Travelogue - Barbados, April 2007

Finally made my second visit ever to the beautiful island nation of Barbados in April.

The eastern-most of the Caribbean islands - and one of the few coral islands in this archipelago of primarily volcanic islands - Barbados combines sophistication and commercialization with pristine beauty. A group of us went down there and the highlight was the companionship of 4 families that have come to know one another very very well over the past decade. The island itself provided the perfect backdrop for this reunion, with planned outings for a game of cricket - the Cricket World Cup 2007 was on then - and around the island.

Very few sports stadia around the world capture the history of the sport as well as the Kensington Oval in Barbados - from thoughtfully named stands (after legendary Barbadian cricketers of yore - Greenidge, Haynes, Worrell, Weekes, Wolcott, Sobers, Hall, Griffith,…) and actually naming the two bowling ends after Malcolm Marshall and Joel Garner, an intimate setting for the game that has been retained even as the stadium was totally rebuilt for the World Cup, excellent concession stands and the live Bajan crowd made for a gripping experience.

The highlight for my two little girls was going out turtle feeding in the Caribbean Sea - I guess the turtles have been practically domesticated but still the experience of snorkeling amongst a large group of sea turtles is something quite unique.

Amongst the spots on the island, one that every visitor should take in is the Nicholas Abbey. A restored sugar plantation, it is a great experience for kids and adults. Another is the Flower Forest, with its spectacular vistas over the Scotland District of Barbados. The Wild Animal Reserve is slightly overrated, but the sea at Bathsheba is not.

Great views, friendly people, varied experiences - Barbados is one memorable experience!

Omkara - and it is NOT just an interpretation of Othello

One can understand the exuberance of Vishal Bharadwaj and the ones who (mis)managed the publicity for Omkara that caused them to play up the Othello angle.

Mismanaged because by simply calling Omkara an adaptation of Othello, they are doing a great disservice to the multi-talented Mr Bharadwaj. Yes, it is a great juxtaposition of that great Shakespearean tragedy into the rough and tumble of politics in Western UP. One appreciates the cleverness of the character names - so that Othello becomes Omkara, Desdemona transforms into Dolly and so on.

But what this over-emphasis on Othello does is to totally undersell the ability of a great director to interweave every possible element of a masala Hindi movie into a gripping, blink-and-you-miss-something narrative. The music (by Vishal Bharadwaj himself) is epic in its own right, and Gulzar's lyrics are brilliant as always. The dark light effects, the sweeping panoramas, and the mercilessly coarse and blistering dialogues all contribute to the making of one of the great Hindi movies of our generation. Bipasha Basu's beautiful cameo with Beedi Jalaile ranks along with Aishwarya Rai's Kajra Re from Bunty aur Babli and Rekha's Kaisi Paheli Zindagani (Parineeta) as one of the great "item numbers" in Hindi movies.

Kareena Kapoor is adequate as Dolly, Viveik Oberoi looks his part (though his histrionic limitations come forth in the more dramatic scenes, of which there are many), but the 3 I would pay to see again and again are Ajay Devgun as Omkara (and to think that the first time I went to see a movie starring this worthy - Jigar - I actually walked out 45 minutes into the film), Saif Ali Khan in the much-appreciated role of Langda Tyagi and Konkona Sen Sharma as Indu Tyagi.

Superb movie - and not surprisingly not a great success at the Box Office. I am sure in the years to come, like Guru Dutt's Kagaz Ke Phool, Omkara will be pulled up for reference as one of the great movies in Bollywood history.

Nagesh Kukunoor's "Dor"

Over the past 3-4 weeks, I ended up seeing 4 Hindi movies from 2006 that really shook me out of my ennui in their own unique ways and left me appreciating one of the most wonderful year's in Bollywood cinema.

One Rang De Basanti would have sufficed to make 2006 memorable, the year saw other movies vie for the sublime - Omkara, Dor, Lage Raho Munnabhai and Gangster are the 4 I have had the pleasure of viewing thus far - and I have not even seen the big box office grossers such as Fanaa, Krrish and Dhoom 2 nor other acclaimed ones like Khosla Ka Ghosla and Pyar Ke Side Effects.

Nagesh Kukunoor's journey into the Hindi film industry is itself worth a movie one day. How many of us engineers had the courage of conviction, and the passion, to chuck it all and get back to following one's heart. Where Nagesh Kukunoor's heart has taken him is to the very apex of Hindi filmdom. I always thought having Subhash Ghai produce a movie (Iqbal) would be difficult to top. I liked Iqbal a lot, as much as I have liked every movie made by Nagesh from his first Hyderabad Blues. "Dor" is something in a league of its own. A must-watch movie if ever there was one.

The three central characters, Gul Panag, Ayesha Takia and Shreyas Talpade, have together delivered one of the most plausible, lilting and uplifting human dramas in Indian cinemas since Ketan Mehta's Bhavni Bhavai (with the likes of Naseeruddin Shah and Smita Patil in key roles!). Not once does Dor degenerate into the maudlin, and not once does the cerebral director ever let his intellect come in the way of a simple and straightforward narrative.

Girish Karnad as Ayesha's decadent father-in-law is a classic case where the director could have been tempted to put more meat into a character. By leaving this under-developed, the focus stays squarely on the interplay of emotions and attitudes between Ayesha and Gul Panag. The story of "Dor" is that of these two young women, diametrically opposite in temperament, upbringing and experience, joined together by sheer destiny. In their very tragedy is the triumph of human spirit and attitude. Gul's stately and measured approach to life is brought to its knees when confronted with the otherwise demure and waif-like Ayesha's unexpected intransigence.

Salim-Sulaiman's outstanding music, Shreyas Talpade brilliant cameo as the bahuroopiya who takes Gul Panag to her destination, and everything else fades into the background as the riveting evolution of the personalities of Ayesha's Meera and Gul's Zeenat occupies centerstage in this outstanding movie from one of the great years in Hindi Cinema.

I doubt whether we will ever see better performances from either Ms Takia or Ms Panag than this. I hope I am wrong though - there is so much inner steel in the petite Ayesha Takia's histrionic ability that she could easily emerge as the Shabana Azmi of this generation of actresses. Likewise, I cannot think of too many contemporary actressses who could have essayed the character of Zeenat without giving in to the temptation to overact - that she could do so in what is only her second movie to date is a real tribute to Gul Panag.

Above all, this marks the high-point in the continuing evolution of Nagesh Kukunoor, the film-maker. He has stayed true to his intellectual roots by not sacrificing the plausible at the altar of expedience. Can't wait to see what he has up his sleeves for 2007!

Geeta Dutt - A Singer for the Ages

Music is one of the great unifiers - and dividers. It appeals to something so deep within us that it is difficult to rationalize and understand the why of a choice. It is as personal a choice that people make as any.

For as long as I can recollect, I have been an avid fan of the late great Geeta Dutt. Don't get me wrong, I love listening to Lata (esp to the music of Madan Mohan or RDB), there are Asha Bhosle songs I can hear again and again, a few memorable songs from the likes of Aarti Mukherjee, Noor Jehan, Mubarak Begum, Shreya Ghoshal and even Alka Yagnik. But with the possible honorable exception of Kishore Kumar, there is no other singer in any language or style I would rather listen to than the former Miss Geeta Roy.

Whether it be her solos or her duets, her great tragic songs and her scintillating ones in a lighter vein, whether she was singing for SD Burman, Madan Mohan, OP Nayyar or Kanu Roy, there is a magic and a pathos in her singing that is unmatched.

She had her first great hit at the tender age of 17 singing "Mera Sundar Sapna Beet Gaya" for SD Burman in "Do Bhai" (1947). It is a tribute to both the music director and the singer that nearly 60 years thereafter the song still stands out as one of the all-time great tragic songs of Indian cinema. In a sense Geeta Dutt got typecast as the singing version of Meena Kumari, as a tragedienne supreme, and why not - only one singer in the history of Hindi cinema could have done justice to songs like "Waqt Ne Kiya, Kya Haseen Sitam" or "Jaane Kya Tune Kahi" and SDB knew it all along!

Yet, it is her lighter vein tunes that are as memorable - and probably greater in number and diversity. The great duets with Mohd Rafi in particular - ranging from "Jaane Kahan Jigar Gaya Ji" to "Udhar Tum Haseen Hon, Idhar Dil Jawaan Hai" and the great pseudo-duet "Aankhon Hi Aankhon Mein Ishara Ho Gaya" (where Rafi sings only the initial two lines of the mukhda and the rest of the song is all Geeta - wonderful juxtaposition of two gifted voices by OP Nayyar!) stand out. And of course the song that is for me is perhaps the pre-eminent romantic song in Hindi cinema, the unmatched "Hum Aap Ki Aankhon Mein" from Pyaasa.

One can never forget the lilting Madan Mohan number, "Ae Dil Mujhe Bata De", or that quintessential lullaby "...Nanhi Kali Sone Chali, Hawa Dheere Aana" which has probably been sung by more Hindi-film music loving Indian moms (and Dads!) than any other.

Geeta made the monsoons come alive with "Rim Jhim Ke Taraane", cool summer nights with "Thandi Hawa Kali Ghata...", sang one of THE original item numbers with "Mera Naam Chin Chin Choo", the soothing "Chale Hum Kahan.." with Hemant Kumar, and that wonderful song from Detective "Do Chamakti Aankhon Mein"...

She died shockingly early in 1972. However, her swan song was one for the ages, matched only about 20+ years later by RD Burman's exit with "1942 - A Love Story". The songs for the Basu Bhattacharyya's Sanjeev-Tanuja starrer "Anubhav" had been scored by the relatively unsung great Music Director Kanu Roy - and one cannot imagine any other singer even attempting to sing and do any justice to "Meri Jaan Mujhe Jaa Na Kaho...", "Mera Dil Jo Mera Hota..." or "Koi Chupke Se Aake" from Anubhav.

My Top-10 Geeta Dutt songs are:

1. "Waqt Ne Kiya Kya Haseen Sitam"
2. "Hum Aap Ki Aankhon Mein" with Rafi
3. "Meri Jaan Mujhe Jaa Na Kaho"
4. "Hawa Dheere Aana"
5. "Thandi Hawaaon Mein" with Talat
6. "Tum Jo Huey Mere Humsafar" with Rafi
7. "Mujhko Tum Jo Mile" with Hemant Kumar
8. "Koi Chupke Se Aake"
9. "Yeh Lo Main Haari Piya"
10. "Jaane Kya Tune Kahi"

Very very honorable mention - "Aankh Milane Ke Liye"!

Geeta Dutt came in with the advent of the golden age of Hindi film music - and with her passing away in 1972, the era came to an end. Her music lives on, a reminder of a bygone era and a troubled soul who still rose above her personal tragedy to regale and entertain generations to come.

Can a Son Truly Rise in Sports????

The one and only CS Manish brings up an interesting point in his blog about the emergence of the inimitable Azharuddin's sons at school-level cricket in Hyderabad as he wonders whether Asad and Ayaz will succeed in emulating their pater's achievements.

My gut says NO.

The tough part for a son is that success is ONLY defined by surpassing the parent's performance.

Thus while Rohan Gavaskar would have been deemed a success by many measures, his achievements captaining Bengal and playing the odd game or two for the national side pale in comparison to his definitely illustrious father - and so he is a failure.

Likewise with several others including Ashok Mankad, Vivek Jaisimha, and so on...Mohinder Amarnath is perhaps the one player in recent times in Indian cricket who did measure up to his father's achievements and actually lived to surpass it.

On the global scale, Shaun Pollock remains the pre-eminent second generation success - without detracting in any way from his father's achievements, he emerges as a strong equal in terms of his opus over his career.

Even a Shoaib Mohammed must be deemed inferior in his body of achievement compared to his father.

Thus the pressure on our man Azhar's pair of sons is high, and it is more than likely they will not measure up to their father's record of 22 test centuries, an average of 45+ in test cricket, 35+ in ODIs and 50+ in First Class cricket.

But it should not detract from anything they do. Hyderabad cricket could use a breath of fresh air after the infamous Shivlal Yadav has all but butchered it by his shameless promotion of his own son (who needless to add has not even risen to the averagely high level of achievement of Shivlal Yadav).

BTW, noticed that a certain AT Rayudu was in the Hyd team along with VVS Laxman for the ongoing Moin-Ud-Dowla Trophy. Has the one time child prodigy returned after the year turning out for Andhra....hopefully Mr Yadav has seen the futility of nepotism and is allowing merit to shine for the team that he himself turned out for with distinction in his own playing career....

Movie - After Ages...

I think in the normal course, I would have faulted this flick mercilessly.

But as it emerged, as the first movie that my wife and I saw in a cinema hall in over 7 years without any little ones to care for, this one escapes.

Plus it is tough to totally pan a movie featuring a standout performance by Abhishek Bachchan, who is quickly emerging as the gold-standard for the post-Khans generation of Bollywood heart-throbs, a phenomenal cameo by Amitabh (difficult to believe he played this high energy role so soon after recovery from the latest ailments), Preity Zinta really living her role and to perfection, and music for the ages from Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy...

What detracts from the movie are slipshod editing, a weak story line that leaves too many characters inadequately etched, lazy direction from Karan Johar that results in needlessly abrupt dialogues and interventions, shockingly unconvincing performances by Rani Mukherjee who sleepwalks through her (admittedly poorly crafted) role and Shahrukh Khan, who comes through only in patches....

...if nothing else, this movie shall mark the formal passing of the baton from King Khan to the jr Bachchan, in the same way that exactly 30 years back, Sholay saw the baton of the numero uno star in Bollywood transition from the so-called hero of the movie, Dharmendra, to the one who stole the hearts...Bachchan Senior.

...there are enough arresting scenes and sequences in this 3-hours-plus opus to ensure that Karan Johar recovers his investment and more. It is also a much better movie than the disastrous Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gam. Karan's continuing love-affair with New York City comes through in his wonderful picture compositions across the East River - he captured all seasons and Fall in particular is spectacular. I had a tough time picking my favorite song - Mitva, the title number, and the two party songs featuring the Bachchans are all superb.

...it has been rumored that King Khan is not very happy with the attention that Karan Johar accorded Abhishek...hopefully Shahrukh realizes that he has had a worthy run as the second (and thankfully improved) coming of Dilip Kumar, and that all good things must end....

Censorship - Does It Work, Can It Work?

After the unfortunate and cowardly bomb blasts on July 11 in Mumbai, India went on a cyber offensive and identified some blogs on blogspot and other sites that were perhaps being used as communication vehicles by the perpetrators of this vile deed.

The unfortunate response of the Indian authorities has been to bar access to blogs on blogspot from within India. Unfortunate not because the authorities should not respond - in fact a large part of the populace in India believes that the country has been way too patient in its response to a series of provocations including this latest bomb blasts. Unfortunate because censorship, esp in this age of the electronic media, seldom works.

What needs to be done is to work at the grassroots so that every Indian believes that there are more opportunities here in the country as is than anywhere else in the world, and more opportunities in the country as is than it can be after such violent attacks.

That will make it much more difficult for anarchists, whether of the LeT or the SIMI or even some of the more misguided naxalites, to recruit their supporters.

Blocking of specific websites only means that new ones will come up - the ones who cannot access them are humble scribes like this one who can post but not view their own (or others') blogs!

Debates on the India v/s China subject

...have been rife in the business world, and in blogspace as well.

Nitin Pai raises the basic question - while indeed over-simplifying the issue, the debate that this simple proposition raised merit reading through...

While on the subject, do check out the articles on the Gini Coefficient...

Rgds.

Is India Sustainable???

...to open this discussion, a disclaimer.

This opinion is mine, formed through various conversations, reading and also first-person observations....the bulk of my first-person observation has been in Bangalore, though Hyderabad, Gurgaon/Delhi and Pune and Mumbai (to a lesser extent) also figure...

...the reason I have often heard being voiced for the sustainability of the Indian economic miracle (esp in contrast to the Chinese one) is the fact that India is finally a functioning democracy where the deprived ones have a legitimate non-violent means of effecting a regime change when desired. I have myself often cited the several changes in the ruling coterie in Delhi, all brought about by a supposedly uneducated and ill-informed population.

...12 months into a closer interaction with India, I am less convinced of this. The democracy seems to work in fits and starts. In most parts of the country, the rule of the mob prevails. Karnataka, supposedly the destination for most IT majors worldwide, rules the roost in terms of the pervasiveness of corruption. Gujarat, my favorite state and once the industrial hub of the nation, is riven by a communal divide that will take a lot of statesmanship to heal....

...even within the little conclaves that are being formed by the elite around the country, the operative term is their unsustainability. The mall-worker syndrome, as my friend Pallab most eloquently described it in a conversation, will catch up. As the humble mall-worker, often living miles away from the mall where he/she works at, usually unable to even dine at the same mall where he/she works, always unable to live the life of the nouveaux riche in their spaghetti straps and designer jeans, comes to terms with the hopelessness of his/her existence, I am dreading that he/she will snap one day....the outcome is terrifying....whether one thinks of Gurgaon or Koramangala or Phoenix Mills in Mumbai.

...the gap between the haves and the have-nots has become untenable...even amongst the haves, the gap between those enriched by IT and related services and those unable to partake of the dollar-driven wages of the IT/ITES sector is growing...the country is still blissfully celebrating the 25th year of Infosys' existence - and not dwelling enough on the disaster waiting to happen...

...it will take a lot of political fortitude and seasoned statesmanship to stem the rot. Someone needs to call Mulayam Singh Yadav's bluff. Someone needs to contain Narendra Modi. Someone needs to tell Deve Gowda that enough is enough, and that the time has come for true champions of the farmers to emerge. Someone needs to tell Sonia-ji that backseat driving is ok if it is a Karl Rove doing it; if the Prime Minister of the country has to start his day by paying obeisance to her, it is not acceptable or appropriate....

...I doubt whether such persons exist...will the businessmen of today take on a different hue if they get into politics - or will they change politics for the better? Rajeev Chandrashekhar of BPL is an MP, Vijay Mallya is an MP, Anil Ambani of ReliAAnce is into active politics - and yet while leveraging power for their business interests, they have done little to leverage their business savvy to improve the body politic....