In a Crib I Crib

Cribbing is my birthright and i shall fight for it. It seems that no matter how happy the normal human being is he loves to crib. Cribbing really brings out the devil in us and it helps us relax too. Whenever i crib i love to describe in explicit detail to how i would mete out vengeance on to my current tormentor. Cribbing is just another facet of the quintessential human search for venting out frustrations. The question of "Why Me ? " is the basis to all cribbing. Also the opportunity to occupy the centrestage - be it as a victor or a victim is too good to pass.

Cribbing as an activity is relegated to the crib dwellers - its the domain of those blessed souls who have someone to listen to complains. So before i graduate from my dependent state i want to have my share of fun. So before i graduate from my dependent state i want to have my share of fun.

Its wonderful to sit in the canteen and mimic all our 'Nutty Professors', their own idiosyncrasies, their dialogues, to count the number of times one repeated 'My point is' in a lecture. Their limited vocabularies accentuated by their repetitive use of their favourite hotkeys - 'Ok', 'So', 'Alright','Fine' and some others are so tongue tied that their hands do most of the talking. Yet when they set us deadlines for doing all of that menial labour of copying the assignments time and again we love cursing them. Assignments for being absent and assignments for being late, assignments for indiscipline and also for using mobiles in class. Creating perfect donkeys out of us, we call our degree MCA-Masters of Copying Assignments.

The countdown begins today. 18 days to freedom. Albeit temporary. Our exams end on the 17th of the next month. Till then. Sayonara.

Pyaare 'Mat Ro' han

I am no movie buff. I am much more into reading or sports rather than the idiot box and Bollywood bheja fries. Yet i have friends who love idling their brains and watching all the David Dhawan-Salman Khan specials. As if the brain's a gearbox ready to shift into neutral and watch the Nanga Pahalwaan dance like a deer. The last Bollywood flick I watched was Apaharan. Prakash Jha's hard hitting movie had everything - a gripping storyline, the subtle comic sense, an authentic depiction of Bihar, technical soundness, excellent acting from all the actors and that irrefutable question that is the hallmark of all good movies. Here i would admit that i am the serious type and I really don't love watching something like 'The life and times of a Bunch of Jokers'.

And so I was already prejudiced as i went in for "Pyaare Mohan". But exceeding all my expectations, it turned out to be a royal fiasco far worse than I ever imagined it to be. Watching it I wished I’d be blind or deaf, like the male leads, to be able to escape the torment. I just can't comprehend how anyone could agree to fund such pathetic film making, get the film insured and also find enough fools like myself to watch it. This was by far the most unimaginative film making i have witnessed in years. It’s a sad reflection on the tastes of a country like ours. I wonder how the actors agreed to such shoddy work themselves. We have a nascent audience, no doubt but the actors - they are well educated and seemingly possess excellent aesthetic sense (amply reflected in their love lives). It’s sad that they don't object to dishing out such unpalatable fare.

Yet that is what our country is about. Isn't it? Swashbuckling Dhoni and sedate Dravid, simple Manmohan and 'pseudo-sensitive' Sonia, crafty Rahman and crooning Reshammiya and lastly (this one's for one of the male leads) lovely Aishwarya and lanky Abhishek. A jumble of paradoxes, a concoction of ever increasing humanity that tends to oscillate between extremes.

Nasamaj Bacho ka Andolan

What is she fighting for ? She started out fighting against Big Dams as an environmentalist. Then when the cause was all but lost she took up the cudgels against the improper rehabilitation of the tribal population. So whats the issue ? Big Dams or Rehabilitation ? Big Dams is a non starter. To talk about the rehabilitation issue I took the liberty of extracting some information from the internet that helps throw more light on the issue.

Operations Division of World Bank in April 1990 amply clarifies this - “A widespread myth is that the tribal people to be resettled from the submergence area are living in pristine forests in a traditional manner as hunter gatherers in harmony with the environment. It is within this tribal group that there appears to be the least opposition to the dam. Out of the already rehabilitated people of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, tribal population is 99.25%, 72.5% and 99% respectively . The greatest opposition is from the more wealthy non - tribal farmers from Nimad region of Madhya Pradesh who have been exploiting the tribals for many decades. So by opposing the Project, whose cause is being championed? Tribals …. or Non-tribals”. For more on that visit FAQ Section of Official Site of Sardar Sarovar Dam.

Secondly, NBA activities has caused tremendous delay and huge cost over-run in Rs 44,000 crore (number is quoted by NBA) Narmada project.

Thirdly, Lakhs of live herd died and more than one million people were forced to migrate (from saurashtra, Kutch and N. Gujarat) due to continuos famine and NBA induced delay. Thus NBA is partly responsible for this horrendous human tragedy.

Fourthly, NBA criticizes rehabilitation efforts but NBA it-self is the biggest stumbling block in rehabilitation efforts. Moreover, R&R of Sardar Sarovar is much better then all other R&R ever under-taken in india.

Also, for NBA movement it-self is the end goal. NBA slogans like “we will give and take lives” displays fanatic passion. At this stage they are waging a losing battle just as their slogans describe and they are more damaging to the nation than all the Naxalites and Ranvir Senas combined.

Bandhs , strikes etc. are negative tactics and in an growing country such as ours they are more of a hinderance than a channelizer that they are supposed to be. Young kids must be allowed to enjoy and live their lives not put under foolish philosophical constraints. In some ways this is what has been happening here too. Fast paced development comes with its own pitfalls. But we must learn to take them all in our stride and move on.

Lastly the desserts. I recieved a confirmation letter from jammag.com which means that now i can contribute to jammag as the official correspondent from Nirma University. Cool Na. Oh! How i would love doing all that Nirma Bashing.