tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83120904894231075912024-03-02T22:58:35.097+05:30RandomThoughtsA Collection of my personal thoughts, views, Poems, Stories and some exceptionally good articles found by me in course of reading.
In short, my real, Inner thoughts on display in this Blog :)Shantinath Chaudharyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07771807367833585430noreply@blogger.comBlogger64125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8312090489423107591.post-59132913552317776122023-12-10T02:46:00.005+05:302023-12-11T21:38:19.726+05:30Book Review: Jammu & Kashmir: Dilemma of Accession<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwCNxbQey_-zM3QnkItpT5PlKF26WmLEZcaFUkB0d4uEB-gc3DKIILnl8kxXlA6lsEFQwmiAS8NpD1hkOrXj-Y7wJ_iEsYZHJkvK-aVHC1kgYJ1gLI7dhqZlR64DNO58t4KG-mNaLuAYJqSQEtBCSlmrndCF-RAIPJlGjyiiN6R9lLNsvjafgNB7iOXtQ/s494/8_0_IMG_0042.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="494" data-original-width="370" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwCNxbQey_-zM3QnkItpT5PlKF26WmLEZcaFUkB0d4uEB-gc3DKIILnl8kxXlA6lsEFQwmiAS8NpD1hkOrXj-Y7wJ_iEsYZHJkvK-aVHC1kgYJ1gLI7dhqZlR64DNO58t4KG-mNaLuAYJqSQEtBCSlmrndCF-RAIPJlGjyiiN6R9lLNsvjafgNB7iOXtQ/s320/8_0_IMG_0042.jpeg" width="240" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Book is based on the writings of Smt Lila Bhan- the daughter of the then J&K PM Pandit Ramchandra Kak. Her writing in turn is based on the diary writings/notes of her father, and both these writings have been used by the author Radha Rajan, to write this Book, appending some of her own views. </span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Page 15 to 104, has been so confusing. That part of the Book has the author’s writing, but the it is so messed up that it is not clear what part is the view of the Author, and what part is just she quoting the writings of Lila Bhan (pages 123 onwards). This Book is primarily based on the writings of Smt Lila Bhan, and some portion is based on the quotes from VP Menon’s Book (IOIS), and some from the quotes from CWMG (Collected Works of MG).</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">But the point is, the beginning of the Book is so messed up. </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Part 1 - Part 3 (i.e. Page 15-88) in particular, is so badly written. It quotes 3 different books/writings and mixes those up with author’s own views. And the commentaries are made in jumbled sequence numbering which is so confusing. For example, on page 27 is a section with title “section IV RCK paper”, it had point 38, 40, and it goes to Section I point 18,19 etc. On page 55, is “Section VI”, it has point 4,5,6,7, and after point 7, comes some other content with point 10,11,12….16, and next point is 26!! And lo and behold, “Section VI” point 8, makes it entry NOW on page 64! Now, on page 64, there is point 8,9 and then 12!! Page 65 has two sections titled “Section 1”!! And on page 70, there comes “Section V”, with point 41, 42.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Hope you get that. The writing is so messed up in this section. It is as if the author has taken an oath to play with the minds of readers. These serious stuffs of Historical matters, are anyway a bit difficult to understand, so effort should have been made to write about them in an easy to understand way, in stead, the author has put least effort in that direction.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Now, about the views expressed by the author in this part of the Book (uptil Page 104):- I found it a bit motivated against Gandhi and Nehru and also found it to have completely ignored Patel’s role.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Book starts by putting the blame of partition on Gandhi (by alienating Muslims and by his flip-flop stand on the Cabinet Mission plan). It then moves on to putting the blame of the J&K’s delayed accession on Gandhi. The basic premise is that PM of J&K opposed the accession due to Congress and Gandhi’s support and propping of Sheikh Abdullah (termed “Jihadi” Abdullah at times). The author has primarily contested the issue on J&K historically being a Hindu region, even though at the time of partition having over 75% Muslims. The author has also claimed that Sheikh Abdullah actually had his own nefarious intentions, and that was realized by Nehru too in 1953 when he jailed him, by which time it was already too late, in the sense that had Congress not supported Sheikh Abdullah, J&K’s PM would have supported accession to India in 1946 itself.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What I found odd about the author’s views, is that it focusses too much on “India being a Hindu Rashtra” and trying to justify things based on that. The word “Jihadi” has been used so liberally in the Book that I am sure it must be the most repeated word in the book! The author also conveniently gives a free hand to Sardar Patel both on the issue of partition, as well as on the issue of J&K’s accession. The author does question the silence and inaction of Patel, but at one point it justifies it by associating a cause to it and at another, it just questions it but let it slide. So while it just questions Patel’s silence and inaction, it actively criticises and vilifies Gandhi and Nehru. The author also opined that Gandhi came out harshly against Princely states, which I think is an illogical argument. The author actually critiqued the “western ideas of secularism, democracy…” at one point, thereby supporting the Kingdom like rule over Democracy. So all those views of the author has come out so odd and archaic. She doesn’t seem to have analysed it in light of how Congress worked at that time- with thought on secularism, democracy, people’s participation etc.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The real content of the Book lies between page 123 to 158. That part contains “Print copy of the original document received from Smt. Lila Bhan”. That is the part, where Pandit Ramchandra Kak’s daughter has written her views in a sequential manner, and she has put forth her views based on the writings of her father only. That section has the actual content, the real content in understandable way. I wish the author had simply written in the beginning only, to just skip to page 123.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Talking of this section, so many facts come up, and Pandit RCK’s views have been presented via her daughter. The basic argument is that J&K’s ruling was all great, and Sheikh Abdullah just came in between to push his own agenda (to have his own separate “principality”, taking support of Congress). Pandit RCK’s side has been explained really well, though at times, I felt things have been dealt in a bit more simplistic ways. That said, the Book rightly blames Mountbatten for the J&K’s accession issue. Clearly, Mountbatten had his own agenda (British interests), as is clear by reading several other books too. But then Nehru and Patel had hardly any way out. The Book unjustifiable blames Nehru for keeping Mountbatten in India with all the vested power, even after independence. Other books on the matter explains why it was unavoidable.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Nevertheless, this Book throws lots of new facts, gives lot of new insights.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">But the first part of the Book got spoilt by author’s motivated views and bad style of writing. Here are some examples:-</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></p><blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">" Islamic separatism and jihad which is organized in Pakistan and launched across national borders into Jammu and Kashmir— in the exact same manner in which Congress-ruled provinces organized the destabilizing mission inside their borders and launched them across borders into the adjoining Princely States. "</span></blockquote><p></p><blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"a triumphant Gandhi and the INC instigated civil unrest in several Princely States in the name of civil liberties, temple entry and "responsible government". There was Congress-triggered unrest in Mysore, Travancore, Kashmir, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Rajkot, Talcher and Dhenkanal."<span style="text-align: justify;"> </span></span></blockquote><p></p><blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv2wJq7mgM_Ff4pCeXx0dJgcSMUZFPLBmYXPSK4AvIhTHUPvaXH-Bi8h8X1o8_w8lVv9HE8DgM6TKG7xGlljdqqjGJgMS4LVwUAvnf1g-79GJYVlngICOtEu2vLb0K6HFnCOrDr3aPpH4Sc7kjunop2cdptwWJMbtu84hNtRaDrdRE_uLUblVWCiE-eik/s792/6_IMG_0039.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="541" data-original-width="792" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv2wJq7mgM_Ff4pCeXx0dJgcSMUZFPLBmYXPSK4AvIhTHUPvaXH-Bi8h8X1o8_w8lVv9HE8DgM6TKG7xGlljdqqjGJgMS4LVwUAvnf1g-79GJYVlngICOtEu2vLb0K6HFnCOrDr3aPpH4Sc7kjunop2cdptwWJMbtu84hNtRaDrdRE_uLUblVWCiE-eik/s320/6_IMG_0039.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">"Gandhi decried western civilization in the much-touted Hind Swaraj but sought extinction of India's Hindu Princely States for western notions of democracy, secularism, civil liberties and "responsible governance". Hindu nationalists must begin to understand Gandhi's Indian National Congress for what it had become after the passing away of Tilak—a de-Hinduised social reform instrument driven by non-Hindu political ideas." <br /></span></blockquote><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;">If someone reads this book in isolation, it may spread misinformation, it is very important to read this Book only after reading a few other books on India's partition. Just talking from the point of view of the then PM of J&K, the book presents a one-sided picture, since it tries to defend PM Ramchandra Kak so hard. Completely focussed on putting RCK's view, and in attacking Gandhi and Nehru, the Book fails to look at the issue with larger perspective. That said, it does throw some good insights, like how Congress got befooled by Sheikh Abdullah and how his friend Nehru himself ordered to jail him in 1953.</p>Shantinath Chaudharyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07771807367833585430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8312090489423107591.post-48110017071725844112022-12-24T02:19:00.003+05:302022-12-24T02:20:12.589+05:30Some lovely Quotes from Shantaram Web-Series on AppleTV<p>I had made a separate <a href="https://shantihp.blogspot.com/2016/04/shantaram-some-wonderful-quotes.html">blog-post</a> having all the nice quotes from the Shantaram Book. But while watching the web-series (<a href="https://shantihp.blogspot.com/2022/12/shantaram.html">review</a>), I came across a few more, so thought to create a separate blog-post for them. So here they are, some of the best, catchy quotes from Shantaram web-series:-<br /></p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="background-color: white;">Karla- <span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 13px;">"Tell her nothing Lin, in Bombay everyone's story is their own to keep, and that drives Kavvie crazy"</span></span></li><li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 13px;">Someone once said- the worst thing about corruption as a system of governance, is that it works so well.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white;">There is no good men or bad men. It is what they do, or refuse to do, that makes them good or evil.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white;">There is no shame is being afraid. Courage is being scared, and acting anyway.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white;">That’s because our laws concentrate on how much crime is in the sin. For me, the important thing is how much sin is in the crime.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white;">That’s why you must always ask yourself, how much sin is in the crime for you, no one else. And if it becomes too much for your soul to bear, then you must walk away.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white;"> Abdullah:- You don’t have to suffer anything, if you are strong enough to deny it.<br />KaderBhai:- Well, may be true strength is suffering for others, when you don’t have to.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white;">A suffering can be a kind of anger. We rage against injustice and unfairness, and some men feel compelled to bear this suffering, no matter the consequences. Such a man is only truly happy when he is suffering for others. The Hero’s curse.</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDY9IZSZuSdNzGva9KOEwYr67rJu8eq2p1QS4kBOtN5MnYvZjSuKtIDU08iYATH0qorwhx-XU2Yd-Dzuop_EyEF-C4OfUi0uPNqtIFRdXeguYFuKoJtceW300mhBm8UAwNpKllj3PvMzjERfcX5_8YvbpMp3ENyvV2-kcDCBFmZ1bazNT4AzLMvKyu/s3381/IMG_3783.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1756" data-original-width="3381" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDY9IZSZuSdNzGva9KOEwYr67rJu8eq2p1QS4kBOtN5MnYvZjSuKtIDU08iYATH0qorwhx-XU2Yd-Dzuop_EyEF-C4OfUi0uPNqtIFRdXeguYFuKoJtceW300mhBm8UAwNpKllj3PvMzjERfcX5_8YvbpMp3ENyvV2-kcDCBFmZ1bazNT4AzLMvKyu/s320/IMG_3783.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div></li><li><span style="background-color: white;">Karla:- I hate love.<br />Lin:- You can’t hate love, Karla.<br />Karla:- Why not, it’s such an arrogance to love someone and expect it in return. I think heaven is a place where everybody is happy because nobody has to love anyone else ever again!<br />Lin:- So if Love is no good, what is?<br />Karla:- Power, it is the opposite of Love.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white;">The only thing stronger than love, is the hate left behind, when its gone.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white;">I believe that all of the questions and most of the answers to life, are in Shakespeare.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white;">Lin:- Karla once told me depression only happens to those who don’t know how to be sad.<br />Didier:- What does that even fucking mean? If karla did less thinking and more feeling, she would be better off!</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white;">A coward isn’t capable of exhibiting love. It is the prerogative of the brave.</span></li></ol>Shantinath Chaudharyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07771807367833585430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8312090489423107591.post-13466320050620363342022-12-24T01:55:00.004+05:302022-12-24T01:55:36.428+05:30Shantaram: Web-Series, did it live upto the Expectation?<p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_6bFPHg4OrD7TgpXL1pR1tz-_5AkhFB0uJ9UtPp2lpL4PZyXab9QAOxrepzco2-_ILwSfN9HnHcD3Pt7CLMWJ7-GLNowUy6_9lU99RtKUmV0V4Llpsr_k7KbkEzLQT5J-FVhsqDOJn0x_iZR7qH1nLhWhZ1DGRH_LbEVD25TFOT1dUo8LFqnT1hH1/s1498/Screenshot%202022-12-24%20at%201.36.12%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="shantaram- image source- imdb- https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0429087/" border="0" data-original-height="1498" data-original-width="1018" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_6bFPHg4OrD7TgpXL1pR1tz-_5AkhFB0uJ9UtPp2lpL4PZyXab9QAOxrepzco2-_ILwSfN9HnHcD3Pt7CLMWJ7-GLNowUy6_9lU99RtKUmV0V4Llpsr_k7KbkEzLQT5J-FVhsqDOJn0x_iZR7qH1nLhWhZ1DGRH_LbEVD25TFOT1dUo8LFqnT1hH1/w271-h400/Screenshot%202022-12-24%20at%201.36.12%20AM.png" title="Shantaram Web Series Poster- from IMDB" width="271" /></a></div>Shantaram Book, is probably one of the best Novel one can read, and I had already written a separate <a href="https://shantihp.blogspot.com/2016/04/shantaram-book-review.html">review post</a> of the Book. So this web-series was undoubtedly one of the most awaited series for all the Book lovers. Most people who watched and reviewed, had a positive review, but a few had negative reviews too. I too, as someone who have read both of the books, have had a few critical observations, so I thought why not write a more detailed review over it.<br /><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Being a Novel, which runs in 900+ pages, and still manages to be one of the most loved Novel, it can surly be difficult to portray perfectly in a web-series, that too, when the first Season is just 12 episodes long, and the story surly seems to be shortened, changed, adapted a bit, so as to suit the shorter time period of the web series. So while the expectations of the readers were huge, the web series makers, seem to have had some limitations in front of them.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Keeping all that in mind, did the web-series live upto the expectation? To answer that, let me first note down a few of the peculiarity of the Book which had made it stand apart from other Novels and made it so loved by its readers:-</p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><ol><li style="text-align: justify;">All the main characters of the Book, were migrants in Bombay and had own troubled past. Their commonality had made them gravitate towards each other.</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Some of the relationships are beautifully portrayed in the Book; viz. Lin - Prabhu, Lin - Karla, Lin - Lisa, Lin - KhaderBhai, Didier - the group. </li><li style="text-align: justify;">The Book is full of philosophical talks among these pair of people. Some of those talks, look meaningless and nonsensical too while reading. But most of the talks, which are more in the form of philosophical debates, look so profound. In my view, this was the most outstanding aspect of the Book. There were several <a href="https://shantihp.blogspot.com/2016/04/shantaram-some-wonderful-quotes.html">quotes</a>, with which one can relate to so much.</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Lin & Karla's relationship is what stands out in the Book. How they talk, the situation between them, the arguments and debates they have, all that is so lovely in the Book.</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Lin-KhaderBhai-Abdullah's story too is great, and so is Lisa's story.</li></ol><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;">So coming to the review of the web-series now, for me, what was most important was, how well did it portray the key elements of the Book. For example, Lin & Karla's love story was one key element, Lin-Prabhu, and their stay in Bombay's slum was one key element, the philosophical talks in Book was one key element, the Lin-KhaderBhai-Abdullah's story and the gang war, was one key element. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">There have been a few hits and couple of misses, but overall, I loved the web-series. </p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUdjAcyYVuTOoBVlXzMPrCddx0Td63_g-6xGpGJEHVYTt0ROQCh_7BkAvfNTCS8csqlUhtbxV5OFQYqOmYUtDG1PMzW-GLndj_71nUVC7ozp0-s1i2h__RR8X0hSR2EWF5BjjUslRlkriqZk7L5_SN1s6fuJeXZcnzAX13CGifIhszpMIcMiMuxAnt/s3381/IMG_3783.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1756" data-original-width="3381" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUdjAcyYVuTOoBVlXzMPrCddx0Td63_g-6xGpGJEHVYTt0ROQCh_7BkAvfNTCS8csqlUhtbxV5OFQYqOmYUtDG1PMzW-GLndj_71nUVC7ozp0-s1i2h__RR8X0hSR2EWF5BjjUslRlkriqZk7L5_SN1s6fuJeXZcnzAX13CGifIhszpMIcMiMuxAnt/s320/IMG_3783.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>I loved it because I loved the Lin-Karla portrayal, their relationship has been portra<span style="text-align: left;">yed beautifully. Antonia Desplat has perfectly played the role of Karla. Her emotions, her expressions, everything looked so perfect. When Karla confides in Lin, about her past, as to how her father had committed suicide and she is still angry at her father for that (that he didn't consider her worth living for), when Karla tries to help Lin without informing her, when they have some philosophical talks, all these moments are so touching, so lovely.</span><p></p><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Overall, in other places too, philosophical talks- usual sentences which hit so profound- are in abound. There are such talks between Lin and KhaderBhai too.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Lin's stay in slum and his brotherly/friendly relationship with Prabhu, is nicely portrayed. His urge to help others, to come out a better human being, is so relatable.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">What also stands out in the web-series, and which was not so much focussed in the book, is the aspect of Lisa and her relationship with Karla. Lisa and Karla's die-hard friendship is portrayed so nicely in the Book. Lisa being so careless, and Karla being so caring about Lisa, was quite a thing to watch.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">Where the web-series missed to focus, was at KhaderBhai and Didier. In the Book, Didier was shown to be central character in the group, always in picture, but here he is pushed a bit back from centerstage. KhaderBhai's role is not so prominent. First of all, the physical persona of Alexander Siddig, is completely out of place, compared to the portrayal of an imposing personality of KhaderBhai in the Book. His physical appearance, his voice, his walking style, everything just doesn't match with how a reader will imaging the KhaderBhai's character to be. So that was a big miss. Also, due to time constraint, it looks the web-series could hardly focus on the gang war aspect, so the entire Lin-KhaderBhai-Abdullah story left a lot to be told.</span></div><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU0X8iWNlEVySHXczU7PS_e1hHWCiDJKdNCbQd_Bb6LY8c_4Diga6cDugeY4dOWVrTzumKRiaZ_LAw3IqwcbZmYzWkLo9NcjfE0lVEUUHopoQzQf5wATGPXQZZkMcjJS7bozaCK4H5huRn4hpsres9VMrDORMypY2WMZMeVOj4liMs5Bwv3rZ5xz_t/s1129/IMG_3789.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1129" data-original-width="1125" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU0X8iWNlEVySHXczU7PS_e1hHWCiDJKdNCbQd_Bb6LY8c_4Diga6cDugeY4dOWVrTzumKRiaZ_LAw3IqwcbZmYzWkLo9NcjfE0lVEUUHopoQzQf5wATGPXQZZkMcjJS7bozaCK4H5huRn4hpsres9VMrDORMypY2WMZMeVOj4liMs5Bwv3rZ5xz_t/w199-h200/IMG_3789.jpeg" width="199" /></a></div>That said, for me, the dealbreaker aspects, as I mentioned, were the characters of Lin, Karla, Prabhu, Lisa, which are portrayed nicely. In particular, I loved the portrayal of Lin and Karla's story. In fact, contrary to how it happens in the Book's story, in the web-series, it almost ends at a positive note (except for those last few seconds! :( ). But barring those last moments, didn't it feel satisfying to finally see Karla and Lin in love with each other and not shying away confessing the same to each other :)<br /><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;">So keeping all that in mind, I loved the web-series. Of course, with a better cast, longer play time, higher budget, they could have created a much better web-series, but in its current duration, isn't it a nice web-series? I think it is, and I would highly recommend everyone to watch it. Here is my <a href="https://www.imdb.com/review/rw8743768/?ref_=tt_urv">imdb review</a> of the same.</p>Shantinath Chaudharyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07771807367833585430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8312090489423107591.post-21627528606241794992021-02-13T13:56:00.007+05:302021-10-03T20:08:41.727+05:30Review: A man called Ove<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18774964-a-man-called-ove" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="A Man Called Ove" border="0" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1405259930l/18774964._SX98_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18774964-a-man-called-ove">A Man Called Ove</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6485178.Fredrik_Backman">Fredrik Backman</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3152712150">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
4.5 Stars. This Book easily claimed spot in my <b>“Best Books read”</b> list. It now remains close to my heart with few of nicest ever books I have read. And I can count them on fingers- Shantaram, A Thousand Splendid Suns, The Color Purple, <b>A man called Ove</b>.<br /><br />The peculiarity of this book lies not in its story, but its writing style. The book focuses not on story, but on subtle emotions and internal thoughts. In fact the Book has hardly any story, its story can be summarised just in a single page, may be just in a few lines! But the way it stands out, is the brilliant portrayal of emotions, and the portrayal of heart-touching love in spite of the behavioural differences among people. <br /><br />There are just 3 main characters in the book, and the entire book revolves around them- <b>Ove</b>- an introvert, reserved man of serious thoughts, his deceased but deeply loved wife <b>Sonja</b>- an exact polar opposite, but chirpy, and an avid Book lover, and his Iranian neighbour <b>Parvaneh</b>. Parvaneh, has recently moved in the neighbourhood with her husband and two young kids. She is chirpy as bird, and keeps poking nose into Ove’s secluded life. <br />And the family has shifted at such a time when Ove has been planning to die by suicide. <br /><br />Throughout the Book, Ove makes 4 attempts at his life, but fails all the 4 times due to one reason or the another. But the major reason of his failure at dying, remains his good heartedness. He is always reminded of something good to do, and ends up postponing the dying. The Book is neither too emotional, nor is too romantic, and that is another part where it stands out. It is a bitter sweet mix of emotions, humour, love and laughter. The Book makes you cry at times, but makes your heart fill with love and warmth at most times. It is the story of a old man having planned to die by suicide, to meet his deceased, beloved wife Sonja, but only to have all his plans thwarted by the entrance of a new lady in her life- Parvaneh, who is irritating initially, but makes a forcible but permanent place in his heart later. <br />It brings tears to the eyes, when Ove dies in sleep, Parvaneh comes and notices, sits beside him for long, and then whispers in his ears while letting him be taken away by ambulance crew-<br /><i>“Give my love to Sonja, and thank her for the loan”.</i> (the “loan” was Ove himself)<br /><br /><b>Some of the best quotes from the Book:-</b><br /><i>“Ove had never been asked how he lived before he met her. But if anyone had asked him, he would have answered that he didn’t.”</i>- Simple sentences, but such brilliant portrayal of emotions 😊❤️<br /><br /><i>“On the Sunday she was buried. On the Monday he went to work. But if anyone had asked, he would have told them that he never lived before he met her. And not after, either.”</i><br /><br /><i>“I just wanted to know what it felt like to be someone you look at.”</i> ❤️<br /><br /><i>“She often said that all roads lead to something you were always predestined to do. And for her, perhaps, it was something. But for Ove it was someone.”</i><br /><br /><i>“In the end she found out how he got the scars. And when one of her girlfriends asked why she loved him she answered that most men ran away from an inferno. But men like Ove ran into it.”</i><br /><br /><i>“‘Loving someone is like moving into a house,' Sonja used to say. 'At first you fall in love with all the new things, amazed every morning that all this belongs to you, as if fearing that someone would suddenly come rushing in through the door to explain that a terrible mistake had been made, you weren’t actually supposed to live in a wonderful place like this. Then over the years the walls become weathered, the wood splinters here and there, and you start to love that house not so much because of all its perfection, but rather its imperfections. You get to know all the nooks and crannies- How to avoid getting the key caught in its locks when its cold outside....”</i>
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/62396740-shantinath-chaudhary">View all my reviews</a>
Shantinath Chaudharyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07771807367833585430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8312090489423107591.post-68114278355583408342019-06-16T20:36:00.000+05:302019-06-29T23:53:53.212+05:30The Kaafir Poem<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-J3t5ad-ZZnwd6m4QevtR5lkTkB3pDz2oB0F2v7M47CFBzGm1xQm51tJni4lj_YnSFSpo4jbnLJhiou8BwNKjPsJ1wU-4lPR7JIJgu-5E72KsW6MfBR9Ml4G6tbXT7uxjC6md4xYU-TE/s1600/kaafir-kainaaz-and-vedant.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-J3t5ad-ZZnwd6m4QevtR5lkTkB3pDz2oB0F2v7M47CFBzGm1xQm51tJni4lj_YnSFSpo4jbnLJhiou8BwNKjPsJ1wU-4lPR7JIJgu-5E72KsW6MfBR9Ml4G6tbXT7uxjC6md4xYU-TE/s400/kaafir-kainaaz-and-vedant.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Image Credit: </b><span style="font-size: 12.8px;"><u><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NG8UAQEF7AE">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NG8UAQEF7AE</a></u></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">This lovely poem came in the Web Series - "Kaafir"- telecast on <a href="https://www.zee5.com/zee5originals/details/kaafir/0-6-1741/episodes">Zee5.com</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">It was termed as "The Kaafir Poem". The writer of this Poem is "<a href="https://twitter.com/swanandkirkire">Swanand Kirkire</a>"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">लोग
लड़ते हैं मिलने की
ख़ातिर,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">पर
अपनी तो बिछड़ जाने
की लड़ाई थी |</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">जीत</span>
<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">मिली</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">हम</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">दोनो</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">को</span>
<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">बस</span>, <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">बस</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">आँसू</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">की</span>
<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">कमाई</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">थी</span> | </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">तुम</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">पंछी</span>
<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">थे</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">और</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">मैं</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">थी</span>
<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">मछली</span>,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">हम</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">दोनो</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">की</span>
<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">अलग</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">थी</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">दुनिया</span>,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">अलग</span>
<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">सुबह</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">और</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">अलग</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">जहाँ</span> |</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">सब</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">कहते</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">थे</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">हम</span>
<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">दोनों</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">का</span>,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">इस</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">दुनिया</span>
<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">में</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">मेल</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">कहाँ</span>,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">पर</span>
<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">भूल</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">नहीं</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">पाऊँगी</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">वो </span><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">लम्हा</span>,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">जब</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">तुमने</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">दिल</span>
<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">की</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">धड़कने</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">सुनायी</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">थी</span> | </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">लोग</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">लड़ते</span>
<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">हैं</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">मिलने</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">की</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">ख़ातिर</span>, </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">पर</span>
<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">अपनी</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">तो</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">बिछड़</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">जाने</span>
<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">की</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">लड़ाई</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">थी</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">।</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">ये</span>
<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">बिछड़ना</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">मिलना</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">ये</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">तो</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">शायद</span>
<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">मुहब्बत</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">है</span>,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">अपने</span>
<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">प्यार</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">को</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">वो</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">दे</span>
<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">देना</span>,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">जिसकी</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">उसे</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">ज़रूरत</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">है</span>, </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">हम</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">दोनो</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">थे</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">क़ैद</span>
<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">कहीं</span>,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">अपनी</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">समझ</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">की</span>
<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">सलाखों</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">में</span>,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">तुमने</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">ऐसा</span>
<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">रिहा</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">किया</span>,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">ख़ुद</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">आज़ादी</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">शर्मायी</span>
<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">थी</span>;</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">लोग</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">लड़ते</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">हैं</span>
<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">मिलने</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">की</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">ख़ातिर</span>, </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">पर</span>
<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">अपनी</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">तो</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">बिछड़</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">जाने</span>
<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">की</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">लड़ाई</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">थी</span> | </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">मिलेंगे</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">हम</span>
<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">ये</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">वादा</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">है</span> ,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">रोज़</span>
<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">रात</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">को</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">चाँद</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">के</span>
<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">ज़रिए</span>,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">मैं</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">भेजूँगी</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">पैग़ाम</span>
<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">तुम्हें</span>,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">इस</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">बहती</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">हुई</span>
<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">हवा</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">के</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">ज़रिए</span>,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">साथ</span>
<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">रहेंगे</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">सोच</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">में</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">दोनो</span>,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">नाज़ुक</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">नाज़ुक</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">यादों</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">में</span>,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">मैं</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">कहूँगी</span>
<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">मुझको</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">एक</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">मिला</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">था</span>,
<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">पागल</span>,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">जिसने</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">ज़िंदगी</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">सिखायी</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">थी</span>,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">तुम</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">कहना</span>
<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">सबसे</span>, <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">एक</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">ज़िद्दी</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">पड़ोसन</span>, </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">अपने</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">घर</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">भी</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">आयी</span>
<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">थी</span>|</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">चलो</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">बहुत</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">हुआ</span>, <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">अब</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">चुप</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">रहूँगी</span>,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">चुप्पी</span>
<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">में</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">मज़मून</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">है</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">ज़्यादा</span>,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">तुम</span>
<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">जैसा</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">बनना</span>, <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">कहूँगी</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">सबको</span>, </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">बस</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">इतना</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">ही</span>
<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">मेरा</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">वादा</span>,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">इससे</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">ज़्यादा</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">कहूँगी</span>
<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">कुछ</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">तो</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">फूट</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">पड़ेगी</span>
<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">रुलायी</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">भी</span>,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">लोग</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">लड़ते</span>
<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">हैं</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">मिलने</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">की</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">ख़ातिर</span>,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">पर</span>
<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">अपनी</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">तो</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">बिछड़</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">जाने</span>
<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">की</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">लड़ाई</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">थी</span> |</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;">P.S. You can read the review of "Kaafir" at my <a href="https://shantihp.blogspot.com/2019/06/kaafir-movie-review.html">another blog-post here</a>.</span></div>
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Shantinath Chaudharyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07771807367833585430noreply@blogger.com32tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8312090489423107591.post-73286093979485664142019-06-16T16:56:00.001+05:302019-06-17T07:21:33.400+05:30Kaafir - Movie Review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-yA2B5hNABBd5q-D9yOarh5B9IPWdnXS2BvxexU20m_UiRla8nyom6B9yvVrI2kPH_ciGdqQ2PzOuxL6-3T7GFfVMfvd7hn-QhLa3SHN4F8rYppCSnbrTZwgbISOlYcc5SWvYx06T2fg/s1600/Kaafir-characters-Kainaaz-Seher-and-Vedant.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="390" data-original-width="690" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-yA2B5hNABBd5q-D9yOarh5B9IPWdnXS2BvxexU20m_UiRla8nyom6B9yvVrI2kPH_ciGdqQ2PzOuxL6-3T7GFfVMfvd7hn-QhLa3SHN4F8rYppCSnbrTZwgbISOlYcc5SWvYx06T2fg/s1600/Kaafir-characters-Kainaaz-Seher-and-Vedant.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Image Credit</b>: https://zeetv.zee5.com/kaafir-character-promos-meet-kainaaz-akhtar-seher-and-vedant-rathod/</td></tr>
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Few movies are so powerful that it makes you cry with the protagonists, feel what the actors are feeling. Few movies are so well directed that it focuses at several subtle and sensitive aspects of the society in a very powerful way. Kaafir does all that, and more.<br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Kaafir is a Web Series being telecast on Zee5.com. Terming it as "movie" for sake of convenience)</span></b></div>
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There is a scene in the movie where the protagonist Kainaaz- a Pakistani woman- is sent to jail and inside the jail lockup, first, Hindu women tell her to move away sit on the Muslim women's side, and when she goes to the Muslims' side, Muslim women tell her to shift away sit in the Pakistani section of the jail lockup. The helpless, emotionless expression on Kainaaz's face, breaks your heart. </div>
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In another scene, after a terrorist blast in J&K, some angry youngsters attacked the army officer's house where Kainaaz was staying (since she was a Pakistani). With kainaaz inside with her daughter, they set the house on fire. The two persons who came to rescue both had their relatives' killed in terrorist attacks earlier. One was Suri Uncle's wife who had lost her husband in the very terrorist blast, and another was Vedant, who had lost his army officer brother in a terrorist attacks several years earlier. The incident shows the great divide in society, the divide of blind hatred and matured conscience.</div>
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The movie is not only of a Pakistani woman stuck in Indian jails on flimsy grounds of "National security" (flimsy because there was no evidence, and no investigation) . It is also the story of the struggle in the life of a woman, who has to play the role of a daughter, a wife, and a mother in extreme circumstances of the patriarchal, misogynist world. What's more, the movie is also about a righteous man's resolve and conviction in doing the good. The movie is about the fight of good vs the bad elements of society, where ultimately the good wins, but after a lot of pain and sacrifices. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTqzxlbAA7B4uTEHrwnoskCcGd1TpmU7y1CK4_MIROaVIn9dWqkFT7KYGYVfz9qQP-coJg0BrsZ-ted_WOAgL-bgCdUzFIDxD1JuGmyKmPo4qLxiWwLCyIybGsgTardVO0LOoeKP-ZZYo/s1600/pic2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTqzxlbAA7B4uTEHrwnoskCcGd1TpmU7y1CK4_MIROaVIn9dWqkFT7KYGYVfz9qQP-coJg0BrsZ-ted_WOAgL-bgCdUzFIDxD1JuGmyKmPo4qLxiWwLCyIybGsgTardVO0LOoeKP-ZZYo/s400/pic2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A still from the movie, where Kainaaz, after winning her freedom from court,<br />
falls on her feet crying, and her little daughter comes running to console her</td></tr>
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Look at it- the woman protagonist Kainaaz played by Dia Mirza- first gets ditched by her husband in Pakistan, then she jumps into river to commit suicide, doesn't die but lands into Indian jails. There she gets served 15 months jail term, gets raped by a jailer, and has to remain under extreme circumstances in the jail, not for just 15 months, but for more than 8 yrs!</div>
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And look at the male protagonist in the movie- Vedant, played by Mohit Raina, he is from a military family- his two brothers are in army and his father is a retired Police officers. The irony in his life, is that his younger brother was killed by a terrorist, who he himself had got released from jail in capacity of lawyer, under impression that the guy was innocent and not a terrorist! And yet again, he takes up the case of a Pakistani woman Kainaaz! He also takes it up going against his father's constant opposition.</div>
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The movie touches upon several delicate issues, and focuses on many conflicting emotions in the minds of the lead protagonists. There is an angle of love and sacrifice, there is the element of guilt, and there is the depiction of great resolve and conviction in face of severe extreme circumstances. Dia Mirza does magic with her acting and expressions, she absolutely dives into the character making it to so real that you feel her pain as she faces. Mohit Raina in his role of the lead male protagonist too plays a great part. The Child actor Dikshita Jain is so cute, lovely and innocent. Several of her innocent questions bring smile on your face. The script writer of the movie has been superb. The movie is replete with several deep dialogues which touch your heart. All in all, this is one gem of a movie, one is a million kind, not to be missed at all. The director, producers and the entire team deserves a huge applaud for making a movie on such theme, with such nuance and depth.<br />
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Ending it, I would like to mention a few of the many, fabulous dialogues from the movie:-<br />
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<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">"हम</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">जेल</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">वापस</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">चलते</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">हैं</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">अम्मी</span>, <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">यहाँ</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">बाहर</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">मुझे</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">अच्छा</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">नहीं</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">लगता</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">है"</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">"कायनाज</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">जी</span>, <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">हाथ</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">खुले</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">हो</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">या</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">जुड़े</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">हो</span>, <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">कोई</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">फ़र्क़</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">नहीं</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">पड़ता</span>; <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">इबादत</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">का</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">तरीक़ा</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">नहीं</span>, <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">नीयत</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">मायने</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">रखती</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">है"</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">"जेल</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">की</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">खिड़की</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">की</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">सलाखों</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">से</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">जब</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">मैं</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">खुले</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">आसमान</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">और</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">पहाड़ों</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">को</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">देखती</span>, <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">तो</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">मुझे</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">वही</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">खुला</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">आसमान</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">और</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">पहाड़</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">नज़र</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">आते</span>, <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">जो</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">मेरे</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">मुल्क</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">में</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">भी</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">है</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">क़ुदरत</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">सब</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">के</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">लिए</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">एक</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">है</span>, <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">इंसान</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">ही</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">लकीरें</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">बनाता</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">है"</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">"दुनिया</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">को</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">अगर</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">नफ़रत</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">की</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">निगाहों</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">से</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">देखा</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">जाए</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">तो</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">हमें</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">नफ़रत</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">का</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">ही</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">एहसास</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">होता</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">है।</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">अगर</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">हम</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">दुनिया</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">को</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">प्यार</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">की</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">निगाहों</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">से</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">देखें</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">तो</span>, <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">प्यार</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">का</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">एहसास</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">होता</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">है"</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">"मारने</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">वालों</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">से</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">बचाने</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">वाले</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">बहुत</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">ज़्यादा</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">हैं</span>, <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">लेकिन</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">बस</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">बेटा</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">वो</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">चुप</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">रहना</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">सीख</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">गए</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">हैं"</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">"लोग</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">लड़ते</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">हैं</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">मिलने</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">की</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">ख़ातिर</span>,</div>
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<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">पर</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">अपनी</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">तो</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">बिछड़</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">जाने</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">की</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">लड़ाई</span> <span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif;">थी</span> |<o:p></o:p></div>
<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">जीत</span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">मिली</span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">हम</span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">दोनो</span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">को</span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">बस</span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">, </span><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">बस</span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">आँसू</span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">की</span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">कमाई</span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">थी " </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "nirmala ui" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">(the small part of the longer "<a href="https://shantihp.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-kaafir-poem.html">The Kaafir Poem</a>" by</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;"> </span></span>Swanand Kirkire )<br />
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Shantinath Chaudharyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07771807367833585430noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8312090489423107591.post-9395616827389650452018-08-15T14:00:00.475+05:302023-12-11T21:54:51.865+05:30Understanding Partition of India: Some of the Best Books to read<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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So a few years back, I really got fascinated about the partition saga. I
got really curious to know more about the factors leading upto partition.
I had always read conflicting theories about partition through online
articles and social media debates. Some used to blame Britishers for
deliberately partitioning India for their own benefits, some blamed
Jawahar Lal Nehru for partition, and some even used to blame Gandhi ji for
the partition!! All these talks and online readings made in bits and
pieces, gradually made me curious about the partition issue, and I thought
to read some books on the matter. So below are some of the books I have
read, and some quick review about those books<font>:-</font>
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<a href="https://amzn.to/2B8OFJM" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><font></font></a><b>1)</b> <b>Pakistan or the Partition of India : </b>
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Written by Dr. B.R. Amdekar, I read this book first, fascinated by it's
title probably. This book has looked at the partition issue from a
sociological perspective. Dr. Ambedkar seems to have had an immense
knowledge and awareness of historical and political struggles going on
around the world, and he has put forth his arguments on that basis. Dr.
Ambedkar has discussed in detail about both pro-Gandhi and anti-Gandhi
factions, and interestingly he has criticized both. On one hand he has
discussed V.D. Savarkar's orthodox, Hinduism related policies, and on
another, he has discussed Mahatma Gandhi's policies of trying to
bridge Hindu-Muslim gap by taking steps favourable to them. He has been a
fierce critic of Gandhi ji. He has pointed out that despite Mahatma Gandhi's
desperate efforts towards communal harmony, there was no let down in
Hindu-Muslim riots. He has discussed the concept of "Country" and
"Nation", and he has thrown light on the concept of the famous "Two Nation
theory", i.e. there lived two nations in the country named India. A major
part of his book is focussed on discussing the huge sociological divide
between Hindus and Muslims in India. He has tried to make his point that
since centuries of time, there has been a deep divide between Hindus and
Muslims in India, due to several factors. All in all, he has implicitly
suggested that partition was a good thing to happen, and it was bound to
happen sooner or later, due to the deep, unending differences between Hindus
and Muslims.
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<b>2)</b> <b>Freedom at Midnight: </b>
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Probably the most famous book on partition, written by Dominique Lapierre
and Larry Collins, this book is sometimes criticized to be biased towards
the Britishers. But I found this book interesting to read. The book is
based on extensive interviews conducted of the last Viceroy Mountbatten,
his family members, and several other people. So it does seem to be
telling the story from foreign eyes, but still it has thrown great deal of
light on the partition issue. It has explained how the Indian politicians
(including Jinnah) could never come to an agreement, which led to
prolonged discussions. The book also tells the interesting fact about why
partition was declared exactly at midnight. It also explains, with how
much difficulty the exact partition lines were decided between India and
Pakistan by "Cyril Radcliffe". And also, interestingly, the division
demarcation was never disclosed till partition day. So on 15th August
1947, no one actually knew whether they were geographically in India or in
Pakistan. The book also details about the lavish lives of princes of the
princely states. It explains how the individual princely states were
convinced to merge into India or Pakistan, leaving their hold on power.
All in all a great book to learn about partition. A more detailed review
of this book can be read
<a href="http://shantihp.blogspot.com/2016/11/freedom-at-midnight.html">here</a>.
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<a href="https://amzn.to/2P5z0hg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><b>3) India Wins Freedom</b>:
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Probably the best book, and should be must read for anyone trying to learn
more about partition, and pre-independence politics. Written by Abul Kalam
Azad, this book is special because the author remained Congress President
for almost 6 years post 1939, and was involved as a representative of
Congress in most talks/negotiations with Britishers- Cripp's Mission,
Simla Conference, the British Cabinet Mission resolution etc. So he has
given a kind of inside view of the negotiations going on in those times.
He has also been pretty impartial about discussing the policies of Pandit
Nehru, Sardar Patel and Gandhi ji. He has criticized several decisions of
Gandhiji and has clearly written that majority of Congress politicians
were with Gandhiji NOT because they believed in non-violence, but because
they believed that non-violent ways of protest was the best and fastest
way to get Independence. In fact there was a moment when many Congress
politicians were in favour of going against Britishers taking violent
path. Regarding Gandhiji's murder, he has written in very detail how the
conspiracy was hatched and multiple assassination attempt were taken. He
has criticized Sardar Patel (being Home Minister) for willful negligence
about Gandhiji's security. A large part of the book focussed on several
political negotiations with Britishers about getting Independence, and
that really throws a great deal of light on what all transpired, why those
negotiations failed, and why ultimately the Partition had to be conceded.
The most painful part he has discussed in the book, is the betrayal done
by Congress towards Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan, for not supporting their plea
of demanding to keep the NWFP region in India. He wrote that Khan brothers
had always been loyal supporters of Congress, but Congress and Gandhiji
ditched them in such an important moment. After their region went into
Pakistan, both the Khan brothers were jailed and tortured in Pakistan. In
short, a really great book to read. The Font and Font size/spacing in the
hardcover book available, makes the book slightly painful to read, but for
it's content, one must not miss it.</div>
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</div><div style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;"><b style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img height="200" id="id_2474_4f37_7e20_ceb0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/6dQsHhR8HhPpjVUM_yV9fdQ75f-Mu3VZU959NGF7iUgv47I_v0vLo_JAMsCbrbJVdBU=w129-h200" style="height: auto; width: 150px;" tooltip="" width="129" /></b><b style="font-weight: bold;">4) The Shadow of the Great Game : The Untold Story of India's
Partition</b><b>
: </b><span style="text-align: justify;">Again a very exhaustive book, writing about things in very detailed manner. The author "</span><span color="windowtext" style="text-align: justify; text-underline: none;">Narendra Singh Sarila" had been ADC to the last viceroy Luis Mountbatten. Being ADC to the viceroy he must have seen</span><span style="text-align: justify;"> things from close, hence his account seem very reliable. The Bollywood movie "Partition :1947" is based on this book. In this book, the author has argued that the partition was done by Britishers as part of much larger conspiracy to maintain hold over this part of Asia. The author has discussed things from the ongoing world politics at that time, and has thrown light on the Russian Vs Britishers fight for geographical supremacy. He has also brought in the viewpoint of maintaining control over rich Oilfield regions. The author's main viewpoint has been that Britishers were willing to leave, but wanted to take back a guarantee that the new, independent country will always support Britain in it's pursuit of increasing or maintaining hold over geographical locations through violent means (if it comes to that). Indian politicians were clearly in no mood to support Britain in any of their motives post independence. But the Britishers gauged the fact the Muslim politicians led by Jinnah were willing to give them this kind of logistic support for their military pursuits. The author was also of the view that the northern parts of India (NWFP, and Gilgit regions) were really important to Britishers for strategic reasons of halting Russians advances. This book is also very important to read the Jammu and Kashmir part of the story. The author has written in detail about J&K aspect, how the state was attacked by first Pakistani military led by British army men, and how they had captured some regions of J&K initially. And how the tribal led invasion was later undertaken by Pakistanis, which forced Raja Hari Singh to write a letter giving consent to merging of the state with India, in exchange for protection from Indian Army. The author also details how India made some mistakes of going to UN at wrong time, when they could have actually taken back the area of J&K captured by Pakistanis. United Nations headed by Britishers and Americans, were clearly biased against India's </span>interests, was what the conclusion of author<b>. </b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>5) Guilty Men of India's Partition: </b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img alt="" id="id_9749_d773_84b5_ac87" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/W52M8OgIHcJbFppZ5uOePA-fWKMrGs2GSIh3Uy2IUlb98tXBL-Hr2mS_De6q2_75R2A" style="height: auto; width: 150px;" title="" tooltip="" /></div><span color="windowtext" style="text-align: left; text-underline: none;">This book by Mr Rammanohar Lohia is primarily a critique of the Book
“India Wins Freedom” (a kind of critical review of that book). This
entirely revolves around countering the facts and statements written in
that book. As a result this book is very short and should be read only
after reading "India Wins Freedom". After reading the book,
I </span><span style="text-align: left;"> couldn't stop at marvelling what a visionary Rammanohar Lohia was!
Many of his views still stands true and will stand true in times to come
too. In criticizing the view of Maulana Azad he wrote quite many of his
own independent views/assessments too. Primarily in this book, he keeps
the focus on Pandit Nehru, tries to prove that Nehru was the main person
from Congress side who should take the blame for India’s partition. He
also illustrates one incident where Nehru conspires through Jayaprakash
Narayan to put the blame of Mahatma Gandhi’s murder on the carelessness of
Sardar Patel (Lohia’s own assumption here). Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
in his book, had written the opposite. He had put the major blame of
partition on Sardar Patel and towards the end he also blamed Sardar
Patel's for Gandhi’s murder! So this book of Rammanohar Lohia is a must
read for anyone who has read “India Wins Freedom”. It throws its own
perspective on the happenings in pre-partition times, and some very
interesting and enlightening ones! A few of his conclusions and
presumptions seemed over the top and untrue. He hardly wrote anything
about Sardar Patel, and he also skipped how/why Gandhi agreed to partition
proposal, despite raising the point countering Maulana Azad’s view in his
book. Comparatively, Maulana Azad in his book, had written about both
Nehru and Patel, how they both had agreed to partition. His assessment had
seemed more logical. Lohia’s assessments seem driven by prejudice (one
sidedness) against Nehru or against the inaction of Maulana Azad for being
inactive in stopping partition. All in all, I think since this book was
written as a review of “India Wins Freedom”, it should be taken with a
pinch of salt, with a limited purview of a supplementary book to
“India Wins Freedom”.</span></div></div><div style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span color="windowtext" style="text-underline: none;"><div style="text-align: justify;"></div></span></div></div></div></div><div style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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6)
<b>Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End of an Empire</b>:-<br /><div style="text-align: justify;">As the cover photo itself suggests, this book heavily focuses on
Mountbatten-Edwina-Nehru’s relationships. The author goes to a great
extent to prove that Edwina and Nehru were in love. A few instances have
also been cited where Edwina was able to influence Nehru’s political
decisions. So on that part, it did well. There is a good dedicated chapter
on Kashmir issue too. All in all, a very good book with some very
interesting facts. What I didn’t like about this book though, is that more
than half of the book (370 pages), was dedicated to exploring personal
lives and family trees of Mountbatten, Edwina and Nehru. It does it so
much, that sometime I felt as if I was reading a fiction novel!! I also
felt that the author’s views came a bit biased at times. Being a
britisher, she seems to have looked at events and decisions from a British
perspective. But that’s not a big issue I feel, every author will be
supposed to have some bias which we need to filter out as a reader. But
all in all, a very good book to enhance the knowledge of partition. Every
new book throws a new perspective on partition, and I am sure this book
too does a great job at that! </div></div></div><div style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="uiqtextpara" style="text-align: justify;"><div class="uiqtextpara" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; text-align: left;">7) <b>Midnight's Furies:- </b><span style="text-align: justify;">The prologue of this book reads-</span></div><div class="uiqtextpara" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><blockquote><div style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"> <img class="shareaholic-media-target-hover-state" id="id_a502_5eaf_df42_4472" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/oo2a9awwtYRbpNJ9220ZZeof0-bopih0LZLG8RCEzQZVNrUGjgeBOBEF6hJXlnbReGc=s16000" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 1px 1px 5px; height: auto; padding: 5px; width: 150px;" title="midnight's furies" tooltip="" /></div>"This book aims to answer a different question- not why the subcontinent was split, or who was to blame for the massacres, but how the experience of partition carved out such a wide gulf between India and Pakistan. How did two nation with so much in common end up such inveterate enemies so quickly"</blockquote></i></div><blockquote></blockquote></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;">And I think the book does that task pretty well. This books stands out in the way it throws light on the India-Pakistan conflict post partition, which laid ground for such a long persisting acrimonious relationship between the two nations. Almost the whole of last 4 chapters of the Book, is focused on detailing issues and conflicts revolving around the three contentious regions- Junagadh, Hyderabad and Jammu & Kashmir. And this was the first book I read, in which their strategic inter-relation is emphasized so well. Essentially, after partition, these three were the states which were undecided ones, and it was a matter of prestige and ego, for Pakistan to have these, and a matter of security concerns for India, to have it made part of India. A lot has been written on this, as to how both countries tried to make all the three their own. Ultimately, India was able to take Junagadh and Hyderabad, and Jammu & Kashmir ended up in stalemate. The matter of Jammu and Kashmir too has been written about in great detail. So this book did this part really well. Apart from that, the Book has also written in detail how Muslim League initiated trouble with call of Direct Action Day, and also about the role played by Hindu extremist organizations like RSSS in the aftermath. The gory detail of rioting and genocide in Punjab region too has been written about in great detail. And lastly, the book has pointed out in great detail the difference between the ideology and working style of Pandit Nehru and Sardar Patel. At several points it has contrasted their ideology and working style, basically showing Nehru as more liberal, idealistic person, and Patel as a bit of orthodox, religion centric person. There has been several instances mentioned where Patel had worked sneakily (as Home Minister), keeping Nehru in dark, because he understood Nehru would have never agreed with his actions. So in this aspect too, the author has written so well. All in all, a great book to read.</div></div>
<div class="uiqtextpara" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="remembering partition" height="320" id="id_de80_d22d_1818_93a5" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/yNU4KkIsFK262ZwGtBW-zm5vcy-MMRN3TV8RoI_DRvVapnwrGw9VBN83xlVCdaFZtg4=w267-h320" style="height: auto; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; width: 353px;" title="remembering partition" tooltip="" width="267" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="uiqtextpara">8) <b>Remembering Partition:- </b>This Book is not for beginner readers of India's partition. This book focuses almost entirely on the violence surrounding partition times - starting a few months prior to partition, and onwards. The title of the Book is a bit misleading, in the sense that, it doesn't give any information about the cause of partition, or the political events and decisions surrounding partition. It could have been better titled- "Remembering the Violence around Partition". Basically, the author assumes that the reader has already enough knowledge of India's partition, why it happened, how it happened and all the political events surrounding it. And starting from that assumption, this author focuses only the violence around partition and how they have been covered in various historical Books. The author picks up several examples of violence, and mentions several interviews of people who have lived those times, and tries to analyze the sociology and mindset of people during those times. The author also tries to analyse how those violence and the statistics about them have been reported by various Books, committees. As per him, most stats were exaggerated, biased or based on hearsay, rather than based on first person accounts. He also tries to analyse how people who have lived those times, and are alive now, talk about those events. As per him, most people claim that those incidences of violences never happened in their region, and in stead in some other adjacent area! The author also analyses various claims and counter-claims by both sides, and try to analyse who tried to say what, for which reason. More detailed review of this book written by me, can be read on the Book's Goodreads page <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2886286868">here.</a> I found it a great Book on India's partition, giving a different and unique perspective into the violence of those times. A great book to read, but not a must read.</div><div class="uiqtextpara"><br /></div><div class="uiqtextpara">9) <b>Partition</b> : The Story of Indian Independence, and the Creation of Pakistan (posted date- 30/11/2023)</div><div class="uiqtextpara"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtTPWfO-58rXv4vgyiP-RQMex2XXDiYp6AsyTOKtj-e4sJcLHM5QeRo6IYDU1-y4VL-E4M2jUSGVbmap-nRungZD8Pch-ewPbWL9dAwFDXbM6MdDVBBGPHmZwbZsdtQznHEdpYEdToHwVdL-Hlkdbxyw-rMg_FX6OgRuEjd_8dLhvZNbJ-trzmCiJrqcg/s1398/0_IMG_2097.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1398" data-original-width="1187" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtTPWfO-58rXv4vgyiP-RQMex2XXDiYp6AsyTOKtj-e4sJcLHM5QeRo6IYDU1-y4VL-E4M2jUSGVbmap-nRungZD8Pch-ewPbWL9dAwFDXbM6MdDVBBGPHmZwbZsdtQznHEdpYEdToHwVdL-Hlkdbxyw-rMg_FX6OgRuEjd_8dLhvZNbJ-trzmCiJrqcg/w170-h200/0_IMG_2097.jpeg" width="170" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This book by the British author Barney White-Spunner, gives a very good <span style="font-family: inherit;">picture</span> of the whole partition saga. Bring a britisher, he has mostly relied on British sources, and he has also looked at events from British point of view, but even then, this Book provides a very good insights into the whole set of events surrounding partition.</div></div><div class="uiqtextpara" style="text-align: justify;">In particular, the Book manages to treat the subject of Congress Vs Muslim League very well. For ex, it comments on how Nehru and Gandhi were bereft of Ground realities about the religious strifes. </div><div class="uiqtextpara" style="text-align: justify;">The author says-</div><div class="uiqtextpara" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div><blockquote><div class="uiqtextpara" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"Nehru's problem, as a highly educated, well-travelled socialist, was that he thought religion was irrelevant. To him India's problems were economic and social, with religion merely an excuse used by various groups to further their own economic position."</span></div></blockquote><p>And about Mahatma Gandhi, the Book says-</p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><blockquote><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL9RNxTgmNQevhRGFJ0Gti5Cn5KsAu4bYsh1IDohYfjhHX0ghiC0jzKIGLauYbixpglmVcQ9mQ8aa7I1sqHPx8CQpvAuYhv0FGfRNZONjOUpdRZNvwUnoH_oP2Iqaigf6A0HEhPQPvIybhLzS2rEdpZmlKT5UoH9LyTGjjZpI5RyI6VMP5PRmGg_NZlKc/s1240/1_IMG_2090.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="803" data-original-width="1240" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL9RNxTgmNQevhRGFJ0Gti5Cn5KsAu4bYsh1IDohYfjhHX0ghiC0jzKIGLauYbixpglmVcQ9mQ8aa7I1sqHPx8CQpvAuYhv0FGfRNZONjOUpdRZNvwUnoH_oP2Iqaigf6A0HEhPQPvIybhLzS2rEdpZmlKT5UoH9LyTGjjZpI5RyI6VMP5PRmGg_NZlKc/s320/1_IMG_2090.jpeg" width="320" /></a></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"Gandhi also, although deeply religious, was largely agnostic as to creed and believed that much of India was a like-minded community of small farmers and peasants, meaning that Congress was becoming dangerously ignorant of how deeply religion actually mattered to the vast majority of people. In particular, it meant that they failed to appreciate the depth of belief that Islam engenders, the strong communalism of groups such as the Sikhs and the strength of the Hindu Mahasabha."</span></span></div><p></p></blockquote>This Book also explains in good detail the carnage that followed partition and their causes. Most of all, this Book throws a new fact by claiming that most of the post-partition violence could have been controlled, had British forces been used against the murdering mobs. Indian forces being biased on both the sides, had become unreliable, and British forces were not used against Indians, because they were decided to be kept in reserve only to provide security to Britishers in India. Also, Mountbatten thought that using British forces against Indians post partition (even though they were part of Indian Army), would have caused resentment of Indians against British Govt. For the decision of not using the British forces against the rioters, he primarily blamed- <span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Claude Auchinleck- the British Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army (pre-1947). </span>As per the author-</div><div style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Yet ultimately Auchinleck allowed sentiment to cloud objectivity. Armies exist to serve the needs of the societies that generate them and the governments that represent those societies.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">They do not have, nor should they have, any pretension to being an independent entity. They must also reflect the changes that society undergoes...... He loved India and was loved by Indian soldiers, but as a man who wielded enormous power, power on a scale which few if any British senior officers have exercised since, he could have done so much more to prevent the tragedy of 1947.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Book also covers the J&K conflict in great detail. It explains well the conflict of Nehru on this, how he thought that Pakistan used Junagadh as a trap (Junagadh, J&K and Hyderabad were the only three regions which still remained independent well past 15 Aug, 1947). Being a military officer himself, the author seems to have taken keen interest in elaborating J&K incident from military angle as well, as to how it was defended by Indian Army. The detail are pretty graphical, and intriguing to read. There are some facts he missed covering on this though. In one other book I read, there was a clear mention of British military officers which were part of Pakistani forces, having been involved in the J&K incursion. He has mentioned only one detail about involvement of a British military officer, that too with very </span>sketchy<span style="font-family: inherit;"> detail. But I have read about it in two other Books. May be the author handled up that specific aspect in a little biased way. But despite that, the J&K conflict has been discussed in great detail. Must read that part.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">All in all, the Book was a great read for me. I got several new facts, and some really nice insights into the pre-1947 situation of Indian polity.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">10) </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Jammu & Kashmir: Dilemma of Accession </b>(posted on 10/12/2023)</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: left;"></span></p><p></p></div><div style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip06kbsGKCke2vTggcZxb3RPwSX81ymXMqYuHSVNujee6CaWE4KLchUjFMlVNW6GKV3l0pMkiu3ykVavS5TFxqJJsQvFihjPVS6KbI6OeECAs4CahauvfnxKbnZfQRzpf2sgWz45I_oQNvWphezSZblLUhPyH_-FV9xGasFOA5b5pmDzjQL84W1aM15Ug/s494/8_0_IMG_0042.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="494" data-original-width="370" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip06kbsGKCke2vTggcZxb3RPwSX81ymXMqYuHSVNujee6CaWE4KLchUjFMlVNW6GKV3l0pMkiu3ykVavS5TFxqJJsQvFihjPVS6KbI6OeECAs4CahauvfnxKbnZfQRzpf2sgWz45I_oQNvWphezSZblLUhPyH_-FV9xGasFOA5b5pmDzjQL84W1aM15Ug/w150-h200/8_0_IMG_0042.jpeg" width="150" /></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; text-align: start; white-space-collapse: preserve;">This Book primarily focuses on the J&K accession issue, but also talks shortly about the partition issue in the beginning. The basic point of this Book is to discuss why were J&K rulers not willing to accede to India, and why they dithered so much. The Author has primarily blamed Gandhi and Nehru for the issue, and has let go Patel lightly. While many of the views of the author seem motivated </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; text-align: start; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a style="color: #385898; cursor: pointer;" tabindex="-1"></a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; text-align: start; white-space-collapse: preserve;">and myopic, the Book does throw some great insights. The Book is based on the writings of Smt Lila Bhan- the daughter of the then J&K PM Pandit Ramchandra Kak. Her writing in turn is based on the diary writings/notes of her father, and both these writings have been used by the author Radha Rajan, to write this Book, appending some of her own views. All in all, a good read, gives a new perspective to the J&K issue.</span></span></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Full Review in a separate blog-post </span><a href="https://shantihp.blogspot.com/2023/12/book-review-jammu-kashmir-dilemma-of-partition.html.html" style="font-family: inherit;">here.</a></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><u style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></u></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><u style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></u></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><u style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></u></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><u style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></u></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><u style="text-align: left;"><b>In Fiction</b></u></div></div><div style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b></b><u><b> </b></u>
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[endif]--><b>1) Train to Pakistan</b>:- Khushwant Singh has written such a
realistic fiction that one gets completely drawn into the story. It seems
also quite close to reality, going by the narratives of other non-Fiction
books read. Must read to realize the horror of partition through a
gripping story.
</div>
<div class="uiqtextpara">
<b>2)</b> <b>Toba Tek Singh:</b>- Saadat Hasan Manto writes stories so
real-life and gripping, that you can relate well to it. He was much ahead
of his times. This is a story book containing several short stories based
on society and people of pre-partition times. Again a very nice book which
gives a quick glimpse into the lives of people in pre-partition times...
</div>
<div class="uiqtextpara">
<br />
</div>
<div class="uiqtextpara">
Have you read any of these books? Let me know your thoughts. Which else
books you have read related to partition, and found to be good? Please let
me know in comment section<br />. <br /></div>
</div>
</div>
Shantinath Chaudharyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07771807367833585430noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8312090489423107591.post-25678661262742802312017-10-16T22:38:00.002+05:302017-10-16T22:38:39.076+05:30The Funny online Selling Experience<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
So this was almost 2 yrs back when I wanted to sell my creative 2.1 speakers. The selling experience was both amusing as well as frustrating at times. I posted the ad with photos on two of the popular online websites. I installed their apps too, so that I could respond to any messages quickly. A few of the conversations with prospective buyers were so hilarious that I can still recall them vividly. One buyer had called me asking about the speakers, and after usual few questions, he asked- "Are the speakers having lengthy enough cords, so as to place them in different corners of the room". I was like, '<i>does this guy even know how 2.1 speakers are like!!</i>' But I calmly replied that these are 2.1 speakers, and not meant for getting placed across the room.<br />
Another buyer called and asked if the speakers have 3.5 mm audio jack. When I replied in affirmative, he asked if it will work with his Samsung phone which apparently didn't have 3.5mm audio output!<br />
One caller asked me to lower the price being quoted in ad. I had already kept the selling price close to half of the current market price since it has just been 1 year for the speakers. When I told him that I don't want to sell it at any price lower than mentioned, he replied- "But several other 2.1 speakers are being sold at much lower price." I was like, "<i>Oh, so all 2.1 speakers are same!</i>"<br />
There was one instance when a girl (or may be a buyer with female name) messaged me, and wrote-<br />
"Heyy, do you want to sell this item?"<br />
I replied- "No, I am just testing the selling feature here."<br />
She:- "I too am new to buying here. Can you help me buy a good 2.1 speaker system?"<br />
Me:- "Yes of course, you can buy mine."<br />
She:- "But I actually want to buy, not just indulge in testing". I repented my first reply, and somehow brought the conversation back on track and explaining about my 2.1 speakers.<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Another day, I got a message in my selling website's inbox, and started chatting with the buyer. Here is how the conversation went on:-</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Buyer : "Hi, May I know why are you selling your speakers?"</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Me: "Because I want to buy a better one."</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Buyer: "Is it working fine?"</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Me: "Yes".</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Buyer: "Then why are you selling it?"</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Me: "I told you, because I want to buy a better one, and I need money for that."</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Buyer: "Which speakers are you thinking to buy?"</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Me: "Haven't fully decided yet, but why do you want to know?"</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Buyer: "May be I too will buy the same speaker, if good enough"</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Me: "Do you want to buy my speakers or not?"</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Buyer: "Yes, yes I do."</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Somehow, we agreed on the price and then I asked for the location of exchange.</i> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Me: "So where do you want to meet for taking the speakers?"</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Buyer: "Anywhere in Jammu city."</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Me: "WHAT!! You are from Jammu?"</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Buyer: "Yes, I thought you too are from Jammu."</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>By now, I was frustrated as hell,but somehow persevered.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Me: "Sorry, then no point discussing. I stay in Hyderabad."</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Buyer: "Heyy, By any chance, can you courier the speakers?"</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Me: "Yes I can, if you pay the additional courier charges"</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Buyer: "Ok, please courier then. I will transfer you the money as soon as I get the courier."</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>This was the limit of my patience.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Me: "Good Bye", and I blocked the person.<br />
<br />
Now, after so many months of the experience, when I came across the <a href="https://www.cashify.in/">Cashify.in</a> website, I found it to be a very promising website for selling old electronic items.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuOpnVj225A8G747QnHNv3u_uUT_JoqI2INROmdMbpg1WePHPxkWOxVdkYYkIJdpSplvsMXVEZo6XPYMV7sFVF_jtOzn5cty-S2Hdi1y7wSAphV-Sb2jy4AnCGG91-2ByMYwo2j1Xt8Mo/s1600/cashify.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="570" data-original-width="1140" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuOpnVj225A8G747QnHNv3u_uUT_JoqI2INROmdMbpg1WePHPxkWOxVdkYYkIJdpSplvsMXVEZo6XPYMV7sFVF_jtOzn5cty-S2Hdi1y7wSAphV-Sb2jy4AnCGG91-2ByMYwo2j1Xt8Mo/s320/cashify.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Disposing of e-waste is another big issue that can be solved by such initiatives. Many times, we don't sell our electronic items, because of the hassles involved in selling. With such hassle-free experience of selling, with no negotiations and haggling involved, I think cashify comes up with a very great initiative. <span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "open sans" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left;">#CleanUpCashOut </span>is the mantra, i.e. you clean up your old electronic items, and you get cash out of it! You can know more about the cashify, by watching these two videos- <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPnv18hML3o">Video1</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnKiadRnpHI">Video2</a>. Use coupon CLEANCASH and get an additional Rs 250.</div>
</div>
Shantinath Chaudharyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07771807367833585430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8312090489423107591.post-58041708865761720152016-12-26T23:26:00.002+05:302016-12-26T23:31:48.982+05:30The losing Compassion and Empathy...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0pFyqVnIa7JRl-6qn-zp1cEcFH2hWuz0G4O95yJPPS_ZqvQyXTyLhrKt8l9pg3CFi_MtrKNqkP3o2QRSMr2RFCiczmCmhw8RbhRChEH1JP_TUY-SbtfoOjDWa6Kq-2OnYx8utoQPAaY8/s1600/food.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0pFyqVnIa7JRl-6qn-zp1cEcFH2hWuz0G4O95yJPPS_ZqvQyXTyLhrKt8l9pg3CFi_MtrKNqkP3o2QRSMr2RFCiczmCmhw8RbhRChEH1JP_TUY-SbtfoOjDWa6Kq-2OnYx8utoQPAaY8/s320/food.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image Source:- <a href="http://lonelyplanet.com/">lonelyplanet.com</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="m6240255510677449691p1" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span class="m6240255510677449691s1"><span style="color: #222222;">Sometimes
you do something and immediately after that realize the mistake. But by the
time you realize it, you also realize that you can hardly do anything about
that. So a sense of guilt encompasses you, a guilt which you can't do anything
about! </span></span></div>
<div class="m6240255510677449691p1" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span class="m6240255510677449691s1"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="m6240255510677449691p1" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span class="m6240255510677449691s1"><span style="color: #222222;">Today while coming back to my flat, a poor couple on road, with a kid in
the arms of mother, stopped me and pleaded for money. This is fairly common
scene in Hyderabad, and I immediately ignore and brush past such people. But
this time, the guy called back saying he doesn't want money, even food will be
great. I had almost moved ahead, when I recalled that my this month's quota of
helping people in need was still pending. So like a shrewd businessman I
smelled an opportunity there- an opportunity to fulfill my monthly resolution,
an opportunity to get some instant gratification. I turned back, told the guy
to come with me and I will buy them Dinner. I signaled them to cross the road
with me to the other side, where I knew an affordable restaurant. I went there
asked the person on reception, to pack a dinner for two. I paid for that, took
the packed food, and handed it over to the guy standing outside the restaurant.
That's where I did what I immediately felt guilty about.</span></span><span class="m6240255510677449691apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #222222;"> </span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #222222;"> </span></span><span class="m6240255510677449691s1"><span style="color: #222222;">While handing over the
food packet to the guy, I showed great hurry for leaving, didn't even look
towards the guy, and quickly instructed him to move away from the place (so
that he doesn't cause trouble to the restaurant owner). All this while he was
politely thanking me for the food!! The moment I moved away from them doing all
this, I realized my mistake! I realized my mechanical nature, my inhumane
approach towards the family, my selfish nature to fulfill my resolution without
caring for the intent. But the moment had passed, there was no going back, I
could hardly do anything about that. I was in hurry to reach my flat, but once
I decided to buy them food, I should have done that with a sense of empathy.
That empathy was missing, that humane nature was missing. I did that as if I
was doing a favor to the family, with no emotions, no humane connection with
the family! Particularly, the hurry shown while leaving them, put myself to
shame. I might have helped the family, but the intention of helping was missing.
I immediately felt a pang of guilt, which I felt so helpless about. I just
promised to myself to do better now onwards...</span></span><span class="m6240255510677449691apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #222222;"> </span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="m6240255510677449691p1" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span class="m6240255510677449691apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="m6240255510677449691p1" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<span class="m6240255510677449691s1"><span style="color: #222222;">The
incident made me think, why have we become so mechanical and so self-centered
in our life? We are we always in so much of hurry, that we forget there are other humans
around, some of whom may need our compassion and empathy, much more than
anything else! Money seems such an easy way out. Spend some money and suppress
the need of helping with compassion! Where are we headed! Life seems moving so
fast that we don't even want to stop think about the pain and suffering of
others....</span></span></div>
</div>
Shantinath Chaudharyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07771807367833585430noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8312090489423107591.post-86035499123101539912016-12-18T22:49:00.001+05:302016-12-18T22:49:22.406+05:30The Journey of Life...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfj2Wt3ivXccdM8NZUNzF7BzA7nK0s0EhIrjoFLD5LvEyjPa9jDlLaLiZSFi1O4kPnAPv7aVaOH7vW158vhkVmI7-0pMqGAMCDfUcSonaLFHDqvym95zFBsqNI-PEVckW4KyWJZXPsMTI/s1600/journey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfj2Wt3ivXccdM8NZUNzF7BzA7nK0s0EhIrjoFLD5LvEyjPa9jDlLaLiZSFi1O4kPnAPv7aVaOH7vW158vhkVmI7-0pMqGAMCDfUcSonaLFHDqvym95zFBsqNI-PEVckW4KyWJZXPsMTI/s400/journey.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Image Credit:- <a href="http://andriathompson.wordpress.com/">andriathompson.wordpress.com</a> <span style="font-size: 12.8px;">( </span><a href="http://tinyurl.com/j3rkxld" style="font-size: 12.8px;">http://tinyurl.com/j3rkxld</a><span style="font-size: 12.8px;"> )</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
So busy we get in our life, that we forget to ponder on it,
reflect on it...<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
the various hues and the shades, the various ups and the
downs, seem to have been dumped deep down in memory.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
Things that used to matter most, seems to have went into
oblivion...<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
people who used to be omnipresent, seems to have moved on
to different world.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
As our life keeps expanding to the wider horizons, our
earlier, closer connections with things and people who used to matter earlier,
keeps on waning...<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
newer people and newer set of things make entry into our
life, grabbing space in our already cluttered life.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
Can't we stop, take a breath,
observe, look back at life, and contemplate over things happening around? Can't
we take a break every once in a while to think over our life's happenings? Are
we prioritizing things wisely, are we spending our times judiciously, are we
bringing good changes around us, are we being humane? Can't we think over
things that matters most in life... </div>
</div>
</div>
Shantinath Chaudharyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07771807367833585430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8312090489423107591.post-53724055755466389772016-11-20T13:06:00.000+05:302016-11-20T13:07:03.606+05:30Demonetization: How good is the move ?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjL7shGxApabQ80W0swSzPK_6YXET1jeiev-k9F-zZSuG8hF-fKrivx4dymFkY4Chk3zqkfX-fYsjF1fEdx-IeLu2vcd3XM7EgM1JA6gpmFw1EgOBkCIb30dqGxWr3bdJv_amYfmpJ0XM/s1600/demonetisation4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjL7shGxApabQ80W0swSzPK_6YXET1jeiev-k9F-zZSuG8hF-fKrivx4dymFkY4Chk3zqkfX-fYsjF1fEdx-IeLu2vcd3XM7EgM1JA6gpmFw1EgOBkCIb30dqGxWr3bdJv_amYfmpJ0XM/s400/demonetisation4.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image Source:- <a href="http://www.countercurrents.org/">http://www.countercurrents.org</a>/ ( <a href="http://bit.ly/2g6p4Sy">http://bit.ly/2g6p4Sy</a> )</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Several good steps have been taken by the current Central Govt, but the two major decisions that will be remembered for long, are the Surgical Strike on Pakistani terrorists in POK, and the current demonetization of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes. While the demonetization being termed as "Surgical Strike" on black money was a bit too much, but then it does seem to be a great idea. However, there are several other things which need to be pondered upon.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Initially, the sudden announcement of demonetization came as a shocker but a pleasant one. The most surprising and appreciable thing was the secrecy with which the entire plan was put into action. But then, what came next was shocking! The ATMs were announced to be out of service for 2 days. So it was expected that they will start working from the third day onward. But forget third day, the ATMs remained out of cash, even after 7 days!! There has been utter chaos for cash. All this thanks to the horrible implementation by the Government. They first banned use of notes, and then started printing new notes. None of ATMs had anything other than Rs 100 notes, which drastically decreased the vending capacity of ATMs. The new Rs 500 notes were not even available with banks, they were still under printing. The Rs 2000 notes were so out of dimensions that they couldn't be made available in the current ATMs. So Govt first banned the notes, without making the equivalent notes available with banks/atms. Needless to say, the great looking idea was spoiled thoroughly and forced Govt to head to disaster management tactics!</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
But talking of some major issues:-</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<ol>
<li>Do I welcome the demonetization idea?</li>
<li>Will it ensure development?</li>
<li>Do I appreciate the efforts put that went into implementation and planning?</li>
<li>Will it reduce corruption and black money?</li>
</ol>
<div>
1. First, Yes I absolutely welcome the idea. The idea in it's core looks great. If it will not curb corruption or black money much, at least it will definitely kill the counterfeit notes in circulation completely. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
2. Will it ensure development? Quite an unrelated issue, but I think it won't affect development much. Removal of counterfeit notes, and curbing black money to some extent, it will surly boost development for a period, but then after some time, development will hinge on the core issues. On the other hand, development may even slow down for the near future. There are already <a href="http://www.livemint.com/Politics/ixWKGGPGEPDG3h7jzHLO2I/Demonetization-to-drag-down-FY18-GDP-growth-to-58-Ambit-C.html" target="_blank">news</a> of GDP growth rate likely to go down in coming quarters.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
3. Do I appreciate the efforts and implementation plan? Absolutely not! What initially came as a great plan, later turned out to be a horrible mess. Come on, which Govt first bans notes, and then starts printing them! What was Govt even thinking! On top of that, this situation of chaos is going to remain for significant number of days. When PM himself has asked for 50 days, you can very well understand what is going to happen. For 50 days or more, there are going to be severe restrictions on withdrawing of your own hard earned money from Bank! Why should Govt block your money from getting withdrawn! There can be several issues for which one can need cash in lakhs, which one can't withdraw even if he has enough in his own account, all legally earned. Already, there has been news of some deaths due to the chaos. So it's quite apparent that the great looking idea was turned into a disaster.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
4. Will it reduce Corruption and Black Money? Corruption- absolutely not. Black money- Yes to some extent definitely. Corruption will continue with new notes, I think corruption has hardly got anything to do with demonetization. The Black money though, will certainly be reduced to some extent. Even though most of the black money is either invested in properties or other non-cash items like Gold, whatever black money is there in cash, those are definitely going to be curbed. There are news of black money getting turned white through various clever means, but even despite all those tricks, a significant amount of cash black money will definitely be reduced.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
All in all, a good move, but with horrible implementation. It could have been far better, had Govt prepared better for the big decision. With so much of inconvenience to public, it doesn't come out to be a great thing to happen. For catching 1% of people, Govt is troubling 100% of people, in some cases, threatening the lives of innocents, so all these take the sheen out of this great looking idea.</div>
</div>
Shantinath Chaudharyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07771807367833585430noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8312090489423107591.post-59068725619077471102016-11-07T00:28:00.000+05:302016-11-07T00:34:20.472+05:30Freedom at Midnight: Some thoughts on the Book<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE6fqcM3R1kPxtC5phjqcfLIsrAPfZujhdpz-3Z___bVA-1T-F4qo4-xRSVVCcBfLEims0UgVzl_k7bu-C1TqGJUnWcFVoS25riE0VCUS4CJH6UdVbaD-sykRP2v9bxWZazef6kefUsA8/s1600/5161L3gFyPL._SX317_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE6fqcM3R1kPxtC5phjqcfLIsrAPfZujhdpz-3Z___bVA-1T-F4qo4-xRSVVCcBfLEims0UgVzl_k7bu-C1TqGJUnWcFVoS25riE0VCUS4CJH6UdVbaD-sykRP2v9bxWZazef6kefUsA8/s400/5161L3gFyPL._SX317_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" width="255" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image Source:- amazon.in</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">What went wrong, Mountbatten admitted to us, was this sheer, simultaneous reaction which nobody foresaw. No one predicted millions of people would pull up stakes and change sides. No one. </span></i></b></blockquote>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">Partition has always been an intriguing event for me, probably more intriguing than the freedom struggle. What happened that led to partition despite some prominent leaders opposing it till the end. What went wrong that partition led to loss of lakhs of precious lives, and forever bitterness between people of the two nations? These questions always kept nagging me from time to time. And that was the reason, even though I seldom read non-fiction books, and hardly have any interest in historical books, slowly I started reading partition related books. The first one was, “Pakistan, Or the Partition of India” by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, second one was “Train to Pakistan” by Khushwant Singh (the book is a fact inspired fiction), and the third one is this “Freedom at Midnight” by<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; color: #545454; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">“</span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre”. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 150%;"><br />
</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">The Book is probably one of the most popular, and one of the most extensive account of the partition, and in a most captivating way. Primary, it has focused on below few issues:-</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">What led to partition? Why did partition become inevitable?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Mahatma Gandhi's life, and his efforts in bringing together peace in the pre and post-partition times. Also, why all his efforts failed to stop partition.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The efforts and events that went into division of Punjab and Bengal, into Indian and Pakistani area. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The widespread riots and violence in pre and post-partition times and the reasons behind them.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The hundreds of princely states of India, and the detail of efforts that went into forcing them unite them into either India or Pakistan.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The detail behind the murder of Mahatma Gandhi by Godse and his accomplices.</span></li>
</ol>
<b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><u>On </u></b><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><u>Partition</u></b></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">The biggest reason of partition, was the rise of Jinnah as one of the most formidable power among Muslims. Among Muslims, he had as much popularity as probably Mahatma Gandhi had among Indians. But of course he was exact opposite of Gandhi in nature. He had literally held Indian leaders to ransom, under threat of widespread violence by Muslims under his command.</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">Quoting from the Book:-</span></div>
</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 150%;"><i></i></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 150%;"><i>In a tent outside Bombay in August 1946, he had evaluated for his followers in the Moslem League the meaning of Direct Action Day. If Congress wanted war, he declared, then India’s Moslems would ‘accept their offer unhesitatingly . </i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 150%;"><i>Pale lips pressed into a grim smile, his piercing eyes alight with repressed passion, Jinnah had that day flung down the gauntlet to Congress, to the British. ‘We shall have India divided,’ he vowed, ‘or we shall have India destroyed.’ </i></span></div>
</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">Such was his devilish nature! Why he turned into someone like this, and how he was able to turn a large Muslim population against Hindus, is another matter and that Dr. Ambedkar has dealt with better in his book on partition. But needless to say, Jinnah was the biggest factor for partition. In fact, it has been mentioned in the book that, Jinnah was suffering from a critical illness at the time of partition</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> discussions, and was counting his last days, but this was a top secret. Had this fact be known to them, the last viceroy Mountbatten and Indian leaders, would preferred to wait for him to die, so that partition could have been avoided! </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Apart from Jinnah, another reason was that the patience of Indian leaders was running out. They have had enough, they just wanted freedom from Britishers as soon as possible. And Britishers led by Mountbatten, didn't want to leave without a proper system in place here!! Interesting fact is that, had Mountbatten not been sent to India, there was a chance that partition won't have happened. Because the predecessor of Mountbatten, Lord Wavell, had no plan to put in a system in place before leaving. Funnily enough, he had a plan named "Operation Madhouse". :) Quoting from the Book (Lord Wavell talking to Mountbatten):-</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">‘This is called
“Madhouse”,’ he explained, ‘because it is a problem for a madhouse. Alas, I can
see no other way out.’ It called for the
British evacuation of India, province by province, women and children first,
then civilians, then soldiers, a move likely, in Gandhi’s words, to ‘leave
India to chaos’.</i></blockquote>
<span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">One more reason was the lack of time for decision making. During those times, the Hindu-Muslim divide was getting wider. There was widespread violence every now and then. On the "Direct Action Day" call of Jinnah in 1946, there had already been bloodbath in Bengal. Mahatma Gandhi's peace calls used to be temporary and were not effective for longer times. Jinnah was always on lookout for adding fuel to the fire. Leaders were clueless how to put things in control. Everyone agreed that some decision had to be taken, and it had to be done quickly. So in that haste, they went for something, which aggravated the situation rather than pacifying it. Essentially, everyone miscalculated the mood of millions of population. </span></span><span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span></span><br />
<span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><u>On Mahama Gandhi</u></b> </span></span><br />
<span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A great portion of the book is devoted to Mahatma Gandhi, his life, his ideals, his efforts to keep India united, and why his efforts failed.</span></span><br />
<span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Unlike popular perception, Mahatma Gandhi fought till the end to keep India united, and avoid the partition. That he failed in his efforts is another matter.</span></span><br />
<span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Quoting from the book:-</span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i>So desperate was he to avoid
partition that he was prepared for a Solomonic judgment. Give the Moslems the
baby instead of cutting it in half. Place three hundred million Hindus under
Moslem rule by asking his rival Jinnah and his Moslem League to form a
government. Then hand over power to that government. Give Jinnah all India
instead of just the part he wanted. He could not budge Nehru and Patel. There
was a limit to the price they were prepared to pay to keep India united and handing
over power to their foe, Jinnah, transgressed it. They did not share Gandhi’s
conviction that partition would inevitably lead to terrible violence.
Broken-hearted, Gandhi would have to report to the Viceroy that he had not been
able to carry his colleagues with him. </i></span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Finally, Mountbatten held parleys individually with Sardar Patel and Nehru, to convince him on partition, and they agreed. Two of their crucial men going against his opinion, Gandhi was broken and felt helpless. He was also not sure how the common Indians will respond to his calls for opposition to the partition. Mountbatten also tried to convince Gandhi through all means, and was able to somewhat subdue his resistance. But in a nutshell, all Congress leaders turning against his opinion, was the breaking point for Gandhi. Quoting his own words from the book:-</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i>‘They call me a Mahatma,’ he
bitterly told a friend later, ‘but I tell you I am not even treated by them as
a sweeper.’ </i></div>
</blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Another quote deserves a mention in the same regard:-</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Walking the streets of Delhi
early one morning, one of his workers said to him: ‘In the hour of decision you
are not in the picture. You and your ideals have been given the go-by.’ </i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Yes, Gandhi sighed bitterly in
reply: ‘Everybody is eager to garland my photos and statues. But nobody wants
to follow my advice.’ </i></div>
</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: justify;">Gandhi's life and ideals have always been controversial. </span></span><span style="text-align: justify;">The book also
touches upon one major aspect for which Gandhi ji is criticised heavily even
now - his views on sexuality, and why he used to sleep on same bed with his 19
yr old great-niece "Manu". The book gives Gandhi's perspective on
those practices. (These views were actually views as told by Gandhi's personal
secretary Pyarelal, and his Doctor Sushila Nayar). It also touches upon other
related aspects like, why he used to get massaged by female followers, why he
used to walk hands on shoulders of the two girls Manu and Abha. (All these were
related aspects).</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Even though I don't agree to his practices on this issue, his rationality behind it did make some sense, although it didn't look a practically possible thing to imbibe. I am quoting the related text from the book:-</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<i>As his confidence in the mastery of
his desires came back, he gradually extended the range of physical contact he
allowed himself with women. He nursed them when they were ill and allowed them
to nurse him. He took his bath in full view of his fellow ashramites, male and
female. He had his daily massage virtually naked, with young girls most
frequently serving as his masseuses. He often gave interviews or consulted the
leaders of his Congress Party while the girls massaged him. He wore few clothes
and urged his disciples, male and female, to do likewise because clothes he
said, only encouraged a false sense of modesty</i>.<i><span style="line-height: 200%;">..... </span></i><i>For Gandhi, secure in his own
conscience, there was nothing improper or even remotely sexual in his relations
with Manu. Indeed, it is almost inconceivable that the faintest tremor of sexual
arousal passed between them. To the Mahatma, the reasoning which had led him to
perform what was, for him, a duty to Manu, was sufficient justification for his
action. Perhaps, however, deep in his subconscious, other forces he ignored
helped propel him to it. </i></blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><u><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Boundary division of Punjab and Bengal by </span>Cyril Radcliffe</u></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">This is probably the least discussed issue on partition, but is most crucial in a way. When partition was agreed, exact boundary and which princely states will go to which Nation, were not decided. In fact the surprising fact is, even on the day of India's freedom, the India Pakistan boundary lines were not announced. There were two major tasks, deciding on which princely states will go to which nation, and then deciding the boundary of the two nations in Punjab and Bengal. These two areas were very crucial, because they contained a great mix of population and interdependence on one another. For sake of neutrality, </span>Cyril Radcliffe, <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">was invited from Britain, to decide on the exact boundary. In the end, the partition in Bengal didn't cause any issue, but the boundary division announcement in Punjab, led to great bloodshed. Population transfer took place in millions, and there was immense bloodshed.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The riots and situations surrounding them, have been dealt in great detail in the book. The princely states, the lives of their princes too have been described in great detail. Most of the princely states wanted to get total independence, rather than going with Pakistan or India. How they were forced to merge with either of the Nations, is another aspect dealt in great detail. Some of them were convinced, some were blackmailed, and some like Raja Hari Singh of J&K was conditionally convinced under foreign attack pressure. The Pakistani tribal led attack on J&K too has been explained in detail, explaining how it ended up with the agreement with Raja Hari Singh. The book ends up with devoting another great portion on the murder of Mahatma Gandhi. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">If not for anything, one
must read the book for the unbelievable real-life love story of Boota Singh and Zenib. A
Sikh-Muslim love story leading to marriage, then cross-border run, court cases,
suicide and Muslims supporting the Sikh guy's wishes post his death. The story
will put even the modern day bollywood Indo-Pak love stories to shame.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">**************************************************************</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In the end, I would like to put two more quotes from the book on two crucial issues:-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="line-height: 150%;"><u><b>When Sardar Patel and Pundit Nehru turned against
Gandhi's idea of United India:-</b></u></span> </div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 150%;">
<i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Patel had been prepared to concede
partition even before Mountbatten’s arrival. He was ageing, he’d suffered two
heart attacks, and he wanted to get on with it, to end these ceaseless debates and
get down to the task of building an independent India. Give Jinnah his state,
he argued, it wouldn’t survive anyway. In five years, the Moslem League would
be knocking at their door begging for India’s reunification.</span><br /><span style="line-height: 150%;">Nehru was a torn and anguished man,
caught between his deep love for Gandhi and his new admiration and friendship for
the Mountbattens. Gandhi spoke to his heart, Mountbatten to his mind.
Instinctively, Nehru detested partition, yet his rational spirit told him it
was the only answer. Since reaching his own conclusion that there was no other
choice, Mountbatten had been employing all the charm and persuasiveness of
Operation Seduction to bring Nehru to his viewpoint. One argument was vital.
With Jinnah gone, Hindu India could have the strong central government Nehru
would need if he was going to build the socialist state of his dreams.
Ultimately, he too stood out against the man he’d followed so long. </span></span></i></blockquote>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="line-height: 150%;"><b><u>When Nehru, Patel lost control of the Nation after partition, and requested Mountbatten to take complete control again!</u></b></span> </div>
<blockquote style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><span style="line-height: 150%;">For the next quarter of a century the
results of the meeting beginning in Louis Mountbatten ’s study on the morning
of Saturday, 6 September 1947 would be the most closely guarded secret of the
last Viceroy’s life. Had the decisions taken at it become known, the knowledge
could have destroyed the career of the charismatic Indian statesman who would
emerge in the years to come as one of the world’s major figures.<br /> </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">Three people were present:
Mountbatten, Nehru and Patel. The two Indian leaders were sombre, visibly
depressed men; they looked to the Governor-General ‘like a pair of chastened schoolboys’.
The situation in the Punjab was out of control. The migration was exceeding
their worst fears. Now violence in Delhi threatened to bring down the capital
itself.<br /> </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">‘We don’t know how to hold it,’ Nehru
admitted.<br /> </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">‘You have to grip it,’ Mountbatten
told him.<br /> </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">‘How can we grip it?’ Nehru replied.
‘We have no experience. We’ve spent the best years of our lives in your British
jails. Our experience is in the art of agitation, not administration. We can
barely manage to run a well-organized government in normal circumstances. We’re
just not up to facing an absolute collapse of law and order.’<br /> </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">Nehru then made an almost
unbelievable request. That he, the proud Indian who’d devoted his life to the
independence stmggle could even articulate it was a measure of both his own
greatness and the gravity of the situation. He had long admired Mountbatten’s
capacity for organization and swift decision. India, he felt, desperately
needed those skills now and Nehru was too great a man to let his pride stand in
the way of her having them.<br /> </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">‘While you were exercising the
highest command in war, we were in a British prison,’ he said. ‘You are a
professional, high-level administrator. You’ve commanded millions of men. You
have the experience and knowledge colonialism has denied us. You English can’t
just turn this country over to us after being here all our lives and simply
walk away. We’re in an emergency and we need help. Will you run the country?</span><span style="line-height: 150%;">‘Yes,’ seconded Patel, the tough
realist at Nehru’s side, ‘he’s right. You’ve got to take over.’</span><span style="line-height: 150%;">Mountbatten was aghast. ‘My God,’ he
said, I ve just got through giving you the country and here you two are asking me
to take it back!’<br /> </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">‘You must understand,’ Nehru said.
‘You’ve got to take it. We’ll pledge ourselves to do whatever you say.’<br /> </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">‘But this is terrible,’ Mountbatten
said. ‘If anyone ever finds out you’ve turned the country back to my hands,
you’ll be finished politically. The Indians keep the British Viceroy and then
put him back in charge? Out of the question.’<br /> </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">‘Well,’ said Nehru, ‘we’ll have to
find a way to disguise it, but if you don’t do it, we can’t manage.’ Mountbatten
thought a moment. He loved a challenge and this was a formidable one. His
personal-esteem for Nehru, his affection for India, his sense of
responsibility, left him no way of escape.<br /> </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">‘All right,’ he said, the admiral
back on his bridge, ‘I’ll do it, and I can pull the thing together because I do
know how to do it. But we must agree that nobody finds out about this. Nobody
must know you’ve made this request. </span></i></span></blockquote>
</div>
</div>
Shantinath Chaudharyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07771807367833585430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8312090489423107591.post-53793798183505194712016-10-12T22:39:00.003+05:302016-10-12T22:43:50.829+05:30But then I thought...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255 , 255 , 255 , 0); font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I wanted to write something but then I thought, what good will it do?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255 , 255 , 255 , 0); font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I wanted to say something, but then I thought, will my words matter at all ?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255 , 255 , 255 , 0); font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I wanted to cry a bit, but then I thought, won't my tears go waste? </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255 , 255 , 255 , 0); font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I wanted to scream aloud, but then I thought, who will even notice them at all! </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255 , 255 , 255 , 0); font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I wanted to try a bit more, but then I thought, will it even lend any result at all?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255 , 255 , 255 , 0); font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I wanted to move a step ahead, but then I thought, will it even get me anywhere at all? </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255 , 255 , 255 , 0); font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>So here I am, stuck, where I was....</b></span></div>
</div>
Shantinath Chaudharyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07771807367833585430noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8312090489423107591.post-10720933354198849602016-09-18T21:32:00.000+05:302016-09-18T21:32:08.672+05:30What are we making of our Life!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgONXb2qsra35rVdwwqdWCP2_YSXFp5hkQGKc3vp_zVTTGh1W2yoldcFwGp3MURvR5WcI58LRtKk6NjgebNYB6iYN-OZmmEpFskFRc-PXOy60BqNJ2O6oaH8-SiFJaeZ_7nJt12mNRO6S0/s1600/life-wallpapers-11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgONXb2qsra35rVdwwqdWCP2_YSXFp5hkQGKc3vp_zVTTGh1W2yoldcFwGp3MURvR5WcI58LRtKk6NjgebNYB6iYN-OZmmEpFskFRc-PXOy60BqNJ2O6oaH8-SiFJaeZ_7nJt12mNRO6S0/s400/life-wallpapers-11.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image Credit:- <u><a href="http://kurld.com/wallpapers/life-wallpapers.html">http://kurld.com/wallpapers/life-wallpapers.html</a></u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">This blog-post is triggered by a weekly blogging exercise practiced at <a href="http://indiblogger.in/" target="_blank">Indiblogger</a>. The <a href="https://www.indiblogger.in/indispire_topic.php?topic=135" target="_blank">topic of discussion</a> there was- </span><b>"<span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit;">What is it that we are running after? Isn't it time to step back and enjoy life, nature, family or anything we really love"</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 150%;">Most of us get so busy with our lives
that we seldom step back to ponder where is it headed. The world is changing so
fast, that our topmost priorities always becomes- how to get on and get moving
along, lest we get left out!! Changing dynamics of society, increasing
materialism, increasing cost of life, all these things make a significant
impact on the way we spend our life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 150%;">In my opinion, the motto should be simple- "Live, Love, and
Enjoy". Imagine if we start loving every simple thing/person around us.
Imagine if we love our friends, family, and a stranger poor all alike. Imagine
if we start finding joy in living a harmonious life with our surroundings. In
stead, most of our life, we keep struggling improving our career or gathering
more and more wealth. In the race of gathering material wealth, we ignore our
emotional and mental health. As we keep growing up, we keep losing our natural
character- which is of joy, innocence and of pursuing what we love. In stead,
we end up getting into a never-ending race of gathering wealth and physical
commodities. We associate happiness with wealth , and love with convenience.
Seldom do we step back and think what actually makes us happy and joyous.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 150%;">Life is not only about comfort, and material wealth. It's more
about our emotional well being and inner happiness. And this is what we need to
think about. What brings inner happiness to us? What energises us, and makes us
joyous? What makes us playful, bringing out our childhood and innocence back?
These questions are what we need to ask ourselves every once in a while. They
are the keys to our happiness and emotional well being. Do I love nature, or a
hobby which has ceased to become a "hobby" actually? Can't we take
some time out from our busy schedules to pursue what we love to do? I am sure
we can, and that's what will bring us real happiness. Career and some minimum
wealth is necessary, but let's not go blind for them. So let's promise
ourselves, that we will find out what we really love about life, and will make
it a point to indulge in them. Let's get out finding them out!!</span></div>
</div>
Shantinath Chaudharyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07771807367833585430noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8312090489423107591.post-80987057506206787352016-07-03T14:08:00.000+05:302016-07-03T14:08:10.545+05:30How to remove MPC Cleaner software from Windows PC<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I decided to write this blog-post because I never got the solution to this problem on any other blog. 2-3 weeks back this buggy software got installed on my system (Windows 10) while trying to install another software. And I have to confess, this took hell lot of effort for removal. Strangely this was not a standard virus, but more like an adware software which keeps luring you to click some links or perform some action.<br />
Here is what started happening with all my browsers once this adware got installed:-<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr8BwMeJxaCISw13P6esP3SaLTCxPsrAjCXU4nl3LWP_2ba1EEHq-TT_wPIFTzf-EnscMiU7qHIVzCa92rRLrfJ_xrln9lG52zw-GaV00m4hGz7xuoMqarG5EU3SindtJ2rbWMXpy1TPE/s1600/2016-07-03+%25281%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="361" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr8BwMeJxaCISw13P6esP3SaLTCxPsrAjCXU4nl3LWP_2ba1EEHq-TT_wPIFTzf-EnscMiU7qHIVzCa92rRLrfJ_xrln9lG52zw-GaV00m4hGz7xuoMqarG5EU3SindtJ2rbWMXpy1TPE/s640/2016-07-03+%25281%2529.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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So two main issues as you can see in above screenshot:-</div>
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<li>My browsers will always start with the above default landing page. Later on I could close this specific tab, but there was no way to disable this thing. I tried resetting the browser, no effect. I even uninstalled google chrome, and installed again, still no effect. The reason for this was that it was able to do all this through entries in registry. So all the browsers were being controlled through valid registry entries.</li>
<li>Another issue, with start up of OS, an MPC icon will appear in the right bottom expand bar menu (as shown in above picture). That application used to keep running. I was able to disable it after starting up, but I was not able to block this application from starting up with start of OS.</li>
<li>Third issue was that time to time, it would show a pop-up suggesting optimization of PC using it's interface. I never tried optimizing but I am sure that must lead to more ads or redirect to installation sites. But the pop-ups were irritating like hell.</li>
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For two weeks I suffered with this issue-well actually not everyday , but definitely 2-3 days out of the past two weekends. Below are all the unsuccessful steps I took to remove the bugging software:-<br />
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<li>Of course the first step I took was try to to uninstall the program from the standard "Uninstall or Change a program" window of control panel. Quite shockingly, the software was not listed there. Some websites had mentioned that it shows to be installed with some other name. But I checked all the installed software, and there was not a single unknown/strange software showing up in the window! So the application was installed but it was not being shown in the list of installed software with any name! This is where Microsoft needs to take action. This is surly a windows OS fault. </li>
<li>Next step I took was that I installed various recommended softwares specifically meant for it's removal. Some of those were able to detect this application, but they asked for buying of full version in order to remove the MPC adware.</li>
<li>Then I went by another recommended suggestion of deleting all the registry entries related to MPC. And lo and behold, it won't get deleted!! I got this kind of Error pop-up window while trying to delete them.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyuQjFNYcdd0EiPgP4d8LS23sZCm6FISqQnsrxE49FQzF52td3GUxAq1OjidqN0EecwHBXKtRg02ZihpbrXYmNe0L2VronH5wjuYCa9vd4nqV3SnrtUyLVNZ0qBgOm75wz6cocjZE2TkM/s1600/cannot-delete-properties-error-while-deleting-key.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="114" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyuQjFNYcdd0EiPgP4d8LS23sZCm6FISqQnsrxE49FQzF52td3GUxAq1OjidqN0EecwHBXKtRg02ZihpbrXYmNe0L2VronH5wjuYCa9vd4nqV3SnrtUyLVNZ0qBgOm75wz6cocjZE2TkM/s320/cannot-delete-properties-error-while-deleting-key.gif" width="320" /></a><span style="text-align: left;"></span></div>
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I tried a lot to enable deletion, I checked the permission for that key, it showed me having full permission. Then I installed a software from Microsoft website which promised to solve this issue by making all key deleteable, but that too didn't work.</div>
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I tried going to the C:\Program files folder and tried deleting the MPC folder or the files lying inside. I was not able to delete!!</div>
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The I reached this <a href="http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/protect/forum/protect_other-protect_start/unable-to-uninstall-an-antivirus-mpc-cleaner/457c1d50-9a4f-4012-8881-3522f4ebd775?auth=1" target="_blank">website page</a> where I saw suggestions by someone named "Jsssssssss". It looked reliable suggestion, so I tried them out. He had suggested to try removal using two of the softwares. Unfortunately that also didn't work. Those softwares were not able to force delete/remove the MPC application.</div>
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But in the end, that very page gave me the solution. On <a href="http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/protect/forum/protect_other-protect_start/unable-to-uninstall-an-antivirus-mpc-cleaner/457c1d50-9a4f-4012-8881-3522f4ebd775?page=2" target="_blank">the next page</a>, another person with the name - "DIDiligentComputing" had given a solution which worked like a breeze for me! In fact, unlike asked by him, I need not run the computer in the safe mode.</div>
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<u><b>The Solution: Removal of MPC software/adware</b></u></div>
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<ol><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh7AzLyyLyDuvDy66r2yUZl3fCf37HDLJWqqmAA2UOhQ1KkipO0_DrlEKeGLj3_Muw-nQAjKrVYOMoidKra0xYVzOGGlvgFA5n-zVpY7H5qxafL-hfVXT6YMtm7ck6JK7ZMfdtdMAc6TY/s1600/2016-07-03+%25283%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh7AzLyyLyDuvDy66r2yUZl3fCf37HDLJWqqmAA2UOhQ1KkipO0_DrlEKeGLj3_Muw-nQAjKrVYOMoidKra0xYVzOGGlvgFA5n-zVpY7H5qxafL-hfVXT6YMtm7ck6JK7ZMfdtdMAc6TY/s400/2016-07-03+%25283%2529.png" style="cursor: move;" width="400" /></a>
<li>Go to the Malwarebytes <a href="https://www.malwarebytes.com/" target="_blank">website</a>. Download and install the <a href="https://www.malwarebytes.com/antimalware/" target="_blank">anti-malware tool</a> from there.</li>
<li>It has a nice, cool interface. Start a scan using it's easy interface.</li>
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It shows the step-by-step progress of the scan, as below:-</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguyCKqcWQrQxZN5SgIenolg-X4t09d6QqhMlhI5nJ-CgG35_W-Y_E9xvT_lErPPbYHnBtWBZky5i3gTUkkW6dCFRtgNFEtNVgVqEAdUpPpj0SRTSTKTb2_FzOsF6LqtMqUHF0jBXhuioQ/s1600/2016-07-03+%25282%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguyCKqcWQrQxZN5SgIenolg-X4t09d6QqhMlhI5nJ-CgG35_W-Y_E9xvT_lErPPbYHnBtWBZky5i3gTUkkW6dCFRtgNFEtNVgVqEAdUpPpj0SRTSTKTb2_FzOsF6LqtMqUHF0jBXhuioQ/s400/2016-07-03+%25282%2529.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg999jo7cVn2i457iX8PZEcaOLR6O3i9a6Xw-WiudgC0RCshavFq7PwFuOJfME8y466J453LaEz6F1Ro6NX7X7OlPwLRfdhcFnab8bUcEM8W6k7NKB9M_pGXL0D1xk72QdizjhrFJ7GVko/s1600/2016-07-03+%25285%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg999jo7cVn2i457iX8PZEcaOLR6O3i9a6Xw-WiudgC0RCshavFq7PwFuOJfME8y466J453LaEz6F1Ro6NX7X7OlPwLRfdhcFnab8bUcEM8W6k7NKB9M_pGXL0D1xk72QdizjhrFJ7GVko/s400/2016-07-03+%25285%2529.png" width="400" /></a>After completion, it prompts you for action. It displays the count and list of detected suspicious software, and you can go ahead choose to delete them. And viola, the problem is solved!</div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">The best thing about this software is that it allows removal of such clever adwares in it's free version itself. It took a bit of time in scanning C drive (in this case above 2 hrs), but then it found more than 200 suspicious programs requiring to be removed! </span></div>
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My big thanks to the Malwarebytes guys for creating this great anti-malware application and allowing it to be used for free for certain time-period.<br />
Ending it up here. Hope this blog-post helps someone like me out there, troubled with MPC :)<br />
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Shantinath Chaudharyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07771807367833585430noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8312090489423107591.post-2648858590817581412016-06-05T09:29:00.004+05:302018-08-15T13:41:57.399+05:30Quick way to clear space on iPhone without any external app<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I always face space crunch issue in my iPhone, and uptil recent past, I used to clear the space using an external app downloaded from app Store. But recently I came across a much better way of clearing space. It is through the inbuilt iTunes Store app of the iOS. Since this is pre-installed app on iPhones, so there is no need to install any other app. And clearing space using this app, works more efficiently too. Actually, clearing space is not the purpose of this app, but somehow it works. It works when you try to download some large movie file from iTunes store, and you don't have enough space for that in your iPhone. It then gives a pop-up message and then goes to clear the local temp and cache files taking space in iPhone. Below is the steps I am detailing one by one:-</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzQ6J9doFQm608B1ajZ_72f_ogNqWSaagSgOS-BsjLfrp7vqMBGF9YXyP7qbc7QCztq2HdjbQRyxY7ZJ0mK3esQ5vb8Sig6g1ithjyThpky9q6oVY12_GfO9gcN2hb-z5bRaoecXKZlrU/s1600/IMG_3694.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzQ6J9doFQm608B1ajZ_72f_ogNqWSaagSgOS-BsjLfrp7vqMBGF9YXyP7qbc7QCztq2HdjbQRyxY7ZJ0mK3esQ5vb8Sig6g1ithjyThpky9q6oVY12_GfO9gcN2hb-z5bRaoecXKZlrU/s640/IMG_3694.PNG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<ol>
<li>See the initial screenshot above, which shows my phone having just 63MB space left.</li>
<li>In the next step, I opened the iTunes Store app. </li>
<li>In 3rd step (screenshot below), I open any movie of fairly large size, much larger than the suspected empty space eaten up by temp/cache files. In this case I chose a movie of size of about 4GB</li>
<li>And then you have to click to download /buy the movie. Don't worry about the price of movie. It will never be able to download due to it's large size, so no chance of the money getting deducted. In my case though, I have no credit card connected to my account.</li>
<li>After choosing to buy the movie, it will show this pop-up given below, which tells that there is not enough space on the phone, for this movie to be downloaded.</li>
<li>Just click OK, and that's it!! Come out of the app. iPhone automatically starts clearing space taken by all major apps one by one. It removes temporary files stored by most apps. You can see the "cleaning" word written below some apps, while the process is on. After 2-3 min. check back the available space again in the settings page. The space must have increased. In my case, I was able to reclaim over 900MB of space.</li>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilG1TEHowmCYgyvwEmZUYsA8wjqXY79TtEYIKO_eRztVbZ7daIlunUTZQtOu_47adbCwIt1tV6Yo2r5c1zgDmR_Am57j3_xhnLv_Mpv_KiAAKn65TP4IQtODmw85yHmOPhlvaIYCrfDVQ/s1600/IMG_3697.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilG1TEHowmCYgyvwEmZUYsA8wjqXY79TtEYIKO_eRztVbZ7daIlunUTZQtOu_47adbCwIt1tV6Yo2r5c1zgDmR_Am57j3_xhnLv_Mpv_KiAAKn65TP4IQtODmw85yHmOPhlvaIYCrfDVQ/s640/IMG_3697.PNG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b>Note</b>: This might be a temporary hack, and with further upgrade of iOS, it may stop working. But with the latest iOS version 9.3.2, it works pretty well.</div>
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Shantinath Chaudharyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07771807367833585430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8312090489423107591.post-14401108807324411762016-05-23T00:48:00.000+05:302018-08-15T13:42:03.585+05:30The Mountain Shadow: Book Review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwGXKO8_fCtsxwjKJ-rYimIYoJiCFgkEK_SoVV9hLny_ZXQRet0Cbci29QCck5Iv00szZWEAIDVEGakBexPIslQG3U-dp4s9tFXt5iHpt83iVy7qNK5wLpnQMCK3SMzsRq4Lf-LRWKqQY/s1600/the_Mountain_Shadow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwGXKO8_fCtsxwjKJ-rYimIYoJiCFgkEK_SoVV9hLny_ZXQRet0Cbci29QCck5Iv00szZWEAIDVEGakBexPIslQG3U-dp4s9tFXt5iHpt83iVy7qNK5wLpnQMCK3SMzsRq4Lf-LRWKqQY/s400/the_Mountain_Shadow.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image Source:- <a href="http://boklandskap.blogspot.in/">http://boklandskap.blogspot.in/</a></td></tr>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">This novel is a sequel to the earlier novel </span><a href="http://shantihp.blogspot.in/2016/04/shantaram-book-review.html" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Shantaram</span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">. The earlier novel ended with the protagonist Lin (a.k.a. Shantaram) realizing that his friend Abdullah is alive. Shantaram also parted ways with his girlfriend Karla. Karla had married a rich business tycoon and Shantaram started living with Lisa. The novel also ended with Sanjay taking place of the head of mafia gang and others unwillingly relenting to his command. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>"Writers never really die, until people stop quoting them."</i></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">This novel starts with Shantaram's emotional conflicts with Lisa. Lisa was in two minds about Shantaram , and more so because she knew that deep inside, Shantaram still loved Karla. Also, Lisa didn't want to get stuck at a place or with a person. She was also of bisexual nature. All these things started complicating their relationships. Finally, one day Lisa broke up with Shantaram. What hurt Shantaram was not the break-up, but the high expectations from Lisa, even at the time of break-up (like money, loan, car etc.). After that Shantaram goes on his last salvation mission to Sri Lanka, a mission which will free him from the mafia gangs world of Bombay. In his absence, Lisa was murdered by one of Shantaram's enemy. He gets together with his girlfriend Karla in quest of the murderer. Post this point the novel starts revolving more around the Karla-Shantaram relationship. This is one refreshing aspect of this novel. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Some time later, his friend Abdullah takes him to Idriss- the wise sage on the mountain, who was the Guru of KhaderBhai. A large part of novel is dedicated to the Karla-Shantaram spending time in Idriss's mountain aashram. Devotees and people loving philosophical conversations keep flocking to the Idriss aashram, and Shantaram-Karla duo starts loving this place. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The novel also deals with Lin's friends Gemini Gorges winning lottery worth millions (actually it was inheritance property discovered), and how they face hassles facing the new-found limelight.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Another plot involved in the novel is the Shantaram-Sanjay-rival gang equation. Sanjay gang's rivalry with opposition gang keeps increasing and it reaches to a point where KhaderBhai's own cousine child Tariq who was his coming up heir, was killed along with his protector Nazeer. Both these person were very close to Shantaram. Sanjay's working style was being hated upon by more and more people in his own gang. Abdullah was planning for a revolt against him. So there is a three angled crime scene going in the mafia world of Shantaram .<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Shantaram moves out of mafia gang and starts living solo, working freelance. Karla starts spending more and more time with Shantaram. Karla's husband was responsible for Lisa's murder, and they finally were relieved to have him dead indirectly. The novel ends with a sad note of a bloody war between Sanjay gang and Abdullah, where both Sanjay and Abdullah dies. Karla and Shantaram's story ends on a happy note finally.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“<i>Truth is the freedom of the soul. We’re very young, in this young universe, and we often fail, and dishonour ourselves, even if only in the caves of the mind</i>”</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> Unlike its prequel novel "Shantaram", this novel deals more with the abstract things- the relationships, the philosophical talks, the </span><span style="line-height: 18.4px;">psychological</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> stuffs and how human minds think on various matters. Love and relationships takes a center stage in this novel. Karla's overpowering character and Shantaram's humble nature has been shown brilliantly. The contrast of fast city life and the soothing life in the lap of </span><span style="line-height: 18.4px;">mountainous</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> nature too has been focussed. All in all, an interesting read.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">P.S.- I have collated together some wonderful quotes from the novel. You can read them <a href="http://shantihp.blogspot.in/2016/05/the-mountain-shadow-quotable-quotes.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">here</span></a>. In case you want to know more about the earlier novel in this series- "Shantaram", You can read the book review of Shantaram <a href="http://shantihp.blogspot.com/2016/04/shantaram-book-review.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">here</span></a>.</span></span></div>
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Shantinath Chaudharyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07771807367833585430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8312090489423107591.post-31365258199157030312016-05-15T11:25:00.002+05:302018-08-15T13:42:10.453+05:30The Mountain Shadow: Some Quotable quotes<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image Source:- <a href="http://goodreads.com/">goodreads.com</a><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In my next post, I will be posting book review of the novel "The Mountain Shadow". But before that I thought to compile all the nice, quotable quotes from the novel. Here they go:-</span></span></div>
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<li><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;">"They’re nothing. Just a fringe group. Nobody listens to them." ‘<i>The fringe usually works its way to </i></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;"><i>the centre that ignores or insults it</i>.’</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;">Writers never really die, until people stop quoting them.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;">I stand for your right to create and present art, but I think that rights come with responsibilities, and that we, as artists, have a responsibility not to cause feelings of hurt and injury in the name of art. In the name of truth, maybe. In the name of justice and freedom. But not in the name of art.’</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;">One of the great mysteries of India, and the greatest of all its joys, is the tender warmth of the lowest paid.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;">Religion is just a long competition to see who can design the silliest hat.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;">Fiction is fact, made stranger. The truth about anything is a lie about something else. Come on, step it up, Shantaram.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;">The way to love, is to love the way.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;">If you’re not living for something, you’re dying for nothing.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;">Be prepared for war, the more so if you despise war.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;">Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you, and do not do to others, what you would not have them do to you.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;">Good is only half the truth, and truth is only half the story.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;">You know what the difference is, between war and peace?’ the man sitting next to me whispered, a smile in his voice. ‘I’m guessing you’ll tell me,’ I whispered back. ‘In peace time, you sacrifice twenty to save one. In war time, you sacrifice one to save twenty.’</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">People who abhor crime, as I do, often ask why men who commit crimes, as I did, do such things. One of the big answers is that the low road is always easier, until it crumbles away beneath desire. One of the small answers is that when life and freedom are at stake, the men you meet are often exceptional.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">Truth’s a sweet thing, unless someone’s cutting it out of you, and then it’s a very bitter thing.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">What is civilisation? Idriss once remarked. It’s a woman, free to live as she wants.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">When it means nothing to anybody else, and it means everything to us, isn’t that love?</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">If you’re thinking about it, you can also put some thought into the fact that you don’t have the right to take your own life. Nobody does.’ ‘Why not?’ Rannveig like the runway asked, her eyes wide, innocent of the cruel, broken question she’d just asked. ‘Think of it this way, Rannveig, does a deranged person have the right to kill a stranger?’ ‘No.’ ‘No. And when suicide is in your head, you’re the deranged person, and you’re also the stranger, in danger of the harm you might do to yourself. No matter how bad things get, you don’t have the right to kill the stranger that you might become, for a while, in your own life. The rest of your life would tell you, at that point, it’s not an option.’</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">Faith is unconditional love, and love is unconditional faith. Vinson, Naveen and I were men in love, without the women we loved, and faith was a tree without shade.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">Corruption is a tax imposed on any society that doesn’t pay people enough to repel it themselves.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">Men don’t like to be that honest about love: to put the gun in a woman’s hand, and hold it against their own hearts, and say, Here, this is how you kill me.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">Can you define destiny?’ Ambitious demanded. ‘Destiny is the treasure we find in the awareness of death.’- Idriss.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">The purpose of life is to express the set of positive characteristics to the most sophisticated degree that you can, by connecting with pure intention to others, and our planet, and to the Divine Source of all things.’</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">Generosity is the spiritual language of love, humility is the spiritual language of honour, and devotion is the spiritual language of faith.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">Teachers, like writers, never die while people still quote them.</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span></li>
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P.S.:- If you haven't read my earlier post on the quotes from this novel's prequel "<i>Shantaram</i>", please catch them <a href="http://shantihp.blogspot.com/2016/04/shantaram-some-wonderful-quotes.html" target="_blank">here</a>. The corresponding Book review of the Novel 'Shantaram', can be read <a href="http://shantihp.blogspot.com/2016/04/shantaram-book-review.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</div>
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Shantinath Chaudharyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07771807367833585430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8312090489423107591.post-37271017856308863172016-04-27T22:13:00.000+05:302016-04-27T22:13:04.170+05:30Indian Speed Star Initiative by GAIL<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Image Source:- <span style="line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://www.gailindianspeedstar.org/">http://www.gailindianspeedstar.org</a></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">In India, athletics always lacked attention. Games are a priority and among games too, Cricket takes the major attention. Athletics take the most neglected position in Indian society. And that's why in world sports arena, we don't manage to get good number of medals. We need to think why do we have this situation in our country. Is it because of the neglect of Govt, or is it because of the lack of "a culture of Sports" in our nation. In many rural areas, we have this old Hindi saying- "padhoge-likhoge banoge nawaab. kheloge-kudoge banoge kharab" (English transalation:- "If you study, you will become a great man. If you play too much, you will turn into a spoilt man"). Well, this may not hold relevant in today's times, but it tells a lot about the society's thinking. So we really need to think over this, as to why our society places so much emphasis on study and looks down upon sports and athletics as things which spoil future.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Thankfully, times are slowly changing, and more and more people are taking to sports. In fact, more and more organisations are sponsoring rather unconventional sports in the country. An example is the "pro-kabbadi" league being organized by corporates. Who would have thought there would be a National level kabaddi tournament organized by private sponsors, and organised with so much fanfare!! Same is with the Indian Super League for Football. So things are slowly changing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">It is in this regard that there seems to be another noble initiative, and thankfully so, in the area of athletics. GAIL - Gas Authority of India Ltd. has started a very nice grassroot level initiative for athletics. It is named "Indian Speed Star", to find out the fastest runners in 100,200 and 800 mtrs track events. They have teamed up with National Yuva Cooperative Society which has further tied up with Anglian Medal Hunt Company as its Technical Partner for The GAIL Indian Speedstar project. The programme is mainly targetted to find talented children beween 11-17 yrs old, and then train them for 2020 and 2024 Olympics.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">A panel of eminent sportspersons like P.T Usha, Rachita Mistry, AnuradhaBiswal& Kavita Raut have been appointed in the selection committee to support selections and guide coaching camps. As members of the selection committee their role would include creating the selection criteria or the GAIL-Indian Speedstar program, and developing the training plan and module for the selected athletes at the National Level.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Image Source:- <a href="http://auburnsolutions.com/PR/2.jpg">http://auburnsolutions.com/PR/2.jpg</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">District trials were conducted under the watchful eyes of coaches and selectors, appointed by the selection committee. The selection of the athletes was based on talent identification and selection criteria set by the selection committee.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Initiatory, in its first year, earlier this year with initial trials conducted at 55 districts across 10 states in which more than 25,000 children participated out of which 850 children made it to the State level.</span><br />
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</span> Camp and Selection. The first State level camp and trial was organized on 27-28th of February in SawaiMaan Singh Stadium, Jaipur where 60 boys and girls participated out of which 4 have qualified for the next level. The state trials were held in Odisha (14 Selection), Delhi (28 Selection), Kerala (28 Selection) & Jharkhand(4 Selection)followed by Maharashtra and Gujarat in the last week of April. The shortlisted children from the State trials will then participate in the National camp and selection which is scheduled to be held in May 2016 at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi. Shortlisted athletes from state trials will attend an intensive national level camp. At the conclusion of the coaching camp, final trials will be held.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">This seems to be a really nice initiative by GAIL and I am sure many talented children of our country will get benefited by it. More details about this noble initiative can be found at the website- <span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.5714px; text-align: start;"><a href="http://www.gailindianspeedstar.org/" target="_blank">http://www.gailindianspeedstar.org/</a>. </span>Let's also hope that more and more organisations come forward to sponsor and support such initiatives focused on athletics and other neglected sports.</span></div>
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Shantinath Chaudharyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07771807367833585430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8312090489423107591.post-66652969416042959302016-04-24T20:51:00.001+05:302022-12-24T00:22:03.618+05:30Shantaram: Book Review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>Image Source</b>:- theviewspaper.net - <b> <a href="http://bit.ly/1MQSXWg">http://bit.ly/1MQSXWg</a></b></span></td></tr>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">"<b><i>So it begins, this story, like everything else—with a woman, and a city, and a little bit of luck</i>.</b>" </span></blockquote>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Quoted from the novel, this gives a bit of idea what the story is all about. Shantaram is a story about Shantaram and his exile life in Bombay. The life involves his role in Bombay mafia, his love for the girl Karla, and his philosophical journey with his Boss-cum-saviour KhaderBhai. </span></div>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">What is most remarkable about this novel is that it has been written by a convicted Australian criminal who escaped high security prison of Australia and entered India on fake passport. The author, "Gregory David Roberts" has based the novel on his real life, so the initial part of novel is taken from his own life. But after that he surly has mixed it up with lot of fiction. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>Image Source</b>:- goodreads.com<br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">There are three main characters in this novel- Shantaram, Karla and KhaderBhai. The Novel revolves around Bombay mafia headed by KhaderBhai and stories of people working with him. There are a few more highlighted characters like- Prabakar and Abdullah. The chief protagonist, Shantaram enters India on fake passport, reaches Bombay and tries to mingle in there. Initially, he does some petty criminal jobs like currency exchange and drugs selling, but slowly he gets dragged into the KhaderBhai's Bombay mafia gang. In the initial days when he finishes up with his money, he starts living in slums, where he helps people with his basic first aid skills, opening his own small clinic there. Prabakar was the Bombay tour guide he had hired on his first day in Bombay, and Prabakar becomes one of his best friend in Bombay. The slum dwellers love this foreign guy so much for his simplicity and willingness to mix.</span></div>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">A significant portion of novel describes his life in slum, his willingness to mix with poor people, his compassionate and kind nature for people in suffering. He also eagerly learns the Marathi language. Prabakar takes him to his native village in Maharashtra, and there Prabakar's parents give him the name- "Shantaram". Prabakar himself had given him a short name "Lin", and the slum dwellers used to call him "LinBaba" with respect.</span></div>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Paralally, the story moves in three more dimensions. First is his hangouts at the famous Leopold cafe, where he makes 4-5 great friends. Second is his love relationship with the girl Karla, who happens to be another foreigner on the run in Bombay. And third is his life in the companionship of KhaderBhai.</span></div>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">His life with KhaderBhai, is what takes major part of the novel. KhaderBhai's mafia used to have a council system where all the privileged council members used to meet at regular intervals to discuss mafia things, and more so, to discuss philosophy- which was the favourite hobby of KhaderBhai! So Shantaram, even though not a council members, used to get invited there for philosophical discussions. And slowly, he grew closer to KhaderBhai. They used to have long spiritual, philosophical discussions many times, and those part of books are really fascinating to read. Like this quote by KhaderBhai- </span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Even otherwise, the novel is full of philosophical quotes which make you stop and think about the deep meaning intended to be conveyed. Like take this one- </span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">"<i>One of the ironies of courage, and the reason why we prize it so highly, is that we find it easier to be brave for someone else than we do for ourselves alone."</i></span></blockquote>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Things take a sudden turn in story when KhaderBhai prepares to leave for Afghanistan to help Afghans in the war with Russians. He was an Afghan and his villagers were involved in the war with Russians. He was going to smuggle arms and money to Afghanistan. He had contacts in Pakistan and so, he left with his entire gang, for Afghanistan, via Pakistan. Shantaram too left along. Somewhere along the journey, he came to know of a very bitter reality about KhaderBhai which made him fight with him. KhaderBhai was like a father figure for him, but he felt betrayed and broken. </span></div>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Things moved on, he came back to India, but KhaderBhai got killed by Russians in the journey. After his death, the story takes a downhill. The equation in KhaderBhai's Bombay mafia changes. It becomes "Sanjay Gang", and the story gets rolling fast. Karla gets married to someone else. Shantaram moves in with another girl Lisa. Life slowly moves on for all... till the next series of novel in the sequel. </span><br />
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</span> <span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The uniqueness of this novel is in it's style of story telling. The story is such a perfect mix of love, betrayal, suspense, thrill, and philosophy. The story gives such an immersive experience to the reader. You get completely involved with the narrative. You will start wishing that everything happens good between Lin and Karla, that their heart comes out of the pains inflicted by the past. You starts wishing well for all the characters. When Shantaram gets a feeling of betrayal by knowing about the reality of KhaderBhai, you also feels the equal amount of shock and surprise. Even though most part of the novel is fictitious, it appears so real. Even though the novel is just too thick- almost 950 pages- it hardly bores you. This is a perfect novel for someone who likes philosophical discourse, as well a love story full of struggle and mystery. Highly recommended novel, if you haven't already read it. </span><br />
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</span> <span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">P.S.- This novel has several, wonderful quotable quotes, and I have put up another blog-post compiling them all. <i><b>You can read them <a href="http://www.shantihp.blogspot.com/2016/04/shantaram-some-wonderful-quotes.html" target="_blank">here</a></b></i>.</span></div>
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Shantinath Chaudharyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07771807367833585430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8312090489423107591.post-49297159282436798202016-04-24T20:13:00.001+05:302016-09-11T12:29:32.312+05:30Shantaram: Some wonderful Quotable quotes from the Novel<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="background-color: white;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL-IJ50LeCQ-4VPsvILUIu4juBy8Wy7UEty3LMETNukHXGtr4jL-akIRJv1xRGqkHweWvT2IdoiEGc9GpyeMpAn8b-XXL4kjJOOvRIi0A-3FM99ZkM94hbUSHlnFuxxjEQBcJDGDouJLE/s1600/Joel-Edgerton-in-Talks-for-Shantaram.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL-IJ50LeCQ-4VPsvILUIu4juBy8Wy7UEty3LMETNukHXGtr4jL-akIRJv1xRGqkHweWvT2IdoiEGc9GpyeMpAn8b-XXL4kjJOOvRIi0A-3FM99ZkM94hbUSHlnFuxxjEQBcJDGDouJLE/s400/Joel-Edgerton-in-Talks-for-Shantaram.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image Source:- http://screenrant.com (<a href="http://bit.ly/1qJ8YDk">http://bit.ly/1qJ8YDk</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">In continuation with my earlier post on the <a href="http://shantihp.blogspot.com/2016/04/shantaram-book-review.html" target="_blank">Review of Shantaram novel</a>, I thought to compile some of the wonderful quotes from the Novel. Some of these are so striking, realistic and philosophical that they make you stop and think over it for a moment. Here they are:- </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">1.</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">So it begins, this story, like everything else—with a woman, and a city, and a little bit of luck.</span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">2. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">The voice, Afghan matchmakers say, is more than half of love. </span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">3. But wisdom, in one sense, is the opposite of love. Love survives in us precisely because it isn’t wise.</span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">4. Civilisation, after all, is defined by what we forbid, more than what we permit.</span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">5. The facts of life are very simple. In the beginning we feared everything—animals, the weather, the trees, the night sky—everything except each other. Now we fear each other, and almost nothing else.</span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">6. That’s not wise, Lin. I think wisdom is very over-rated. Wisdom is just cleverness, with all the guts kicked out of it. I’d rather be clever than wise, any day. </span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">7. One of the reasons why we crave love, and seek it so desperately, is that love is the only cure for loneliness, and shame, and sorrow. But some feelings sink so deep into the heart that only loneliness can help you find them again. Some truths about yourself are so painful that only shame can help you live with them.</span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">8. What I am saying is that reality—as you see it, and as most people see it—is nothing more than an illusion. There is another reality, beyond what we see with our eyes. You have to feel your way into that reality with your heart. There is no other way.</span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">9. The truth is that there are no good men, or bad men,’ he said. ‘It is the deeds that have goodness or badness in them. There are good deeds, and bad deeds. Men are just men—it is what they do, or refuse to do, that links them to good and evil.</span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">10. I don’t know what scares me more,’ she declared, ‘the madness that smashes people down, or their ability to endure it.’</span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">11. Sometimes we love with nothing more than hope. Sometimes we cry with everything except tears.</span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">12. Nations neglect no men more shamefully than the heroes of their wars.’</span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">13. The world is run by one million evil men, ten million stupid men, and a hundred million cowards. The rest of us, all six billion of us, do pretty much what we are told!’</span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">14. Some of the worst wrongs, Karla once said, were caused by people who tried to change things.</span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">15. What characterises the human race more, Karla once asked me, cruelty, or the capacity to feel shame for it? I thought the question acutely clever then, when I first heard it, but I’m lonelier and wiser now, and I know it isn’t cruelty or shame that characterises the human race. It’s forgiveness that makes us what we are.</span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">16. One of the ironies of courage, and the reason why we prize it so highly, is that we find it easier to be brave for someone else than we do for ourselves alone.</span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">17. Lovers find their way by such insights and confidences: they’re the stars we use to navigate the ocean of desire. And the brightest of those stars are the heartbreaks and sorrows. The most precious gift you can bring to your lover is your suffering.</span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">18. They were poor, tired, worried men, but they were Indian, and any Indian man will tell you that although love might not have been invented in India, it was certainly perfected there</span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">19. Every virtuous act has some dark secret in its heart, Khaderbhai once told me, and every risk we take contains a mystery that can’t be solved.</span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">20. None of us lie or guard our secrets when we sing, and India is a nation of singers whose first love is the kind of song we turn to when crying just isn’t enough.</span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">21. People say that money is the root of all evil,’ Khaled told me when we met in his apartment. His English was rich with accents of New York and Arabic and the Hindi that he spoke reasonably well. ‘But it’s not true. It’s the other way round. Money isn’t the root of all evil. Evil is the root of all money.</span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">22. That’s how we keep this crazy place together—with the heart. Two hundred fuckin’ languages, and a billion people. India is the heart. It’s the heart that keeps us together. There’s no place with people like my people, Lin. There’s no heart like the Indian heart.’</span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">23. Sooner or later, fate puts us together with all the people, one by one, who show us what we could, and shouldn’t, let ourselves become. </span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">24. But we are all moving towards it—everything in the universe is moving towards it. And that final complexity, that thing we are all moving to, is what I choose to call God. If you don’t like that word, God, call it the Ultimate Complexity.</span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">25. Karla says that depression only happens to people who don’t know how to be sad.’ </span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">26. In order to know about any act or intention or consequence, we must first ask two questions. One, what would happen if everyone did this thing? Two, would this help or hinder the movement toward complexity?’</span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">27. ...in the long run, motive matters more with good deeds than it does with bad.</span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">28. ...because if we all learned what we should learn, the first time round, we wouldn’t need love at all.</span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">29. You can never tell what people have inside them until you start taking it away, one hope at a time.</span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">30. At first, when we truly love someone, our greatest fear is that the loved one will stop loving us. What we should fear and dread, of course, is that we won’t stop loving them, even after they’re dead and gone.</span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">31. I could’ve loved her. Maybe I already did love her a little. But sometimes the worst thing you can do to a woman is to love her.</span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">32. We know that crying is a good and natural thing. We know that crying isn’t a weakness, but a kind of strength. Still, the weeping rips us root by tangled root from the earth, and we crash like fallen trees when we cry.</span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">33. I told him, she said, that a good man is as strong as the right woman needs him to be.’</span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">34. There are three things that no Indian man can resist: a beautiful face, a beautiful song, and an invitation to dance.</span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">35. It was just that all the hope had been so empty, so meaningless. And if you prove to a man how vain his hope is, how vain his hoping was, you kill the bright, believing part of him that wants to be loved.</span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">36. You can’t kill love. You can’t even kill it with hate. You can kill in-love, and loving, and even loveliness. You can kill them all, or numb them into dense, leaden regret, but you can’t kill love itself. Love is the passionate search for a truth other than your own; and once you feel it, honestly and completely, love is forever.</span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">37. MEN WAGE WARS for profit and principle, but they fight them for land and women. Sooner or later, the other causes and compelling reasons drown in blood and lose their meaning.</span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">38. Love’s a one-way street. Love, like respect, isn’t something you get; it’s something you give.</span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">39. It’s bad, loving someone you can’t forgive.’ ‘It’s not as bad as loving someone you can’t have,</span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">40. He’d been able to deal with that pain because he’d accepted his own part in causing it.</span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">41. when the loving, honest moment comes it should be seized, and spoken, because it may never come again.</span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">42. There are few things more discomfiting than a spontaneous outburst of genuine decency from someone you’re determined to dislike for no good reason.</span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">43. Luck is what happens to you when fate gets tired of waiting.</span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">44. It is always a fool’s mistake, Didier once said to me, to be alone with someone you shouldn’t have loved.</span></blockquote><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><br />
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Shantinath Chaudharyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07771807367833585430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8312090489423107591.post-26440035900034327052016-04-17T23:42:00.000+05:302016-09-11T12:36:58.294+05:30Novels and Fictions: My Favorite Fiction Writers<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;">Novels are probably the most addictive thing I have in my life, so addictive that once I start a novel, I can't focus on any other work before finishing that novel. My first encounter with novel was in 7th standard when I came across a <b>Hardy Boys</b> novel in my School's library. After that I didn't take much time to finish reading all the available novels of Hardy Boys and then followed <b>Nancy Drew</b>. Both were similar ones, meant for small children. Stories of adventure, suspense and playfulness. Sherlock Holmes books by <b>Arthur Conan Doyle</b> followed next. His wise detective ventures with Doctor Roberts were always so fascinating. And then I slowly moved on to several other writers' novels, like those by <b>Agatha Christie, Robert Ludlum, Fredrick Forsyth,Sidney Sheldon, Jeffrey Archer, and then Chetan Bhagat.</b> Needless to say, I used to read novels just and just for entertainment. I loved novels with thrill, suspense and mystery. </div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmtQJLYld6u5laCVwnXYfBXS__Ljp5LXbw5pol78co156KHzI8eex-s0FX9gJFakkKFFO4ocVNR44pzA65hNklBX0nAIOcIEPqcOIYqGPLaxVZcBYGuwK7W2jr-V-6cS9xI8H-St4H9So/s1600/Angels-And-Demons_novel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmtQJLYld6u5laCVwnXYfBXS__Ljp5LXbw5pol78co156KHzI8eex-s0FX9gJFakkKFFO4ocVNR44pzA65hNklBX0nAIOcIEPqcOIYqGPLaxVZcBYGuwK7W2jr-V-6cS9xI8H-St4H9So/s320/Angels-And-Demons_novel.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;">In last few years, I read several other kind of novels, which were a mix of philosophy and the usual thrill and suspense. <b>Dan Brown </b>and <b>Gregory David Roberts </b>(of Shantaram fame<b>), </b>have been two such novelists who have impressed me a lot with their writing style. Out of all these novelists, Dan Brown is the one, whom I would put as my most favourite novelist. Almost 7-8 yrs back, when I had came across his most famous novel- Da Vinci Code- I was least interested to read that, or any of his other novels. That's because the novel, going by news, seemed more of a religious and scientific fiction, and I was least interested in the genre. Suspense,thriller were what attracted me. But then last year a friend suggested me one of his other novel, I took it up to read, and found it quite exciting! It was indeed related to religious mythology, but there were fare share of suspense, and thrill involved. After that I finished most of his novels one by one. Interestingly, I didn't find his most famous novel - Da Vinci Code- that nice. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">It was another novel- "Angels and Demons", which I liked most. His novels stand out in a sense that they contain a right mix of religion stuff, philosophy and the thrilling suspense. I liked the <b>Gregory David Roberts's </b>novels too. But Dan Brown's novels have a slight edge. Besides, Robert's books are more like inspired from his own life. But since they are inspired from real life, they look more realistic too. That said, Dan Brown, will stay to be my favourite fiction writer, followed by the Shantaram :)</div></div><iframe style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="//ws-in.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=IN&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=randothoug01-21&marketplace=amazon®ion=IN&placement=0312330529&asins=0312330529&linkId=c6c0999136e6bb333d10902e4246fce7&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true"></iframe> <iframe style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="//ws-in.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=IN&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=randothoug01-21&marketplace=amazon®ion=IN&placement=1408701618&asins=1408701618&linkId=14668aee7da4acc79d16fcc370d7de6f&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true"></iframe><br />
Shantinath Chaudharyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07771807367833585430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8312090489423107591.post-32481796410459382282016-04-10T11:38:00.000+05:302020-02-18T00:58:56.168+05:30Logo Designing & Redesigning Competition by WhatsUrSkill<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I came across this nice portal <a href="https://www.whatsurskill.com/" target="_blank">WhatsUrSkill</a> which provides a platform to showcase your skills and win prizes for the same. The concept looks great and the two currently existing contests look very promising. The initiatives there can be a great place to hone hobbies too for many people.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJSfPfhiEWWy0NXdbjamNse5SohbUBAWcHLT_70jXugGJteNymGn2BzQX__j7lBiKKC1G5pyt_9uLf15z5acpAFs22NdeZ7SzklmUQwZa3xRXgWpQiOw68w2R0TDQV0qhyXCMnOh2LAi8/s1600/contest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJSfPfhiEWWy0NXdbjamNse5SohbUBAWcHLT_70jXugGJteNymGn2BzQX__j7lBiKKC1G5pyt_9uLf15z5acpAFs22NdeZ7SzklmUQwZa3xRXgWpQiOw68w2R0TDQV0qhyXCMnOh2LAi8/s640/contest.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image Source: https://www.whatsurskill.com/</td></tr>
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This logo designing competition <a href="https://www.whatsurskill.com/logo/logohome" target="_blank">SWAGG</a>, involves designing logos for 15 start ups and 5 NGOs.<br />
The participants need to redesign their logos for these organizations . The winners will get cash prize up to Rs. 2 lakh in total, and tablets by WACOM.com. Further, each participant will receive Rs. 350 from Ruprr.com. Detail of the terms and conditions can be read <a href="https://www.whatsurskill.com/logo/terms" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
All in all, this contest looks great for designers and art enthusiasts. The website WhatsUrSkill too seems promising. They describe their website as a <i>"Kolkata-based Online Talent Recognition Platform, which gives an opportunity to all the artists in India to showcase their Graphic Designing/ Drawing/ Photography/ Acting/ Dancing/ Singing skills and get awarded for their performance. The objective is to see people follow their passion and make a successful career in it." </i>Hope they do great and enough people are benefited by this nice initiative.</div>
Shantinath Chaudharyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07771807367833585430noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8312090489423107591.post-7950417260418662862016-03-10T22:02:00.000+05:302016-07-03T21:24:01.859+05:30The JNU Controversy: What is Nationalism?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image Source:- <a href="http://img01.ibnlive.in/ibnlive/uploads/2016/02/jnuprotes_more.jpg" target="_blank">IBNLive</a></td></tr>
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The month of February has been very eventful for Delhi citizens and for the intellectuals all over India. What started just as a university level event supporting Afzal Guru, snowballed into a nationwide controversy! Sedition cases were slapped, Home Minister of India jumped in with conclusion of Hafiz Saeed supporting the JNU students, and the entire country was divided on the issue. Delhi was overwhelmed with protest marches. First a protest march by JNU students, then one by Left parties, after that one by BJP and anti-JNU people and a few days later a protest march by lawyers! It was like a Govt declared protest month!</div>
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The issue had started with a pro-AfzalGuru event, which had attracted attention of wide variety of students. By now everybody knows the issue, but the only thing left is where is the basic difference in opinion?</div>
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Broadly, there are three issues here:-</div>
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<li style="text-align: justify;">Did the students of JNU commit mistake by doing what they did on the day of 9th February?</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Were their actions bad enough to term them as "Anti-National"?</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Should Police have acted so swiftly? And should a case of sedition have been lodged against them?</li>
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I think if we are able to answer these three questions clearly, then we will have better clarity of the event. So here are my thoughts on the above three points</div>
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<li style="text-align: justify;">Talking of the students indulgence in the said series of events, I think they were wrong. University is a place of study and intellectual growth, not a place of muscle flexing and provocative sloganeering. While all kinds of debates and discussion (howsoever diverse and flammable) should be allowed in an educational institutions, they must be held in a peaceful and cooperative manner. Provocative speeches, sloganeering, mob marches etc. should not be appreciated. So what happened on that day, certainly feels to be wrong.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Were the actions bad enough, so as to term them as "anti-National"? This is a very difficult question, and a bit confusing too. In my view.there are two things here, first- can their actions said to be motivated from anti-national sentiments? And second- can they be termed "anti-National"? I think the slogans raised were indeed motivated by anti-National sentiments. So those who were raising the slogans, certainly had anti-national sentiments. But can it be used to conclude that they were "anti-national"? I think NO. For determining, whether someone is "anti-National" or not, I think we should make "action" as the determining criteria, keeping in mind at the same time, that there should be "Freedom of Expression". So while they had anti-national sentiments, without any clear anti-national actions, it would be a bit harsh to conclude that they are "anti-national". Its true that thoughts and sentiments only convert into action, but then we can't conclude so quickly!</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Police acted very swiftly in this case, which was a bit surprising.But keeping in mind the anti-national slogans raised, I think Police action was obvious. A Police investigation into the incidents was very much needed. But, they shouldn't have kept Kanhaiya under prolonged detention. That was unnecessary and aggravated the situation. The prolonged detention/custody period of Kanhaiya catapulted him into a heroic character (which he is not). It unnecessarily brought him into limelight, bringing him sympathies of people. What had he done by the way? At most, he can be accused to have turned blind to anti-National slogans. He was not even among the main organisers of the event! And well, that sedition case, that is totally unwarranted. The sedition law itself is illogical, and should be scrapped altogether. The case that should have been made against them, was of trying to disrupt peace by spreading hatred and doing provocative actions(I hope such laws exist). Actions should indeed be taken against all those who organised/supported the event, and all those who raised slogans, but not this sedition case. And the police actions should have been proportionate to the crime committed(if any).</li>
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That brings me to the end of this blog-post. I hope the situation calms down, guilty people are caught and punished in logical way, and students of JNU starts focusing more on intellectual debates than on provocative, muscle flexing events.<br />
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Shantinath Chaudharyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07771807367833585430noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8312090489423107591.post-15456853790302503532016-02-28T13:02:00.001+05:302016-07-03T21:24:23.380+05:30Comics reading Habit of Childhood: A nostalgic walk down the lane<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVITVSAAVGhgU05fQIY_y-4Li5hbr3PQEdoghOeZ4GxXvTIgo5Q56YqvIXhmBBPUYEIglx09HPIgEh9zf7aK6UsUu9ft6E7jIKTwFstwK4f0D_bCxLCQwMUu13gKcVSS7d9R52LSgdyxk/s1600/spcl-0002-h.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVITVSAAVGhgU05fQIY_y-4Li5hbr3PQEdoghOeZ4GxXvTIgo5Q56YqvIXhmBBPUYEIglx09HPIgEh9zf7aK6UsUu9ft6E7jIKTwFstwK4f0D_bCxLCQwMUu13gKcVSS7d9R52LSgdyxk/s400/spcl-0002-h.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image Source: http://nagrajcomicscollection.blogspot.in/<br />
2012/03/grand-master-robo-dhruv-hindi-comic.html</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Childhood days are fun. When we look back at our childhood days, it feels so nostalgic. The kind of silly games we used to play, the kind of mischief we used to do, everything brings smiles on our faces. One such integral part of my childhood was reading Comics. Those were the days of primary school days i.e. below 5th STD. While my father was receptive to the idea of bringing story books for kids, he was not very appreciable to the idea of comics, I don't remember why, probably due to the cost factor. So officially, I used to get once-a-month quota of story books like "Champak", "Nanhe Samrat",or Suman Saurabh". (I am pleasantly surprised that I still remember these names!!). But then comics was a luxury item for me. It was also a kind of contraband item for all the kids in my neighborhood. The reason being that, parents won't buy it, and if you buy it yourself, questions will be raised as to where did you get the money from? It was banned in School too, because kids used to bring it and read during class time. So in short, Comics was loved by kids, loathed by teachers and avoided by parents. But then we all know what happens when you try to suppress something. It finds its own way! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So somewhere, some innovative business minded guy got an idea, and there started a business out of it- "<b>Comics on Rent</b>". Yes you heard it right, the idea of renting comics was very much real then. It was a booming business for shopkeepers then (not sure, if it continues even now). They knew that the kids can't buy comics, so they started renting it out. There were two kinds of comics, one of about 30 pages, costing around Rs 15, and another kind was of around 60 pages, used to be called as "<b>Digest</b>", and that used to cost about Rs 30. The time was of 1990s, more precisely around the year 1995, and I am sure, at that time, even this much price must have felt a bit steep for my parents. So anyway, the per day rental charge of the 30 pages comics was 50 paisa, and for Digest comics, it was Rs 1. Now, 50 paisa and Rs 1, were affordable for us kids. We used to get pocket money sometimes, and for doing household chores (or for marketing) we used to get paid such small-small remunerations. Well, now it looks funny for sure, but on the other hand I think it is a great idea for parent- Pay pocket money for household works. So we used to collect some money this way. We also used to keep eagle eye on roads on the way to School and back, just in case we find some 50 paisa coins on road, which will get us a day of happiness!! In fact, in those times, there used to 5 paisa, 10 paisa, 20 paisa and 25 paisa coins as well. So any single coin found on road, was like a treasure discovered! Besides these two, we had another way- comics sharing. So one kid will rent a comics in Rs 1, and he will finish it reading, pass it on to other ones. This way, by spending just Rs 0.50 or 1, 4-5 kids were able to enjoy reading the comics. In short, it was a financially difficult times for us, but then kids can conceive some great innovative ideas!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo0RlBSxFAI0WUAUPZwtwAlGRT3p_2a28imG2NgP8TxXN5CXqQugsbRzy8mAMzS07m-pcUwkaUgS7eTzsjmI4vsgmxQMQXKVvsqA0Scq-sXDb-8BtDI5BzolUKrwJcA1M6tPd_W6KNl1U/s1600/comics+nagraj+and+super+cammando+dhruva.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo0RlBSxFAI0WUAUPZwtwAlGRT3p_2a28imG2NgP8TxXN5CXqQugsbRzy8mAMzS07m-pcUwkaUgS7eTzsjmI4vsgmxQMQXKVvsqA0Scq-sXDb-8BtDI5BzolUKrwJcA1M6tPd_W6KNl1U/s320/comics+nagraj+and+super+cammando+dhruva.JPG" width="250" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image Source:- http://abhilifelapazzo.blogspot.in<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The story of smuggling of Comics too is very fascinating. Since it was a contraband item, it had to be carried in hidden way. While taking to School, we used to carry them under shirts. We couldn't afford getting them seized by teachers. That would mean loss of Rs 15-30, which would drive us </span>bankrupt easily (or we would have to sell some study books at half price, to make up for that). Sometimes, we used to read them while classes are going on, and there we used to hide it below our genuine textbooks. The moment teacher will come, the comics would be slid under the textbook and we used to pretend we are such a studious students!! :D </div>
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At home too, it had to be hidden many times. Most of us kids were addicted to comics, and parents didn't used to see it as a good habit. They used to think, we are always lost in imaginary world, and we better spend more time over school books, doing some "real" study. So our life was difficult, but we used to have fun nonetheless. </div>
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Talking of comics characters, mine was a small town, but the shopkeeper owners used to have all the varieties of comics. Since space was less, they used to spread all the comics on a make-shift stall outside their shop. Kids could go there, scroll through them, and pay them Rs 0.5 or 1, to take away one comics for a day. Sometimes I wonder, how they used to trust us without any IDs. May be they were sure that we are not going to change School/town ever, or may be they just trusted the honesty of a kid! So there were comics of all characters, and we used to cherish many. There was Nagraj, there was Doga, there was Chacha Choudhary-Rocky-Sabu trio, and then my most favourite one "Super Commando Dhruv"!! I absolutely used to love Dhruv's comics, they used to fascinate me, primarily because he was able to do everything without any super-power. He used to crack most cases just with help of his brilliant mind-power! Then Nagraj too used look great. I don't remember any more characters right now. Ok, I did a quick google to refresh my mind, and after going through more names on Internet, I recall to have read following heroes comics too- Parmanu, Bhokal, Tiranga, Bankelal. Bankelal and Chacha Choudhary were kind of non-action, cartoon characters. And I have been an action loving guy, so I used to love more the other action oriented comics. Dhruv and Nagraj comics were my most read comics.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image Source: http://abhilifelapazzo.blogspot.in/2009<br />
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I miss them so much these day. I think they are still available to buy, they can be <a href="http://www.rajcomics.com/" target="_blank">ordered online</a> as well. Last year, I had come across a website where many comics were available to read online too (free of cost). And now, I can buy them easily too. I just noticed that they are available just Rs 40 onwards. But I don't know why, I don't feel like buying them. First, because I hardly get time to read these days. And also because, I am not able to related to those comics now. They look a bit childish now. Guess there was a big gap in my reading habits, and slowly I graduated from those pictorial comics to textual novels of Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and slowly to more matured novels. But still, If I had my way, I would love to read Dhruv and Nagraj comics. I just wish that the creators of those comics, start a different version of comics too- for grown up folks, which could be on the line of the novels of Robert Ludlum or Agatha Christie. They could present Dhruv and Nagraj as RAW under-cover agents, or may be a supercop of Special Ops group. </div>
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Ending it up here. Heartiest thanks to all the comics creators, specially the creator of Dhruv - <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Mr.anupam.sinha" target="_blank">Anupam Sinha</a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">P.S.- This blog-post is an entry for <a href="https://www.indiblogger.in/indispire/" target="_blank">IndiSpire</a> section of <a href="https://www.indiblogger.in/" target="_blank">Indiblogger</a>, where the most voted topic is chosen as topic of the week, and all the interested bloggers write on that topic.</span></div>
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Shantinath Chaudharyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07771807367833585430noreply@blogger.com2