Indian cinema completes 100 years of glory

The current month of February’2012 completes a century of its glorious years. Thanks to Dada Saheb Dhundraj Govind Phalke, a great cinema artist himself, who could take the credit of giving this country the first feature film ‘Raja Harishchandra’. It was exactly on 5th February a hundred years back that he undertook journey to England where he stayed for 2 months collecting necessary technical material then available to be used when he was due back to the country and this is how the first picture ‘Raja Harishchandra’ could be produced.

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Bollywood in India has far exceeded the number of films produced by Hollywood and the credit certainly goes to Dada Saheb Phalke. This is only an irony of the situation that he was not that much recognised in his life time as it was done after he was no more there. The story goes that once there was a big event organised in Mumbai commemorating the progress of cinema in the country but it struck to no body’s mind to invite Dada Saheb Phadke in the function. After some time some one noticed that as an enthusiast he was very much present there amongst the audience. Organisers rushed to him regretting their lapse taking him to the dais bestowing all honours upon him giving him recognition of a legend of the time.

Politics knows no blood relations even

Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh (India) are on and tempo on that count is running very high. All political parties mainly including Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party and Samajwadi Party are mustering their full strength to ensure their victory. Who actually wins finally is a matter none can predict. Every thing lies in the hands of the voters who are being wooed by the political leaders by leaving no stone unturned for the purpose. Every one preaches for a caste less society but the fact remains that elections are fought based only on caste prejudice. Equally there are sermons that religion should not be the criterion to mobilise the electorate but there again it is the religion only that is exploited most during elections or even otherwise also. Contestants include even duos like father and son and brother and brother fighting against each other without the least consideration for same blood. Politics in fact has nothing like any definite ethics except a sheer opportunism.

Technorati Tags: elections,electorate,religion,caste,blood relations,opportunism

Tele serial ‘Veer Shivaji’–a review

Technorati Tags: integration,Prithviraj Chauhan,Shivaji,invaders,country,color tv channel

Immortal as he remains in the minds of all Indians as a great hero, Veer Shivaji is a name in the history as alive, nay more, as it should have been in the days of his life (1630-1680) and more so when he firmly reigned in Maharashtra during 1674-1680 AD. TV channel ‘Colors’ is currently showing Veer Shivaji as a running serial which is a quite popular one. The life of Shivaji is justifiably depicted in the serial in most powerful a manner and read in the context of what a social and political atmosphere might have been there in the then times, the serial has meaningfully covered different aspects of the society then obtaining. Certain narratives are of course there which might injure the feelings of a certain community but that is after all a history where factual side of it just can’t be sacrificed. The actors playing different roles in the serial have done full justice to their performance. Shivaji is portrayed as a champion of the masses and his role reminds us of what Prithviraj Chauhan did several centuries back in the remote past. Prithviraj Chauhan not only fought against the invaders but equally strived hard to have a fully integrated India and so did Shivaji uniting different factions of rulers operating as self styled autonomous entities in the country. Shivaji as he has rightly been portrayed in the TV serial was certainly not only a great pride for Maharashtra alone but the country as a whole.

Paper less banking:

As a result of an enormous technological development in the country there are every now and then changes taking place in all fields and so is the case in the area of banking where many a banks including State Bank of India are talking so loud about paper less banking quoting their ATMs as their major component in the direction. True, concept of paper less banking is laudable as it helps customers in transacting necessary business without waiting for their turn standing in the big queues but such queues  are still there in front of ATMs and the like. Queues even in different branches of the banks are hardly reduced as a result of different banking institutions earlier decision of drastically reducing staff strength in their offices. There is certainly a rationale behind the concept of paper less banking but this can work better only when there is adequate staff strength duly provided by taking the respective unions into confidence

Technorati Tags: Unions,banking,staff strength,queues,customer relations

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Abandoned children

Who they are? Why they are abandoned? It is every now and then that there are reports about some child or the other found some where here and there. In most of the cases it is found that the child concerned happens to be the one abandoned for the reason that it was delivered illegitimately and its parents could not afford the shame that could have erupted against them on this count in the society. Why indulge into illegal sex if the parents concerned are not bold enough to face the eventual outcome in the form of delivering an offspring? If it is love and not the lust on the part of the partners in a sexual activity they are supposed to be bold enough to own the child so born. Motherhood is a divine phase and no amount of any explanations can justify the callousness on the part of any mother for abandoning her child. If partners in sex don’t have enough courage to face its consequences including delivery of a child they must at least be capable of affording necessary patience to abstain from any sexual activity.

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Case of a sheer witch hunting

In a corruption laden society like we have there are troubles emerging at every step and no consumer can help coming out of them howsoever best he tries. Financed by State Bank of India I own a house in State Bank Colony, Ratanlal Nagar, Kanpur with an electric meter for the last more than three decades. Payments of the relative electricity bills paid regularly without fail there was not even an exception ever on that count. Only some time back it was noticed that the meter reading had gone much low with the relative bill unusually showing too small an amount. Necessary complaint was lodged with the KESCO (Kanpur Electricity Supply Co.Ltd) immediately but there was no action taken by them. When the matter was followed up further they got irritated and a team of theirs barged into my house trying to find some fault or the other attributing the same as if some thing wrong was there at my end itself. Without hearing my family members in the  matter they hurriedly prepared a bill for Rs.36,000/ as one time settlement besides the cost of new meter to be paid separately. Necessary cheque had to be given to them of course without prejudice to our version of the explanation.They in fact wanted some gratification (obviously illegal) in terms of money which was denied to them point blank with the result that a few days later they called again raising a further  demand of Rs.86,000/by way of arrears as they said. Why arrears is the question as there was already a one time settlement. The moot point remains that all this was happening as they were not obliged with the payment they wanted by way of necessary bribe, a routine culture as they take it. I realise that the job could have been much easier if they were suitably obliged which of course was not done as a matter of conviction. In a country like ours one has to suffer and pay the price for whatever are his convictions.

Technorati Tags: corruption,conviction,bribe,society

One’s own personal postal stamps:

It is possible now that one can have his/ her own personal postal stamps. There are people who have a deep craze for postal stamps indulging themselves in their huge collections and for them it is certainly a good news as pronounced by the postal authorities in India. The stamp so envisaged has to be in two parts –one containing the picture of some celebrity, Taj Mahal, Panchtantra, train, aircraft or some thing else as decided by the Government from time to time and the other with the photograph of the person who gets himself/ herself duly registered for the purpose with an amount of Rs.500/ including Rs.100/ as registration fee for a block of 12 photographs. There is nothing like any upper limit for the purpose. The scheme thus covers even a common man and is no more confined alone to dignitaries or other logos of national importance.

Technorati Tags: Postal stamps,common man,dignitaries