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

Bye-Bye Gilly

India Won just 10 mins back, something which overshadowed completely the last match of Gilchrist, one of my favorite cricketer. It has been a great career, too much has been said about it, I found this awesome presentation on Gilchrist somewhere, do have a look with headphones on.
I will always remember Gilly as someone who stood out from the rest of the Australian bunch, due to his honesty, his sportsman spirit and the way he played his game, and I always say, truly a Mahaan cricketer. He along with Brett Lee are the only current Aussie cricketers whom I like and respect and the respect Gilchrist has is truly deserved. An awesome Batsman who played wonderful knocks such as the Last Year World Cup Final, which Australia won or the then Fastest double century against a South African attack few years back.

Gilchrist on crease has always been an exciting prospect, even today I was praying that he gets a farewell 100, but somehow Australia loose at the same time :-). I was really disappointed when Praveen Kumar rolled him over, lucky guy, the last one to take Gilly's wicket in international cricket. These were his words today post-match, just goes to show his modesty,

"Thank You very much for this acknowledgement. Its probably going on too long(the farewell). Well done india..they outplayed us. Thanks to my family, and friends, and fans all over the world. And finally, to Ricky and the team and the support staff, it's been a magic ride, its not been a fairytale ending but it's been a fairytale career. Thank you so much."

Definitely a fairytale.

The pic I have put up here shows Gilchrist hitting the mid-wicket pull, something which has been his signature shot, as slog-sweep for Steve Waugh or shuffled leg-flick for Tendulkar, and its a very exciting shot.

Enough of words, despite India's victory(an awesome one), I am very sad that it's Game Over for Gilchrist in Aussie colours. Although IPL will give me another chance still everyone will surely miss Adam Gilchrist.

Technorati Tags: Adam Gilchrist, Australia

Connect DA-IICT

As people who have gone through what you are going through today, we have learnt our lessons through our own share of success and failures. Now, we the Alumni of DA-IICT would like to extend our help and support to you guys in resolving your queries on career after graduation. With our friends and seniors in various sectors and walks of education ranging from Physics to Film Making, we look forward to help you guys to the best of our abilities. You can send in your queries on anything related to your career, be it Job, MBA, Internship, VLSI, Film Making and anything under the sun.

Shoot a mail to connect.daiict@gmail.com with an appropriate subject and we would find the right person among us to resolve it for you. Given our own commitments and constraints, it may sometimes take longer than what you expect to resolve a few typical queries, but we would make sure your queries are attended to.

We hope you put us to the best of your use...

Terms and Conditions:
1. You can ask us about your internships, but please refrain from sending us your CVs, SoPs etc...
2. Please use a proper subject line with the most appropriate key word in square braces. For eg, if you are asking something about a VLSI, please use [VLSI] in the subject so that it would facilitate us in our division of duties.
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- DA-IICT Alumni

Sales Pitch

I was formally introduced to this concept by someone from my company's sales team during my assimilation. Although over the period I have realised that everytime we end up selling something, although intangible, but everytime you talk, you want people to buy it, more so true in case of a self-obsessed person like me.

It ranges from formal sessions like interviews, to just a cup of coffee, anytime anywhere. But if you keep in mind that it's officially a sales pitch I think it gives you more confidence. Consider my first and till date only job interview, although I was nervous, I was good in selling my confidence, my passion for loads of other things than "C", my love for Java(which too has disappeared) etc etc.

Few days back when I attended a b-school interview it was another such attempt. But after talking to my friend's sister I realised that it's officially a sales pitch. The panelists are consumers who are looking for the best deal, I am nothing but a salesman who sells himself off. So this time I kept this thing everytime in my mind while giving any answers, it helps quite a lot. Only that thinking of you as a commodity can be demeaning sometimes, I mean I am obviously different from a Parle-G.

Btw, do read the interview transcript, it should be fun.

Coming back to me, I think I am good in selling things, although not the regular shopkeeper stuff but things I have realised for the past few days after giving a thought to what actually interests me. For example I wanted to consider couple of friends of mine for this course at ISI Kolkata that they should do as they are good with numbers. Anyway people dont see much beyond an MBA or MS for higher eductaion nowadays. I just tried to make the pitch exciting by saying that guys from ISI are quite in demand among good looking bengali gals ;). Couple of them really got excited and hope they will apply. By the way Bengali Girls are really quite beautiful J.

You talk to any girl and you will realise that they too are looking for a package deal, so when one proposes it should be Sales Pitch rather than regular proposal. We had a brainstorming session on this one last week and some real good points came up. Although we are not looking at a slideshow for asking a girl something, but a step by step breakdown of things helps. (Maybe, some experiments will be conducted on this theory soon :))

When you talk to your client you sell him your work, when you ask your boss for leave you try to sell the need of taking one, when you talk in appraisal your boss sells you his rating, when you say sorry after doing something terribly wrong you sell your ignorance, when you ask your dad for money to buy a new cell phone you sell your innocence, when you are in a discussion and just want people to buy your thoughts, sometimes ignoring there is something buy from them too.

It's always a buy-sell thing, we trade thoughts and that's how all the humans co-exist, but some people label it sharing, I disagree. It's never sharing because sharing is done for mutually agreeable items, like you can share a pizza or a Mysore pak or a nimbu soda, but you will only buy knowledge when you think its good for you and you can use it and it comes with the minimal cost, the same way you end up buying toothpaste. Cost here though can be a set of multiple parameters.

So just try it out once, whenever you try to talk to someone, think of the items you are selling to him, think of yourselves just as a Eureka Forbes guy and have a go, I am sure it will turn out quite well. Sales Pitch is not as mysterious as this year’s WACA Perth pitch, but again like that it’s sure to give positive results.

Technorati Tags: Sales, Marketing

Angrezi aur main...

Class 4th-5th

It all started with that, we were given some sort of scholar badges and all (for consistent performances with a particular score in core subjects), there was this English teacher who I didn't like at all, you know the sorts who went ahead with people who get top marks in junior sections, all those cute looking piglets whom they think are brainiest who get everything right, although I wasn't that bad but she never gave me marks, maybe I wan not a piglet anyway.

Class 6th-10th

Same not so old boring angrezi teacher who gave marks to girls and little healthier sort off pigs and screwed me up again many a times. I also had a fight with her which messed up my relations and so I never got a scholar badge till class 11th as they held me back some way other for English and sometimes Hindi. Maybe I behaved like a dog here, pigs were still in demand. My confidence in languages till 10th had already received a heavy blow though. worst still I became a horrible public speaker in those days due to that.

Class 11th

Probably one of the best teachers I ever studied under was Mrs. Biswas, elegant and caring are the words which come to my mind. She had such an awesome persona and like others, her marks were not based on pre-conceived notion of an individual. All notions of animalism chucked off for the time being.

Class 12th

The year I cherished most in the school because my favorite teacher Mrs. Ratnam taught me for the first time (sounds unusual but true). She is the one I knew throughout my school tenure, the bestest teacher there ever was at DPS Korba. It was delight as she taught English in an year when no one thinks about it. She took my interview way back in 1988 and its quite ironic that she retired the same year I left school, 2002. Best year for English and me :)

College Days, one Cat, workplace, blogging etc etc.

Everything went fine, reading speeds were good, although I was regualr reader earlier I improved, did more discussions, turned from a hand shaking- leg breaking speaker to a nice confident aggressive presenter. Did all of this stupid writing, all dung, read dung, ate dung. See now I became a Pig.

Good days for English were obvious.

CAT & XAT this year

Similar percentiles of 84.16 (84.13 in other) (Overall 97.7 in CAT, 99.42 in XAT) help me secure a missed call from IIM's and XLRI. All the AIMCATs I hardly got below 95%ile, my worst performance coming up in these two examinations.

Although I am disappointed I would like to add that my English is not that great, its just the way people judge your language skills, the kind of exams they look for, I don't know.

In that regards the best language teacher I had was my French teacher at Ahmedabad, she had an amazing persona and I really excelled when it came French learning.

Although disappointed I am not broken, its enough of these exams for me, maybe something better out there for me. No one is an authority to comment on what I am like in anything, English has screwed me for a long time and hope it enjoys f**k*** me again and again. At least the language will get some pleasure out of it.

Living in Bangalore has made me a dog again, pigs are the most intelligent ones, thats why there English is good.(George Orwell says so, although both the species should control there reproduction rates :))

Technorati Tags: CAT, XAT