Maximus Strikes Back !

Originally posted on 09/04/09

Last week was pretty tough on me. I missed an oppurtunity to go for AIESEC MC Workdays, the Pass It On event didnt really go well, my result came out and I scored disastrously low level of marks and a lot of other disappointments as well. But my moment of hope came when ManU beat Villa by a whisker at the stroke of the new week...! Woo Hoo !!

This week has been good so far, a fantastic appointment for YUVA, a lovely day at Jeevashram, Chidambram getting a surprise and finally a hope for next week.

Well, most of these days have kept me busy with The OC and Yuva. And ofcourse, they've compelled me to think what I've been dreading all my life - planning. Which im still contemplating about. 

Of Politics And Colours

My sincere apologies to the followers for not being able to write for February (even though I know they wont have missed me ! ). Well, to be honest, didn’t find anything good enough to write about. I mean who will write about Measles and its symptoms and its after effects Yes, that’s right. I was suffering from Measles (only) last month and now I have a nose that will never stop running till eternity.

Election fever is in full throttle mode so is the sixth semester at college. The newspapers and magazines are full of ful page advertisements which boast of never met targets achieved by both, the ones in the government and those who aspire to be in it. Still, I managed to bunk lectures and pay a visit to the cinema hall for a very rare movie. As it has happened in the past, it was an absolute delight to watch this movie.

Gulaal. This Anurag Kashyap movie is about politics and just politics. It took seven years for him to realize his dream project and I think he did a fair job.

A story of student politics and bitches it involves. A story of a secret plot to restore the Royal Rajputs. A story of characters casted perfectly by AK. Immaculate Detailing in every shot. One of the best scenes is when Dobrial answers the guy at Pan shop without saying anything. Good Job Anurag. I think the film wont have been the same without Piyush Mishra’s music and the witty and more contemporary politically satirical lyrics. “Bina baat ke Afghanistan ka baj gaya Band…” and “…der raat Iraq mein baith gaya Uncle Sam…” are some of the better examples. The irony of the plot was the highlight on John Lennon ( and the need of someone like him in today’s world of hostile political ideologies )and not someone like Che Guevara. Even though the very essence of Gulaal is - Revolution.

The satire continues when AK names liquors as Democracy, Republic, and Constitution etc. Kashyap defies all the laws of film making or rather writes his own set. It won’t be wrong to christen him as the Quentin Tarantino of Indian Cinema. Special thanks to AK for making us believe that teachers as pretty (understatement) as Jesse Randhawa do teach in colleges! To sum up – A more than worthy of your money, the same as I like my movies to be. From beginning you are aware of the Machiavellian plot in the movie but your failure to identify the Machiavelli is what makes you glued to your seat. Anyways it has inspired me to install a PCO phone in my room as well and get a neon light written 69 installed !Timely gaalis and Withdarawals  is also what you learn from the movie.  

Monomania

On 26th January 2009, India celebrated its 60th Republic Day. A day marked by the grand republic day parade at RajPath, New Delhi. Akin to traditions worldwide, this parade is predominantly an exhibition of the might of the armed forces. You can see tanks and missiles among other artillery on that street with people applauding and cheering the personnel riding them. The idea of such a show makes me think of the contrast that exists in the world as people believe Non-Violence is the order of the day and is increasingly becoming the basis of a country being called as a responsible state.

Monomania is a state of mind, when a person is obsessed with one kind of ideas or emotions, often delirious. The obsession can be with even slightest and smallest of thought. Feelings of Guilt, Love with a stranger, elderly people have all been a subject of monomania of different people in the past.

Incidentally, I stumbled upon the climax of Moby Dick on Monday, where I found Captain Ahab also showed monomaniac instincts in his quest to kill Moby Dick.

Nathuram Godse. The man is indeed very famous in India. After trying five times, he finally assassinated Mahatma Gandhi. As Godse grew up, he worked a lot for social causes like eradication of untouchability and anti-caste moments. He was an avid reader of Socialism and Marxism, Veer Savarkar and Mahatma Gandhi and confessed in his deposition in the court of law at his trial for murder, that the last two had influenced him the most. Two things emerge as the outcome. First, he was no illiterate religious fanatic. Second, he believed in equality among all human beings. Then there was this time when Gandhi's influence in the Congress and in the struggle for independence sored. The Civil Disobedience and Fasting were the talisman of Gandhi led movement.

Bhagat Singh. The martyr. Grew up at the same time as Godse. As a teenager, he was a part of the Non Cooperation movement as well. He Burnt his books and clothes among other sacrifices as part of that movement. Unfortunately for him, the movement was withdrawn by Gandhi in the light of killings in Chauri Chaura.

Anger, Repression and Disgruntled was how Singh and Godse among other soon to be revolutionaries must have felt. The fact that Gandhi became a Judge and Jury in his cause and the amount of time his method took fuelled the popular youth sentiment of rejecting Violence as a tool against the unjust British Raj as an insanity. Resulting which, Bhagat Singh among other revolutionaries opened a second front in the fight for independence. A way completely different from Gandhi's. Incidentally, their movement gained momentum and was increasingly becoming popular.

On the contrary, to label men like Bhagat Singh, Mahatma Gandhi and for that matter Godse as Monomaniacs wont be wrong because Passion is too small a word for their contribution to freedom struggle.

Egoist is the word that comes to my mind, almost immediately I think about Gandhi at this point of time. To twist the arm of morality, for self interest is the obvious follies of ordinary men in such situations. Please dont rule out Gandhi's ignorance of the fact. To advocate only Non-violence as a tool of winning freedom and behaving almost intolerant and giving a cold shoulder to other efforts is evident of this ignorance. So much so, turning down the oppurtunity to plea for Singh's case and instead signing the Gandhi-Irwin pact, almost facing the storm in the face of the public and infact Congress facing the public ire after Singh's hanging. To cut out a part of India against the will of millions of Indians and changing the course of history to his own effect.

 Was Gandhi the biggest monomaniac to live on the face of this earth ?