Kaberi Dutta Chatterjee's Blog: Life and Laughter, page 15

Music is more relaxing to me than films

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW OF FARHAN AKHTAR BY KABERI D. CHATTERJEE

FROM CANADA FOR THE SOUTH ASIAN NEWS, CANADA

He directs, writes scripts, produces, acts, sings, dances and writes poetry. With that powerhouse of talent, he is increasingly getting compared to the other genius multi-talented persona of Indian cinema, Kishore Kumar. “It’s just one life,” he says. “It’s totally fine to not have to do just one thing for your entire life, if you can do different things which you are passionate about. You can follow those dreams and hopefully, even do well at them.” With Wazir soaring to the box-office ceiling and his cult film, Rock On! 2 coming up, he is increasingly being recognized as the most cerebral actor Bollywood has ever produced. Kaberi Dutta Chatterjee had a long-distance mid-night chat with the actor-director-musician-singer-poet-producer-scriptwriter, Farhan Akhtar.

 

Farhan Akhtar needs no introduction. The IMDB website states in his profile that he worked as a cameraman in Yash Chopra’s Lamhe in 1991 and then in 1997 as assistant director for a strange film, Himalaya Putra.

With such a humble beginning, you’d hardly think this is the son of the famous lyricist Javed Akhtar and scriptwriter, Honey Irani. Javedji’s work as dialogue writer in Sholay and Deewar have set the benchmark for dialogues in the Hindi film industry.

After this inconspicuous start, Farhan arrived in Bollywood in style with his baby project, Dil Chahta Hai, which he wrote and directed and which is still thought to be one of the cult movies of Indian cinema.

There was no looking back for him after that as he soar to new heights with acting, singing and producing skills in Rock On! and directing iconic films like Lakshya, Don, (with Shah Rukh Khan) and Don 2. He acted in several noteworthy films, like Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, Luck By Chance and Karthik Calling Karthik, the latest being Wazir, where he plays an army protagonist in tandem with the legendary, Amitabh Bachchan. His upcoming film, Rock On!2, written by the same writer of Rock On, Pubali Chaudhuri, and directed by Abhishek Kapoor, has the country waiting in baited breath for another rock musical to hit the mass.

I was just lucky to catch the very busy persona as he had just completed the shooting of Rock On!2. Speaking to the actor-director-producer-singer at midnight (morning in Mumbai) was the most thrilling experience for me. He came across as a thorough gentleman, polite, patient with the questions and my excitement in talking to him, as not just a journalist, but also as a huge fan and admirer.

You direct, you sing, you write poetry, you dance, you write screenplays and you act with such intensity that you make each character etched in viewer’s minds and in the history of Indian cinema. Playing which role is most fulfilling to you? Which action makes you the happiest?

Farhan: You know, it’s quite an impossible question to answer. It’s all about who I am, what I am. It’s what I like doing. It’s difficult to place one over the other. I’ve never been able to answer this question. And I don’t think I’m ready to do it now either.

So what is your goal? With the kind of powerhouse of talent that you have, it’s rather curious to understand how would you like to be remembered in history? Which do you like best doing? Which comes out from your heart?

Farhan: In all honesty, I like entertaining people through my writing, singing, acting in a film or directing a film or through the music that I do. We are in a field of communication and we communicate ideas and feelings to people. And hopefully get them to adopt those feelings and thoughts and use them in finding their ways in their own lives.

So just to be able to do that is very fulfilling. Whether through films or through music, it serves the same purpose. But they are two very different things. Music is far more relaxing to do than working in films. Films are relatively hectic. You know it’s always a chaos while making a film. It’s never easy making a film. But music is very relaxing.

With films you are dealing with so many people. So when many people come together there’s order within chaos. With music it’s all about your thoughts, you are clear about what you want to do and the collaborations are not that gigantic. You’re dealing with two to three people to make a song together. It’s definitely much more relaxing doing music than working on a film. But eventually, the larger purpose of doing both is to communicate and reach out to people.

Having explored almost all the aspects of creativity, is there anything that is left for you to explore? Is there anything you didn’t do or couldn’t do?

Farhan: I’m kind of happy with the work that’s going on. In all honesty, I don’t have the space to be able to think about what else is possible. These things have to happen naturally. As and when something that excites me I’ll probably give it a shot.

And going back to your second question, ‘What would you I like to be remembered as?’, I would want to say it’s kind of strangely vain to harbor these kind of thoughts that I would want to be remembered as someone. I think just through life’s experience, through your actions and through what people perceive what you are, it’s totally fine to not have to do just one thing for your entire life. If you can do different things which you are passionate about, you can follow those dreams and hopefully, even do well at them. So just to say that don’t hold yourself back. If from my life people can get inspired it’s perfectly okay. It’s just one life and make it count for everything that you are excited about.

From Dil Chahta Hai, to Rock On, to Wazir, you’ve distinctly avoided purely romantic roles, which has been for very long the USP of Bollywood. Is there any particular reason for that?

Farhan: Not really. I’ve just worked on scripts I liked. And there are different kinds of romance; you can romance music, you can romance a character you play.

What inspires you to take up a role?

Farhan: To start with, the writing. You have to love the story, love the script. Then you constantly think about your character. How important is your character and what is the contribution of your character is to the story. But mainly you want to get excited by the script. You want to feel good. It’s very instinctive.

How do you transcend from being a director to an actor, working with a director? Don’t you have any ideology conflicts on set?

Farhan:  No, no, no. Filmmaking has fortunately become a very open and collaborative process. Even when I am directing, I want my actors to be involved in ways much more than they are coming to perform. I am open to their ideas on script, their ideas on character, on the films where they are not in. Similarly, when I am working with another director, I feel very comfortable with the person I’m working with, to share my thoughts and ideas. I never feel I need to be a director, I never had those thoughts. Like I know what I’m supposed to do on sets. But at the same time, you don’t want to hold back any questions, any suggestions, thoughts or ideas. Because that gives you much more clarity in terms of the work that needs to be done.

Out of all the characters you played: Say Aditya Shroff in Rock On, Karthik in Karthik Calling Karthik, Imraan in Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, Danesh in Wazir or Milkha Singh in Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, which role is most fulfilling to you? Or which character was most difficult?

Farhan: By far the most tiring character to do is Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, which was also the most challenging to do. You know, every film that you work on, the reason you are there is because you feel the film is special. So it’s very difficult to single out any particular character. It’s difficult to step back and say this character was better than that. Because your experiences are different. They are different roles and different films and you have been inspired by that character. But the way you work, the way you are being a part of a wonderful film is always the same. But physically challenging and tiring role, by far, has been doing the role of Milkhaji.

Do you have any regrets so far?

Farhan: Not really. No I think it’s a bit pointless to think about it. What’s gone is gone.

(Kaberi D. Chatterjee is a novelist/ journalist and author of Neil Must Die and several other books and Editor of The South Asian News. She can be reached at kaberi@thesouthasiannews.com)

Published in The South Asian News, Jan 22, 2016

Filed under: For a thought.... Tagged: Aamir Khan, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, Bollywood, Canada, Dil Chahta Hai, Farhan Akhtar, Javed Akhtar, Kaberi, Kaberi Chatterjee, Kaberi Chatterjee. blog, Kishore Kumar, Mumbai, Rock On! 2, Shah Rukh Khan, The South Asian News, Toronto, Wazir

Happy New Year!

No this is not the title of a bizarre movie I watched in Jaipur (of all places!) that was released sometimes in 2014. I don’t know what prompted Shah Rukh Khan and sweet Deepika to exist in that film. I just remember wanting to let the film skim over the top of my skull as the scenes went by, which is why my frail brain doesn’t have any memory of it today.

But I did try to watch ‘Dilwale’, since it featured my favorite actress Kajol in it. Well, she was my favorite… till I saw the film.

Surprisingly, ‘Tamasha’, took me off guard with its incredible storyline and touched the heart at the softest place. No wonder it didn’t make it to the box-office… Audience surely don’t want to feel that vulnerable.

Why am I talking of Bollywood films in this new year column?

Because otherwise the world looks bleak. The sadistic face of Kim Jong-Un laughing as he sets his “thrilling New Year sound” off the Pacific Ocean with a series of N-Tests, hit a pit in my stomach. So did Donald Trump’s recent views on Mother Teresa, Albert Einstein and Gandhiji. I am wondering where the world is headed when I watched a YouTube video about how a man gets bionic penis for the first time and he is set to lose his virginity with a celebrated UK sex-worker. They’ll probably now upload his live intercourse, making it a sensational scientific watch.

Somewhere something is not going right. As I always say, time doesn’t know it has become a New Year, it’s just another day for it. So I cannot stuff this shifting trend in a timeline box. But there has to be a line (‘Lakhsmanrekha’ as they say) somewhere, and the world is crossing that line a hundred times over.

Happy New Year readers!

(Published as Editor’s Column in The South Asian News, Toronto, January 8, 2016)

Filed under: For a thought...., Laughing at life Tagged: 2016, Albert Einstein, Canada, Dilwale, Donald Trump, Happy New Year, Kaberi Chatterjee, Kaberi Chatterjee. blog, Mother Teresa, New Year, Tamasha, The South Asian News

UBER AND TAXI JUST GOT MARRIED!

You drive Uber too?

I asked the taxi driver as he pulled up in front of my house when I called for an Uber.

“Yes, both,” smiled the driver cheekily.

“Matured decision,” I said as I sat down heavily with my two bags in the back seat.

No, it did not have the same experience as riding in an Uber. The seats were horribly dirty, much as a taxi is in GTA, smelling of food and the snow mats were all soggy with snow.

Yet, it’s good for everyone. The cab driver doesn’t need to leave his taxi, yet has listed himself with Uber. So he is getting the best of both worlds. Whereas, the passengers get to pay the low Uber fare and enjoy the security of a taxi.

With the advent of technology, and Uber taking the cab market by storm, it was foolishness for taxi drivers to pull the protest for so long. Sooner or later, they were destined to accept the change. And now with more and more experienced taxi drivers joining Uber, it’s almost a win-win situation for all. Mayor Tory has to just stand by and watch the merge happen!

I was informed by the same driver that more taxi companies will soon be joining the cab-wagon in GTA. That’s real good news for people like me who do not like driving and find driving annoying and not their cup of tea. It’s good news also for families who have just one car and have to all leave together in order to accommodate their work/school times.

Intense competition will surely keep the fare rates at bay and the car interiors clean and passenger friendly.

I welcome Uber and all such technologies that make our lives better and gives us an option. In fact, I am waiting for the self-driven cars to hit market soon, which will be the mother of all options and give the scariest competition to all working vehicles.

(Published as Editor’s Column in The South Asian News, Toronto, January 15, 2016)

Filed under: For a thought.... Tagged: Brampton, cab operators, Canada, GTA, Kaberi Chatterjee, Kaberi Chatterjee. blog, Mississauga, Taxi, Toronto, Uber, UberX

Trudeaumania. Round 2

Justin Trudeau now has to earn it.

Canada has Just voted Trudeau In, majorly to vote Stephen Harper out. Deeply disappointed with Harper’s immigration policies, attitude towards First Nations and minorities, for almost a decade, Canadians voted Harper out, and with profound faith that the country will change, elected the charismatic former PM Pierre Trudeau’s son, ‘Golden Boy’ Justin.

Now Justin has to prove to all Canadians by keeping his campaign vows.

He’s already started off by announcing the withdrawal of troops from Syria and Iraq, and by announcing that he will let 25,000 Syrian refugees in. Let’s wait and watch what he does about the new citizenship law and other vows.

“Justin Just Not Ready” coined by the Harper government, thus, has been proved vehemently untrue by Justin’s landslide victory.

Justin IS ready.

However, it’s true that Justin won a great majority of the votes by default. “Stop Harper” became such an obsession for Canadians that they were ready to vote in anyone to oust Harper. It’s another debate, however, why they chose Justin and not NDP leader, Thomas Mulcair. Maybe Justin’s the man with the “nice hair”. Maybe. That’s why.

Jest apart, now that Canadians have put their faith in this young, rock-star handsome boy, who carries a baggage of an intellectually glamorous father, Justin has to catch the bull by its horn right from the beginning if he wants to win the lost trust of the Canadians.

It’s true. Lately a vast majority of Canadians were feeling like “second class citizens” with the introduction of the Bill C-24. Before that we always knew Canada was our home and nothing could change that. But now we feel insecure in our own homes. Some Canadians I know were already packing bags to go back. That’s bad news for a immigrant-reliant country like Canada.

Canada is wholly supported by immigrants. Excluding the First Nations, all Canadians (or their ancestors) were immigrants. And people are immigrating in thousands every day. Our immigration policy attracts the world’s best and brightest. Our healthcare and social safety net draws entrepreneurs in hordes. Our education system is the best in the world.

Let it remain so. We wish Justin Trudeau a true homecoming in the hearts of all Canadians.

(Published as Editor’s Column, The South Asian News, December 3, 2015)

Filed under: For a thought....

The Lover (A very Short Story)

(This is s short story and bears no person living or dead. Any resemblance is a mere coincidence)

For the first time in her 26 years of marriage she wore the vermilion on her parting. She patted her hair — which was receding on the front, to bring the ends forward in an attempt to look like a quintessential Bengali. She blushed like a newly-wed and look away.

She then went to her dressing table and drew a complete round vermilion bindi on her forehead. This, too , was for the first time. She looked like another Bengali lady. She felt feminine, wanted, loved, just the way she wanted to dress all those years of her marriage.

Unfortunately, like a lot of us, she was married to the wrong man. With whom she was never compatible, neither emotionally nor physically. She lived with him primarily because he wouldn’t leave her and mostly because she as too tired of trying to leave him. There was no love even if you squeezed that marriage out. And towards the end they lived because she needed him… hence the compromise.

They led their own lives. She was a hardcore IT specialist and wore suits to office, 9-9. He cooked his own breakfast, ate outside. There was no bond except for their son who was abroad doing his Masters.

But today she felt REALLY married. Today she felt like a wife, a lover, a princess, a queen. She wore the sari like a quintessential Bengali would do, and put on her bangles . She then tried on her jewelry, and payals and made soft jingle taps with her feet. Then she went out in the rain and got drenched.

She was celebrating. Today was her husband’s second death anniversary.

KDC 2 | 12 |2015

 

Filed under: For a thought....

Canadians need not be afraid of Syrian refugees

Even as I write this, Syrian refugees are being greeted at various Canadian airports with a ‘Welcome’ sign and tears from well-wishing Canadians. From Dec 1, 2015, Syrian refugees will arrive in Canada in throngs — 900 a day! Ontario is set to house 10,000 refugees, primarily and temporarily in military barracks.

Ever since the photograph of the toddler, Alan Kurdi, broke the internet and changed the face of journalism, Canada had been under immense pressure to accept refugees who are fleeing from the ISIS terror.  Alan Kurdi was apparently trying to come to Canada as a refugee and his application was apparently refused.

This photograph changed the way common people looked at the Syrian war/refugee problem. Then came the Canadian elections and Justin Trudeau swung into power with his promise to Canadians that he would accommodate 25,000 Syrian refugees by the year end, which he was determined to do.

Everything was going well, and Trudeau  got the support of millions — until the Paris attack happened on Friday the 13th of November, 2015.

This attack turned the sympathy of common Canadians 180 degrees on its head, and the empathetic Canadians now feared for their own safety, as it was highly likely that ISIS may infiltrate their suicide bombers through these refugees. More so, since one suicide bomber in the Paris attack was found to be a Syrian refugee.

There was panic among the people, among ministers and Premiers. Yet, Trudeau remained unmoved on his decision and set a December deadline to bring in the refugees.

In a way, I support his strength to stick to his decision, because every time a terrorist aims his gun at us, we should not shiver in our skins. We need to provide the humane support and values to the world that Canada is so well-known for.

In my lifetime I have seen planes crash into the Twin Towers and watched them crumble to the ground, the way men and women jumped from the top floors to their deaths. I have designed pages in a major newspaper in India to report the Mumbai attacks which killed 164 people and wounded at least 308. In November 2008, 10 Pakistani members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, an Islamic militant organization, carried out a series of 12 coordinated shooting and bombing attacks lasting four days across Mumbai.  The attacks, similar to that of Paris, began on Wednesday, 26 November and lasted until Saturday, 29 November 2008.

I have refused to watch as Daniel Pearl would be the first of many ISIS victims – throat slit, terror reverberating around the world, establishing a new “normal”.

Which is why the fear in the hearts of the Canadians is justified. “What if there are terrorists hiding among Syrian refugees?” has been the question on the lips of far too many people these past few days. Not so mention worthy is the spate of Islamophobia that has been gripping the country as well as the world the last few days that has resulted in some sparring hate actions in Toronto and surroundings.

As you read this copy, hundreds of Syrian refugees are screened in Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan for immigration to Canada.

However, you need not fear them coming and settling here. These are the reasons why:

No single men are allowed in. The Canadian Department of Immigration will be admitting women, many of them widowed by war, with their young children and other families with children. All of them will be coming from camps established in Jordan and Lebanon by the United Nations and will have lived in those camps for more than a year. Canada will not be accepting any of those refugees who are wandering in Europe with no identity papers and no security clearance.
They are selected from those screened by the United Nations High Commission on Refugees. The UNHCR uses sophisticated anti-fraud tools like biometrics. They also use a rigorous five-step process.
They are interviewed before coming to Canada.
Once in Canada, they are screened by Canada’s security services. Thanks to these precautions, security experts say the chances of an ISIS terrorist getting through are infinitesimal.
As I said earlier, families are on the priority list, (particularly female-headed households), unaccompanied minors and the sick, not single individuals.
Not accepting refugees is an even greater threat to national security.

Filthy and unguarded refugee camps are hotbeds for terrorist activities. Perhaps not surprisingly, terrorists find it remarkably easy to recruit fighters in squalid and hopeless camps teeming with desperate and disenfranchised people.

Accepting refugees strikes a blow at ISIS since ISIS relies on extortion and the taxes they collect from the vast swaths of territory they control. The New York Times reported that extortion and taxation, as well as kidnapping ransoms, accounte

d for $620 million in 2014. That’s more than the $600 million they made by stealing from state-owned banks in Iraq and from oil sales.
ISIS is relying on the West to refuse Syrian refugees and increased Islamophobia in the West to aid their recruitment efforts. ISIS has released a video telling fleeing Syrian refugees that the “infidel” West will never accept them, and that even if we do, we’d make them give up Islam.

Strategic interest, coupled with compassion, calls on us to accept the refugees and give them a warm home. By doing so we can will defeat ISIS in their own game.

Ref: Huffington Post, Canada; Globalnews, Canada; CTV News, Canada and other news sources
Filed under: For a thought....

Mahalaya extract from Neil Must Die

(Durga Puja and Mahalaya play a great part in building up the emotions in Neil Must Die. For all those who feel Durga Puja close to their hearts may want to read this extract)

Book 5

CHAPTER 4

The Homecoming, MahaSaptami, October 16 1996

The litanies of the Mahalaya were tearing through the speakers throughout Rajdhani Express, pouring generously on the passengers, filling them up to the brim. They were all coming home. As Goddess Durga had already come into the lives and hearts of Bengal, so were they. Returning into the hearts of their own families. From various corners of the globe the Bengalis were returning home.

It was Saptami, the first day of the Durga pujas, and Neil was returning home. For the first time in two years. For the first time after Tuli’s death.

The Mahalaya was piercing through his lungs. His heart. His whole existence. Why did they have to sell the album in cassettes? It was as though the entire world had conspired against him to let him know something. That he couldn’t escape. To let him know that he was coming home, and that was the truth.

He felt uneasy. And was tempted to walk up to the train attendant and ask him to switch off the music. But he couldn’t trust himself. He didn’t know whether he would hit the man if the attendant refused. He shivered a little. He didn’t know whether that was from the excess air-conditioning or anything else. His mind was going numb.

He closed his eyes. He wished he could close his ears. He decided to bear the painful music. He decided to think about Cathy.

Her eyes were brimming with tears when he kissed her, bidding her goodbye at the airport. She held his hand and said, “I love you.” He wished he could say the same. He simply nodded.

She said, “Just give me a ring. And I’ll arrange for everything. I’m waiting for your call…” she trailed off. Her voice had cracked.

Neil felt sad for her. Sad that she was feeling so sad. He held her and hugged her close. He knew all he had to say was, “I’m coming,” at that moment. But he felt tongue-tied. He simply held her. He wanted to see her happy. Cathy looked up and searched his eyes, as if trying to fathom his confusion. He smiled to hide them. But she knew. She smiled back and held his hand tight, “Don’t rush things,” she said. “I’ll be a friend always.”

And then she turned and left. She turned back before entering the security check and waved at him, smiling. Neil too waved back. And smiled. He felt two emotions. A lump in his throat and a sense of relief. He never knew why.

He got up from the seat and walked out for a smoke. He wanted to think of Cathy and not of the place he was going to. He should have been on a plane to Stockholm and not on a train to Calcutta. He pushed the swing door of the compartment, stepped outside and lit a smoke. He had to go home someday or the other. He had to return and face his past. Good. He could think better. He opened the door of the train. Dusk sped by. Dim lights afar flashed erratically indicating that electricity had reached those villages. Before that, of course, lay acres of barren land, aman paddy having just been harvested.

He looked at the sky. He felt a sense of claustrophobia. Previously the sky was always his source of freedom. Now it seemed, ever since Tuli was up there, he had no escape.

Neil took a puff. He asked himself for the umpteenth time. Why was he always escaping? Why couldn’t he anchor somewhere? Who was he? What was his identity? He was already 24 and had not started life yet. Oh yes. He’s a criminal. How could he forget that? Now with that track-record it will be difficult to get a job either. He wasn’t qualified enough. The only option he had was to go back and join Hassan. Join Juhi. Perhaps even marry her. That was the only way out. Or get a job through her. Then of course, he’d have to marry her. He felt uneasy. Sick. Claustrophobic. Felt as if someone was throttling him. He simply had to try for a visa. He had to go to Stockholm. That was his only option.

He threw the cigarette on the speeding tracks and went inside.  He looked at the happy faces. The happy families who were all going back home on holidays. They’d meet their relatives and all would be so happy. He sat down. When did he last feel happy? He didn’t remember. What was happiness? Was he searching for happiness, or searching for an escape from it?

He didn’t have an answer. His eyes stung with self-pity. He decided to sleep. He decided never to wake up…

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Filed under: For a thought.... Tagged: barowari, Durga Puja, India, Kaberi Chatterjee, Kolkata, Mahalaya, Neil Must Die, pujas, pujo

Will a toddler’s death unite the world?… Or annihilate it?

Humanity washed ashore

One picture spoke a million words and propelled the migrant issue right into the faces of the world leaders. Even as I write this, the European Nations are getting thronged by thousands of immigrants fleeing from Syria and the neighboring countries, and the nations struggling to meet their influx.

Even when I write this, the immigration issue, fuelled by a fall of the Syrian government and ISIS-led brutal regime, who had been suffering and dying in millions for so long, is snowballing into an issue the world might take up arms for.

More than 1000 Muslim clerics in India declared a fatwa on the ISIS. Australia confirms air strikes in Syria, announces additional 12,000 refugee places. Mayor Tory asks Torontorians to keep any spare bedrooms to temporarily house refugees, even as Canada’s PM Harper alludes a move to accelerate the refugee resettlement process.

There’s so much going on that every intelligent and well-aware Canadian is now looking up Google to know what this Syrian crisis is all about and why should Canada be affected by it.

Fact is that, why just Canada? Soon the influx is going to affect the entire world at large. One reacts only if one’s tail is on fire. And what millions of suffering people could not do, was done by this gut-wrenching photograph of the 3-year-old boy, Aylan Kurdi — of him washed ashore dead on a beach in Turkey. This photo actually set rolling a chain of reactions, such that now each country is under tremendous pressure of accepting refugees.

As I write this, the IS has declared that it has smuggled hundreds of extremists into Europe in the guise of innocent migrants, which is the most clever and obvious thing to do.

Logically, the world should now unite to fight the root cause of this crisis and join hands to fight terrorism and extremism, which they should have done long ago, instead of harboring and ignoring the issue.

If, in such a case, Europe joins hands with the Arab nations, Russia, Australia attack Syria, and India joins in along with UAE, as was promised by Narendra Modi during his last visit to Dubai, this will be the first war of humanity against terrorism….

Or the largest nuclear bomb to annihilate all humans. Our back is against the wall, it’s humanity’s choice now!

(Published in The South Asian News, Cover Story, Friday September 11, 2015)

Filed under: For a thought....

Speaking of myself…

This is my blog. My own space to write. I’ve been long since jumping from one social media to another to vent my opinions, emotions. Now it’s time to go for the kill.

I just got killed last month. By a woman, I am ashamed to say. But my killer exists, raves and rants in her world, very happy that she killed me. She killed me and splattered her own self with my blood. She danced in the discharge that sucked my soul away. She was very happy.

But could she kill the reason why she killed me? I don’t think so. The reason still exists, living with her, sleeping with her. breathing down her neck. My ghost will always haunt her. That is her pay-back.

I know I am sounding rather dramatic and morbid in this one. But fact is that, this blog is about life and laughter. When life squishes you, you turn morbid, and when life squashes you completely, you turn it into laughter.

Nevertheless, my murderer left and suddenly the “likes” on my fan page went up; them writing to me beautiful notes praising my work. I don’t know if they’re related, but I am surprised at the way Karma takes an effect. Which is why I want to thank you guys for your timing.

I am not just a journalist. I remind myself when such a grim-reaper arrives at the horizon, that I am a legacy-setter. Citrus and FinalDraft are my legacies. The institutions which I have worked for (Hindustan Times, The Telegraph (ABP)  and now South Asian News, Canada) gave me the courage and expertise to launch these two potential gems in the market which you all must be familiar with by now.

My three novels are my babies: Neil Must Die, Whiff of Tempest and Titir and Other Tales. Mon Amour… Sesher Kabita Revisited has become so big that strangers I have never heard of perform Mon Amour on stage and they don’t really know it’s my story! It’s like the creation has become greater than the creator!

I am proud! I am very proud that my novel Neil Must Die is being Torrented!! And you should see the kind of reviews written about it on Goodreads and debates on other sites.

Why am I speaking of myself so much? Yes. It’s because a part of me was killed that day by a sniper. And my existence was shaken. I am just trying to reinstate my existence.

And I must not miss out this time (I always wanted to keep this away from the limelight), that I have resumed my Kathak dancing, which I was an exponent even before I became a journalist or an author. I was dancing from the age of 2 till I got pregnant at 27, I gave a number of stage performances. got standing ovations and won a Gold medal.

Now there’s even an opportunity for me to branch into stage acting, which has always been my passion. I am exploring, albeit keeping that injury oozing with blood.

Why am I saying all this again? Just to keep a legacy behind me. Just to rebuild my confidence. Just to say that I, being a writer, a hard-core journalist, a reporter, a creative person, with a fantastic family behind me, living abroad with no dearth of happiness around me, with my parents and family in perfect health and happiness — I am maimed. I too get wounded. Wounded upon a wound that hasn’t healed over 30 years.

I never tried to prove anything to anyone, yet I am overwhelmed at the kind of support I get from fans and friends. Thank you so much. Your love fills my heart to the brim. though there is an injury in it which no one can heal.

All I am saying to myself is that however much strong I sound or look with my activities, there can be someone who can aim his/her knife and stab me at the right place. I am vulnerable to that attack.  And I am writing this at 3 am (morning, dawn, whatever) which is why I don’t think I need to correct this at all.

I’ll keep creating and bringing to you reflections of your own self which may fill your heart. When it gets filled, spill out your words and let me know. I answer to every message.  Write to me at here.

Sincerely always,

KDC

Filed under: For a thought....

Is Yoga Day really non-religious?

On June 17 this year, the Ministry of AYUSH released a book titled “Yoga and Islam”. The official press release explicitly stated, “The book clearly indicates that yoga has nothing to do with religion and is universally accepted.”

#InternationalDayofYoga in Srinagar , Kashmir This Picture might give serious Heart Burns to the Secular Lobby

However, what happened in New Delhi and most of the other places in India and around the world were contradictory. The occasion started with a prayer with your hands folded in the form of ‘Namaste’.  While in the West, the folding hands and sun-salutation are adopted quite unobjectionably without any feelings of threat, in India, the minorities refused to bend down in front of any power except Allah.  

The imageries used by various Indian government authorities too suggested the contrary. The masthead of the Twitter handle of the Ministry of External Affairs, @IndianDiplomacy, for example, on June 18, had three famous personalities— Swami Vivekananda , Baba Ramdev, founder of Patanjali and proponent of yoga in the 20th century, B K S Iyengar. Even though their association with yoga and meditation is well-known, Indian authorities skipped highlighting luminaries from other religions, even religions that were born out of Hinduism.

Members of India’s minority groups say the move to promote yoga is a ploy to whip up Hindu pride and marginalize the country’s 175 million Muslims.

Even as we know 47 Muslim countries are to participate in the yoga, the feeling of subtle saffronization cannot be overlooked. The other day I came across an Tarot reader on YouTube, who picked a card called ‘Sarasvati’ with the painting of Hindu Goddess Saraswati on it, and saying that that particular month will be beneficial for that particular zodiac sign in promoting his/her talents.

 Now Hinduism is being embraced in the West without a feeling of a religious threat is purely the absoluteness of the religion (or way of life, as history speaks about it) itself. But, surely, a definite whiff of saffron is in the air.  

India’s main opposition Congress party had also attacked the yoga event as a political gimmick. Muslim cleric and member of the influential All India Muslim Personal Law Board, Khalid Rasheed, said the community is against the chanting of Hindu hymns on the International Day of Yoga.

“So what we have objected [to] is that the government must not associate any kind of religious ritual or any kind of Surya Namaskar (sun salutations), and basically the politics that is being played and the type of comments and the type of statements that is being given by certain BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party] MPs that are targeted against the Muslim community,” Rasheed said.

Yogi Adityanath, a Hindu priest who is now a prominent BJP legislator, said earlier this month that minority groups that oppose yoga should either leave the country or drown themselves in the sea. The RSS last year passed a resolution calling for yoga to be made compulsory in schools and universities.

Maulana Akram Nadvi, a Muslim cleric, said the hype and comments from Hindu bodies ahead of the event had given the yoga day a distinct religious color.

 “We have not opposed yoga, that is a misconception. But yes, if yoga is associated with certain religious beliefs or with some religion, then we find it wrong. Yoga is an exercise and exercise should be left as such and nobody has objections to that,” Nadvi said.

Some proponents of yoga argue that it is an exercise regimen that transcends religion, and so Muslims are wrong to oppose the government for encouraging it. Sadhguru said yoga is a means of keeping the mind and body healthy, without any religious connotation. “The first step of yoga is the user’s manual: how to sit, how to breathe, how to manage this body, how to get the maximum out of this system. How to keep it an optimal level of function and experience every moment of your life. This is the science of yoga. Is it against any religion? It does not matter what you believe, what you don’t believe, every human being has a right to be well. If he has a right to be well, yoga is a powerful tool,” Sadhguru said.

So all in all, the success of India’s International Yoga Day, which was announced by the UN last year, is one more milestone in placing Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India and the architect of this motion, as one of the world’s strongest leaders and project India as a soft superpower.

Read more on http://www.citrusmag.com/ June 2015 issue

Citrus, June 2015

Filed under: For a thought....