Top reasons why Jeetendra should have been bestowed with Dada Saheb Phalke Award

There were speculations this year that Jeetendra was the chosen one for Dada Saheb Phalke Award, which is generally awarded for the awardee's contribution to Indian cinema. In fact, on the night of 11th April, multiple news outlets ran the story of Jeetendra being conferred with the award.

jeetendra dada saheb phalke gulzar ekta

Even India Today had run the news of Jeetendra
winning Dada Saheb Phalke.

This had created a lot of noise in the social media at least, and unfortunately for Jeetuji, most of it was negative.

shovon chakraborty

The jury for choosing the Dada Saheb Phalke Awards probably got swayed by these negativity and decided to award Gulzar instead, thereby robbing us of a great opportunity to compile the list of Jeetendra's contributions to Indian cinema. In fact, I had almost prepared this list in my dreams, but the next morning got to know the sad news. 

jeetendra dada saheb phalke gulzar ekta tussar

Anyway, Dada or No Dada, here is the list of Jeetendra's contributions to Indian film (and other) industry, for which, he may be considered for next year's awards - 

1. For upholding the Indian "sanskar" by paying homage to our ancestors - "The Apes". He was instrumental in including monkey jumping routines in the Indian film industry.
2. Because, with his monkey jumping, he had also proved Charles Darwin and his Theory of Evolution to be right.
3. For creating an aura of awesomeness by wearing only white shoes, which never got muddied even when he was running through actual mud!
4. For single handedly creating a new products line - White Shoe Polish and thereby helped in reducing unemployment in the country.
5. For producing Ekta Kapoor, who had given respite to lacs of husbands across the country from their nagging wives for a considerable number of years.
6. Again for Ekta Kapoor, who was instrumental in giving a boost to the TV sales across the country, as those lacs of husbands bought a second TV, so that they could watch their cricket or football matches.
7. For Ekta Kapoor again, who has been keeping Indian wives happy with her K-serials and Indian husbands happy with her Sunny Leone movies. (Contributed by S.K. Bhaduri)
8. For Tusshar Kapoor, who has given valuable lessons to all aspiring actors on how not to act.

I hope that the jury will take note of this list and will definitely have a change of heart the next time around!

jeetendra dada saheb phalke gulzar ekta

jeetendra dada saheb phalke gulzar ekta

My Internet Memes on Indian Parliamentary Election 2014

With the 2014 Indian Parliamentary Election on full swing, the slogan that has captivated the people across the country is, "Ab ki baar, Modi Sarkar", which literally means that the government with Modi at the helm will be elected this time around. This slogan has also generated a deluge of Internet memes and in this post, I have tried my hand at creating some.

indian general election narendra modi rahul gandhi arvind kejriwal mulayam lalu yadav mamata banerjee

Just for clarifications: Through these memes, I have neither attempted to disparage any person - dead or alive,  nor are these a part of any political campaigns.

parliamentary election 2014 bjp aap congress trinamul samjwadi party

#1. Borrowed from an iconic scene from the 1975 hit Deewar, where Vijay, played by Amitabh Bachchan enters a temple for the first time in his life.

parliamentary election 2014 bjp aap congress trinamul samjwadi party

Aaj khush toh hoge bahot..

arun jaitley sushma swaraj indian election digvijaya singh sonia gandhi

#2. Another one from Deewar. Probably one of the most iconic scenes in the history of Hindi cinema, the one popularly known as "Mere paas maa hain!" Although most memes are rhyming, with this one, I did not care for rhymes (and reasons too)!

parliamentary election 2014 bjp aap congress trinamul samjwadi party

Mere paas maa hain!

More coming soon. Watch this space.

Welcome to the world of "Hu-man"

Absolutely true. In fact, the truth quotient makes it even scarier! 

How to get even with Idiots!

(Please note that this is not an original piece)
One morning, after her husband returned from fishing and had decided to take a nap, the wife thought of taking the boat out for a little ride of her own. Although not very familiar with the topography of the lake,  as she was visiting the the camping cum fishing site for the first time, she motored out to a short distance, anchored and started reading the newly released, claimed to be a novel by E.L. James, which she had picked up at the airport. 

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Barely five minutes had passed, when, out of nowhere, popped up a Game Warden in his boat. He pulled up alongside the lady and told her in a matter of fact manner, “Good morning, Ma’am. What are you doing?”

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“Reading a book,” she replied, while keeping to herself, the next part that almost slipped out, “Isn’t that obvious?”  

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The warden did not seem to be impressed. “You’re in a restricted fishing area”, he informed her in a gravely tone.

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“I’m sorry, officer, but I’m not fishing. I’m reading a book!”

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“Yes, I can see that. But, you have all the equipment. For all I know, you could start at any moment. I’ll have to take you in and write you up.” The warden, evidently, had an unrelenting attitude.

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“For reading a book?”, she exasperatedly asked! 

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“You’re in a restricted fishing area ….”, he droned on, like a robot. The lady, this time, enraged, cut him off sharply, “I’m sorry, officer, but I’m not fishing. For your kind information, I’m reading!” The warden, clearly in a league of his own, brushed aside the angry tone in her speech and repeated, “Yes, but you have all the equipment. For all I know, you could start at any moment. I’ll have to take you in and write you up.”

gap

By this time, she had already had enough, and decided to strike back. “If you do that, I’ll have to charge you with sexual assault”, says the woman, in a calm voice.

gap

“But, but..”, stumbled the warden, “I haven’t even touched you”! He was clearly perplexed.

gap

“That’s true, but you have all the necessary equipment. For all I know, you could start at any moment”, the lady replied in an even calmer voice.

gap

“Have a nice day Ma’am”, that was all, the warden could mutter, before he hurriedly left the place. :-)
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Operation (Flood) Accomplished - Rest In Peace Verghese Kurien

Amul Girl cries for the first time,
since her appearance in 1960s.
Image Source: Amul Website

The year was probably 1987/88, and I had seen a film by Shyam Benegal, titled Manthan, which coincidentally shares it's year of birth with me. In those days of Door Darshan, anything other than Krishi Darshan was eagerly lapped up, but a song from the film remained with me. This very song, Mero Gaam Katha Parey, sung by Preeti Sagar, would push me to watch the film again, years later, in around 1994, and I became a fan of Dr. Verghese Kurien.
shovon chakraborty
If there's one single person ever, who has changed the entire landscape of a whole region, thorough his sheer persistence and relentless pursuits of the vision, which he believed in, here was the man. He took on the middlemen - the wholesalers, the moneylenders, and even the age-old feudal structure, present in the villages, in and around Anand. Nobody, from the moneyed classes, were happy with him. But his efforts resulted in the flowing of not red blood, but white milk, and led to a historic revolution among the local untouchables and the economically backward communities. Dr. Kurien lead from the front to create iconic institutions, such as, Amul, Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), Institute of Rural Management - Anand (IRMA) and many more. His open brief to Sylvester daCunha resulted in the creation of the "Amul Baby" or "Amul Girl", perhaps the most iconic Indian brand symbols.
shovon chakraborty
When Dr. Kurien landed at Anand, the situation was bleak. But, his vision, coupled with the guts to walk the talk, started a chain reaction, which has been variously termed as Operation Flood and White Revolution of India. As Mr. R.P. Aneja, the former Managing Director of National Dairy Development Board and a colleague of Kurien for 24 years, recounted in The Hindu Business Line, "Before the IT industry made India matter in the world, the biggest success story of the country was its dairy sector." "Who was responsible for this revolution? One person who more or less single-handedly organised millions of small and marginal farmers into very successful organisations was Verghese Kurien." he went on to declare.
shovon chakraborty
In the decades immediately after the independence, India was hugely dependent on imports of milk powder for meeting its nutritional needs. After, Dr. Kurien's efforts bore fruit, India became self-sufficient in milk and even started exporting milk powder and other milk products. Its annual milk production increased from 20 million tonnes in the 1970s to 80 million tonnes in the 1990s and 122 million tonnes by 2010, earning the title of World's topmost milk producer in the process. Amul, which began its journey with just two village dairy co-operative societies and 247 litres of milk, has grown to be a Rs. 11,668 crore brand with milk collection of 3.88 billion litres in 2011-12. Today, GCMMF, which markets its dairy products under the Amul brand name, has emerged as India's largest integrated dairy products manufacturing and marketing organisation.
verghese kurien milkman of india amul baby shed tears
But, Dr. Verghese Kurien's achievements and impacts are not merely measured by numbers or revenues in Rs . His actual impact can be gauged from the empowerment of millions of people, both from India and abroad, and who came largely from the so called lower strata of the society. Kurien emphasised that democracy in Delhi needed to be underpinned by democracy in the villages. He was a firm believer in the unmatched combination of farmers and professionals working together to serve the rural areas. And, the institutions set up by him have visibly demonstrated that cooperatives do work as democratic institutions in India. His efforts not only helped the marginalized people to gain their rightful place in the society, but also ensured that, unlike communist ideologies, all sections were part of the growth and the development process.
shovon obituary dr. verghese kurien
Especially, in today's political atmosphere, vitiated by increasing levels of hatred and intolerance, Dr. Kurien's ideas of empowering the masses at the root, through the cooperatives model, and heralding in an era of inclusive development, stand tall.
obituary dr. verghese kurien
A truly remarkable man, among the very best, India has ever given birth to, Dr. Kurien, the Milkman of India, lived to fulfill a dream, which he had. There will never be another like him and his 58 years old  "baby daughter", the Amul Girl, has actually personified the grief of the entire nation. We can only salute you Dr. Kurien, and thank you for the real-life lessons! Rest In Peace Sir!
shovon obituary dr. verghese kurien
shovon obituary dr. verghese kurien