Confessions of Movies

Life is full of inspiration. We bring you some of the most inspirational quotes from places you would have never thought could be your source of encouragement.

#1 You were in a lion fight. Just because you didn't win doesn't mean you don't know how to roar    (Dr. Webber, Greys Anatomy)

Life is all about grasping opportunities. Winning and losing are just the two sides of a coin. The question is how to remain optimistic and have a positive outlook even after losing.

#2 Destiny’s a pretty big concept, when you think about it. Where you are in life, how you got there, what would have happened if one thing or another had been different (Mr. Destiny, 1990)

James Belushi couldn’t have been more correct.  Destiny is vast, the more you think about it, the more you tend to dwell on the past and get lost in the way.

#3 So you can waste your lives by drawing lines or you can live your life by crossing them. (Meredith Grey, Greys Anatomy)

Restrictions bind us. They put a fence around us which we are not supposed to cross. Boundaries are there to be broken. To live our lives we need to step on to the other side, because if we are willing to take a chance, the view from the other side is spectacular! 

#4 Every man dies, not every man really lives (Braveheart, 1995)

Death is inevitable. But living every moment doesn’t come naturally. We do get to decide how we’re gonna live.

#5 Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times if only one remembers to turn on the light.  (Harry potter)

We all face the darkness at times. Dumbledore hits just the right chord with his dialogue which has inspired millions of fans all over the globe.

Fashion faux pas to steer clear of!

It’s a very common sight to have a person commit a fashion mistake.  Though some are still easy to digest there are some no less than fashion blunders. Go check!

Men-

• ·         Ill- fitting clothes- No! The excuse of comfortable and loose clothes doesn’t work here!
• ·         Improper tie-length- A tie should always end at the center of the belt buckle. Having a tie too short or too long is a clear sign of arrogance. And while we’re at it, never pair a tie with a check shirt. Requests to be paid heed to.
• ·         Wrong colours- It’s important to match the colour of your shirt with your skin tone. You don’t want your shirt to take away all the attention from you! If you have dark skin you can either wear dark colours. If your skin is fair- light colours are the most flattering on you.
• ·          Branding- There is no need to walk around as advertisements for different brands unless you’re sponsoring them. You don’t want to publicise them for free do you?
• ·         Wrinkled clothes- The worn wrinkles are cool! Even James Bond sports them. But the un-ironed wrinkles? Do away with them right now!!

Women-

• ·        Sloppy clothing- Most women and girls think drowning themselves in excess cloth will help them in hiding the extra flesh oozing out. The trick is to clinch in your narrowest part!
• ·        Counterfeit handbags and sunglasses- Women with false handbags and sunglasses accept it makes us all angry. If you can’t afford it, don’t fake it!
• ·        Excessive makeup- A chammak challo is the last person you want to turn into. We are not auditioning for Ghanchakkar part 2. Keep your look subtle yet pretty.
• ·        Dressing outside your age- Act your age! There is nothing wrong in dressing 15 when you are in fact 15.

• Appropriate shoes- If you can’t walk around in 6-inch heels, then don’t. It most definitely beats wobbling down roads and having embarrassing falls! 

Youth revisiting cultural roots after globalisation peeped in.

We’ve started to switch off mobile phones once a week now, wanting to go back to the no-communications era. We’ve started to crave home cooked at least on weekends. You know? Busy people, meals on wheels becoming the mantra?  Don’t we all remember the movie Lunchbox? Where Irfan Khan craved for home-cooked food with someone’s company, wanting a break from his monotonous office schedule. He had a longing for some human touch in his life. We want to go on vacations, Get away from these busy schedules. We’ve started to move back to the past when there were no unwanted disturbances, when life was peaceful, without the hassles of mobile phones and offices and paperwork.

We entered an age of individualism. And it seemed its rule will never end. As for religion- it was declined, as for marriage-it was postponed, as for ideologies-they were rejected, as for patriotism-it was abandoned, as for strangers-they were mistrusted. Only pot, selfies, and Facebook abides and the greatest of these probably Facebook. But we’ve created an uproar- Forwarding to the past being the Takiya Kalam of every other individual.  

The government decided to open up our economy to foreign products in the year 1991- the New Economic Policy. But this was not just a one day move. The effects of liberalization and globalization came into being much earlier than that. The workmen in the country took time in getting accustomed to the changes in the economy. There were abundant products barging in through the newly opened trade barriers. As I’ve pointed out earlier films are a reflection of what’s happening in the society. The celluloid saw the rise of the Angry Young man. But there were multiple angry young men in the country unlike only one on the silver screen. This was because of the prevalent unemployment in the country.  People were not earning much. They wanted financial stability. MNC’S made a debut, and lo and behold people were ready to move out of their native places in order to earn more. Though the unemployment levels in the country went from being 7.32% in 1987-1991 to 5.99% in 1991-1993 the migration levels rose. Everyone was ready to sacrifice things of personal interest to be able to work. Joint family setups were slowly breaking away making way for nuclear families. The children of double income couples were devoid of any values and morals that a grandparent would imbibe in them. Bedtime stories took a backseat when office presentations became important. Even couples were readily agreeing to separation and divorce instead of letting go of their individualistic incomes. The nuclear family system had started the idea of individualistic attitude but the world does not work on ‘I’ but ‘WE.’  It was the youth who had to face the brunt of the rampant divorce cases and we’ve now seen a steep fall in the number of divorce cases as compared to the early years of globalization.  

We’ve grown up with music systems belting out nursery rhymes. But so was not the case when globalization had just entered. It was a whole new platform of exposure to the people. The people were so amazed at these new gadgets that everything took a backseat. The western culture had a huge impact on our value system. The traditional Namaste was replaced by the wave of a hand or a hello. Jeans and t-shirts were the new cool quotient! And the traditional sarees? Well they were packed and put away. Offering cokes and fries to people visiting was more impressive and certainly easier than offering them home made lemonade and potato chips.

 I’m reminded of what Pope Francis had said of globalization-
“In many countries globalization has meant a hastened deterioration of their own cultural roots and the invasion of ways of thinking and acting proper to other cultures which are economically advanced but ethically debilitated.”

But things are changing now. Khadi has made comeback and with its inclusion in the Lakme Fashion Week it’s official! Old school IS the new cool! The traditional way of celebrating the festivals was going out and mingling with friends. But these greetings have started to happen through SMS’s. But now we do prefer going out and sharing sweets with people and having a laugh with them and maybe discuss what’s going on their life and we do prefer to light the earthen Diyas instead of those Chinese led lights on Diwali. 

The Oxford dictionary defines values as a set of beliefs and attitudes that people when start sharing is called the value system. Over the years our values have molded us into who we are. But these values keep changing from time to time. Lord Krishna had advised Arjuna to pick up weapons and fight against his own family. That right there was the start of a change in the battlefield of Mahabharat. The change was to give importance to Dharma. The next change we saw was when globalization came into being in India. Today we again see a change again- Revisiting our roots, understanding them, accepting them and living with them. It seems they said it right! Change is the only constant. And the youth of today is surely changing it’s way and retracing it’s steps and going back to their roots. 

Day 1 of the last year in school.

Day 1. 

Class 12th. I'm here! Finally! 

This is just the beginning said my teacher. *Yes! The beginning of the repeated "Beta 12th hai! Board hai! Padho! Padho!!"* 

SO class 12th? Treat me good! Treat me well! SO (not) looking forward to it! 

A vigilant citizen ensures good governance. Certainly not!

Who is a vigilant citizen? Is it a person who truly guides the government with correct criticism or is it a person who in the name of vigilance tries to hog the limelight and actually acts as a deterrent to good governance.

Need I name such citizens to clarify my point? The likes of Medha Patkar and Arundhati Roy are way too many for me to be able to count them! One wonders whether the stir they created in the name of saving the environment was a sincere effort or just an eyewash. 

Allow me to ask you that even if the citizens sincerely tried to keep vigil upon the government how many of the vast Indian multitude could be considered fit for doing such a task? Statistical data clearly shows that majority of the Indian populace is languishing in utter poverty.  All that they are concerned about is how to procure two square meals a day. Do you think they would worry or care about who forms the next government?

Moreover the citizen’s vigil is done in fits and starts. It has never been consistent and cannot be for the simple reason that it’s not our business. Why would we elect and appoint governments if we had to do half their work? I’m of the opinion that we as citizens should be content and leave the government to the best of its capacity. Hobnobbing on the citizen’s part and unnecessarily bringing about the showdown of the government will definitely not help in good governance.

The long list of scams in our country bears testimony to the harsh fact that there are no vigilant citizens’s and even if there are they just cannot help.

And last but not the least I’d like to point out the dangers of mob psychology. In general the public does not discern between right and wrong governance. At times their review is biased or faulty. This is a direct consequence of their heavy dependence and blind faith in the media.

I would like to conclude with a very pertinent question: Will you depend upon the judgment of half-informed, half-baked whimsical citizen’s to manoeuvre the steering wheel of the country?

Think about it!

Interview with Nidhi Kulpati

Journalists are a mirror of the society!

Says Nidhi Kulpati Anchor NDTV India, who hosts ‘Badi Khabar’ and the newly launched campaign, ‘Vote ka Dum’.  

Q1)  How has the journey been for you as a female journalist?

I have loved my journey. It has sustained me all these years. It is my source of bread and butter. Also, journalism gave me my space when I felt lonely. I have always learned and grown through this profession. Every time when I’m in a studio or somewhere out reporting, it is a new experience. Something I really like about this profession is that it is not monotonous; it offers new things every time. 

Q2) Most prominent quality a budding journalist should have?

Undoubtedly, a budding journalist should have an interest in the society. Be it any kind of journalism (political, environmental, social etc.), one needs to be receptive towards what is happening in the society. A budding journalist should associate, empathise and relate with the surroundings.

Q3) As a female journalist, what is the best way for propagating women empowerment in India?

Education indeed is the best way for propagating women empowerment. I have done shows and reports pertaining to women. And what I have learnt is, women need to be educated and we need to make them aware where they stand. I have been to Iran and women there are liberal at their homes but not outside. Here, in India, women are liberal but we need to channelize it and uplift women.

Q4) How do you feel when you come across cases of atrocities on women? What’s your first reaction?

It is definitely humiliating. And this is something not new. Ten years back too, women felt humiliating when they travelled in buses. I would request all women and girls to raise their voice speak out  and be open and only then will we see a change.

Q5) How beneficial is reading for a career in journalism?

Most important! Reading is the most important thing. Journalism is not about glamour, it is about hard work.  Being knowledgeable and aware are two must have’s for journalism. The more you read, the more you know and the more you report.

Q6) what extent do you think India has transformed since independence?

The change in the society has been very slow. People here flout rules and there is a lack of chang in the system. There is no system to change these people so I believe we need to get that system. We got a beautiful ‘loktantra’ but we couldn’t sustain it and that’s extremely disappointing. Now, a change is needed. We want that change so we have to work towards getting that change.

Q7) How do you see the perspective of the present Indian society towards women/ girl child?

The perspective towards women needs to change and it is changing. Today, mothers are speaking out for their daughters and stand for themselves. The change in women needs to be highlighted and they should be encouraged to speak for themselves and their voices should not be suppressed.

Q8) What would you say about the Indian education system?

It is good but it needs to be overhauled. Teachers should be trained in a manner that they are able to get more children to interact in the classroom.  Practical reality and practical applications of the concepts taught to students need to be brought in.  

Q9) Do you think journalism today has become intrusive?

Journalism is a new profession, it is not highly evolved. It needs time to evolve and it is evolving. Though, I won’t say it is intrusive because journalism is very important, it makes people aware and educates them. Though I feel that self-regulation is lacking and that needs to evolve.

Q10) Today we have too much information. Do you think we need so much?

There are a lot of scams and corruption so there is a lot of news. It depends on how you perceive it. Media creates psyche of people. Media samaaj ka aaina hota hai.

Q11) A message for the youth?

Love your country and have pride in it. We need to work as a nation. We need to get that positive outlook that will scale us up as a nation and also as individuals.

RAPID FIRE

Q1) One lesson fame has taught you?

To be grounded.

Q2) Who is a better journalist? A good speaker or a person who is better informed?

Definitely a better informed person, but at the same time a person also one needs to be a good speaker, because, if you don’t speak, you cannot convey your point through the media.

Q3) Who do you give credits to, for your journalistic talent?

My Parents and the profession as it has helped me grow.

Q4) If you become the CM of Delhi, what would be your first move?

Work on sanitization.

Q5) The best de- stressor?

Exercise.

Q6) Your favourite dessert?

Chocolate!

Q7) The best thing about media as a profession?

It makes you go on and feel young.

Q8) One quality you admire about yourself?

I like to work hard. Also my multi tasking skills!

Q9) Do you crumble under pressure?

Never. I become a goon in stressful situations which stresses me out later!!  

Q10) Anything you’d like to change about yourself?

I wish I were more forthcoming, tech savvy and had read more as a child.

#With Ms. Kulpati.