause of disease burden or DALY (disease adjusted life years) for females globally.
Nearly twice as many women as men are affected each year. Some of this is accounted for by frequent changes in hormone levels of women (eg depression is common at the time of menopause or after childbirth).
Beating depression is next to impossible without support. But when depressed, we also tend to avoid others, and wallow in the pit we dig for ourselves. Its a downward spiral that we slide down, and its not easy to realize that we are the only ones who can pull on the brakes. Even if we beat it once, its oh-so-easy to fall right back in again. Do it often enough, and soon its familiar territory...An old blanket we wrap around us.
Its heartening to see that more people are waking up to the dangers of depression in India. Its often just shrugged off as temporary, or as a result of stress. Hopefully more people will come out and admit depression. Unless they do, they can't be helped.
Coming out of depression does make us stronger, and more attuned to others. I just hope more young people can be helped before its too late. The truth about depression or any other emotion is that we end up holding up on to it - consciously or sub consciously. The key is to let go. It is one of the simplest and easiest methods but ironically the simplicity in all of it makes it look like crap to us.
The feeling of worthlessness inside sometimes generates rudeness is behaviour which mostly people do not understand. Mind and its intricacies are fortunately being studied all over the world and I am hopeful of better understanding of the mind in the future. Somehow, people either tend to dismiss depression in this country, or to attribute it to 'materialism' or some other such flippant answer.
As a kid I used to think, depression is just some fancy thing rich people pretend they have . But I think the problem is more widespread and not acknowledged the way it should have been! Depression and stress have been identified as the killer diseases of the 21st century. It is ironical that such a state of affairs should prevail but in my view, but that is partly due to lifestyle problems and partly due to the fact that much less is known about the inner world than external world.
The worst thing in mental problems is that they are invisible and there is no x-ray or thermometer to gauge how bad it is. I have myself read so many cases where after the suicide the family states,” We didn’t know it was that bad". Being more social and group dynamics is deemed more important as that can keep you cheerful.
From the past many years there has been an issue specifically in the month of March on student suicides due to “Killer exams”. Students all over India are taking their lives because of the fear of the Board exams. The govt. has introduced policies like making the board exams optional and introducing measures like giving a 15 minute time to read the paper first and things like that. These are good measures but is not the real cause of the problem. One has to get to the root of the problem.
The medical professionals do not always get to the root of the problem. They treat some problems at the effect level and not always at the cause level. They just shrug their shoulders and say that we are not career consultants. Even the career consultants in USA, far better than in India take a very long time to make the correct placements. In my view, faster ways have to be invented as work occupies too many waking hours and the depression can get spiraling out of control. The medical profession has a wrong attitude in my view though this need not be so in all such cases. The patient should try and figure out what works best for him/her.
Unfortunately, the biggest problem is that allopathic medicine does not work on everybody and is prone to side effects. One should also know the kind of depression one suffers from apart from the one on writers and poets; there is a seasonal affective disorder (SAD) which strikes in winters. It is indeed a sad state of affairs and ironical that modern man has to face all this.
Somehow it made sense to me that anti-depressants may have some role to play in generating suicidal tendencies in people (even children). I am of the belief that the external interference with the fine chemical balance that exists in our body must be done under very careful supervision. Else it probably hits back like a withdrawal symptom when you haven't taken your medication. It may be worthwhile to find out if each one of the people who committed suicide were on anti-depressants at all.
The trick lies, I think, in putting the name "depression" firmly down on the condition of which you become a part, if only temporarily. Once you've got that out of the way, handling depression becomes so much more easy to do medically. Often caring for the depressed can be a challenge in itself, and it is the next of kin who happen to need therapy in some way or form; this need should not be made light of.
Do you think depression is the only cause for suicide? In 'The Tipping Point', Malcolm Gladwell talks about the islands of Micronesia, where suicide rates were seven times higher than the rest of the US. It almost seemed as if suicide had creeped into the local culture and had become 'cool'. Suicides led to suicides. Chilling but true.
A few weeks back I read about the Japanese Hikikomori who lock themselves in their rooms for 5-15 years --- and how at one point committing suicide was the cool thing to do in Japan. thankfully, we aren't at that stage here but Indians, in my experience, don't have a healthy attitude towards the word, "depression." The thought of it was some kind of loony-ness or just don't believe you!
It is high time the Indian governments/schools think of installing support systems or at least spread awareness that depression is not akin to madness. In USA, every school/work place has a pscyh on board. yeah, therapy is a little glamorized- but at least people have a healthy attitude towards those who suffer from depression. Or so I've observed.
Men may be less willing to acknowledge their emotional symptoms and more apt to suppress their depression through the use of alcohol or other substances. In such cases depression can be "masked" or viewed only as alcohol or drug dependency/abuse rather than as clinical depression.
Antidepressants are 9 out of 10 times misused or abused due to their tranquilizing property. This very tranquilizing trait of the antidepressants makes them vulnerable to misuse. The fact of the matter is that antidepressants are to be used as tranquilizers but only on prescription. On having them otherwise one not only runs the risk of suffering the side effects but also the prospect of dependence on the drug. Antidepressants like xanax are sold online nowadays for the convenience of the people. One should not try to meddle with them or try to get them by foul means.
Research indicates that depression onset is occurring earlier in life today than in past decades.
Upto 2.5 percent of children and 8.3 percent of adolescents in the U.S. are believed to suffer from depression.
Depression helpline numbers
Sumaitri (Delhi): 2371 0763
Sanjeevani Society for Mental Health (Delhi): 4311918/ 4317285
The Samaritans (Mumbai): 23092068
Prerna (Mumbai): 25905959
Maithri (Kochi): 0484 2396 272 (/3)
Sneha (Chennai): 28273456
Alternatively, ask your family doctor to refer you to a mental health professional
A copy of the book 'Final Exit' was found by his body. This is a 'how to' manual for terminally ill people who want to end their life. Of course, people use it to learn about painless ways to commit suicide as well.
His wife says Perwez had called that evening asking if he should bring home some groceries. The family cannot believe he would have taken his own life. But the police say that the professor's computer indicated he may have been planning this 'final exit' for a long time.
Television actress Kuljeet Randhawa was found hanging from the ceiling of her Juhu home. Again, there was disbelief among family and friends. They had no idea she was contemplating such an extreme step. But then neither did those who knew IITian Vijay Nakula.
Kuljeet was a close friend of model Nafisa Joseph, who committed suicide in 2004. Before that there was Natasha Singh. And of course there are many, many less high profile cases of suicide in the newspapers everyday.
All these individuals suffered from clinical depression. In some cases, they successfully 'hid' it from the world. In Nafisa's case, she was actually under treatment. But none of them ever imagined aisa mere saath ho sakta hai.
But, it can
A few years ago I read about how depression would overtake heart disease as the world's number one killer disease. I laughed back the theory then but here's the deal:
Approximately 20-25% of women and 12% of men will experience a serious depression at least once in their lifetimes. Of those who have experienced a major depression once before, approximately half may experience it once again.
I think it's time we shake off the stigma attached to any form of mental illness. The fact that people wait so long to share their experience shows that even in their minds, the doubt of 'log kya kahenge' exists.
Know that it could happen to you. Know that you too can kick it. Don't hesitate to seek help. Or to reach out and help others.
Inside the Black Hole and Beyond
Every act of life, from the morning toothbrush to the friend at dinner, became an effort. I hated the night when I couldn't sleep and I hated the day because it went towards the night.
- F. Scott Fitzgerald, author of The Great Gatsby
Astronomers define the Black Hole as a region where matter collapses into an object so massive and dense that nothing, not even light, can escape its gravitational pull. Depression is something like that.
A hole in your soul which sucks in and obliterates all that you are, all that you lived for - love, learning, laughter. It’s the human mind, collapsing into something so massively negative and dense that nothing, not even hope, an escape its gravitational pull.
And sometimes it seems like there’s just one possible escape from the pain. Suicide.
Those of us who have not been in this state of mind cannot begin to imagine what it feels like. Those of us who have, say a silent prayer for Nafisa and keep our secret. In another time and that faraway, forlorn place, the thoughts that crossed our mind… We lived to tell the tale, but never actually tell it.
Folks with B.P. and cholestorol problems swap stories. Slipped disc slips into conversation easily. Diabetics don’t shy from describing their condition. Bet you know more folks suffering from all of the above than you can count on the fingers of your two hands.
But do you know anyone who has been or currently is clinically depressed? You probably do, except you don’t know it.
Astronomical black holes cannot be seen directly (they emit no light, remember!). But they can be detected by their effect on surrounding clouds and stars. The walking and talking human black hole is similar. Rarely will you get a direct confirmation or admission of what’s going inside such a person’s head. ("He/ she seemed so normal…" is the common refrain of near and dear ones).
But there always are a number of indirect signs and signals. Except, with each of us luxuriating in our own little worlds and feeding off our own little problems, who was really listening? And even if someone did listen what would their response be beyond trying to ‘cheer you up’.
It doesn’t work and after a while, the world will conclude you are happy to be unhappy and command you to "Snap out of it". As if the clinically depressed person doesn’t want to.
Remember the black hole? Logic doesn’t work in that zone. Willpower is not enough. Depression is a medical condition.
It’s a permanent fog in the head caused by a chemical imbalance. The neuro transmitters that regulate emotions, reactions to stress, and basic drives like sleep, appetite, and sexuality aren’t doing their job. If it were that simple, you could simply pop a pill and get over it, like a stomach upset. But, the physical symptoms are rooted in psychological ones.
Clinical depression is literally seeing the world through a pair of dark glasses that distort and colour with gloom your view of everything – including yourself. It’s this distortion that causes the chemical balance in the first place.
The cycle feeds on itself and soon enough the negative 'spin' you give to everyday events and interactions develops a force of its own. You are, effectively, trapped in that metaphysical black hole.
Why we actually don these blinkers is the subject of intense research. Genetics plays a role, as do personality traits. Introverts, perfectionists, and over-achievers are all more prone to depression. So are creative people – like artists and writers. By these yardsticks, I was a sitting duck.
And if that weren’t enough, women are twice as likely to develop a major depressive episode as men. However, they’re also more likely to recognize the problem and seek help for it, which is what I did.
To cut a long story short, a dapper doc diagnosed the disorder as ‘dysthmia’. Never heard the term, have you? Well, get this. It’s a low grade, chronic form of depression. Not as severe as ‘major depression’ but something that stays with you so long you just assume you’re 'like that only'. Dysthmics even appear to function normally, they just don’t feel excited or happy about anything. Actually, they mostly don’t feel at all.
The medication doc prescribed was great. No it didn’t give a 'high' but it was like taking a mood elevator upto the very tippy top of the Petronas Towers. Emotionally Teflon coated, I felt like a whole new person. But that was part of the problem. I didn’t want to be another person. I wanted to be ‘me’.
That’s where the 'talking it out' bit kicks in. Cognitive behaviour therapy makes you realize the negative patterns of thinking you’ve entangled yourself in. And bit, by bit, a skilled professional can help you unravel the mess.
An important lesson I learnt: finding the right psychotherapist is like finding the perfect pair of jeans. If the first pair you try doesn’t fit, you don’t give up, right?
Well, the second shot hit bulls eye, and thanks to a very empathetic and perceptive counselor I became aware of the importance of 'self talk' . The constant chatter in our heads that most of us are barely aware of, but which shapes how we think about ourselves. And therefore feel, and act. A depressive state arises when our internal 'critic' becomes vicious and literally attacks us.
The result of this constant negative feedback in our own heads is low self esteem - feeling worthless and hopeless.
It doesn’t matter how beautiful, rich or successful you might appear to the outside world. Or how ‘strong’ you have always seemed to be. In your own thoroughly warped view of the world, your life sucks completely.
The other trap you’ll find a clinically depressed person in: 'learned helplessness'. For example, after several failed relationships, you might be convinced that 'no matter what I do I'll never be in the right relationship'. And lo, it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. When, with the help of therapy, a depressed person is able to generate alternative possibilities and explanations for why things happen, he or she begins to at last see the light.
Until then, words like 'always', 'never', 'perfect' and 'impossible' dominate your thinking. When you screw up on something it’s 'I’m a complete idiot' or 'I’m never able to get things right' and not 'Oops, I goofed up this time'. Recognise and clamp down on the use of this 'all or nothing' vocabulary and the entire perspective changes. This is but obvious to 'normal' people but a huge revelation when you are in the twilight zone.
Of course, nothing is as simple as it sounds. You can accept these arguments at an intellectual level and still be unable to actually 'change' or adopt new patterns of behaviour.
It’s a slow, sometimes frustrating process but one that gradually builds the emotional velocity to escape from that black hole.
And one fine day you realize – “I did it!”
Like diabetics who need to watch their insulin levels, a person who has once been depressed always needs to be vigilant. Because there are times when you can sight that black hole in the distance. It’s only human to feel sad and low at times, but relapsing into the old and negative patterns of thinking is what you constantly have to guard against.
Rediscovering the people, places and passions you really enjoy is one habit you have to carry on. It also means making the time and effort to meet with friends one looses touch with, and to keep the ‘crazy’ side of a person alive.
As for the Black hole. As in metaphysics, so in astrophysics. There are no absolutes. After nearly 30 years of arguing that a black hole destroys everything that falls into it, Stephen Hawking recently admitted he was wrong. It seems that black holes may after all allow information within them to escape.
It is in fact now believed that the black hole eventually shrinks to a tiny kernel, at which point a growing torrent of radiation begins to leak out. So, if an object falls into a black hole it is not completely obliterated. Instead, the black hole is altered as it absorbs the object.
Something similar holds true for the human soul. You emerge from the ‘black hole’ not as a diminished but a different, often much richer and more empathetic person.
Because there are too many people out there I can recognize now, spinning in their private black holes. Unable to open the door when opportunity, and happiness comes knocking. "It’s not the end of the world", I want to say to them all.
Why me, is a question many of you must be asking. Well, as a wise man once put it: "One ceases to recognize the significance of mountain peaks if they are not viewed occasionally from the deepest valleys."
The view from up here – it’s truly beautiful.
Useful: Identifying clinical depression
Facts about depression:
- According to the WHO unipolar depressive disorder is the leading cause of disease burden or DALY (disease adjusted life years) for females globally.
Nearly twice as many women as men are affected each year. Some of this is accounted for by frequent changes in hormone levels of women (eg depression is common at the time of menopause or after childbirth).
Beating depression is next to impossible without support. But when depressed, we also tend to avoid others, and wallow in the pit we dig for ourselves. Its a downward spiral that we slide down, and its not easy to realize that we are the only ones who can pull on the brakes. Even if we beat it once, its oh-so-easy to fall right back in again. Do it often enough, and soon its familiar territory...An old blanket we wrap around us.
Its heartening to see that more people are waking up to the dangers of depression in India. Its often just shrugged off as temporary, or as a result of stress. Hopefully more people will come out and admit depression. Unless they do, they can't be helped.
Coming out of depression does make us stronger, and more attuned to others. I just hope more young people can be helped before its too late. The truth about depression or any other emotion is that we end up holding up on to it - consciously or sub consciously. The key is to let go. It is one of the simplest and easiest methods but ironically the simplicity in all of it makes it look like crap to us.
The feeling of worthlessness inside sometimes generates rudeness is behaviour which mostly people do not understand. Mind and its intricacies are fortunately being studied all over the world and I am hopeful of better understanding of the mind in the future. Somehow, people either tend to dismiss depression in this country, or to attribute it to 'materialism' or some other such flippant answer.
As a kid I used to think, depression is just some fancy thing rich people pretend they have . But I think the problem is more widespread and not acknowledged the way it should have been! Depression and stress have been identified as the killer diseases of the 21st century. It is ironical that such a state of affairs should prevail but in my view, but that is partly due to lifestyle problems and partly due to the fact that much less is known about the inner world than external world.
The worst thing in mental problems is that they are invisible and there is no x-ray or thermometer to gauge how bad it is. I have myself read so many cases where after the suicide the family states,” We didn’t know it was that bad". Being more social and group dynamics is deemed more important as that can keep you cheerful.
From the past many years there has been an issue specifically in the month of March on student suicides due to “Killer exams”. Students all over India are taking their lives because of the fear of the Board exams. The govt. has introduced policies like making the board exams optional and introducing measures like giving a 15 minute time to read the paper first and things like that. These are good measures but is not the real cause of the problem. One has to get to the root of the problem.
The medical professionals do not always get to the root of the problem. They treat some problems at the effect level and not always at the cause level. They just shrug their shoulders and say that we are not career consultants. Even the career consultants in USA, far better than in India take a very long time to make the correct placements. In my view, faster ways have to be invented as work occupies too many waking hours and the depression can get spiraling out of control. The medical profession has a wrong attitude in my view though this need not be so in all such cases. The patient should try and figure out what works best for him/her.
Unfortunately, the biggest problem is that allopathic medicine does not work on everybody and is prone to side effects. One should also know the kind of depression one suffers from apart from the one on writers and poets; there is a seasonal affective disorder (SAD) which strikes in winters. It is indeed a sad state of affairs and ironical that modern man has to face all this.
Somehow it made sense to me that anti-depressants may have some role to play in generating suicidal tendencies in people (even children). I am of the belief that the external interference with the fine chemical balance that exists in our body must be done under very careful supervision. Else it probably hits back like a withdrawal symptom when you haven't taken your medication. It may be worthwhile to find out if each one of the people who committed suicide were on anti-depressants at all.
The trick lies, I think, in putting the name "depression" firmly down on the condition of which you become a part, if only temporarily. Once you've got that out of the way, handling depression becomes so much more easy to do medically. Often caring for the depressed can be a challenge in itself, and it is the next of kin who happen to need therapy in some way or form; this need should not be made light of.
Do you think depression is the only cause for suicide? In 'The Tipping Point', Malcolm Gladwell talks about the islands of Micronesia, where suicide rates were seven times higher than the rest of the US. It almost seemed as if suicide had creeped into the local culture and had become 'cool'. Suicides led to suicides. Chilling but true.
A few weeks back I read about the Japanese Hikikomori who lock themselves in their rooms for 5-15 years --- and how at one point committing suicide was the cool thing to do in Japan. thankfully, we aren't at that stage here but Indians, in my experience, don't have a healthy attitude towards the word, "depression." The thought of it was some kind of loony-ness or just don't believe you!
It is high time the Indian governments/schools think of installing support systems or at least spread awareness that depression is not akin to madness. In USA, every school/work place has a pscyh on board. yeah, therapy is a little glamorized- but at least people have a healthy attitude towards those who suffer from depression. Or so I've observed.
Men may be less willing to acknowledge their emotional symptoms and more apt to suppress their depression through the use of alcohol or other substances. In such cases depression can be "masked" or viewed only as alcohol or drug dependency/abuse rather than as clinical depression.
Antidepressants are 9 out of 10 times misused or abused due to their tranquilizing property. This very tranquilizing trait of the antidepressants makes them vulnerable to misuse. The fact of the matter is that antidepressants are to be used as tranquilizers but only on prescription. On having them otherwise one not only runs the risk of suffering the side effects but also the prospect of dependence on the drug. Antidepressants like xanax are sold online nowadays for the convenience of the people. One should not try to meddle with them or try to get them by foul means.
Research indicates that depression onset is occurring earlier in life today than in past decades.
Upto 2.5 percent of children and 8.3 percent of adolescents in the U.S. are believed to suffer from depression.
Depression helpline numbers
Sumaitri (Delhi): 2371 0763
Sanjeevani Society for Mental Health (Delhi): 4311918/ 4317285
The Samaritans (Mumbai): 23092068
Prerna (Mumbai): 25905959
Maithri (Kochi): 0484 2396 272 (/3)
Sneha (Chennai): 28273456
Alternatively, ask your family doctor to refer you to a mental health professional
Jal - damp squib in concert
It began with 'Woh lamhe' setting the charts on fire. Then came Aadat, and Jal became more than a one-hit wonder. Next thing you know, the band was on a blistering schedule of concerts all over India. 20 performances in 25 days flat - in one month.
So far, so good. The trouble was, the band was making a huge mess of it. As they air dashed from Delhi to Bangalore to Rourkela - the same feedback echoed from across venues. Jal was a disaster. The band was simply unable to hold - let alone enthuse - the crowd.
Delayed, lacking energy and spunk, poor choice of songs, poor singing contributed in making the first half i.e the Jal half of the show worth not even the cheap entry fees that were being charged.
- report from IIM Bangalore festival, Unmaad.
An identical scenario was replayed at NIT Rourkela the next day. The band arrived 4 hours behind schedule to start the concert scheduled for 9 pm at 1 am! The 3000 strong crowd was somehow held together with the NIT band 'Euphony' putting up an unscheduled performance. The crowd grew restless and angry, hungry and cold.
The band sang some of the other, relatively unknown songs from their album. Slow ballads, all sounding the same. Smart alecs called for the 'Taansens' to stop their torture. Many in the audience got up and left - after all, they'd heard the one song that really mattered.
Sadly, at this point a fuse blew out and so did the audience's patience. Many of them left the venue.
Deliver or else...
A much anticipated show turned out to be a huge letdown. And I think Jal was squarely to blame.
First of all, professionalism demanded that the band arrived on time. That you were in Bangalore the night before is not an acceptable excuse. Don't commit, if you can't manage the logistics.
The band later claimed they had been told by their event management company that Rourkela is only a 4 hour drive from Calcutta. Yeah right! It takes close to 8 hours - by train. Given the road conditions in Orissa, it actually took them 14.
Secondly, having arrived at the concert - at least then, the band should have given the audience paisa vasool. If you are a relatively new band with only a couple of hit songs, fine. Showcase them. But be open to singing other popular songs to keep the crowd on its feet.
As from IIM Ahmedabad's Chaos festival where both Jal and another Pakistani band Strings performed:
Somehow, it was Strings which made the day – not only did they sing their originals but they even performed a medley with songs from DCH, Sholay, etc. and the crowds kept tapping their feet....Strings carried along the cricket mood into their performance too – they not only spoke of ongoing matches but also played a little cricket right on the stage and hit many balls into the air for public.
Contrast that attitude with Jal, who chose to sing a sonorous new composition they'd penned in memory of the 'earthquake' victims.
Given that Jal were charging around Rs 2.5 lakhs, the organisers effectively ended up paying them about a lakh of rupees to hear two hit songs. That's about 10 minutes worth of 'entertainment' and another 1 hour of we-sing-you're-forced-to-listen.
Repeat value
You get away with it once... But if you're in this business the fun lies in being called back again and again. And that was definitely not going to be the case with Jal.
This is especially true of the college circuit. There are 7 IITs, 6 IIMs and 18 NITs -all of whom hold festivals with big enough crowds and budgets to hold pro-nites. Jal and Sivamani/ Indian Ocean have been permanent fixtures at a large number of these fests. Past favourites include Euphoria and the old warhorse Parikrama.
Given that these fests mostly take place between Dec-Feb, there's a cool Rs 50 lakhs or so to be made over these 2 months if a band does about 20-25 such concerts. The issue is that even if one band performs very well, the college would like someone different the next year. Which is why Jal was snapped up at all venues.
But given that Euphoria had a reputation for pleasing the crowds, the wheel turned full circle and they were in demand next year once again. Jal, certainly wasn't.
The Atif Aslam angle
Of course, part of Jal's desperation lied in their need to be seen as the 'real' Jal, minus their lead singer Atif Aslam.
Aslam started his High School in PAF College Lahore, where he played cricket and became interested in music. He paired with a guitarist named Gohar Mumtaz, and the two performed for their college and at restaurants, later calling themselves "JAL" which meant water.
The pair recorded Aadat together - it became extremely popular. But then Aslam left Jal and went solo with an album called 'Jal Pari'. The songs Woh Lamhey, Dil Haarey on this album were smash hits. Later, Mahesh Bhatt asked Atif Aslam for permission to use 'Woh Lamhey' in Zeher and the rest is history.
Meanwhile 'Jal' with Gohar Mumtaz and band members Farhan, Shazi also released an album with Woh lamhey, Aadat etc. So who is the real 'Jal'? Did Atif 'steal' Woh lamhe? Or did he, as a co-creator, simply exercise his rights?
Since the issue remains unresolved, the producers of Kalyug cleverly included both Aatif and Jal's versions of Aadat in their film. Mukesh-Anil, Atif-Gohar - the battles continue... Jal has now disappeared. Their previous songs are still a hit.
The band was made way back in 2002 but they split after the release of the video of 'Aadat'. The songs were written and composed by Goher. A court case was filed against Atif by Goher, which eventually led to the victory of Goher. The songs didn't do that well when Jalpari was released cause it lacked a certain touch, a touch that only Goher could provide. When Jal released their debut album Aadat, it was a super duper hit, so was Aadat and Woh Lamhe.
Jal made a disgusting impression when it came to performing in front of a good music-loving crowd. They might be singing better than a lot of people, but they surely did not know how to pull a crowds attention..
I don't think bands which play concerts should keep playing 'Dil Chahta Hai', 'Humdum Suniyo Re' and other popular songs. That is what KK did at IITKs pro-nite. He got a lukewarm response. The response of course, was much better than the one to Indian Ocean the year before when they played only originals, most of which were unknown.
Euphoria is pretty good. They play original compositions, interspersing them with some good popular songs and some crap. Of course, Palaash Sen is also very good with the crowd and that goes a long way.
Bottomline: Jal was talented enough to survive without Atif . But talent alone is not enough. By being greedy and unprofessional on their concert blitzkrieg the band lost fans and goodwill.
Their own lyrics sum up the current sentiment, "Na jaane kab se umeedein kuch baaki hain..."
Mobile phones : The not-so silent revolution
A cellphone rings in any given place, and a dozen hands reach out for the hip pocket. Hard to believe, but it wasn't always like this.
Just three short years ago, cellphones were still objects of desire for the young. Now, just about every 16 year old seems to have one. What happened?
Several things. Phone companies realized that latching onto the youth was the key to growing the subscriber base. Affordable prepaid cards were pushed aggressively, no thanks to competition from Reliance CDMA.
Rs 330 - which is the minimum monthly prepaid card- is no big deal for a working young adult. Or even the student with a part time job. But there's still a large population of teens entirely funded by parents. And Rs 7000 a year (taking into account airtime charges + a basic Rs 3000 handset) is money a middle class Indian householder usually thinks twice about.
So, how did a non essential expense suddenly become so much a part of life?
A conversation between parent and teen a couple of years ago would go something like this:
Teen: Mom, I need a cellphone.
Mom: I don't think so.
Teen: But Aparna has one
Mom: Aparna is a spoilt brat.
Teen: You have an excuse for everything.
Mom: Look I'll think about it, maybe next year.
Then, parent bumps into Aparna's mother at kitty party and there is a conversation about how there is 'so much peace of mind' now that beti (daughter) has a cellphone. "You know, it's so essential these days in case of an emergency. And so many times children get late from tuitions..."
Aha. There is now a perfectly rational reason to buy your kid a cellphone - without seeming like an over-indulgent parent or one who succumbed to peer pressure. It's not a luxury but a necessity.
The paradox of technology
Parents may feel a sense of security in knowing 'where their kids are', but the truth is - they have less idea than ever before. In simpler times, when you went to a friend's house for a sleepover you left your friend's telephone number behind.
In the cellphone era there's no way to tell where you really are. And when you don't want to be reached, you can always claim the signal was weak or you are out of network coverage. I'm not saying all teens use the cellphone to deceive their parents but many sure do.
Further, there is unprecedented privacy for the young person - especially girls from less liberal backgrounds. No longer can paranoid pappas vet all incoming calls and ask to know why such and such boy keeps calling.
The balance of power has shifted. Calls can be received after midnight on silent mode, with nobody the wiser for it.
It's happened before
Remember computers? Every parent thought he was investing in an important educational tool for his kid. The 'education' bit is true to the extent that merely being habituated to using a computer is an important skill in the job market today. But beyond that, were kids using the computer for essential school projects? Or was it primarily for internet surfing, email, chat, gaming - even accessing porn.
It took a combination of peer pressure ('everyone has one so my Raju should too') and rational argument (after all it is educational) which led to the computer becoming a fixture in every upper middle class household. And of course the drop in prices of computers/ availability of financing was another welcome factor.
I think this is a pattern now being seen in digicams. The average home user shoots 3-4 rolls a year which costs about Rs 1000 in film and processing charges. It will take a decade to recover the Rs 10,000 invested in the digital camera.
Yet, the purchase is usually justified by saying digicams are 'economical' to use - instead of outright admitting I-want-to-have-it-coz-its-so-cool.
Conclusion: If you're looking at the teen market - don't forget the parent. The right mix of (perceived) utility and value pricing is key to a new technology taking off in a big way.
Once the teen is a young adult with an independent income you can hope to sell the feature-rich, status-heavy stuff. But don't bet on it. There's a calculator of cost vs benefit still ticking away in the average Indian brain...
Just three short years ago, cellphones were still objects of desire for the young. Now, just about every 16 year old seems to have one. What happened?
Several things. Phone companies realized that latching onto the youth was the key to growing the subscriber base. Affordable prepaid cards were pushed aggressively, no thanks to competition from Reliance CDMA.
Rs 330 - which is the minimum monthly prepaid card- is no big deal for a working young adult. Or even the student with a part time job. But there's still a large population of teens entirely funded by parents. And Rs 7000 a year (taking into account airtime charges + a basic Rs 3000 handset) is money a middle class Indian householder usually thinks twice about.
So, how did a non essential expense suddenly become so much a part of life?
A conversation between parent and teen a couple of years ago would go something like this:
Teen: Mom, I need a cellphone.
Mom: I don't think so.
Teen: But Aparna has one
Mom: Aparna is a spoilt brat.
Teen: You have an excuse for everything.
Mom: Look I'll think about it, maybe next year.
Then, parent bumps into Aparna's mother at kitty party and there is a conversation about how there is 'so much peace of mind' now that beti (daughter) has a cellphone. "You know, it's so essential these days in case of an emergency. And so many times children get late from tuitions..."
Aha. There is now a perfectly rational reason to buy your kid a cellphone - without seeming like an over-indulgent parent or one who succumbed to peer pressure. It's not a luxury but a necessity.
The paradox of technology
Parents may feel a sense of security in knowing 'where their kids are', but the truth is - they have less idea than ever before. In simpler times, when you went to a friend's house for a sleepover you left your friend's telephone number behind.
In the cellphone era there's no way to tell where you really are. And when you don't want to be reached, you can always claim the signal was weak or you are out of network coverage. I'm not saying all teens use the cellphone to deceive their parents but many sure do.
Further, there is unprecedented privacy for the young person - especially girls from less liberal backgrounds. No longer can paranoid pappas vet all incoming calls and ask to know why such and such boy keeps calling.
The balance of power has shifted. Calls can be received after midnight on silent mode, with nobody the wiser for it.
It's happened before
Remember computers? Every parent thought he was investing in an important educational tool for his kid. The 'education' bit is true to the extent that merely being habituated to using a computer is an important skill in the job market today. But beyond that, were kids using the computer for essential school projects? Or was it primarily for internet surfing, email, chat, gaming - even accessing porn.
It took a combination of peer pressure ('everyone has one so my Raju should too') and rational argument (after all it is educational) which led to the computer becoming a fixture in every upper middle class household. And of course the drop in prices of computers/ availability of financing was another welcome factor.
I think this is a pattern now being seen in digicams. The average home user shoots 3-4 rolls a year which costs about Rs 1000 in film and processing charges. It will take a decade to recover the Rs 10,000 invested in the digital camera.
Yet, the purchase is usually justified by saying digicams are 'economical' to use - instead of outright admitting I-want-to-have-it-coz-its-so-cool.
Conclusion: If you're looking at the teen market - don't forget the parent. The right mix of (perceived) utility and value pricing is key to a new technology taking off in a big way.
Once the teen is a young adult with an independent income you can hope to sell the feature-rich, status-heavy stuff. But don't bet on it. There's a calculator of cost vs benefit still ticking away in the average Indian brain...
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Bhojpuri Incredible
Ever since I watched “Namak Halal” and Amitabh’s “I can talk Ingliss I can walk Ingliss. and I can laugh Ingliss…Ingliss is a varry phunnny language…Bhairon becomes Byron because their minds are very narrow” I knew that there was a Bhojpuri movie hidden somewhere there just waiting to come out.
And so it has —Namak Halal has been dubbed into Bhojpuri and was released as “Babua Khiladi Dadua Anari” —inspired by “Main Khiladi Tu Anari”, one of Bollywood’s rare movies with a subtly gay subtext (or so people claim).
Of course there is nothing of the sort in “Babua Khiladi Dadua Anari” except some beautiful “Daddu Tum” moments between Amitabh (who has always had a Bhojpuri appeal with the “Khaike Pan Banaras Wala”“Dhanno ki aankh sharabi re humka laage” and songs) and “sharaabi, kababi buddha”— the nasal Oooommmm Prakash.
Which brings us to the bigger issue at hand—the phenomenal growth of the Bhojpuri movie market.
Perfectly logical. Imagine yourself as a cowherd in Chapra district or a miner in Ranchi or a farmer in Bareilly or a pickpocket in Varanasi. After a day of backbreaking labor you want to get drunk, go to a movie wearing a comfortable lungi with your ribald mates, pass comments, throw some chawannis, dance in the aisles—–in short have fun. Which is exactly what “Sasura Bada Paisawala” (a dream of most Indian working men) and “Daroga Babu I Love You” (an interesting premise) provide.
These movies target the problems of the proletariat—-when you know you are going to go home to a wife shouting at your drunken-ness clutching 3 kids in her hand, you want to see “Dulhan Banwa Chudail” (The Bride Becomes The Witch) before the inevitable happens at home. Mother bossing, wife shouting, sister-in-law unwittingly seducing? Yes there is a movie for you— “Ma Biwi Aur Sali” ( Mother, Wife and Sister-in-law). Kids treating you poorly? Old age? Don’t watch King Lear—-”Mat Bhulaiye Mai Baap Ke” (Don’t forget your parents”) is here.
Who really cares about 3 friends who go to Goa in a Mercedes and “break up”, like girlie men, on some trivial issue? Not someone who has spent the whole day walking in knee-deep dung in a cowshack. Who cares about badly executed copies of “Usual Suspects” or “When Harry Met Sally”? Or the story of a live-in relationship with the male protagonist prancing about in his underwear? Not the man who pulls a cart down the streets of Patna—he neither knows what a “live-in” relationship is nor the concept of underwear.
If further proof of Bollywood’s total disconnect with the heartland is needed it is this. In 2005 there were two remakes of Roman Polanski’s “Death and the Maiden”—”Siskiyan” and “Dansh”. Can you imagine watching Roman Polanski in a cinema theatre with the stench of urine, buzzing flies, pan-stained walls and one working fan? Neither can I.
There is so much people like Mithun-da can do in sustaining popular interest in celluloid creations (after all it is not easy to produce movies like “Classic Dance of Love” every few weeks). Other people also need to put their hands up.
In this context, it is heartening to see some other superstars (Big B, Dilip Kumar) taking a leaf out of Mithun-da’s book. Not to speak of the Bhojpuri heavyweights: Manoj Tiwari, Ravi Kishen and Rani Chatterjee (whose original name is Shabina Sheikh but who has been renamed Rani Chatterjee because the word “Sheikh” at the end has masculine overtones among the target audience and also because Bong ladies are every daily laborer’s fantasy).
I have seen Ravi Kishen’s work—he is phenomenal. His debut movie “Agnimorcha” was in Hindi where he played a disillusioned youth on the wrong side of the law and the song “Bolo Mooncipalty ki jai” swept the nation like a tidal wave. Bhojpuri directors, no doubt inspired by his pronunciation of the word “municipality”, took him into the world of proletariat movies—and he provided one superhit after another—”Suhagan Bana Da Sajna Hamar”(Make my lover my wife) and “Dulha Aisan Chahi” (Want a husband like this).
And the biggest heroine in Bhojpuri movies is our very own Nagma (who is considered Bengali by many—possibly because of the Sourav connection). I am sure her sterling work in “Super Police” and the song “Khaki wardi chasma wala, Patthar dil hain police wala, Phir bhi maine dil de dala, ooh yeah” in that movie caught the attention of the production company that made “Daroga Babu I love you”.
With Sourav’s career in the state that is in, it might not be long before he makes his debut as a hero opposite Nagma in “O Kiran, More Pyar Kario” (Love me dear Kiran) ,”Chappa(e)l Pawar Ab Huya Hamar” (The power of the shoe is now mine) and “Tani Pher Na Najariya Hamar Prabhu Ji” (Lord please look after me).
Its a fact. Producers are sick of stars who want to make movies only to get “Oscars” and thin anorexic heroines who remind the audience of poverty. Similarly, the demographic that forms the backbone of the industry is also tired of the elitist dreams the Bollywood people try to foist on them—a man wanting to sleep with 21 women in 21 days, a mafia saga where noone looks like a villain, a lady getting pregnant by a ghost, a man who has murdered his wife, a story about Mumbai high-society or a failed bank-heist in LA.
With smaller budgets , no star tantrums, no Chinese food on the sets, no frills and stories that appeal to the unwashed masses, Bhojpuri movies have become a serious threat to the pretentious, bloated, disconnected fluff that comes out of the dream factories of Bollywood.
Really who cares about soft-focus, sepia tones and techno-Arabic-Bhangra after a hard day’s night? Not the heartland man. All he wants to see is a buxom lady getting wet in the rain. Is that too much to ask?
Move over Mumbai, Mughalsarai is in the house.
And so it has —Namak Halal has been dubbed into Bhojpuri and was released as “Babua Khiladi Dadua Anari” —inspired by “Main Khiladi Tu Anari”, one of Bollywood’s rare movies with a subtly gay subtext (or so people claim).
Of course there is nothing of the sort in “Babua Khiladi Dadua Anari” except some beautiful “Daddu Tum” moments between Amitabh (who has always had a Bhojpuri appeal with the “Khaike Pan Banaras Wala”“Dhanno ki aankh sharabi re humka laage” and songs) and “sharaabi, kababi buddha”— the nasal Oooommmm Prakash.
Which brings us to the bigger issue at hand—the phenomenal growth of the Bhojpuri movie market.
Perfectly logical. Imagine yourself as a cowherd in Chapra district or a miner in Ranchi or a farmer in Bareilly or a pickpocket in Varanasi. After a day of backbreaking labor you want to get drunk, go to a movie wearing a comfortable lungi with your ribald mates, pass comments, throw some chawannis, dance in the aisles—–in short have fun. Which is exactly what “Sasura Bada Paisawala” (a dream of most Indian working men) and “Daroga Babu I Love You” (an interesting premise) provide.
These movies target the problems of the proletariat—-when you know you are going to go home to a wife shouting at your drunken-ness clutching 3 kids in her hand, you want to see “Dulhan Banwa Chudail” (The Bride Becomes The Witch) before the inevitable happens at home. Mother bossing, wife shouting, sister-in-law unwittingly seducing? Yes there is a movie for you— “Ma Biwi Aur Sali” ( Mother, Wife and Sister-in-law). Kids treating you poorly? Old age? Don’t watch King Lear—-”Mat Bhulaiye Mai Baap Ke” (Don’t forget your parents”) is here.
Who really cares about 3 friends who go to Goa in a Mercedes and “break up”, like girlie men, on some trivial issue? Not someone who has spent the whole day walking in knee-deep dung in a cowshack. Who cares about badly executed copies of “Usual Suspects” or “When Harry Met Sally”? Or the story of a live-in relationship with the male protagonist prancing about in his underwear? Not the man who pulls a cart down the streets of Patna—he neither knows what a “live-in” relationship is nor the concept of underwear.
If further proof of Bollywood’s total disconnect with the heartland is needed it is this. In 2005 there were two remakes of Roman Polanski’s “Death and the Maiden”—”Siskiyan” and “Dansh”. Can you imagine watching Roman Polanski in a cinema theatre with the stench of urine, buzzing flies, pan-stained walls and one working fan? Neither can I.
There is so much people like Mithun-da can do in sustaining popular interest in celluloid creations (after all it is not easy to produce movies like “Classic Dance of Love” every few weeks). Other people also need to put their hands up.
In this context, it is heartening to see some other superstars (Big B, Dilip Kumar) taking a leaf out of Mithun-da’s book. Not to speak of the Bhojpuri heavyweights: Manoj Tiwari, Ravi Kishen and Rani Chatterjee (whose original name is Shabina Sheikh but who has been renamed Rani Chatterjee because the word “Sheikh” at the end has masculine overtones among the target audience and also because Bong ladies are every daily laborer’s fantasy).
I have seen Ravi Kishen’s work—he is phenomenal. His debut movie “Agnimorcha” was in Hindi where he played a disillusioned youth on the wrong side of the law and the song “Bolo Mooncipalty ki jai” swept the nation like a tidal wave. Bhojpuri directors, no doubt inspired by his pronunciation of the word “municipality”, took him into the world of proletariat movies—and he provided one superhit after another—”Suhagan Bana Da Sajna Hamar”(Make my lover my wife) and “Dulha Aisan Chahi” (Want a husband like this).
And the biggest heroine in Bhojpuri movies is our very own Nagma (who is considered Bengali by many—possibly because of the Sourav connection). I am sure her sterling work in “Super Police” and the song “Khaki wardi chasma wala, Patthar dil hain police wala, Phir bhi maine dil de dala, ooh yeah” in that movie caught the attention of the production company that made “Daroga Babu I love you”.
With Sourav’s career in the state that is in, it might not be long before he makes his debut as a hero opposite Nagma in “O Kiran, More Pyar Kario” (Love me dear Kiran) ,”Chappa(e)l Pawar Ab Huya Hamar” (The power of the shoe is now mine) and “Tani Pher Na Najariya Hamar Prabhu Ji” (Lord please look after me).
Its a fact. Producers are sick of stars who want to make movies only to get “Oscars” and thin anorexic heroines who remind the audience of poverty. Similarly, the demographic that forms the backbone of the industry is also tired of the elitist dreams the Bollywood people try to foist on them—a man wanting to sleep with 21 women in 21 days, a mafia saga where noone looks like a villain, a lady getting pregnant by a ghost, a man who has murdered his wife, a story about Mumbai high-society or a failed bank-heist in LA.
With smaller budgets , no star tantrums, no Chinese food on the sets, no frills and stories that appeal to the unwashed masses, Bhojpuri movies have become a serious threat to the pretentious, bloated, disconnected fluff that comes out of the dream factories of Bollywood.
Really who cares about soft-focus, sepia tones and techno-Arabic-Bhangra after a hard day’s night? Not the heartland man. All he wants to see is a buxom lady getting wet in the rain. Is that too much to ask?
Move over Mumbai, Mughalsarai is in the house.
Move over Bollywood, here's Bhojpuri
Bollywood is having to take a backseat as the hitherto little-known regional Bhojpuri film industry steals the show in India.
The industry, catering to 400m people who speak the Bhojpuri language - a dialect of Hindi - and live in the states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, is raking in cash like never before. Sticking to home-grown Indian family melodramas and throwing in some glamorous faces and slick foreign locations for a contemporary feel, Bhojpuri films are often outperforming Bollywood biopics at the box office these days.
Take, for example, two of the Bhojpuri mega hits of 2005, Sasura Bada Paisawela (My Father-in-Law is Rich) and Daroga Babu I Love You (Dear Policeman, I Love You). Both did more business in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh than the A-list Bollywood releases.
Star cast
Made on a modest budget of $65,000, Sasura Bada Paisawela took in over $3m at the box office. Daroga Babu mopped up nearly $900,000 on a similar budget.
With a success rate of almost 100%, it is not surprising that Bhojpuri cinema is wooing Bollywood players like never before.Superstar Amitabh Bachchan and star actress of yesteryear, Hema Malini, have signed up for a Bhojpuri film together. Other actors who have appeared in or are about to appear in Bhojpuri films are Ajay Devgan, Juhi Chawla, Raj Babbar, Rati Agnihotri and starlet Nagma.
That's not all - Bollywood's top choreographer Saroj Khan is directing a Bhojpuri movie, director Tinnu Verma is remaking a Bollywood hit, Mera Gaon Mera Desh (My Village, My Country), in Bhojpuri, and Bollywood singer Udit Narayan is producing a Bhojpuri film called Kab Hoi Gauna Hamar.
The four-decade-old Bhojpuri industry is attracting foreign talent too. Ukrainian model Tanya has already played a Russian girl in love with a Bihari boy in Firangi Dulhania (Foreign Bride). Now 24-year-old Cambridge-educated British actress Jessica Bath has signed for two Bhojpuri films.The Bhojpuri industry is buzzing as never before - with some 30 films this year, double the number of previous years.
Good business
So what makes Bhojpuri cinema tick? Bhojpuri cinema has an audience of 400m. Many Bhojpuri movies take about 10 times their costs. For one, the film-makers have astutely targeted the Bhojpuri-speaking audience at home and abroad - a substantial expatriate population in places such as Mauritius, Fiji, Surinam and the West Indies.
With Bollywood productions increasingly targeting the urban middle and upper classes in India's cities, Bhojpuri directors have cashed in by churning out home-grown local fare. The industry also has its own stars now - Manoj Tiwari and Ravi Kishan are the biggest male actors, while an actress from Mumbai, Rani Chatterji - originally Sabiha Sheikh and renamed after Bollywood actress Rani Mukherjee - is the most popular actress. Tiwari, who began as a small-town crooner, now has more than a dozen films to his name and charges as much as $90,000 per film. Kishan charges as much. He has been quoted on an Indian website as saying Bhojpuri cinema is like "home-cooked food".
Vinod Mirani, an editor of a Bollywood trade journal, said on the same site: "Bhojpuri movies are not about Technicolor fantasies. The thrust is towards home-grown subjects. The concerns are largely to do with marriage and family. There are lot of emotions."
Clearly, the formula is working. "Bhojpuri cinema has finally got its identity and real worth. Now its commercial success is making everybody sit up and take notice," says Raghuvansh Babu, chief of the Bihar Motion Pictures Association.
Bhojpuri movies also make eminent business sense. "Most Bhojpuri films are made on small budget of usually $50,000 to $60,000 and usually gross 10 times their costs at the box office, which is much higher than any Bollywood hit," Bollywood trade analyst Taran Adarsh says. Bhojpuri film-makers now claim they are pushing the envelope with themes. Manoj Tiwari says Bhojpuri films are being made around "gender themes and even a political satire is in the works".
To exploit the industry's potential, there is also a rush now to dub 40 Bollywood hits, including films like Sholay and Deewar, into Bhojpuri.
The industry, catering to 400m people who speak the Bhojpuri language - a dialect of Hindi - and live in the states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, is raking in cash like never before. Sticking to home-grown Indian family melodramas and throwing in some glamorous faces and slick foreign locations for a contemporary feel, Bhojpuri films are often outperforming Bollywood biopics at the box office these days.
Take, for example, two of the Bhojpuri mega hits of 2005, Sasura Bada Paisawela (My Father-in-Law is Rich) and Daroga Babu I Love You (Dear Policeman, I Love You). Both did more business in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh than the A-list Bollywood releases.
Star cast
Made on a modest budget of $65,000, Sasura Bada Paisawela took in over $3m at the box office. Daroga Babu mopped up nearly $900,000 on a similar budget.
With a success rate of almost 100%, it is not surprising that Bhojpuri cinema is wooing Bollywood players like never before.Superstar Amitabh Bachchan and star actress of yesteryear, Hema Malini, have signed up for a Bhojpuri film together. Other actors who have appeared in or are about to appear in Bhojpuri films are Ajay Devgan, Juhi Chawla, Raj Babbar, Rati Agnihotri and starlet Nagma.
That's not all - Bollywood's top choreographer Saroj Khan is directing a Bhojpuri movie, director Tinnu Verma is remaking a Bollywood hit, Mera Gaon Mera Desh (My Village, My Country), in Bhojpuri, and Bollywood singer Udit Narayan is producing a Bhojpuri film called Kab Hoi Gauna Hamar.
The four-decade-old Bhojpuri industry is attracting foreign talent too. Ukrainian model Tanya has already played a Russian girl in love with a Bihari boy in Firangi Dulhania (Foreign Bride). Now 24-year-old Cambridge-educated British actress Jessica Bath has signed for two Bhojpuri films.The Bhojpuri industry is buzzing as never before - with some 30 films this year, double the number of previous years.
Good business
So what makes Bhojpuri cinema tick? Bhojpuri cinema has an audience of 400m. Many Bhojpuri movies take about 10 times their costs. For one, the film-makers have astutely targeted the Bhojpuri-speaking audience at home and abroad - a substantial expatriate population in places such as Mauritius, Fiji, Surinam and the West Indies.
With Bollywood productions increasingly targeting the urban middle and upper classes in India's cities, Bhojpuri directors have cashed in by churning out home-grown local fare. The industry also has its own stars now - Manoj Tiwari and Ravi Kishan are the biggest male actors, while an actress from Mumbai, Rani Chatterji - originally Sabiha Sheikh and renamed after Bollywood actress Rani Mukherjee - is the most popular actress. Tiwari, who began as a small-town crooner, now has more than a dozen films to his name and charges as much as $90,000 per film. Kishan charges as much. He has been quoted on an Indian website as saying Bhojpuri cinema is like "home-cooked food".
Vinod Mirani, an editor of a Bollywood trade journal, said on the same site: "Bhojpuri movies are not about Technicolor fantasies. The thrust is towards home-grown subjects. The concerns are largely to do with marriage and family. There are lot of emotions."
Clearly, the formula is working. "Bhojpuri cinema has finally got its identity and real worth. Now its commercial success is making everybody sit up and take notice," says Raghuvansh Babu, chief of the Bihar Motion Pictures Association.
Bhojpuri movies also make eminent business sense. "Most Bhojpuri films are made on small budget of usually $50,000 to $60,000 and usually gross 10 times their costs at the box office, which is much higher than any Bollywood hit," Bollywood trade analyst Taran Adarsh says. Bhojpuri film-makers now claim they are pushing the envelope with themes. Manoj Tiwari says Bhojpuri films are being made around "gender themes and even a political satire is in the works".
To exploit the industry's potential, there is also a rush now to dub 40 Bollywood hits, including films like Sholay and Deewar, into Bhojpuri.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Bhojpuri ?
Probably Paresh Rawal speaks Bhojpuri.....(with a very Bihari accent).
Khaali bhor dopaharon mein
In India, every city, every town, every gali, koocha, mohalla has some new experience to offer. And that's how I found watching my first (and most likely last!) Bhojpuri film: 'Daroga babu, I love you'.
Actually, it was fate that dragged me in. I was merely watching a cover picture of this movie at a DVD rental - which was quite fascinating in itself. I mean where would you find a movie which mentions credits for nirdeshan (direction), sangeet (music) and 'maar dhaad' (I guess they mean action sequences but note the literal meaning!)
Anyhow, the shop owner noticed me and struck up a conversation. "Accha, aap North se hain?" He too had a brother in Baddi-Himachal Pradesh working in a chemical company.
Then, he said, "Lijiye na, dekhiye...". And I found myself walking down with the movie.
The movie started. An old lady was shown praying to a tulsi plant - asking for God to give her son a good naukri. Enter son: Maa hamka naukri mil gavat (subtitle: I have got a job!).
A few push ups and running races later, son acquires a vardi. Camera focuses on his badge and then cap and then he puts on the most important accessory: a pair of dark glasses.
Next scene: The villain is introduced. A man with a 'Mangal Pandey' moustache sticks a stainless steel sword into some random villager's stomach. Bright red 'blood' drips from the instrument which appears to be longer than the line at the Food Bazaar check out counter on a Sunday.
Next scene: heroine is introduced. Daroga babu alights from a bus, only to collide with the girl on a scooter. The usual pleasantries are exchanged. Girl calls him 'goonda, badmaash - dekh kar nahin chal sakte kya?" Hero is already naming their children.
Cut: Daroga babu enters the police station. Here, he has two bumbling assistants called 'Loncha' and 'Kharoncha'. A nubile nymphet arrives at the police station to deliver lunch to her bapu. The real purpose of her existence is to bung in an item number.
I couldn't help but wonder, "In the India of 2010, how could such pea-brained, predictable, poorly made films have a market?"
Bhojpuri on a roll
Well, they do - and a big one. Trade analysts say , "Most Bhojpuri films are made in small budgets, usually Rs 20-30 lakh, and they fetch Rs 1-2 crore."Several of these films are grossing 10 times their production costs. A good film can even make a profit of Rs 10-12 crore..."
The hero of this film, I learned, was one 'Manoj'. In 2005, Manoj, a struggling singer, debuted in a sex comedy Sasura Bada Paisewala. The film ran for more than 50 weeks in Varanasi and Kanpur in UP and for 25 weeks elsewhere. Sasura... made with a modest budget of Rs 30 lakh, grossed a stupendous Rs 15 crore. Manoj’s other films such as 'Daroga Babu I Love You' then went on to do a business of Rs 4 crore and 'Bandhan Tutey Na' has already made Rs 3 crore.
Now Manoj would never ever make it as a Hindi film hero. He is just too ugly. But that, I guess is part of his charm. He is the kind of guy your taxi driver in Mumbai or factory worker in Ludhiana could look at and say, "This could be me".
The women, in contrast, can be called 'pretty'. At least they have no spare rolls of fat jiggling around. And they use 'Fair and Lovely'. So the ugly hero gets the soni kudi. Excellent form of escapism.
The world depicted in 'Daroga babu' is completely alien to you and me. Which is why it probably appeals to the target audience. In a world where everything is in flux, maybe the 'formula film' offers comfort to migrant Bihari labourers who appear to be the primary target audience.
This was bound to happen with Bollywood totally losing its touch with the Hindi heartland and instead catering to the multiplex-going city slickers.
Who really cares about 3 friends who go to Goa in a Mercedes and "break up", like girlie men, on some trivial issue? Not someone who has spent the whole day walking in knee-deep dung in a cowshack."
Fine - but this is what I don't get. Manoj recently declared,"Gone are double-meaning dialogues, lack of a coherent storyline and poor technical quality. The films are slicker...".
Er, if this is slick, I wonder what Bhojpuri films used to be like earlier! The point however is that 'upgrading' too much Bhojpuri films makes no sense. As actor Ravi Kishen puts it, "Bhojpuri cinema is like home-cooked food".
If the sets and actors and locales improve too much - will it be any different from their 5 star cousins - the Bollywood film industry? Except for the language, that is. And Bhojpuri is really more like a dialect of Hindi, rather than a complete bhasha in itself.
And once costs go up - with actors dancing in Switzerland instead of random maidans and mountains - will it remain as profitable a proposition?
Bhojpuri vs Mainstream
A recent BBC article noted that Bhojpuri films are beating Bollywood releases in the Hindi heartland. "Both (Daroga Babu and Sasura Bada...) did more business in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh than the A-list Bollywood releases".
Sure. But the fact is in small towns, there is no 'family crowd' at the dilapidated, paan stained, A/C-less theatres. Where stall tickets sell at an amazing 10 bucks and balcony for a princely 15.
So the potential theatre audience for mainstream Bollywood in small towns was quite limited. Here, 'decent' people watch movies on CDs or wait for the cable wallah to show them.
There is a market for a better theatre with pricier tickets. And perhaps it's quite right. If the girls at NIIT wish to see a Bollywood flick, they'll have to do it in bigger towns....
I think it comes down to the audience. Who are you and me to decide about the calibre/level of these films? In rural areas, watching a film in a theatre is 'once-a-year' kinda phenomenon. People actually forego their meals to watch a film. You can not give them artistically designed fims filled with esoteric logic and ask them to enjoy it. They want all the 'masala' in a 3 hour film, dialogues that they can understand and characters they can identify with; however loud it may be. SO its a pure demand and supply equation.
Well, I guess one day when Bollywood gets more corporatised, we may probably see a 'Portfolio Manager' of a studio house 'spreading his risk' across various genres which may include Bhojpuri movies, sleazy sex comedies, and art house productions?
Reminds me 'Bottom of the Pyramid' theory by C.K.Prahalad... Just goes on to show how we are good at making things with good value. It isn't sheer luck that these gross & get 5-6 crores.
Films like Daroga babu are a great value business models with a big market to be catered to. We can indeed export these to places like Pakistan and Afghanistan (and host of 3rd world nations) where Bollywood sells hot. Great going 'Bhojiwood'...we hope to see u on top.
Meanwhile, Bhojpuri films with evil zamindars, daroga babus and gaon ki goris continue to be a great business proposition. And a reminder that all is not candyfloss and Chopragloss in this, our wide and varied country called India.
Actually, it was fate that dragged me in. I was merely watching a cover picture of this movie at a DVD rental - which was quite fascinating in itself. I mean where would you find a movie which mentions credits for nirdeshan (direction), sangeet (music) and 'maar dhaad' (I guess they mean action sequences but note the literal meaning!)
Anyhow, the shop owner noticed me and struck up a conversation. "Accha, aap North se hain?" He too had a brother in Baddi-Himachal Pradesh working in a chemical company.
Then, he said, "Lijiye na, dekhiye...". And I found myself walking down with the movie.
The movie started. An old lady was shown praying to a tulsi plant - asking for God to give her son a good naukri. Enter son: Maa hamka naukri mil gavat (subtitle: I have got a job!).
A few push ups and running races later, son acquires a vardi. Camera focuses on his badge and then cap and then he puts on the most important accessory: a pair of dark glasses.
Next scene: The villain is introduced. A man with a 'Mangal Pandey' moustache sticks a stainless steel sword into some random villager's stomach. Bright red 'blood' drips from the instrument which appears to be longer than the line at the Food Bazaar check out counter on a Sunday.
Next scene: heroine is introduced. Daroga babu alights from a bus, only to collide with the girl on a scooter. The usual pleasantries are exchanged. Girl calls him 'goonda, badmaash - dekh kar nahin chal sakte kya?" Hero is already naming their children.
Cut: Daroga babu enters the police station. Here, he has two bumbling assistants called 'Loncha' and 'Kharoncha'. A nubile nymphet arrives at the police station to deliver lunch to her bapu. The real purpose of her existence is to bung in an item number.
I couldn't help but wonder, "In the India of 2010, how could such pea-brained, predictable, poorly made films have a market?"
Bhojpuri on a roll
Well, they do - and a big one. Trade analysts say , "Most Bhojpuri films are made in small budgets, usually Rs 20-30 lakh, and they fetch Rs 1-2 crore."Several of these films are grossing 10 times their production costs. A good film can even make a profit of Rs 10-12 crore..."
The hero of this film, I learned, was one 'Manoj'. In 2005, Manoj, a struggling singer, debuted in a sex comedy Sasura Bada Paisewala. The film ran for more than 50 weeks in Varanasi and Kanpur in UP and for 25 weeks elsewhere. Sasura... made with a modest budget of Rs 30 lakh, grossed a stupendous Rs 15 crore. Manoj’s other films such as 'Daroga Babu I Love You' then went on to do a business of Rs 4 crore and 'Bandhan Tutey Na' has already made Rs 3 crore.
Now Manoj would never ever make it as a Hindi film hero. He is just too ugly. But that, I guess is part of his charm. He is the kind of guy your taxi driver in Mumbai or factory worker in Ludhiana could look at and say, "This could be me".
The women, in contrast, can be called 'pretty'. At least they have no spare rolls of fat jiggling around. And they use 'Fair and Lovely'. So the ugly hero gets the soni kudi. Excellent form of escapism.
The world depicted in 'Daroga babu' is completely alien to you and me. Which is why it probably appeals to the target audience. In a world where everything is in flux, maybe the 'formula film' offers comfort to migrant Bihari labourers who appear to be the primary target audience.
This was bound to happen with Bollywood totally losing its touch with the Hindi heartland and instead catering to the multiplex-going city slickers.
Who really cares about 3 friends who go to Goa in a Mercedes and "break up", like girlie men, on some trivial issue? Not someone who has spent the whole day walking in knee-deep dung in a cowshack."
Fine - but this is what I don't get. Manoj recently declared,"Gone are double-meaning dialogues, lack of a coherent storyline and poor technical quality. The films are slicker...".
Er, if this is slick, I wonder what Bhojpuri films used to be like earlier! The point however is that 'upgrading' too much Bhojpuri films makes no sense. As actor Ravi Kishen puts it, "Bhojpuri cinema is like home-cooked food".
If the sets and actors and locales improve too much - will it be any different from their 5 star cousins - the Bollywood film industry? Except for the language, that is. And Bhojpuri is really more like a dialect of Hindi, rather than a complete bhasha in itself.
And once costs go up - with actors dancing in Switzerland instead of random maidans and mountains - will it remain as profitable a proposition?
Bhojpuri vs Mainstream
A recent BBC article noted that Bhojpuri films are beating Bollywood releases in the Hindi heartland. "Both (Daroga Babu and Sasura Bada...) did more business in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh than the A-list Bollywood releases".
Sure. But the fact is in small towns, there is no 'family crowd' at the dilapidated, paan stained, A/C-less theatres. Where stall tickets sell at an amazing 10 bucks and balcony for a princely 15.
So the potential theatre audience for mainstream Bollywood in small towns was quite limited. Here, 'decent' people watch movies on CDs or wait for the cable wallah to show them.
There is a market for a better theatre with pricier tickets. And perhaps it's quite right. If the girls at NIIT wish to see a Bollywood flick, they'll have to do it in bigger towns....
I think it comes down to the audience. Who are you and me to decide about the calibre/level of these films? In rural areas, watching a film in a theatre is 'once-a-year' kinda phenomenon. People actually forego their meals to watch a film. You can not give them artistically designed fims filled with esoteric logic and ask them to enjoy it. They want all the 'masala' in a 3 hour film, dialogues that they can understand and characters they can identify with; however loud it may be. SO its a pure demand and supply equation.
Well, I guess one day when Bollywood gets more corporatised, we may probably see a 'Portfolio Manager' of a studio house 'spreading his risk' across various genres which may include Bhojpuri movies, sleazy sex comedies, and art house productions?
Reminds me 'Bottom of the Pyramid' theory by C.K.Prahalad... Just goes on to show how we are good at making things with good value. It isn't sheer luck that these gross & get 5-6 crores.
Films like Daroga babu are a great value business models with a big market to be catered to. We can indeed export these to places like Pakistan and Afghanistan (and host of 3rd world nations) where Bollywood sells hot. Great going 'Bhojiwood'...we hope to see u on top.
Meanwhile, Bhojpuri films with evil zamindars, daroga babus and gaon ki goris continue to be a great business proposition. And a reminder that all is not candyfloss and Chopragloss in this, our wide and varied country called India.
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