12-02-2008, 07:48 AM
Mumbai November 30, 2008 9:08 pm
The text messages pour in for reactions to press and media. Cynical and provocative text come in describing the ridiculous utterances of the system and those that run it. And actions to placate themselves of dire circumstances, prevail among ruling governance. Ha !!
But the hurt and anger persists. I will refrain and not submit to their requests.
<b>I was to be in Hong Kong at the invitation of ex President Bill Clinton to partake in his Clinton Global Initiative and speak on a topic that would elevate the conditions of our universe.
I cancelled. I am NOT going to leave my country in this troubled hour to travel to a foreign land to lend cause to a foreign initiative, patronized and guided by a foreigner, for his benefit !! I need to see initiative here in my country.
I have also cancelled my participation in LIVE EARTH, the Al Gore initiative which I was to participate in on the 6th and 7th of December. I am NOT going to sing and dance at a time when my country and city bleeds, even though the funds collected were going to be for charity. They can keep their initiative to themselves !!</b>
I have watched TV today and read the press and mingled with citizens. Never ever have I observed the extent of extreme anger in each and every individual of this country towards those that sit in the seat of authority and system and power. This is a determined and definite citizen. A citizen that has decided that everyone of them needs to become his own vigilante. For his sake and for the sake of his country.
I endorse that sentiment.
Portions of my blog of yesterday find place in some of the morning dailies. Some present it in the light it should be presented. Some do not. What else can you expect from the media.
Sensationalizing or giving the matter a color not complimentary to my demeanor is now a foregone conclusion.
It is a pity that the âintellectual mediaâ portrays the incident of the gun under my pillow as one of ridicule and mirth. Of one that reflects a fear on my part. That makes an absurd simile with my characters on screen and that of the real.
It is a shame that the mettle of my comment was not put across in the context of its entirety, thereby bisecting the thought and making it weak.
<b>Oh ! You geniuses of the f-estate, read what and where the feeling emerges from. I say, there is pain and anguish in what unfolds in front of me. Of the horror and magnitude of the incident. And I say, there is futility in the media request for me to express something, to bring, in their words, âsolidarityâ and a feeling of âtogetherness and calmâ. I am saying, I will refuse to do that. I will refuse to do that because, other than sounding like another sloppy, oft repeated, cliched, TRP gaining statement, I will be doing nothing else.
INSTEAD. I am saying, order me to join the millions of Indians to walk into the facility of action to face the bullet, to face the enemy and I shall be the first to walk.</b>
And you dear paper master, cannot and will not read the sentiment behind it and you will ignore it !
When I say that I am ashamed of performing an act I have never enacted before, that of pulling out my gun and putting it under my pillow, it is far far removed from your myopic and small-minded interpretation that I do so out of fear. If I had fear I would not volunteer to walk into the bullet along with the millions of my countrymen.
The act of pulling out my revolver is a symbolic metaphor, a figure of speech, to demonstrate my complete loss in faith in the system and in the governance, in providing me, a citizen of India, with my rightful sense of security. It is to demonstrate that now I shall have to personally look after my family and myself and not depend on the state. A state that is just so miserably incapable of protecting its citizens.
AND.. dear pen-pencil pusher, it is also to state, that the level of my tolerance and belief has been breached to such an extent that, were the perpetrator to mess with me and get close enough, I would not hesitate to use said, revolving, six gun facility !!
Respondents on my blog taunt and subject me to mockery and derision. They haughtily exhale that were they to be in my position they would have shown me what needed to be done ! One Pankaj in particular, expounds briefly but repeatedly.
Well Pankaj, pardon my immodesty, but, GET to where I am first and then show us what you wish to express in given situation. You are cynical of the security that surrounds me and that despite that, my need for greater protection persists. Let me tell you dear friend, no amount of security is ever going to be enough. Assassinations of some of the greatest and most important leaders of the world is ample proof of how inadequate protection can become. I keep my security according to my own assessment of my vulnerability. When you will wear my shoes, and I do hope that you do one day, you shall also be subjected to the kind of vulnerability that I and many others like me face each day. Perhaps then you would be better placed to appreciate the hollowness of your accusation !
Dear Pankaj and all others that think like him, know and understand that this is a nation in anger !! To witness live the merciless and inhuman mutilation of our innocent brothers and sisters and children is a sight that we shall never ever forget.
<b>I lament the way in which friends and close well wishers urge the people of this country to stand up and show solidarity by lighting a candle in our windows; by showing strength of revolt in collecting in the evening hours at the Gateway of India, in showing a body of co operation and togetherness.
NO !! Excuse me ! I will not do that !
Had they not been friends, I would have been ruder.</b>
This is no time to demonstrate gesture. This is the time for me to listen to a leader that shall strongly assure me of what needs to be done and will do it ! This is the time for each citizen of this country to act and behave in a dictated disciplined profile. This is the time for those that lead, to educate us all in a common curriculum bearing a common code of conduct. A code that shall bind us all as one collective strength. If the invader has been psychologically brain washed into believing that what he is doing to us is ordained through divine intervention, then let him face 1.2 billion brains that have been ordained in unison to âteachâ him how horribly wrong he is.
For too long we have remained the servile submissive nation. There has been no strong adjective to describe our character. When you meet an Indian abroad and when you ask where he is from he invariably states the State he comes from, not the country. A motorist on a street in Mumbai will willingly open the door of his car and decorate the road with his colorful mucus lined spit. Same motorist in Singapore will not dare to perform similar feat. A cyclist at 2 in the morning on a deserted street in London shall respect the red light at a signal and wait for it to turn green before crossing it. He not only depicts discipline, he reflects the character of his country. Here even in the busiest moments of the day, the red light at a crossing is an indicator to âGOâ !!
You know why the Indian Cricket team has had its phenomenal run of successes in recent times ? Its because it has shown character and attitude. Yes, of course it has the talent, but its body language and behavior on the pitch is rattling the opponent. When a Gambhir elbows his response to continuous sledging of the foulest tongue, I like that. It is a fault and it is up for penalization, but I simply loved his statement thereafter, that he âdid not regret doing itâ. When a Harbhajan challenges a Symonds and walks up to exchange words, when Yuvraj back answers his English opponent and follows it up with 6 sixes in one over, it shows character.
These are perhaps insignificant and obscure examples, but it is from these examples that greater and bigger examples follow. I shall never forget the most pathetic performance of our team at a Test at Lords many years ago. We were all out for a measly 48 runs or so. I was there in the stadium and was invited to the commentary box and asked to say a few words. What does one say about your team in a situation like this ? I shall never forget the humiliating abuse from English fans as I walked out from there. But I know that when I shall visit England again in the near future, I shall walk the Oxford Street with huge superiority because of the hammering that we have just given them in the ODIâs, under the most competent and aggressive leadership of Dhoni.
In closing..
A UK based mobile, I know not who, sends me a condolence message on the recent events in Mumbai, expressing regret and quoting the words of a Hindi song for me to behold.
The Lata Mangeshkar immortal song sung at an event in New Delhi soon after the war with China, and one that brought tears in the eyes of our first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru present there -
âaye mere watan ke logon, zara aankh may bhar lo paani,
jo shaeed huwei hain unki zara yaad karo kurbaniâ¦.
I have the highest regard and respect for those brave jawans that gave up their lives in the last few days, so that we could be secure and I do respect the emotions in the song, which coerce me to fill my eyes with tears for those who sacrificed their lives for the nation..
but with respect, I wish to fill my eyes today with flaming anger of the redness of the blood of the innocents of my countrymen !
Amitabh Bachchan
http://bigb.bigadda.com/
The text messages pour in for reactions to press and media. Cynical and provocative text come in describing the ridiculous utterances of the system and those that run it. And actions to placate themselves of dire circumstances, prevail among ruling governance. Ha !!
But the hurt and anger persists. I will refrain and not submit to their requests.
<b>I was to be in Hong Kong at the invitation of ex President Bill Clinton to partake in his Clinton Global Initiative and speak on a topic that would elevate the conditions of our universe.
I cancelled. I am NOT going to leave my country in this troubled hour to travel to a foreign land to lend cause to a foreign initiative, patronized and guided by a foreigner, for his benefit !! I need to see initiative here in my country.
I have also cancelled my participation in LIVE EARTH, the Al Gore initiative which I was to participate in on the 6th and 7th of December. I am NOT going to sing and dance at a time when my country and city bleeds, even though the funds collected were going to be for charity. They can keep their initiative to themselves !!</b>
I have watched TV today and read the press and mingled with citizens. Never ever have I observed the extent of extreme anger in each and every individual of this country towards those that sit in the seat of authority and system and power. This is a determined and definite citizen. A citizen that has decided that everyone of them needs to become his own vigilante. For his sake and for the sake of his country.
I endorse that sentiment.
Portions of my blog of yesterday find place in some of the morning dailies. Some present it in the light it should be presented. Some do not. What else can you expect from the media.
Sensationalizing or giving the matter a color not complimentary to my demeanor is now a foregone conclusion.
It is a pity that the âintellectual mediaâ portrays the incident of the gun under my pillow as one of ridicule and mirth. Of one that reflects a fear on my part. That makes an absurd simile with my characters on screen and that of the real.
It is a shame that the mettle of my comment was not put across in the context of its entirety, thereby bisecting the thought and making it weak.
<b>Oh ! You geniuses of the f-estate, read what and where the feeling emerges from. I say, there is pain and anguish in what unfolds in front of me. Of the horror and magnitude of the incident. And I say, there is futility in the media request for me to express something, to bring, in their words, âsolidarityâ and a feeling of âtogetherness and calmâ. I am saying, I will refuse to do that. I will refuse to do that because, other than sounding like another sloppy, oft repeated, cliched, TRP gaining statement, I will be doing nothing else.
INSTEAD. I am saying, order me to join the millions of Indians to walk into the facility of action to face the bullet, to face the enemy and I shall be the first to walk.</b>
And you dear paper master, cannot and will not read the sentiment behind it and you will ignore it !
When I say that I am ashamed of performing an act I have never enacted before, that of pulling out my gun and putting it under my pillow, it is far far removed from your myopic and small-minded interpretation that I do so out of fear. If I had fear I would not volunteer to walk into the bullet along with the millions of my countrymen.
The act of pulling out my revolver is a symbolic metaphor, a figure of speech, to demonstrate my complete loss in faith in the system and in the governance, in providing me, a citizen of India, with my rightful sense of security. It is to demonstrate that now I shall have to personally look after my family and myself and not depend on the state. A state that is just so miserably incapable of protecting its citizens.
AND.. dear pen-pencil pusher, it is also to state, that the level of my tolerance and belief has been breached to such an extent that, were the perpetrator to mess with me and get close enough, I would not hesitate to use said, revolving, six gun facility !!
Respondents on my blog taunt and subject me to mockery and derision. They haughtily exhale that were they to be in my position they would have shown me what needed to be done ! One Pankaj in particular, expounds briefly but repeatedly.
Well Pankaj, pardon my immodesty, but, GET to where I am first and then show us what you wish to express in given situation. You are cynical of the security that surrounds me and that despite that, my need for greater protection persists. Let me tell you dear friend, no amount of security is ever going to be enough. Assassinations of some of the greatest and most important leaders of the world is ample proof of how inadequate protection can become. I keep my security according to my own assessment of my vulnerability. When you will wear my shoes, and I do hope that you do one day, you shall also be subjected to the kind of vulnerability that I and many others like me face each day. Perhaps then you would be better placed to appreciate the hollowness of your accusation !
Dear Pankaj and all others that think like him, know and understand that this is a nation in anger !! To witness live the merciless and inhuman mutilation of our innocent brothers and sisters and children is a sight that we shall never ever forget.
<b>I lament the way in which friends and close well wishers urge the people of this country to stand up and show solidarity by lighting a candle in our windows; by showing strength of revolt in collecting in the evening hours at the Gateway of India, in showing a body of co operation and togetherness.
NO !! Excuse me ! I will not do that !
Had they not been friends, I would have been ruder.</b>
This is no time to demonstrate gesture. This is the time for me to listen to a leader that shall strongly assure me of what needs to be done and will do it ! This is the time for each citizen of this country to act and behave in a dictated disciplined profile. This is the time for those that lead, to educate us all in a common curriculum bearing a common code of conduct. A code that shall bind us all as one collective strength. If the invader has been psychologically brain washed into believing that what he is doing to us is ordained through divine intervention, then let him face 1.2 billion brains that have been ordained in unison to âteachâ him how horribly wrong he is.
For too long we have remained the servile submissive nation. There has been no strong adjective to describe our character. When you meet an Indian abroad and when you ask where he is from he invariably states the State he comes from, not the country. A motorist on a street in Mumbai will willingly open the door of his car and decorate the road with his colorful mucus lined spit. Same motorist in Singapore will not dare to perform similar feat. A cyclist at 2 in the morning on a deserted street in London shall respect the red light at a signal and wait for it to turn green before crossing it. He not only depicts discipline, he reflects the character of his country. Here even in the busiest moments of the day, the red light at a crossing is an indicator to âGOâ !!
You know why the Indian Cricket team has had its phenomenal run of successes in recent times ? Its because it has shown character and attitude. Yes, of course it has the talent, but its body language and behavior on the pitch is rattling the opponent. When a Gambhir elbows his response to continuous sledging of the foulest tongue, I like that. It is a fault and it is up for penalization, but I simply loved his statement thereafter, that he âdid not regret doing itâ. When a Harbhajan challenges a Symonds and walks up to exchange words, when Yuvraj back answers his English opponent and follows it up with 6 sixes in one over, it shows character.
These are perhaps insignificant and obscure examples, but it is from these examples that greater and bigger examples follow. I shall never forget the most pathetic performance of our team at a Test at Lords many years ago. We were all out for a measly 48 runs or so. I was there in the stadium and was invited to the commentary box and asked to say a few words. What does one say about your team in a situation like this ? I shall never forget the humiliating abuse from English fans as I walked out from there. But I know that when I shall visit England again in the near future, I shall walk the Oxford Street with huge superiority because of the hammering that we have just given them in the ODIâs, under the most competent and aggressive leadership of Dhoni.
In closing..
A UK based mobile, I know not who, sends me a condolence message on the recent events in Mumbai, expressing regret and quoting the words of a Hindi song for me to behold.
The Lata Mangeshkar immortal song sung at an event in New Delhi soon after the war with China, and one that brought tears in the eyes of our first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru present there -
âaye mere watan ke logon, zara aankh may bhar lo paani,
jo shaeed huwei hain unki zara yaad karo kurbaniâ¦.
I have the highest regard and respect for those brave jawans that gave up their lives in the last few days, so that we could be secure and I do respect the emotions in the song, which coerce me to fill my eyes with tears for those who sacrificed their lives for the nation..
but with respect, I wish to fill my eyes today with flaming anger of the redness of the blood of the innocents of my countrymen !
Amitabh Bachchan
http://bigb.bigadda.com/