Mr
Siddharth, I was also thinking to
write an article on this movie. Let
me tell you that your English
vocabulary is impressive. I had to
search the dictionary to find
meanings of a few words. I could not
have written it so well.
I will not tell more about the story
as it would kill the enthusiasm of
those who have not seen the movie
yet. I remember once my friend told
me after watching a movie 'Gupt',
"Good suspense movie. You must see.
Till the end, you will not be able
to guess that Kajol is the
murderer".
You have already mentioned the good
part of the movie. Let me tell a few
things that I did not like about the
movie. Like many other Bollywood
movies, this movie too, failed to
give a positive solution, and
resorted to violence as the only
option. The rhetoric of politicians
being the root of all evils in India
is accentuated. See, I am trying to
show that my vocabulary is also not
bad.
Anyway, other distasteful aspect of
the movie was the way the
paramilitary forces have been
portrayed. They were shown in a poor
light to be ruthless killers
committing atrocities on non-violent
people. A few cases of human rights
violation does not prove that the
paramilitary in India has rotten
completely.
I was also excited and hopeful to
read the news of IITians leaving
their MNC jobs to form 'Paritrana'.
I wish the director could have shown
such a solution. Today's Bhagat
Singh need not kill anyone. We have
judiciary and police, which needs
amendments, not a complete boycott.
We are a democracy and we must be
proud to preserve it.
I was hoping that at least one of
the students would speak in
Bihari/Bengali accent (being a story
of Delhi University), but anyway,
that does not matter. I can bet that
the boy who says 'Main jaanta hoon,
main jaanta hoon, aap meri shadi
karana chahte hain..' is a Bihari or
a UP'ite. Comedy was good. A few
slang were unnecessary, though. A
particular political party was
indirectly targeted. And Delhi
University does have restrooms for
the students in the college campus.
Other than that, the movie was very
good. I know many will be cursing me
now, but if you had not seen it yet,
then that was your fault. Watch it,
you won't regret.
You are right Siddharth ji, US mein
wo baat nahi. Jo desh ke kaam na
aaye, wo barbaad jawani hai. The
Swades song "Ye jo desh hai tera.."
by A R Rahman is one of my
favourites here. - Kumod Jha -
Feb. 6, 2006
Dear Siddharth, please wake up from
emotional and cinematic world. The
film “Swadesh” fits for the NRIs of
developed states like Gujarat, Kerla,
and Punjab etc. and absolutely not
for Biharis. It will be suicidal for
poor Bihar if NRBs pack back. The
contemporary locomotive of Bihar is
NRB who sends hard-earned money back
to their families in Bihar. Has
Nitish hoodwinked NRBs and NRIs to
venture in Bihar? Certainly not, he
discerns to gleam only in NRBs and
NRIs as the govt. machinery botched
to amend its fortune for over 50
years post Independence.
The southern of Vindhyachal was much
developed than its northern
counterpart even before
Independence. When Northerners were
busy singing “Sarfaroshi Ki Tamanna”,
the Southerners were engaged in
scientific study and pursuing their
carriers in US/UK/Malaysia/Singapore
and Gulf. Today Telugu and Tamil
movies premieres first in US/UK and
earns bagful of money there than in
India. These communities with the
help of MNCs are changing the fate
of their states/cities whether it is
Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, or
Chandigarh.
One example: Can you believe in
Indore, an MNC software company
called CSC (Computer Sciences
Corporation) exists? If this one of
top Ten Software companies in the
world can settle down in a small
interior city Indore with the
initiative of it’s employees who
hail from the same city, then why
not Patna, the renowned capital of
Bihar?
It is foolish to brainwash NRBs with
such writings; rather we need to
persuade them to dwell in more and
more overseas market and send back
money to Bihar to change its
destiny.
Today’s Bhagat Singhs are the NRBs/NRIs
who invest in their states and
provide livelihood to many of their
fellow citizens and definitely not
those who sing “Sarfarosi Ki Tamanna”
and return to their states after
seeing “Swadesh”. - Tarakeswar
Dubey - Feb. 6, 2006
Mr Tarakeswar, please go through Mr
Siddharth's comments to the article
'Doing What You Can Do for Bihar'
posted on Jan 22, 2006, before using
such strong words like-"please wake
up from emotional and cinematic
world". I found that you have sent
two comments, one to this article
and another to 'India Lacks Sporting
Culture'. In both the comments, you
have called the authors' thoughts as
foolish. Come on Tarakeswar ji, what
provoked you to be so rude to them?
You may be an extraordinarily
talented person, know-it-all type,
but does that mean you have got a
right to write anything and others
don't? Or, were you upset with
something this weekend?
I am pained to see how you tried to
convey the importance of
'development' over patriotism. If
someone's mother (or motherland) is
poor and sick, should he be content
with sending money (dhan) to her for
treatment? Or should he bring his
mother to his place, and if that is
not possible, go to mother's place
to serve her physically, emotionally
and monetarily (tan-man-dhan)? This
was the question raised in 'Swades'.
Does 'Janani Janmabhoomishcha
swargaadapi gareeyasi' mean
something or is it just an emotional
thought? I am sorry to say that you
don't seem to have much respect for
the martyrs. If everyone started
thinking your way, then no one would
join Army, if at all we were
independent today.
I feel 'Swades' is more relevant in
context of Bihar than the states you
have mentioned. How will it be
suicidal for Bihar if NRBs go back?
What did you mean by that? Don't
worry so much Mr Tarakeswar, hardly
anyone will go back on seeing a
movie.
You suggested NRBs should invest in
Bihar. Good, please tell how and
where? Or, did you mean sending
money to parents, in some
far-fetched way, is investing in
Bihar? That must be a great reason
for CSC to open a branch in Patna,
right? I am confused by your logic,
possibly because I have got used to
think foolishly and being
brainwashed.
Do not reply with a clarification
that you were against that 'type' of
patriotism which is only in
sentiments. In this materialistic
world, where people are going to any
level just to get a Green Card, if
someone loves his country even in
his thoughts, he is a saint.
And please, some of our friends have
taken initiative to write beautiful
articles on topics other than Bihar.
If we can't encourage them, then we
should just keep quiet. - Kumod
Jha - Feb. 7, 2006
I guess the reasoning Mr DubeyJi has
come out with speaks of the mindset
some of the folks living abroad have
conceived over the course of
generations - selfish interests and
dwindling sense of servitude towards
our country. But why am I even
surprised - the very fundamentals of
western ideology is at its
hyperbolic best here - Don’t go out
of your way to help someone unless
you see a benefit in doing so - a
deep-rooted evil that has destroyed
families here.
I have been reading on this forum
for some time now and one line of
thought has clearly emerged from the
streams of thoughts poured on this
forum - No matter how sick your
motherland is or has been for
decades, the sons of her soil want
to wait for an investment
opportunity that would have some
lucrative return for them to justify
their investment. May be they are
right - its their hard earned money
and they have a reason to expect
dividends from their investment. An
excellent business mindset that
sounds practical but is
fundamentally flawed in its
rationale when it comes to helping
our ailing motherland. Our sick and
poor motherland has breastfed us all
her life. She has given us
everything when we were growing up.
She expects her sons to be by her in
testing times. But hold on!!! Her
sons have a different idea - they
don’t want to go back because the
mother is sick and what financial
gains can he still derive. The rest
billion or more are fools to be
rotting there in hell.
DubeyJi, I tip my hat off to you for
supporting your family and your dear
ones are surely proud of you. But
then who doesn’t? It is the least we
can do to support our family, to
make sure their needs are fulfilled.
But sometimes we should also stretch
our reach beyond our families. How
many of us without any selfish
motive have stood up and volunteered
to help the state and its people in
any way possible? I think the
definition of development has
assumed one-dimensional flavor -
building of roads, bridges, big
malls, multiplexes and industrial
powerhouses. I wish Bihar turns into
that reality someday. But I am a man
of short vision and I don’t think
big like some of you. For me
development could be helping a poor
kid be able to stand on his own,
help him in his education, assist
him in any way possible so that one
day he will turn into a productive
workforce for his motherland and be
a "layak beta" for his parents. I
believe in this Logical Unit Of Work
(LUOW) that is spiritually inspiring
and personally satisfying. Well I
have some quarters and dimes in my
purse to make sure I can have my two
meals a day and meet some of my
personal bills. I also make sure
that I have enough remaining at the
end of the day for my family. Jeez,
I still have nickels and pennies
left. Then I ask myself - Will I be
poor if I let those nickels and
pennies go? You tell me. Regardless
of what your answer is - those poor
hapless kids who shiver in the
biting cold and starve naked on the
unforgiving streets make a rightful
claim for your attention. Daridra
Narayan!!! Daridra Narayan!!! Bhajte
chalo bhajte chalo!
A sense of patriotism need not only
be fueled on battle frontiers; it
can be showcased right in your own
town, city or a village. The
question is are we even ready for
it? Have we risen beyond our own
vested interests?
Coming back to Dubeyji's
observations here are some gracious
rejoinders -
1. A large cross section of readers
visits this forum so my article was
not addressed particularly for the
NRBs.
2. I think you did not read between
the lines - my decision to go back
is not inspired after watching
Swadesh - I had it ingrained long
before I first stepped on the US
soil. So a case of wrong
observation.
3. According to you Indore has a CSC
because of its employees that live
there. So you question why can't
Patna have something similar. But
then you also sermonize going back
is an absolute no-no. Some
paradox!!!!
Mr Kumod Ji clinched this one for me
- harboring patriotic feelings in
far away lands is nothing short of
worship, especially when it is so
easy to be swept off the local "chamak
damak" and fall short on allegiance
towards our own country. So here I
sing one of my favorites -
" Kadam Kadam badhaye ja, khushi ke
geet gaye jaa - yeh zindagi hai kaum
ki, tu kaum pe lutaye jaa.” -
Siddharth Verma - Feb. 7, 2006
It is very heartening to see the
Basanti rang spreading. I
congratulate the PD team. This forum
has really made the mark. With good
writers joining the forum Readers
Write has taken off. It is changing
long held cynical, critical
paradigms for the better. Critical
people said "India will remain a
beggar country forever", "Bihar will
never develop", "Biharis are
uneducated, caste minded people who
will vote Laloo back to power". They
were proved wrong. India is forging
ahead and there is no reason why
Bihar will not turn the tide. Just
keep up the good work. - Raj - Feb. 7, 2006
Kumodji, sorry for sounding rude in
my comments. I tried arguing as if
we are friends and my intention was
not to discourage any one. On my
next comment I will pretend to be
more formal. However, don't
anticipate affirmation from me on
all topics. Being a concerned
Bihari, even I encourage and
anticipate more participants in this
Forum.
My outrage reflects the truce about
poor plights of Biharis. Although we
sacrificed maximum lives for the
sake of country, what we got at the
end? Poverty and humiliation. We
lead Sepoy Mutiny of 1857. What
honor did we receive for that?
Evolution in Bihar snubbed and
Biharis were renounced to join Army
till Second world war. The outsiders
never reckon Biharis for forfeiting
maximum lives during war and counter
insurgency before beating them in
their states. We don't have IIT/IIM/Industries.
Do rest of India solicitude these
for our sacrifice?
South has every thing from ISRO to
Infosys, although they least
involved in freedom movement and
wars.
Till few years back, Nationalism was
high in my mind, but it came down
after ignominy of Bihari Students in
Kalyan followed with genocide of
Biharis in Assam.
I agree with you and Sidhharthji
about personal caring of our
Parents. However, I disagree if you
meant to Mother Bihar. Our
motherland already has overcrowded
10 Crore poor sons. Being a good
mother, she too wants her kids to
prosper. Unable to cope with
circumstances, she asks them to
leave her and earn money outside and
invest back in Bihar to help rest of
her sons.
Poverty needs to be annihilated to
restitute our lost glory. Therefore
NRBs have to be glued afield and
garner galore to invest back in
Bihar. - Tarakeswar Dubey - Feb.
9, 2006 |
