Nature: Insect with leaf like wings

 

Hindu Temple: Baba Dudhnath Dham Mandir, Chhapra Megh, Muzaffarpur

Travelogue: Baby Krishna With a Bicycle

While going from city towards the outskirts on my bike, first I came across a man of around 20 who was speeding on his Bullet (Royal Enfield) bike in such a manner that there was almost a certainty of an accident. He was of course not even wearing a helmet. Afterwards, when I entered into major inter-city road, I came across a boy of about five who was running on the road holding a children's bicycle beyond his age. 

The boy was brown skinned, his long hair reaching shoulders had turned golden due to sun exposure, and he must belong to one of the vegabond families who live besides highways in tents. He was healthy, fit and fine and was running very fast while holding the bicycle which was of height more than his own. He was about two feet on the main road and I realized it was dangerous of him to run like that. 

Correlating the kid and the man, dont't know what is the relation between male genes and a propensity to run high-speed and flirt with danger. 

Coming back to the kid, the scene of the baby boy running with his bicycle was so heartwarming that my heart skipped several beats. I also noticed that a woman walking on the other side of the road was starring at the boy, in a gaze of concern. The boy was clearly taking risk running on a main road like this, and I only imagined his family living very near besides the road, although I could not notice any dwellings nearby. 

I am aware of sometime that boys of such age always secretely remind me of my son, and hence as I moved past the boy, I could not stop but getting too teary eyed. Now it was my turn to play with danger if I continued like that while riding a bike, and hence I swallowed all my tears with my eyes. Like Shiva, the ultimate God consumed poison to save the world, absorbing all the tears back into my eyes is a little sacrifice I can do, to save the status quo. 

On my return trip, the boy was not to be seen anywhere. Perhaps he had returned safely to his road-side home. The little Krishna had finished his leela for today and might continue tomorrow. 

- Rahul 

Travelogue: Nitishwar Mahavidyalay (College), Muzaffarpur, Bihar

 

Travelogue: PJP Cinemas, P&M Mall, Mithanpura, Muzaffarpur, Bihar

 

Travelogue: Aquarium Inside Ramakrishna Vivekananda Ashram, Muzaffarpur, Bihar

 

Hindu Temple: Ganesh Mandir, P&M Mall, Mithanpura, Muzaffarpur, Bihar

 

Travelogue: P&M Mall, Mithanpura, Muzaffarpur, Bihar

 

Hindu Temple: Shri Ramakrishna Vivekanand Ashram, Mithanpura, Muzaffarpur, Bihar

 

Nature: Mango and Jackfruit Trees in Muzaffarpur, Bihar

 

Travelogue: Some Nature Photographs, Muzaffarpur, Bihar

 

Travelogue: Some Murals at Lakefront, Muzaffarpur, Bihar

 

Travelogue: Sikandarpur Lake Front (Marine Drive), Muzaffarpur, Bihar

 

Travelogue: Delhi Airport Terminal 1

 

Travelogue: New Delhi Railway Station

 

Hindu Temple: Prati Shirdi Sai Baba Mandir, Shirgaon, Pune

 

- Rahul 

List of Some Places of Visit Around Pune

1. Shaniwar Wada
2. Vishram Bagh Wada Palace
3. Dagdusheth Ganpati Mandir
4. Tilak Smarak Mandir
5. Ayyappa Temple
6. Inorbit Mall
7. Chakan Fort
8. Induri Fort
9. Raj Kapoor Memorial
10. Pune Tribal Museum
11. Shri Subramania Swamy Temple
12. Film and Television Institute of India
13. Premal Hanuman Temple
14. Bhama Askhed Dam
15. Jambhulwadi Lake
16. Bund Garden
17. Tail-Baila Fort
18. Kranti Flamingo Point
19. Gandhi National Memorial
20. Zapurza Museum of Art and Culture
21. Kamla Nehru Park
22. Lal Mahal
23. Katraj Lake
24. Junnar Caves
25. Chittaranjan Vatika Garden
26. Mayureshwar Wildlife Sanctuary
27. Pratishirdi Shri Saibaba Mandir
28. Appu Ghar Amusement Park
29. Seven Wonders Dream Park
30. Joshi’s Museum of Miniature Railways
31. Shri Mahalakshmi Mandir, Sarasbaug, Pune
32. Amazeum Children’s Museum
33. Ishanya Mall
34. Lavasa International Convention Centre
35. Peshwa Udyan Zoo
36. Jangali Maharaj Temple
37. Shri Wagheshwar Temple
38. Malhargarh Fort
39. Bagul Udyan
40. Bhatghar Dam
41. Saint Tukaram Gatha Mandir
42. University of Pune
43. Morgaon Mayureshwar Temple
44. Empress Gardens
45. Trishundha Ganpati Temple
46. Dive Ghat Valley
47. Tung Fort
48. Kanifnath Temple
49. Baner Hill
50. Sant Dnyaneshwar Maharaj Samadhi
51. Sambhaji Maharaj Samadhi
52. Shri Someshwar Temple
53. Osho International Meditation Resort
54. Purandar Fort
55. Saras Baug
56. Gram Sanskruti Udyan Village Park
57. Ghorwadeshwar Caves
58. Pashan Lake
59. Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary
60. Neelkantheshwar
61. Seasons Mall
62. Koregaon Park
63. Lonavala Lake
64. Ranjangaon Ganpati Temple
65. Amanora Mall
66. Taljai Hill
67. Shri Satya Sai Pandurang Kshetra
68. Narayani Dham Temple
69. BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir
70. Tulsibag Market
71. Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum
72. Sarasbaug Ganpati Temple
73. Chaturshrungi Temple
74. Bhuleshwar Temple
75. Pataleshwar Cave
76. Osho Teerth Park
77. Kasarsai Dam
78. National Defence Academy
79. Khadakwasala Dam
80. Parvati Temple
81. Mulsi Dam
82. Aga Khan Palace
83. Tamhini Ghat
84. Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park
85. Sri Balaji Mandir
86. ISKCON NVCC Temple
87. Sinhagad Fort
88. Mahabaleshwar – Panchgani
89. Peshwa Energy Park
90. Vetal Tekdi
91. Osho Garden
92. National War Memorial

Movie Review: Chand Mera Dil (2026); and Why People Criticized Ananya Panday’s Bharatnatyam

 

I got interested in watching ‘Chand Mera Dil’ after seeing news of social media users making fun of actress Ananya Panday for her Bharatnatyam dance in this film. I thought to check why people were so agitated. After watching this film, I realized it was a case of “much ado about nothing”. Ananya Panday had danced during “fresher’s function” of her engineering college. And her Bharatnatyam was not a pure one but a ‘fusion’ to make it funny for viewers. Entire college enjoyed that dance and were astonished. So, the film never claimed that Ananya was making a classical dance performance in this film. Instead of appreciating Ananya and this film for depicting one of the Indian native dance forms, people on social media were making fun of it and it was disappointing. I would give her 10/10 for that dance. And the ‘hero’ of the film Lakshya fell in love with her seeing that dance.

In “Chand Mera Dil”, Ananya’s character is named “Chandni” which is a refreshing name in the current times. Lakshya is playing the role of Aarav, a promising engineering student who sacrifices his career to support Chandni. I don’t want to give too much spoilers, but I can tell you that I felt like quitting the film mid-way by the intermission because the film was so intense and troubling at the same time.

The theatre where I was watching the film was filled with young men and women. And a group of them were sitting in my row. Initial minutes of the film were all about love, hence everything went fine. The moment it turned into “marriage”, one girl started getting ‘triggered’. She started talking to her friends around her, started judging whatever happened on the screen, and passed comments. There was a scene after which she started shouting “loser” at Aarav, the male lead. Immediately, the picture of a typical male-hating fake-feminist came to my mind. She kept shouting at Aarav, calling him whatever bad things she could, and it went on for some time and it was so irritating to hear all that. But by the end of the film, Aarav shows real character and she went totally silent. The ending of the movie was a bit comforting and gave people hope, and hence perhaps all previous feelings were forgiven.

The movie depicts struggles and survival for young couple, but presents the whole story in a unique way, not seen before. I had become a fan of Lakshya after seeing his film “Kill” (2023) on TV, and Chand Mera Dil was his first film I watched in a theatre. Same for Ananya Panday too. After watching this film, I could realize why her critics were shouting on social media. In this film, her acting skills has shone like a moon (Chand), and she has really given a powerful and ‘complete’ performance. She is not a typical “show girl” in this film, but she has played the role of a versatile character artist. And she has given as great performance as any A-class actress would have given.

This is overall a very nice film. Although I won’t recommend this film for either people below 18 or the senior citizens too. Its target audience is exactly the age Aarav and Chadni are playing – in their mid or late 20s. Hence, overall recommended to above audience.

- Rahul

Travelogue: E-Square Multiplex, Xion Mall, Hinjawadi, Pune: Part 2

 

- Rahul 

Social Media Cockroaches: For How Long Shall We Allow Anarchy to Rule Social Media “Jungle Raaj” While Tech Firms Earn Billions?

 

I read in news that the Supreme Court chief justice recently compared unemployed youth with “parasites”, and then a social media storm broke down. Finally, the chief justice had to “disown” his earlier statement saying he was “misquoted” (sounded like what politicians do daily). When I looked up the news, I found that in his original statement, the chief justice had meant well and there was no need to clarify or retract from his position. Here is how.

What the chief justice wanted to say was that there are many people around us who live off other people, and instead of contributing to society, they attack the system society is working on. The context was a junior lawyer who was using the designation “Senior Advocate” along with his name on social media for getting attention. The chief justice got upset at him and perhaps blamed him for being irresponsible and wasteful like a “cockroach”. The “cockroach” was of course a metaphor for being useless and wasteful.

The eventual social media furore over his comment totally justified his initial statement. The unemployed youth wasting their time on social media went on to create numerous satirical entities after replacing a term with “cockroach” and wasted days in the name of humour and satire. How long can one sit over one’s high horse – finally the horse has to take rest and fodder too, right? Eventually, the social media uproar will end and the only effect this whole episode will have is lowering the dignity of our justice system and making a joke of our constitution given right of free speech.

As we have seen during many controversies, social media platforms have shown zero control over stopping misleading, incorrect, fake, malicious or defamatory content. At the same time, they are earning billions of dollars every year due to the content created by users. For how long shall we allow total “anarchy” rule and social media content visibility policies changing the way people speak or behave on these platforms? If we expect real world to be rule-based, and society functioning on principles and ethical boundaries, why should we allow social media to be a lawless, “Jungle Raaj”?

It is high time the Supreme Court of India must look into this matter since we have seen many a time on such issues that only the SC can help and no other institution comes up to correct the situation. Lawless, anarchist, misleading and defamatory nature of social media must be purged, to make it rule-based, fair, and a controlled entity. It is very much possible to achieve, just look at how the early-days social media platforms were designed, for clues. Along with time, “virality” was given first priority while designing these platforms and this is the root cause of all evils. This problem can be solved in one day, if the Supreme Court orders. There are many other important concerns like restricting social media for children, making content copyright compliant, stopping use of these platforms for crime and financial fraud.

The day the Supreme Court takes up this matter in its hands, it won’t matter how many cockroaches line up to shout, the insecticide of law will be powerful enough to control them for the benefit of everyone.

- Rahul