Post Christmas and Pre-New Year...

The River Cruise.

Post Christmas, me and a few of my Presimates have made our way to one of the most rustic landscapes of Bengal, which has become very popular these days, as a nearby, riverside picnic spot. The place, as mentioned earlier is called Gadiara, in the Howrah district. Its a 2- 2.5hrs drive from Kolkata, taking the Second Hoogli bridge [Vidyasagar Setu], falling into the Bombay Road. 30mins from Toll Tax at Kona Expressway, comes a Bi-furcation from where you take an hour drive to the spot.

The Picnic ground takes Rs. 400/- flat rate. If you want other open spaces, the banks of the river is viable choice as well. The Roopnarayan Tourist Lodge takes your luncheon order before 11AM, and prepares it accordingly. No problem, with the quality, its comparable to the best hotels in Kolkata.

The River cruise was fabulous. How can I forget about the Sunset... although thanks to a few friends of mine, I couldnt get through the scenery to the max, but I managed to get through with one...

The Sunset At Gadiara

That marks as an outing with friends, and remarkably outside Kolkata since 2008 January. Gosh!!! Big gaph!

The banks of the River Confluence @ Gadiara. A few places are viable Picnic spots.

The advent of 2010 is near, a year, that would settle a number of scores for my close ones and my life. Lot of things depends, and I am having a good feeling about it. lets hope for the best and welcome 2010 like never before.... 2009 has gone, with new hopes coming in with 2010....

3 IDIOTS: A Review.

Can anyine guess Aamir Khan's age? Looks he has just graduated from some college, how about ICE, ahem, as Boman Irani - The Virus would say, the Imperial College of Engineering.

3 Idiots hits the theaters and the fever of feel good, this winter, spreads across the nation like anything. Some morning news paper did write about the film being all about gyaan [Philosophical knowledge] and less about entertainment, which a film should always have, but in my court of review [my blog], I would say it was a healthy gyaan with lots of laughter and snippets to cry. Enjoyable.

The Vinod Chopra production and the direction of Mr. Hirani, with lively tincture of the Shantanu Moitra as  Music composer, the Chetan Bhagat's adaption of Five Point Some One was brought to life by magical plot arrangement. A story which was told 90% in the background, with a charismatic drive from Shimla to Manali  and then to Ladakh makes the film come close to the warm generous friendly heart of each and every spectators. In the end, there was all about clapping and cheers for the whole team of three idiots.

www.internationalreporter.com

I am not here to write the composition of the fragnance, but can give the essence of the brand. Competition makes the world, as we see today, but its not very new. It was present since time eternal. Able was killed by Cannes and there was always two Adams for one Eve... But, to think differently is to think without pressure and utter silently, "AAL IZZ WELL" Ignore the spelling and you can understand the synonym.

Three Idiots stands out on its plot, screen play and acting and who better can be there than Sharman Joshi, Madhavan and Amir Khan who were ably supported by Kareena Kapoor who almost married a donkey and experimented for true whether a smooch is hindered by the nose, Boman Irani who believed in Results [even if it killed his own son]. Add to spice up, we have the Fun with Science...practical application of Salted Water and Electrical Conductor.... come on...its painful than a heart break!!!!

At the end, we all agree that a child should always mould according to his or her talent and not be a Machine which fulfills a parent's desire. [All italicized words have relevance to the film...go to understand the link].

In the end, I would like to put forward a few lines of a song,

Saari umra bhar-

Mar Mar k jee liye,

Ek Pal toh ab humein Jeene do,

Jeene do....

Give me some Sunshine,

Give me some Rain...

Give me another Chance...

I want to Grow Up again.....

The Song: http://www.bollyexclusive.com/download/27069.html

Courtesy: www.fullytimepass.com

The Verdict: 9/10

Back to Presi Days...

And bang it is...

The best thing that I used to do, i.e organize a trip is the way, I will be pressing the F5 button of my life, in an endeavor to refresh and relax the year end. The protagonist of the idea, being Sukesh, who on one fine night called me up for a plan of Re-Union in form of a picnic in the outskirts of Kolkata. Brief meets were conducted, and finally the gang of 8-9 people will be heading towards the unchartered territories of Howrah district, namely Gadiara.

About 2 1/2 hours drive from the city of Kolkata, Gadiara stands as an unchartered territory [almost], placed at the confluence of Hoogli-Rupnarayan. The conjunction is so wide that it takes to compare a sea to it. Localites and people who have paid a visit to the place, a day's picnic, says the Sunrise as well as Sunset is fabulous. Just waiting to witness the beauty of nature on 27.12.09, when I along with 7 others from my Presidency years plan to pack their small bags and head for a picnic.

Reminds me of the true essence of team work, during the three years of graduation in  Physiology at Presidency College, Calcutta. I still remember how in the first year we took the pains to reinitiate the cult of annual picnic in the department, and we made our way to a forbidden Jute Mill on the banks of Hoogli, in BadaNagar, Kolkata.

Second year, the mast was passed on the then first years, but we took a bulk of the responsibility, making our way to Dhannukuria,

Third year, in 2005-06 session, it was a ReUnion [Departmental, 32nd] that a picnic was organized in a park in Bhadreshwar.

Some remnants of those days is here to follow:

Pic: First Year Picnic.

Pic: Second Year Picnic

Time for Gadiara........

Scars: The Concept of "Tera-Mera"

I have referred to the film Paa, in my previous article. A pertinent topic arises in the Indian politics, that can be referred to Paa... In the film, Avisekh Bacchan plays the part of an young political visionary, trying to change the face of India. In the school, where Auro [Amitabh ji] studied, a New India Vision contest was organized [and the film started from there]. There Auro had made presentation "by mistake", which won the first prize. Its a "white globe", rightfully portraying all as ONE entity, erasing the borders and the "Scars"

Leave the film aside, for now. Its the Scars that will be redrawn on the face of my country... and there comes the concept of Tera-Mera, in english: Yours and Mine. The hot topic is not new, but renewed! The demand for a seperate state of Telengana, in South India reminds so. The process started from 1905, when the British, in the hope to rule India by dividing it, seperated Sind from Punjab and East Bengal [now Bangladesh] from West Bengal. The divisions and seperatist idea prevailed during independence, creating Pakistan, Bangladesh and India, from one strong Hindusthan!

Anyways, post independence acts, have always subdivided as well as incorporated new territories in India. The States Reorganization Acts, since 1956 have started it all. The list stands strong and is as follows:

1) Bombay State was segregated to Maharashtra and Gujarat based on linguistics. Year 1960.

2) Territories under the French and Portuguese domination was incorporated into India in 1962. They were Goa[state], Pondiocherry, Dadra-Nagar Haveli, Daman -Diu. {the rest being Union Territories}

3) Nagaland was made a stated in 1963, carved out from NEPC.

4) 1966 saw an immense political resketch of territories where by Punjab was devided in Harayana and Punjab, with few northern frinches of Punjab getting into Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh became a shared capital for Punjab and Haryana.

5) Himachal Pradesh, which was an Union Territory, conferred its right as a state in 1971.

6) Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura were carved out of Assam in 1972.

7) The Kingdom of Sikkim joined India in 1975. China tried its best to have it with them.

8) In 1987, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram as well as Goa became states.

The supressed demands of other states were present, when the vent was re-opened in 2000.

9) In 2000, Chattisgarh was carved out of Madhya Pradesh, followed by Uttaranchal [renamed Uttarakhand], from Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand from Bihar.

The scars will be visible again. With the demand for a separate Telengana state, out of the Andhra Pradesh, based on dialect, the Central Government has shown signs to do so, Telengana was present pre-1956, but with the reorganization, it was merged with Andhra and renamed Andhra Pradesh. In West Bengal, the demand for Gorkhaland based on tribe becomes strong as well, as Telengana is to freed from Andhra Pradesh.

Presently the Political Map of India looks like this [Dec 2009; Before Telengana]

Pic: http://india.wnso.org/main/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/map-of-india.gif

The concept of tera mera has been prevalent constantly, over the ages. It still stays, which I believe from the core of my heart, that it should stop at some place, or else the candy will be broken to bits; size on which mice will feed themselves to the full, erasing our existence as Indians... [300 years ago, some Albino Mice did the same, and ruled for 200 years.]

Paa...

Time for a Film review and its up with a big film, the Biggie. Rightfully said by the man's better half, Mrs. Jaya Bacchan as "Introducing Amitabh Bacchan", in the prelude of the film, this film has introduced the man who has have made the difference in the Indian film industry for over four decades. Awarded the Doctorate in Acting by the prestigious Cambridge University, this man knows no limits.

The recent film called "Paa..", I was heaving a doubt as to if the film was based on the short life of the Maestro, Mr. Amitabh Bacchan, with a character name of Auro, why wasn't the film named so, as the whole screenplay revolved around this person. Auro, a name that has an aura to establish the difference be a cute "normal" child with the cute "progeric" child. Auro has the rare genetic disorder called Progeria, which in the scientific technicalities means the rapid rate of ageing of a child, which is normally four to five times than normal. In layman's term, a person becomes old very fast...not by age, but by cells and body.

Although Progeria, having finertuned symptoms apart from fast ageing, the film showed how Auro, a child who thinks himself as a "bastard" comes of age and erases the tag on his death bed.

Exquisite acting by all the cast and crew members, the film catches each and every spectator weeping at the climax. That is where the justification of the title of the film stands. Thats the last word that Auro utters in this world.

Paa is not an imaginative film by any regards. With the fever of neuronal disorder taking the toll on good films being made, Paa is one of the finest. With Amir Khan's Taare Zameen Par where the film dealt with Dyslexia, to Ghazni where the film dealt with Retrograde Amnesia, Akshay Kumar's Bhoolbhulaiya that shows the Dual Personality Disorder, Paa comes in with Progeria. This is not Neuronal but Genetic.

Its a family film and to my rating, considering all the actions and direction, I give the film a cumulative 8.5/10.

Pic: http://www.dhangout.com/bollywood/news-and-gossips/images/paa-balki_596558.jpg

Being Numero Uno...

Finally in it's 77 years of History, the Indian Cricket Team finished the decade with being Numero Uno, of the new millenium. The achievement was completed on 6th December, 2009 at Mumbai when the team beat Sri Lanka 2-0 in the three test match series, at home.

"Its tough to hold on the crown", the Indian Captain M.S.Dhoni uttered at the Press meet. With 124 points to her name, India topples the year long numero uno, South Africa at 122 points while the ever strong number one scorchers Australia lag in third with 116 points in the ICC Test Team Point tally.

Reverberrating some of the comments, I would like to point out that this build up to the number one spot started a decade back when India, at the end of the 1990's started winning overseas. Beating Australia in Australia, England, South Africa, West Indies and then Pakistan on their home soil had made the team grow in confidence, day in and day out. With a recent bubble and shuffle in the ODI rank where India have clutched the hot spot twice in a span of a year, last year, the Test top spot came to her for the first time. We cannot forget the names of some of the captains who were arhitects of this status: Sourav Ganguly started it, Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid made the base strong and M.S.Dhoni crafted it to the ultimate beauty!

Courtesy: The Times of India.

After the week long aggressive AICCG 2009, this was an welcome recreation and entertainment.