Off The Camera

Aseem Chhabra in his column titled "More than Meets the eye"  in Mumbai Mirror Sunday (20/05/2012) says "The picture of an angry SRK at Wankhede Stadium may not represent the complete picture".
He also mentions in his writeup that he cannot forget something London based writer and filmmaker Nasreen Munni Kabir had said to him.
She had in fact said in Urdu: "Shah Rukh bahot shareef aadmi hai"

Chhabra ji himself has met SRK on several occasions and has been impressed with the earnestness displayed by the superstar.

Well, I am inclined to believe Nasreen ji and Chhabra ji.. But the generosity , the kindness, the earnestness...whatever....

could be an act carried out brilliantly by the actor for the media.
Nasreen ji was making documenteries "The Inner/Outer World of Shah Rukh Khan" and so it was quite natural for SRK to be putting on his best for her.
Ditto for Aseem Ji.

 

But I had to pause in the midst of my critical analysis of the "aaj-ka---Raa.One-ish-father-

guardian" behaving so irresponsibly at  Wankhede Stadium.

Yesterday afternoon the late Ajit Saheb's daughter-in-law narrated a seemingly trivial anecdote as we sat chatting after a late Sunday brunch. Pondering over it again and again I think there could well be more than meets the eye.

It seems Ajit Saheb was taking a stroll along the Band Stand area  one morning when a car stopped politely near him.
Not really taking much notice he kept his comfortable pace inhaling the salty sea breeze.

 

There from behind him came a dew-fresh Shah Rukh. He greeted Ajit Saheb with a bow, asking for his blessings, and not forgetting to mention how happy he was to see the senior actor.
Ajit Saheb had at that time retired from films and in fact shifted to Hyderabad, visiting Mumbai only occasionally.
Needless to say Ajit Saheb was very impressed with Shah Rukh's humility and courtesy.
 

Therefore Ajit Saheb's daughter-in-law cannot figure out why SRK would turn so arrogant at a pulic place, risking his well-groomed image, under the hostile glare of scores of cameras. He is a superstar, an extremely gifted entertainer and a completely devoted family man.
Why would he go out of his way to spoil his image in the eyes of his fans?

Being nice to Ajit Saheb had come naturally to SRK. It was neither for the media to write how abbsolutely respectful SRK was, nor was it to ask for any favour from Ajit Saheb. It was truly and selflessly for the gratification of his own soul.

So is there really something more than meets the eye....????

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Okay guys! I've shared this information not because I want to stand solidly behind SRK (I'm sure he can stand on his own much like a rock!!! ) but because I'm a big show-off and I want people to know of my friendship with Ajit Saheb's family :)) !!!!!
 

 

 

 

Glamourised Suffering

The Nation is raving about "Satyamev Jayate". Aamir Khan's latest drama.
From fairly intelligent, respectful intellectuals to ordinary school drop-out taxi-drivers, everyone wants to register their views and shower the actor with praises.

I am sorry Aamir Khaan Saheb. You still fail to charm me. Not that it matters to you. But then you don't matter to me either. A man who  sermons on social behaviour for a huge fee does not make  a perfect  social crusader ... I can't help but pity the innocence of the masses who seem to love the glamourisation of serious issues like female foeticide and child sexual abuse because the presence of Aamir Khan is doing only that much : Glamorisation of pain

People are generally delighted to see Aamir Khaan on their TV screens, the channel is happy with the TRPs. The Nation listens to horrific experiences of the victims along with Aamir. And this is not all. Sridevi arrives to grace Aamir's show ( how much does she charge for this we would not know  ) to fulfill the wish of a victim....What a special treat this is.... !!!!
The programme gets over. Everyone goes out of their way  praising Aamir !!!!!!!
 And Satyamev Jayate is now available as Airtel Hello tune.

FB and Twitter is abuzz with the details of how Aamir carried himself and  what will the topic of his episode ..... and of course th producers of the show know that it better be more "masala" filled than the previous one ....  Can there be a better example of ruthless  indifference to human suffering ....a more insulting injury to the souls that are already so deeply scarred...?????

We have already proved ourselves to be politically irreparably dumb and now we are proving  beyond doubt to be shamefully inhuman too.
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PS :
This was some time back .... Now the show is back .... And National Elections are not far .... Lets see what is for sale this time ....

The Divine Saviour

The old Bombay-Poona Road is now thankfully less frequented. But till a few years ago it used to be fatigued and over-burdened with traffic. On its either side, just as it begins the climb up the Western Ghats lies a luxuriously sprawling residential colony. The place where I spent a beautiful part of my carefree childhood.

Imposing stone bungalows with large french windows and huge doors. High ceilings and open verandahs. Vastly spread-out lawns and colourful flower-beds. The bright golden sunrises and the dusky orange sunsets. Monsoons filled with misty grey clouds , romantic green valleys and mountains and the aroma of adrak-waali-chaai
It was a dreamland.

Schools were about two kilometers down in Khopoli or a few kilometers up in Khandala.
Most families preferred the school in  Khopoli, which ran in two shifts.
Morning and Afternoon.
And two languages : English and Marathi.

The Company bus made school trips to facilitate the residents. My mother was a teacher in the English medium school.
She and my younger siblings used to go for the morning shift.

One morning Mummy was waiting with her twins at their usual spot for the bus under the huge Old Peepal Tree, near the Gol Park a little away from  the edge of the road. Traffic on the Bombay-Poona Road was picking up as the morning got brighter. Swift and slick cars smartly moving past the heavily loaded trucks labouriously making way to reach their destinations.

Perhaps she had seen the bus coming because Mummy moved away taking the children along from where they had been standing, reaching closer to the place where the bus was supposed to stop. They had not taken much note of the truck that was coming down a little faster than the rest of the vehicles, till it nose-dived crashing into the boundary of the Gol Park under the Peepal Tree.

Dazed to numbness the three of them stood motionless as the the truck-driver and his companion struggled to get themselves out avoiding the broken pieces of glass. Ignoring their own bruises they straightened themselves. And then the driver spoke.
He said: "As the brakes failed and I lost control, I saw you all standing exactly on the spot where I knew my vehicle would collide ... had no way of cautioning you ... the only option was to ask God's help ..."
And then I saw you move away with kids ... Oh! My God ... what a relief that was... !!! "
To say it in his words:
"Eishwar hain ... aur wo hi bachatey hain ..."
Yes he could have honked incessantly, but he admitted that it did not strike him !!!!!

Miracles were not the privilege of Prophets alone
They happen even today with prayer and will power 🙏

(Me ... Many years later ... at the spot where Mummy and my siblings were standing that morning ... Pic clicked by my sister ... It was actually she who was with Mummy at this place that day 😊 )

Lamhey

Guzartey lamho'n par jo achanak nazar padi
Thithak gaye,  rukk gaye hum  chaltey chaltey

Har lamha yahan bas ek lamhe ka hai mehmaan
Jaaney waale pe koi zor nahi aaney waale se zindgi anjaan

Ye safar jis ko zindgi kaha hum ne
Lamha-lamha martey huay lamho'n ka janaza sa lagti hai

Wo lamha jo haath se phisal gaya, gaya sadaa ke liye
To kya milay gi zindgi jo khud phisaltey huay lamhon se hai bani


By Sahila