Sanjay Dutt and another of his parole

Today's TOI has an article tucked in one of its inner pages. Its about Central Govt asking Maharashtra Govt why Sanjay Dutt was being granted repeated parole.

Sanjay Dutt was convicted for his role in the Mumbai Bomb blast with 6yrs of imprisonment. He may have served some time and the rest is still to be completed. He is not alone, there are others who have been convicted for the blast and some of the key players are yet to be caught. While Sanjay draws a lot of attention due to his film star status there are others , whose names also will not register if someone were to scream from rooftops. It is his this film star status which has proved to be a boon and  his only curse. While he grew up with unconditional love from the nation for his every movie, i dont think he ever felt the pain of those who died that day in mumbai.

For a long time after the blasts, he lived in the air-conditioned life fit for a king while the less fortunate slowly picked up thier lives and went ahead with nothing more than prayers for justice on thier lips. While Sanjay Dutt became a household name due to his filmstar status, he also became the poster boy for justice that was never delivered. So, when news travels of him being given parole - it hurts. Not because he is getting it in spite of his role in the blasts but this becomes another example of justice not being delivered and how it is different for different people. I wonder if it was not Sanjay Dutt but Mr XXX or Mr YYY would the jail authorities taken a similar stand. You cant have 2 set of rules.On one hand you have people in jail for robbery to crime against nation. Criminals convicted of similar or lesser crimes may not have got so many paroles than what Sanjay has got. Its just not fair. How did the govt take this decision? becasue he is a star and cant run even if he wanted to? or because his family has a problem? was the gravity of his crime ever taken into account? There are thousands of lives that but ruined forever and the least that Sanjay Dutt can do - is serve his time. For someone who has scores of servants, friends and most important money - serving his time in jail is the least that he can do.

So, Mr Dutt - get up, wash your face,remember the people whose lives got destroyed in the blasts, Kid- who grew up without their parents, parents who lost their kids. Admit that you screwed up, finish your term and get back into the society. 

Highway!

Veena has proved me wrong twice - this time she took me for Highway.

Thats bollywood's take on Stockholm Syndrome. A slow movie which at times drags its feet for way too log a time frame. What really holds your attention till the very end is some kick-ass acting by Randeep Hooda and Aaliya. Hooda portrays his role as a tough haryanvi very well and some might find some of those dialouges tough to follow. Aaliya plays her role to the hilt and as a young super rich unexposed to vagaries of life.While you expect what the climax and end would be however the way climax hits you - is what keeps the story in place.

The movie addressed an issue which props up only once and the way it was put across - in it raw portrayal is hard-hitting. There is a part where Aaliya asks her father that you asked me to be carefull outside the house but you never told me about the dangers in the house. How relatives take undue advantage of having easy access to kids - can exploit them. Kids at a young age trust their immediate family as they feel safe, and when they are tortured within that circle of trust - it can lead to serious issues. We need to be careful about our kids everywhere and trust them without any reason of doubt. Do that always, because they will turn to you -always. You are the only one that they will turn to when in danger as you can never do anything wrong and they know that you will protect them from everyone. You are their star, you have always protected them from the demons hiding under the bed or in my daughter's case - saved her from cats who roam in my building. Be there for your kid and dont be afraid to take on the world for your child, because they only have you.

Whose loss was it and who is gaining?

Aghast , disappointed and simply frustrating. Supreme Court refused to commute death sentences of Rajiv Gandhi's killers. Amma decides to release them in 3 days. Populist decision taken by Amma keeping in mind her political ambitions with a keen eye towards general elections.

What does these actions mean to a wife who left her country to settle in with her husband in another land? who had to hear about his brutal assissnation and did not get to see his last remains becasue these very killers decided that the best way to kill him was with a human bomb. What about the 2 kids who grew up seeing thier grandmother killed by the very people who were supposed to guard her and then they hear that thier father was blown away to pieces?What about an entire generation for who he was a young leader promising to deliver to the answer to their dreams? i guess these human equations fail when it comes to politics.

What was Amma doing the day Rajiv Gandhi was brutally killed? folding her scores of saries or counting the number of shoes that she has. Did she even for a moment feel bad for that family who lost thier husband,father in the most brutal way- i guess not. for that you must have a family - to know, feel what it is to someone.

Apart from all the emotional reasons, what message are we sending to the world? Are we saying that we are okay - you come over to our country , kill whomsoever you want . We will put you on a trail ( which will be on for 20yrs) , you can keep challenging your sentences till we get tired.Then some old faggot says set them free. Wow!!! We not being nice , we are giving the world another example of we are spineless and cant even take a call when it come to setting an example of what happens when you kill someone.

Rahul , for once has asked the most important question - "If a PM's killers can be set free - can a common man ever expect any justice?"

Now that's some food for thought.

Love stories and their ends

When 3 days back my wife spoke to me about Hassee to Phassee, i remember saying  a very clear and loud NO. There was no way that i was going to watch a love story in a time when every maker makes a claim of dishing out a different love story than what the others have been screening.

Once the movie started off, it kept me hooked on. Not because of the leisured pace but because of the under-played performances from its lead cast. The lead actors played their part to the hilt. Parineeti was mind-blowing and so was Siddharth. What i really liked the fact was the way each of them played their roles without any hamming that you usually find a SRK doing.

Well, thinking of love and relationships – at what point do you give up one and start with another. Do we fall out of love suddenly or is it that when someone moves into our life he/she makes us realise that we have been in a dumpster of a relationship? Many a times, we “adjust”,”compromise”,” bend” or many say “fine-tune” our relationships. If you happen to be doing any of the above – STOP!

You can’t be in love or in an equal relationship if you are going to compromise everytime. Sometimes – yes, Everytime –No! What’s the point if you never get to do what you want because your partner is against you doing it. The movie pretty much dealt with something similar, a boy whose girlfriend has been dumping him regularly in the last 7 yrs and he keeps coming back to her. He believes that in a relationship you need to compromise, which is fine till the point he meets Parineeti and she makes him realise how much he has been bending himself for a girl who does not care for him. Food for thought is – would he have dumped his girlfriend of 7 yrs if she gave him the space, cared for him equally ? I guess not.  Think how you want your relationships to be.

Imagica

Yesterday evening, a familiar ping from my phone suggested that i had got message which i was expecting more from someone at work. The text was accompanied with a picture of a roller coaster which had apparently derailed causing 2 family members to be hurt. I forwarded the  text to my friends at work with whom i had visited the theme park a couple of months back.

Imagica was a delight when we were there. Pretham and I rode over from Pune on our bikes looking for a short bike ride plus the adventure that was supposed to be there – while he rest drove in from mumbai. The fun part of this was I was going to the Theme park with my friends at work. The ride was nice, it gave a lot of time for me to unwind - unclutter my mind. 

Imagica is in the middle of no-where, the approach road was bad for the last 5kms but yes there it was - very visible and its most promising rides standing tall against the backdrop of bare brown hills. The moment we entered - i trust - the little kid within us came out and i guess that’s exactly what happens with everyone who has ever entererd a themepark/joyride/waterpark and at times the neighbourhood park which may just have a see-saw as a ride.

With our maps out, we chalked out the rides that we wanted to hit at first and strategically went through the shows till we hit lunch which was decent and then followed the rides. The crazier one was D2D and the Nitro which I missed as was busy with the water cannon. In short, did we all have fun – yes, did we recommend it yes and lot of people did you after we came back raving  about it.

Yesterday’s incidence does raise concerns over the safety of those who want to enjoy these rides. Honestly, these rides are safe, have undergone a series of daily tests and checks to make sure that accidents don’t happen. Someone who has a big investment does know how to safeguard it and will definitely do everything to protect it. At the same time, i can’t recollect of an incident when such an event happened at any of the other major theme parks. It may have happened and not reported or just that we were never bothered about them. Well its not all that true as i Wikipedia-ed it and this is what popped up.

“This is a list of notable incidents that have taken place at Walt Disney World in Florida. Several people have died or been injured while riding attractions at Walt Disney World theme parks. Since 2001, Disney has been required to report incidents to state authorities. For example, from the first quarter of 2005 to the first quarter of 2006, Disney reported four deaths and nineteen injuries at its Florida parks.

The term incidents refers to major accidents, injuries, deaths and significant crimes. While these incidents are required to be reported to regulatory authorities for investigation, attraction-related incidents usually fall into one of the following categories:

·         Negligence on the part of the park, either by ride operator or maintenance.

·         Caused by negligence on the part of the guest. This can be refusal to follow specific ride safety instructions, or deliberate intent to break park rules.

·         The result of a guest's known or unknown health issues.

·         Act of God or a generic accident (e.g. slipping and falling) that is not a direct result of an action on anyone's part.

According to a 1985 Time magazine article, nearly 100 lawsuits are filed against Disney each year for various incidents

So, this s not an incident free place, accidents do happen , even to the best theme parks however i would still go for the thrill of it and as many say “a Themepark is an escape window to your lost childhood”

Getting started!

Well, its seems like 150k years that i have been thinking off blogging and the closest that i have come to that is - twitter..everytime i tweet, i feel limited by its character space - facebook has just way too many friends and its again not a place to freely express what you feel like. So, here i am struggling to navigate through all the tutorials and help and support that i can find to get this up.

while i was trying to login , i realized that i had vainly made an attempt to start blogging and my first blog was supposedly dedicated to my till then unborn first child. My princess today is 3.5 , goes to school, and is definitely as my wife says - one of the most spoilt daughters of her her age. Well, if you don't spoil your daughter then who do you spoil. Looking at the blog, i felt that it would be better if i just hand wrote the blogged part and some how figure out a way to hand it over to her when she turns 18-21..just old enough to know and understand some of the sentiments that i was to put down. Well that's for her.

okay - its 10am and its about time that i jump out of the house and pick up my daughter.