I was a little weary of Hollywood movies lately. Most movies are old material rehashed using digital graphics. Or direct remakes. Comedies with little sensical premise.

But sometimes movies really bring out the story-telling that bring in the richly satisfying experience of watching them.

'The curious case of Benjamin Button' is one such movie. It tells a story of the man who ages backwards physically but otherwise has a normal mental aging. A very nicely done movie explaning the predicament on aging backwards. The movie somehow shows our inherent attitude of valuing youthness instead of wisdom. When we are young we assume we are at the top of the world, we rebel , we behave like jerks. For BEnjamin Button it was the opposite. Since he was physically old , his time growing up was in the company of people who were at the prime of their life and lot of experiences and wisdom which he was able to amass when growing up. And with so much death around him during his initial life, he was able to value life more.

The film is a little slow and long . But if you really like good thoughtful drama this movie should definately be one in the list .

So recommending it

Peace

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Imagine if such a things happened to Moslems instead of Hindus .

http://realitycheck.wordpress.com/2006/12/09/another-statue-story/

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Another example of how a divided India works the Congress way . And the media is helping with their agenda . And now recently they passed resolution they they wont cover a large scale terrorist attack. So convenient !!! That way the public can be in the dark and the govt can blame anyone they want depending on their agenda ..

Tags: national media

My collaborator , who is a European posed me this question . Why was Mumbai attacked ? What was the motive ? What would Pakistan gain by doing this ?

The current episode has unleashed a variety of emotions in every Indian . So much so that we are ready to blame everyone or anyone that even remotely thinks ill of India . I am guilty of the same . All I wanted to blame was Pakistan and even China when I was at it .

But the fact is that we were attacked because of our policies . We were attacked because of our need to distinguish . We were attacked because we identify ourselves as Hindus, Moslems, Christians, SIkhs, Maharashtrian, Tamil, Bihari, Brahmin, shudra etc .

India takes pride in calling itself united in diversity . But this is only a charade . The problem is we are so divided that we cannot make some other communities problem as ours as long as it doesn't affect us .

And this fact has been used for political mileage so effectively that we are alienating ourselves day after day .

Today when I saw the news about the rally in Mumbai and the turnout, I was very optimistic that finally India is willing to rise as a nation against this menace, no matter whoever caused it .
It is time we showed that we truly are united in this cause . That we truly beleive in the soverinity of this nation .

But just doing this rally is not enough . We need actionable ideas. We need the will of the politburo in this too . We need new people in the governance who really keep nation first . We need a police force that are masters of the state rather than the underworld or the political parties . We need a very tough security policy . We need to reduce corruption and be accountable for our actions . We need a leader who can represent a united India and be truly secular in the sense that there will be a justice for all and appeasement to none . We need a uniform civil code . We need the purpose . We need this fervor that was shown at the rally !!!

Will it happen ? Is this a turning point in India's history ..

Comments welcomes

Tags: united in diversity

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In response to :
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Sena_member_files_PIL_against_ATS/articleshow/3738210.cms

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I have been following the role of the Mumbai ATS with respect to the Malegaon blasts . There was a certain disbelief about jihadi elements targetting Moslem groups.  Investigations by Mumbai ATS have given out some strong evidence that Hindu radical outfits were behind the MAlegaon and even the SAmjhautha express bombings .

But lately actions by the ATS demand scrutiny. Maybe its just me but investigations by the ATS have suddenly been looking more secular . Selective leaks by the ATS regarding the malegaon blast accused has been already built up the media . So much so that , people do not talk about any of the other blasts that has happnened during the entire time .

Election time in India usually has its share of nuisance where many political parties literally go out of the way to appease minority commmunities . Showing the majority community as a demonizer and a sinner works wonders in this country of ours .

But this latest round of demonizing the majority community is bound to leave a lot of resentment in the populace. A terrorist attack is an attack against the nation and not against the community . But if this is turned into a minority issue to garner votes it is definately going to be bad for the nation as a whole .

 ATS should act as a professional investigative agency and not play this political game for securing the high posts of its supposedly highly placed secular masters  . They should be serving the country first and the people second .

Never has there been such a strong sense of anger among different communities and our political parties need to be smart enough to not fuel this , because then the country will burn . And we will too !!!

Tags: mumbai ats

Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh on Thursday assured Muslims that the Governmemnt would give them preference in
police jobs.

"A special officer from Muslim community would be appointed for the police recruitment so that the community people can get more scope in the police department," the Chief Minister said in the function of the Federation of All Minority Educational Organisation at Haj House here.

The Government has already appointed an officer from minority community on MPSC board which is helping to bring the community youth in the mainstream, he said.

Deshmukh also asked Muslim students to learn Marathi langauage along with Urdu. "One should learn Marathi as it is the state language and also been used for the Government jobs," he said.

Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil who also attended the function said that Muslims should be given priority in private jobs also. Patil requested the Chief Minister that a meeting of private industrialists should be conducted in this regard.




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Cant the Congress Govt in Maharashtra think of any other scheme or important issue that can be tackled, so as to win the popular vote in Maharashtra . Why do they always have to bend down to Moslems for votes .

Looks like vote-bank politics is still in vogue !!!! 

Tags: congress appeasement of minorities!!!

HYDERABAD: Barely three weeks after Karthik Rajaram killed his family before shooting himself, there seems to be another tragic fallout of the global meltdown

A Telugu software programmer, who lost his job recently, reportedly killed three members of his family in Detroit on Tuesday, even as the US federal police launched a manhunt for the 42-year-old man.

The bodies of Jayalakshmi Nerusu (37), her 14-year-old daughter Tejasvi and 12-year-old son Siva were found on the first floor of their residence at Wharton Court in Novi area, 20 km from Detroit.

"The accused, Lakshminivasa Rao Nerusu, caused grievous injuries on the head and neck areas of each victim," Novi police chief David E Molloy said, even as he described the crime scene as "very disturbing." An autopsy report said the victims were stabbed.

Investigators said the father lost his job recently and the family car was repossessed about a month ago. The police went to the house after a relative complained that he had not heard from the family for several days. Friends and relatives of the victims were interrogated by the police, but they could not draw any conclusions on the motive behind the murders.

Molloy said they have no record of domestic violence cases regarding the Nerusu family and insisted that Nerusu was only a 'person of interest' at this point of investigation. "The three victims had wounds on the arms, indicating that they tried to fend off the blows," Molloy said.

Jayalakshmi was a housewife, while Tejasvi and Siva were school students. Both the children were good at studies, said school officials. Sources said the Nerusu family had shifted to Novi area from Illinois last August. Unconfirmed reports said Rao had left for India on October 14.


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Beg to wonder if the social stigma associated with losing the job really catapulted to this drastic step. Job security is such a priority in India and can affect your life which is so fueled by the success you had . A jobless person can never think of getting married . You are almost oscratized in Indian community and that's true in the West too.

Is there a need for a social structure in US as it is in India which recognizes the issues in US and help each other to prevent such cowardice of the person to run away from a situation!!!

Tags: indians in us

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/man-opens-fire-shouts-against-mns-chief-in-bus/76837-3.html

The gist of the news is this young man from Bihar hijacked a bus and caused a life-threatening situation . The police acted on time and killed him. 

I dont know if this man should be branded a terrorist, because he put so many lives in danger or a person frustrated with the system of law and order which is so biased and non-uniform. A system where anti-national elements like the Raj Thakre and his henchman can go about thrashing , beating and killing innocent civialians just because they are Northies and not be punished for the same. This person probably thought that making a big and dangerous situation is the right way to get your voice heard similar to how these anti-nationalists are pushing their agenda . He paid the price and its not condonable. He has no right but so doesnt MNS and other anti-national hooligans. So why these double standard by the Government . Why doesnt our law and order not secure the life of each and every person. Why cannot the government uphold the rule of the land where no matter what your agenda is , if you are unconstituitional you are going down !!!!

So is this new political climate of anti-nationalism our path into the 21st century?

Comments welcome

Peace

Tags: anti-national

This was what I just read in the news
http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080070005

Now if this accusation is true justice should prevail. But it has just got me thinking about exactly what I wrote in the title . Are we too soft on Muslim extremists ?

We had so many arrests of SIMI extremists but not a single one has been charged yet . All I keep hearing is narco-analysis. And on top of that even with all this proof there are still our psuedo-secularist politicians trying to ask for justifications in the banning issue of SIMI and the Jamia nagar encounter of 2 two Moslem youth directly involved in the Delhi blasts. If it was not for the public scrutiny on the issue and lot of media coverage the poor inpector that died during the encounter would have been termed a traitor and a racist, the only reason being he was a Hindu . Even the Afzal Guru sentencing is on hold because it might hurt Moslem sentiments.

I guess its time we do away with this brownnosing of the minority communities for vote-based politics and uphold the law of the land and work on securing the rights of every Indian irrespective of caste and creed, race and religion. And I think its also time for all those moderate Moslems to vocalize because the way these situations are being handled in India , its not long before we see a Godhra-type incident all across India..

Its time to bring out the national pride in all of us !!!!!!!!!!!!

Peace

Tags: indian pride