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MLAs’ wealth multiplies
Rage needed |
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One more rape expert
Promise of peace in Northeast
Welcome to Club 40
Vicious circle of violence
CINEMA: NEW Releases
Trouble with the script
Going a tad too far!
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MLAs’ wealth multiplies
A
172 per cent rise in the assets of MLAs in a relatively poor state like Himachal Pradesh is bound to raise eyebrows. But before jumping to conclusions one should keep some hard realities in mind. One, in the prevailing political environment only the rich can contest elections. Post reforms, the rich have got richer. Politicians are worldly wise and enterprising, and know where to invest. They wield power and know how to take care of hurdles in money-making. The value of land, especially in urban India, has shot up in recent years and all property owners, including politicians, have benefited. However, it is quite natural for one to assume that despite a sharp increase in property prices, a 172 per cent hike in an average MLA’s assets cannot come about in a normal way. The prevailing political culture, polluted by charges of corruption levelled almost daily against one politician or the other, strengthens people’s suspicion that their representative must be involved in shady deals. Politicians hand over state patronage for a consideration. Thanks to discretionary powers, bureaucrats too extract their pound of flesh. Corruption, no wonder, is a major election issue in Himachal Pradesh. Politicians not just in Himachal but almost in every corner of the country are suspect. Their nexus with builders, mining firms and land sharks is coming out in the open, thanks to the RTI Act, public-spirited NGOs and a proactive media. Wealth creation is beneficial if it percolates to the grassroots level. But this is not happening. The plight of the poor has not improved much. Politicians engaged in the business of self-enrichment tend to appease and pacify the voters by handing them liberal subsidies, regardless of the burden on the exchequer. This is one reason the Himachal government is sinking deeper in debt with each passing year. Politicians have a lot to answer for not only the sources of their personal wealth but also the mismanagement of the state finances and resources. It is for the voters now to hold them accountable.
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Rage needed
An
average of 10 people are killed on the roads in Punjab every day, but it is when deaths like that of satirist-comedian Jaspal Bhatti occur that the attention is drawn towards the menace of living amidst automobiles. That the deaths on road rise with the number of vehicles is obvious from the fact that the accidents per lakh of population increased from 21.2 in 1970 to 42.5 in 2010. Fortunately, the rise in accidents has been far less than the increase in vehicles. Accidents per 10,000 vehicles came down from 814 in 1970 to 42 in 2009, a drop of 95 per cent. Going by the number of accidents per lakh of population in a year, Punjab at 20.1 has a better record than Chandigarh (33.3), Haryana (44.7) or Himachal (45.6). Goa has the shocking highest of 266.7. Given the wide fluctuation in figures, there can be no particular level that may be taken as acceptable. There has to be a constant endeavour to bring down the figures till we touch zero. Towards that Punjab did an exercise of identifying accident-prone ‘black spots’ on its roads in 2007. But of the 350 found, only around 90 have been addressed thus far. In the meantime, more would have emerged. It is believed that 78 per cent of the accidents happen because of human error. But that also suggests that conditions on the roads have to be such that drivers make the least mistakes, i.e., we make the roads foolproof. The Union Ministry of Road Transport has identified four ‘E’s to focus on — education, enforcement, engineering, and emergency care. While safe road engineering and emergency care are matters of infrastructure and finances, extensive driver education and traffic law enforcement should be undertaken by state governments immediately. It is a shame to see traffic policemen on duty chatting away on the roadside while drivers get away with every violation of the Motor Vehicle Act. Hopefully, the governments will see the irony of signs of prosperity and tragedy rising on the roads together — now that Bhatti is not around to show it anymore.
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One more rape expert
When
US Republican candidate Richard Mourdock suggested that pregnancies resulting from rape are “something that God intended to happen,” despite the “horrible situation” from which they arise, it must have given some power of validation to Haryana khap leaders and several other self –styled moral authorities. Mourdock can enrich his knowledge with some insights about rape for future references, courtesy Indian experts on rape. For example, according to our khaps, the urge to rape is triggered by eating chowmein. Republicans are also ignorant about a unique justice system prevalent for rape victims. Remember, in 2005 a jaati panchayat of Ansaris in Muzaffarnagar, UP, decided after Imrana’s rape by her father- in- law that she is the mother of her husband! In yet another bizarre case in Bihar’s Banka district, when 17-year-old Roshan told her husband that she had been raped, her husband went to the village panchayat, whose verdict was that she must lick her husband’s spit and marry her rapist. She did as told. Or, the 13-year-old girl from Bangalore, Shahtaj, who delivered a child after being raped by her father’s employee last year, was asked to marry her rapist, under the diktat of the local mosque committee. In Gujarat the monetary compensation of Rs 50,000 paid to the rape victim can be shared by her rapist, if he marries the rape victim. This justice system would baffle even Mourdock’s God! In yet another familiar- to- Indians style of political rebuttal, Democrats did not miss the opportunity to pounce on this misogynist comment, eyeing the sympathy of women voters, who are out showing placards to Mourdock saying, not to tell them what to do! Dennely, a Democrat, released a statement questioning the notion that God would “intend for rape to happen!” Well, the power games enforce strange compromises with God and his creations in the political class. But why drag rape victims into it?
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Marriage may be the closest thing to Heaven or Hell, any of us will know on this earth. — Edwin Louis Cole
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Promise of peace in Northeast
News
of an accord with a major Dimasa insurgent group that recently decided to lay down arms has been closely followed by word that there have been signs of a breakthrough in the government-NSCN(IM) talks between the IsakSwu-Muivah group and the official interlocutor, R.S. Pandey, after 14 years of patient negotiations. This is a major development which, if carried to a conclusion, could transform the Northeast scene and give a considerable fillip to national security. The NSCN (IM) had earlier more or less expressed willingness to abandon its demand for sovereignty if assured enlarged autonomy within the Indian Constitution in statutory form. It had, however, continued to insist on Nagalim or the integration of all Naga-inhabited areas claimed in Assam, Arunachal and Manipur with Nagaland. This had become a sticking point as the Centre took the reasoned stand that it could not vivisect existing states, some like Manipur with a very ancient and unbroken recorded history, without their consent. And this, quite clearly was not forthcoming, resulting in local blockades and ugly Naga-Meitei stand-offs. It would now seem that the NSCN (IM) has committed itself to the Constitution and to Nagaland’s current territorial boundaries subject to an important proviso. It seeks an assurance that ensures that the Naga population in the three adjacent states enjoys similar rights as in Nagaland, in harmony with Naga customary laws and cultural and educational aspirations. This is now to be negotiated by the Centre with Assam, Arunachal and Manipur so that this can be neatly packaged into a Nagaland accord with such constitutional amendments or legislation as may be necessary by common consent. Parallel discussions must also be conducted with the NSCN-K groups and the Naga National Council factions so that all Naga groups are on board. This is partly an internal Naga problem as various factions have been fighting turf and fratricidal battles, thus holding an overall settlement to ransom. The church can assist here, but the government must take the initiative. It is now all the more necessary to act with speed and determination and reassure the governments and peoples of Manipur, Arunachal and Assam that the proposed settlement in no way derogates from their territorial and political status or powers. Though local Naga-peopled regional councils in Assam, Arunachal and Manipur may thereby in some manner march with Nagaland, this must be done with the consent and blessings of the parent state with an element of reciprocity by Nagaland if and where necessary. What is here involved is giving expression to a sense of varied “peoplehood” within the commonwealth of India, a hugely diverse society. Such arrangements would be in keeping with a cooperative, cultural federalism that celebrates the plurality of its parts only to cement the over-arching unity of the larger whole. The Indian Constitution is an extremely flexible charter that even now ingeniously incorporates many novel accommodative arrangements. Thus Articles 371-A to I, the Sixth Schedule, autonomous councils with variegated structures and powers and non-territorial apex councils, with which Assam has experimented. There is no need to fear that such innovation might lead to the balkanisation of India or set in motion fissiparous demands elsewhere. This will be no more than another kind of states reorganisation by reordering certain relationships across states. What is now proposed builds on the proposition of non-territorial entities for common purposes and non-territorial constituencies that can accommodate “outsiders” without upsetting the demographic-political balance. It is most important to take all the NE chief ministers and the national Opposition into confidence so that there is an early national consensus on the issue, hopefully within the next few months, as the New Year’s gift to the nation marking the end of the country’s oldest and most bitter insurgency. The non-IM Naga factions should also not suffer from a sense of defeat and the arms of all cadres should be decommissioned and all of the underground rehabilitated and trained for suitable employment. This is vital, else many might lapse into crime or petty warlordism, resorting to using extortion to make a living. The example of SULFA, the demobilised ULFA cadres, is cautionary. And no political party should even think of hiring any of these demobilised cadres as its private storm-troopers. As the mother of all Northeast insurgencies with international links, the NSCN’s return to the fold is likely to have a significantly positive impact on the Manipur-Meiti, Kuki and other insurgencies in the region. As in the case of the Mizo settlement, it would be an enormous morale booster all round, if even prior to the execution of formal constitutional amendments, a Naga accord in principle could be cemented by ushering in an interim government in which the former underground elements are participants pending fresh elections. As an alternative, a non-political caretaker government can be handed over charge. Nagaland’s legislators have already unanimously resolved to resign to make way for a new peace government. Such a government could be inducted into office with a mandate to conduct early polls to elect a new government. The situation in Nagaland is more complex than was the case in Mizoram as only two parties were essentially involved. Nevertheless, the precedent may not be entirely irrelevant. It would signal a new oneness of purpose, unity and confidence in building a new future for the Naga people and the entire Northeast within the larger Indian homeland. Extortion, parallel taxation and all other extra-constitutional practices must all be ended. Such a gesture, as indeed an overall settlement, would not be lost on other dissident groups that might be encouraged to fall in line to win an honourable exit from the untenable positions in which they find themselves. To energise the emergence of a new Northeast, the mis-named DONeR Ministry and the non-functional Northeast Council must be restructured. The new Northeast Ministry, by some less patronising name, should be located with its Minister and staff in Shillong, with a small liaison office in Delhi on the model of the Atomic Energy Commission and ISRO, which are headquartered in Mumbai and Bangalore, respectively. The NEC, in turn, must truly be a substantive expert regional planning body (for the areas north and east of the Siliguri corridor) and not remain a mere subordinate agency of the Planning Commission. Its chairperson should be a full ex-officio Member of the Planning Commission and the NE Ministry should draw personnel from the Ministries of External Affairs, Commerce and Home to be better able to implement a vigorous Look East and internal security policy and oversee regional cooperation with Bangladesh, Myanmar, Bhutan and China. At the end of the day, development and economic opportunity ensure and reinforce peace. Derelict bodies like the Brahmaputra Board and the Central Inland Water Transport Corporation must be revivified and made engines of dynamic growth. The promise of Naga peace should galvanise action in a larger peace and development programme for the Northeast. The Government must act concurrently, not sequentially.
And time matters.
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Welcome to Club 40
The
magic age of forty brought Amitabh Bachchan a slew of blockbusters and in no way dented the charisma of Shah Rukh Khan or Brad Pitt. Scientists make discoveries and CEOs live life king size at forty. So I was pretty sanguine as I approached this magic number. Inspired by the jingle ‘shubh kaam se pehle kuch meetha ho jaye’, I decided to celebrate the beginning of the magical forties with a sumptuous dinner. I carefully picked a restaurant with the right ambience — candle lit alcoves for privacy and live music for extra zing. My reluctant and skeptical ‘better-half’ joined me with obvious misgivings. ‘Champagne to celebrate’, I intoned but my doctor’s warning about alcohol at forty stopped me. With deep regret I said adieu to the idea of popping champagne and ordered mocktails instead. As I sipped my mocktail I realised it had been concocted with a generous disregard of persons tethering on the edge of diabetes. I put it aside surreptitiously. My ‘better-half’ smirked with unholy glee at the untouched drink. I ignored the ‘I-told-you’ look and called for the menu card. But to my utter dismay the menu was a blur. The font was small, I assured myself, and the lighting was not meant for reading. But my ‘better-half’ nudged my memory. I had left my newly acquired reading glasses at home. With a sinking feeling I asked my husband to order the meal. We ordered the meal after prolonged wrangling on, hold your breath, the calories, oil and fat content of the dishes. Had not our friendly doctor warned us to eat ‘heart healthy’ after forty? This meant also forgoing my favourite dessert, a calorie bomb brownie dripping with dollops of chocolate sauce and ice-cream. Never mind, I admonished myself. The celebration had just begun and the dance floor looked inviting. So what if the music was no soft Tennessee waltz but the more brawny ‘tu mera woofer’! With some trepidation we hit the dance floor but left in a hurry as I felt the first twinges of a hitherto suppressed cervical pain. Forty was turning out to be a damp squib. A visit to my doctor the next day left me shaken. I was told in no uncertain terms that after forty I needed regular tests — sugar, blood pressure, ultrasound, mammogram. The list was endless. I was also handed a diet chart that shackled my life in calories. My encounter with the roaring forties was not going as planned. A ping on my mobile broke my morose reverie. The sms was a squiggle. The penny dropped. I was forty and needed my glasses. Retrieving my glasses, I read ‘Welcome to Club 40.’
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CINEMA: NEW Releases A
significant and meaningful issue does not necessarily guarantee a great film. The same could be said about Prakash Jha’s film that deals with Naxalism. But having said that Jha does manage to make an unbiased statement about the complex hydra-headed issue that has many dimensions and facets.
Indeed, Naxalism owes it origin to lack of development in the mineral rich region of central India. Indeed, the Naxals who want to usher in a revolution through the power of gun can be blood thirsty. And of course the self-serving political class couldn’t care less. All of this and much more does pulsate in a thrilling narrative that has its strengths as well as weak moments. On the downside, there is an unwanted item song, a predictable romantic twist and an even more predictable anti-climax followed by a timid commentary in the end. The plus is the subject so far confined to academic discourses doesn’t turn into a dry or dreary account at any point. In fact, the manner in which the director builds up the cat and mouse game between Naxals and the police force is quite engaging more so after Abhay Deol enters the Naxal fold. His transformation, however, is not as convincing and needed to be worked on more. In contrast Arjun Rampal’s character as the well-meaning police officer out to uphold the law is better fleshed out. But corny dialogues like Meine saanp ko doodh peelaya in the end take away much of the impact. The duel between friends turned foes too is sans the requisite angst. The dilemma of both neither surfaces properly nor touches an emotional chord.
Equally impressive is the frenetic pace of the movie and the way Jha creates the Naxal-scape to reflect upon the reasons behind growing threat of Naxalism. His story telling way though riveting is not quite soul-stirring. Here there are no compelling scenes or ones that would invoke deep introspection. However, though the movie may lack sting it is more than watchable precisely for how often do directors dare to move into such a difficult terrain.
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Ajab formula! This is as simple as it gets. In fact, this is the simplest form of a movie you can ever get to see. A richie rich boy (Jackky Bhagnani) falls in love with a girl (Nidhi Subbaiah) he sees on an escalator. Girl hates rich people, boy convinces the whole family to act gareeb. Girl has a villain kind of brother (Arjun Rampal). A tear here, a laugh there, a sexy dance in between, in the end all is well that finally ends. This is Ajab Gazabb Love for you. Because Sanjay Gadhvi, the director was kind enough to not put you through the creative spin, you can now sit back and enjoy Vashu Bhagnani’s son, Jackky who has shed extra kilos to get those packs and tries hard to make you laugh and fall in love with him. However, he manages to do one thing though, make us tap our feet unmindfully in movie hall on Mika’s number Dhoom Dhoom. Time for some gazabb news now! The storyline is placid, no turbulence. But that’s fine. Jackky Bhagnani has abs to flaunt. This is definitely not a justification, but something is better than nothing. |
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Trouble with the script
Clint
Eastwood has come a long, long way since that “make my day” line in Dirty Harry. Since then he’s made some forgettable films before he moved into the director’s chair. But in Trouble with the Curve he is only acting as a fading coach in America’s mad game of baseball. The movie dwells on a sensitive father-daughter relationship. Gus Lobel (Eastwood) is the grizzled, charismatic baseball coach facing the winter of discontentment and green pastures and Mickey (Amy Adams) his intelligent lawyer daughter whom circumstance has kept apart.
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Going a tad too far!
With
a title like Ted one’s mind flashed back to that 1950s song Teddy-Bear (baby let me be your loving…) and though it does deal with the bond between a boy and his toy, it digresses in a plethora of ways and not quite surprisingly flatters only to deceive. John Bennett (Button Manky) is a lonely child who is shunned by the Boston kids who beat up their Jewish counterparts as their sport. So, he wishes for an X-mas gift and gets it in the shape of a cute teddy-bear,which is soon able to talk and so these two are inseparable.
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Movies on TV
Saturday October 27 ZEE CINEMA STAR GOLD STAR MOVIES MOVIES OK HBO SET MAX STAR UTSAV Wake Up Sid is a 2009 romantic comedy. The film takes place in contemporary Mumbai and tells the story of spoilt, careless rich-kid Sid Mehra (Ranbir Kapoor), a college student who is taught the meaning of life by Aisha (Konkona Sen Sharma), an aspiring writer from Kolkata. It was critically and commercially successful. The film is directed by Ayan Mukerji. ZEE CINEMA STAR GOLD STAR MOVIES B4U MOVIES FILMY STAR PLUS HBO
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Deol, easily one of the fine actors of alternative cinema, is a little too understated and the fire necessary for the rebel is missing. The other two gifted actors Manoj Bajpayee as the Naxal leader and Om Puri as the man representing the ideologue behind the Naxal movement are let down by the director who has not provided them enough scope in the first place. Esha Gupta has very little to do and it’s Anjali Patil as the female rebel who truly impresses. 
We thought we would talk about the good things about Ajab Gajabb Love before we let out the gazabb elements. The rest of the actors Darshan Jhariwala (who plays Yashvardhan Grewal, Jackky’s father), Kirron Kher (Jackky’s mother) Arjun Rampal and Arshad Warsi add some comic flavours to the film. Guess what, Arjun Rampal, who has a double role in the film, changes his expression! As for Arshad, whenever he did come on screen, he left us with a smile! 
But baseball is still very much in her veins and when Gus’s old pal Pete (John Goodman) sends her an SOS about her dad whose eyesight is failing him, she immediately takes time off from her heavy company schedule to be with her crusty dad. To cut a long story short, it is about how both have to make changes in their lifestyle but sadly this is precisely what director Robert Lorenz fails to grasp and he isn’t helped either by Ranty Brown’s verbose screenplay, much of which should have gone to the floor of the editing room. Instead the viewer has to suffer through 111 minutes of avoidable, predictable piffle. Even the romantic angle with Johnny Flannagan (Justin Timberlake) is contrived. All this could have been avoided if Lorenz had stuck to 90 minutes. Amy Adams provides the film with spark and John Goodman is in his usual cameo role but Eastwood seems to struggle through all the avoidable maze. Recommended only for those who have that old fashioned virtue of patience.
Fast forward to 30-odd year John (Mark Wahlberg) who finds his four-year romance with Lori (Mila Kunis) in trouble because of his attachment to Ted (voice of MacFarlane). Now Ted, a figment of MacFarlane’s warped imagination, is a weird teddy-bear—— totally foul-mouthed using bs and fs like there’s no tomorrow. If director MacFarlane meant to dwell John’s attachment to his companion, he deviates from the core. Ted also has a girl-friend Tami-Lyn (Jessica Barth) and is one night found with four hookers in bed. Guess, that’s MacFarlane’s idea of humour. Breaking wind, in various stages of the operation, and defecating are his other gags. Pathetic.
In just about 20 minutes the story nosedives. If one looks for plus points there’s a cute line when Ted says “email the rest of the story to me.” The music provides some relief, especially the bars of Stayin Alive raising visions of the 1970s gyrating John Travolta. The rest is zilch. Donny (Giovanni Ribisi), the stalker who wants to kidnap Ted for his violent son Robert (Redin Menks) is another freak. Is there such a high percentage of weirdos in the United States? And do they always have to resort to gross humour? The verdict, if one is ever needed. Totally, unmistakably
missable.
Abbas Ali (Abhishek Bachchan) lives in Chandni Chowk, New Delhi with his sister Sania (Asin Thottumkal). Their well wisher, Shastri Chacha convinces them to migrate to his village Ranakpur where he assures Abbas that he will get him a job at his owner’s place. The owner is none other than the powerful Prithviraj Raghuvanshi (Ajay Devgn). The twist in the tale comes when Abhishek Bachchan has to play a double role in the film. 
Sunday
October