A Journey to Remember...

There are very few journeys in your life which u remember for a long time to come, the ones which leave a mark in your life.
And when u r a frequent Pune-Mumbai traveler like me, such incidences are indeed pretty rare...

But I’m fairly confident this one belongs to the above genre...

I was going to Mumbai a while back by my usual choice of transport---a shared cab. This is one journey which thanks to the Mumbai-Pune Expressway doesn't take longer than 3 hours and with Rs.250 you can travel at complete ease and comfort in an AC cab.

The people who travel this way are usually those who have little time to waste awaiting the Volvo buses to fill to their capacity, for which you end up wasting even 6 hours in toto at times!!
Quite normally, these types rarely bother with mingling with their fellow passengers, just happy to be busy going over their notes for their next meeting, fine tuning details over the phone for the next client meeting or sometimes a hapless papa calling his daughter and promising her he will be in town for the 9 pm movie this time for sure!!

This time was quite an aberration...

When I reached Pune station, I was immediately accosted by these agents who insist u go with them coz theirs is the best way to travel, where u r the luckiest person around since u wud be filling the last seat remaining and other such nonsense!!
But being wise to their ways I tell them strictly I want a shared cab and then they direct u to the appropriate agent for the cabbie.

I saw a TV actor seated at the front seat and another busybody going over his notes for the interview he was set to appear in Mumbai at the back seat.I was the third person then...Sigh! Wait for 10-15 mins now..No problem for me,after all who said i had to attend some important seminar or meeting in the next few hours??

But the cab was going till Dadar only and when the TV actor realised this,he got down unhappily complaining that he was told by the agent it will take him to Andheri,haha!!!

Only 5 mins since i set foot in the Pune station area and already a little bit of the drama had unfolded! More was yet to come as i realised later.

Now a lady comes along in a car which I barely noticed,but her driver is asked to step down by these rogues here and is slapped because he apparently almost hit one of them just so!!
The thing could have escalated but for the lady's hurry to reach the airport,since she had to catch the 2:50 pm Delhi flight.She told her driver to go home with the car and agreed to share the cab with us.Here comes the rider...She wanted the front seat of the car and the cab should be leaving at once!
No problem for us we thought,since she was the one insisting on the cab to leave with 3 ppl,she wud be the one paying the extra money!!

With so much of confusion going on..I think the agent conveniently forgot to mention this to her..So she takes the front seat and asks the driver whom was she supposed to pay the 250 bucks??
Wait a minute! Wasn't she supposed to pay 500 bucks??
Hell no! The agent had told her she was the last seat remaining and the rate was just 250 bucks!!
The agent was called in and she started ranting to him about the unfairness of it all..

Well,if that's the case shell up more was what he said to her..
Or wait for another person to come along..By this time,the lady's driver had already gone home along with her car and she had to make do with the public transport now.

Now,any seasoned traveller will make sure to ask basic questions like how many seats have filled already,and what's the rate before getting into the cab,won't he?
But apparently this was the first time this woman was travelling this way and forgot to ask the above questions..
What she did not forget to tell everyone around was that she was in an extreme hurry to catch the "do baje ka flight" to Delhi,since she had to attend some really important meeting out there!
No wonder she was taken for a ride! (pun unintended,haha)

Now she was insisting that the cab leave at once or she would be calling the police as she had had enough!!The driver poor guy was not able to acquiesce since he would be in a real loss if he took only 3 passengers for Rs.750
The agent in the meanwhile had disappeared to go and look for the 4th person.

The drama had begun in full fore now...Every agent,driver and passenger out there came to know in no time that this particular 50 something lady had been cheated by these goons out there AND she was late for her 2 pm flight to Delhi for an extremely important meeting!!

Now comes the ego trip!!She requested me and the other poor guy already seated in to come with her and take a different cab.I told her I was in no hurry,so no point in paying the extra bucks..Oh!!But I didnt have to pay anything extra you see..she was ready to pay any extra amount incurred all by herself for both of us!!
Hmm...why not??No harm right..?

But just getting out of the cab and leaving won't set right with her either..
She had to teach these goons a lesson,didn't she?? So she started to threaten them with a phone to the police..

Oh i forgot to mention..her majesty is an esteemed Director of the Bharti Vidyapeeth..She also carries a lot of political clout,weight whatever u wanna call it!!
So she would be able to stop this illegal business in no time!!Not only wud she get these people arrested or fined,she wud also get the PSI of the area on duty,fired in a day!!
Gosh!!
The driver was a bit scared now and asked her to talk to the agent who had offered her a seat in the first place..
No!!That won't do at all..Why shud she go and search for that asshole??Call him here,she said.So another person was dispatched in search of the said agent.

And she was still insisting the driver leave at once or she would be placing that BIG call to the DIG of police in Pune..

Here I mentioned to her,If she was ready to pay 1200 bucks to go by the CoolCab why not just pay 250 extra and get on with it??
Nope,this was a matter of principle you see.Rs.250 was a paltry sum for her..but she was not ready to take any such treatment from these vandals lying down.
She would really show them what stuff she was made of and whom these idiots were messing up with..

Now 15 minutes had passed since this started and the agent in question finally arrived on the scene.. luckily with the 4th passenger in tow...Lucky for everyone I guess.

Again we all had to hear what a big shot she was and how these agents and their nexus is going to be dismantled in one day by her one phone call..

Did I mention she was a DIRECTOR on the board of Bharti Vidyapeeth??Oh,I did..Sorry for repeating it again here..but I had forgotten the count by now how many times she had mentioned this already!!

Finally,we all commenced our ill-fated journey to Mumbai,why ill-fated u ask??
Because we were doomed to hear this woman's tirade for the next 3 hours at least!!

So in the nxt one hour we had already come to know,that this lady was a Director on Bharti Vidyapeeth's board(Sorry for the repetition,can't help it,hehe)

She was going to 'bajao the band' of these thugs who take hapless commuters like her for granted..

She was really getting late to reach her 2:50 PM flight from Mumbai to Delhi for a very important meeting.

By this time I really had to say something to shut her up..So i told her that the MSRTC(Apna Govt Corporation) runs a highly efficient bus service from Pune to Dadar every half an hour,and it takes only 3 hours and 15 mins for the bus to reach its destination.Not only that.. she would be paying 5 bucks lesser!!

She being a govt employee,should be setting an example to the aam junta and travel by that mode instead!!

But no..u see the bus being a bus takes more time than a car..obviously!!But wasn't that better and safer than the way she was travelling now??

Here comes the big revelation....Her brother is none other than Mr.Ashok Gehlot..Delhi's CM.(I know its Mrs.Dickshit,tell that to her..lol)

She does travel by this aam junta mode of transport whenever possible..After all ,thats how they keep in touch wth the ground realities and the hardships common ppl suffer in their day-to-day life..She doesn't like to abuse the power her position offers..no red carpet treatment for her and her family..

She could have easily got the ticket for a day earlier that way,but she chose to go thru the proper channel instead!

Now she takes her cell phone out and dials her home number to talk to some relative of her( I assumed it was her daughter) in a really loud voice!!

And while also informing her daughter,she was really keen on letting her fellow passengers know too,how she had taken pity on her poor driver and sent him home so he could celebrate Diwali with his family that day...Then a call to Delhi to let the junta there know she was definitely going to reach by the said flight..

No need to arrange for Dinner..Please dont take so much pains..A meeting with whom??Mr.Kashiram??Oh no..but he would be busy in a meeting with Soniajii.

She has had a talk with her brother..He is busy arranging a meeting of MLAs..No he won't be able to make it tonight..

At this point,I had managed to switch my media player on at full volume..

After completing her call,she turned back and started telling us how was not allowed to go by such means of public transport by her family,but she had disregarded her safety for a benevolent cause.

Since it would be rude to pretend not to listen to her when she is looking at you and talking to you,I had to take my earphones out and suffer!!

And then, all of a sudden she started asking me about my personal and professional details..

Where did I work in Pune?Where am I actually from?How much salary do I earn in a year?What is my educational qualification?

And without wanting to know about it,she still went ahead and helpfully informed us in detail,how both of her sons had studied in the US..I think she also mentioned the name of the University..but she couldn't pronounce it well..all i got was that it started with an 'A'..

That she didn't like the quality of education imparted in India came as a no surprise to me..

Here's some more info which I didn't want to know..

Her family has a big bungalow in the US which her husband had bought solely for their 2 sons' education purpose..

The elder son has done his MBA from another reputed university whose name she couldn't pronounce properly again and I failed to understand..

Then he got a job in AT&T where he was awarded as the best employee of the year amongst the new joinees..

This was more relevant than you think..it was during the Recession..when every company was laying off their employees en masse..

And this guy had the guts to resign and start his own software company at that time..Now he has AT&T as one of his clients..

No wonder his company's turnover was 20 million $ a year..

She even gave me a suggestion for my future career moves..
SAP is the in thing beta...U can earn a lot of money if you get into it..

So I told her I had no interest in Software..and I'm quitting soon..

Quitting??what next then,she asked me..

I don't know,I said..that gave her a pause and I could finally ignore her and listen to Metallica again..phew!!!

Next bakra was the fellow next to me..I had completed my obligation of travelling on her ego trip..Now i could blissfully ignore her!!

But why take a chance???So I slept..unaware that the driver had made a swerving cut barely avoiding a collision with a truck,when she was busy trying to draw him into the conversation too..

The luckiest bloke was the one sitting directly behind her..After all she could not make a 180 degree turn to pakao him right?

We reached Sion in 2 and a half hours itself where the Interview guy and this lady were going to get down..

Kudos to the driver for this feat..After all he had made sure Ms.Indu Jain wouldn't be missing her all important flight..

While getting off,she also gave a 5 Rs tip to the driver for his amazing speed and control..

Well,we all had a hearty laugh after she got off...each laughing at the other's expense...
Good thing for the other guy and I was that the driver had some work in Mulund..
So he could drop us at Vikhroli and Mulund respectively..

Now you can easily guess what the topic for the rest of our journey was..

There was a whole lot of dissection of Ms. Jain's behaviour and bitching about her in general..
Who knows if she was actually all those things she mentioned about herself??
It could be true...but it really goes on to show how shallow and hypocrites such people are in reality...

She didn't succeed in fooling anyone present of her good intentions or such..
Instead,by constantly harping about her position and the power she weilded she had already created an image of a buffon in front of each one of us..

What power does a Board Director of a deemed university really carries??

People like these are so egotistic that any government position carries a lustful appeal to them,where they can constantly show off in the public..

One really can't understand if one should laugh at them or pity these fools...

Inside I think these types are very insecure..otherwise they wudn't find a need to brag about their position in society in public..however pitiful or unimportant that position maybe..

That is why you see a simple government clerk in a GPO acting as if he is a king and he is doing a big favor on us taxpayers by accepting our Returns on the 31st of July...

These kinds are always searching for a chance to subjugate others to their will, but are they willing to take the responsibility for what their position of power demands of them?? NO!!

This is why we hear the likes of Indu Jains fretting about the make of a bronze statue to be installed in the college campus,than the quality of the education imparted inside the college walls..

And then we have the same people complaining about the sad infrastructure and quality of education in India..

God save us all from such important and well connected people...

Shadows of the past always hound you...

One of the few songs which touched my heart..cause it struck a chord deep down somewhere...
Yes,there's a darkness in my past too..I was a totally different person when I was thirteen..
And I have made mistakes which I regret profoundly today..mistakes I am ashamed to admit are true..
Oh! How I wish I could go back and change these..
Someday I hope I will find enough courage to seek forgiveness for those past actions of mine..




It's easier to run

Replacing this pain with something NUMB

It's so much easier to go

Than face all this pain here all alone



Something has been taken from deep inside of me

The secret I've kept locked away no one can ever see

Wounds so deep they never show they never go away

Like moving pictures in my head for years and years they've played



If I could change I would take back the pain I would

Retrace every wrong move that I made I would

If I could stand up and take the blame I would

If I could take all the shame to the grave I would

If I could change I would take back the pain I would

Retrace every wrong move that I made I would

If I could stand up and take the blame I would

I would take all my shame to the grave



It's easier to run

Replacing this pain with something numb

It's so much easier to go

Than face all this pain here all alone



Sometimes I remember the darkness of my past

Bringing back these memories I wish I didn't have

Sometimes I think of letting go and never looking back

And never moving forward so there'd never be a past



If I could change I would take back the pain I would

Retrace every wrong move that I made I would

If I could stand up and take the blame I would

If I could take all the shame to the grave I would

If I could change I would take back the pain I would

Retrace every wrong move that I made I would

If I could stand up and take the blame I would

I would take all my shame to the grave



Just washing it aside

All of the helplessness inside

Pretending I don't feel misplaced

It's so much simpler than change



It's easier to run

Replacing this pain with something numb

It's so much easier to go

Than face all this pain here all alone



It's easier to run

If I could change I would take back the pain I would

Retrace every wrong move that I made

It's easier to go

If I could change I would take back the pain I would

Retrace every wrong move that I made I would

If I could stand up and take the blame I would

I would take all my shame to the grave

Kahitarich Achrat aaple..

1.

Manus: "doctor doctor, mala na alikade s@^#@$ la hot nahi !"
Doctor: Maag, palikade basun bagha.

2.

Ek pregnent bai doctor kade jate.
Doctor: Kay bai, kitwa mahina?
Bai ( laajun ): Issya, Aathva.
Doctor: aho, mi kasa aathavu? tumhich aathva !

3.

Jaani Jinke Ghar Sheeshe Ke Hote Hain,
Woh................

Sirf Raat Ko Hi Bathroom ja sakte hain..

4.

ghai gardicha kiti ha traas,
hawa mansala ekantwaas...
ekant aani waas ekatra milanyache
thikan hamkhas---
te mhanje sandaas!!

5.

Lahan mulga babanna wicharto...
Mulga : Baba, tumcha lagna zala ani tumhi honeymoon la gelat tewa mi kuthe hoto ??
Baba : jatana mazya kade hotas, yetana aai kade.

6.

Ekda baba ani mulga rastyani chalalele astat. Tevdhyat samorun ek faar motha vyapari yet asto, ani barobar tyaachi pregnent bayko pan aste.....

Mulga: Baba Baba, te samorun pot sutlele gruhastha yet ahet, te kon ahet o?
Baba: are bala, te faar mothe UdyogPati ahet.
Mulga ( tya pregnent bai kade pahun ): Baar, pan baba, tyanchya barobar ti pot sutleli bai ahe.... ti kon ahe?
Baba: Are to taar PatiUdyog ahe.

7.

Eka class period madhe tp karnarya mulala :
Teacher(Ragane) : Tula Periods che mahatva mahit aahe ka?
Mulaga :ho, ekda majhi bahin mhanali, ticha period miss zala. Te aikun majhi aai ghabarali, babana heart-attack aala, ani aamcha driver palun gela.

8.

ekda ek mulga ek mulgi pahayla jaato tevha tila vicharto...'
tula chaha yeto ka?'
tar ti uttar dete...
'isshya mala ajoon doodh pan yet nahi!!!'

9.

Mallika skin specialist kade jate ani mhnate,"Doc. mi anghol karatana kay lawu?"

Dr : " Bathroom chi kadi"

10.

Mulgi: Aaj ratri mazya ghari ye.....
Sardar: Aga pan tuzya ghari koni asel na?
Mulgi: Nahi re, konich nasel.
.
.
.
Sardar ratri tichya ghari jato..... ani bagh to taar kay .... Gharala kulup...... karan ghari konich nasta.

11.

Ek Manus: Hi bagh mazi navin car
Dusra Manus: aayla, kadhi ghetlis?
Pahila Manus: Are, kaal mi ratri rastyani chalalo hoto...... ani ek mulgi car madhun chalali hoti. Tevdhya tila kahi gundanni adavla............ maag mi tyanchya shi maramari karun tya mulila sodavli.........
maag ti mulgi car madhun baher ali ani tini sagle kapde kadhle.......... Ani mala mhanali " Mi tuzya vaar khoosh ahe..... kay pahije te ghe."

Dusra Manus: Maag tu kay ghetlas?

Pahila Manus: Maag mi tichi car ghetli.

Dusra Manus: Bara kelas.... tiche kapde gheun tula kay fayda?



Courtesy Marathi PJ comm...

Something mundane..

Just something mundane for a change:)

Had been to Mumbai for the past two days..
And the weather there is plain horrible..
I should be used to the sweltering October heat considering I have lived in Mumbai for 20 yrs..
But having stayed in Pune for the past 2 yrs,I had forgotten how unbearable sweaty and humid
it is these days in m'bai..
Man!! I really couldn't wait to get out of there..I pity my friends who are still in there,haaha

Both my sisters had been verrryy upset with me for I had not visited them since 5 months..
Well,thats not true actually..I had met both sometime in the last month at my parent's place,hehe.
So..my first stop was at my sis' place who got married 5 months back and then next day off went to meet my cute little nephew at Tarapur..

Its funny how kids like him remember small small things which we adults(I like to consider myself one,anyways) normally ignore or forget as something inconsequential..
He seems to have adjusted pretty well to a life where both ur parents are working and one of whom come home only after half a day has passed..Not a big deal u could say since scores frm our generation have been brought up in the same envt..
But he's just abt 3.5 yrs old yaar..Sometimes I feel really bad for him..

The way he greeted me enthusiastically only a 3 yr old kid can..the way his face lit up upon seeing me after a gap of 5 months..more than made up for the tiresome journey to that place..
(Tiresome..u ask??Its a 7 hour journey from here in Pune!!!)

Why he was so happy upon meeting me..i do not know..
I am so not comfortable with kids..Dont have enuf patience in me, the bulk quantity u need to be in their company for more than 30 mins..phew!!

I know i should visit him more often.. But i dont see another of these 7 hrs journey in the foreseeable future..

Response to Hitesh's comments on the earlier post..

Some anonymous person has left a comment on my previous post..
I don't understand the point in leaving ur comment, my anonymous friend, the least u could have done was post something intelligent!!

Anyways,I didn't write what i wrote in my previous post in hope that someone will agree with me and we will start a club for like-minded people..

Hitesh has posted a comment and I wanted to respond to him..I think this is better than psoting a comment myself,hehe..

Btw,Hitesh I wanted to reply to you sooner than this but have been really busy these past few days yaar..I know you won't bliv me..but its true,man!!

Alrt,here goes my 'response'...



Wow!!Such caustic remarks my friend?? What r u trying to prove out here by calling me a loser? Just coz i mentioned the truth,I am a loser?? All I said was to be open to hearing atleast some thing which is other than what u know as the truth..
I have never accepted anything blindly,my policy has been -- always ask questions if in doubt..Never stop being curious..Is that a crime?
U r calling me stubborn here..But tell me what have u said in ur comment which has contradicted the points i have mentioned??

Being loud is not the option buddy,facts are what u can convince me wth otherwise!

And FYI, there aren't 100 billion ppl on this globe..Over 1 billion in India and another 5-6 billion in the rest of the world...Hehe..i was just nit-picking...

But even here u r basing ur opinion on wht 100 billion ppl on the globe believe..not wht ur mind says..

Ppl also believed just a few centuries bcak that Earth is at the center of the universe and sun and other planets revolve around it..Copernicus and Galileo were persecuted for begging to differ..
R u trying to say tht ppl shud have carried on bliving wht other millions of ppl had accepted as truth just bcoz it was convenient?? Plz gimme a break..

U ask me if i have any relative in the British armed forces who told me and only me the real reason we got our freedom..
there goes ur close mindedness again! I have no need to see the Britsh archives from 50 yrs back..when the two reasons i mentioned in my post are sanctioned officially by the Indian govt itself in its NCERT books..Its just that i took the pains to read them ..gather information frm various sources rather than basing my opinion solely on one book or one story told to me by someone..Read any history book recommended for UPSC extra reading and u will know for urself..I was repudiating the version of Quit India movement being a success..

But if you had read wht i had actually said above..u wud knw..It doesnt take a genius to figure out wht was happening thn..
Tell me my friend how much do u knw abt the INA strugle..abt the contribution of Subhashchandra Bose in India's freedom struggle..
Do u knw Gandhi played favorites too??
Do u knw Bose was in the Congress but quit coz of Gandhi's favoritism towards Nehru..
Even Patel was sidelined by him.
If u want a specific reference go chk the Tripura session of Congress..u will knw wht i am talkin abt..

I will agree I havent read 'my expts wth truth'..thts Mr.Gandhi's autobiography in case u didnt knw..
I read Godse's autobiography coz i was curious abt their real motives for Gandhi's murder.
I am not justifying anybody's actions here..

Bliv me I have read main parts of Hitler's autobiography too (albiet translated in marathi)..
Just coz i read sumthin i dont accept it as truth..i base my opinions on credible sources..read the plural there??
Tht means i try to get diff perspectives for the same story..Since i was not present at the time those things happened ,i can only form my opinion on wht is available now..isn't it?

I ddint mean to belittle the sacrifice of those hundreds and thousands of freedom fighters in my post..Just that i don't agree on the way they chose to do so.
Do u think all tht satyagraha and courting arests made any bloody diff to the British?? After the rather spectacular failure of the Quit India movt..Gandhi gave a call for sumthng called as 'Individual' satyagraha..Try to remember it was in our history books ..i am not inventing anythn here..
Do u knw wht this was??A face saving excercise..go figure..

If Satyagraha was such a potent weapon..pray tell me why it took 14 years more after we achieved independence for the Portuguese to vacate Goa ,DadraNagarHavli & Diu-daman??
Do u knw how many Satyagrahis were killed in these 14 yrs by the Portuguese??

On a single day of 15th August 1955, 3000 satyagrahis were opened fire upon by the Portuguese army..
What did Nehru do? He sat still and watched the Goans being brutally oppressed for 6 more yrs.

In the end it was an armed struggle by the Azad Gomantak Dal(RSS ppl) who liberated Dadra Nagar haveli..
Finally Nehru reluctantly ordered 40000 Indian troops to march into Goa after his failure to convince Portugal's Premier Dr. Antonio de Salazar to depart gracefully after coming to an amicable settlement with India, similar to that arrived at by France.

It took just 26 hrs for the Portuguese army to surrender...

This is wht i meant by my statement..wht cud have been achieved in 5 yrs took 50 yrs instead...

Do u knw Bhagt Singh was an ardent Gandhi follower before he turned to armed struggle??

My whole point in relating the above historical facts was so tht u could open ur eyes to the truth..
After the first world war european nations were totally bankrupt..
Gandhi had the reins of Congress back then..
Remember the Non-co-operation movt in 1921?? It was successful beyond measures than Gandhi himself had expected..
Adn wht did he do? Killed the movt when the British govt was facing intense heat..coz of the Chauri -Chaura incident..

Did u knw tht was the main reason why youngsters like Singh were disillusioned wth Gandhi and his policies??
After the 1st WW there was high amount of discontent amongst the Indian forces coz they were forced to die for the Raj in some faroff land in Africa and Europe..
If the Congress had milked tht situation in its favor..the results i mentioned wud have been achieved in a span of 5 yrs..maybe less!!

In fact there was an attempt too,not by the INC of course..since thy preferred dominion status until 1931..total independence was demanded bowing to pressure frm the likes of S C Bose and other nationalists outside the Congress working committee

But tht attempt was curbed after betrayal and treachery and Rasbihari Bose had to flee to Japan..
There are many such examples i can give here..all pointing to the same thng..how much time and men we sacrifced in fooling ourselves..

You say i have yet to understand what gandhi giri is...Well ,we can sit with a couple of beers one day and u can explain me wht is ur version of gandhi-giri...Believe me i will hear u out wth an open mind..

What i gather is Gandhism has at its core the belief in truth and non-violence..in spirit if not to the letter..
Truth and absolute truth...just does not exist in any realm..If according to you I am a loser because I lie..so be it..

Everybody has lied abt sumthn or other at sum point of his life,rt??
Do u wish to contest this??
I dont say everyone lies all the time..

But the truth is you cant follow the path of truth all ur life..Its extremely difficult..

I wud really like to meet one such person who has never in his life lied abt anythng..be it for any damn minor thing!!

The other main pillar in Gandhism is Non-violence..here are the exacts words from Mr.Gandhi himself offering the suggestion to English people during the WW-2..

"I would like you to lay down the arms you have as being useless for saving you or humanity. You will invite Herr Hitler and Signor Mussolini to take what they want of the countries you call your possessions.... If these gentlemen choose to occupy your homes, you will vacate them. If they do not give you free passage out, you will allow yourselves, man, woman, and child, to be slaughtered, but you will refuse to owe allegiance to them".

Please tell me how can u not laugh at this??As i said before...u have to be practical..

If Gandhian values were to be followed the Jews shud have willingly gone to the concentration camps or rather committed mass suicides instead of letting the German Nazis kill them!


All I want to say in the end is keep an open mind..

You can always agree to disagree,but for that you have to have a fair debate on the issue..

Cheers!!

Gandhi-giri gayee tel lene...

One of the few things i don't like about myself is that I have preconceived notions about somethings,rather all things, and am rather adamant about changing my opinions when I subconsciously form them...
That was the primary reason of my going for Munnabhai,part 2 so late...
When everybody else has already seen it, judged it, reviewed it.I was in Mumbai when it released and missed the chance to watch it alongwth my frenz in Pune.Of course,by the time I had read its reviews in the papers and hrd abt it from my frenz who had seen it..I had already formed an opinion abt it..and just did not want to go for it..

Well,I love it when i can say -- 'I told u so...' to my alter ego...hehe
The movie concept was good..the acting immaculately impeccable...songs bearable..
But the approach shown here..I found it really difficult to digest..

Writing this on a day before 2nd October brings it even more relevance...
The director and the script writer has over simplified the 2-3 instances shown which promote gandhi-giri by Munna on Radio..

Come on yaar..Things aren't that simple in real life..The press has created almost a furore portraying this film as sumthng to the tune of re-inventing Gandhi..The poducer has even decided to send it as an entry to the Oscars..Hah!! Get real Mr. V.V.Chopraji..

The TOI had mentioned in its reviews the movie isn't didactic..tht was why i cud convince myself to go and watch it..But u know wht..those TOI ppl lied..There was a constant preachy undertone to the movie.
The film was funnyno doubt.. but only in bits and pieces..

I think the press expects another RDB type reaction from the ppl..

I had a heated debate once with a good freind of mine over Gandhi...
As a person,his values,his contribution to our nation as we see it today,et all..
I don't think i tried hard then to put my point across to him.
See,someone who is thoroughly convinced and brainwashed that what he knows is the ultimate truth, he will never tolerate even hearing abt any other possibility or another version of the story.
So, I let it go at tht time..
But since this is a place where i can say anythng and evrythng i want to wthout any rok-tok..i will go ahead..haha!

I never believed in gandhi-ism ever since i started thinking on my own..Things which were said in the history books were edited versions and i had known this since i was in 4th grade!
The profs i had at my tuitions in SSC gave us a list of books to read..
One of them was Freedom at Midnight by Dominique Lappierre,which incidentally was a recommended read in our English texts too..
Tht was when i realised what a waste of time our freedom struggle was..
I was an ardent Anti-gandhist back then.After all it was cool at the time..
Gopal Godse's autobiography,Worshipping False Gods, and many other books gave me a new perspective..

Today,I don't hate Gandhi as I did once..One has to give credit due where it is..
The only thing I admire about wht Gandhi did..was the way he united the whole country against the British...The Indian subcontinent was divided into so many provinces and princely states back then that wat he achieved seems truly amazing..an insurmountable feat..
(Err..i cant help it..these come out on their own..*cough cough*)

The Congress was the actual reason for reaching the masses..but it cudn't hav happened without a charismatic figure at the top..And tht figure was Gandhi..
Well..thts it..I dont see any other worthwhile contribution from him as true other thn the one I mentioned above..
Ppl say he saved us from the clutches of the British,there have been many Eulogies written, stories true and false weaven arnd and abt him,which i think is all bull-shit!

The path he chose and propagated was a really difficult one,I agree..
I also agree you and me will never have that determination and guts required to follow the path of truth...
One cannot help lying --its natural to human beings ..rt from the Stone Ages,we have lied and we will keep lying..to our family,to our friends,to our future generations,to ourselves..

And there is no point in talking about Non-Violence..This policy of his got a boot in his own lifetime itself..You cannot win a fight against the likes of the then British govt,armed solely with Truth and Non-Violence and Satyagraha...

What could have been achieved in 5 yrs took 50 instead..And the death count remains the same!!
We are taught Gandhi had two words for the British----(NOT FuCK OFf...though it wud've been damn funny )--'Quit INDIA' ; And the British left us...
What very few of us know is that the Quit India Movement was a total and utter dismal failure..The agitaion was brutally curbed within no time..
It took 4 more yrs for any hope to Indians of seeing a free sunrise one day soon..
The Armed forces which were the base upon which Britishers ruled us were highly discontent and becoming Nationalist day-by-day..This was the major reason for the British to decide to set us free..The other of course was the war which had already broken their back!

Why then we credit Mr.M K Gandhi with the ultimate designation of 'Mahatma'??
His philosophical beliefs look good only on paper..no one in their right mind can follow them to the hilt..!!

His ways of practising those values were preposterous to say the least...

One example--He saw an injection to ur body as Violence..ergo..use only mud-packs!!
The victim---his own wife...Mrs.Kasturba Gandhi!!
If this is how u expect people to follow Gandhism..sorry!!U r the biggest fool in this world..
The poor woman had no one else to speak for her..wat else could she do??She had no choice but to die for the idealistic values of Mr.Gandhi, however foolish and childish they be..
After all,he was her pati-parmeshwar since the age of 13!!!

Another incident which stands out as testimony to his ridiculous behaviour was his insistence on granting the Rs. 55 crore economic aid to Pakistan after partition that ultimately caused his death..
Agreed,India was to pay Pakistan 55 crore Indian rupees as part of the partition..
Agreed,the Pakistani people...the aam junta was suffering from hunger and disease and poverty...
But every body knew the politicians there didn't give a damn about thier own people..
They used tht very same money for buying arms from China and Britain,instead for foodgrains..
The same money was used to supply training and ammunition to the army who invaded Kashmir in the garbs of the miltants...
Effectively,India supplied its arch-enemy at the time with the wherewithals to kill its own sons..
Godse didn't kill Gandhi b'coz he believed Gandhi was the cause of Partition..
He was a sensible man..No fool wud have accused Gandhi of the above..
What Gandhi died for was his adamancy in bending Nehru to his will and making him shell out tht money to Pakistan...

Gandhi might have been many things..but he was not a statesman..certainly not an able one..
For to be one,you need to be practical..Britishers always played him up and made gestures which Gandhi took up for victories ..
I think he was too much warped up in his own imaginary world..wherein everything was twisted to match its existence!!

Well..I don't claim to be an expert on Gandhi..but this is what I could make out for explaining myself his rigid,stupid and suicidal decisions..

Sorry boss!!! Gandhi-giri is not gonna work in today's world...

P.S: Doesn't sumone find an irony in Mr.Sanjay Dutt playing the role of the protagonist in this movie which preaches Gandhi-giri,coming at the time when there are convictions being handed out to the '93 blasts accused,where he himself is one of the co-aacused???