Mein Amir Khan banana chahta hun

Each one of us has grown up watching the success of Sachin Tendulkar, Amir Khan, Dhoni and now Virat Kohli. Their standard of excellence and the artistic level of their competence leaves everyone awestruck. But rarely anyone gives a real thought to what is it like becoming Amir Khan or Virat Kohli? What sort of discipline and attitudinal strength does it call for?

We study for the exams or work on our respective jobs. But in the process, we remain connected with the world. Every now and then, we look at our WhatsApp or facebook to see if anyone has sent some message. Our attention is divided among so many things that oftentimes we are not able to do the justice with the task. On the other hand, just imagine Virat Kohli checking his WhatsApp or Facebook during his practice sessions. I am sure he would never do that. He won't be allowed to do so and even if he is allowed to do so, he must be motivated enough to stay away from such distractions. That's the difference between a common man and a god.

Second such difference is seen in their indifference to the criticism. Big players who are a cynosure of media cameramen know it well that they can be de-floored any day. Therefore, they become too agnostic to such attention and enjoy this media attention without being too sentimental about it. This indifference level reaches only after you invest so much time and effort in your job that reward of becoming a national star looks like a peanut in front of your effort. For people like Amir Khan, I think they have developed the highest level of conviction in what they do. As a result, praise, criticism, success and failure becomes irrelevant. Doing the job in an excellent manner remains their only concern.

Third such difference is seen in the form of the desire to push yourself and specialize. They do not chase multiple rabbits and completely focus on one task. Most of us end up doing n number of things simultaneously and eventually fall in the mediocrity bracket. For these champions of their field, their hobby is same as their job. In a way, they are a specialist in their field who may not be even knowing ABCD of other fields. Becoming Virat Kohli or Amir is not impossible. It may be little difficult but one can always become like them.

In the software domain, what Amir does is can be compared with a role of product manager. Firstly, one should read and gets hands-on information on a range of products. Once we have that, we need to invest ourselves completely in a product. We need to work very very hard on building the right team. The team may take months and years to form but let it be. Just like Amir screens nearly 5000 girls for a role in her movie, similarly, a product manager also needs to invest in the team formation. The product manager needs to completely immerse himself in the product, thinking about every possible use-case and every single click scenario. This and only this submission to deeper details and product features will yield us the desirable product.

Politics compulsion of demonetization

The deadline of 50 days is fast approaching. The government and opposition are busy in making claims and counter claims on the success and failure of the scheme of demonetization. PM Modi is still aggressive about the program of change in the country. He is adamant on the future course of action which involves Benami transactions and land registrations. Whether he would be able to do this successfully is something to ponder upon.

Firstly, I must admit that despite being a limited liberal and anti-rightist, I admire PM Modi fo taking such a bold step. We go to shopping and even while buying a pair of undies, we vacillate and dilly dally. But he took such a hard decision for the entire nation. This is an example of courage and leadership skills. It requires an immense level of self-confidence and mental resilience to bear loads of criticism and ridicule which might come your way. Hats off and ashtanga pranam to such conviction. With this move, Modi has become a larger than life figure.

Some people have compared this to Indira Gandhi's emergency era. To an extent these analyst are right. Those who have read the literature of that era and those who have lived in that era can tell you that Emergency sustained itself for two years because largely people accepted it. People loved the discipline. People loved the strict enforcement of law and order. It was only later that people realized the kind of damage it had done to our democratic political system.

The same is the case now. People are accepting demonetization as it is wrapped in the cover of the fight against black money, corruption, and nationalism. It calls for sacrifice in the national interest. Masses are feeling involved in a social economic project of this grand scale and therefore dutifully standing in the queues before ATM. But people has a limit of patience. They would not hesitate from retaliating in the situation does not become normal in time to come. Their best possible response would come through election ballot. When the collective beep of Indian masses will sounds the bugle of defeat for BJP.

The project of demonetization has become a sort of bone in the neck of BJP's fight against corruption. Now a situation has come where the only option is to swallow the whole bone with a cry of pain. Rolling back or ducking away is not an option for BJP. Somewhere at this point, it seems as if demonetization is becoming a political failure as BJP is running short of options. It may become an economic success in time to come due to it's thrust on the cashless economy and increased tax revenues but that will take time.

The agenda of Benami transaction would be very difficult to implement. We do not have enough tax officers who can actually go through the records and do all the tax analysis. Even the loophole of turning black to white money past-demonetization has not fallen on the net of tax officer. It is like, in the pursuit of getting milk of milk and water of water, the government is trying to catch the thief's underwear rather than the actual thief. The lakhs of crores of money was turned from black to white but the government is only able to capture some kg of gold or some chunk of new currencies in its raid. It requires a large amount of workforce to actually scrutinize all the accounts and catch the black money.

Even for Benami transaction act, I am keeping my fingers crossed given the state of affair in India. People who are the biggest accumulator of wealth the bureaucrats, the politicians, the taxmen, and the policemen are the one who has to implement this. The only victim of this whole scheme would be the middle-class businessmen. One who took risks and worked hard to earn all this. Obviously, he did engage in a little bit of corruption but that was the norm of the day. It was about his survival. It was not his wish or greed.

A moot question to ask is then what is the alternative? Frankly, I do not have any direct answer. The big mistake has already been made when demonetization was launched without proper preparation or supporting reforms. Now people are only a moot spectator. It's like a situation of the year 1942. The country is in the God's hand. I hope political class act with prudence and does not try to antagonize the situation further but that would be so anti of their own existence.

Changing face of Indian Cinema

I am not a bug movie buff. My worldview in the field of Cinema is limited but I have been observing the changes in the cinema in last few years. The recent release of Dangal prompted me to write down some of those thoughts and observations.

Let me begin by paying my tribute to Amir Khan. He is a true idol. Since the days of Andaz Apna Apna and Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar, I have followed his movies and acting. The only bad movie which I can recall is Mela. Otherwise, be it Sarfarosh or Ghajni, or Mangal Pandey, I have liked his performances. But these are not the movies which have made him an idol of the so many young hearts. His life changing movies like Lagaan, Three idiot and now Dangal are the one which makes him and out and out superstar leaving far behind other khans and also the Kumars and the Kapoors and other who's who of Bollywood. He is like Tom Hanks of Bollywood.

His movies are not just loved for his acting and screenplay. Rather they are admired for carrying a strong social message. For example, through Dangal, he has sent a very special and strong message of women empowerment in the land of Jats which famous for foeticide and gender discrimination. It displayed the power of conviction and action. I salute Mahavir Phogat for showing the kind of courage for which Jats are known. As for Amir khan, he deserves a separate blog describing everyone's desire of "Mein bhi Amir Khan banana chahta hun".

Now coming to the larger topic of changing face of Indian Cinema, one can see it along four dimensions. One is the kind of songs. Second is the lasting impression of movies. Third is the use of technology and grandness scale and the fourth is the parallel evolution of substantive cinema.

When I hear the songs of the current era, they fit on my tongue very quickly. The sound lingers for almost day or two. Some like Aashiqui 2 songs may go on for the entire week. But eventually, as soon as a new movie comes, the previous one fade away. The songs percolate in thoughts for not because of their meaning but because of the soundtrack. The loud beat, the Drum, and heavy guitar combination fill the ears but it falls short of filling the heart. This is in contrast to the old songs which used to be very deep, meaningful and emotional. Nowadays the culture of Item girl dance and DJ has taken away the soul of songs and only the Hungama has left.

The other domain is the lasting impression of movies. Nowadays, barring few Amir Khan movies or theme based cinema, movies have become a fast moving consumer good. The first three days decides whether a movie will continue beyond 10 days or not. Earlier movies like DDLG and Hum Aapke Hai Kaun used to last in the cinema hall for almost an entire year or two. DDLG even made the record of ten years on the same screen. Even the previous era movies like Sholay and Deewar were considered classics of Indian cinema. Now it seems that barring one or two in a year, the film industry is stopped producing classics. Every Friday is scheduled for a new movie release. The previous one goes out and a new one comes in. Another related point is the grandness of the revenues. The hundred crore club has become the new benchmark for a hit or flop film.

The third area is the use of technology. It is very heartening to see that Indian cine industry is fast catching up with the global trend of technological advances. The vigorous use of technology in Babubali was a watershed moment in Indian cinema. Earlier animation and effects were limited in their use. But the new-age action films and the 21st century cinema shows the changing trend. Even the budgets of the movies have gone beyond twenty-thirty crore. Sometimes if a film is a Sanjay Leela Bhansali's epic or Karan Johar's family drama then even a single set may cost this much.

The fourth area is the rise of substantive less known YouTube-driven parallel cinema. It is an umbrella category for all kind of meaningful short films, documentaries, and low-budget acting based cinema. For example, the recent Marathi movie Sairat was one that belongs to this category. Similarly, short films like chutney or movie based on women empowerment or communal outrage send a strong message to the society. These short movies are not well marketed and use the platform of Youtube for their promotion. They are the bread and butter for lesser known actors who do cinema for the love of cinema itself and not for the fame and money. Possibly this was the kind of cinema which has given rise to Irfan Khan and Nawazzuddin Siddiqui.

I may not be able to quote many examples in this. The reason being my limited knowledge of the Indian Cinema but from a layman's perspective, I can speak about the changes which my confused segmented fragmented and divided generation is witnessing. One thing is still remaining that is my thoughts of "how to become Aamir Khan"?

The ultimate reality

Every day of our life begins with some ambitions, some desires, some goals and some disappointments. We run, run and run to fulfill those goals and desires. And then every day ends with certain unfinished tasks, some unfulfilled dreams and some sort of incompleteness. The cycle goes on and on and on. And finally, in a turn of events, we all reach the same final destination. We meet death. All the goals, desires, dreams, and disappointments become meaningless at that point. Everyone looks similar in that state. Be it a chief minister of the state or a maid working under her. Everyone become a loaf of mass. Everyone lies naked. All anger, frustration, hatred toward oneself or others or the society members become meaningless. I had this intense realization yesterday.

I was traveling back from Old Rajinder Nagar after taking my class. I got down at metro and took a cab for home. The cab arrived after few minutes wait. I got in the cab and the journey began. The google maps lady suggested a very lengthy route to the driver. I was little cautious so in a span of 5 minutes, I asked me three times about why is he taking this lengthier route? He was also clueless. But as always, everything happens for a reason. A motorcyclist was traveling in front of us with a child and a middle-aged lady. Suddenly a pit on the road came. The roads were dimly lighted. The pillion rider could not reduce his speed and bike had a jerk. The ladies do not sit tightly on the two wheeler. I have noticed that they do not take any support or do not hold the bike tightly. The lady fell down with a thud. The trajectory of fall was such that her upper part of the body happens to hit first and the whole flattened on the road without any movement. We were just behind them. I asked the cab driver to immediately stop the cab and got down to check if she was OK. She was just lying there, without any movement. I checked her. She was breathing but blood was oozing out of her nose. We immediately packed her in the cab and set off for the hospital.

Her male relative who was riding the bike was coming on the bike. The child came with me in the cab. I was asking the lady to speak something. But she wasn't. She was trying to breathe from her mouth but the whole body was motionless. The child was crying and I was surprised to see the instinctive reaction of the child. She was begging her mother "don't leave, don't leave". Maybe the child had witnessed some other deaths also and possibly she was behaving in a similar manner or may be her instinct were telling her that something serious has happened to her mother. I kept asking the daily to remain conscious and speak something but she was just lying in my lap. The tears were rolling out from her eyes onto her cheeks. She was not able to speak, neither able to move her legs or body parts. Suddenly her effortful breathing stopped while we were on the way to the hospital. But the child kept begging her to no go. For a while, I just thought that she is gone. But then suddenly she took a deep gasp of air. As if something infused life in her. Maybe she just went for a while and touched the death but only to return for her child. She started breathing again. We reached the hospital, took her to the emergency. The doctor received her immediately. I was told that she has slipped in the comma and she needs to be put on the ventilator of life support system. Doctor was little rude and straightforward in his conversation but possibly that is the nature of his job.

After a while, I left the hospital but the episode kept looming over my head. I was thinking about the fragility of the human body. The reality of death and futility of doing great things and suffering from anger, frustration, and pain in everyday life. Even the emotions of love, joy seemed nonsense for a moment. When I was in the cab, I was looking at the face of the lady. It made me think that life is too short to think of anything. Just live it. joyfully happily. Do whatever you feel. Do whatever you like. Do not regret anything. And just chill. You never know when you may also die.

What's up Saurabh Jain

My frequency of posting blogs has reduced but the content and topics of discussion have increased in a proportionate manner. My tummy is bulging out because of lack of exercise in last 6 months. So beginning the exercise schedule is the next thing on the card. The crunch of time, restlessness, and tendency to simultaneously engage in an unmanageable number of activities is as usual. I feel like an incorrigible obstinate kid. But that's how the things are and I am bearing with that.

A number of exciting things happened in the past few days. From meeting girls in family settings to taking an unplanned trip for RTI activism to fighting on the job, it is all a new landscape for me. It is exciting as well as boring. It is exciting in a sense that I am meeting people from different walks of life. It is a welcome change from the career-oriented approach. It is boring for the reason that I am discovering that this is it. This is the life about which people write books, sing paeans, and talk incessantly. All nonsense. Nowadays the feeling of loneliness has increased a little bit but given the workload, there is just no scope for these feelings. Youtube has come to my rescue in killing this loneliness but eventually I end up killing my precious time as well.

Anyway, I met a couple of interesting people on my trip to Lucknow for RTI purpose. One was Mr. Javed Usmani Chief Information Commissioner of U.P. His resolute style of working impressed me. He entered the office around 11:30AM and by 1:15PM he finished all his work. Seeing him in action was impressive. He made quick decisions and spoke fluent complicated judicial jargon in Hindi. Another person I met was Mr. Anand Dixit from Sitapur. He is RTI activist who came to my rescue. He helped me in drafting application and advised me on how to proceed in my case so that Mr. Usmani agrees to accept my document despite procedural mistakes on my part. The third person was an interesting stranger beautiful girl. I was moneyless and ticketless after finishing my work at Information commission office. Somehow, I reached the railway station by using public transport. All the trains were running late. Some were canceled. So undecidedly, I headed to a nearby Bus stand. Even buses were running at full capacity. Thankfully I was not alone. I spotted six-seven people in the similar situation and initiated a random conversation about how to reach Delhi. Suddenly the idea of hiring a cab to Delhi sprang into my mind. Others found it interesting and agreed. We went to nearby travel shop and bargained hard. Finally, the travel agent agreed for arranging a vehicle. But then few guys backed out and only three of us were left me, she and Gaurav. After a while, even Gaurav backed out. So it was only me and her. I called up my one of my most caring and dependable friend Kiran. True to her generous nature, She booked sleeper bus coach tickets for both of us. And the journey began.

The girl(nickname pari) was very unusual. She agreed to travel with me without even knowing me. She was bold, tall and beautiful but given the state of affair in U.P., I kept wondering about this strange thing. Anyway, we reached the bus spot. I requested the driver to allocate us different seats, the side one. The Driver did not relent. He gave us the sleeper birth in the same compartment on upper deck. I was quite reluctant. Never ever in my life, I had shared a bed with a girl. But she looked unfazed. Anyway, I was tired after daytime work. I took my space, changed my clothes and sat easy in the compartment. She joined a few minutes later. She was charging mobile on the lower deck.

She was tall, beautiful and bold. We started our conversation. My mobile was switched off as usual due to lack of charging. The lights in the compartment was not working so I was not in the position to read anything. Surprising, I felt very jobless. In the meantime, she got comfortable and stretched herself lying beside me. We started the conversation asking each other about our background and details. I was as usual little reticent in sharing my details. She belonged to a marketing team of real estate company. True to her job, she was outspoken and extravagant in her description but she spoke sensibly. I was enjoying discussions with her. Slowly, she slipped into sleep. For whole night, I kept looking at her. She woke up almost 100 times. She was feeling cold. She had no baggage with her. I opened my bag and gave my warm lower and warm shirt to her plus the head cap. She was feeling cold. But somehow I stopped myself from touching her and cuddling her. I do not know if I was right or wrong. There was no lust in my thoughts but there was curiosity, care, some attraction and futility of this whole scheme of things in my thoughts. We just kept talking to each other for the most part of the night. She was not afraid of sleeping beside me. Anyhow, I managed to pass the night easily with her.At the end of the trip, She gave me her phone number and card. I forgot to give mine. We bided goodbye to each other. Overall it was a memorable and exciting bus journey with a lot of bumps and swings lying beside a beautiful girl, looking at her face and talking to her about so many things of life as I had nothing else to do.

Her joyful and trustworthy nature reminded me of a quote from an old friend "good people always meet good people". I have no intention of approaching her. Though she asked me to call her up and my curiosity still remains but I do not see any purpose in doing so. Kind of adamant and incorrigible person I am.

Classes are going on as usual. Students are reluctant to join but this will pick up in near future. Most important is that I enjoy doing it so will continue with this. However, I need to ration my time more appropriately. I have become very undisciplined in past few months. Will work on this. There are many more observation about life and things. But will write some other time in detail. Till then good bye.