Baap Ka Suroor

A Post which confusingly switches between Bollywood, issue of Female foeticide, killing of Girl Child, the practice of Dowry all packaged with a tribute to the legendary Satyen Kappu. Stays true to the name of Blog.

यह शादी नही हो सकती , ठाकुर साहेब मैं अपनी पगड़ी आपके कदमो मैं रखता हूँ , मेरी बेटी लक्ष्मी है उससे मत ठुकारिये, मैं आपकी पाई पाई चुका दूंगा,

यह शादी नही हो सकती, कहा उसका खानदान कहा हमारा !!!

मुझे अपनी बेटी की शादी के लीये करज़ा चाहीये लाला !!!

बेटी सेठजी से शादी कर ले, तुझे खूब सुखी रखेंगें !!!

Satyen Kappu is a legend by any standards, people remember Jagdish Raj for playing the inspector innumerable number of times, so much so that he has a Limca Record on his name. Satyen Kappu (originally named Satyendra Kapoor) has been devoid of such an honour but I bet him playing a worried Father of an unmarried daughter symbolises much more than these recognitions. He is part of a group of individuals whose contribution to Cinema is somewhat neglected in the glitz of stars. [Refer this post which pays a tribute all these characters.]

( A Middle Aged Kappu from movie Coolie, he played charecters from every facet of life, irreseopective of religion, caste or profession. Inset: Waheeda Rehaman)

In an India torn apart by the Gender divide Kappu represents the destiny of so many fathers who end up struggling for their daughter's marriage, and brings to light the issue of dowry and female infanticide. In times when our Nation is struggling to keep up a healthy sex ratio, Kappu acts as an inspiration to Millions by giving the message of Beti being Ghar ki Lakshmi. The topic of Girl Child being killed is one of the most depressing things which comes up in our day-to-day discussions, people who practice killing of girl child should be hanged, movies like Matrubhumi have really shown what extremes this phenomenon can lead too. Also Dowry Deaths are still present in our country and is well spread, all these practices should have an end and Cinema can act as a vehicle for raising the concious of so many people related with this. Read through this poem by Sur on Dowry Deaths which was posted a few days back, The Ultimate Greed.

coming back to Mr. Kappu, be it the drunkard who is worried about his daughter's marriage in Kaala Patthar to the recent tele series on Zee TV "Mehendi tere naam ki" directed by Aruna Irani where he plays the father of four daughters, he has given new heights to the role of a worried father. Even in films like Rajesh Khanna starrer Aap Ki Kasam where he plays the second-hand Husband of Mumtaaz, his defining scenes come when accepts Mumtaaz’s daughter and finally when he is marrying her off (in the last scene when Khanna dies). His efforts spread across decades are put forward by his presence in the movie Beti No.1, a movie which epitomises the importance of Girl Child (the concept was good, the movie’s execution pathetic), such a movie can be never conceptualized without Mr. Kappu. Maybe he suited the roles to perfection because in real life he had four daughters himself. No one played the role of a depressed Beti Ka Baap better than Kappu through the 70's and 80's.

But Kappu's defining moment came in two movies- both Kurosawa inspired Rural-Bandit sagas one of which went on to be come Sholay and another poor man's Sholay- Khotey Sikkay. Although everyone remembers the Ramu Kaka ka kirdaar from Sholay less is known about the origins of an Advocate who fights for Truth and Justice against Jagga (Ajit as the Bandit), is gifted a Golden Watch (which hums a melodious tune) by Sarkar (government, maybe the judiciary) for his sacchai and imaandaari and gives his life for that. In Khotay Sikkay he plays the father of Feroz Khan(who just roams around in a Eastwood inspired robe from spaghetti western days) , Feroz Khan (the unnamed Horse Rider) then goes ahead and avenges his Father's killing by killing Jagga by the end and hence the victory of Truth and Justice.

Kappu's death scene in the movie is one of my favorite moments from Hindi Cinema, when Jagga puts the Khanjar ( a dagger) in his stomach, the tension, the carvings of his face, the widening of his eyes, some 8-9 drops of sweat on his face and the watch poignantly falling from his hand playing a melodious tune and in background of the ever strong Ajit laughter makes for a unparalleled moment in Cinema. I don’t think this death sequence will ever bettered by anyone.

RamLal from Sholay is somewhat popularised recently by the series of jokes remarking the relationships of Thakur-Ramlal, something which puts the great man in bad light.

Apart from these Kappu represents the true Indian middle class by donning almost all possible professions in his career- Inspector (on all possible designations from hawaldar to DIG to Commissioner), doctor(Aap ki Kasam), Judge (Khotay Sikkay etc.), Naukar( Sholay), Army Fellow (Dream Girl), Teacher(Khel Khel Main) cutting across religions- Panditji in Ganga Ki Saugandh, Aslam Bhai in coolie, to church Father (I don’t remember the movie name but remember seeing him once). Mr. Kappu is a true manifestation of Aam Aadmi, and we will always remember him as a great actor and a champion of Social Cause.

Technorati Tags: Bollywood, Satyen Kappu, Cinema, Dowry Deaths

[Kareena Kode]

/**
** Class which represents the Indian Actress Kareena Kapoor
**/
class Kareena extends Kapoor implements OverActing{

public Kareena(){

super(); //calls super constructor Kapoor
}

public static void main(){
Kareena k = new Kareena();
k.weight = 50;

//once Kareena's bodyweight drops below 0 and she is //completely malnutritioned, till then
//Dance on this Tashan song
//basically she is going against the genetic order, refer //superclass

while(k.weight > 0 && k.bodyType= "Malnutrition")
{
System.out.println("nasila nasila tera naina, churai le hamra chaina, tu hamre dil main rehna..., Chaliya");
k.weight--;//moving closer to anorexia
}
}

//Base Class for Kapoor Khaandaan featuring there basic //properties
class Kapoor {

private String bodyType = "SuperFat";// We all know there //BodyTypes don't we
private String skinColor = "SuperFair"; // All Kapoor's are //fair, but not all are lovely
private int weight = 100; //it can be more too

// add other methods if necessary
}

// something which has been common from RajKiran(Ghar Ek //Mandir fame) to Kareena
interface overActing(){
//something, doesnt matter much
}

Code Output: Just to make the program a bit colourful ;)

(Image: www.wikipedia.org/)

I would like to say this has anything in against anyone quoted, Raj Kapoor and Rishi Kapoor are two of my all time favorites, this is just an analogy of real life scenario in code, so no offenses meant.

p.s.- no guarantee that the code compiles

p.p.s- Alternate names for the post "Kapoor se Kwashiorkar tak", "Maal se Malnutrition tak"

Technorati Tags: Kareena Kapoor, Anorexia, Tashan

If only the Reservations were...

a bit more flexible. I mean look at the transformation Mr. Lalu Prasad Yadav has brought to Train Reservations. Although the IRCTC web site is slow, lacks a basic error page for JSP, and whatever, still it has made our job so much easier. Or look at Capt. Gopinath's Airline revolution which has spurred a number of Airline Reservation websites. If only the reservation policies implemented by government were a bit easier to understand.

If only we have online portal by government where we get the latest Caste Score side by side our reservation status, that would be wonderful, will let me know when people form my caste fall in Reservation bracket :). Also one can book his reservation seat, cancel it, check status, check waiting list etc. One can even apply for caste certificates online and his/her application can be processed by government.

Even couple of years back this issue was quite happening and it has come back again to give us more to talk on.

I was thinking of something better when it came to reservations, maybe the Central institutes have to increase the seats this year why not have the concept of RAC being promoted with waiting lists and Confirmed seats. If seats are less lets go for RAC, a railway like concept where a single seat will be allocated to two people, given,

• Both of them belong to different caste.
• Both of them share the same set of books, same hostel bed (taking turns to sleep), same bathroom.
• Both of them share same laptop, same pens, pencils, eat from one thali, drink chai from ek pyali etc etc.
• Both share the same girlfriend/boyfriend ;)
• To avoid unnecessary hassles lets keep the RAC seat for the same sex, i mean both candidates should be either male or female.
  

I think this will be a new way to achieve National integration and bring different people close, issues won't separate them anymore and the benefits will be equally shared.

On a serious note I think I am in for Affirmative Action, certain sections of Indian society have been neglected and treated in an unjust manner for years. I also believe the injustice has been caused independent of Economic levels, and even after getting good jobs and home people do suffer due to caste differences. But let some sanity prevail, let the process not be an indefinite one, I think more than anything else, we require quality institutes of higher learning, more number of seats will keep most happy. I think slowly such a system should be done away with, but it will never happen. So let us think of "innovative" ways in which we can twist this process and make it much more entertaining because slowly we would have to learn to live with it forever. Look at Vishy's suggestion to do the same...

I am more in for a scheme suggested by Mr. Yogendra Yadav and co. named MIRAA which creates a social index factoring parameters like Caste, gender, economic levels and provides reservation on basis of that. But maybe for such a huge country, its a a difficult and confusing exercise altogether.

I believe its time for everyone to realise that percentages and number of seats and caste and religion and regional differences will be always there, and so will be reservation, atleast its much better than the country falling apart into separate pieces like so many European nations. Isn't it?

Technorati Tags: Reservation, Quota Issue