Wednesday 30 October 2013

It Happens Only in India


It was indeed a foregone conclusion that the tamasha of digging for treasure by Archeological Survey of India, based on a godman's dream, had to end sooner or later as a damp squib. But it also revealed how deep rooted the ties are between the political class, godmen and bureaucracy.

Godman Shobhan Sarkar dreams of a 1,000-tonne gold treasure buried on the erstwhile fort premises of former king  Raja Rao Ram Bux Singhat in Daundia Khera, Unnao in Uttar Pradesh. He later reveals this to his ardent bhakt Union minister Charan Das Mahant and even writes to prime minister. The godman claims the 'gold' can be used by the Reserve Bank of India to tide over the economic crisis. Now don't tell me Raghuram Rajan's men had kept an empty strong room ready!

The Minister pulls the right strings and three months later on October 18 the Archeological Survey of India  willingly suspends disbelief and gets down to dirty its hands. For those who always saw the country as snake charmers' paradise, it was an euphoric 'I-told-u-so' moment. For this erstwhile sleepy village the excavation site soon acquired a mela like atmosphere with a steady stream of onlookers, vendors and TV reporters.

The Congress party initially put up a brave face with its spokesperson Renuka Chowdhury saying there is no harm if the country 'benefits' from it. It was indeed a far cry from Jawaharlal Nehru's days of inculcating scientific temper among the Indian masses and treating power plants and industrial complexes as new 'temples of India'.

Narendra Modi initially took a swipe at the Congress by saying the world was mocking at us over the treasure hunt and it should rather strive to bring back black money stashed abroad. But this sparked off angry reactions from the godman's followers with some questioning what NDA has done to bring back black money while it was in power. The loh purush meekly capitulated and the very next day said that his objective was not to hurt the feelings of the spiritual guru. He even went to the extent of sending a clarification, which was physically handed over to the godman by a BJP MLA. For him this was not the time for 'puppy coming under the car' analogy or other specious arguments.

The ASI which had landed itself in a hole by agreeing to carry out excavations had only ancient pottery and artefacts to show as result. The Congress party too changed its tune and said it was purely ASI's decision and it had nothing to do with it. The godman's disciple Omji now says that gold will not be discovered until and unless Shobhan Sarkar wishes so!

Also Read: Bangalore Beat

Friday 25 October 2013

Unsung Genius


He was in the last leg of his journey and had been in and out of hospitals; some even announced his 'demise' last month on Twitter. Though the end seemed inevitable, but when it happened it still brought a lump in the throat.

Quite typical of Manna Dey it happened without much ado. He died in the wee hours and funeral got over by noon - no Bollywood bigwigs, no politicians attended it.

My knowledge of Manna Dey was rather sketchy as it got overshadowed by the compelling influence of the other big two - Kishore Kumar and Mohammed Rafi. Hence when the news of his death and his memorable songs started coming on TV, it was for me an embarrassing course correction regarding my knowledge (or lack of it) of Manna Dey's songs - as some of his lilting numbers I had mistakenly thought were sung by others. His extremely hummable Zindagi kaisi hai paheli I thought was sung by Kishore Kumar and his Pyar Hua Ikraar Hua by Mukesh!! Felt like kicking myself.

But then we always associated Mukesh with Raj Kapoor and Kishore Kumar with Rajesh Khanna. In an era when singers used to position themselves as the 'voice' of just one star, Manna Dey was an exception and probably this cost him dear. The actors he sang for span different eras and stature - from Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand to Rajesh Khanna and Mehmood. His works range from classical numbers such as Laga chunari mein daag to racy Aao twist karein. His range was enormous but somehow the music directors of that era failed to tap it to its full potential.

Also Read: Bangalore Beat

Thursday 24 October 2013

FOUND: Lost and Found Saga in Real Life

This story sounded too filmi to be true. A Mumbai policeman who got lost as a child at a crowded railway station gets reunited with his family after 24 years - thanks to a tattoo on his arm.
 

It was the most tried and tested formula for most Indian filmmakers of yesteryears. Manmohan Desai and Prakash Mehra adeptly handled it to rake in the moolah at the box-office.
 

The setting used to be some mela in a dusty village and the brothers (the scriptwriters never went beyond names such as Ram, Shyam and Vijay) used to get separated, either due to surging crowds, stampede or due to a raid by dacoits, and go their own ways. In most cases one used to become a police inspector while the other lands in some daaku or smuggler gangs. To give further twist to the story the lost brother gets raised by a Muslim or Christian household and follows those religions. They reunite towards the end of the film and the last frame used to be a group photo with the mother (forever played by Nirupa Roy) and their lady loves thrown in. The reunion used to happen because of a tattoo mark, birth mark or a ring.
 

Other filmmakers too latched on to this formula and it soon died a natural death as it became so ghisa pita that the audiences' patience began wearing thin. Soon it got relegated to being a spoof writers' muse.
 

Coming back to the policeman's story, Ganesh Raghunath Dhangade was extremely lucky that though he did undergo his share of the trials and tribulations which boys separated from families undergo, he had a fairytale ending. A majority of such children either end up as maimed beggars or become part of criminal gangs.
 

Dhangade himself recalls that after he got lost he had to clean platforms and eat at dargahs and Ganesh mandals. Even the fisherman family that took him home extracted their pound of flesh by making him beg on local trains and provide food in exchange for money. The orphange Anand Ashram in Worli needs to be commended for playing a stellar role in shaping his future.
 

Lastly truth has proved that is way too stranger than fiction. Maybe it’s time we took Manmohan Desai films a bit more seriously!

Also Read: Bangalore Beat

Sunday 13 October 2013

Cyclone Phailin: What a Relief!



It was billed as the baap of all cyclones. Weather experts were coming on TV news channels and forecasting that Cyclone Phailin will have a wind speed of 200-plus kilometres. We had a CNN weather reporter hinting it will be the biggest storm of the year all over the world and may be on par with Hurricane Katrina.

Bay of Bengal, the inflicter of all major sea borne tragedies on the country, became restive with heavy rains in coastal areas and it seemed we were in for a disaster with humungous human casualties, mainly in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. In India it is almost given that any cyclone should have casualties running into 1000s and a super-cyclone in 10,000s. Alibis like after all we are like this only! human life is cheap here, our population is unmanageable are made  on a  regular basis after every calamity.


In fact the last super cyclone that had hit Odisha in 1999 had killed more than 10,000. So what way it is going to be different now? Everyone seemed resigned as Phailin made the landfall amidst minute-by-minute TV coverage, live blogs and an excited Twitterati.

Weathermen were spot on, the wind speeds did touch 200 kilometres and the devastation was catastrophic with TV channels airing the images of swollen fields, twisted lampposts, roofs of houses blown away and roads rendered unmotorable with fallen trees.

Everything went as per the predictable script except one vital link. The casualty figures seemed far too diminished. It was rationalized that the clear picture might emerge next day. But even next day it was far too minimal, some 14 killed – even a four storey building collapse in Mumbai brings in more casualties. It all seemed too good to be true. Even Hurricana Katrina when it struck the mighty US had 1,800 casualties – thanks mainly to George Bush jr’s ineptitude.

The secret lay in the large scale evacuation carried out by government agencies and NGOs once it became clear that Phailin was going to strike. In fact it is reported that more than 800,000 were evacuated and those who were reluctant were threatened with arrests. However in the run up to the cyclone it went mainly unnoticed. After all before any impending calamity the governments do parrot out statements such as 'we are fully prepared for any eventuality' and 'taking suitable measure', and people take it with a pinch of salt and a yawn.

Once international news agencies such as BBC and Reuters began reporting that casualty figures were indeed low it dawned on us that for once we have indeed coped with a massive tragedy in an exemplary manner. However, this is only half the battle. The challenge of rehabilitating those who have lost their homes and hearths is going to be an even more uphill and long drawn one.

Tailpiece: Even before we could say three cheers for successfully coping with a cyclone came the news of a stampede at a temple in Madhya Pradesh, allegedly sparked by a rumour, and the casualties have already reached three figures. Looks like though dealing with Phailin was a sterling example of getting our act together, we still have a long way to go with regards to disaster management.

Also Read: Bangalore Beat