I Swear!

I swear that this time i will stand up.
Not for what i believe in, but for what i don't.
This time i will vote. Not just for, but also against.
Against my own helplessness.
Against my own laziness.
Against two words called Chalta hai.
Against short cuts in queues.

Against cheating in exams.

Against karchaa paani in offices.
Against powerless inquiry commissions.
And powerful vote banks.
Against religion in politics.
And politics in religion.
Against illegal constructions.
And legal loopholes.
Against every cynic. Every non-believer.
Against the belief that nothing will change.
Against the feeling that my vote cannot make a difference.
Against every excuse for not voting.
And i will do this without fear or shame.
Because only by voting against all that is destroying our today, will i give my children something to vote for tomorrow.

I swear. Do you?

Bhavin Mehta
Lead India'09 Ambassador

Valentine's Day Out!!

Valentines day is just around the corner and many would have started thinking of suitable gifts for their loved ones.... what to buy, what not to buy, etc... But in lieu of recent events in few cities and open threats given by some so called moral polices in the name of MNS, Sri Ram sene and many such outfits, the youngsters are worried to make public appearences with thier girl/boy friend to keep the wolves away... Hmmm...

So what do you think? Does a day like valentine's day need such a protest in our country which is already filled will so much hatred or do you support this universal day of love? Or do you feel you dont really need a day to express love? What is your idea of valentine's day?

Here's your chance to voice your opinions. Be frank and speak your heart out. Whether you are for or against the celebrations, or what is your idea of a perfect valentines day date, or how you wish to spend the day with your special person, or some (love guru kind of) master tips for wannabes, some previous funny incidents, what ever related comes to your mind.... Just say it out...

Simply use the comments section. Click on the comments link on (www.mehtabhavin.blogspot.com) and use the space as a forum to voice your opinions and also check what others have to say about this issue..

Delhi 6 Music Review

The soundtrack of Delhi 6 is a refreshing experience altogether. Once again the unconventional comes from the magician Rahman.
Leading the board is the now very famous "Massakali" (my caller tune these days) which is a completely unique number having good lyrics as well. Listening to "Rehna tu" is a mesmerising experience, nice one to be completely lost thinking about someone special. The theme song of the movie "Yeh Delhi hai mere yaar" is one of the few bollywood songs that has used the real potential of metal rock, signifies the spirit of our capital. Whats interesting is that there is a completely classical song, "Bhor Bhayi"; those who know atleast little about various raagas will definitely appreciate the beauty of the song. My favourite after massakali is the awesome "Genda Phool", where the traditional beats suddenly marry bass and R n B midway and add to it exciting lyrics of the song.... Woah!
Apart from these wonderful numbers, there are a couple of religious songs, "Arziyan" and an "Aarti". The quawalli Arziyan reminds one of Khwaja mere khwaja from Jodha Akbar, but still very different, its a song of hope. "Noor" a dialouge sung by Abhishek Bachchan doesnt make a big contribution but girls might still love it.
In all, the music of Delhi 6 is not just a hit with delhites, but it really strikes a chord with the whole nation. Worth hai!!
....
(Ssshhh.... Sonam Kapoor looks soooo amazing in the film yaar... Never liked her until i fell in love with her after seeing her in Massakali.)

Slumdog Millionaire Review

It is an honour for me to have watched and review a movie like slumdog millionaire even before it is released for general audiences in India. If the movie has to be described in just one adjective it would be nothing but AWESOME!

Danny boyle has done a brilliant job in giving a special treatment to the movie which makes it unique. The amazing storyline is strongly and perfection in screenplay, backed by some wonderful performances by the cast and add to it magical music score by A R Rahman and you have a beautiful movie before you. A complete entertainer.

'Jamal Sheikh' played by Dev Patel spends his childhood in the slums of Mumbai and it is a journey to watch his life story unfold as he not just finds his love interest but goes on to become a millionaire. But how did he answer all the questions correctly. You better watch the movie for this. The character of Jamal played by 3 youngsters Ayush, Tanay Chedda (Ishan's friend in Taare zameen par) and Dev patel has been very promising and equal credit goes to all the three for brilliant acting. Freida Pinto is a pleasure to watch (esp. from the top of the VT station). Anil Kapoor is really lucky to get to play SRK in KBC2. Jamal's Brother Salim has a decent role in the plot and proper justice is done bny the actors as well.

Rahman Rocks in the movie with his background score.

And now the great news, just an hour ago, OSCAR nominatons have been declared and Indian A R Rahman has bagged 3 nominations; best music and best original score for the songs 'jai ho' and 'o saya mayo'. In all slumdog has managed to get 10 nominations at the Academy awards. I am sure, Rahman will surely get awarded for atleast 2 of his 3 nominations and India will finally open its Oscar account.

Go catch this flick! Strongly recommended by BM.

(Watch the movie and comment what you have to say on www.mehtabhavin.blogspot.com)

The Audacity of hope!

While i write this many, around the world would be still stuck on their television sets watching history being made. Barack Hussein Obama is now the 44th president of the United States of America. And never ever i have been so excited to watch the swearing in ceremony of any leader of any country.

But with so much hope and hype, come a lot of expectations. And i believe he with his charismatic style of leading, pragmatic approach towards problems and great oratory skills definitely be able to bring about a catalytic change in the structure of the world.

What needs to be seen is how he deals with the current economic crisis in the world, the situation in Afghanistan and troops in Iraq and how much does he succeed in reaffirming that America can still be what their forefathers had dreamt it of being.

I really hope that Mr. oBaMa lives up to the expectations of restoring peace in the world and turns out to be the real guide to the change. Long Live Mr. President.

I would not hesitate is stating that BM truly idolizes Barack oBaMa.

Has Indian Recession just begun?

Mumbai, BM Press:
The world economy is reeling under recession and its ripple effect has not left India uninsulated. The recent cuts, constant and gradual, in the CRR and the SLR by the reserve bank of India goes on to show the efforts beign made by the finance ministry to pump in enough liquidity into the system. The good signs had already been visible as the inflation rate came down to almost 6 % for the last two weeks, and banks reduced key interest rates.
However, for the Indian GDP, theres bad news. The elephant was riding high since the dawn of this decade, thanks to the IT revolution. Indian IT companies and the software exports by these companies have had significant contributions to the GDP for many years now. But are the halycon days over for Indian IT? Well, the recent events atleast suggest so.
The world bank banned the fourth largest indian IT firm, Satyam, for any operations for 8 long years. The next few days followed worse events for the company. We all now know about the (Raju ban gaya conman) event, which is considered as the biggest fraud ever in indian corporate history. With Satyam, not just the business that it brought to india from the world but survival of families of 53000 employees is at stake. Thankfully, the government is making all efforts to ensure its survival. Here we simply have to wait and watch.
But Indian IT industry recieved yet another major setback when the World bank again banned Wipro citing 'conflict of interest' as the reason. If such things continue and the Indian IT exports take a hit then the country's GDP is sure to be highly affected, add to it the effects of the recent financial crisis.
Also, on the other front, the indian transporters are leaving no stone unturned to bring a rise in the prices of essential commodities once again by resorting to strikes nation wide. Job cuts have just begun, big international projects are slipping off our hands, lacking confidence of FIIs, et al. Huh!
Lets hope the situation is not as bad as it atleast seems to be and the elephant once again gets back on its feet as early as possible.

(Have your say, post ur views in the comments section, www.mehtabhavin.blogspot.com)

Can guns really protect us?

BM Editorial:
Thousands of years ago when nature was in its infant stage of human development, the ultimate supreme of this earth would have never thought that that one day its most intelligent species, mankind, will make this heaven a hell to dwell upon. Fortunately, not everything is lost.

Since ages we have heard of wars taking place between countries, dynasties on basis of land expansions or other such unconvincing reasons to establish their own supremacy. The two world wars were thus the inevitable outcomes. Today post cold war, even though countries are not fighting for land, there is another bigger threat that has been thrown on them due to opposing ideologies. Some religious, some extremist and some anti human antagonism has resulted in another inevitable. Terrorism.

Worldover, it exists in different forms. Apart from the recent Terror attacks on mumbai, other popular attacks have been the US 9/11, London, Glasgow 7/11, Serial blasts and the list goes on. Whats more disheartening is that these are on a rise and the question is how can we citizens be protected from such incidents?

Ofcourse, military support using arms and ammunitions is very essential for self defence. But this will be nothing more than a cosmetic effort to cover up the losses, rather than preventing them. We need a solution to cut the roots of these problems which can only be solved by taking concrete steps. First, the citizens have to be vigil and keep an eye on things around for any suspicious elements. Then, the government has to initiate some strong anti terror mechanismswhich can ensure safety.

But another question that arises is how can guns protect us from our own social evils like poverty, illiteracy, discriminations on caste, creed or color, dowry systems. To address these issues we need more stringent measures.

We need another Gandhi. India needs a new modern age Gandhi for its revival. Education to all, with special emphasis to women education is a must. Also, the youth of the nation has to stage a non violent uprising to eliminate these problems completely by being socially active, participating in the political process and taking initiatives.

We need much more than weapons to protect ourselves and secure and create a better future for our children and the next generation.

(Read the comments section on www.mehtabhavin.blogspot.com. Had written it while practising for XAT)

PJ time

ELEPHANT-BANANA Series:

(Highlight each question and the xtra space below to see the answers!)



An elephant has 5 bananas and it is hungry, but yet it does not eat the bananas. Why ?
Because the bananas are made of plastic.

The 5 bananas are real , but yet the elephant does not eat it. Why?
Because the elephant is made of plastic.

Both the elephant and the bananas are real, but yet it cannot eat it. Why ?
Because the bananas are in the TV.


Both the elephant and the bananas are real and in the TV, but yet it cannot eat it. Why?
Because they are on different channels.


Both the elephant and the bananas are real and in the TV and on the same channel, but yet it cannot eat it. Why?
Because the TV is off.

What the hell!! What the #%&*!

Its 1.51 am, 27th NOV and i(alone) am travelling in Chennai Mumbai Express towards Mumbai. And i am shit scared. Scared for my life! I got a call from my sister around 11.30 that there have been some blasts in mumbai. I rugged it off as just another case of serial blasts and didnt worry. Then another call from Jiju in bangalore at 1.20 am that theres blast, terrorists throwing grenades, police firings, etc. I decided to put on my laptop and check for it myself thru news websites... only to realise that the terrorists have themselves openly taken to ground thistime and to me it seems as if i am heading towards a war front! With police in my bogey, appearing and now disappeared, i m even more scared...

I dont kno what tomorrow morning holds for me when i reach Dadar. But trust me Its very scary.
Moreso for those whose loved ones are in areas near where the firings are on... God!

Prayers for Peace!!

A stitch in time will save India!

Its not for no reason that one would fight to get the control over any place that is called almost a heaven, if not completely a heaven. But things this time around are far more intense than one can imagine. Some call it a freedom movement, while others claim it to be an identity crisis for this place whereas other little influential persons are busy politicizing the issue not realising the hazards. If you are still confused about what i am talking about, let me cut the whole story short.. Kashmir is in serious danger!

Not that the Jammu and Kashmir has faced very less problems since India's independence, but this one, by far, is most difficult to address as unlike the previous problems, it seems to arise from our own side.

Little did any one know that a protest over handing a piece of land to The Amarnath Shrine board for better facilities of the pilgrims would take such an ugly turn that the local party i.e. the Hurriyat conference has demanded freedom for Kashmir, let alone the cross-border problems. The thought itself provokes many and irks my feelings towards those trying to seperate the land from the nation. They have put us in the similar state, we had put the British in, by chanting slogans like "Give us freedom" , Quit India", etc. Mind you the former was a different issue altogether.

But the question that lies is... are they justified? Or is the Indian government unable to satisfy the demands of the J&K janta? Or is it that some people are just trying to turn the tide in their interest in the heat of the moment? The questions are many... but there's no body to answer..

Ever since the introduction of Article 370 that has special provisions for the state, the valley has been in controversies for reasons associated with treatment of Muslims to that of issues with Kashmiri pandits and various other local communities. While our Pakistani counterparts are all willing to gain authority over the region, any mishandling of the issue by the government can cause irreparable damage to the nations developments which historically will be regretted.

But as the saying goes, "In every adversity ,there's an opportunity!"
So i believe this is the time when the Manmohan Singh government has to take some tough calls and act with a lot of metal in the blood. It is the time for the Indian government to set an example before the world that how secular as a country we are. This is also an opportunity to show the British a way of dealing as we would have expected them to during their regime. All in all, its a golden chance to do things, a chance for a real reform in the valley.

Though giving in to the demand for a free Kashmir is far from a thinkable solution, the first step should be to control the upsurge(read violence and protests) by some means to get on with negotiations. Once able to reach there, J&K citizens should be assuaged by Kashmir given treatment as any other state of the country and not as just an extension of the territory, even if that calls for an amendment in the Article 370 or the worse scrapping of it. Then various trade reforms are necessary. High mobility within the state and intra state trade with jammu anf Kashmir is required on a large scale. High subsidies, even if they are a burden in the short run, special allowances, grants and sanctions for various development projects and the like are necessary steps. This will not only gain the trust of the Kashmiri people but will also keep the local politicians busy with such projects and avoid any kind of a frenzy situation for the center.

These might seem very optimistic and idealistic but realistically for solving problems of Kashmir, it is very essential to solve the problems of the kashmiris. This might at least stabilize the state and give it a respectable position in India's growth story.

I really wish that India always remains a united country and for this people of this nation have to come forward and voice their opinions. It surprises me to know that we are from the same urban city where some made it a fashion to speak shout "Save Tibet". Wondering why nobody has still come forward for saving kashmir.

"Assam se gujaraat tak, bengal se maharashtra tak
jaati kahi dhun ek hain, bhasha kahi sur ek hai,
kashmir se madras tak, Kehdo sabhi hum ek hai,
aawaz do hum ek hai.... jaago!!!!

Jai Hind! Jai Bharat!

Regards,
BM