Posted by
Jagat Jyoti Saikia
In:
My first horror movie!!
I was chatting with my friend online about some must-watch horror flicks and the usual suspects’ name came rolling… The Blair Witch Project, The Exorcist, Poltergeist, Rosemary’s baby etc etc. I recollected my first brush with cinematic horror… I was perhaps in Class 4-5 then… and we used to hire VCR player and cassettes during our summer vacations and such other times. The movie in question was The Evil Dead, which was highly ‘recommended’ by the movie rental person. We brought the movie along with 3-4 other movies from many genres like ‘action’, ‘adventure’, ‘childrens’ (Famous Five) and invariably I was the one who would end up giving out list of movies that we can watch. Even now my brothers make fun of me when they recollect that once I asked them to bring the Amitabh-in-aluminum movie named Ajooba (some Russian collaboration period drama)!! But the case in point is that we brought the Evil Dead VHS tape and started watching it around 830pm (late start to get the feel of horror more!!). In the movie… the hero, heroine and friends rents a secluded house which the previous owner has sold off at throwaway price… and from then onwards things got creepy… the death by numbers continued and in turn the dead friends turn into zombies and starts attacking the remaining ones… which started to give us goosebumps…
The childhood bravado was the only thing that prevented me from going hyper although my big bro closed his ears at the slightest hint of zombie action… his philosophy was perhaps NO HEAR, NO FEAR!!
In the later part of the movie, something happened that could not be described merely in words. The movie was a Hindi dub and hence many of the dialogues were lost in translation. One of the female leads was killed and became a zombie and was locked inside a cellar by the guy… she manages to break open the lock and starts singing a song… “Haal kaisa haie janaab ka.. kya khayal haie aapka…” in all her bloody elegance!! It was a piece of cinematic brilliance (!) and we all started laughing out loud… it was so hilarious… and for a moment we forgot that we were watching a horror flick!! So much so for my first experience of a horror movie!
Posted by
Jagat Jyoti Saikia
In:
Cricket,
Indian Cricket team,
Sachin Tendulkar,
Virender Sehwag,
Yuvraj Singh
India masters England!!
Sachin Tendulkar steered India to a magnificent win over England in the first of the 2 match test series in Chennai today and the whole of India erupted in joy. After the carnage in Mumbai that took place a few days back this was a small but significant step towards removing the scar from our collective mindset. Nothing unites India like cricket and Sachin is one of the most endearing symbols of our national pride.
Hats off to India and the Men in Blue... and a special thanks to Viru and Yuvi as well!!
Here's re-posting a few lines that I wrote in gratitude for the sheer pleasure that Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar brings to the cricket field.
The Little Master
Once upon a time, not so long ago
Walked upon the green turf
A boy with a willow wielded aloft as the chrome
Set out to conquer the whole wide world
Quickly he learnt… ‘prodigy’ everyone hailed in unison
Dispatching the cherried beauty into parts far and unknown
With such deftness akin to a master
Whose actions spoke loud but not his words
Such was his magic that the whole world bowed
In defeat and victory he acted as the ‘man’
Accepting them as if they were part of the plan
Never was a human so intense on the hallowed ground
Who breathed every time the love of his life
Fighting it out till the legs went numb,
Shoulders ached, the body gasped for breath
The mind still figured out ways to stay back
Coz he has never known what it was like to quit and turn
Blessed are those lives which blooms in the public light
Fighting sometimes became hard, with constant Cyclops checking him out
Finding mistakes that exists only in someone’s mind
As the years piled up …
The boy grew … as were the stars that bore his name in the sky
Like a warrior, bronzed under the sun
He moved on to greater heights
Most of them knew by now that he was special
Time being the greatest judge stands proof to that
Do we need to tell the maestro that it’s time for him to walk?
--That lifelong running and many a battle can tire the bravest of souls
Issit worth telling the Sun… when to rise and when to fall?
Not giving the doubters a chance
He’ll walk away into glory… when the sunset comes…
With his head held high
Li’l Master’s legend will grow… forever
Long after the golden days are gone
When he kindles the fire sitting on a lazy chair…
Dusting the fog… reliving the memories on faded snaps
Do remember to tell the near ones what one bard once dared to mark--
You gave us joys in the only way you could
You are and will be the little master
Walked upon the green turf
A boy with a willow wielded aloft as the chrome
Set out to conquer the whole wide world
Quickly he learnt… ‘prodigy’ everyone hailed in unison
Dispatching the cherried beauty into parts far and unknown
With such deftness akin to a master
Whose actions spoke loud but not his words
Such was his magic that the whole world bowed
In defeat and victory he acted as the ‘man’
Accepting them as if they were part of the plan
Never was a human so intense on the hallowed ground
Who breathed every time the love of his life
Fighting it out till the legs went numb,
Shoulders ached, the body gasped for breath
The mind still figured out ways to stay back
Coz he has never known what it was like to quit and turn
Blessed are those lives which blooms in the public light
Fighting sometimes became hard, with constant Cyclops checking him out
Finding mistakes that exists only in someone’s mind
As the years piled up …
The boy grew … as were the stars that bore his name in the sky
Like a warrior, bronzed under the sun
He moved on to greater heights
Most of them knew by now that he was special
Time being the greatest judge stands proof to that
Do we need to tell the maestro that it’s time for him to walk?
--That lifelong running and many a battle can tire the bravest of souls
Issit worth telling the Sun… when to rise and when to fall?
Not giving the doubters a chance
He’ll walk away into glory… when the sunset comes…
With his head held high
Li’l Master’s legend will grow… forever
Long after the golden days are gone
When he kindles the fire sitting on a lazy chair…
Dusting the fog… reliving the memories on faded snaps
Do remember to tell the near ones what one bard once dared to mark--
You gave us joys in the only way you could
You are and will be the little master
May your legend ever grow!!
Here's another re-post on India's tour down under: The day the Aussies won and Cricket lost
Romancing life!!
As I was going through some of my childhood pics I remembered one incident that happened perhaps 13-14 years back... It was a windy winter afternoon and most of the neighborhood kids were busy making kites for the late afternoon showdown in the vast barren paddy fields in the other side of the locality across the forest. Suddenly a crazy brainwave struck my younger self then... why not make the biggest kite among all of the peer group... what I lacked in skill in making kites was more than made up by reams of colored paper, thin bamboo sticks and dollops of glue made from rice and starch!!
After various attempts at making a contraption that vaguely resembled an apology of a kite I finally succeeded and hold aloft my green colored kite that was atleast 1.5ft on all sides with a 1 meter long tail to add to the effect. I left it to dry in the Sun for sometime so that the glue sticks fast and then I could go to the battle ground where other warriors would display their stuffs and try hard to rule the skies with their confetti colored colorful kites.
Just then my cousin came home... he was a known semi-pro at kite flying and I offered him to have a first go at flying my kite. His eyes goggled out of the sockets when he saw the big kite... had it not been for the windy conditions it would have needed an engine to fly that heavy monster!!
After much coaxing and emotional blackmail he told that he will give it a shot. He told me to get the strings ready and then off we went with the green monster... after 10-15 mins across the forest and taking the short cut through the lake we entered the vast vast paddy fields where the yellowish cut stems of the harvested crops hinted at the imminent community feast and also that my birthday was not far off either!!
The wind almost pulled my woolen cap off as I ran backwards holding the kite as my cousin got ready to pull the strings (literally!!). The half-cut paddy stems made whitish scratch marks on my knees and below... but it was no way going to dampen my flying spirits. The cerulean sky was like a giant polka dot skirt... being dotted with tiny colorful kites of all hues and shapes and sizes and feverishly excited kids shouting and egging on their respective flight commanders.
My cousin struggled initially to launch the kite but as the wind grew stronger it was propelled into the orbit with much further ado... but since the other kites were the usual variety being light and small they became increasingly difficult to control and maneuver and most of the players tried to pull down their kites to save them from being torn apart. But my 'green-eyed monster' with the long pinkish tail was gaining height and was the monarch of all it surveyed. My cousin was shouting that the kite was so un-worthy that only an insane gust of wind could have lifted it up... I gave a sheepish grin and admired my creation flying majestically!! Just then my cousin gave me an offer that I couldn't refuse... he handed me the strings and told me to control the kite for sometime. O God I was so happy... it felt like I was flying along with the kite... in the open open sky!!
Just like any Bollywood potboiler there was a twist in the tale... a monster appeared... with fangs of fury and violence in its mind... the eagle zeroed down on my kite and in a cruel twist of fate it cut the string and off went my kite in a random tangent... and then the entire world passed into a blurred existence as I dropped my the string-box and ran after the kite... as fast as my small legs would carry me. My cousin took a while to get a grip on what's was happening amidst the cries of the other kids who kept on shouting that the big kite was cut off by the big bad bird. I ran past the silent stream, the forest and entered into our lane and then across the street to the other locality... and at the same time keeping an eye on the 'lost' kite being swept away by unfriendly winds. I could vaguely make out that my cousin was also running behind me... his concern was entirely on recovering me from my madness and not the kite... bt nevertheless he was there. I crossed the busy road and then into the narrow lane that leads to another barren field that closely resembled the paddy field where we were flying our kites. I looked around but somehow I lost track of the kite and it was nowhere to be seen... still wondering what might have happened to my dear kite. Dejected and drenched in a cold sweat I turned back to return home and could see my cousin huffing and puffing and swearing at me at my madness. But I was oblivious to his admonishments and my eyes were just searching for any signs of the kite. As we turned back to take the long walk home we could hear a group of kids shouting lustily and when we went near we could see a large green kite hanging from one of the branches of the tall tree. It was still trying to fly... more of a symbolic gesture but how I wanted my kite back. My cousin told all the kids that it was my kite and the entire story... they reluctantly agreed to buy the story and my cousin climbed the tree and got back the kite... 'my' kite!!
That night I kept on looking back at the kite and then fell asleep smiling. That was the last time the 'gentle giant' ever flew in the skies but the memory lingers on. I was the 'kite runner' for a day and I got my kite back... even an ill mannered eagle couldn't take away from me what was mine… ‘my kite’!!
After various attempts at making a contraption that vaguely resembled an apology of a kite I finally succeeded and hold aloft my green colored kite that was atleast 1.5ft on all sides with a 1 meter long tail to add to the effect. I left it to dry in the Sun for sometime so that the glue sticks fast and then I could go to the battle ground where other warriors would display their stuffs and try hard to rule the skies with their confetti colored colorful kites.
Just then my cousin came home... he was a known semi-pro at kite flying and I offered him to have a first go at flying my kite. His eyes goggled out of the sockets when he saw the big kite... had it not been for the windy conditions it would have needed an engine to fly that heavy monster!!
After much coaxing and emotional blackmail he told that he will give it a shot. He told me to get the strings ready and then off we went with the green monster... after 10-15 mins across the forest and taking the short cut through the lake we entered the vast vast paddy fields where the yellowish cut stems of the harvested crops hinted at the imminent community feast and also that my birthday was not far off either!!
The wind almost pulled my woolen cap off as I ran backwards holding the kite as my cousin got ready to pull the strings (literally!!). The half-cut paddy stems made whitish scratch marks on my knees and below... but it was no way going to dampen my flying spirits. The cerulean sky was like a giant polka dot skirt... being dotted with tiny colorful kites of all hues and shapes and sizes and feverishly excited kids shouting and egging on their respective flight commanders.
My cousin struggled initially to launch the kite but as the wind grew stronger it was propelled into the orbit with much further ado... but since the other kites were the usual variety being light and small they became increasingly difficult to control and maneuver and most of the players tried to pull down their kites to save them from being torn apart. But my 'green-eyed monster' with the long pinkish tail was gaining height and was the monarch of all it surveyed. My cousin was shouting that the kite was so un-worthy that only an insane gust of wind could have lifted it up... I gave a sheepish grin and admired my creation flying majestically!! Just then my cousin gave me an offer that I couldn't refuse... he handed me the strings and told me to control the kite for sometime. O God I was so happy... it felt like I was flying along with the kite... in the open open sky!!
Just like any Bollywood potboiler there was a twist in the tale... a monster appeared... with fangs of fury and violence in its mind... the eagle zeroed down on my kite and in a cruel twist of fate it cut the string and off went my kite in a random tangent... and then the entire world passed into a blurred existence as I dropped my the string-box and ran after the kite... as fast as my small legs would carry me. My cousin took a while to get a grip on what's was happening amidst the cries of the other kids who kept on shouting that the big kite was cut off by the big bad bird. I ran past the silent stream, the forest and entered into our lane and then across the street to the other locality... and at the same time keeping an eye on the 'lost' kite being swept away by unfriendly winds. I could vaguely make out that my cousin was also running behind me... his concern was entirely on recovering me from my madness and not the kite... bt nevertheless he was there. I crossed the busy road and then into the narrow lane that leads to another barren field that closely resembled the paddy field where we were flying our kites. I looked around but somehow I lost track of the kite and it was nowhere to be seen... still wondering what might have happened to my dear kite. Dejected and drenched in a cold sweat I turned back to return home and could see my cousin huffing and puffing and swearing at me at my madness. But I was oblivious to his admonishments and my eyes were just searching for any signs of the kite. As we turned back to take the long walk home we could hear a group of kids shouting lustily and when we went near we could see a large green kite hanging from one of the branches of the tall tree. It was still trying to fly... more of a symbolic gesture but how I wanted my kite back. My cousin told all the kids that it was my kite and the entire story... they reluctantly agreed to buy the story and my cousin climbed the tree and got back the kite... 'my' kite!!
That night I kept on looking back at the kite and then fell asleep smiling. That was the last time the 'gentle giant' ever flew in the skies but the memory lingers on. I was the 'kite runner' for a day and I got my kite back... even an ill mannered eagle couldn't take away from me what was mine… ‘my kite’!!
Posted by
Jagat Jyoti Saikia
In:
Moon,
Moonlight Sonata
The dark side of the Moon
A recent pic of the Moon from my terrace!!
Posted by
Jagat Jyoti Saikia
In:
Akshay Kumar,
Chandni Chowk to China
Chandni Chowk to China-- Much awaited!!
An action-comedy about a simple cook (played by Akshay Kumar) from Chandni Chowk mistaken for the reincarnation of an ancient Chinese warrior by the villagers of an oppressed Chinese village. From the hustle-bustle of Chandni Chowk to the hutongs of Beijing, the electric energy of Shanghai and sheer breathtaking Chinese landscapes, Chandni Chowk To China chronicles the lunatic adventures of a hapless simpleton cook from Delhi. As he goes to seek his destiny, he finds himself thrown into a crazy world of megalomaniac villains, femme fatales, crazy inventors, Chinese mysticism and outlandish kung-fu assassins.| Directed by | Nikhil Advani |
|---|---|
| Produced by | Rohan Sippy |
| Starring | Akshay Kumar Deepika Padukone Mithun Chakraborty |
P.S. Chandni Chowk to China is said to be semi- autobiographical film portraying actor Akshay Kumar’s life. He himself agreed that about 50% of the film is based on his life.
Ref: www.wikipedia.org
Ref: www.wikipedia.org
Something like Love
And my eyes met yours
I coerced time to come to a stall
Baby at that moment... I lost myself!!
When under the moonlit night
Amidst the sea and the palm grooves
My fingers searched for and found yours
baby at that moment I found myself!!
Your princess tresses and sweet sweet smile
Ah! that heady feeling of your presence in my life
You mean everything to me, perhaps I mean something to you too
In that feeling baby let's lose ourselves for eternity!!
India ReUnited!!
After seeing the ugly face of terror unfolding in India's Maximum city Mumbai over the last few days I was in a state of shock, denial and at the same time going through the same sinking feeling that something has gone terribly wrong somewhere.
Misguided youngsters, deathly bullets, innocent lives snuffed out of life in an instant, brave heroes, scarred memories, burning of modern icons et al all added together to make a heady cocktail which opened our eyes and our collective conscience albeit in a grotesque manner.
As the surreal drama unfolded live in our drawing rooms being transmitted by the ever so 'insensitive' media and their obnoxious manner of trying to sell people's trauma for the bigger share of eye balls and ad spends I was taken aback both by the mindless carnage and by the resilience of the Indian people lead by our real heroes.. the armed forces. It was as if Armageddon was taking place in Mumbai... a true battle between good and evil and what was heartening was that it was not the Marathi manoos or anyone else who were fighting for their aamchi mumbai... it was the united India... bereft of any trivial distinctions based on religion, caste, creed etc which the lowly politicians tries hard to harp upon us.
The people in general have become fed up of politicians as much as these merchants of deaths. After rounds and rounds of terrorist attacks across the length and breadth of India the attack on Mumbai was a blatant slap on India's face and self dignity and has become increasingly difficult to accept sitting down. Enough of political lip service, enough of false assurances, enough of breaking up the country into tiny million pieces of caste, religion and other banalities. Why we as a nation of educated and sane people allow a bunch of nincompoops to rule us to the point of no return? Why are we so soft on terrorism? Why do we have to think twice about hot pursuit of terrorists? Why has vote bank politics taken precedence over any concrete actions on the terrorist hot beds? The onus is on us to thwart these onslaughts on our India and electing the right people is of paramount importance. Why is it that out of a billion people we elect some of the most corrupt, inept people to rule and decide our future. The winning margins of our elections is very less and even a 3-4% swing will perhaps help us to elect the better candidates. Let’s all register ourselves (www.jaagore.com) and VOTE… if not for any other reason than for our own good and for our future. Let’s us not fall to the cloyingly scheming ways of these so-called scam-mongers in the garb of leaders. Let us vote for a better person and as a sum of the parts we will have a better party comprising of better individuals.
Misguided youngsters, deathly bullets, innocent lives snuffed out of life in an instant, brave heroes, scarred memories, burning of modern icons et al all added together to make a heady cocktail which opened our eyes and our collective conscience albeit in a grotesque manner.
As the surreal drama unfolded live in our drawing rooms being transmitted by the ever so 'insensitive' media and their obnoxious manner of trying to sell people's trauma for the bigger share of eye balls and ad spends I was taken aback both by the mindless carnage and by the resilience of the Indian people lead by our real heroes.. the armed forces. It was as if Armageddon was taking place in Mumbai... a true battle between good and evil and what was heartening was that it was not the Marathi manoos or anyone else who were fighting for their aamchi mumbai... it was the united India... bereft of any trivial distinctions based on religion, caste, creed etc which the lowly politicians tries hard to harp upon us.
The people in general have become fed up of politicians as much as these merchants of deaths. After rounds and rounds of terrorist attacks across the length and breadth of India the attack on Mumbai was a blatant slap on India's face and self dignity and has become increasingly difficult to accept sitting down. Enough of political lip service, enough of false assurances, enough of breaking up the country into tiny million pieces of caste, religion and other banalities. Why we as a nation of educated and sane people allow a bunch of nincompoops to rule us to the point of no return? Why are we so soft on terrorism? Why do we have to think twice about hot pursuit of terrorists? Why has vote bank politics taken precedence over any concrete actions on the terrorist hot beds? The onus is on us to thwart these onslaughts on our India and electing the right people is of paramount importance. Why is it that out of a billion people we elect some of the most corrupt, inept people to rule and decide our future. The winning margins of our elections is very less and even a 3-4% swing will perhaps help us to elect the better candidates. Let’s all register ourselves (www.jaagore.com) and VOTE… if not for any other reason than for our own good and for our future. Let’s us not fall to the cloyingly scheming ways of these so-called scam-mongers in the garb of leaders. Let us vote for a better person and as a sum of the parts we will have a better party comprising of better individuals.
The martyrdom of Karkare, Kamte, Salaskar, Major Sandeep and a host of other brave hearts should open our eyes to identify the REAL heroes of our society. They are the one who went perhaps a step further than the call of duty and took the bullets meant for some innocents in their chests just because of their love for India. But the sad part is that they shouldn’t have lost their lives. We talk about sending people to the Moon, we boast of nuclear capabilities but we can’t provide proper arms and bullet proof vests to our brave soldiers. How can we expect an ordinary policeman with just a lathi (stick) to counter the terrorists with assault rifles? It’s a shame on us and our Govt that we allow our bravest soldiers to die when they should have lived on to fight another day. Pay them the best salaries, give them the best gears and train them in the best possible manner. It won’t be an outlandish idea to propose a compulsory 1 year military training for the Indian youths. The best amongst them can be absorbed in the Indian Armed forces rank and will fillip the huge mismatch between the supply and demand of officers in the Armed forces rank.
The ‘in your face’ type of media coverage that follows every other acts of terror or for that matter any other ‘happenings’ and ‘non-happenings’ is sometimes quite unbelievable to say the least. They make sure that they break every rulebook of ethics and they portray a news from the angle of sensationalism and grabbing the eye balls of the gullible few. They don’t give a damn to people’s sentiments and sometimes the iota of dignity that a dead person deserves. Barring an honorable few all are just the same… selling people’s death with a tinge of good ol’ masala… just for the simple reason that they are in the business of selling news. There is always a mad run to capture the ‘exclusive’ news. The objectivity and neutrality of the Fourth estate is somewhere lost… and it’s such a waste since the role of media is that of a social catalyst and if used judiciously they can motivate and enlighten an entire nation.
As they lit the pyre of our brave soldiers I was in tears… something, somewhere has gone terribly wrong. Why do we have youngsters engulfed with such hatred that they are hell-bent on killing innocents without any remorse? They can’t be from any particular religion… religion takes us closer to God and no religion teaches us to kill innocents. Let’s us isolate terrorism from religion… a bullet fired from their guns doesn’t ask before hitting a Hindu or a Moslem… they are a grim reminder to us that we need to stand up and fight… and not take things lying down. I wish all the learned scholars/mullahs/Gurus cutting across religion come forward and stand up for their community… telling people what is right and just and acceptable. We need to be pragmatic enough to be unbiased and sympathetic to all religions… lets us not build silos of mosques or temples just for the sake of it… they are symbols which inadvertently makes us feel divided. My faith is so strong that one more place of worship at the expense of another cannot erode it. Let us be judicious, let us not be puppets on a string…whose strings are pulled by crooks from either the left or the right. Next time when a hero die let us not cry… our heroes don’t deserve to die in the first place. Somewhere we are also to blame, I am also to blame… but let our past not decide what we can do NOW… that’s the fitting tribute that we can give to the departed souls… in death they united us as a nation… just plain, simple INDIANS without any tags of religion, caste, color or language who have awakened and have started standing up for themselves. JAI HIND.
The following song from the movie-1947-EARTH came to my mind when I saw the sad turn of events:
Ishwar allah tere jahan mein nafrat kyon hai jung hai kyon
Tera dil to itna bada hai insaan ka dil tang hai kyon
Kadam kadam par sarhad kyon hai saari zameen jo teri hai
Sooraj ke pehre dharti hai phir kyon itni andheri hai
Is duniya ke daaman par insaan ke lahoo ka rang hai kyon
Tera dil to itna bada hai insaan ka dil tang hai kyon
Goonj rahi kitni cheekhein pyaar ki baatein kaun sune
Toot rahe hain kitne sapne inke tukde kaun chune
Dil ke darwaazon par taaley taalon par yeh zang hai kyon
Tera dil to itna bada hai insaan ka dil tang hai kyon.
Ishwar Allah....
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