Death of Salwar

MissMalini.com is the ultimate fashion extravaganza of what is happening latest in the fashion industry and where the future trend of fashion will be blown by our Bollywood Actresses. After all, Bollywood brings all the fashion capital to the nation. With the personal stylists hired and working full time, even for budding actresses can show the trend. I mean if Kareena Kapoor Khan (Dont know why she left Ali and Pataudi and only took Khan from Saif’s name) steps out in a simple Tee without makeup, that also has to be designer Tee. Something which was never worn by anybody, must carry some symbol or emblem, cut or fabric, not visible on the Indian social scene. Now KKK (aka Bebo) is sporting designer wear with her baby hump or another trend has started in the market. 

Back in early 2000s, when the satellite television were starting operations by every day and 24 hours news was just catching the people’s infancy, there was a discussion on a news channel and a question was asked by a viewer to Aditi Govitrikar, Do you wear the clothes in normal that you showcase on ramp? Today that day is here, when the actresses and even the normal neighborhood girls are wearing the ensembles (not clothes) showcased in the fashion shows. I mean there are ensembles and silhouettes way over the top, which may never find their place in market, but then a fashion designer is showcasing his talent to think differently and act differently and the more important is the details of the cut of the dress, the fabric and how it has been draped, the reason Fashion Shows exist.

Two years back, we were skimming through my cousin’s shopping for wedding. Of course, western dresses (majorly jeans and tops) were part of the package along with the traditional dresses, whether you wear them or not, but somehow it is felt that traditional dresses make you look sanskari (cultured) in the eyes of in-laws. Kurtis and suits with various styles were there but the sheer absence of salwar is something I questioned. Not that bottom wear is gone. But the traditional salwar is replaced by the pants, leggings, churidars, harem pants, palazzos and skirts. There were so many options besides the salwar. I questioned the absence of salwar from her ensemble, she replied, I have never worn in it in my life. 

This year another cousin is getting married, I was involved neck deep for helping her in shopping. She has also never worn salwar in her life. She wears Indian suits on almost daily basis. It was not that she had absolutely rejected the idea of salwar but none were found in the market. To get it stitched, her tailor also denied that I have new boys working and they have never stitched a salwar. Invariably palazzos or something other was provided readymade with the kameez (top), which is stitched to every girl/women own measurements. 

Dupatta still exists over the larger Indian audience and with majority of the dresses, it is provided, whether girls choose to wear it or not, is individual’s choice. But dupatta is also used as an accessory or some other way rather than hanged front to back but it is sliding on one side or role as a kafiyah or at times, girls do role around their heads. 

Public transport is a huge learning curve. Somehow I am forcibly contributing to the planet by not owning a car but Metro traveling in Delhi is fun with their powerful Air-Conditioner and the amazing time one has while watching people and the variety of people we get to see everyday. Ladies Coach is a truly boone for women commuters. But it has come at huge cost of people like me who appreciate Indian beauty. But then there are few girls/women who enter other coaches with their male friends or for the lure of a ladies seat. I witnessed one can find may be one in a hundred girl in salwar. Of course, aunties wear it, but when the aunties are decked up a little, they ditch their salwar and shift to pajami or palazzos or sharara (skirt).

All the girls born in late 80’s and post that period have worn salwar never or few occasions in their life. Older generation belonging to aunts post 45 are also shifting to other versions for their bottom wear than salwar. At times I wonder what are the rightists or the nationalists have to say about it. Although they sport knicker but still for the girls to shift at large to a knicker or a short skirt is like a decade away. Is there going to be a dharna (protest) for the death of salwar.

30 years back, it was the death of sari at a mass level especially North India wherein it became a formal wear dress and for normal wear, majority of the women have ditched it. 2010 is the year when it be called the year, Salwar died. But then with the new century and new generation, more variations and options of Western dresses are available to the girls. 

With the death of salwar, lehnga-choli has given small space of Indian version (lehnga material) to gowns, kaftans from Arabic world, tunics without bottom (earlier mothers forced their girls to wear bottom with tunics). With the death of salwar, a more bold and fierce version of women are easily sporting navel but wearing crop tops and pants hanging at the waist.

Old world makes way for the new. Bollywood Stars children are ahead of their parents with their instagram photos featuring their cleavages before they are developed or bikini bodies under development. In fact, ditching the salwar has brought the girls out of the closet, Tinder tells us how, with girls/women sporting bikini for their profile pictures and taking pictures as if they wish to enter contests on the CHIVE. 

Salwar is not dying, it is dead. It is demise is not sad but exciting with offering women more freedom in terms of expressing their body and their identity to the world. On a personal note, the more revealing dresses or tighter dresses women wear, the more empowered they feel. But then India, media makes an issue out of Deepika’s boobs or cleavage, she gets paid for revealing her body. I don't know, how society will come to terms with it or I guess they will, like the salwar died slow death without a ceremony.

Jio ya Maro (Live or Die) but Consume DATA

I was visiting my sister in States in 2012. Unlike other travelers I have more on ground experience of American living than the tourists who travel and stay in hotels. She would pay $30 to her cellphone carrier and in return she got unlimited free calls and text messages and unlimited data. Dollar exchange around that time was Rs. 50, so for Rs. 1500, you can make unlimited calls and use unlimited data anywhere in United States of India. I do not remember my phone bills of the time, since my Company took care of it, without much usage of data, it costed more than 1000 bucks. One could get cheaper plans in USA if they opted for the mobile phone bundled with the service. But since the latest high end phones are not clubbed with it and also the Apple functioning has deeply hurt the pocket of the consumers.

Coming back to 2016, Airtel launched a plan in the month of August with unlimited voice calling – local, STD and national roaming with few SMS which are redundant in today’s age of WhatsApp messaging but only 1GB of data access for the month all at the cost of Rs. 1,199 plus the obscenely high rate of service taxes on the same. Did Sunil Mittal and his executives push their heads into their asses before designing such a plan?

Sunil Mittal is the person who revolutionized telecom industry and particularly the cell phone service in the industry. But every time, it’s the Mukesh Ambani who shows mirror to every user in India as to what he deserves and what he can expect, not the leftover that he is fed. The writing has been on the wall with the emergence of the Unicorns in the App area of the world and with the rise and domination of Flipkart, Amazon, Ola, Uber and yet Airtel and its peers (Vodafone and Idea) wanted us to live in stone age era. At times, I feel 2G scam must have been triggered by them, had it not been the case, with the competition that we would have seen in the Indian market with major global telecom players operating in the Indian market, Indian players would have blown out of the water. 

Not to mention the call drops and the stingy cellular service by Airtel and still it is the best amongst the others. So we can imagine the operations of others. Clubbed to the fact, they are operating 2G, 3G and 4G operations in various circles, which must be confusing to their networking and service engineers to find wire and service. For once, their management had taken the decision to export the entire network to new technology and get rid of the old technology like 2G, which is expensive to build up and maintain, they would not be reaching for the ER to get bandaged as quickly as possible. 

Back in 2001, when Reliance Telecom, second baby from Mukesh Ambani after unleashing his mammoth petrochemicals complex in Jamnagar, he had announced free incoming calls, which were paid at the time, receiving a call was taken on the purpose or the urgency of the matter. Airtel charged for CLI (apparently abbreviation for Caller ID). In terms of regulation, Mukesh Ambani took a backdoor entry by promoting his services as Wireless Local Loop (WLL) or some technical mumbo-jumbo to launch mobile phones as fixed line phones with 25 kilometres operational limit which was spread gradually to the city and then State and then Country and later paid the license fee which was closed for other bidders as fine to the regulator.

Now this time, when Airtel, Vodafone and Idea were busy arranging Bank Guarantees as they were coughing millions and millions of dollars for 3G licenses and then for 4G licenses and yet it was taken cautiously according to the region and launched also strategically. Mukesh Ambani came from behind and grabbed 4G license for a pittance after his non-compete clause with his brother had expired.

But all the back room and back channel maneuvering and counter measures works to the benefit of the consumers. Earlier it was Roti, Kapda aur Mobile, now it is referred to as “Datagiri” (Denouncing him with the title of Don for Data on Mobile). But nobody realized that the rural uneducated are also using WhatsApp for enquiring prices of the produce in various Mandis or majority of the farmers move out on the fields after checking the weather report on Accuweather. What about those who cannot afford Smart Phone? Smartphones are available at drop dead prices even today. But no brand is so big to offer lakhs of mobiles at Rs. 2,999/-

The new boy is always bullied in the class, what the rest of the class does not realize is the height of the new guy in the class? Similar is the case with Reliance Jio, and it was unfair at their end to offer free service without their consumers understanding the prices of their service. For once, the incumbents were right. But come September 1, Mukesh Ambani again made Reliance the most anticipated AGM in the country. With all eyes, cast on his Jio plans with unlimited voice calling and only the charge for the data usage, which is again at 50% of the rates offered by its incumbents. We know, Mr Mittal must be shitting in his pants; Aditya Birla is already looking on the other side of the aisle to sell his Company, and it licenses and operations. 

Not to mention, no buffering service (checked on Youtube, the parameter of the service quality) on Reliance Jio, as the winner takes all compared to Airtel, which is available on north end of 100 sq ft room but limited or no signal on the south end of the room. 

Though the issues of voice quality are heard amongst one and all. But the quote from Rajan Anandan, Google Head of Indian and South Asia, tweeted, getting used to 20MBs on Indian mobile internet, thanks to Reliance Jio is the endorsement of the fact that how Reliance Jio is going to catapult our poor nation to a rich data nation.

Immediately Airtel, Vodafone and Idea are rushing to the door and announcing, that they have also doubled their speeds. It means that they had the product and the technology and yet offered us substandard products or perhaps it’s a marketing gimmick. Like in my office, we had continuous issues with Airtel 8MBs connection and their service enginner/technician would be visiting our office every alternate day. 

Everyday anger was wrathed on the poor technicians as our work suffered day after day. One technician got candid as we offer him biscuits after the tea and explained there is no 8 MBps facility or wire in your whole complex, switch to 4MBps as that is the capability available in your whole office complex and hence we switched from 8 MBps to 4MBps. 

Airtel, Vodafone should rise from their hallucinations and stop working on all networks from 2G to 4G and work with the Govt. to allow them to shift to single network. All of them have single product to offer, putting feeder lines on the AirWaves and yet their structure so many plans and schemes which are no good for anybody. Roaming Charges is an archaic term in the mobile world especially in the league in which India appears itself to stand or wishes to stand.

Purely and purely on mobile technology and plans world, India must be ranking at the bottom with the underdeveloped nations of Africa. Why Africa because Airtel is market leader there? All across the world, there is one number for the nation, no regional barriers or roaming charges and data is fed from the fountain rather than taps which come with cautionary warning in India, water is available from 9 to 12.

Reliance Jio are sold at Reliance Digital outlets, where queues are visible all across the nation as if it’s Rajnikant’s movie released in Tamil Nadu. No consumer product in the free world and free economy, wherein people are lining up to buy the product. But such is the frenzy or service of Reliance.

Having sung the praise not because they will be best but they have unleashed the industry from its own bondage as the incumbents are earning more than 70% of the revenue from voice. It is all cliche to say that the India has the cheapest call rate in the world. It may be but still the mobile coverage and expenditure is the highest in the world. YouTube offered the Offline service only for the Indian market as the data plans were prohibitively expensive for the Indian consumers. Post the Reliance Jio, there was a joke circulating on WhatsApp, next Reliance should come up with Reliance Bars, where the drinks are free and only the chakhna (snacks) will be charged.

After the praise comes the criticism, I am deeply skeptical about the whole JIO brouhaha. Reliance is the Group which is opaque in this world of information and technology and yet they talk about transparency. Reliance Telecom did not live to its hype or may be Anil Ambani didn't have the passion as his elder brother.

Not to mention their first advertisement of full front page on every newspaper featured Narendra Modi and realize his vision as Reliance knows there is no bigger brand in this country than Narendra Modi. Which gave the Opposition works for another 48 hours and but it died down?

But then I don't know why and how such big companies make such huge blunders on their launch. Like Mukesh Ambani announced at the AGM that Reliance Jio will offer data plans @ Rs. 50/GB, which in reality does not translate for any of the schemes launched by the Company. For 4,999, you get 75GBs of data, such data consumption is required for a cell phone is something, which had boggled everybody and on top of it, it translates into Rs. 67 per GB and no other plan is cheaper than this one in terms of per GB rate. But still Rs. 50 is the price said by its Chairman.

There was joke circulating on WhatsApp:

Mukesh Ambani announced breakfast at Rs 2/- per plate

The Large hall was thonged by many..

..as they finished there was a second announcement

Lunch @ Re1/-

wow...the hall soon went houseful with the villagers.

..as they finished there was yet another announcement

Dinner @ 50 paise..

Fantastic...ppl stayed back and many other came..

Special Dessert @ discounted price 0.25/- 

People turned really mad and as they chomped, gulped and went overboard with their indulgence Mukesh humbly bid bye to them and asked them not to hurry and enjoy the food thoroughly as the serving counters were to remain open.

Later the final announcement. Use of Toilet   Rs 1250/-

We know the obscure working of the RIL Group. Like even when the oil prices slipped from $150 to $40 sub levels, there was a marginal dip in their turnover and their profitability was always shoring high inspite of the fact that the Company said that they had marginal less profitability on oil refining margins.

Mukesh Ambani says that he has invested Rs. 1,50,000 Crores in Reliance Jio, which is subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) but RIL has total assets of Rs. 91477 Crores and on which book have they booked the investment and all the other financial mumbo-jumbo attached to the same.

Reliance murky working may or may not have impact on the customers in the long run. It’s a debatable point but the bigger question is, whether Reliance will be able to keep up its promises. And the best part, he was able to launch his kids on the Indian business stage.

BSNL is the only service provider which is visible post Jio launch and say they can match the prices and the quality and the speed. It actually sums the whole telecom industry post Jio or data as benchmark for telecom usage and sustenance of the telecom players.

Brand Ramdev

My cousin who operates Kirana (Grocery) Shop in a small decrepit town in the South of Punjab, has some wonderful business titbits to share on every visit and some of those can be learnt while toiling in those environments than in Business books or the business mumbo-jumbo. He always says, Marke chalaane bahut mushkil hai (it’s so difficult to establish brands). And then he demonstrates the case of Anchor Toothpaste, till the time, they were bombarding the primetime on Television with the advertisements and offering dealers/distributors/retailers healthy margins, they posed a major challenge to the FMCG MNCs like Close-UP, Colgate and Pepsodent but as soon as they put a dent in their advertising revenue, they had to make an exit from the market through the emergency shaft.

Typically for MNCs to deliver a successful product in the market needs to stay in market for more than 15 years. Lux is more than 70 years old brand. HUL and P&G, spend more than 10% of their budget on Advertisment and Marketing in spite of their huge line of products and its legacy. It is due to bulk buying of advertisement slots that they can keep the budget around 12%, otherwise it may shoot to over 15%, taking their whole business proposition for the toss.

But then comes our own Swadeshi brand, Patanjali, who is making FMCG MNCs sweat in their own house. Management Consultants, Strategists and Brand Consultants have found the wave of Baba Ramdev equally challenging to put in words or to ascribe a particular theory to it. Or like the FB meme says, You don’t need half naked women to sell products, half naked men can do it better. It’s just nobody tried earlier.

Take the case of shopkeeper near my house in Amritsar and there is only one shop in our area and around (colony spread over 340 acres) and he is super critical of Baba Ramdev. So I asked him, does he have something personal against Baba Ramdev? He replied, woh dhongi hai (he is a crook and liar), I replied, which Baba is not and if they will not be dhongi, they will be like us.

But then he also started selling Patanjali products at his shop. So I asked, now the Baba is straight as an arrow. He said, every customer comes and asks for his products. I belong to my customers. If customers start going to other shops, then who will come to my shop. It is simple business strategy, nothing to do with my thought process of Ramdev. So I said, wait for it, it will. He asked, how come? I replied, Baba is offering competitive margins than the MNCs against whom he is up and against.

Couple of months down the line, the hoarding of the shop changed from Coca-Cola board to Patanjali board. I asked, are you ditching other products and making it exclusive Patanjali shop. He answered, the speed with which he is expanding his product profile and lineage and the way with which customers are adopting his products, it seems difficult for others to find more space in my shop. Baba is occupying more and more shelf space. The best part, the demand is always exceeding the supply. He explained, if I am keeping twenty products of Patanjali in my shop, at no time there are more than 18 available as two have always gone out of stock and as soon as the stock comes, something else goes missing. Worst part, they are not servicing us at shops, we are standing in queue at the distributors’ shop to get products for our shops.

Is it a recipe for disaster or an astounding success is something which is debatable? He then gives example of housewife or better maid, if a maid has used Patanjali Dish Wash Bar, she recommends it to all the other households she visits. It is based on the chemicals from which raakh was obtained. Patanjali’s soap is of Raakh colour, people are more connected with it and it has the best quality in the market. People have forgotten about nimbu (lemon) based VIM. He suggested, take a bath with the Patanjali Multani Mitti (Mud) Soap, nobody can feel as refreshed after bath from their soap than with any liquid expensive soaps available in market.

We know Baba is promoting his products as swadeshi and pure and herbal (ayurvedic) and luring the people especially when our FMCG market is over-possessed with firangi brands (MNCs control the FMCG space). But to all the detractors who feel and think, Patanjali is an overnight brand. Baba Ramdev is Patanjali and he has worked for more than a decade to make his name a synonym of YOGA and is now reaping the benefits of the same. But at the same time, another question pops up, why and how MAGGI (Noodles, In India, maggi is referred to as Noodle) is herbal or ayurvedic to be marketed and branded by Patanjali? But then the Patanjali has crossed the hurdle long back and made it itself a comprehensive FMCG company, which started with making some of the traditional Indian medicines and then products and now they will be offering the entire range of Hindustan Unilever, Proctor & Gamble and Reckitt Benckiser and not to mention Britannia, Dabur and Amul.

No wonder, Patanjali’s revenue jumped from Rs. 1588 Crores in FY ‘15 to Rs. 3267 Crores in FY ‘16 with the target of Rs. 10,000 Crores for the current FY ’17. Is the heightened activity in Patanjali due to its support to Mr Modi’s campaign? I mean, if RSS endorses their products within their circles, Patanjali does not even require the massive Indian role in consumption of products. Whether or not political angle is entrenched in the Patanjali can be questioned to length? But the whole success story of Patanjali is astounding like I mentioned the trading community, who are queuing up, which really the strength and success of the Brand.

Piyush Pandey, executive chairman & creative director of Ogilvy South Asia, and the genius adman sums it up for us and said, feels marketers have a lot to learn from Ramdev. “He is an all-rounder who is battling, bowling and fielding at the same time. Baba Ramdev is a great proponent of a direct marketing FMCG company, and is one step ahead of the likes of the Amways and Avons of the world.” 

But ultimately the popularity of the Baba Ramdev can be gauged from the fact that as soon as India Today gave a preview of the cover story with Baba Ramdev’s image on it, Twitterati went berserk.

.@yogrishiramdev on this week's India Today magazine cover. Here's behind the scenes story https://t.co/7g7Rk3R5QS pic.twitter.com/CXTdLR84fH

— India Today (@IndiaToday) 14 July 2016

Yog Guru Baba Ramdev advertising for his newly launched Patanjali Langot to Compete with Jockey inner-wear.(2016) pic.twitter.com/SzUPNdH8r1

— History of India (@RealHistoryPic) 14 July 2016

After the flag waving on moon, Ramdev's anti-gravity beard is the next big conspiracy theory in science fiction. pic.twitter.com/yRxqhj7oRe

— Shirish Kunder (@ShirishKunder) 14 July 2016

Baba Ramdev was at Olympics in 2012. Sickular media won't show.  No Gymnastic medal because of racism :( pic.twitter.com/lZYRcQu4nF

— Being Watched (@DuckSpeech) 14 July 2016

I fixed the Baba Ramdev @IndiaToday cover. pic.twitter.com/iObeoPQqjD

— Sahil Shah (@SahilBulla) 14 July 2016

Baba Ramdev launches himself into outer space pic.twitter.com/Nf5MjUOWfq

— mitron (@gazimithi) 14 July 2016

Baba Ramdev Leading Indian Airforce... Now Indian Fighter Plane are More Reliable. pic.twitter.com/K4fokfjhCx

— Aamir Khan (@wise9211) 14 July 2016

Baba Ramdev parachuting in Belize pic.twitter.com/1A2xb9Jyip

— Gautam Trivedi (@Gotham3) 14 July 2016

Baba Ramdev practicing for Rio Olympics diving competition #Olympics2016 pic.twitter.com/ezIj3XjDVp

— Gautam Trivedi (@Gotham3) 14 July 2016

Baba Ramdev was at Olympics in 2012. Sickular media won't show.  No Gymnastic medal because of racism :( pic.twitter.com/lZYRcQu4nF

— Being Watched (@DuckSpeech) 14 July 2016

All Gains No Loss for India

UN sanctions have been on China for its territorial rights on South China Sea through International Court of Justice. I mean, it is not sanctions but that is how Chinese view it and they have said that they will not comply with the order. Japan has been crying hoarse over Chinese illegal invasion (occupation but invasion seems better) with United States siding with Japan, Chinese went slow on Japan when it comes to South China Sea but they have been bullying the smaller nations like Philippines and Vietnam. 

South China Sea is an issue which has the potential to hurt badly the diplomatic and trade relations with United States of America. China is a bully, the country which can threaten United States of America and its allies must be something. China seems more like USSR of the 80s, who are going after everything which is American and yet the continue to adore and loath Americans at the same time. 

South China Sea is in China’s backyard and it uses the same to arm twist America even though America has nothing whatsoever to do with the disputed water and infringing activity and military activity of the China.

But let’s take a step back and look at the last month’s NSG talks in which India’s inclusion in the Group was under strong opposition from the China. Rather China was the only one standing in the wind to oppose the same. Is South China Sea a repercussion of the same?

China had summoned its Chief Negotiator for NSG afterwords as their diplomatic efforts fell short and China was only itself to be blamed for the blocking of India’s membership to NSG. China fired the Pakistan salvo into the midst which they knew nobody would buy and hence India entry was blocked.

If we understand the whole diplomacy and strategy of filling India into the NSG. India is emerging as a leader in the South Asian strategy of America, the reason a billion Indians and a strong and resilient economy. America has been devising a strategy to counter China. So at one end, they have developed economy with considerable say in international politics diplomacy, Japan and on the side, they want to develop India as the counter to the China along with Japan. 

Pakistan is the prickly thorn in the India’s growth and development to which India has no answer. Pakistan nuclear weapons are a threat to the world and not to India is the realization that America has come to in last few years. Nuclear weapons falling into the hands of the radicals is the biggest headache of the Americans. Donald Trump, the first priority will be to de-nuke Pakistan. Though I loathe Donald Trump but this is his single jibe which makes sense and Pakistan contains the element to destroy the Earth.

India lost its bid to NSG. NSG is the big boys club of supplying nuclear arms. India has supplied to any country, NO. But India is self reliant for its nuclear requirements and they have built and developed the critical components for operating the nuclear technology whether for energy or weapons. 

India was running on a fine piece of rope and kudos to Modi’s diplomacy that he bagged all the nations in his favor in a short time but China is a big piece of the puzzle that it is difficult for India to counter China, who is offering Pakistan unconditional support for anything. China does not want India to grow its stature.

Pakistan is like somebody you can visit when you need them but otherwise nobody wishes to invite them to home. Making Pakistan part of NSG is a fundamentally not possible. All the nuclear capability of Pakistan has been built on Chinese support of technology and finances. Pakistan is not self reliant for its nuclear requirement. It was enough on the China’s to make everybody’s ears pop out of the system. 

China feels or thinks giving only India membership would break the counterbalance of the Indian subcontinent. But in the wake of the same, the international agencies and USA have already upped the pressure on the China by passing the order on the South China Sea.

Obama Administration has not been working for India as hard as the Bush Administration. Don’t forget Obama administration has been building India’s case since 2010 and yet in 2016, it fell flat on US face. Remember BJP fought tooth and nail with the Congress for signing the Nuclear Agreement with USA back in 2006. But in 2008, Manmohan Singh Govt. had a breakthrough when he put his foot on his alliance partner, Left parties who threatened to break the Govt. which BJP saw an opportunity to make a Govt. at the Centre as well. With Bush administration efforts and for one time, when Manmohan Singh threw his weight around as a Prime Minister is etched in the nuclear history of the country. 

This time around, Modi did fire his salvo at the international nations with caution and won their support but he is not the Statesman to have given credit to Manmohan Singh for the giant leap that India decided to take by participating for the race of NSG membership.

Pakistan had also applied in late May 2016 in Vienna for NSG membership. China claimed if you are giving India concessions to win membership, you can offer the same to Pakistan. But by backing Pakistan and stacking Pakistan against India at such high level of diplomacy in the international arena, China has stepped on a mine from which he cannot push its foot off and unless and until they may make Pakistan sit on the same. 

Come what may, India may have lost its chance to NSG membership this time. It still is a winner proposition for the India. It will help in developing a better and more profound relationship with the global superpower America who already devours China and is looking for chances to undermine the Chinese status in the international diplomatic missions and as a rising global superpower. Key takeaway, Western World now thinks India is not fault for strained relations with Pakistan, rather it is Pakistan's own making.

Game of Thrones

My cousin, who does not enjoy watching much of Hollywood or American television. His genre is transfixed on action movies. But then he is a huge Game of Thrones fan. Last year when the season ended, he said he wanted more of it and disgusting was the feeling to wait another year for the next season. This year he was not anticipating it, he had lost interest but then after nine episodes, he requested for Episode 1, Season 6 and an all nighter to complete all the 9 episodes and a leave from office the next day. He was itching for the Finale Episode. At the same time, he was saying what is this concept of Season, they should show everything at a stretch. But I explained to him, had there been no seasons, it wouldn't become the most anticipated event in the world. More on it later.

I remember, watching Mahabharata, that there would be zero existence of human being on roads in a country like India. Back in early 90’s, Mahabharata would make the nation of 80 Crore people come to a standstill. Only people visible on the road were the ones watching the television on the streets outside an appliances shop. Internet was yet to born. Hell, satellite television was yet to born. There will be only one time telecast, so do not miss it. 

In this day and age of satellite television, when there is TV show for possibly anything human can imagine. Internet can give you the experience for the wildest of human being’s fantasy. Game of Thrones is not just a serial or fiction drama series, it is the phenomena. No event or no activity, I can bet on it can generate the amount of curiosity, that even elections of Hillary Clinton (First Woman Nominee for the President’s post in USA) and the mad mogul, Donald Trump, whose antics always keep the media and social media buzzing would generate this level of hype as was witnessed before premiere of Season 6.

Hell, even, POTUS (the glitzy abbreviation for President of the United States, Barack Obama) was quizzed about the same. To which the President admitted, yes, and when asked about his favorite character from the show, he said, he really liked the short guy, the midget Peter Dinklage, who can think that a midget would be favorite actor on the planet.

Season 5, at a tragic note with one of the favorite characters of Jon Snow (Kit Harrington) was killed. Up till Season 5, it was an adaptation of the novel, Game of Thrones. People could still anticipate of what was coming especially for those who had read the book. TV shows follow the trend, which characters people are enjoying and how they are enjoying. They mould the characters and story line in the similar fashion as to the taste of the audience. Like in Castle, people enjoyed the bodily tensions of Detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) and Novelist Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion), so post their marriage, the detective show developed the same reclusive behavior of their relationship by separating them for the world yet they were husband and wife. There was immense media outrage and social media blustering to bring back Jon Snow from the dead. Anything is possible in Game of Thrones.

Melissandre’s Lord of Light brought him back to life. Audiences movement won. More so, because the writers of the book have yet to write the last part of the book. Season 6 was written by the makers in consultation with the authors of the book. So hence, it was an unchartered territory. HBO’s team was free to think and imagine as they liked and not contain themselves within the boundaries of the book or adapt from the book.

Iron Throne and the costumes or the trivia with the home models for sale travel across the world. My brother mentioned last year, Iron Throne was available to sit and click photographs in an exhibition arranged by the makers of the show in Sydney. Exhibition was scheduled to open at 10, people started building queue at 7, after 9, they announced please do not stand in the queue as we cannot accommodate more people than already standing in the queue. It costed 250 Dollars per head. Hell, even the Queen of England was offered to sit on the Iron Throne but then the Queen dismissed the request as she thought she already had a throne to sit. So much for a throne on a television show.

Till Season 5, people were thinking, we are yet to see the nude version of Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) and then came the Walk of Shame, what a scene it was? Five minutes long and she roams the entire streets of Westeros in nude. Season 6 was epic and phenomenal. Season 6 began on a slow note. Season 6 had the least number of nude women, which is again the true characteristic of the Game of Thrones. But then they gave us a glimpse of Khalisi, Daenerys Targareyan again. This scene captured so much power and authority that it displays, she has what it takes to rule. 

Season 6 had last two episodes with so much happening and it leaves people gasping. Season 6 Episode 9 captures evil forces like Boltons and Greyjoy also won with the help of Khaleesi. Season Finale leaves us hanging by the cliff.

Jesus Christ, what has Cersei done? Dropped the whole hall of the King and became the Queen without the King and all of her kids are dead. Emilia Clarke is sailing for Westeros to fight with Cersei to claim her title. Margaery (Natalie Dormer), one of the most adorable characters of GoT is dead too. Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) took the revenge of her mother’s death. Now the revenge of her father’s death is left for her to accomplish. Jon Snow’s reality is known to people but the finality of it yet to be known. Who will marry Emilia Clarke? She had left her lover behind.  Can a bastard (Jon Snow) marry Emilia Clarke or are they cousins?

Queen Cersei needs wildfire (sulphuric acid) to fight Danaerys but she has used the every bit of it on her own defectors. Her loss is known to everybody and definitely it will be happening at the hands of Maisie Williams but how is the reason why we watch GoT?

Season 7 will be the penultimate Finale of GoT or there will be more is the question on everybody’s minds. Will the Season 7 be ultimately fully consumed in the war. Will the events spill onto Season 8 as well. The IF questions, or may be it’s important to visit Europe during the winters when and where the GoT is shot and see if we can get a glimpse of it.

Finally, finally, after 6 years, after several times over waiting for it, WINTER IS HERE.

Udta Punjab - Udd Geya

Udta Punjab is typical caricature of Anurag Kashyap. Does that guy function without chutiya for more than ten words. All the verbal MCs, BCs (converted to PC in Punjabi) is true representation of Punjab. But for cinematic and presentation purposes, they could have milder version of the cuss words like bhootni ki is soft and vegetarian version of chutiya. Even my text is also veering towards Anurag Kashyap.

It is actually a salutory job of Abhishek Chaubey, so little time to research and yet he managed to show so many aspect of Punjabis through his hard hitting social drama. The film categorically says no relation of any character to any person living or dead. Initially they show a pole with the advertisement of IELTS imprinted in the background. IN which frame of Punjab, one cannot capture the advertisement of IELTS, everybody wants to go abroad. On Kareena Kapoor’s table,  There is another book of GATE or PLAB or some examination to move abroad. Not only uneducated but the educated also hope to settle abroad.

In terms of 360 degree of the problem of drugs in Punjab, they have shown a rockstar, a hockey player who is poor and most of them are, Police who is effervescent in not controlling the smuggling of drugs, the doctor who are trying to treat the addicts, drug dealers and in the background politicians are shown to be running the whole operations and even asking votes for drugs. Like a Bollywood singer, there is no music industry in India but only Bollywood music but Punjab is a place, where there is a singer or a budding singer in every alternate home. More Punjabi music is released in India than all the Bollywood music combined twice over. The way Punjabi singers flaunt their cars, bikes, guns, tattoos, gold, funky hair and designer beards is epic and not to mention drugs. Shahid Kapoor tries to embody the true rockstar from Punjab plus the hallucinations of the addict and also sporting a hair style with word FUDDU inscribed in the hair.

Zameen banjar te aulaad kanjar (Parched land and foolish kids) is the truth about the Punjab. The filmmakers kept the Punjabi words flowing in and around to show the impact of the language and build the right temperament for the scene. Like my friend said, Punjab mein prostitute ko gashti kehte hai (Do you call prostitute as gashti in Punjabi?). His vocabulary of cuss words in multilingual now.

Shahid Kapoor who plays a tattooed rockstar named Tommy Singh, who lives on cocaine, London returned with tattoos, ‘Momma da Boy’ tattooed on his collarbone, moves along with his entourage who are good for nothing. Yet a rockstar in Punjab needs to show his permanent company at every place. His acting is so bang on target as if he is a genuine rockstar, who all are suffering from the problem of drug addiction. The shoes of Tommy Singh, depict he is ready to fly, nobody forgets them. Always flashing V sign with the title given to him, Da Gabru.

Tommy Singh is arrested by the cop Sartaj, who likes to follow the orders as received from the employers (politicians). Sartaj changes when he witnesses his nearly dead brother who adores and a huge fan of Tommy Singh and his ways but lands in hospital due to drug overdose available at local pharmacies in Punjab. Pretty Sahni invokes his conscience, which is not good for his job as his brother ends in drug rehabilitation centre due to drug overdose. Bally is bang on target with his acting and the role and his struggle to leave drugs and also run towards them, which ends up killing the loved ones. Bally is always flying like Tommy Singh from the trip of chitta (Heroin) and does not wish to be bothered from the same. In the meantime, all those who became fan of Sartaj Singh’s (Diljit Dosanjh) acting, should watch Punjab: 1984, another gripping tale of terrorism in Punjab. 

All the talk of Alia Bhatt, as I was not tracking those news, and now I understood. Alia Bhatt, the pretty young girl from the Bhatt family has outperformed not only by her standards but by the whole industry standards. Who would dump the glamorous avatars and the comfort to work hard in playing the role of a nobody with a mud face and torn clothes. Who plays a hockey player and yet ends up tilling the fields. It also shows the plight of Hockey players in our country. She is poor and forced into the drug abuse.

Another actors to watch are the Inspector played by Manav Vij, full bearded cop. He looked like a real life cop without any traces of an actor. His acting could not get more close to reality. 

Amit Trivedi is a talent scouted and groomed by Anurag Kashyap. His melodies and his music and his voice makes you drool over and you don’t need chitta to trip on it. Add to it the catchy lyrics, talking about drugs and the psychology of an addict. My personal favorite is Da Da Dasee (Stings hard and effectively) by Kanika Kapoor and Babu Haabi. Shiv Kumar Batalvi’s poem, Ikk Kudi is another soul wrenching number. For starters, Shiv Kumar Batalvi is Shakespeare of Punjabi Literature who dies in late 70s or 80s, who wrote poems in love and separation from his love by society and the girl’s father. There is song, Kitte Kalli Behke Sochi Ni, is one song without which no singer in Punjab can complete his career. Everybody leaves with watery eyes or flowing eyes after hearing Batalvi’s poem recitals.

The Controversy

Let’s roll back to the Udta Punjab controversy and the huge battle that was fought in Courts and more extensively in the media. Censor Board is Central Board of Film Certification, whose role is to certify films and not censorsize them. So many Bollywood films have struggled or fought with the Censor Board and yet little people get to know.

But Udta Punjab with its social message became the poster child of agitation against the dictatorial rule of Censor Board. Pahlaj Nihalani, is a good director for the arty films he had directed/written in 1980’s and he showed some of his actresses in the worst vulgar manner possible especially for the times. But I was perplexed he couldn’t not finish two sentences without fumbling and mumbling that they made his Censor Board Chief and all the stupid debauchery that cam from his end. Whether it was politically motivated or not but he had the film makers and the industry with like Satish Kaushik says in the movide, fadd lo tattey (grab my balls).

But the interesting thing in the whole issue is the Freedom of Expression, that why Govt. is toying with the idea every six months, they find some or the other way to experiment as to how people respond to the curtailment of their Fundamental Rights. Mahesh Bhatt said, all this talk to Development has no meaning if we are going to take away the Rights of people to express themselves. Will the Govt. tell us how to react to a situation? To the Govt., you are not chitta that everybody starts floating after consuming it.

Udta Punjab should be given Govt. felicitation for bringing the topic to the core and not Govt. should focus on the problem and make an attempt to save a whole generation in Punjab as clearly it is the leaders in Punjab who are part of the drug problem.

In the whole controversy, people actually forget to talk about the decade old break up of Kareena Kapoor and Shahid Kapoor (dumping of Shahid does not sound cool). Censor Board who is teaching morality to an industry are themselves bereft of the same that somehow or the other Udta Punjab was leaked before the release by the Censor Board. To Modiji’s promise, heads should roll. But they can still learn from simple and honest words of Anurag Kashyap:

“I have never downloaded a film on torrent, i don't know how to. yes occasionally i have seen downloaded films borrowed from friends and found a way to pay for them later, by buying them on DVD or BluRay, and when i say this i also say that no one can stop your right to download a film. This time its a different fight, its a fight against censorship and if you are that audience that always downloads a film, then i won't ask you to not do that , please do, but wait till Saturday which is the day you would normally download a film. Piracy happens because of lack of access and in a world of free internet, i do not have a problem with it. My problem is that this time its a case of vested interests trying to demoralize people from fighting for their rights. So all downloaders of Udta Punjab , i urge, wait till Saturday till you decide to not pay for the film, don't download and share , curb the curiosity for two more days. Thank you for reading this.”