Kaminey!!!!!

you heard Kajra re!!

you heard Beedi Jaliye le !!

now be ready to listen

Dil ko nichodein..............

Gulzar saab is back with Vishal Bhardwaj's latest offering "Kaminey" . The team is infectious and I am sure the music of the movie would soon top the charts. Just listen "dil ko nichodein", a very "Gulzarish" song and soak it's music; simply awesome . It makes audience more intersted and curious about the music release . Title "Kaminey" is quite nefarious and I have full faith in the auteur ,that, like Maqbool & Omkara this one will surely be a huge Hit.

Vishal and his cinema are an expat in bollywood and after grand success of Omkara he is now at a platform where he is alone and other can't even vie for that coveted place. The way Vishal rears up his characters and morphs them , is a magical skill of Vishal (remember Saif as  Langda tyagi) and this time chocolate hero Shahid kapoor is at helm ,therefore  keep you fingers crossed and ya don't forget to watch the very first promo of the flick.

-Yaatri

© Ajay Kr Saxena

War of languages!

Reading "The economist" is now a routine, its a good magazine to update yourself with international current affairs and educate with special coverages and interesting columns. 

It was there, when I read this scary news "A third of world's language are at risk". It happened when we all were in oblivion.The world is slowly being daubed with English and is emerging as the common language. English as a business language, is now an informal pronouncement and in a way subverting other regional languages. There is an urgent need to rally for the cause.

Even in India, now more stress is on English and i wont be surprised if we obliterate our national language i.e Hindi. The way English schools are being commissioned and parents running after them , problem will only aggravate.Visit tender children only and you will find them speaking in only fluent English with very little or zero knowledge in Hindi. They are the bright future of country and should be explicated the importance of difference languages.

Government run schools ,though apply Hindi as a teaching language, but its been looked as a derelict. Students with Hindi schools are seen as lesser mortal by English medium students. This is demoralizing and a big concern. Why a man speaking his own mother tongue is a puny? its a matter of pride and should be a symbol of patriotism .

Beauty is because of diversity , every language is different in taste , has its own grammar, lexicons and vocabulary which when combined makes the perfect picture . Its a global issue and though its important to learn "earning" laungue i.e. English, please dont forget the "cultural" language i.e. your mother tongue before its too late.

-Yaatri

© Ajay Kr Saxena

Two Sufis(Hanumaan & Arjuna)!!!

No, don't consider it an epistle,I write because there is an urge inside me to pen down these thoughts,which comes in my heart's territory.A nonchalant mind is always in peace for 365X24 and nature reveals its secrets to these souls only , so the very first step is,to go into a silence or "Maun" ,because, more we know, more we will speak and all that "more" becomes mortal sooner or later. I am sure you understand the difference between Mortal and immortal. Anything which could be comprehended in mind has a shelf-life and eventually turns mortal, and one which could only be felt in silences and expressed by scent of smile, is immortal. So whatever, i write today in this post has good chances to be obliterated by next gen.

Today, i will talk about two great warriors , one the most powerful Pandavas "Arjuna" and other the most revered Lord "Hanuman". Don't take it otherwise if, I say they both were Sufis. i dare to think that a few of you ,are still not familiar with this term;Sufi is a lover of God and surrenders himself completely before the God's feet.

Lets pick up Arjuna first,the best archer as per mythology and well versed with all philosophical dossiers, but as soon as he enters into the battlefield of Kurukshetra, he is crestfallen to finds his own community standing in front of him as foes. He falls in a dither and in spite being a great warrior, surrenders completely before Lord KRISHNA .This  surrender brings him closer to Krishna and he finally get to see the real Divya-Roop of lord Krishna, which is almost impossible for any human being.In the process Lord Krishna explicate him all the secrets and eventually Capitulate him to fight against the Adharma. This Q&A session between Krishna and Arjuna is well documented in the greatest book of philosophy i.e. Gita.

Now point is why other big shots of pandavas fraternity could not see the genuine and glorious almighty . With whatever little knowledge i have,let me interpret this incident. The other great worries always believed they were profound , intelligent and had enough strength to face biggest of the calamities , hence they were overweening  and fought with all nerves and won all their fronts, it is always charming to win a fight over foes. But there exists another layer above it i.e a complete surrender, so  Arjuna , on the other hand , though was the best archer, when trapped in a dilemma ,rather than his intellect , surrenders before The Lord Krishna.did you notice the word "Surrender" ? the gist of whole Sufism. So either Arjuna else the writer of Gita was a knowledgeable Sufi. it implies any human being by complete surrender can rise to the level of Real being.

okay , If you could digest the previous example , I strongly recommend you to read the second too;that is of Lord "Hanumaan". We all know that he was an "avtaar" of Lord Shiva. But I am charting a different route because its important.Hanumaan was again a great warrior but he surrendered himself completely with great humility, in the feet of Lord Rama forever.He never raised a question and always followed Lord Rama obediently.See again the keyword  "Surrender" appears . Hanuman never behaved like an intellectual, but more of a lover of lord Rama, and it was the power of that surrender and love, that he could cross the sea by flying in sky and could set the whole Lanka on fire.These  are not ordinary feat, and makes me believe that Hanuman is again a Sufi, for he was a lover of Lord Rama.

From above mentioned examples ,the inference , I take is, we all human being if could imbibe following two basic qualities ,can surely find peace within himself and do the miracles.

• To love and surrender before Almighty
  
• Accepts all his question nonchalantly
  

I wanted to write this article, i did it , felt good and now leave it upto my smart readers.hey it's Holi season and I wish you all a prosperous ,colorful and joyful Holi .

Before, I close down this post, give me permission to write ,one of my favourite couplets of Kabir.

पोथी पढ़ पढ़ जुग भया,भया ना पंडित कोई 

ढाई आखर प्रेम का,पढ़े सो पंडित होए

-Yaatri

© Ajay Kr Saxena

Movie Review: Billu Barber

I guess its in vogue now to give SRK a soliloquy in the climax. Veer-jaara, Chak de India and now Billu barber do the same, and its only SRK's charisma which makes it look convincing. Billu barber is movie, where SRK takes a backseat and set a platform for Irfaan khan to execute a simple role.I am still in dither, if that was a good movie or bad and afraid of sounding pontificate. okay, my psyche says Movie was not bad , therefore it falls in the "good" category.

Movie opens with Billu's (irfaan khan)application for a loan to renovate his Hair cutting saloon , revealing that he leads a life beset of financial worries ,but full of vitality. He earns meager to survive his beautiful wife and two children ,who rarely take him seriously. After that director takes us on a safari and establishes the other prominent characters, which give able support to the story line. There is a local poet (Rajpal yadav) , an affluent lender ( Om puri)and an ally (Asrani). Billu wants money to upgrade his old barber shop in order to compete with a Modern haircut saloon, because of which his earnings are dwindling , but unfortunately things doesn't fall in place.

Out there in Mumbai , a superstar(Sahir khan) is working on his bollywood ishtyle movie , a story of twins and for that he needs a new location and suggests "Budbuda" village, the place Billu is surviving.Sahir's envoys appear in the village and declare that for next few days Sahir khan is coming for a shoot.As Sahir khan arrives in the village, we see screaming fans vying  to get closer to the superstar. In this hoopla, Billu gets another blow when his children are send back from school, for he has failed in depositing the school fee on time.Soon a rumour spreads in village that Billu is an old pal of superstar Sahir khan. Rumour works as catalyst and Billu becomes the talk of town and every villager start showing inordinate support to him. He is now venerated by the horde and throng tries to please Billu as they expect a common favour "Meeting with the superstar". True to his character Billu is apprehensive , doubtful and scared when think about his abject poverty in comparison to Superstar's. He knows Sahir is his old pal but never accept it before crowd and tries to be malingering.

One day they all forcefully capitulate him to visit the shooting place along with them and excited fans create a pandemonium,had a clash with policemen and eventually land up in jail , Then they learn that Billu is just another ordinary fellow and has no link with the Superstar.Now village turns evil to Billu ,they even lodge a police complaint against him, for cheating the village. This rankles makes Billu brittle and his family start languishing in the village.On the other hand , administration of a local school somehow manages to get Saahir khan for their annual convention and there Sahir khan mentions about his old friend i.e. Billu , in his monologue;this stuns the crowd and they ruminate about their deeds. what follows is though nothing special but still i don't want to put an spoiler in this post.

As i recall memories of the movie, i find it an average flick , with good doses of humour but nothing especial about it. Ifraan khan has done a good job with the role and Sahil khan looks every inch of SRK. Lara dutta has got a small role, but to be frank, she has done a decent job and its a revelation for me. Songs are okay, but yes Mar jaani and that "Hit , khit-pit" song with Kareena and Priyanka respectively, are worth watching, and you will surely find them in discs at least for some time. The two lovely kids add flavour in the movie . Ove all  Billu barber is at best a watchable movie.

Rating :: **1/2

-Yaatri

© Ajay Kr Saxena

Latest sketch :: Q & A

You are THE Question,

You are THE Answer.

-Yaatri

© Ajay Kr Saxena

A cool joke!!

I am chilling out in Goa for a few days and want to post more about it.Alas!!,not getting enough time to jolt 'em; my experiences.Btw sharing a cool joke, until I publish my next post.

एक मास्टर जी खुद को बार बार " शेर का बच्चा बोलते थे"

क्लास के लड़कों के कान ये सुन सुन के पक गये|

एक दिन एक लड़के ने पूछ ही लिया

"मास्टरजी,शेर आपके घर आया था या आपकी माताजी जंगल गईं थी"

Movie Review :: Marley & Me

 

Would you believe, if I say there is a "Canine" in lead role and Hollywood's two big star(Owen Wilson, Jennifer Aniston) share the screen space with him ?  But its true, at least in  David Frankels latest flick " Marley and Me". its one of those cute , cuddling ,lovable and dwindling movies which comes once in a while and successfully hit right note with the audience. Not only ME but also a few from audience left the theatre with tearful eyes. Yes, it was a touching story of "MARLEY" , the dog who though was labelled as "the worst dog" never tried to be a "Good dog" but lived a carefree life with all its antics ,without paying any attention to the world outside, that's how the lead "DOG" is summarized by "Owen Wilson".

Film opens up with Owen Wilson's monologue and then goes in flashback, when he is starting his bourgeois life with a beauty "Jennifer Aniston".its difficult times but,he somehow manages to get a job in press for himself and his wife.One fine day , he decides to surprise Jennifer with a gift. He takes her to a vet shop and asks her to select one puppy from the courtyard. Jennifer is surprised , overwhelmed and chooses one lazy looking Dog, the Marley and it becomes an extended family immediately. Now story unfolds slowly but carefully, the couple rears that puppy with love and affection and it becomes trigger for so many humorous incidents ,vying for each other.Marley is omnipresent in movie , and slowly matures into an ebullient Canine and you cant escape from liking the dog.The adult dog conjures up plenty of misdemeanours in movie enriching mundane days of couple.The scene when it embarrasses a lady Dog instructor is quite hilarious;be it chewing the household stuff like sofas, bed sheets, wood furniture etc , antics on sea beach,following the master like a faithful acolyte,his every action is full of energy ,very natural and gives life to the flick.Oh, see how i forgot to tell that Owen & Jeniffer, who can't escape delectable feeling of love-making,end up producing three children and Marley always prying for the coverage of those moments.

But as you touch the mid-point of plot , story starts taking a U turn, Jennifer has left her job for she finds it difficult to flit between office and home and chooses to rear up his progeny (Marley included). Owen has been promoted and Jenni is managing household chores meticulously.Hold your breath, because by interval ,audience is attuned with Marley and one rainy night, something unprecedented happens; Marley goes missing. The couple took up this arduous task and Owen finds "Marley" lying under a tree and as it plods back to home, you sense that something is wrong.Your omen comes true when a veterinarian tells that Marley has got an twisted stomach and his chances of survival are very bleak. You literally feel heart-broken and this announcement causes a consternation among the audience. Owne praises the dog saying " He is a fighter" and true to his words Marley survives that critical night and comes back to home doing what it knows the best, but,before you could relax in your cosy seats, the dog again falls to that "twisted stomach" syndrome and you realize, that it wont survive for long.

Climax is very simple but touching.As we see a graveyard and Marley's deadbody lying inside, the kids recites emotional encomium for extended family,Owen does the final rituals and goes back to home ,leaving the audience with a heavy heart and missing that cute dog " Marley", which made them go through an ensemble of emotions and touched their heart without being melodramatic.Period.

-यात्री

© Ajay Kr Saxena