Saturday 7 December 2019

I failed you, Disha!


It’s been 11 days to the sad and unfortunate death of Disha. And yesterday, all 4 accused of the rape and murder were killed in an encounter. All the debate and discussion about the rape and the encounter is already out there, thanks to social media. There’s nothing much left for me to say.
To be honest, I don’t have anything to say because when I think about the case, I cannot point fingers at anyone. I cannot call out on anyone and say, hey! It’s your fault. I am not in a place where I can question the government or lecture how a mother should raise his son or ask girls to be more careful or suggest them to keep pepper spray etc. I have no complaints and no as such lecture to give.  

I am just sorry and my crime is so huge that I cannot even ask for forgiveness. I am sorry because it’s been 7 years to Nirbhaya and I have done nothing to make this society a better place for any girl, for that matter, for anyone. 

These 11 days I have done nothing but introspect myself, my attitude and my responsibility as a part of this society. I am no one to question the government, the police, accused’s mother or that poor girl when I did not do my bit to make this place a better one. I realised in these 11 days that it is so damn easy and convenient to question the system but so damn hard to look inside. I cannot look at myself in the mirror because it is me, all me, who lead this society to this horrific level. 

What was I doing when a guy was making a sexist joke? What was I doing when my boss was calling his another female colleague by names? What was I doing when a group of my friends were trying to objectify a woman? Nothing! All these things sound small and trivial on paper but all this allows the culture of rape and harassment to prosper. All these small actions allow one to believe that it’s ok to think that men have the right over women’s body. These trivial actions add up to the horrific incident like Hyderabad rape case.

It will be too late for me to be a mother and teach my son how to respect women. I cannot wait that long to make my contribution. The change needs to happen now. I need to monitor my attitude towards other women, I need to check my male friends' behaviour towards women other than me. I need to talk to my younger brothers about the situation and I need to do my bit to stop the culture where it is ok to objectify any girl.

Recently, I was watching an actors round table by Anupama Chopra. Along with some big Bollywood names, South Indian actress ‘Parvathy Thiruvothu’ was also present in the panel. While talking about her movie choices and her take on a film like Arjun reddy (Hindi remake - Kabir Singh), she said, “I would do nothing as an actress, as someone who has the power to influence the large number of people, which objectifies women or which glorifies the hero who overpower a woman. Because the film can influence thousands of people especially in a country like India where audience worship stars.” On the contrary, Manoj Bajpayee, whom I admire the most as an actor said, “I can do any part good, bad, evil for just the sake of it. I don’t go into the calculation of its impact.”  

Today, as we lose one more daughter of this country, we have to choose between the two most contrast behaviours as stated above. One, where you are actually ready to bring a change by your little actions or the another where you are ready to just complaint and question everyone on social media but you and do possibly nothing to make the situation better. 

Friday 26 April 2019

An "apolitical blog"



Recently apolitical prime time done by Ravish Kumar is gaining a lot appreciation. I would also like to congratulate him for the same. He definitely knows how to counter his opponents and how to do it creatively. In the media world where everything is counted in seconds, keeping your creativity intact is a big and difficult thing. So, again I would like to applaud him for keeping his art alive. 


I love films and I love to hear when artist talk about their craft, their struggles, how they managed to survive and make a big name in the industry. When I read about Nawazuddin Siddique, how he managed to live on parle-g for two years! I was stunned. These stories inspire us, they motivate us to dream big, do big. So, I have a question if the prime minister of India has a struggle story to share, has a story which can inspire young minds like me to dream, unlike others, how is it wrong? 

When Barak Obama became the president whole world acknowledged the fact that a black man, after years of struggle became America’s president, then how come a journey of chaiwala to prime minister holds no importance?

I would also like to ask Mr Ravish Kumar, how is Rahul Gandhi’s “informal” chit chat with students before elections is justified if every conversation before the election should revolve around politics? 

If political leaders are just meant to talk about politics then on what grounds do you justify apolitical interview given by Rajiv Gandhi to Simi Garewal? 


Problem with India is we tend to keep people on a pedestal and forget that they too could have a human quality. We expect our parents to be always perfect because they are superior to us. But often forget they are human too. The same tragedy was faced by a simple innocent question asked by a driver’s daughter, whether prime minister enjoy mangoes. He is a prime minister for the love of god, how can he talk about mangoes!? Right? 

Akshay Kumar has given numerous interviews before taking this one, all the journalists from Rajeev Masand to Ravish Kumar has one question for him reserved, “how do you wake up 4 in the morning and go to sleep by 9 in the night?” When journalists themselves have incorporated the fact that stars are meant to be asked only about their personal life, not their craft, how do you expect him to ask questions related to the craft of Narendra Modi?

The concept of detachment talked by both Narendra Modi and Ravish Kumar is a very complex thing to understand. Especially by the people who have faced Income tax raid. Loving your mother and feel that detachment from her is two very different things. One cannot overpower another. Understanding the fact that we all are travellers is a difficult thing, so, I can understand the confusion, Ravish Kumar had.