India Rising

Yahaan

This is not yet another film on Kashmir. It does not highlight gun-toting terrorists, those pretty green gardens, the breathtaking Dal Lake, houseboats and chinar trees.

It digs deep into the "real problems" of food, shelter and economics of the local people living in areas beyond the Dal Lake.

The places that were never shown in films claiming to be on Kashmir and its problems, joys and sorrows. And these are the places where displaced and frightened Kashmiris actually live. [http://hindujobs.com/thehindu/fr/2005/07/22/stories/2005072202720300.htm ]

My 2 cents :
I knew at the back of my  mind that locals would probably not be very fond of anyone involved in the highly unstable situation in Kashmir. This movie really shows what local Kashmiris feel for Indian Jawans. Looks like Shoojit Sircar has done a decent job of shining light on the every life and problems of the Kashmiri. Good work by the actors, good music, very good screenplay and reasonable dialogues.

The situation of people in Kashmir is so similar to the situation of people in West-Bank or Gaza, isn't it? A father wants to provide for his family. A kid wants a normal upbringing where he plays Cricket or Football and not "throw stones at the Jew".  Young people want to fall in love and live freely. All these thoughts and desires are muffled by the rat-a-tat of the guns and the extreme calls of various religions. Complex human societies where people specialized, elected governments looked out for broader good, laws were agreed upon for convenience on an average, also seem to beget parasites who exploit the workings of the system to maximize personal benefits of very few. Did stricter enforcement of laws in settings of organized religion intend to prevent this corruption of the members? I don't think so. Most of them seem to evolve as solutions to personal well-being rather than as solutions to societal problems.

What if, with the help of technology we can evolve a society where all information is very very easily accessible in the most convenient and easy to use formats ? Would this push societies to evolve in directions where violent transgressions are penalized, because ultimately it does not benefit the human race and thus the majority of the world.

Thinking Pvt Ltd.

I am sometimes shocked ( and almost always very disturbed)  by the completely bigoted views expressed by some fellow Indian friends. How can education not teach us to open ourselves and become more tolerant. Why is the human brain unable to question seemingly the most illogical of things ? I think its well known that good intentions of educational systems can be easily subverted by teachings/workings of the social system. However what seems to strike me even harder is the ability of an otherwise rational brain to unquestioningly stick to the extreme,bigoted viewpoint in the face of a highly rational and practical argument. Does this mean that these people have limited mental faculties and they can be only rational upto a certain point and not beyond that ? It scares me to think of approaching such a cliff.

Change in Men

"Men do not change, they unmask themselves,"
- Anonymous swiss writer.

Maybe this is an extreme simplification but some changes do look like unmasking. Also the context in which I read this is when someone is talking about knowing more (bad things) about a friend (Dick Cheney in this case) of his.

Well put

Kuj Seher de loke zalim san
Kuj mainon jeen da shauk vi si

Nadeem Aslam in "Maps for Lost Lovers"