Of 100 Days and Underdogs

The happenings over the weekend and early this morning, have forced me to pen down thoughts which would otherwise have floated off to the "thought cloud" black hole - as I thought I need to take a creak for a week or so ... but oh well! okay - here goes.

This Saturday most of which I spent listening to a CEO of a chemical company at the IIM, saw me call up a couple of friends in Hyderabad and Vijayawada in the evening. I plan to visit the place this November, and wanted to make sure I blocked their calendars three months in advance so they wont have any flimsy excuses for not meeting me.
At 5:30 I call up S; she's excited to hear me, Im excited to hear her ... and the usual ensues

The next day, I wake up at leisure - (its a Sunday) rubbing my eyes and scratching my head, yawning out the bad breath to the world, trying to bring order in the crumpled banian I wore at night, to find that Hyderabad has been rocked by not one, but two bombs for the second time in less than 100 days!
"B-b-but this cant happen! I spoke to S yesterday...I spoke to her! I know I did! this cant be true"
I scoure the newspapers, wide-eyed, I watch television to know that the area near Lumbini Park and the famous Gokul Chat is reduced to a mass of limbs, blood, gore and lost dreams and intact shoes on severed legs.
I thank God, niether S nor the other friend were one among the casuality. Some whom I knew through someone else though, hasnt been answering his phone call since Saturday, my friends and their cousins are frantic ... we later get to know he's okay, but he'd lost his mobile when he left Gokul Chat just a few minutes before the explosion took place.
What about the others though? What about those poor Maharastrian kids who were in Hyderabad on a holiday? What about that mom who, because of a headache, is the only survivor in her otherwise 7 member household?
"Thank God - you didnt go now!" my mom exhales.
I attempt to joke - "I'll be there in November - roughly 100 days from now lady, if I die, be sure not to leave the compensation with the government - take every single rupee"
She's sniffling. *note to self - dont joke on matters of death - as it is she doesnt need a reason to cry; dont give her more*
Bloody Cowards killing people in the name of I do not know what, I doubt, if even they know why they want to reduce the population of the country so drastically.
Bloody traitors - this police force of enunchs who havent lifted a finger for the past 100 days, which allowed these army of cowards to paint the town a grim red.
Admist this chaos, the survivors and the nearby citizen-samaritans who rised up to the occasion; maybe because they know, that you can never know who's next and whose help they might just need.
Looks like the wounds of the partition shall never heal, they shall keep resurfacing in the form of religion, politics, police, politicians and terrorists to haunt us forever.
Ironically, one of the terrorists identified was one among the victims in an earlier riot. Crime, begets crime, evil begets evil; and while politicians hanker after power, terrorists will continue to expand their sadistic army of the undead.

On another note ...

I finally watched the now famous "Chak De India". After avoiding the movie for so long, there was only so much I could do now. I had to watch it - The company decided its a good movie to make its employees watch - so there I was at Inox, watching the movie for free.

Its another underdog movie. A movie that charts the rise of the underdogs to rule the world - remember Dodge Ball? The Ice Princess?Hoosiers? and I could go on and on, but I wont, because Ive forgotten the names of most of them.
Looks like every sports movie ever made has this very theme to it - here's a man who's been prooved a loser ; here's a team/player that will never make it, a team of misfits and bigger losers; here's an undreamable dream - a dream of the ultimate WIN; put the loser and the team together, make them dream this DREAM, and voila - here's your sports movie.

Scores of Hollywood movies are churned out with this theme - vary it a little based on what you want to convey - the blacks over whites? the poor over rich? Adrenaline pumping scenes, nail biting "will-they-do-it?-will-they-not?" climaxes and dialogues that hit you in the gut like Mike Tyson's punch - and the movie is sure shot hit.

Now, add a little local flavor to it, take a game unheard of, use the "religion" and the "patriotism" angle, ask the sexes to battle it out, and some emotion - but go easy on the glycerine - you should see the pools in the eyes, but let it not drip down too much - this is a movie of grit and determination - remember? yeah - now, add a little glamour and a well known face to whom a flop doesnt make too much of a difference.... and hey presto- you have Chak De India.

No. I dont mean to demean the movie, its well made and has the feel-good-factor. I would anyday watch a Chak De India over another Karan Johar's twisted K-logy. The movie has recieved lots of rave reviews all over - bloggers have waxed eloquent, critics have fallen all over themselves and etcetera and etcetera.

Im ready to forgive the parallels to the 2006 world cup soccer and the Indian team's run at cricket world cup (when was it? 2000?) when the only two matches it lost were to Australia. Its a good movie.
What is missing from all these reviews though, is this - THE INSIGHT OF THE MOVIE.
Glaringly missing.
What did you learn from those three hours? That Haryanvis have a funny way of talking? That Jharkhand has elephants? That Punjabi kudis are usually well built?
I'll tell you what I saw in the movie - (and in no order and maynot be exhaustive) - and this is my review to the movie - and let me warn you - it isnt the types where I tell you how people stood up on chairs and hooted at every goal or how someone predicted the box office status by the number of people in the popcorn line during the interval.

"Saat saal , X mahine, Y din"
"Kahaan they tum ab tak?"
"Is meeting ki tayyari kar raha tha"
Small talk gets you no where. Know where you have to go. The Nononsense attitude has never let anyone down. (remember the story of Arjun and the bird's eye?)

When you see an oppurtunity - grab it head long.

No matter who you face - it is in you that you need to trust.

Allow yourself a luxury of a loss. It is only when you trip and fall will you learn to see where you walk - its a small price to pay for the experience gained.

It is not who you were that matters, nor is it who you can be that matters - what matters is who you ARE and how many miles are you ready to go to get where you WANT to be.

Dream. No matter what.
Dream. However impossible those dreams are - the fact that you are dreaming eliminates the first hurdle of impossibility.

Work - else go back to sleep to dream worthless dreams.

Respect him/her - No matter who the other person is.

One swallow might not make a summer, but one loss can certainly break a life, BUT for your grit and resolve NOT to allow it to do so.

Keep that souvenir or may I dare to say "keepsake?" of your loss close to your heart - use it, not as something that will tell you that you will never do it, but as something that will tell you how you have it in you - and how you need to work harder to prove to yourself that you have it in you.

You are the best - but so is another, learn that just one soilder wasnt enough to fight the crusade. Humility never harmed anyone.

Choose - Decide - for in everyone's life this "devil and the deep sea" decision raises its head atleast once -
Responsibilities or dreams? You or your loved ones? Satisfaction or regret? Happiness or Family?
Choose and once you do - look back not on the path you havent taken, for that will get you no where.

Fuck the rest of the world, you do stuff for yourself. It is your life and it is you who you are answerable to - the rest of the world can use its middle finger to fuck itself.

No matter what you do - every action/inaction/ decision/speech takes you either one step forward or backward - nothing is stangnant - you cannot make it stagnant - ever.

Everyone exists - strive to live.

Whats your movie review?