My Journey through Filmmaking !

It's good to be back to the wordplay mode after a hiatus of almost 8 months. I certainly missed interacting with many friends on social media, but the break from all the scrolling through senseless forwards and shares on FB and Whatapp has been refreshing and revitalizing. Also the social media detox after 10 years was much needed for me not to potentially fall into the narcissistic trap which comes with the virtual interactions that can't always be construed on face value.

Once I deactivated by fb, whatsapp, insta and twitter, I had all the time in the world to retrospect my work life,  rediscover my business ambitions and reigniting latent possibilities. I would like to believe that the time was utilized well and hope the awaiting results coincide with my belief.  Another boost came in the way of expansion of The Saharsh Project and our family just breached the 100 mark.

But in years to come, I would remember 2018 for another development. Last year I could juggle between work, education, travel and many more avocations in addition to the social media obsession. This year was relatively calm and despite work assignments, I had a lot of time to cultivate and inculcate myself with a new hobby. I have been camera crazy since forever but I hit a moment of reckoning when I started self-learning camera to it's full potential. Earlier I was brandishing my DSLR at family vacations and thought I was good at photography but only after I learnt a bit of camera did I realize that not everybody who owned a DSLR was a photographer the way everybody who owned a pen wouldn't be an author.

My perennial passion has been writing and was writing more of non-fiction through this very blog till recently because that was my way of expression, an outlet. For the first time I gave a thought of expressing through camera and the In the Feelings - Kiki Challenge happened. I don't know what prompted the ladies in the video to trust my sensibilities sans any experience but they obliged to perform. While it's not the best of creative works, we all were happy with what came out considering the impulsive, inexperienced effort. I can't thank my friends enough for keeping up with my supposedly creative demands. But the more rewarding and enriching experience than the filming was editing. Learning the craft was an uphill ordeal but once I got the elements, I realized it could be quite an hobby in itself. To keep the fire going, I also edited the video clips we took in Greece last year and produced Em Sandeham Ledu - Reprisal.

In between all these, some other development occurred. Few months back, I was browsing through some news article and stumbled into a very interesting, unimaginable article which blew my mind into pieces. My first response was to write a story based on that, my first attempt at fiction. Halfway through, I felt I could convey it to larger audience if I translate that into a visual medium. First thought of a docudrama and then graduated the idea to make a short-film. My family heard the story and were more intrigued than I was which lent me a kind of reinforcement. But they believed I could do a better job with proper planning and execution than a half baked one. So they gave me the actual impetus to sign up Tamasoma. And a journey thus began.

The journey started with story writing, then moved to screenplay writing, character arc development and other pre-production work. The day came when we handpicked actors to play certain roles and picked up courage to ask them if they could act in my 'directorial'. Except one, all characters were written with certain people in mind and when I narrated the story to them, they kindly obliged, albeit with some reservations, I suppose. The people I wanted to work were those whom I knew personally and thought they would fit the bill to the T and whom I know I could get along well because that was more crucial for me. Building that team was easier than I thought. Like-minded people joined the crew and before I could realize, we were a 15 people team (production and post-production combined).

On the parallel track, I was learning crafts of film making, camera movements, cranes, gimbals, lighting equipment, sound, dialogue writing etc. Everything for the first time and I can't express how exhilarating and exhausting each phase was. My cast and crew were rock-solid beside me and I'm sure they did everything not to let me down despite noticing my amateurism. Every single person delivered everything I wanted and required on and off screen. They also came to terms with my re-shooting entire sequences 3-4 times without rolling their eyes. I still wonder what made them oblige to so many of my silly antics and tantrums. Thank you guys and love you all for your support and I apologize in advance if I won't be able to translate your hard work and conviction onscreen.

The production of the movie was fun and more like a picnic barring production design where I and the team had to run pillar to post to get logistics arranged. The movie making experience was diagonally different from music video reprisals or travelogue videos because there was screenplay, dialogues involved and we had to make sure every scene conveys the story to audiences in the way I imagined. After a month of shooting, post-production began which was another uphill task, more exhausting than the shooting itself. My editor (a professional guy who worked with teams of RGV etc) has been extremely patient, knowledgeable and is doing an able job. I'm waiting to witness his skill on the final product. Background music and foley is underway and is helmed by another old acquaintance who worked with teams of AR Rahman and Hiphop Thamizha.

As mentioned earlier, my conviction was that I could convey the story better as a movie than a blog article but I'm not sure how successful am I (or would I be) because I could see how unfledged, raw and callow my work as a director was and how I can do a better job now after going through the end to end movie making life cycle. I might have been haughty and cocky for believing that I could deliver magic without any training but without that presumptuousness and arrogance, I would not even have ventured anything into these waters and I'm glad I did it.

I hope the audience would watch the movie through my eyes and enjoy the story and the experience because as we began our marketing, this is one story which wasn't told in world cinema as yet. Our creative naivete may get under criticism (which we welcome wholeheartedly) but the story line won't. I promise the audience won't be disappointed about the story if they could be a bit lenient on our inexperience.

For those who asked me why did I only address intense subjects (like in In the Feelings - Kiki Challenge and now with Tamasoma), watch out for my take on love and romance in a video to be uploaded tomorrow at CutMirchi Media. Oh, by the way, we rebranded the channel from Myriad Tales to CutMirchi Media in an anticipation to indulge ourselves in serious visual media experiments.

So you will see more of my work and possibly myself on screen soon (but not acting or running around trees..). Watch out, Dear Friends !

Top 15 Film Directors I Love to Watch

Being a self-proclaimed movie-buff, I took a long time to write a movie based post. Here is the one where I tried to list down my top 15 film directors who (almost) consistently impressed me with their craft and captivated my senses through tightly scripted, content oriented movies.

While I loved some masterpieces by directors like Guru Dutt, Satyajit Ray, Akira Kurosawa, Al Hitchcock, Roman Polaski, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Stanley Kubrick, Client Eastwood, Ang Lee, Ridley Scott, Steven Spielberg, Ben Affleck, Vishal Bhardwaj, I don't see their work as consistently engaging.

Though I'm a fan of international cinema, especially European, Iranian, Brazilian, Korean stuff and immensely admired single pieces of work of Majid Majidi, Alejandro Inarritu, Fernando Meirelles, I haven't seen their whole body of work to list them under my favorites either.

I couldn't care less about hero-elevation and mass elements which I never identified myself with and so the list is irrespective of their box office exploits or fan-base and hence could look skewed and stupid to few. Take it in your stride, guys :)

COUNTDOWN

(15) SS.Rajamouli: I hated all his movies from Student No 1 to Maryada Ramanna and yet he is in the list because of his ability and sheer brilliance in translating a script into visual drama on screen. He could dramatize even a gait or stare with aplomb, which sometimes goes overboard though. While many sequences in Bahubali were copied (err...adapted) from Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur and GOT, he is an undisputed craftsman who delivers visual opulence in constrained budget vis-a-vis his hollywood counterparts. You may as well peek into my earlier post about him at A Brand called Rajamouli

(14) AR Muragadoss: Yes, 'SYPder' was a dud and so was 'Stalin'. But a man who could captivate audiences through edge-of-the-seat screenplay and provide vicarious pleasure to star-fans through 'Thupakki', 'Kaththi', '7am arivu', 'Ghajini', 'Ramana' deserves a mention here.

(13) Imtiaz Ali: While his last couple of films were tedious to watch, he introduced a style of film-making which showed love-stories in a different light. Raw, intense and authentic. His debut 'Socha Na Tha' was a surprise for me but 'Jab We Met', 'Love Aajkal' and 'Rockstar' cemented my loyalty in his brand of film-making. 

(12) S. Shankar: When his films were dubbed into Telugu as 'Gentleman', 'Premikudu', 'Bharateeyudu',  'Oke Okkadu', many believed he could do no wrong and would be an unprecendented hit-machine. He showed what grandeur was much before Rajamouli did and could be deservedly called 'James Cemeron' of India. But later movies were huge let-down. Hoping to see the vintage Shankar with that vintage Rahman musicals soon.

(11) Woody Allen: The master of romantic comedies and God of conversation based movies (which I crave). 'Annie Hall' and 'Manhattan' stand tall as his outstanding artistry and inspiration for scores of film-makers since then. Most of the new-age directors copy (intentionally or unintentionally) or follow Woody Allen who could be credited for inventing a new genre of movies.

(10) Trivikram-Vijaya Bhaskar: A legendary dialogue-writer whose movies run in my car's rear entertainment system all through the year. His movies have repeat value and though he worked with star heroes, he successfully steered across insipid scenes and predictable conversations unlike his other more successful contemporaries. But must also say that movies he ghost-directed with Vijayabhasker at helm ('Nuvvu Naaku Nachav', 'Manmadhudu', 'Swayamvaram') were much more entertaining than the ones he directed to credit himself. 

(9) Farhan Akhtar: If Hindi movie history can be classified into two eras, it should be definitely before and after 'Dil Chahta Hai'. DCH released in 2001 along with more successful 'Lagaan' and 'Gadar' but the impact it made changed the dynamics and ecosystem of Bollywood. 'Zindagi Milegi Na Dobara' which he wrote and allegedly directed for his sister should be made a case-study not only in film institutes but in every personality development institute.

(8) James Cameron: The magician himself for whom sky is the limit. When top 2 biggest worldwide grocers of all time happen to be his movies, he doesn't need any further paeans or tributes. Another thing which puts him head and shoulders above other greats is his unique ability to balance visual grandeur and emotional connect which would make spectators oblivious of the fact they were watching a piece of fiction on screen.

(7) Hrishikesh Mukherjee / Jandhyala Subramanya Sastry: Legends who created a whole middle path between brainless, slapstick commercials on one side and lackluster, painfully tedious art cinema on the other during 70's-90's. Their boy and girl next door plots revolving around middle class families and day to day issues were refreshingly identifiable and heart warming. Jandhyala of Telugu film industry adapted Hrishida' style and revolutionized Telugu movies and carved a whole sub-industry in the otherwise loud era marked by mediocrity of Dasari Narayana Rao, Kodandarami Reddy, Raghavendra Rao.  

(6) Quentin Tarantino: Who else could glorify violence and bloodshed like THE Tarantino. I once randomly ran into 'Pulp Fiction' and was so stupefied by his style of creativity that I spent the next week watching all his remaining filmography. While 'Kill Bill' is the most loved among his works, 'Inglorious Basterds' was not too far behind. Tarantino revolutionized and redefined the words style, violence, gangsters, guns and background music. A certain 'Ram Gopal Varma' can copy and aspire to be Tarantino all he wants, but he must realize there's only one original.

(5) Rajkumar Hirani: I can't think of any other film director who can have such profound impact on the masses' behavior as Raju Hirani. And he nails it without getting into preaching mode. Be it education system in '3 Idiots', hospital ecosystem in 'Munnabhai MBBS', superstitions and Gandhian values in 'Lage Raho Munnabhai' or religious stupidity in 'PK' - Hirani drives his points with crisp conversations, captivating sequences and razor sharp screenplay. Aspiring film makers can study his style of film making to learn how to write, shoot, edit sequences which enthrall audiences throughout the film watching experience. The best contemporary film maker in India, period

(4) Martin Scorsese: Any legendary film director would be usually known by his one best movie which defines him/her. But Martin Scorsese churned out such landmark movies which each could easily be the best movie of the respective decade. Isn't Goodfellas the best gangster movie ever made ? Taxi Driver, Shutter Island, The Departed, The Gangs of New York, Raging Bull are such unforgettable classics that Hollywood should be renamed as "Scorsese Film Industry". 

(3) K. Viswanath: If there's anybody who's all time best film director India has ever produced, that would be none other than Viswanath. Especially his movies of early 80's like sagara sangamam, swathi mutyam, sitara, sirivennela, shrutilayalu, swayam krushi, swarna kamalam show how one visionary rose amidst a plethora of substandard film makers to confer certain respect to vernacular music, performing arts, linguistic aesthetics while addressing social evils when he could have easily chosen the regular run-of-the-mill formulae of the industry. And masses who were accused to be enjoying mediocrity rose along and gave their stamp of approval.

(2) Christopher Nolan: When I first watched 'Memento' (way before Ghajini), I was so lost and confused with two interspersing stories which was too taxing on my mind. When I watched it for the second time, it looked like a whole new movie altogether. Making a film like a puzzle and giving audiences some clues to figure out the plot was sheer brilliance of a certain Chris Nolan. Nolan is not just a film maker but a bonafide genius, a savant per se. His Batman series was a bit let-down but The Prestige, Inception and Interstellar too test audiences' mind more than visual senses. He is one of a kind.

(1) David Fincher: All the above mentioned film makers were genii in their own right but if there is one creative genius who made me sit on the edge of the seat without blinking in almost 10 movies, that's David Fincher. Each one of his movies got me intensely intrigued, gave me adrenaline rush and palpable heart beat. Being a massive fan of all kinds of thrillers (psychological, crime, plain old), I don't think there's any number 2 in the genre miles behind David Fincher. If you haven't watched his work, its time you get your ass down to watch 'panic room', 'zodiac', 'gone girl', 'the girl with the dragon tattoo', 'se7en' etc

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Special Mention:

Ram Gopal Varma: How I was an avid fan of RGV once and how I gradually got disillusioned by him at The Curious Case of Ram Gopal Varma

The so called acclaimed film directors I love to hate - Mani Ratnam, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Karan Johar, George Lucas, Peter Jackson,

Why We Travel So Much !

We just returned from our Australia-New Zealand trip and I opened the blogger to jot down our experiences (which I religiously do after every big trip). But this time I decided to address one of the most common questions I get asked "How do you manage to travel so much, that too with two small kids". I usually laugh the comment off but now wanted to write down how important is traveling for us and what we get out of it.

For those who don't know, we got married a decade ago but started active traveling only 5 years back after the arrival of my son. My son and I both visited 30 countries to date while wifey visited a couple more. Baby girl has a daunting task to catch up with us. Parents joined us in 13 of those and I'm hoping for many more to come.

When I was a primary school student (around 7 or 8 y.o), my mom gifted me an yearly handbook called "Competition Success Review Year book" and I got so hooked up with countries, capitals, currencies, flags, councils of ministers, heads of states etc (and pushed academics to backseat). Since then, it had been a tradition for my parents to buy me such handbooks and encyclopedias every year and I remember that as my most favorite pieces of literature; my parents believed that broadened my horizons and I can't thank them enough for that.

After my son's birth we deliberately decided to spend most of our resources, time and energy in providing our children experiences that could broaden their horizons and educate them through experiences rather than inundate them with material possessions or comforts. We consciously wanted their education to be not limited to the walls of their respective classrooms.

The idea was to inculcate and ingrain into their small minds that traveling, knowing, appreciating and adapting ourselves to different places, lifestyles, cuisines, culture is part of life. Both my kids started their first international travel when they were few months old and now they turned to be pros.

Families which travel together stay together:

As cliched might it sound, it's true. We realized it first hand that traveling brought members of the family closer and enabled us to discover one another because during any trip - situations, environments, people around change constantly with family being the only constant unit intact. Right from planning, jotting down the list of places to visit, booking, packing and the journey, it's a complete team work. While my little girl is too young (but she understands that vacation is all about new people, hotel rooms and taxis), my boy is seasoned enough to join us in finalizing the tourist attractions to add to our itinerary. Vacations are usually the only period where we all get to be uninterruptedly together for an extended period of time away from daily routines of the world.

Not that every travel diary has been a smooth dreamy ride. We had our own share of tough situations. Our rental cars broke down, flights got cancelled, road trips had to be suspended due to bad weather, kids got sick, hotels denied our reservations for no reason, unavailability of vegetarian food options, dealing with passive and overt racism, overcharging, changing transportation options at the last moment, carrying kids and climbing mountains and walking for kilometers in forests, facing language and communication problems (23 / 30 countries visited are non-English speaking) etc.

But today if I have a choice, I would still opt to face those situations again because those challenges had put us on spot which we had to encounter, deal with which helped us learn about those places and cultures much better and etched laughable memories now. More importantly we were thrown out of our comfort zone in an alien land by people talking another language which brought us family together even stronger. We just knew that everything will settle down and all we needed to do was to keep our cool. That built our character. Another major takeaway: our kids saw how we maintained our composure to deal with those challenges and that would have a telling impact on their psyche because children grasp very fast when something is taught through model and inspiration. I can't get them learn these concepts in any school. These are the experiences we bought them through traveling.

Creating shared memories:

When I was a child and a teenager, my parents took me and my sister to various places in India and looking back, those are the best of fond memories we have about our childhood, those awkward poses for pictures, silly discussions, those simple meals, shabby motels and restaurants - all are engraved as powerful shared memories. Thanks to those memories, I have many moments of smile.

My boy is almost 6 now but once in a while, he recollects his travel memories of 2-3 years back and laughs incessantly. I can pay anything for such moments in my child's life. Apart from all the monuments, beaches and exotic locations, what we remember the most are the silliest of antics we have done at those respective places. For example: due to unavailability of proper washrooms we had to change diapers or wet clothes of our kids at the park at the foot of Eiffel tower, ruins of Colosseum, scenic train route in Switzerland, on a helicopter ride to Mt.Everest, desert around Egyptian pyramids, steps ascending Machu Picchu, lake side in New Zealand etc. As silly and crude as it might sound, we are bound to remember and laugh off for the rest of our lives. And we laughed our asses off from unpredictable situations which I can't share here.

Children grow up pretty fast and before they leave us for their own good, we wanted to gather up as many memories as possible. That's the very reason we make movies out of our travel escapades and upload at Myriad Tales - Youtube Channel . I hope, after we pass away, kids will still hold us in such beautiful memories and smile at us.

World is a teacher:

Children are generally more inquisitive and tend to ask more honest questions about each place. At least my son does. I make it a point to refresh my knowledge about each monument or tourist attraction we visit so that I'm prepared to answer his questions. Sometimes he surprises me with some profound questions which flabbergast me. Today I take pride in his cognizance of the world and geographic knowledge. He remembers all (almost) flags, capital cities and a special delicacy of each place he visited. His reactions to places and picturesque scenes make us appreciate those places further.

Traveling opened up his mind and we discovered his newfound interests. My little girl got more interactive, social and never shies away to strike a conversation in Telugu with any stranger across the world. There is a perceivable difference in their confidence levels (but his shyness remains the same back at home though). As children are fast adapters, they got acclimatized to weather, time zones, cuisines much faster than us. I was surprised to discover that my boy also realized how privileged and fortunate he is amidst many 'sad kids' of his age. Hope he retains that quality and grows up to be a compassionate and tolerant man. Touch wood !

Expensive but priceless:

One of the biggest hurdles to travel is the budget part. But it's not as overwhelming as many make out of it. Some proper planning, timing, research (read: TripAdvisor) could result in lot of cost cutting. Singles and young couples can save lot of bucks by backpacking, staying in hostels and apartments, hiring through airbnb, collecting reward points etc. Those who are on Instagram would know how a certain follower count would make one an instaceleb and corporates rush to sponsor trips for their benefit if one is creative and articulate enough. If you wanna go, you would go. As simple as it is.

Having said that, traveling is expensive but the output you get out of those experiences is matchless, priceless and magical.

Recent trip:

We wanted 2017 to be special for variety of reasons and hence visited all 7 continents and had a 12 hour incredible aerial trip to Antarctica where we could see glaciers, active volcanoes, mountain ranges, research stations and bright sunlight all through night in the ice desert from a metaphorical stone's throw away distance. While I always wanted to set my foot in the continent, I understood it would be too harsh on the kids (btw only kids over 10 are allowed to land so we were ruled out) also I would never have witnessed the landscape from one location which I could view from the up close and personal aerial tour. I felt truly privileged. I don't think I would ever be able to visit a more magical place (coming from me, living in Canada currently in -30's:- that should really mean something ;))

I was cautious about Australia because of the projected prejudice against brown skin but was pleasantly surprised. Everyone I met there including hotel staff, taxi drivers or random strangers we stroke a conversation with were extremely sweet and well mannered. Infact I experienced more racist pricks in USA which by far has the most 'asshole per capita' index in the world.

While Australia is pretty much like Canada except the right hand driving, New Zealand was a revelation. Queenstown especially was breathtaking with picturesque sceneries which no camera in the world can do justice to. The only places which could match up would be the scenic route between Interlaken & Lucerne in Switzerland and possibly Banff-Lake Louise-Athabasca Glacier corridor in Canada.

Future bucket list:

While we want to lay low in 2018, here's the bucket list for the future

1. Icebreaker cruise to North Pole, Arctic Ocean - That will complete our trip around 5 oceans
2. Cruising through drake passage to South Pole - That will complete our visit to 2 poles
3. Visiting Petra (Jordan) and Great Wall of China - That will complete our visit to 7 world wonders
4. Jerusalem - The place where Jesus Christ, Prophet Mohammed, David and Abraham once walked.
5. Trek to KalaPattar to view Mt.Everest - The highest peak in the world which evaded us in 2017
6. Base jump from 'Angel Falls', Venezuela - The highest waterfalls in the world
7. Camping in glass igloos and watching northern lights - in one of the Scandinavian countries
8. Solo skydiving and flying a glider plane - Right here in Toronto, Canada

Wish me good luck !

Travel Diaries 6 - Nepal

***Disappointment of the decade***

Country: Nepal 

Destination: Mount Everest basecamp & Kala Patthar

2017 will remain very special for us for many reasons and we wanted to commemorate year in many ways. One being traveling to all 6 continents (except Antarctica), visiting the oldest world-wonder (Egyptian Pyramids), largest rainforest (Amazon), longest river (Nile), oldest inhabited cities (Athens - because we can't go to Damascus, Syria) and.......the highest peak in the world (Mt.Everest). While all others have been done (or will be done), we were left with heartbreaking disappointment at the mighty Everest area.

In our 2.5 month hectic holiday to India, we sneaked out on a 2 day trip to Nepal in our pursuit to tick off Mount Everest from our bucket list. Since we had a 5 year old with us, the idea was to fly from Kathmandu to the Everest base-camp and then to Kala Patthar which is supposed to be the best viewpoint of the summit. 

The day we reached Kathmandu, we were amazed at how different Nepal is from India despite such strong social, religious, cultural ties and not to mention physiognomy. Nepalese people also seemed to be fiercely proud of their heritage, culture and don't appreciate being called similar to Indians. The day went well with visit to one of the oldest temples, the unique and magnificent Pasupathinath Temple (by the way, till recently Nepal was the only official Hindu country in the world). It was an eerie experience watching dead bodies being mass cremated on the banks of the river along the temple.

The next day was big. The day we were supposed to see the mighty Mount Everest with a naked eye. Here's the conversation (verbatim)

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*At Kathmandu airport helipad, 6:30 am*

Operator: sir, the weather is bad, let's wait for 30 minutes

Me: OK sure.

*After 30 mins*

Operator: sir, it's cloudy and not conducive for our tour. 

Me: But wasn't weather supposed to be good and sunny today as per forecasts.

Operator: yes sir but things change every hour and will be highly unpredictable at the Everest area. Sometimes we would also get stranded for 5 days straight. Please return to hotel and I'll update you.

Me: OK but please keep us posted and we would want to do this even at the slightest chance.

*We returned to hotel*

*Operator on phone after 1.5 hours*

Operator: Sir, Everest is not visible today. Shall I take you to Swayambhu temple and local shopping market ?

We: We came for an experience of a lifetime so let's wait for clouds to clear up and fly to atleast one of the 3 places where we can view the Everest

*Operator on phone after an hour*

 Operator: Sir, please come to helipad again. Seemingly weather had cleared up. Air traffic controller confirmed that and pilot is all set.

*We rushed like there's no tomorrow and boarded the helicopter*

*Up in the air after flying an hour into Himalayas*

Pilot: the weather is getting worse and there's no way we can go closer to the Everest view points. Let's return.  

*steers the helicopter around*

**My heart broke into 1000 pieces**

*After landing at Kathmandu helipad*

Kid:*waking up from sleep*: "Pappa, did I miss Everest ?"

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The only consolation in the escapade is that the pilot took pity on us and landed us at the mysterious Haleshi Mahadev temple (google it) somewhere hidden in a bat-cave near thick woods on the banks of Doodhkoshi river in the Everest area. That would be memorable but the scar of missing on Everest remains. Some other day, some other time, may be a trek to basecamp and Kaala Patthar and I read about altitude-sickness, zero amenities, parasite infested water, indigestion, yak-dung nausea etc. It's not easy but still....

Mount Everest - I accept your challenge !

Getting Rid of 'Self Importance'

Few days back we had a party with our close friends and family to celebrate our anniversary when I attempted to sing, play guitar and dance in a party though I'm extremely mediocre (to bad) at those fine arts. The main reason for my attempt was to surprise my wife but there was another reason which I haven't shared with any. Here I'm pouring my heart out about why was that important for me to perform before 170 people and publish it on Facebook where hundreds more could judge me.

I wanted to break the shackles of self-importance that clutched me, that compulsive need to appear good and correct at all times, I wanted to get rid of my fear of criticism or judgement by others. For once I wanted to be myself without getting hindered by how and what others thought of me if I fail...Eventually I failed in performing well but I won over my internal struggle with narcissism.

Thanks to my second season of academic experience in the last 2-3 years I have met over 500 people who were miles ahead of me in intelligence, success and talent in every way. They were enterprising, always thinking out of box, breaking cliched rules, working to set new paths throughout. But more fascinating was their attitude towards life and society. One common thread I witnessed among all those was the conspicuous lacking of an inflated sense of self importance or urge to look correct.

On the other hand I know scores of ordinary people considering themselves superstars with whatever mediocrity they achieved (or sometimes without any). I remember my uncle, a distant relative, who never worked in his life because he didn't like 'being managed by others'. Talk about self-respect and self-importance !

I just had to juxtapose these two sets of people of either ends of the spectrum to see where I wanted to be and I knew the answer.

Self-importance or ultra-egoism or in psychological terms called as 'narcissistic personality disorder' is a mental condition in which people have a deep need for admiration and extreme self respect. But behind that lies a low self esteem that even a slightest of criticism can hurt, they feel the need to defend against any criticism. Those suffering from this condition usually pollute their internal energies, strain relationships and hinder their own growth prospects

“Self-importance is man’s greatest enemy. What weakens him is feeling offended by the deeds and misdeeds of his fellow men. Self-importance requires that one spend most of one’s life offended by something or someone.”~ Don Juan

Though it's a mental blockade, it has a very easy solution. And it is 'GETTING OUT OF THE COMFORT ZONE". If you ever feel shy, unduly self conscious, unnecessarily embarrassed or awkward about yourself, you must realize that your self-importance is at work. The mental block is not allowing you to try something new for the fear of failure and/or looking bad and your low self-esteem requires you to only look good before others. Dear friend, that is a perfect situation to REVOLT & REINVENT yourself. Just say 'hatt teri ki, jo hoga dekha jaayega' and make up your mind.

Nobody would hold you for your perceived failures forever. Nobody has time or patience to think about you as much as you do. Don't be a prisoner of your own ego. Let others judge, the same people will initially laugh at you, then mock at you, question you and will eventually follow you.

On the flip side, getting free of self-importance doesn't mean leading an ascetic or austere life. You must know how to celebrate life, dress well, travel, grow socially, occasionally collaborate, share your success stories to those who love you without seeking attention and admiration.

Stop loving yourself so much and start loving the world you are in. A lifetime is not sufficient to experience the world, cultures, arts, languages, places and people around you. Don't let yourself ruin it for you. Break the shackles.

PS: I admit my own Facebook updates are seemingly narcissistic though I always tried to use the medium only as a journal of my travel escapades, personal milestones and opinions in form of blog posts. However starting 2018, I'm considering curtailing of my Facebook activity and if possible deactivate the account too in order to walk the talk.

God Vs Religion: Why I can neither be an Atheist nor Religious !

As soon as we're born, we were assigned a label of religion, caste, sect and we live our entire life feeling great about, defending, fighting for that identity. While doing this, we believe we're defending God, rituals, way of life our God wanted us to live with. We follow our belief system and rituals because our parents inculcated those "values" into us. They inherited those beliefs from their parents and they got it from their parents and so on. But where did it all start ?

Why I can't be an atheist !

Let us back date certain events in history to the point when God presumably delivered a message to select human(s) whose teachings are being followed even today. Let me start with a brief history of our Universe.

13,700,000,000 years ago (that's 13.7 billion years ago), something mysterious happened and the space came into existence out of nothing. That event is, in scientific circles, called Big Bang. Three minutes after the occurrence of Big Bang, light elements were born and when they collided formed various elements (as we know in periodic table of chemistry) were born. Google Big Bang for more intricate details about how the numbers were derived, calculated. That would make your day for sure.

But it's out of even the finest of human minds to comprehend how the big bang occurred, what caused the sudden burst of particles, space and what was the status before Big Bang. So there could be something beyond the universe, which caused or triggered the cosmic events and that super-power which commands space, orbits, centripetal and centrifugal forces to balance the universe, theories of gravity, magnetism, electricity and other natural phenomena. That super-power can be called GOD, unless one has an alternate theory or explanation. But the GOD I'm referring to here is a formless phenomenon or nature as opposed to that benevolent entity responding to individuals' prayers. I firmly believe in my understanding of GOD and hence despite being a voracious reader of Stephen Hawking, Michio Kaku, Richard Dawkins, I can't put myself into a category of atheists.

Now read ahead about what happened after the Big Bang.

• 8,900,000,000 (8.9 billion) years ago, Milky Way galaxy was born. 
• 4,600,000,000 (4.6 billion) years ago, Solar System was formed then. 
• 4,400,000,000 (4.4 billion) years ago, water was formed on Earth
• 4,100,000,000 (4.1 billion) years ago, earliest form of life was formed from non-living matter through a phenomenon called Abiogenesis. Google that.
• 3,500,000,000 (3.5 billion) years ago, traces of oxygen were formed but the oxygen as we see today was formed only 50 million years ago.
• 1,250,000.000 (1.25 billion) years ago, sexual reproduction of organisms began. Everything living existed only under water
• 400,000,000 (400 million) years ago, land life began with vegetation, flora and fauna
• 10,000,000 (10 million) years ago, first apes formed who would be ancestors to modern humans
• 4,000,000 (4 million) years ago, humans began walking on two legs
• 50,000 years ago, modern humans as we know began to live.

A bit of future: Earth will die in the next 1 billion years and Sun will die in the next 5 billion years. So the development of the universe, world, life went through and is going through multiple epochs, evolution, revolutions, changes very very slowly.

History of Religion

So as mentioned earlier, modern humans came into being 50,000 years ago and since then humans followed burials of dead and certain social ways of life. Sumerian, Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Chinese civilizations introduced organized religions in their respective areas but those religions were long extinct.

Indus Valley Civilization began around 3300 BC (that's around 5000 years ago). The civilization is considered to be precursor to Dravidian civilization and Vedic religion which formed earlier form of Hinduism later around 1500 BC.That was the same period when Abraham, patriarch of Judaism, Christianity and Islam lived.

Vardhaman Mahavir founded Jainism and Gautama Buddha founded Buddhism in around 500-600 BC, Confucianism was founded around 500-600 BC, Zoroastrianism founded between 400-500 BC. Jesus Christ lived and founded Christianity between 4 BC and 30 AD. Prophet Mohammed lived and founded Islam between 570 AD to 700 AD. Guru Nanak ji founded Sikhism between 1450 to 1550 AD. 

Hinduism & Vedas

Me being a Hindu, would not and should not comment on other religions, their evolution and hence will back-date how exactly Hinduism came into existence and because it is the oldest religion being practiced today (along with Judaism, perhaps), other religions could have trodden a similar path.

To many devout Hindus, its astonishing to know that basic form of Hinduism began in Pakistan by ancestors of Dravidian (South Indian) folks in bronze age around 1500 BC. That's when the first religious text (still in use) was composed in the form of Rigveda, the cradle of Vedic religion and Hinduism. Rigveda is a collection of over 10,000 verses classified into 10 mandalas believed to be composed by 10 sages after whom the current gotra system is being practiced.

Though reading all vedas will take years, I have been skimming all 4 vedas for the last 10 months to understand the broad context and gist.

RigVeda is full of hymns and praises of Gods and the most revered gods were Indra (king of Gods) and Agni (Fire-God). Varuna (Rain-God) was revered too and was labeled as an asura the term which in later Hindu texts was demonized. To the surprise of many, Vishnu and Rudra (Shiva) who are pivotal Hindu Gods of the current era had very minor and marginal reference to in Rigveda on which entire Hinduism is based on. For example, Indra was the subject of Praise in 289 hymns whereas Vishnu was confined to 6 and Shiva to 5. Agni was treated as a messenger to all Gods (and hence carry prominence in hawans and poojas today). 

Another interesting fact is that the deities eulogized in Rigveda were extremely similar in traits and powers to Yamna Culture (of present day Ukraine), central Asian extinct religions like Bactria-Margiana (Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan etc) and ancient Persian cultures (Indra, the most celebrated God in Rigveda is an uncanny replica of an older Persian deity called Verethragna) and the earliest inhabitants of Vedic age were also believed to be migrated from or via Central Asian regions.

Samaveda is a musical version and a subset of Rigveda. Yagurveda later built upon from the contents of Rigveda few centuries later comprises more about homam, hawan, poojas, vrathams, yagams and rituals. Most of the rituals followed by Hindus today are inherited from Yajurveda. Atharvaveda, a much later addition is also built upon extracts of Rigveda and comprises more about spells, charms and magical binds to counteract bad omen and diseases. Atharvaveda was not considered a major veda till many centuries.

Hinduism as we know today is not founded by any one person but is a result of multiple transformations since the last 4-5 millennia. In the bronze age of nomads, survivalists, few relatively intelligent human beings in flesh and blood envisaged / hallucinated / created ways to pacify, influence and turn the unknown Superpower to their benefit and composed hymns in their praise which formed Vedas. Fortunate to them, their fellow humans had unwavering faith in their divine connection enough to practice and transmit their teachings through generations. That was some feat worth commending.

The people who lived in vedic period were semi-nomadic folks who built and thrived on Indus valley Civilization (oldest along with Egyptian and Mesopotomian civilizations). While it's widely believed that Dravidian people who flourished in the Indus Valley Civilization could not withstand the drought, natural calamities and hence migrated southbound and later Aryan tribes inherited the vedic civilization, blended their own belief system to the preceding vedic culture to shape present-form Hinduism. Vedas were subsequently adapted and manipulated by their inheritors and descendants who have been transmitting their beliefs to their next generations and that is how we are today following those traditions because our forefathers and their forefathers believed what the sages spoke of God.

Much later other wise men born in the world had the vision and audacity to stand against the people around them to re-interpret the concept of God with a new way of life founded other religions. Religions thrive on people who are willing to follow and put their unflinching faith (sometimes faith enough to die or kill) in other person's vision of God.

Final Thoughts:

Now if you don't believe in the concepts like big-bang, theory of evolution, gravity, magnetism, cosmology, chemical reactions, periodic table etc, this article makes no sense to you. On the contrary, if you believe in all those and still believe what is being preached in religions, you must have a grand appetite to hold contradictory theories seamlessly. BTW God is the only common thread which can be possible in all science, history and theology (religions).

PS: Another interesting fact. If we compress the entire history of the universe into the last 24 hours, humans would enter this world only 4 seconds ago. Religions which claim to connect to the God would be formed only 2 seconds ago and here in this second, we are trying to prove superiority of our religion over others through debates, persecution, phobia and hatred. May God bless all of us.

Using Haters to Your Benefit

Without giving too much of gyaan, let me put it down simply that whatever you think or feel about yourself, there will always be swarms of haters all around. If you watched Quentin Tarantino's "Inglorious Basterds", the Nazi colonel played by Christoph Waltz reminds that though rat and squirrel look alike except their tails and carry same kind of diseases, people loathe the very sight of the rat but not squirrel. So we are programmed to hate rats over squirrels without any fault of theirs.

So regardless what you do, act, behave or not, SOME PEOPLE LOVE TO HATE YOU. You can't do much about that but to take their hatred into your stride or ignore them or hate them back with more vigor, based on what are you made up of.

The problem usually won't be with those random chronic haters, but the other group who actually matter; those who loved us at certain point, were close to our lives, part of our journey and then turned into closet haters. The reasons for their hatred could be anything from vicious to ludicrous and could be because

• they don't like you not living as per their suggestions, guidelines and expectations
• they believe you don't deserve the love or success you experience
• they don't want to acknowledge your contribution to their well-being
• they can't accept you could do better than them in life
• they feel better about themselves by belittling you
• they can't tolerate you surpassing their predictions about you
• they simply can't stand your tastes or behavior or attitude or identity
• et al.

Some people hate and develop a grudge against you and some others stoop to slander, denigrate, manipulate, exploit, gossip, waiting for you to fail, pretend to help, humiliate to feel greater etc. 

When somebody indulges in negativity against you, that automatically generates negative energy, anger, outrage within. Now what to do with this energy decides what are you going to do with your life.

Anger Management:

You can find hundreds of articles in internet how to manage anger and how to use humor, self-control etc to ease out the anger in the best way possible but very few articles propose how to use the negative energy to your benefit. 

While retaliation sounds to be the most natural reaction, a moment of pause to know if that would impact your life in any way takes you miles ahead. If that does and if you can afford to invest that energy, time and mind to do so, go ahead and retaliate, react and respond. But if you want to react only to protect your ego, my friend, you are making a grave disservice to yourself.

Ego tussles often go in vain. Even if you win, you'll face another person doing that exact thing sooner or later. So life will be a series of retaliations and when you grow older, you'll only see yourself as that clueless gladiator indulging in imaginary fights.

Also when you react to every non-entity you are only giving credibility to their rant. You can instead rise two notches above and pretend they don't exist than getting into a dirty duel. Also you can save yourself from uttering some nonsense which can potentially haunt you in the future when you mend your fences with them.

So the simple solution is try to avoid them and cut them off from your close circles gradually without matching their vileness and channelize all the negative energy to do something more creative and knowledgeable. Though it sounds too much of a text-book strategy, it works. It worked for many. 

Take this as an example: What would you do when you haven't opened a book in the entire semester and you have an exam the next day ? The fear in you generates high pressure concentration resulting in extremely high efficiency and productivity. Same when you know you haven't maintained any accounting records and you get an out-of-the-blue audit notice, court notice etc.

Fear and anger work on your brain similarly. If you are angry, you can easily channelize all your negative energy, rage, temper and fury to thrust yourself with multi-fold momentum. This is the exact state of mind when you must take up learning a new language or say, a technology, enroll yourself into some sport, club, gym or start writing articles, blogs, books. The result will be of astonishingly superior quality.

Those who are financially stable can afford to buy a meal to the homeless every-time they are upset or sponsor an unfortunate kid learn something and then see the difference in their state of mind. If you are not easy on money, write something really nice to your loved one. Your unconditional, unexpected gesture of love will overturn the entire world around you upside down and will earn you more love. The best way to handle each hater is to express love to 5 people you adore. As cliche as it might sound, expression of love always trumps hatred and viciousness.

Though the article is more about how to handle hatred and negativity from others, proper care need to taken not to turn yourself into a hater of somebody else and especially of those who love you. In the world brimming with negative people, finding those who like you unconditionally and look forward to your friendship is rare. Hold them tight and winnow the rest like the chaff from wheat.

Ignoring unwanted people is an art. Be an artist !

A Random NRI on Indian Independence Day

In the last 9 years, whenever I wrote or talked anything appreciative or critical of India or the system in India, there were some lunatics who never missed a chance to label me a greedy traitor who fled India and have no moral stance to comment, patronize or sermonize India. My accepting Canadian citizenship a couple of years back only aggravated the narrative.

While I don't intend to generalize the entire nation of people, this article is intended to those resident Indians who conferred upon themselves the moral policing prerogative to decide who is a patriot and who is not. For others, these are just thoughts of a random Non Resident INDIAN.

• Anybody who googles will know that the percentage of Indian population which pay taxes is around 1%. Yes, you read it right. Only one percent of Indian residents pay their income taxes thanks to government exemptions, tax evasion and defaulters. That means 99% of those who live in India are utilizing, exploiting resources, infrastructure, public machinery without contributing anything.
• Most of the income tax amount comes from the workforce in IT, ITES and related services. But the services they provide would invariably benefit United States and other G8 countries but NOT India. That's an 'under-the-carpet' brain-drain many seldom have problem with. So dear software folks, you don't contribute to India as much as you do to other countries. 
• With changing times and aspirations, people in remote villages started moving to towns for livelihood; those in towns to cities and those in cities to sprawling metropolitan agglomerations. This migration is natural, inevitable for those who want to provide their children a superior quality of life, education, healthcare and other amenities. But the debate around these migrants being traitors to their hometowns and occupations didn't bother as much as those who left the country for greener pastures.
• It will be an interesting observation to analyze how many of those who decry NRIs are those who themselves never got an opportunity or those who would jump at the first chance to migrate

As mentioned earlier, this article is not aimed to denounce anybody but to throw some light on the fact that very person who lives in India is not an assets to the country but can be more of a liability, with some exceptions. In the same breath, I also admit that not every NRI is patriotic or more valuable. Not at all, but again there are some exceptions here too.

Regardless of how patriotic NRIs are, their contribution to Indian economy and society is irreplaceable.

• India happens to one of the biggest beneficiaries of remittances and FDI by its diaspora. NRIs bring in almost $70 billion every year which is roughly 75% of Indian government's planned yearly expenditure. This is Indian government's biggest ace to neutralize black money stashed in Swiss and other tax havens. Banks where NRIs deposit their money, invest in Government and other major infrastructure projects which NRIs don't regularly utilize.
• Numerous NGOs and private welfare organizations which seemingly work towards the benefit of society get large chunks of its donations, operational expenses and assets mostly from unsuspecting NRIs. Yearly foreign funds to Indian NGOs crossed Rs 10,000 crore last year which speaks volumes.
• Another major contribution is steady influx of USD which is a lifeline for RBI to control inflation, price-rise etc. This is a huge topic which deserves another blog post sometime later
• In addition, NRIs influence in foreign relations, cultural exchange is often under-estimated.

These were some generic NRI contributions but I don't claim to have any stake personally. 

For me, being Indian is more of an emotional connect than just a name on passport, skin tone, ethnicity or a few dollar bills I could remit. Like many other members of Indian diaspora, I take pride in being Indian as my identity. The first thing my eyes would glance in a world map would always be India. Current affairs for me are always Indian news; festivals, cuisines, celebrations would subconsciously refer to Indian. India is embedded, ingrained and injected into the psyche and persona regardless of where I live and I'm too proud of my Indian-ness to let anybody jeer or question my patriotism or identity.

I may not follow all religious rituals, but that doesn't take a Hindu out of me. I may not hold an Indian passport, but that doesn't take an Indian out of me. Happy Independence Day. Jai Hind

Travel Diaries 5: Top 10 Places I Visited

It's not an easy task to drill down to just 10 favorite places I visited. The list is based on how much I loved and enjoyed my visit and stay at these places and hence could be biased and/or subjective.

(10) Manali, India

While I haven't visited salt desert of Kutch, sand dunes of Rajasthan or backwaters of Kerala yet, I will rate Manali and the great Himalayan aura as the best tourist place in India. Serene Beas river, snow capped mountains around, strong pahaadi culture and character make the place unforgettable. Rohtang Pass, Solang Valley and the Hadimba temple vicinity still bring in vivid and vivacious memories. Personally, this is the place where I first experienced snowfall, sub-zero temperatures, river crossing, paragliding. The hill region imbibed in me a strong urge to be a perpetual backpacker. My travel-mania is in a way triggered by my visit to Manali. My honeymoon spot. Visited: 2007

(9) Niagara Falls, Canada

50 mins drive from my house, Niagara Falls is figuratively my backyard. I might have visited the falls over 30 times in the last one decade but never ever came close to getting tired or exhausted of the roaring cascade, green and white waters, perennial rainbow, mist, tourists and their cameras. Have seen the falls from either side of the border (American side being a poor cousin of the Canadian), from the tunnel behind the falls, from the foot of the falls, on the boat and every time felt like an experience to cherish. I know that Iguazu Falls of Argentina, Angel Falls of Venezuela are more imposing than Niagara but since I haven't been to either of those, Niagara is still on my list. First Visited: 2007

(8) Isle Mujeres, Mexico

Caribbean Sea is undoubtedly THE most beautiful sea in the world. So every place with a resort on the shore of Caribbean is a spot to die for but Isle Mujeres is a bit more than that. Think about this: A tiny island 7 kms long and less than a km wide which can be seen on a golf cart in few hours, picture perfect turquoise sea with high tides every direction you look at, magnificent Cancun skyline at some distance. That's something everybody must experience atleast once in their lifetime. I got lucky once. Visited: 2012

(7) Venice, Italy

Always rated among top few places to visit in any poll across the world, Venice should've been a world wonder. A city on canals, life on boats, trips on gondolas, strolls in narrow lanes, a grand canal, a majestic cathedral, an enthralling square make Venice look like a dream. Visited: 2013

(6)  Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Another beautiful European city which is sobriqueted Venice of the North, Amsterdam is the original sin city, much sinner than Las Vegas and more beautiful than Venice with it's concentric canals (minus gondolas). The fact that Marijuana is legal with cannabis bars sprawled like any other bar or cafe is a sight in itself. Another ironic tourist attraction is the red light area where sex workers showcase themselves from enclosures to tourists walking around the streets. And that happens to be a must visit sightseeing point in the city. Friendly people, rich Dutch culture, a unique blend of historic and modern worlds make Amsterdam a deserving alpha city of the world. Visited: 2013

(5) Hawaii Big Island, USA

Always a favorite beach holiday place especially for Americans, Hawaii is so unlike America in America. More than the waves and surf, I was amazed and astonished watching active volcanoes and black sand beach. Strong Polynesian culture, Luau, Hula adds to the magic. Visited: 2011

(4) Paris, France

City of Love. Fashion Capital. Many nicknames, many tales to narrate about the spectacular city. The towering Eiffel tower, calming Seine river, proud historic old town, ultra fashionable people, world renowned Monalisa and the Louvre, Versailles, the bridge of love-locks (we visited before the locks were removed) and Notre Dame - Paris can't be narrated or explained but only be experienced. Get drenched in the magic, go to Paris. Visited: 2013

(3) Banff / Athabasca Glacier, Canada

I was mind-blown and could hardly breath enough to relish the nature at one glance. An emerald turquoise crystal clear lake right under the nose of snow capped Canadian rockies and a carpet of pine trees is something which can blind your eyes. And then there is Athabasca Glacier on which the ice is as thick as the height of Eiffel Tower and you get on to the glacier on a bus, take a stroll and gaze at death trapping crevices; the glacier which feeds into Arctic, Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Don't even try imagining. Just realize Canada is THE MOST BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY IN THE WORLD. Visited: 2010

(2) Lucerne - Interlaken, Switzerland

It's a no-brainer that those who visit Switzerland can't forget the heaven on earth in their lifetime. Interlaken, a sleepy small town on banks of a river which is also a gateway to the highest point of Europe, Jungfrau in Swiss Alps is as picturesque as a postcard. Lucerne is a small big city where every glance can remind you of some poster or wall hanging. But the most mind-boggling experience in Switzerland will be a train journey between Interlaken and Lucerne. You'll regret having just two eyes. Visited: 2013

(1) Madrid, Spain

Choosing the top spot among so many places is a daunting task but Madrid was an outright choice for me right from the moment I stepped out of my hotel in Madrid. I felt the happiest in the city. The old world charm, strong Spanish character, friendly Spaniards, alleys, squares, museums, palaces simply grew in me. There were many other historic cities I visited but Madrid left me spell-bounded, captivated and observed me into itself. Visited: 2016

While I could only fit 10 best places in the top ten list, others which come close to the list are Innsbruck (Austria), Brussels (Belgium), Rome (Italy), Lisbon (Portugal), Koblenz (Germany), Chicago (USA), Delhi (India). Hoping to add more places in the list in the next few years.

PS: “Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.” – Anonymous

Story behind "The Saharsh Project"

It all started some 3 years back when I stumbled upon a Ted talk video by one Ms. Sunitha Krishnan who is an anti-trafficking crusader who saved over 11,000 girls from the brothels, prostitution rings and slavery across India. After watching her talk, I delved deeper into the subject, read many articles, viewed many more videos to realize that trafficking is the third biggest organized crime in terms of valuation after drugs and arms trade and in every 8 minutes, a girl is kidnapped, abducted, sold or married-to-sell in India.  Only 30% of cases are reported so we can understand the gravity of the situation. My stomach churned and throat choked at all these pieces of info but could do nothing.

Another day, another context: I took upon myself an interest to learn more about villages where my parents were born. While I couldn't get statistics of those exact villages, it came like a shocker that Warangal district in Telangana had long been a hub for human trafficking and it had been an epidemic in remote hamlets and tribal villages which mostly get unnoticed by mainstream media or administration because most of the cases go unreported.

I was first clueless when I learnt that most of the trafficking victims were those girls who dropped out of studies at around their 8th or 9th grade. I couldn't comprehend the direct correlation between dropping out from studies and getting trafficked. After some more studies and contacting few more on the ground NGOs, the picture was clear.

Lack of amenities (toilets, sanitary facilities) caused some girls to drop out after 8th or 9th grade while poverty and lack of funds to continue studies caused many other girls to drop out. On an average 9 out of 10 girls drop out before fishing 12th. Even Mid day meal, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan schemes by government couldn't motivate girls or their parents.

This is a very vulnerable situation for a 13 or 14 year old naive girl with no education and coming from an economically poor background. She would be a victim to one of the following cases

1. Child marriage at 13-14 (This is the best and safest case)
2. Parents unwittingly get her married to a trafficker in disguise who plunges the girl into the dirty quagmire
3. Girl who doesn't have a guardian around is a susceptible target for forcible abduction
4. Girl migrates to town to work as a bonded labor or domestic help and is still vulnerable to trafficking

First Step Forward: Though we can't fight and eradicate the trafficking rackets altogether, the least we can do is to attempt to eliminate the root cause at least in some cases. That is by supporting, guiding young girls and not allowing them to drop out during that tender age. "The Saharsh Project" took it's birth from this desperate thought.

As a part of this project, our main aim was to address the twin issues of lack of school facilities and poverty among families with young girls. As a first step, we identified 3 schools to improve infrastructure and 50 kids who are above 8 years old and who lost their earning family member to whom we could support morally, emotionally and financially. "Saharsh" means 'with happiness'. We hope to bring some happiness in a handful of kids to start with.

Requesting your emotional support to the movement: I was overwhelmed when some dear friends volunteered to donate to the cause. While wholeheartedly accepting their good wishes, I had to politely refuse money because The Saharsh Project is not registered as a charity and hence can't accept monetary donations. Moreover we could pool in funds from our corporation's social responsibility arm and are self-sufficient at this point.

But we desperately require your help in two other ways. First we need volunteers, who could report to us about any girl (or a boy) who lost parents and left with no option but to drop out of school. And we need volunteers to authenticate the need and keep fraudsters at bay.

Secondly, we need volunteers who could develop friendship and foster a guiding relationship with the kids. We receive periodic progress reports, their letters, wish-lists from these kids. We would love to have any volunteers who could respond to their mails, say a few words of encouragement, provide career guidance, talk to them and motivate them in achieving their career goals so that they don't get distracted but believe we all are behind them to share their joy or pain. We would also want to drive the same point home to their parents (or guardians) as well.

We don't aim to create any revolution with this, but want to see some (if possible, all) of our girls grow up to transform into responsible, informed, self-reliant and happy women.

PS: Those who are interested in volunteering or getting associated with our initiative may feel free to add to Facebook or LinkedIn profiles that you work as a "Campaigner" at The Saharsh Project and also invite your like-minded friends,relatives and acquaintances to do the same.

How Award Wapsi Drama & Abuses Will Benefit Modi

When Babri Masjid was demolished, the incumbent BJP government in then Uttar Pradesh collapsed and BJP could not come to power even today 24 years after the unfortunate incident. When hundreds of Muslims were murdered in Gujarat riots following Godhra carnage, BJP lost all local elections in Gujarat. LK Advani who master-minded Ayodhya Rath Yatra could never become prime minister and had to endorse more acceptable AB Vajpayee. The common theme in all these developments was that Hindus who form over 80% of Indian population never ever endorsed anybody even remotely associated with communal riots or vandalism. Hindus always refused to be a monolithic homogeneous vote-bank. Then how could Modi win 3 consecutive assembly elections in Gujarat before coming Indian PM with majority landslide victory ?

2002 Gujarat riots which are one of the most deplorable chapters of Independent India catapulted Modi into worldwide notoriety. Right wing Hindus refer to Godhra train arson as the trigger point, Muslims refer to Babri demolition as a precursor. The jugalbandi goes on with references to Rath Yatra by BJP used to counter Mandal politics instigated by VP Singh to counter Rajiv Gandhi who started it all by unlocking Ram Janmabhoomi gates to balance his own Shah Bano case disaster. The story spirals to many many layers of hatred precipitated by all political leaders to appease either ends of spectrum. So holding either community accountable for the existing hatred is ignorance and idiocy.

Unfolding the events across Gujarat riots, Godhra train compartment was set on fire on Feb 27th, the backlash against Muslims occurred on Feb 28th. By the end of Feb 28th, police was deployed all over violent areas and by the next day March 1st, army, rapid action force, shoot at sight orders were in place and the violence was contained to a major extent within 2 days of the trigger point. Modi requested governments of Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh (all neighboring states governed by Congress at that point) who refused to send forces to riot affected areas. Despite non cooperation from congress CMs and flaring emotions fueled by death of karsevaks, provocation from people like Pravin Togadia, Bal Thackeray, a 2 month old CM did a decent job the fact which most left liberals either sabotage or conceal in their attempt to defame Modi.

Then started a juggernaut of malignant campaign against Modi who terms riots as program, genocide, holocaust and what not. While Muslims did not deserve to die and riots should have been prevented, one may point out Modi's inability to subdue violence in a day, but accusing him of state run cleansing of Muslims is way over-board. The actual slander started by a handful of journalists like Rajdeep Sardesai, Barkha Dutt and few agenda driven NGOs who referred each other's articles and opinions are proofs to stigmatize Narendra Modi. Groups of people (Indian citizens) stooped down to the level of complaining  and lobbying against an elected CM on international fora; sent signed petitions to deny him travel to other countries and stirred what can be called as a most successful propaganda of Independent India.

Fast forward to 2014 elections. Modi was by then stigmatized, smeared, decried as a villain of minorities despite he not uttering a word against Muslims nor endorsing violence against the community. But the man proved to be an astute politician and was successfully able to convert the willful vilification to his credit by riding on the sympathy wave of the educated masses. He also shifted the goalpost from communal politics to development, stability and welfare. Whether his claims of development and numbers is factually correct or not, he was successful in convincing the masses that he is pro-development and all negative spin given by media about him was a deliberate campaign against him. Supreme court exonerating him added to his credibility. He also engaged his Machiavellian lieutenant Amit Shah who could polarize caste infested politics of UP and Bihar and abracadabra - Narendra Modi became the first Majority PM of India after Indira Gandhi.

The current political and social situation is in a way rehash to what happened to him earlier. The murder of an innocent senior in Dadri accused of consuming beef is most deplorable and so are other events like smearing a pro-pakistani politician with ink, raiding Kerala house etc. All these were avoidable incidents but accusing the prime minister to 1.3 billion people of these isolated incidents and running a vested campaign by those who received patronage from other political ideologies is ludicrous.

Number of sahitya akademi awardees and now padma bhushan, national award winners who incidentally were known Modi baiters and those who either campaigned for either left-liberals or received their patronage raised curtain to this award returning drama they started claiming they can't handle the on-going intolerance :)

These religious fundamentalism backed incidents, riots, murders, rapes, carnage, arson were sporadically occurring since 1857 much before independence and the the trend is fortunately decreasing. But those pseudo intellectuals who see the intolerance only today in wake of current incidents is not only preposterous and absurd but also anti-national.

By returning awards, they are insulting the institution, jury who decided to award them, insulting the nation. And the bigger hypocrisy was they never returned the prize money or the money they raised in the same nation when more intolerant incidents occurred. National award returning directors should have taken permission of the entire film crew and unit because of whom their talent got the acclaim. And how can they erase memory of common man who knew they were awarded the decoration earlier; and how can they erase the undeserved fame (or notoriety) and media air-time they are receiving now. They are well-aware that by claiming to return awards, they don't lose anything.

I have a word for these award returnees: You didn't deserve the recognition from the Union Government of India. You might have proved to be good in your respective fields but that in no way means your common-sense, duty towards nation, gratitude to the society are worth noticing or endorsing.

One positive factor in the on-going drama is the recurrence of common man's awareness and discernment. They see everything transparently and the sympathy wave is bound is back Modi all over again. Who's the fool here ?

BTW, how many media outlets published this news on their first page that India identified as 7th most valuable nation brand in the world surpassing Canada, Switzerland, Australia, Italy, Sweden etc. Not important, eh ?

Change in Canadian Government - What it means to me !

The second largest country in the world elected its new government and the prime minister-elect is a 43 year old Justin Trudeau who overcame all criticism against his inexperience, dynastic lineage and policies.

Since this was my first chance to exercise my voting right in any federal elections, I was closely following debates and policies of all three major parties including incumbent Conservatives. opposition NDP and third place Liberals. There were some major policy similarities including tax cuts on small businesses and emphasis on economy growth (albeit different approaches).

As an immigrant myself, I should have been a part of  traditional liberal constituent, but I refused to be party to communal, culture based vote-banks. Though the losing conservatives (whom I voted for) were on a right pitch for most of their campaign which was fueled by their able financial management, iron-fist against rising terror threats and steering the country right away from recession, the biggest faux-pas was when the crazy idea of vote polarization popped up.

If there are two reasons why conservatives lost this elections, they are (1) Much criticized and unnecessary bogey of hijab wearing women during citizenship ceremonies and (2) Introduction of C24 bill which strips citizenship of those who got convicted of terrorism.

The first reason (hijab) was truly an unnecessary and xenophobic one, and certainly an irrelevant election issue. Conservatives tried to play polarization politics to bag votes of traditional conservative republican types but the ploy backfired big-time pushing all liberals, minorities, traditional anti-conservatives onto a single platform propelling liberals and Justin onto the pedestal. The second reason created a furor of two classes of citizenship and raised paranoia which totally pushed the incumbent conservatives into a minority.

Justin Trudeau must be admired and truly credited for bringing a low morale liberals into prominence. His campaign was positive and around policies. Personally, I was not very much impressed by his promises about investment in infrastructure at the cost of deficit, loose immigration policies and refugee management ideas. But he won on the platform of inclusion, tolerance, hope and liberty - his party's namesake.

Coming to what is in store for Canada and people like me: Justin promised tax hikes on wealthiest 1% and reduce taxes on middle class. This sounds wonderful because most of us fall under the latter and hoping that the hike on the wealthiest doesn't spiral down to others in the social structure.

The four major areas where I totally hope the new government manages well are

(1) Deficit Budget: Justin promised that he will invest in infrastructure, transit heavily that could result in many jobs and amenities to many citizens and when asked about deficit budget he famously declared that budget will balance itself later. Hope he has some viable plan for that and not just a poll promise magic wand gimmick. Otherwise the deficit may cause huge irreparable damages and recession later on. Canada is different from USA prominently because of better managed finances and balanced budgets. That should be maintained

(2) Immigration & Refugee Acceptance: As a human first and an immigrant later, I would not and never be against immigration. I am all for economic immigrants who could bring in expertise, skills and contribute to the development. It is also completely understandable accepting refugees from Syria and war torn areas as a mark of humanity. But what is the limit, checks and balances. Hope Justin has a fool proof plan for this too. World already saw an example of Sweden which is now bearing the brunt of its own benevolence where generous immigration is causing social issues affecting the very fabric. As of one the richest, developed and free countries of the world, Canada attracts people from all over the world. It all boils down to who are ready to assimilate themselves in the success story of the country and who acts against her.

(3) C24, C51 bills: Though liberals supported conservative bill of anti-terrorism to strip off citizenship of convicted terrorists, they also promised to make amendments to balance security of the country and rights of all citizens. Will have to watch how better or worse these bills can get.

(4) Marijuana legalization: Could be a vote winner but if the government legalizes weed, how far is it going to affect teens and related crimes.

Regardless, Justin Trudeau is young, comes from a lineage of Pierre Trudeau, took the entire country into confidence and won a landslide election. He has a golden opportunity and so does Canada. Can't wait to be part of the changing history.

PS: This is my first article on Canadian politics. Here wishing to publish more.

A Brand called SS Rajamouli

Let me put a foreword at the outset that this is not a review of Rajamouli's magnum opus Bahubali, neither do I intend to watch it anytime sooner nor was I ever a fan of his work. What fascinates me is his journey from movie to movie and building a formidable brand which could resonate across every Telugu speaking belt in the world (and now across Indian diaspora, hopefully). More than his cinematic genius, I'm awestruck by the way he planned and executed his success story in his own terms.

Though I'm nobody to comment or criticize Rajamouli's talent and body of work because the world had already put him on pedestal showing his near universal acceptance, his style of films are not my cup of tea. He seemingly pushed forward the Raghavendra Rao or B.Gopal schools of hero oriented, grand visuals based movies which drove me off Telugu movies in early 90's. I always enjoyed more subtle, light hearted, dialogue driven movies of K.Viswananth, Vijayabhaskar, Sekhar Kammula, Imtiaz Ali, Raju Hirani on one extreme and more gritty, hard hitting crime thrillers of Martin Scorsese, David Fincher, Madhur Bhandarkar on the other. Rajamouli falls somewhere in between and I personally felt dialogues or conversations in his movies always have been his achilles heel.

But as agreed earlier, my opinion won't take away anything from him as his fans would vouch for (and some may even bay for my blood) and this article is not about merits and demerits of his movies but his entrepreneurial skills and his ability to convert his passion into a strong brand which is a case study for even IIM or Harvard students.


His first few movies, though absolute money spinners were more pandering his heroes and their maniac fanbase. Those flicks helped those lead actors expand their demigod status. Though skeptics might not have liked those movies, he became an household name by then.

But magadheera changed the entire canvass. Though the second half period drama and visuals were epic, the contemporary setting was quite ordinary. But the movie showcased how effective a showman can be he. The movie rampaged all box office records, well galvanized by chiranjeevi's fans. Till Magadheera, Rajamouli was only a creative master and a visual epic story teller but he did not make any conscious effort to build brand Rajamouli.

His next movie was a textbook guide for brand building. By making maryada ramanna with a relatively smaller budget and smaller starcast, he'd hit the bulls eye. He successfully toned down expectations after the mega hit which many other talented filmmakers like Ashutosh Gowariker miserably failed at. With maryada ramanna, Rajamouli made a glaring statement that he could still be a showman with smaller starcast - first departure from his hero orientation obsession. By then, he was already a brand which was proven by the success of son of sardar, a poorly made remake of supposedly second league movie by Rajamouli. That along with success of Rowdy Rathore, another remake of his work, paved the way to his recognition nationwide.

Subsequently, Eega made his invincible. The movie showcased his technical finesse and ability to plunder box office with no star power. Nationwide audiences again approved of notwithstanding poor collections in the northern belt. But Rajamouli made right noises across trade pundits all over the world.

Making of Bahubali is more epic than the movie itself. Rajamouli knew it would take a couple of years but he began the PR blitz right after inception of the movie. He made people anticipate, film industry wait, ensured everybody knew about the movie. Even Amitabh, Rajnikanth couldn't wait and made favorable statements. Icing on the cake was to rope in Karan Johar to present the Hindi version. Already planned as a multi lingual, Karan Johar's brand association made the movie much bigger across not just India but also among diaspora.

The movie will be a sure shot earth shattering, thundering blockbuster. No second thoughts about that. The movie will be review-proof, critic-proof, piracy-proof, negativity-proof because he was successful in bringing his spectators and audiences aboard the journey of making that they started feeling Bahubali is their own product. Most sensible and movie loving audiences will voluntarily avoid piracy, spread positive talk regardless of the content. THAT IS SUCCESS. And that is BRAND RAJAMOULI.

As a telugu speaking person, I'm proud of the scale, podium and canvass Bahubali will be released and hopefully accepted across. Wish the movie rings the Telugu movie bell across worldwide movie fans.