Sunday, June 28, 2009

The Curious Case of Our Nation!!


I don’t have to go across the globe to write about a curious case. I just need to look into my nation.


The population of Indians in Britain makes British feel so out of place. The prejudice we showed to our neighbors made them remember ‘India’ as a synonym for ‘hate’.


Such has been our unity in the past that we were ruled by almost every might in this world. Such is the case with terrorism in our country that hardly anything has been done.


Such is the craze for Cricket that players are treated as kings as well as waste. The condition of other sports makes them so out of taste.


Such are the IT engineers here that most of them don't even know C. And still India is the number 1 preference for all the IT companies.


Uproar when a Muslim girl is on Tennis Court is what we get to see. The same faces grin when a Muslim actress wears two piece bikini in a movie.


Such are the filmfare awards here that the best of the actors actually boycott them!! Such is the adulation for some that people actually worship them.


Such is the literate society here who spends tons of money donating to the ignorant priests. The plight of a needy is that he can never rest in peace.


Such are the people here who despite of knowing the truth, elect the culprits of ‘Gujrat riots’. Still they don’t agree that they are religiously biased.


The world thinks that India is changing and so do we, but what remains the same are the slums in Mumbai.


India’s 8% annual growth is just an irony. Power cuts in major cities are the sights to see.


Culture, cast , religion are said to be the things that every Indian boasts about. But the tiny box thinking of our's has left us with hate and nothing to be proud of.


Even a nursery going kid in Australia now knows who Indians are. We call them racist, forgetting who we actually are.


The only hope left now is our new generation. But our ignorance still keeps me in suspicion.
I know many may argue that this is not what India is all about, may be yah, but can’t you see the ‘Dance of hypocrisy in the world’s largest democracy’?? That’s what I wanted to bring out.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Rock & Roll

Most people know I am crazy about western music!! To be specific I listen to a bunch of genres which make people react in the weirdest ways. An impulse reaction to this kind of music is head banging at places where you will never want to. Look at me for instance. My friends have caught me head banging at my work place numerous times (Thank god, my manager hasn’t). Me with my headphones stuck in my ears is a common site at my workplace and even at home!! The database of hard rock/metal bands is increasing day by day in my account and there is no stopping the online FM Radio to which I listen almost 24X7. Yah now one can feel that I am a big ROCK fan!

But wait, is this enough to be a rock fan?? I think the world has a different view in discerning ROCK fans.

Recently i was telling my friend about some of the metal/rock bands that he should listen to. But he ignorantly argued – “Dude!! You don’t seem to be a true rock fan!!"

Me- "What made you say that?"

Friend- "You don’t fag and all..”.

“Hunh??” was my reaction.

May be he had a point. Just a few months back I went to a rock concert. It was not a trivial one, as the father of all metal bands ‘Iron Maiden’ was there!! To be true, my zeal for attending any rock concert died that very day. I found myself trapped b/w the cult of drug addicts, chain smokers, and the preachers of obloquy. Dude!! Wat da f**k, F**kin’ Damn it , b**ch bring your daddy, slut slut slut… if you haven’t heard of any of the innovative slang and abusive verses then a rock concert is an ideal place to visit!! “Welcome to the rock culture”, I said to myself!!

Smoke smoke everywhere, no fresh air to breathe!! I smoked some 10,000 cigarettes that day. All passively only. Felt so choked!! And then I returned home with a charcoaled face.

Rock concert wasn't a place for me. I was so out of place. After all, wasn’t rock all about music?? What does it have to do with swearing, fagging and dosing and growing long hair? All this was really alien to me.

Well but this is what 'Rock culture' is all about. That’s what most of the rock listening world follows. It’s sad but true!!! And who to blame when their stars, their gods themselves lie chalked up back stage.

It is said that true rock fans are fanatics. And fanatics are harebrained. I read somewhere that a crazy fan of Marilyn Manson considers him to be GOD. Haha!! So at last someone on earth saw God. But dear your God is horrifying!!! (See his pic below). Now such adulation can’t be justified, right?

Well but my anti-rock culture sentiments do not impact my liking towards this genre of music.

Hard Rock songs are mostly for the sad, the grim and the unfortunate. Sometimes they are about venting your frustration and being real. They are also political, mysterious and even gothic. And there are enough bands who can sing love songs in hard rock tunes to surprise you. But the very fact that they are closer to reality actually attracts me towards them. It takes a great talent to come out with reality and tune it around with mind boggling guitar and base skills into some great songs.

Having said so, I think being a hanger-on of rock music I can regard it with the best respect that I can give but I cannot simply follow ‘rock culture’. It is not made for me. I don’t wanna get influenced and succumb to the vicious side effects of rock culture. Being its disciple will be injurious to my health and moral ;). But the cult will never feel embarrassed, they just like to succumb to the very upshot of rock culture.They love getting high with music (that's what they will say to defend themselves)!!! :)