Mansi

Karva Chauth - afterthoughts

noreply@blogspirit.com () — Fri, 21 Oct 2005 17:07:45 +0530

Also, I do want to fervently mention that the fast is not about the husbands. It's not about their lives either.
It is about the notion of life. Perhaps some of the peace I observed in the faces of other women at the puja was because they were celebrating life itself and praying for an extension, if possible.
And yet in that sentence, I have managed to completely contradict myself. For as I started out, it is my belief that this special day is a complete selfish act on the part of the woman.
Can devotion be selfish, you ask? Yes, it can and should.
So for any of you men out there who are still sweating it out, let it go. It's not really about you.
Lastly, one cannot ignore the economic implications of such traditions. Are women dependent on men culturally? Yes. It never ceases to amaze me in just how many different ways.

Just as the thought that occured to me a few days ago that female foeticide is OK and goes hand in hand with pro-choice! This will however have to wait for another post.

Will a time come when men will fast for women (given role reversal - Who wd have thought that husbands wd ever want to sweat it out in a kitchen....)? As a woman, I am not sure I would want to give my fast up.
Which brings me to another emerging practice where both the husband and wife decide to fast and pray together. It's not done at large or we could plan for a circle of women exchanging talis and a circle of men exchanging thalis. We could even dig up a story for the men.

It is a whole world of opportunities out there, folks!

Karva Chauth - Devotion, Decoration and Drama

noreply@blogspirit.com () — Fri, 21 Oct 2005 16:55:50 +0530

When asked early on what I thought of Karva Chauth, I replied, I think it's romantic. Close to 9pm last night, after I had completed my fast, Deepan and I stood at the balcony. Few houses ahead, we saw a young family celebrate the last ritual of the fast. The lady bowed down to the moon and her husband. The family drank from a cup of sweet milk and the child laid claim for all of the sweets.
It was very romantic. It was very real.

All of a sudden, the rituals, expectations and media-dramatized versions of Karva Chauth dissappeared. I was looking at the moon, with an offering plate that had a small clay lamp burning bright, a few fruits and the glass with sweet milk. I had my husband standing by the moon and for a few moments, the world was ours.
Karva Chauth is probably the most controversial festival we have in the North of India. The premise of this special day involves a wife who fasts for a day for the long life of her husband. The festival really begins the night before when the mother in law gives the daughter in law all that she will require for her fast. This could include food that the daughter in law would have before daybreak. This could also include almonds, clothing, accessories and anything else that the mother in law feels the daughter in law would want. On the fast day, after fasting for the most part of the day, ladies gather and sit down for a puja. The puja revolves around the 'katha' or story. Each lady prepares a thali (offering plate) that contains a diya (lamp), some water in a glass and a gift for one's mother in law.

The story is around a queen and her many brothers who conspire to break her fast illegally out of overt concern for their sister. The result, her king loses his mind and mistakes her servant as his queen. The queen then persists for a year in service and prayer. She fasts on Karva Chauth and with the grace of God her King recovers and claims her as his Queen. In the spirit of that story and her devotion, all married women exchange each other's thalis in support and faith of one another and their prayers.

I am a believer of such stories. My grandmother used to tell me one where a Queen's King was wrongfully accused of stealing another kingdom's Queen's anklets. Without proper investigation even, that kingdom's King ordered his counterpart's execution. The bereft widow of the dead King came to court and questioned the investigation. She claimed that her anklets were filled with navratnas (nine gems) and asked for the stolen anklets to be examined. When they broke her anklets, the gems rolled out. The King realized his mistake and begged forgiveness. The grief of the widow was immeasurable. She ran out of the King's court, not knowing where she really was headed. The kingdom she left behind began to lose its prosperity, such was the purity of her love. Drought, famine, poverty all came. Of course here, the story takes a different turn. My grandmother said that while this Queen ran the streets, Tamilian women looked at her and scoffed. "Look at this woman", they spat, "running around with her hair open and her sari all improper". The bereft widow turned to them and cursed them. "You will", she said, 'be like this when you lose your husbands". Till date, my grandmother said, tamilian women grieve the death of their husband by relinquishing all their accessories. While the bereaving Queen ran through Kerala, the women there sympathised with her condition and said, "I wonder what terrible thing must have happened for her to hurt so much". The Queen turned to them and blessed them. She said, 'Even when you lose your husbands, you will not have have my fate'. Till date, malayali women do not have to break their bangles, or shave their heads, or even not wear only white upon the death of their husbands. Of course, the storyteller, my grandmother, would have to be a malayali!

Then there's the other story of Savitri who won against Yama, the God of Death, and succeeded in bringing life back into the body of her husband.

Besides these two stories that remain most obvious in my mind, there are countless others. There is immense power in devotion. Women, I believe, are naturally good examples of devotion. The women at the puja yesterday came in all sizes and colors. Yet all of them, despite being decked like no less than Queens and being filmed for the local news channels, were intent in their devotion for that day.

Sitting there, I came to ponder on a few ponderings... (as always)
1. The direct and indirect participants of this fast are driven by fear, just like the BJP government drove the people of Gujurat.
2. Divide and rule is as much a part of Hindu culture as it is part of anything else. (poor brothers!)
3. When men commit mistakes, it's always attributed to insanity.
4. Just when you begin to feel completely overpowered by all of the male worship, your mother in law will step in and save some booty for the feminist cause! (Go MIL!) Of course, if you don't have a son, you might not be able to do your feminist bit.

And now for the most ridiculous bit....
On one of the new channels, Deepan and I caught a special episode of Karva Chauth. The producers had come up with a novel idea. Since a certain Brigadier and his wife were not together for this special day, the TV crew with modern technology was going to ensure that the two of them celebrate Karva Chauth 'on the air'.

Contrast that with the quiet dignity of my neighbour who came up a little after we finished ( I was an eager beaver!) and performed her puja in silent prayer. She might not have had her husband in the flesh but she certainly had him in spirit.

The death of Hindu arrogance

noreply@blogspirit.com () — Thu, 13 Oct 2005 12:32:45 +0530

Hindu extremist groups get all excited about Christian conversions.
[The following two paragraph is paraphrased from a story titled 'RSS Invents Another Ram' from the Tehelka]
In a small village called Subir in Ahwa, Gujurat, the RSS and 'sister' organizations are staging a Kumbh mela this year. Seven years ago, in this 95% tribal populated area, these Hindu right wing groups burned down 35 churches and prayer halls in their protest against what they called Christian 'aggression'. Next they had a guru pay Rs 10000 for one acre of land, and since occupy close to four hectares of land. The religious texts (Ramayan) was modified to include Subir and a Sabari Dham Mandir in honor of Mata Sabari was built. This year, with the state government's blessings of transport and electricity, they will spend 8 crores on a Kumbh mela that expects to draw 5 lakh participants.
When asked by Tehelka, if the Dangs (the predominant tribals) need a Kumbh, Dangs Collector RM Jadhav replied "It's a religious issue. What can you do if people need it?" Tehelka then asked Prof Ganesh Devy, a prominent tribal activist what he felt the Dangs needed. The professor replied '...an imaginative forest development policy, at least 10 more residential schools for girls, at least two science colleges, a well-managed irrigation system and sorting out the issues related to the erstwhile princes of the Dangs"

The above story in the Tehelka was an interesting read. Before we TGFT (thank god for Tehelka) and it's brand of 'forthright journalism', let us remember that Tehelka launched it's first issue (with much dhoom/dhamaka!) with an exclusive story on Christian conversions and the Bush administration agenda in christianizing India. This current article forms an interesting full circle. Strangely enough though this article does not reference it's first issue report on Christian conversions and the Christian Agenda. This probably has to do with the changing nature of media news, akin to our cricketing traditions, where everything is in spurts and bursts and rarely about follow through and history (what's that??).
So with Hinduism too. Hindus practice their religion in spontaneity. One day we're leading normal lives, the next we're attending Ram lila and watching Ravana burn. Only to then return to our comatose-like state till we're ready to burst in colors and crackers, around Diwali time. Nothing warms up an Indian belly like hot jilebis on a chilly November day. After the dry spell from June to September, the fall season heralds in a series of holidays, celebrations and religious obligations.
We're also compelling Hindus. We egg each other on to religious fervor. The all-night Jagrans are a wonderful North Indian example of this. A Hindu never visits a temple alone. He or she will go with their family. Visiting a temple is hardly about communing with God. It's often akin to a picnic, a place to be seen and to be seen at. A married Hindu woman will experience these religious compulsions first hand. Attending bhajan sessions, doing puja, sharing prasad is often a second or even third job that they have to perform.

Spontaneity and Compelling - Is that really so bad, you'd ask.

Yes. What it has done is form the rock foundation for the fear psychosis that the right wing Hindu groups propagate. Hindus like you and me are being bombarded with statistics on Christian conversions. While some of the so called proactive Hindus respond by burning and looting, tampering with religious texts, coercing tribals to acknowledge Mata Sabari in lieu of their three gods ( a tiger, a snake and a hill), the bulk of us are too comatose to know any different.
We are different, we Hindus. We are born into our religion, initiated into it's practices and then compelled to follow suit. Years, decades, centuries later, we are no closer to discovering the essence of what spirituality is. As long as we are spontaneously compelled into certain practices, as long as we are not excluded, we bundle along like the masses one sees at Vaishno Devi or Tirupati.
Rank and status play important identifiers to us Hindus. Be it a man with uncombed hair or a woman with a shaven head, both represent different ranks and stakes. These are however homogenous identifiers and many of us have long fallen off the map. Yet, when it comes to roping in the adivasis, our 'vanvasis' ( LOL), we're pulling out all the stops.

In come the Christians, with their schools, training based jobs, caste-free communities and an outreach network that spreads across the globe, and all of a sudden Hindus are worried. It's the Pope's five year plan for India, you will hear in their heads. One day, we will all wake up to 101 hail marys and celebrate Christashtami.
What will become of our jilebis then?

The proactive ones amongst us are at it though. Their answer is an eight crore Kumbh mela. What more, Hindus wonder, can Adivasis/Vanvasis need to come flocking to pay obeiyance to Mata Sabari?
What more, I ask, can we Hindus really ask for?

From brickbats to bouquets

noreply@blogspirit.com () — Mon, 10 Oct 2005 09:45:47 +0530

I have always tried to understand why I need to be heard. It is a malaise that I am aware of but sometimes completely helpless against.
Example: blogging
When I began to blog I received comments, good and bad. The negative ones though stuck with me. I searched and scanned my blogs for negative feedback. From potshots at the usability on my site to language to length of posts, there were many.
Despite the brickbats, I still enjoyed blogging.

My last two posts however have received bouquets. First, a rant from a reader who hates Prannoy Roy and scared me with just how much. The second, a person who I think has always seen me as one step off the edge, telling me that this was my best yet.

I am tickled by it all. What can I say - thank you my dear friends, ladies and gentlemen, thank you!
LOL

Leadership buTTs

noreply@blogspirit.com () — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 10:56:23 +0530

I've recently had a growing list of things I want to blog about. Putting it down here for all of you to see, if not read about, will help ease my anxiety levels a little. So bear with me.
1. Rahul Gandhi's interview
2. Kal
3. Love stories and Indian cinema
4. ....

I can't even remember the list any more. Now that I have put them down, each of the topics are jumping up and down to be fulfilled. However I am going to stick with a single theme that might run in and around all of the above topics...and then perhaps I can come back to each when I have more time.

At work, I got to share a bit of Covey's '8th Habit' with the team at large. Deepan and I spent a whole day Saturday discussing my relationship with my parents. Be it the Newspaper or television, one cannot escape the Chappel vs Ganguly drama. And then, there's Rahul Gandhi's interview sticking out like Bart Simpson's butt (which seems to be the only thing left in that ridiculous excuse of a cartoon worth advertising about).
I've spent a good part of my teens and early twenties wondering if I have what it takes to be a leader. This particular behaviour is a result of being partially if not completely addicted to self-help/self-management books. Every book, every self-test, every comment and quotation got me asking the question again and again until I met my objective. I managed to answer the question in a firm No and thus cultivated a healthy reserve of self-pity that will probably last me a lifetime.
Reading Rahul Gandhi's interview, I immediately identified with his brand of self-pity too. After all it takes one self-pity hoarder to know another. We all do brandish it in our own ways and his 'informal' interview does bring out his own. While many took serious offense to his 'prime minister at 25' comment, I didn't. There is no surprice in absurdities anymore, why should this be any different?
Were we to accept that Rahul Gandhi will be our prime minister, the next question in our minds would be (borrowing from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's answer of Musharaf), can we do business with him?
Fact - Rahul Gandhi is all of 34 years when he gave the interview in Tehelka.
Fact - Rahul Gandhi did not become Prime Minister at 25.
Yet, Rahul baba gave the interview as a 25 year old. Rahul, like me (x years ago) is in a time warp. He has been the Prime Minister of India in his head. When he turned down the notion at 25, a part of his mind jumped up and grabbed it and in time it has grown into a life of it's own. This reminds me of my father's tumor in his brain that was being fed by the most intricate of blood vessels. Life only gives life. It does not understand good from bad. In time, tumors might threaten the very life of its source (the most absurd of absurdities) but it does happen. And so it did happen with Rahul Gandhi.
Rahul baba in his interview goes to all lengths to convince us of the path he wanted and ultimately took. Yet, all the learning, all the experience hasn't sunk in. He's still a 25 year old who wants to be crowned Prime Minister.
Were we to flip the mirrors away from Rahul baba and towards ourselves, perhaps we will see our own delusions regarding his Prime Ministership. Perhaps we have too encouraged the Prime Minister in him each time we see him.
Yet, we must return to our current Prime Minister's practical wisdom and ask the question, is this a man we can do business with?
My answer is no. Even were we both to drain the life supply of our Prime Ministerships, once the fog clears we will see a large deficient. Rahul Gandhi's interview brought out a lack of character. It was deja vu since we can see in Rahul baba, remnants of his father minus the leo charm. At 34, he seems as green as he might have been at 25. One could interpret it as a unique ability to retain one's 'child'. I think not. Rahul Gandhi is a child who has stopped growing. Burdened by baggage of his own choosing, he is ready now to use it to wallop our Indian world. His interview is a clear statement to Indians that he's ready to step out. This is no mature, intelligent, quiet man. This is a burdened soul who's batting with us, despite himself.
A lot like Ganguly too who recently is looking pretty good with his new hair cut and glasses. The only thing I have liked about Ganguly is his elegant 4s and 6s. I speak of it as in the past since it has been a matter of the past. Everything else is attributed to one attribute, and one attribute alone - LUCK. Cricket lovers who are not into statistics or quality or skill too much all understand what it means to have a captain's LUCK. How many times have I heard my uncles talk about having a captain with 'luck'.
In the recent war between Ganguly and Chappel, everybody's got their hands in the air, waving frantically, to be given the chance to speak of how Ganguly is one of our best captains ever. To most of us, entrenched in our work, mostly MNCs, globalization-induced, this means that Ganguly has the ability to deliver quality. To my uncles it just means luck. There is a huge growing section of youth who are working in MNCs and successful Indian companies who are imbibing a different culture. They look to the West and the East and are imbibing issues of quality and commitment. To them, success is measured as per their filtered glasses. To them, this hogwash about Ganguly being the best captain we've had means something completely different from what it actually is.
To them, I would say, please take those damn shades off.
The cricketing culture in this country is as pathetic and quality-less as any other facet of our lives. The politics, the betting, the leaks, the loops all point to a large malaise. To have Greg Chapell dispel of it in a seven page email is perhaps just the tip of the iceberg.
To all those who sympathize with Ganguly, I would say - Enough. We cannot be ruled by our emotional swings. We need to understand the complete absense of quality and transparency within the Cricketing world. We need to understand that our traditional maxims around 'Guru' is absolutely rubbished today. The irony of this term was wonderfully displayed in the movie Iqbal where Girish Karnad was 'Guruji'.
Where does Ganguly get off speaking to the media about his captaincy? How can we let the Board get away with leaking confidential reports?
On some channel, I heard of cricketeers speak of using the right channels, where in email was considered inappropriate. This is completely laughable. In this day and age if there is a faction amongst us who considers email informal...... really!!! And then there are those who have a problem with understanding Chapell's comments given only two months as coach. Well!!! Are we really all idiots to buy that one? In the case of Chapell, I think it's been a case of from the frying pan into the fire and please, don't blame him if he's trying to alarm the nation of the fire in our cricketing bellies.
Underneath the players and the coach lies the root of this disease, the blood vessel that feeds this monstrous cricketing culture that is Indian and that is the Board. From selections to elections, there is a far darker and sinister play going on. I am scared. Aren't you?

NDTV bashing

noreply@blogspirit.com () — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 11:50:25 +0530

Will somebody ask Prannoy Roy to quit????

The NDTV 9'oclock news is turning me into a media-hating Medusa. With the case of electricity tarriffs, to collapsing buildings in Mumbai and then to the stint in Afghanistan, we do not need George Bush or his government's fear therapy. We have our own home grown democratic gremlin- NDTV to do the above and more.

Case 1 - Protests against electricity tariffs: NDTV's mirch formula: The Great Indian Middle Class is against privatization. I feel sorry for the chap who gets invited every evening - -each show, he seems to improve on his technique to cram in 'No Privatization without competition' in just as fewer seconds as possible without having an NDTV correspondent pounce on the word privatization.
Does Dr Roy even care about 'No privatization without competition'? All he wants to do is join the whipping line and add a few personal blows to what he patronizingly calls 'the Great Indian Middle Class'.

Case 2 - Collapsing buildings in Mumbai: NDTV's mirch formla: X number of people's lives in threat and the Mumbai government finally wakes up! If this isn't the grossest example of misinformation. While dilapidated buildings have been declared such for years and years, it is the residents within the buildings who refuse to budge. The fact that these buildings survived the rains is amazing. However, if they were to tomorrow begin to fall down like a pack of cards, I will be damned if I am asked as the Great Indian Middle Class to pay up for 'relief' efforts.

What has Mumbai afterall come down to? Torrential rains, flooding, gross mismanagement of disaster relief, falling buildings - - and amidst of it all, all the media channels are on 24 hour alerts to continue to display the Mumbai spirit - with the Janmashtami celebrations this past weekend ( where every year more than 60 Govindas are hospitalized and quite a few of them lose their lives) and the upcoming Ganesha celebrations. The next person who comes to me with sound bits on the 'Mumbai Spirit' is going to get smacked!

NDTV's 24X7 is fast losing it's share of eyeballs. Hindi channels, a new one is launched every week, are dominating news in the North. South Indian news channels ( Asianet - that is my absolute favorite) and other South Indian channels that also do News dominate the market in the South.
So where does NDTV's 24X7 go?

Me thinks the obvious logic (even if it isn't as obvious in NDTV's branding) is to go International. 24X7 can be the BBC World for Indians. Sadly, mere-copying of digital effects from the BBC will not suffice.

Case 3: Prime Minister's visit to Afghanistan - -
In every foreign stint, NDTV's broadcasts project a sense of impending fear and danger to their reporters. If anybody followed the Afghanistan story closely, the fear levels projected were akin to NDTV's recent stint interviewing key leaders of the LTTE in Sri Lanka. To me, it's quite hilarious that a channel gearing up to be India's premier International news channel, while on foreign assignments, displays the heart of Punjab's official state bird. The reporters have no grasp of international history. There is no sensitivity to ground sensibilities (and please don't tell me Barkha Dutt has a grip on Kashmiri sentiment!!!). Last night, Dr. Roy greeted his afghani foot soldier - Amitav, with relief oozing out every pore on his body. "Afghanistan is so dangerous - we're glad to have made contact with you, dear loyal NDTV reporter'. Forget the occasion - An Indian PM visits Afghanistan! No, NDTV is quite happy spreading the fear of Afghani soil. To my best judgement, I doubt Amitav strayed too far from the official Indian delegation's to-dos -- and yet, Dr. Roy felt it pertinent to ask if 'People in Afghanistan truly support democracy' - - HA HA HA - - Like Amitav would know.
And of course when faced with no answer, Amitav in true reporting fashion, replied with such zeal, you'd think the Afghanis were democratic by birth!

(Let's not forget how they sat and watched when Buddha was blown up)

Every time Dr. Roy comes to read the 9pm news - the device that scrolls the content always breaks down - or so it seems - for Dr. Roy is always faltering for words, expressions and when lost, he then injects his fast dilipidating personal sense -- The outcome is nothing short of goofy -- and this coming from our premier News channel (or so they would think )!

Somebody tell Dr. Roy to just up and quit! And bring on his disenchanted pupil - Rajdeep Sardesai -- I'll take his indignant panting for Dr. Roy's syrupy dialogue any day!

Stars, starships and blogging

noreply@blogspirit.com () — Thu, 25 Aug 2005 12:09:03 +0530

A friend sent me this link (http://spaces.msn.com/members/mangalpandey) sometime this week. I got to viewing the page this morning and in response to his email, a flurry of thoughts hit me all at once - which is often a sign that I need to blog.
The subject is Aamir Khan and he seems to regard his 'space' as a medium through which he can keep in touch/interact/respond to his fans. What we get to read in Aamir's responses are his perception of being a 'star' - actor - albeit in my opinion grossly misunderstood - Nevertheless his attempt to connect with his audience / fans ( not sure which is which in his mind) is laudable.

Before I get into the 'slurry of thoughts', let me quickly add that in no small measure, it does delight me to view this page. There is nothing like an opportunity to connect with an artist - in this case Aamir Khan - at some point, I will get to see Mangal Pandey and hopefully then will have my two-bit thrill in commenting on his 'space'.
In the larger context, this is one more door open in to the cultural space of film-making. All of us indulge in the performing arts and with films in particular, sadly, there is a huge disconnect between the artists and the audience. This is, in my opinion, largely due to media companies that monopolize the bridge of communication between film makers and their audiences.
In all art experiences, both the artist and the audience have a meaningful exchange in store that in turn fuels the cycle of art. Enter the media, TV channels, newspapers and magazines, and any 'meaning' towards the former exchange is seriously compromised. In such a scenario, the ability then to connect with Aamir Khan, an actor in the movie Mangal Pandey is quite thrilling - a renaissance of a lost connection - a resurrection of sorts and a restoration of means. While we do have virtual media facilitating the exchange ( MSN), it is far less intimidating than traditional film and paper media houses. So, Mangal Ho! to such opportunities.

Moving on....

If journalism (traditional media houses) sat on one end of a spectrum, Blogging, in my opinion, sits at the other extreme. While bloggers tend to confuse the two (in search of journalistic fame), in my mind, blogging is and can never be journalistic (and thank god for that!)in culture. It's kinda like juxtaposing justice against law. While the latter is the formalized medium to achieve the former, such is not necessarily the outcome. Over years of formalized practice, sometimes we find the business of law can be as far away as possible from the execution of justice.
Similar is the case with blogging and journalism.
Blogging is a medium by which readers get an insight into the blogger. It is governed by a personal morality that within reasonable definition rings true across humanity. Unlike journalism and their presumed sense of morality (all show, no go) it is rarely that you will come across a blog where you are unable to understand the underlying morality map.
Another example to illustrate the divide: American Idol vs INXS Rock star ( tacky name) - - While the former sells an 'IDOL' - somebody that takes on different hues in our media-glazed minds - the resolution of the show isn't necessary. Any one of the contestants could be Idol and we'd not care beyond a certain short time frame - BECAUSE the manipulation is being metered inside our heads. It's like a lullaby, babies don't really get it about the cradle rocking and the baby falling ( how traumatic that one!!!) but it still gets them to sleep. Contrast A.Idol with the INXS Rockstar ( if ever a tacky name in recent television history was created....!!!) where there isn't anything on sale. It's real and performance nights (the only nights I watch) is like going to a rock show (and hating the fact that it's on TV). I will not compare individual performances (Rockstar is far far superior!!!!) but then again, that isn't what seperates the two shows. It's the packaging of cultural intent - glaringly all icing in the former, and simply meat balls in the latter.

At Aamir's space, I was immediately slapped by the Mangal Pandey promotion theme. I was saddened to understand the motive of his 'space' - Promoting Mangal Pandey while connecting with fans/audience. Once that objective registered and was promptly dismissed ( I am not going to rush to watch Mangal Pandey), I got to the 'blogging' part of Aamir's 'Space'.

The ability to blog gives readers an insight into the blogger - Aamir Khan - and to me, he reflects a misconstrued sense of public responsibility.

What does it mean to be a 'star'? Often we see our Bollywood actors pained by their 'star' status. Some of them spend all their spare time in public demanding that they be spared their privacy (No, not their name (a la Crucible) - just their privacy). To me, this is often hillarious. After years of living off steets, friends and spouces, they 'make it' in a career in public entertainment which to me seems like the most personal and most private choice they've ever made. Once here, most of them seem completely inept at understanding themselves, their roles or their career environment. This is often because Aamir the actor becomes Aamir the star.
What is a 'star'? Were I to say that most actors cannot command their starship in any direction whatsoever, it would be a gross understatement. The list of crash-outs are plenty : Sanjay Dutt, Shakti Kapoor, Salman Khan....

Here again in Aamir's 'space' we are treated to one too many servings of misplaced gratitute and holy patriotism. In response to a fan's comment that Aamir is Hollywood material, he akins Bollywood to nothing short of a holy institution. (excuse me???)
Why does Aamir Khan have to assume any 'star' responsibility? Why does he need to handle his fans with kid gloves? Why wasn't he talking to us about his experience of Mangal Pandey, the production woes, the marketing woos??
HEY - you might interrupt - A guy can do only what a guy can do - look, you point out, at the kind of hero-worship comments on the site ..... how can Aamir respond any differently?
There in lies the problem. After years of monopolized bridges, the disconnect is now a deep divide. Even when we do get to communicate with artists, it seems like we're shouting at each other across the grand canyon. And if any of you are familiar with the 'suicide point' experience, the most powerful words are always 'I love you'. So there we are, at it, screaming words of adoration and praise, simply because we aren't sure when we'll ever get to do that again. We're not sure when the channel of communication will be severed again and all we'll have left is NDTV and Stardust!

Serious dialogue on the culture of films and film making will need to adopt informal channels such as blogs. Traditional media will need to be shunned like an untouchable for the damage they have and still continue to wreck on society at large is immense. I don't necessarily mean that all of traditional media is bad or worthless. All I want to stress on is that on more occasions than one, traditional media has transgressed our collective personal justice and worser still they seem to be getting away with it.

With informal media on the rise, we will be able to save the Aamirs and the Aamir audience and in the process re-invigorate the culture of cinema.