Weekly Reviews (16-22 Jan) 2009

1. Ijaazat (1987)
This movie is full of electrifying performances by Anuradha Patel and Naseeruddin Shah. Great work of Gulzar sahab. Simple story told in a simple way but still does not lose the magic touch. The songs are simply superb. Must watch. (7.5/10).

2. Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
This movie is the same old movie based on the slums with some intricacies. This movie has been overhyped to a large extent. I have not observed anything special in this movie. All seem to be just ordinary to me. Anyways watchable movie. (7/10)

3. The death of Yugoslavia (1995)
This is a documentary based on the dissolution of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1991 onwards. Must watch series for any person who loves history. One can find shades of Indian problems in the problems of Yugoslavia. (9/10)

4. Beirut to Bosnia (series by Robert Fisk)
Robert Fisk was the 'The Independent' Correspondent of middle east during the Lebanon/Palestine/Israel wars. He also covered the war of Bosnia. Its a good try of Robert Fisk in exploring why Muslims hate the West?. (8/10)

Book Review [11] : Banker to the Poor - Mohammad Yunus autobiography

"Banker to the poor" is the 2nd book that i read in past 7-8 days. It's an autobiography of 2006 Nobel peace prize winner and the founder of micro-credit based Grameen Bank, Mr. Mohammad Yunus. This book talks about one of the many methods that can eradicate poverty. His method of micro financing is quite effective in helping the poorest masses in raising their income and giving them a helping hand in eradicating the canker of poverty.

I really admire the tenacity and perseverance of Yunus saheb in establishing a world class institution without taking foreign aid (he did much later). Its not unjust to say that he has been truly a silent revolutionary. In this sub continent its a sin to be a poor and its the heinous crime to be a poor Muslim. The social status of Muslim women in our subcontinent is worst. No offence meant but its the truth. Any Muslim husband can divorce his wife by just saying Talaq three times. In this environment Yunus saheb succeeded in making poor women of Bangladesh the clients of his bank. In this process he broke almost all the retrogressive customs of Purdah and seclusion. Money is the solution of almost all the problems and Grameen has proved thus many a times.

I dont know what is the future of micro finance based system in India. As far as i know from my significant experience of the rural India (not talking about the Rahul Gandhi's definition of poor) that the condition of poor is not despicable. Its surely bad but can be improved. I dont condone the high interests rates demanded by Grameen bank. There should not be any difference in the interest rates collateral or no collateral.

Recommended (7/10)

From Bangalore to Dhanushkodi Part 2

Sunday started with the arrival of Aviral's grand pa and maternal parents and it was a very sober feeling to meet aviral's Nanaji. He is a remarkable man. We started our day by taking bathe in the Bay of Bengal and then in the 15 holy wells inside the Rameshwaram temple (It is said that Lord Rama brought waters from all the rivers of India and put into 32 wells in the temple. So if you take bathe in this water then it is equivalent of taking bath in all the rivers of India). It was like getting a transformation from a Karmayogi to a Karmakandi, but i liked it.

After this holy bath we prepared ourselves for the darshanas of the Shivalingam. The saying goes like this. When Lord Rama returned from Lanka after killing King Ravana then he stayed here to get rid of the sin of Brahma Hatya. He commissioned Hanuman to go to Kailasha and bring Shivalingas from there but Lord Hanuman was late and the good time was passing by so Goddess Sita made a Shivalinga of sand and they worshipped that Shivalinga. Hanuman came after all this and became dejected. Lord Rama then declared that all the Shivalingas will be worshipped (including the ones brought by Hanumana). So say we all. I was totally touched by the affection shown by uncles/aunts/Nanaji of Aviral. I have still few rupees for cups of tea.

There is a bit of difference between the temples of North India and those of South India. In southern India temples one can get special Darshana if he has money in his pocket and we did the same in both the places i.e. at Rameshwaram and at Meenakshi temple (one our return journey from Rameshwaram to Madurai). We were cheated by a travel agent of Madurai and that is the only bad memory we have of the entire holy and soothing, peaceful and dignified visit.

From Bangalore to Dhanushkodi Part 1

Last Friday, Aviral and I decided to visit Rameshwaram (the reasons being the visit of Aviral's Grand Father and maternal uncle and mine duty towars my father) so we started on Friday night by taking a KSRTC bus from the majestic stand to Madurai at around 10 PM. Madurai is around 400 km from Bangalore. The journey was bit arduous but we had Bankers to poor and Made in USA in our hands and we tried our best to finish them but the clouds of sleep were more powerful. We reached Madurai at around 8 in the morning.
We immediately decided to pay our respect to Goddess Meenakshi. The Meenakshi Temple is the finest example of Dravidian Architecture and i have not seen such a majestic temple before. I have become a huge admirer of this temple since Dec 2003 (My first visit to south India). The temple auhority stopped us from entering the temple as Aviral was in shorts and they dont allow people in shorts to enter Temple. We were shell shocked as well as angry so we decided to move forward to our main aim i.e. the Rameshwaram temple.
We took a state transport bus from Madurai to Rameshwaram at around 10 in the morning (Rameshwaram is 170 km from Madurai). The island of Rameshwaram is connected to the main land India by Pamban bridge. The bus took 5 hours to reach Rameshwaram. At 3 PM in the afternoon after doing necessary things we decided to pay our visit to the famous Jyortilingas of Rameshwaram. This temple is situated on the bank of Bay of Bengal and its quite a site to behold. After having Darshanas we searched for some thing to eat but all the restaurants were closed as they dont serve food between 2 PM to 7 PM. So we continued our journey to the eastern most sentinel of this island i.e. Dhanushkodhi village (about 18 kms from Rameshwaram). This village is the home of Dr. Kalam Shahab. Dhanushkodhi place is absolutely awesome as it is surrouned on the three sides by sea and the beach is quite long and narrow You can see the Ram Setu, you can see the island of Srilanka (only 18 kms from Dhanushkodhi). There is also a forward post of Indian Navy there but that looked very very ordinary to us as for us the real sentry of this island were the fishermen. It was getting very dark so we decided to return to Rameshwaram.
I payed my homage to one of the the last physical remains of my father by dispersing his ashes in the Bay of Bengal just few yards from the Rameshwaram temple. May his soul find peace in heaven.

The next day is about my conversion.

Book Review [10] :Yasir Arafat - A political biography

Last week i read a book 'Yasir Arafat: A political biography' by Barry Rubin and Judith Rubin. Its a good work but some how it smells like a Jewish approach to Arafat as in this book Arafat is unilaterally blamed for not finalizing the peace treaty with Israel. Anyways its a good book.

Well what exactly is this crisis, lets go in detail about this problem.

The state of Palestine was the part of great Ottomon Empire pre World War 1. In the first world war the Jews sided with Germany as they considered Russia as the main enemy of the Jews. The British were afraid that because of the heavy lobby of Jews, USA can side with German and because of this reason Britain after capturing Palestine came up with a Balfour declaration in 1917. This declaration talked about "Seeing in favour the possibility of creating Jewish homeland in the state of Palestine without violating any rights of the existing population of Palestine". The Zionist movement was also gaining momentum. In 1922 the population of Jews in Palestine was mere 11% of the total population. The league of nations in 1922 gave Palestine mandate to Britain. A huge rate of migration of Jews from Europe started and by the end of 2nd world war the Jews percentage in population of Palestine rose from mere 11% in 1922 to 33% in 1947. The Palestinian Arabs revolted in 1936-39 against this migration but Britain crushed the revolt with much ferocity.

The Jewish agency under the leadership of David Ben-Gurion started preparing for the war against Palestinian Arabs. The Arabs too started the same. On 29 Nov 1947 UN passed a plan dividing Palestine into three parts: Arab Palestine, Jews Palestine and the UN territory of Jerusalem. 30 countries supported the plan but 13 opposed the plan (India too). The Arab states opposed the plan. Violence escalated in Palestine. The British left the Palestine on 14 May 1948, the same day David Ben-Gurion declared the Independence of Jews state of Palestine to be known as Israel. The following day 5 Arab states (Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq) attacked Israel but were defeated. The Israel war of independence has started and its still going on and the worst victims of this war have been Palestines and the civilized world.

I dont understand the logic behind the creation Of Israel. The Germans killed millions of Jews but the Arabs had to pay the price of this killing. This is the justice of the then civilised world and even of the UN. The Jews are themselves to blame. They have no moral right to wage a war against Hamas or the Fatah or the PLO or even against the Hezbollah.

The only solution to this problem is to divide the state of Israel so that the demographic structure of 1922 is maintained i.e. giving 11% land to Jews and 89% to Palestinian Arabs. Europe should come up with a country for Jews and Germany should give them a part of their territory as they are the main villains as they killed more than 5 million Jews equivalent to the current Jewish population of Israel. The eternal peace can only be obtained then.

Recommended (7/10)

Reviews 5-11 January 2009

This week has been quite a grueling one.

1. Ghajini (2008)
I got a chance to watch Ghajini in a multiplex courtesy Meha and Aviral. This movie is the only movie to be seen by me in a multiplex in more than 14 months. The last one was Jab We Met (2007). This movie is quite good but loses its pace at many points. The violence is extreme and it should have been avoided. Certainly this is not for children. Asin looks great in the movie and the love chemistry between Amir and Asin is very refreshing. I still don't know who bootstrapped the whole process of making notes and tattooing on the body. Still a watchable movie. 6 points out of 10.

2. The Office (season 1,2,3) 2005, 2006,2007
This is a hilarious series based on US office gossips. I really enjoy it a lot. Michael Scott, Dwight Shrute, Jim Halpert, Jane, Pam all look simply superb in their roles. This is a serial that can get you out from your darkest period with a smile. 9 points out of 10.

1-4 January 2009 reviews

1. Where Eagles Dare (1968)
Its a classic world war 2 movie with a tinge of great suspense in it. The top secret mission was confusing from the beginning even the second in command Lt. Schaffer did not know about that. Richard Burton played quite handsomely the role of a British Major on a spy mission. 8 points out of 10.

2. The young lions (1958)
Generally the World War 2 movies are black and white, with allies destroying the Nazis. This movie is some thing different and you will find a chivalrous German officer in Marlon Brando albeit fighting for a wrong cause. 8 points out of 10.

3. The dirty dozen (1967)
I have become a fan of Lee Marvin after this movie. This movie is about training criminals (with heaving prison/death sentences) and asking them to going for a suicidal mission in order to escape from their death sentences. This movie starts well but loses its plot in the end. Still watchful. 7 points out of 10.

4. Cast a giant shadow (1966)
This movie is about the foundation of Israel. An American Army Colonel played by Kirk Douglas helps the Jews to form the state of Israel in 1948. He helps in training the army as well as establishing the organization. Senta Berger looks awesome in this movie and i have become a great admirer of her beauty. 7 points out of 10.

2008: The worst year of my life

Finally the worst year of my life has ended and it has ended only after taking the most precious possession of my life, my father. I lost my father and this is the single most saddest moment of my life and compare to it every other incident, work, passion or any other thing does not even exist. The person who brought me in this world, who grown me, who taught me the things i have ever known, who is responsible for the very existence of Neeraj Kumar Jadaun is no more. I dont know what i will do in future, my God is no more. Now any success, any achievement, any conquest does not matter even a bit.

Weekly movie reviews last week december

1. A Wednesday (2008)
A magnum opus by Naseeruddin shah and Anupam Kher. A very good plot directed to the perfection. Must watch for every Indian in this precarious condition of India with bomb blast happening now and then. Jimmy Shergil acted superbly and even better than Yahan (2005). Deepal shaw is the weakest link. 9 points out of 10.

2. The Kingdom (2007)
This movie is based on the terrorist activities against the American workers in Saudi Arabia. A 4 men FBI team investigates the bombing of an American facility in Saudi Arabia. The climax is quite enthralling and gives a very strong message. Jeniffer Garner looked good. 8 points out of 10.
3. Stalingrad (1993)
Its a German movie about the German invasion of Stalingrad in the 2nd world war. Its an average movie with no notable features. 6 points out of 10.

4. Stalag 17 (1953)
Its a classic world war 2 escape movie and is second only to 'The Great Escape'. The story is about American POW and their escapades. Quite a good one. 8 points out of 10.