Dhobi Ghat - My Take...

Dhobi Ghat is not a film. It is an experience. It is poetry in motion. Like a true product of creativity, it arouses extreme reactions. It will either seep in deep within you like a slow pain or it will surpass you, take you by surprise much like a midsummer night shower, leaving you wondering in bewilderment about what just happened.

The whole experience has an ethereal feel. The traversing emotions and the interspersed interactions of 4 human beings and their aspirations paint a mystical landscape of paradoxical realism and the inexplicable dream world.

The characters are Shai, played by Monica Dogra, an NRI investment banker who is back in Mumbai for a sabbatical and change of pace of life. Arun, essayed by Aamir Khan, an angst-ridden artist who has a one-night stand with Shai but has little affection or time for her the next morning.
Munna, played by Prateik, a dhobi with dreams of becoming an actor. And Yasmin, a young married Muslim girl, played by Kriti Malhotra, who makes video diaries for her brother that Arun discovers.

The movie beautifully captures the essence of varied relationships and explores their foundations based on the social milieu of Mumbai. From posh art galleries to narrow gullies of slums, from the high rises of the city to the Dhobi Ghat. The film raises questions on the basis and foundations of contemporary relationships. Can relationships really transcend cultural, social and more importantly, economic barriers? It also addresses relevant social issues of migrants in the city, their lifestyle and the day to day struggle; they call life – depicted beautifully in the scene where Munna’s shanty leaks due to water from the rains.

The cinematography is par excellence and captures the life in the city of Mumbai in such an impactful manner that at times, it even overshadows the characters. Kiran has displayed an uncanny maturity and unparalleled understanding of human behaviour when she portrays the scene where Munna visits Shai’s upmarket house for the first time ever, and heads to sit on the floor when asked to sit. She has also beautifully captured the egalitarian soul and spirit of Shai’s character when she picks up the not so fancy cup of tea brought on purpose by Shai’s maid befitting Munna’s social status over the fancy crockery one.

Dhobi Ghat is poetry as narrated by a seasoned poet, a rendition by a true maestro, you might just think its slow in the beginning but your have to wait for it to build up and reach the crescendo of its peak. It challenges you intellectually. It compels you to think. It persuades you into noticing the small hidden gems like the overall tribute to Salman or the quality and the timing of the background music “Sab Moh Maya Hai.” It will surely leave you stirred from within, slightly contemplative, slightly reflectively and majorly melancholy. It’s an emotional ride you should subject yourself to, at least once just to see how it affects you.

I want to Live!!

At times, it so happens that you read something and it happens to articulate exactly what's playing on your mind. Yesterday, I read this passage from what is turning out to be an 'experience to cherish' kind of a book - 'Notes To Self' by Hugh Prather. It's one of those books your friends always told you about, but you resisted reading it, thinking "It's just not my type." This book reinstates my belief that literature (Fiction / Non-Fiction) which enables us to reconnect with ourselves is the most enduring in nature!

Amidst this festive season of reflection and renewal, I was thinking what my approach in this coming year should be since I cannot be a follower of rigidity of thought and confinement of my spirit in close ended targets set for myself called "Resolutions." This passage, beautifully describes what I want to do, rather how I want to do it....Here it goes...Prather says....

"Today, I want to do things, to be doing them, not to be doing something else. I don't want to drive to get there, make love to have climaxes, or study to 'keep abreast.'

I do not want to do things to sell myself on myself. I don't want to do nice things for people so that I will be 'nice.' I don't want to make money, I want to work to work.

Today, I don't want to live for, I want to live!!" :-)

Stay Raw!!!

I just came across the MTV “Stay Raw” campaign. It is revolutionary. In a sense liberating. How often do we find ourselves critiquing things which are an integral part of our identity? How often do we feel embarrassed because of what we are called or who we are or how we look? There’s a constant fear of being judged because of how we eat, what we wear and where we live.


We consciously try to do things which fit our perception of what is socially acceptable, even though it is far away from what we actually feel like doing. The need for social conformity just usurps our true self. We say things people want to hear. Do what they want us to do. Feel the way they want us to. Subconsciously we hand over the remote control of our feelings to others and act according to what’s pressed or rather impressed upon us. Its subconscious, yet a meek emotional surrender.


In doing all of this, our little true self is lost. We forget who we really are. What we stand for. What we wish to stand for. We forget to take pride in ourselves, for the individuals we were born as and for the person we are today. We need to recognise the fact that wherever we currently are, we surely have come a long way, since our first day!


So go ahead, whoever you are, wherever you are, cherish your being. Celebrate your existence. Cos there’s just no-one exactly quite like you. You’re unique. No matter how twisted you are, its always fun. Being true to yourself is ultimately a good feeling. Beat the world and stay on top. Try till you succeed and still if you don’t, stay amateur. No matter what the situation is, stay cheerful. It’s cool to be whacky and crazy at times, so go ahead. No matter how different you are, always stay proud of yourself, Stay original, Stay Raw!!

Jaago Re....

We Indians have an unparalleled fetish for Power. Since time immemorial, power struggles have been well chronicled throughout Indian history. Sons have killed fathers and brothers have massacred each other for the sake of the throne. Families have plotted and deceitfully undone their own blood in their pursuit of power. Be it the Mahabharata, Ramayana or the Muhgal Empire, this theme runs through all of ancient history of India. The important question to ask though is what happens after we acquire that power?

Spiderman gave us this most wonderful line, “With great power comes great responsibility” – well yea, he’s American – he can say it. He wouldn’t have dared to say that if he was an Indian.

We’ve been known to screw up when we have great power. Our regulatory Institutions themselves have time and come into question with their integrity. Be it the BBCI, The Income Tax Department, The Election Commission, The Indian Olympic Association, the relatively well respected Indian Armed Forces who were considered to be a great “Adarsh” have also now been tainted with suspicion. All major Indian Regulatory Entities, by and large love self destruction. TRAI and the Raja scam is the latest to join the list!!

Indian policymakers take corruption to be the norm and exceptions to the norm are ridiculed. It is this attitude of taking things lying down that has perpetuated this deep rooted rot over the years.

We young Indians, who are certainly going to be in positions of power and responsibility in the times to come, need to introspect and walk the talk on making India a respected or a ridiculed state. As the clutter breaking advertisement says, it is indeed time for us to “Jaago Re...”

Eat Pray Love - Comfort Food for my soul!!!

It's truly quite rare that one comes accross lines in a book or a movie that connect so deeply with your inner self and manifest some of your deepest emotions into words.

I had a similar experience with this wonderful journey of life which has been articulated by Elizabeth Gilbert into her book "Eat Pray Love" and then converted into a motion picture starring Julia Roberts, the most apt protagonist to essay the part. The lines which mirrored my soul are.....


""If I love you, I will carry for you all your pain, I will assume for you all your debts (in every definition of the word), I will protect you from your own insecurity, I will protect upon you all sorts of good qualities that you have never actually cultivated in yourself and I will buy Christmas presents for your entire family. I will give you the sun and the rain, and if they are not available, I will give you a sun check and a rain check. I will give you all this and more, until I get so exhausted and depleted that the only way I can recover my energy is by becoming infatuated with someone else."

Whole - Greater than the sum of its parts!!

There was a superb blog post that I recently came accross called "One Minus Some Is Still One..."  which propagated the thought that being 'Lonely' and being 'Alone' are two different things. Being lonely has a negative connotation and being alone is a positive state of mind. When we forge relationships to get rid of our lonliness, we're effectively cheating the other person. However the article proposed that we must love to be in love with being alone. We must learn to first be in love with ourselves only then think of forging relationships. (by relationships - one doesnt mean the spousal / romantic ones only). The following was my reply to a friend who asked me for my feedback on the thought!!..... Sharing it here as I'd love to know what you think on this...

I was contemplating upon this article I read and have been thinking of my reaction to it.....

And I never knew I would EVER begin articulating my thoughts, the way I’m about to. Using Maths!!!

When it comes to relationships, we need to understand the basic arithmatic behind it.

We need to recognise that two, is not just a literal summation of one plus one. We must learn to respect it as an entity in itself. Give it the recognition of being an individual whole number itself rather than constantly viewing it as a sum of two real numbers. Only when we learn to recognise this fact, can we learn to nurture and develop our relationship to the fullest.

We must realise that in the case of human relationships, some of parts (can / should) never be greater than the whole. Lest, we develop fault lines in our relationship ebbing from our deepest routed vice – ego. Hence whether I'm lonely / alone should not really count as long as my intent, commitment, conviction and belief in the relationship is pure and sacrosanct. We need to attach far greater importance to the invisible entity we create (relationship) by our mutual consent, rather than the mental, physical, emotional and physiological state of its constituents (us).

A relationship is a mutually beneficial excercise based on mutual consent. Much like the trades that happen on a stock market. One buys only when the other is willing to sell. As long as both are happy indulging in the act, their intent of buying and selling seldom counts. It can never be a zero-sum game for anyone.
 I partially agree with the subtlety of difference in connotation of ‘being lonely’ and ‘being alone’, however the extrapolation of that concept to interpret individual behaviour in relationships, is something I'd humbly disagree with.

 “I strongly believe that one should first come to terms with one’s own loneliness before entering into a relationship”

When we say this, we truly undermine the power of the phenomena of creation of relationships. Have we wondered how to relationships get formed? (Apart from the ones that are thrust upon us). I think we need to then question the basis of formation of our relationships. Having a precondition of not being ‘lonely’ before entering a relationship would certainly blow away chances of a potentially great relationship being formed on the basis of that loneliness itself where one of the stakeholders acts a beacon of inspiration, companionship and a source of genuine love and affection to the other to alleviate him from his current lonely state. And mind you, this is not done as an act of help or charity. It involves real feelings of real people.

Secondly, another glaring omission in consideration, was the thought that in neither the state of being lonely or alone, is sustainable over a period of time. However, being positively socially engaged in a relationship, if managed well, can bring sustained happiness, fulfilment, joy and satisfaction to us.

We can ask for ‘alone’ time out of a relationship, if we feel disconnected with ourselves for a bit, but the converse is just not possible!!

Transformation of loneliness to aloneness is an act of self deception. A certain mind game, we convince ourselves that we need to play solo!

In my view, attempting to try and create a compelling environment for ourselves which enables us to create and cultivate positive relationships, is the ultimate way of creating enriching experiences, which ultimately make life worth living!!!

Musings of My Muse....

She flung the windows of my mind open,
In a manner contrary to the elegance of her smile,
Rarely have I found the depth of thought so well woven,
That the impact of those words stayed with me for a while

In the veiled garb of this simplistic thought,
There is profound insight,
The spirit that underlines this thought,
Challenges conventions, gives status quo a fight.

Experiences we all assimilate,
Few are bothered to learn,
Fewer enlightened to internalise them,
Fewest have the intellect to share the wisdom in turn.

WE - by Anuj Gosalia

I found myself tagged again on a note on Facebook.... It was from my buddy Anuj Gosalia who is indeed a thought provoking writer...

This one, was definitely made me think... It deserved to be shared as it struck a chord with me.. It articulated things which we all know, but refuse to acknowledge. Happy reading...


We, creatures of hope.
Stare into infinite sky from bottomless pits.


We, creatures of faith.
Trust infidels with bleeding hearts.
We, creatures of fame.
Burn ourselves for the afterglow.
We, creatures of lust.
Sleep in hypocrisies of love.
We, creatures of money.
Part with when ample. Like love.

We, creatures of prayer.
Silent, selfish and sporadic.
We, creatures of love.
In guises of insecurity and egotism.
We, creatures of inadequacy.
Cynical, sometimes real.
We, are more often than not.
Creatures exactly like me!!

A Ceremonious Lie...

Prelude: This rant was born due to the sheer boredom inflicted upon me in my MBA class during a Business Communication lecture.


Disclaimer - This rant doesn't aim to demean any academic practitioner or practice. It is composed with the underlying assumption, that people could just read it for fun without reading further into it!


So here it goes....


Sermonic education is akin to a ceremonious lie,


The one imparting it is shackled, the reciever eager to fly.



The exchange is mutual, but the mutuality is in doubt,


One is certainly suppressed, the other flexes his clout.



The wisdom of both is unquestionalble for sure,


But the futility of the exercise sadly has no cure.

The husky, rugged voice sounds like music to me,


Almost like a deaf Mozart enjoying a symphony.

I’m here at the expense of my extended sleep,


The rewards of this sacrifice in future I’d reap.



Atleast I was told so, this is the gullible me,


The session’s on communication, what an Irony!!!

Minatory of the mind…

My mind meanders, almost like a docile pet.
Giving in to the argumentative master, submission its best bet.
The smug look on my face, exudes a conceited control,
At the core of this cocky mind, thrives a confused soul.

And then it questions, the existential dilemma,
Of this inconspicuous combo,
The heady mix of a mind in command living together,
With the one embroiled in many a mambo-jambo.

A part of it, craves freedom, almost vagabondish in style,
The other more astute and discerning, albeit with a smile.
This crazy concoction is sure to brew up a storm,
Meddling with this medley is truly an art form.

Intense battle for supremacy incandescently rages on,
Clamor caused by the barrage of thoughts leaves me completely torn.
Nevertheless, the turmoil, taught me a thing or two,
If you’re doomed to choose between them, let your words be few.

The Choice Is Ours...

The chronological history of India dates back to about 34,000 years ago, when the first traces of human existence on the Indian subcontinent were found. Since then, it has hosted some of the greatest civilizations that have significantly shaped up human history.

Right from the Mughal conquests to the Indian freedom struggle, from Vasco de Gama’s voyage to the partition of India post independence, the declaration of emergency or be it the demolition of Babri Masjid, these were all choices made by individuals which had far reaching after effects on the future of this nation.

Life always gives us choices. We can always chose to be, (or not to be) in a particular state of mind or have a certain opinion. Our nation and its history has been built based on these choices that various individuals have made at various points in time under diverse circumstances, the effects of which have been faced by generations to come.

On 26th November, 2008 we witnessed events which changed the way we lived forever. The trauma of these series of events can never be encapsulated appropriately in words. Language always looses out in the battle of superior relevance to emotions. The stark difference being, language is always expressed, but emotions, experienced.

The large hoi polloi of Indian masses revel in the values enshrined in our democratic character. We hope for emancipation through justice. We hope despite being duped of it several times before. But after all we’re Indians. We’re hardly trained to learn lessons from the past. We’re the superior breed. We celebrate Idiosyncrasies like “forgiveness”, “mercy”, “suffering”, “salvation through pain” etc.

Today, the verdict on the trial of Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving terrorist of the 26/11 attacks was announced. He was pronounced ‘guilty’. There were so many of us who were expecting that ‘justice’ would be delivered. The culprits will be ‘brought to book’. The wrong doers will be punished and the victims vindicated. Well ya right. The irony of this great nation is that we still have the ability to think so naively that we can make a lolly sucking toddler feel like Einstein.

Do you really think ‘justice’ has been done? Do you really think ‘justice’ can be done? Can Ombale, Salaskar, Kamte, Unnikrishnan and others come back? Will Karambir Kang ever be able to enjoy another meal with his family in the hotel which he manages himself. Will baby Moshe ever get his parents back? More importantly will the public prosecutor bring back my sleep which I lost in utter frightful disgust while catching up on all the live broadcast of 10 men raping the dignity of my city for 60 long hours?

The answer to all the above questions is a big NO. But some of us, will be calling this trial a victory of our “Democratic Process”. Well yea, friends, leave this bullshit for the politicians to mutter in press conferences. If this is a victory, I’d rather not win. I’m tired of such victories in Jessika Lall Case, In Malegaon Blast Case, In Babri Demolition Case, In Godhra Riots Case, In Bofors, In Fodder Scam Case, and millions of other idiotic legal proceedings which have overburdened our judiciary to the extent that it has even lost its relevance.

I’d be the first one to jump in to celebrate victory if the families of the victims of 26/11 would have been compensated adequately. If the public transportation and public places would have been protected enough post the incident. I’d have rejoiced had we pulled up our socks on internal security, had we been able to corner Pakistan to arrest Hafiz Sayeed and hand him over to India. I’d have danced in joy if we were able to extradite David Headly. The problem in India is that we’re just too accustomed to the judiciary stepping in and giving us illusionary solace of emancipation.

It just gives us this illusionary satisfaction that something has been done and takes our minds off the original reasons which caused the mess or the logical steps which should have been taken to prevent another mess from occurring. Which is why, I feel that Judiciary in India is the greatest constitutional cover up mechanism. It’s almost like a lifeline or an escape route available to every wrong doer in India.

This rant is just the emotional outburst of an anguished Indian. For the rest of you’ll who think this spoils your “celebration of justice”, save me the trouble of apologizing to you. Go to the nearest legal library and look up the law books (Which I think, if all sold as scrap, would wipe out the Fiscal Deficit of this country) on provisions of Appeals to the Supreme Court. You’ll find Kasab’s lawyers there chatting up over chai, about the next course of action. There’s this dude called Mohd. Afzal a.k.a Afzal Guru as well, who attacked our parliament in 2001. He’s been cheating imminent death as per his sentence. It’s possible because he’s a believer. Nahh… not in God, in the eternal hopelessness of the Indian system and the inherent idiosyncrasy of this concept called ‘Mercy Petition’. No wonder he’s called “Guru” – The dude’s got great insight on how things work in this part of the world.

As I said, the choice is ours. We can view this verdict the way we want. Call it our success or our collective failure. Life always gives us choices. We can always chose to be, (or not to be) in a particular state of mind or have a certain opinion. Our nation and its history has been built based on these choices that various individuals have made at various points in time under diverse circumstances, the effects of which have been faced by generations to come….