The SlumDog Debate

Note: I started this post before the whole debate of SDM being a good/bad movie for India began. Couldn’t complete it cauz of my busy schedule. Few things written here may sound outdated but the post is refreshingly new. Enjoy Reading!

Yesterday when I went home from work I got to know that the much talked about movie "SlumDog Millionaire" (I would call it SDM for ease of typing) has been nominated for Oscar awards in 10 different categories including Rehman for 3 music categories. And then started the discussion.

But before I tell you what the debate was, Ill have to tell you something about my younger sister, caus she was my opponent in the debate and I dont want to be unfair to her.

Ms. B, my sister in perusing her Masters in Social Work (MSW - Making Smiles to Worried! She will kill me if she reads this) and she thinks she has acquired all the knowledge of the other world. Yes its the other face of the world that we normal people are not aware of. Like injustice with poor people, biased behavior with girls, the theories of Karl Marx, the concept of Capitalism being unfair and Socialism being the best thing that could happen to India and blah blah blah! Her knowledge of these issues make her closer to the reality (according to her) and she knows about what is actually going on in our nation. Thus she has a different perspective for everything and loves debating over any issue.( trust me when I say any. It can as trivial as eating a chocolate pastry at Barista).

Now coming back to the topic, when we started the discussion of SDM winning so many Golden Globe Awards and now getting nominated for Oscars, she as goes her habit started a debate. As per Ms. B, SDM is not doing good to India and is presenting its poor image to the world as a nation full of poverty. OK. She also said that Boyle (the director) being a westner has no right to portray such poor image of India to the world. And even if he does we being Indians should condemn his action. Now that was a little too much I felt. She also said that Amitabh Bachhan have mentioned in his blog that the movie also portrays India a as country full of only poor people. I have read AB's blog (search for SM) and his clarifications.

I was googling the whole thing about SDM and got this article. Quote "The bitter truth is, Slumdog Millionaire could only have been made by westerners. The talent exists in India for such movies: much of it, like the brilliant actor Irrfan Khan, contributed to this film. But Bollywood producers, fixated with making flimsy films about the lives of the middle class, will never throw their weight behind such projects. Like Bachchan, they are too blind to what India really is to deal with it. Poor Indians, like those in Slumdog, do not constitute India's "murky underbelly" as Bachchan moronically describes them. I have no doubt that Slumdog Millionaire will encourage many more honest films to be produced in India. But they should be ashamed that it took a white man to show India how to do it."

What the hell! Well I have not watched the movie as yet but what I have grabbed of it surely tells me that such movies have been made in past as well. Movies on Indian poverty, the recent "Traffic Signal" also told us about India's so-called Reality. It was an ok movie as well, but got no acclaims. There are so many other Indian films made by Indian directors that got no acclaim. Was it really, because these were made by an Indian and not a westner? It is actually true that we look upon westeners as people above us? AB's comments tell us so and I agree to a certain level.

Ms. B me “Who according to you is Elite?” and I all people I could think of as an elite person was who spoke good English, was sophisticated, well mannered, ate well, spoke well, looked good, who dressed well, and who was rich. She said these are the traits of English people. English being the top most. Manners have been defined by them we are ourselves following western culture so how do we deny the fact that westners are given an upper edge over Indians?

The movie is been recognized globally because it has been made by an English man and not an Indian who have tried the same thing, and even better, in the same genre but got no praise from the Western world. All Oscars and Golden Globe are won by their people and not ours in spite of being worthy of it.

She was so right. In India, a fairer girl is still preferred over a darker complexion. English speaking people are given better jobs across industries, corporates follow western dressing code and we prefer eating Pizza over Dal Roti when we are with friends, just to sound and look modern. Yes Modern, that how we define west. After being Independent for more than 65 years now, we still have not been able to free ourselves from the invisible bond of the English people. They flow, though subtly in our minds, thoughts, and ideas.

I don’t know how right this follow west attitude is, but it is the reality. Whether we like the movie cauz it has been made by some Boyle or is it actually a worth watch would be decided after watching it.

Feel free to share your opinion about the movie here. Ill write another post after watching the film.

Cheers!

Worth a read: Petrol and Eggs

This is worth a read....! Even better if we could follow it...

A man eats two eggs each morning for breakfast.  When he goes to the grocery  store he pays Rs.24 a dozen.  Since a dozen eggs won't last a week he normally buys two dozens at a time. One day while buying eggs he notices that the price has risen to Rs. 30. The  next time he buys groceries, eggs are rs. 35 a dozen.

When asked to explain the price of eggs the store owner says, "The price has gone up and I have to raise my price accordingly". This store buys 100 dozen eggs a day.  He checked around for a better price and all the distributors have raised their prices. The distributors have begun to buy from the huge egg farms.  The small egg farms have been driven out of business.  The huge egg farms sell 100,000 dozen eggs a day to distributors.  With no competition, they can set the price as they see fit. The distributors then have to raise their prices to t he grocery stores. And on and on and on.

As the man kept buying eggs the price kept going up. He saw the big egg trucks delivering 100 dozen eggs each day. Nothing changed there.  He checked out the huge egg farms and found they were selling 100,000 dozen eggs to the distributors daily. Nothing had changed but the price of eggs.

Then week before Thanksgiving the price of eggs shot up to Rs. 50 a dozen. Again  he asked the grocery owner why and was told, "Cakes and baking for the holiday".  The huge egg farmers know there will be a lot of baking going on and more eggs will be used. Hence, the price of eggs goes up. Expect the same thing at Christmas and other times when family cooking, baking, etc. happen.

This pattern continues until the price of eggs is rs. 100 a dozen. The man says, " There must be something we can do about the price of eggs".

He starts talking to all the people in his town and they decide to stop buying  eggs. This didn't work because everyone needed eggs.

Finally, the man suggested only buying what you need.  He ate 2 eggs a day. On the way home from work he would stop at the grocery and buy two eggs. Everyone in town started buying 2 or 3 eggs a day.

The grocery store owner began complaining that he had too many eggs in his cooler.  He told the distributor that he didn't need any eggs.  Maybe wouldn't need any all week..

The distributor had eggs piling up at his warehouse.  He told the huge egg farms that he didn't have any room for eggs would not need any for at least two weeks.

At the egg farm, the chickens just kept on laying eggs.  To relieve the pressure, the huge egg farm told the distributor that they could buy the eggs at a lower price.

The distributor said, " I don't have the room for  the ******* eggs even if they were free".  T he distributor told the grocery store owner that he would lower the price of the eggs if the store would start buying again.

The grocery store owner said, "I don't have room for more eggs. The customers  are only buying 2 or 3 eggs at a time.  Now if you were to drop the price of eggs back down to the original price, the customers would start buying by the dozen again".

The distributors sent that proposal to the huge egg farmers but the egg farmers liked the price they were getting for their eggs but, those chickens just kept on laying.  Finally, the egg farmers lowered the price of their eggs.  But only a few cents.

The customers still bought 2 or 3 eggs at a time. They said, "when the price of  eggs gets down to where it was before, we will start buying by the dozen."

Slowly the price of eggs started dropping.  The distributors had to slash their prices to make room for the eggs coming from the egg farmers. 

The egg farmers cut their prices because the distributors wouldn't buy at a higher price than they were selling eggs for. Anyway, they had full warehouses and wouldn't need eggs for quite a while.

And those chickens kept on laying.

Eventually, the egg farmers cut their prices because they were throwing away eggs they couldn't sell.

The distributors started buying again because the eggs were priced to where the  stores could afford to sell them at the lower price.

And the customers starting buying by the dozen again.

Now, transpose this analogy to the petrol industry.

What if everyone only bought Rs. 500.00 worth of Petrol each time they pulled to the pump?  The dealer's tanks would stay semi full all the time.  The dealers wouldn't have room for the gas coming from the huge tank farms. The tank farms wouldn't  have room for the gas coming from the refining plants. And the refining plants wouldn't have room for the oil being off loaded from the huge tankers  coming from the oil fiends.

Just Rs. 500.00 each time you buy gas. Don't fill up the tank of your car. You may have to stop for fuel twice a week, but the price should come down.

Think about it.

Also, don't buy anything else at the petrol pump; don't give them any more of your hard earned money than what you spend on fuel, until the prices come down..."

Just think of this concept for a while. It works.

Please pass this concept around....reaching out to the masses ...the world...

The love story

I want to thank Giridhar Alwar for such a lovely poem. Im touched.


At 10th Grade:-
As I sat there in English class,
I stared at the girl next to me.
She was my so called 'best friend'.
I stared at her long, silky hair,
and wished she was mine.
But she didn't notice me like that,
and I knew it.
After class,
she walked up to me and asked me for
the notes she had missed the day before.
I handed them to her.She said 'thanks'
and gave me a kiss on the cheek.
I want to tell her, I want her to know
that I don't want to be just friends,
I love her but I'm just too shy,
and I don't know why.

At 11th grade:-
The phone rang. On the other end,
it was her. She was in tears,
mumbling on and on about how
her love had broke her heart.
She asked me to come over
because she didn't want to be alone, So I did.
As I sat next to her on the sofa, I stared at her
soft eyes, wishing she was mine.
After 2 hours, one Drew Barrymore movie,
and three bags of chips,
she decided to go home.
She looked at me, said 'thanks'
and gave me a kiss
on the cheek..I want to tell her,
I want her to know that
I don't want to be just friends,
I love her but I'm just too shy,
and I don't know why.

When in Senior year:-
One fine day she walked to my locker.
'My date is sick' she said,
'hes not gonna go' well,
I didn't have a date, and in 7th grade,
we made a promise that
if neither of us had dates,
we would go together just as 'best friends'.
So we did.
That night, after everything was over,
I was standing at her front door step.
I stared at her as She smiled at me
and stared at me with her crystal eyes.
Then she said- 'I had the best time, thanks!'
and gave me a kiss on the cheek.
I want to tell her,
I want her to know
that I don't want to be just friends,
I love her but I'm just too shy,
and I don't know why.

At Graduation:-
A day passed, then a week, then a month.
Before I could blink, it was graduation day.
I watched as her perfect body
floated like an angel
up on stage to get her diploma.
I wanted her to be mine-but
she didn't notice me like that, and I knew it.
Before everyone went home,
she came to me in her smock and hat,
and cried as I hugged her.
Then she lifted her head from my shoulder
and said- 'you're my best friend,
thanks' and gave me a kiss on the cheek.
I want to tell her,
I want her to know
that I don't want to be just friends,
I love her but I'm just too shy,
and I don't know why.

On the Marriage:-
Now I sit in the pews of the church.
That girl is getting married now.
and drive off to her new life,
married to another man.
I wanted her to be mine,
but she didn't see me like that,
and I knew it.
But before she drove away,
she came to me and said 'you came !'.
She said 'thanks' and kissed me on the cheek.
I want to tell her,
I want her to know
that I don't want to be just friends,
I love her but I'm just too shy,
and I don't know why.

When Death:-
Years passed, I looked down at the coffin
of a girl who used to be my 'best friend'.
At the service, they read a diary entry
she had wrote in her high school years.
This is what it read:
'I stare at him wishing he was mine,
but he doesn't notice me like that,
and I know it.
I want to tell him,
I want him to know that
I don't want to be just friends,
I love him but I'm just too shy,
and I don't know why.
I wish he would tell me he loved me !
'I wish I did too...'

I thought to my self, and I cried...

2nd Day

Hi! And today is my second day of blogging. Im quite liking it... Have posted new pictures and will post some of my fav virals here soon. I love watching virals specially the funny ones. Ill keep myself and you guys, whoever is interested, updated!

Cya!

Captured from Our India

The Change...


The Brave Dog!


The Dutyful Thanedaar!


Praying in the safe Mode!


Im in the Que!

Gujarati Funeral

Enjoy this without thinking too much. The most important is the PS at the end.



A family in Gujarat was puzzled when the coffin of their dead mother (Ba) arrived from the US. It was sent by one of the daughters.

The dead body was very tightly squeezed inside the coffin, with no space left in it when they opened the lid; they found a letter on top addressed to her brothers and sisters:

Dear Chandrakantbhai, Arvindbhai, Smitaben and Varsha,

I am sending Ba's body to you, since it was her wish that she should be cremated in the compound of our ancestral home in GUJARAT.

Sorry, I could not come along as all of my paid leave is consumed.

You will find inside the coffin, under Ba's body, cans of cheese,

10 packets of Toblerone chocolates and 8 packets of Badam (almonds) please divide these among all of you.

On Ba's feet you will find a new pair of Reebok shoes (size 10) for Mohan. There are also 2 pairs of shoes for Radha's and Lakshmi's sons. Hope the sizes are correct.

Ba is wearing 6 American T-Shirts. The large size is for Mohan.

Just distribute the rest among yourselves.

The 2 new Jeans that Ba is wearing are for the boys.

The Swiss watch that Reema wanted is on Ba's left wrist.

Shanta masi, Ba is wearing the necklace, earrings and ring that you asked for. Please take them off her.

The 6 white cotton socks that Ba is wearing must be divided

among my nephews.


Please distribute all these fairly.
Love Smita.

PS : If anything more required let me know soon as Bapuji is also not feeling too well now a days.

The Husband Store

A store that sells husbands has just opened in India, where a woman may go to choose a husband.

Among the instructions at the entrance is a description of how the store operates. You may visit the store ONLY ONCE!

There are six floors and the attributes of the men increase as the shopper ascends the flights.

There is, however, a catch. ... You may choose any man from a particular floor, or you may choose to go up a floor, but you cannot go back down except to exit the building!

So, a woman goes to the Husband Store to find a husband. .

On the first floor the sign on the door reads:

Floor 1 - These men have jobs and love the Lord.

*********

The second floor sign reads:

Floor 2 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, and love kids.

*********

The third floor sign reads:

Floor 3 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, and are extremely good looking.

" Wow," she thinks, but feels compelled to keep going.

*********

She goes to the fourth floor and sign reads:

Floor 4 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, are drop- dead good looking and help with the housework.

"Oh, mercy me!" she exclaims, "I can hardly stand it!"

*********

Still, she goes to the fifth floor and sign reads:

Floor 5 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, are drop- dead gorgeous, help with the housework, and have a strong romantic streak.

She is so tempted to stay, but she goes to the sixth floor and the sign reads:

*********
Floor 6 - You are visitor 4,363,012 to this floor. There are no men on this floor. This floor exists solely as proof that women are impossible to please.

Thank you for shopping at the Husband Store. Watch your step as you exit the building, and have a nice day!

Welcome Readers!

Hello People of the world!

Welcome to my blog - my world. This is the very first time I have made a blog. This trend is in fashion these days so I thought I should also do this. Moreover this will give me a URL for the "MY Page" tab in every social networking site I register!

Frankly, I don't write too much. Neither am I a good writer nor are my writing skills superb. And ya I make many speling ( this one is intentional) mistakes too!

So I will update this every now and then with whatever I feel is interesting and nice to read or see or watch or blah blah blah...!

Hope you enjoy My Blog!

Welcome to Birdie's World!


Keep Reading!
:)