Mile Sur Mera Tumhara, To Sur Bane Hamaara

I was browsing through channels on tv giving the remote control a hard time by pressing the random channel numbers. The poor machine had to bear the brunt on its soft buttons which worsened with my growing frustration of not finding anything worthwhile to watch. In a way, I was strangling it hard as if it was part of the conspiracy- the conspiracy to deprive me of watching something entertaining or sensible on tv.


My grandfather suddenly came up and asked me to put Doordarshan as he wanted to listen to the President's address to the nation on the Republic Day's eve. As the last resort to entertainment also seemed to be vanishing, i half heartedly switched the channel to our very own( is it??? never mind) good old Doordarshan. The advertisements and the broadcast quality still appeared the same as it was 10 yrs back. I wondered that what could be the reason for this. It was like when others were queuing up for the tasty and sumptuous dishes of liberalization and globalization, Doordarshan might have been misled to queue up in some old ration shop to get dal and chawal.That's why they seemed dull and mundane as ever,refusing to change. Anyhow, i thought it might act as the right sleeping pill for me before i have to bear the President's speech(No offence, but i just find it as repetitive and predictable as Saas Bahu sagas).



I was lost in my thoughts when something came on television which took me back in time and not only did it instil nostalgia within me, but also pumped up my mood- It was the "Mile Sur Mera Tumhara, To Sur Bane Humara' song. Here was a song that i watched during my infant years when my rage for television was shaping up. So no matter how much cynical i sound about Doordarshan, it was my prima facie to the fascinating world of television.


Of course back then,i didnt understand the message the song gave( i didnt even bother much). For me the cynosure used to be the melody of the song and of course a few recognizable faces including Amitabh Bachchan, Jeetendra,Mithun Chakravorthy, Hema Malini, Sharmila Tagore, Kamal hassan and many others. I really didnt recognize exponents of other fields then, so seeing Big B hum "Mile sur mera Tumhara" made me hum with him, and i did it without fail as if it was some national responsibility placed on the tender shoulders of this young 4-5 year old.


But when i watched the video again now, surprisingly it was equally enchanting and winsome as it was back then. The melody was still euphonic, striking the right chord with the heart and the earlobes and auditory canal still made way for it to blend with all the senses. But I could appreciate the essence of the video much more now, as a 20 year old. It put forth such a beautiful message of Unity In Diversity in India; something which other countries can only envy or wonder about us. The Message of national integration was put up in such a simple yet a strong way, that it infuses a belonging to this great land.


One line "Mile Sur Mera Tumhara" being recited in 14 diffrent languages in their respective folk tunes; each reiterating the same fact- Lets all stand together forever and when "You" and "I" come together, "We" can bring a change. In the past few years, when communal and regional politics has taken over and there have been doubts over the secular fabric of Indian Union, this video not only comes as a fresh breather but also is a tight slap to the face of those who dont believe that India stands for much more than a segregated Union of states.


I had my eyes glued on this 6 minute video and I could actually recall the tune as the video kept unveiling from one frame to another; this simply showed the potent impact this had on a young mind who might have not understood the heart and soul of the song as a kid, but once he did, he could appreciate its substance much more.


There are myriad campaigns going on to lionize India in front of the world with Incredible India campaigns. Of course its important to showcase the technological developments we've made and to epitomize our improvement in all spheres. But i believe a campaign like this is a paragon of India and would stay that way forever, as this is something which gives us a distinctive identity not at par, but well above the rest. This is a song which takes us back to the Preamble of our Constitution which glorified India to be a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic. A country whose pillars of strength are Unity. Integrity and Fraternity.It reminds us, that this country truly is- Of the people, FOr the people and By the people.


And if you are not a person who'd go into the nitty gritties, take a look at it for sheer entertainment value. This video has the biggest names in the field of arts, entertainment and sports( all looking younger ) who have been a prime mover in their fields for the past few decades.


So all the YouTube buffs out there, maybe its time to see something different and worthwhile now. Just take a look at this video and you'll realize the mantle it carries, you'll realize what it symbolizes. And if you're anything like me, it will not only bring back fond memories within you, but also incorporate a sense of pride for your nation. It will leave a smile on your face and that's where the common nexus between entertainment and the nation lies. If both of them can leave a smile and a feel good sense within you, then I'm sure they are serving their purpose.

SO its time to feel good about your nation, and stop being cynical about it. Come on and lets all sing this together "Mile Sur Mera Tumhara, To sur Bane Humara".

THe Shawshank Redemption- A look within

What's CINEMA? To me, cinema is a platform to see a reflection of me and my thoughts presented in a creative way. There are billions like me, who may think likewise. That's what makes the art of making movies a challenge and an equally exciting job.There are movies we just watch,enjoy and forget, some arent even worth wasting thoughts or words on, but some stay with us. Some force us to do something which we all hate in a way but if done with honesty transforms our lives-INTROSPECTION. Referring to "The Shawashank Redemption" only as a movie would be like to imagine a heart without a soul,a dawn without sunrise or a mind without thoughts.Its not just a movie, its an experience in itself. Its a kaleidoscope of the emotions that we feel and a true epitome of the power of hope in life.

Its not a regular run of the mill potboiler, or a candyfloss chick flick.Its a movie that poses a question; a question that's so strong that it rips through your heart and compels you to find an answer from deep down within yourself. A question about life, a question about hope, a question whether one should be docile and accept what's forced upon us or whether to fight back with persistance. Its a movie that highlights a different kind of EQ- a term i would like to refer as Endurance Quotient. How long can you go on taking the pain, how long can you keep the small ray of hope shining against the maelstrom of malafide, how long do you live a life of purpose before being a dead soul in an alive body. The answers to these lie in this magnum opus.


I'm not going to focus on the story of the movie. For me what i construed out of it and what i took as an experience is more important.The protagonist Andy Dufresne came out as a person who belonged to a rare species. THe characteristic traits he possessed are rarely seen in people, but the ones who've them incorporated in their DNA, turn out to be the ones whose life have substance and relevance. THe guy was convicted for a crime he never did(revealed later in the movie), he was forced to live amongst goons and murderers who were poles apart from his life of a hotshot banker, he was assaulted- mentally,physically and sexually.But he wasnt bogged down.His immaculate persistence and his belief in HOPE kept the fire in the belly going even though he stayed placid and rock solid on the outer facade.

He made friends with Red(Morgan Freeman:unparalleled as ever) and other prisoner mates and slowly but steadily instilled hope in them and gave them moments to cherish. Fancy the scene where he gets them all chilled beer by helping Captain Hadley with his finance conundrum, or the one where he plays a classic music piece on the loudspeaker for everyone to have that one moment of ecstasy in a life of mundane suffering. Be it efforts to get the library facilities improved or be it his attempts to get tommy to pass the exam, Andy came as a person of distinct patience and will.Someone who breaks the misconception that you need to be happy go lucky and all sanguine to be a people's person.His escape is a mark of excellence, as Morgan's voiceover puts it "He crawled through a river of shit and came out clean on the other side". Andy epitomizes a perfect example of someone who cant be confined in any form of the matter." Some birds aren't meant to be caged, their feathers are just too bright" .


Shawshank presents a very strong issue of being INSTITUTIONALIZED. The sequence when Brooks moves out after spending close to 50 yrs in the prison, the hardships he faces, the way he feels as a prisoner in a free world; the one who's expendible, one who has no purpose to wake up every morning. He finally succumbs to it and hangs himself. The sequence presents a grim yet a true picture of how one ,if forced to leave an accustomed zone; no matter how harsh it is,can fall like a pack of cards. They just cant get over the phobia of leaving their own little world of comfort, in short they get institutionalized.

Red faces the same imbroglio when set free, and he feels the same claustrophobia in the open spaces, the only difference is the ray of hope instilled in him by his friend Andy, not to give up. This little food for thought strengthens him to move on with a sense of purpose and to believe that 'Hope is not a dangerous thing'.


The last 15-20 minutes of the movie leave you spellbound. You just cant get over the experience you witness during this period. The brilliant escape of Andy from the prison, and the unveiling of his plan which took him 20 yrs to be implemented. It showcased the extreme levels of patience, endurance, power of being a sangfroid, and never say die attitude. These are some of the most powerful moments that cinema can ever offer.


The movie has spectacular performances, each frame outperforming the one before. But for me, its MOrgan Freeman's subtle performance that stands out. THe way during the entire movie, his voice over keeps the cadence flowing, is exemplary. It infused life into the movie that made it an unforgettable experience


THe Shawshank Redemption is a masterpiece and is a must watch.One gains a lot out of it apart from entertainment. And it gives us a sound advice that can be emulated throughtout our lives. So in times of despair,or in any situation of grim dilemma, just recall the message of the movie- "Fear sets you prisoner, Hope sets you free". You'll find the answer.

Motorcycle Diaries

"When you ought to, you got to". That's how the attitude flows in people who make up their minds to break the monotony. Its about going that extra mile to kick that one negative thought out of your system, which has been impending the plans for so long. That plan can be anything- it can be either taking out time for what you love to do(reading, sketching, biking, adventure trips or simply taking time out for yourself cogitating and listening to soothing music piece of your favorite band or artist). The basic idea is to come out of the incarceration of being "THE VICTIM OF ROUTINE" and framing your mind to make the most of your time so that the day leaves you invigorated.


We, a bunch of friends, had long been thinking of picking up our bikes and hitting the road with vrooooom, unquestioning and relentless. All we wanted to do was to trust the road (who, as one of my friend rightly puts, is a gr8 friend) and our instincts to take us wherever we could...like a stream of water which flows in any direction without being biased or partisan about direction or purpose. We wanted to be the Beatniks who were all set to break the fetters that had clandestinely crept all over us. So it was high time that we put our minds on the offline mode, and let the heart ring and sing the tone that subconsciously we always wanted to hear.

But all said and done, the so called potent engineers that we are, we couldn't completely get over our psyche of meticulously planning things out. So we framed up the good old What's, Why's, How's,When's and Where's for ourselves so that we had, a broad idea of the course of things to do(thankfully we aren't the best engineers in the business, else we would have dug our own grave, falling into the trap of creating a blueprint for every hour, and creating a feedback mechanism to monitor if each blueprint's target was met or not; Gosh even describing it is a Killjoy).

The last couple of months were quite gruelling in its own way, for few of us. The anticipations, the hopes, the aspirations(maybe more of others than of ourselves, on some occasions) were all part and parcel of these testing times,wherein we were trying to give ourselves the cushion of a congenial ambience for the next phase of our careers. So irrespective of the results, we deserved to take some time out for ourselves; to connect with a different world, to stay away from cellphone(The toughest part!!!! God knows why???? ), and for once atleast to look within ourselves with our own eyes.

So We all hit the road as early as 7:15am in our cool attires; the so called biker's accoutrements,which gave us the feel that was the theme of the day; the " I DONT GIVE A DAMN" attitude. And we flagged off with a snapshot of these Beatniks who wanted nothing but a sense of freedom and an experience of rejuvention.I was the pillion rider in the first phase of our drive and that gave me a perfect opportunity to feel something which I may not be able to justify correctly in words. Its something which has to be felt when you're right up there with the sun slowly and steadily rising up from its harbour of horizon; its rays adorning the greenery and the refulgence of the light giving the bucolic fields and open lands a sparkle as if they are blooming with joy to welcome us as its guests. The early morning breeze,basking in on sun's comforting warmth, and the fragrance of the fresh air; all gave me a feel as if they always wanted to play hosts to us, but somehow for so long we have failed to get their message and have taken more pleasure in the confined arcades and inhalation of automobile emissions. I still wonder why is that, but some questions are better left unanswered.But one should experience this scenic beauty- it does bring in certain level of metamorphosis.

After vrooming through, cutting through the breeze and moving like waterjet from a cannon, some fellas felt to let not only the heart and mind relish all the fun, and give the stomach also a reason to smile. SO we dropped down to the pride of highways- one of the roadside dhabas to take a quick bite. I preferred to give myself CHai's double feast while the others were willing to not settle only for tea. So there was poha, munching with the tea(Some ppl just cant have one) and cold drinks for few. And once we were done with it, we were back to business... the road was calling again and we obliged. We drove then uptil our first destination- Lord Ganesha's temple at Adassa, stopping sporadically in between, to get ourselves clicked( I hope you understand the constant pressure these social networking sites have put on our shoulders; not uploading snaps timely is sinister here.... dont mind the exaggeration!!!!!).

Once we reached there, we were moved by the pious serenity and the soothing ataraxis which the place had to offer. Built on a height, it gave us a panoramic view of scenic beauty covering miles in its circumferance. We paid obeisance to the Almighty with the customary genuflect and kowtow,the idol of Lord Ganesha stood with magnificence and generosity for all His devotees. Then we walked around the vicinity to cherish the calmness and the peace that the place had to offer. In the meantime, we kept on clicking more and more snaps ( Its not always the pressure of the sites, we enjoy photography and adding on to the memoirs).We all cracked pj's, listened to songs, looked around from this height at the whole place around as if a king is overlooking his empire and when we had spent some quality time there, we thought it was time to take the peregrination to its next stage and its new destination.

So the bikes roared again out of their short slumber and then ignited the roads. The sun by now was climbing with cadence to accomplish its acme for the day, but it was kind enough not to impose its tyranny on us. THe breeze was still soothing and the open spaces was the icing. The trees by the roadside made it cooler and made driving a real pleasure (Note:-Confront Deforestation). We sped on pretty empty,smooth roads but never tried to overdo it, as for us driving was more a stressbuster than an avenue of flaunting an ostentatious guys' demeanor. We reached Jaamsaavli,a very sacred and consecrated holy place for the devotees of the God od Strength ,Lord Hanuman. The idol of the lord in sleeping posture is one of its kind and attracts myriad followers from every nook and corner. We paid obeisance to Him and saw people thronging in large numbers here. After prostrating in front of the Almighty, we stepped out of the temple, picked up the machines and were back on the road. Any outing for us would be incomplete without good food, so the next step was to take our lunch. So we stopped by at one of the dhabas. I wont get into the details of what we ate, we weren't brazen guzzlers but had a sumptuous meal to pump in energy into ourselves for the trip back home.

So here were seven guys graduating as men, 60 odd kilometres away from the city, shunning all worries, enjoying the colddrinks in the sun and with a more subtle though not philosophical thought that resonated with surpisingly the same frequency in each of our minds. It just said one thing 'Cheers to Life'.

I took on the driver's seat for the journey back home and a friend of ours gave us all apprehensive ones a taste of extreme biking, when we drove the machines to a hilltop(not very steep, yet not any less than any normal driver's nightmare) and we sat there; some of us still intrigued and curious about the pertinence of our so called adventure to the hilltop. But hey, didnt we start as Beatniks who were looking for a day different from others, and following the gut unquestioning and relentless. So this little escapade did add that right pinch of spice to our day.

On our way back home, when i was donning the driver's role with earphones plugged in, i actually felt fortunate that i was the pillion in the morning as the beauty was at its peak then. Now even though they still had volumes to offer, yet they succumbed to the might of the Sun which made them more servile than charming(still a far enchanting spectacle than city's rush which causes claustrophobia). Now with pleasant acoustical euphony making way through the earlobes into the auditory canal blended with the mood as if giving a testimony to the fantastic day , and with us speeding our way through, i could gauge why and how Carte Blanche can be such a wonderful stressbuster. We drove without break now, like men who were on a mission or rather men who finally got an opportunity to be themselves. we entered the city back, but far more rejuvenated, far more mellowed and far more exuberant.

we had our final hi-fives before we parted ways to our homes. I know it was a short stint, not more than a few hours. But i think it was worth it. We are looking for more such escapades as it gave us an opportunity to think for ourselves, feel for ourselves, do things for ourselves and most importantly be ourselves. Everyone should give themselves this luxury of feeling important in one's own eyes; its not vanity; its not narcissism;its just loving what you really are and not worrying about what others think u are.

Go on, love yourself and give hi-fives like us and subconsciously you'll cogitate with the same frequency, the same thought -" CHEERS TO LIFE"