गुलाम

भाषा कारागार है

जकड़ती सीमाओं की,

जहाँ

भिंचे घुटने

निरंतर सिकुड़ते व्यास को

ठगने,

उदर की गहराई नापते हैं।



मस्तक-हथौड़ी पर,

लहूलुहान दीवारें

पटकती है गुलाम।

बेताल की डायरी से

तन्द्रा टूट टूट चुकी है

चारों तरफ नज़र आती है

घुटनों तक लीद में फंसी

लंबी, ऊँची इमारतें ।

रंग-बिरंगी, कंधे उचाकतीं

फडफडातीं, कालर उचकातीं

सफ़ेद कुर्ते रंगातीं

उजली, पाक़ इमारतें ।

Movie Review: Kyaa Super Kool Hain Hum

Well, I would say I wasn't prepared for this. It was a houseful for 'The Dark Knight Rises' and I was in a mood for a movie and only Ekta Kapoor's latest release was available. It had already been publicized as an adult comedy-my only mistake was expecting it to be a little mature too. Sadly, my raised hopes after 'The Dirty Picture' not only cost me 200bucks but also a brain fuck of 2.5 hours. A complete Macho-di, only that here it's your brain that's involved. Not even Suckru, the only funny(even if plagiarized) character in the movie could do much good.
The movie is so extremely full of the already read, forwarded and shared jokes from two years back that you'd most probably end up quite frustrated with your own attempts at forced laughter. And the worst part, if there was any space for worse, is that they've all been thrown randomly, regardless of place or context because, and pay attention for this is the big one, THERE WAS NO STORY AT ALL. So forget the fucking order, after all Ms. Kapoor has her own definition of the word 'adult movie'. She failed to realize, and strangely no one bothered to inform her, that it's not essential to be racist/homophobic/sexist in order to make an adult comedy or any comedy for that matter. So the 'adult comedy' exhibits a strange type of characters who will swear without restraint but can't come out with the term 'lesbian'. Tusshar's reiterating "Tum wo ho","Tum wo nahi ho" is so tedious that you actually wish you could slap the dialogue/script-writer across his face. In fact the movie could be a strong contender for the most senseless, crude comedy(??) of the year if they had such category at the Oscars.
But since a review demands that I tell you something about the "story", here it is. Adi(Tusshar Kapoor) is a struggling actor who falls in love with Simran(Neha Sharma), who also happens to be his lucky charm as predicted by a tarot-cards-reader(So original na!). Meanwhile Sid(Riteish Deshmukh) falls in love with Anu(Sara Dais) at a fashion show. Anu's father Marlow(Anupam Kher) is duped by a Con-priest Baba 3G(Chunky Pandey) into believing that a female dog is his mother while Suckru, Sid's pet dog, his father. And after that, there is no story, so no need to bother yourself about any potential complexities of plot. Of course ALL the songs were forced and that, to the extent that you could hardly trace any visible link between the story(God! I hate using this word over and again) and the song-in fact a part of me has started believing that Ekta has taken the word "deep" a bit too seriously. Someone can try digging links at the microscopic level.
Altogether, neither the extra A in the first word of the title, nor the Ekta Kapoor hallmark 'K' could save the movie from being a huge disappointment. If only she had concentrated so much on the script the movie could have passed as an average!

BOOK REVIEW #1

The Sense of an Ending

Julian Barnes




There are books which tell stories-simple stories that make you happy, sad, intrigued, thrilled etc. as stories are generally expected to. Then there are books which philosophise, give direction to life, and this is generally expected to be the boring section of the plethora. These two broad categories often romance, creating newer styles, genres and sub-genres and giving newer meanings to arts and literature and in fact life at large. Julian Barnes' "The Sense of an Ending" can be called the product of this liasion. It starts at the end. Anthony Webster is a divorced, retired old man living his last days peacefully by himself and whose only fear is Alzheimers. An envelope from an unknown attorney comes as a pebble in the calm waters. Lost loves are rekindled, memories re-visited and slowly and steadily Tony comes to an understanding and indeed embracing of his self.While old convictions are shed, new questionings come up. The idea of memory as a process, which is forever in flux, is not only brought up but thoroughly scrutinized. Barnes also adds to the now mainstream idea of history as the story of the winners when he makes Old Joe Hunt say: "[History] is also the self-delusions of the defeated."

Indeed, towards the end the narrator does accept the truth of this statement which he had so vehemently protested as a teenager. Tony's version of Adrian's history slowly crumbles as he confronts the truths that were hidden for too long. The book is revolutionary in its own way as each turning page shakes your faith in the accepted "common sense" living.  All in all a wonderful, if thought provoking read.

Having already won a Booker, the book hardly needs advertisement, but I still suggest multiple readings and re-readings. Have a nice time reading! :)

The Journey

The bed is ready,

All candles lit, fragrances let.

Waves of soft music await

The fall of your gentle foot

On the flowered floor.

Soft cushions, red wine and a waiting lover

Sit next to a painted window pane.




Stay, but a few moments-for

the Red now fills the crystal glass.

Silently, I shed the skin.

As small steps cover up miles,

My heart beats faster, cheeks glow red.

Eager to make love till eternity

For the bed is ready and I've come.