Movies: Shikara Review

I read the review of movie 'Shikara' on Rediff. It mentions that the movie "questions" the "politics" around Kashmiri Pandit's exile in 1990. It questions the genuineness of other Hindus who support KPs and are sad and angry with (Cong party) govt for why it did not protect KPs.

It kind of mentions that most people who support Kashmiri Pandits cause on "social media" are plain trolls who have "never met a KP" and never seen a "refugee camp". This is such a negative and skeptical view of the reality.

Quote: 'Sir, he has never seen a Kashmiri Pandit'. That's the note on which Shikara concludes.

Well, I have known many KPs from my college days. And I know about KP's refugee camp in Pune; our office colleagues used to go there to donate food items.

It seems this movie is a kind of "propaganda" film; which will do more harm to the KP community than benefit. I read that Vidhu Vinod Chopra is a Kashmiri himself. Perhaps he wanted to make a movie on Kashmir to satisfy his inner demons. But he did not have the guts to show truth.

To some extent Shikara is then like the movie Aarakshan (2011) which was supposed to be a movie on anti-reservation movement but became a rant against coaching centers. It was made by Prakash Jha who comes from the community which suffered due to caste quota. And hence Aarakshan became such a disappointment; despite having big stars like AB, Manoj Bajpayee, etc (and it flopped on Box Office too). Therefore, due to the dishonest work by movie makers, Shikara too seems to be going to be a flop.

It was better if movie-makers did not make such movies on sensitive topics which mock the subjects and ridicule people who genuinely believe in a cause.

I will of course not watch it.

- Rahul

Television: Anil Kapoor on Bigg Boss Show

Recently Anil Kapoor appeared on Bigg Boss show for promoting his movie Malang. I was shocked to hear him addressing Salman Khan as "aap" and Salman did not mind it.

I checked their age. Anil Kapoor is about 10 years older than Salman.

I still can’t digest it why would Salman prefer to hear “aap” from a senior star like Anil Kapoor. 

Psychology Article: When Men Are Boys and Wives Are Mothers

Here is a wonderful psychology article. I never thought about it this way before. Feels great to read and understand. I think “empathy” is key. Any relationships can work if both partners have some “empathy” toward each other.

Why do relationships become dysfunctional? There are many possible answers. Here is a notable one: The tendency for the male partner to become the child in the relationship, while his female partner becomes the mother. People react to this topic as if it is a common phenomenon. Yet many couples continue to fall into this trap and few people understand how it might occur. A colleague of mine adds that it is common sense yet people aren't conscious of it when it happens in their relationship.

The mother-child dynamic can happen in a multitude of ways. First, let's look at role models. Research has demonstrated that there are general differences in the way fathers and mothers care for a child. Mothers take on the day-to-day caregiving activities and responsibilities: Doctor appointments, extracurricular activities, checking the homework. Fathers are, however, associated with play. In fact, many fathers even turn responsibilities into play. For me, getting my son to school in the mornings becomes a race against the clock. Children learn that men are associated with play and women with responsibility. 

A second aspect, though it may be fading, is that men are taught to suppress certain emotions. Crying, for example, is unmanly. Young men must keep their feelings in check and deal with them in some undetermined, unexpressed, internal fashion. This internalizing will then result in a magical fix. Internalizing may work for some feelings, but in regard to relationships, it can be detrimental.

The man matures and now enters a relationship. While in the courting stage his playfulness and childlike charm are attractive and endearing. As the relationship progresses there may be signs and attempts to curtail some of that playful behavior. Once he is married there is often a shift for the man to become more responsible and "grown-up."

For many married men, the wife may start to become a mother figure. She may encourage less play (hanging out with friends, heavy drinking) and behave in a more grown-up fashion. Here is the male take on this sea change: "Before we got married she had fun, too. She and I would go to a club together, she would drink and we would dance. Now she wants no part of it." This mothering behavior often becomes even more pronounced when children enter the relationship.

Another aspect that affects the relationship: the tendency for men to feel slighted when a child comes along. Most men would have difficulty admitting this, but it's a hard fact to deny. This combination of feeling slighted and suppressing feelings is a recipe for a relationship disaster. Many men will never voice their feelings, instead, they look to fill their void from attention elsewhere. Much of this might be unconscious with both partners unaware of what is happening.

There is no point in blaming either party, but both men and women need to understand that these learned roles are negatively impacting their relationships.

Recognizing the root of these behaviors is not enough. People do not have to accept these roles and can become aware of them and alter them before the relationship is damaged. Men may be inclined to be more playful, and women to be more motherly, but with knowledge of the roots of these motivations, partners can have improved understanding, compassion, and dialogue.

Article Source

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-second-noble-truth/201102/when-men-are-boys-and-wives-are-mothers

India: What I like about Union Budget 2020

A few weeks before annual union budget for financial year 2020-21 was to be announced, industrialist Anand Mahindra took to Twitter on this subject. He hailed Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and asked her to surprise everyone with a “blockbuster” budget:

“So with a forecast rate of growth of 5% for our GDP in '19-'20 we'll fall behind them again? This should get our competitive juices flowing. @nsitharaman ji, let's surprise the world with a blockbuster of a budget including some dramatic moves. And sprint back in front..” - anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) January 13, 2020

Well, Nirmala Sitaraman did not surprise anyone. She did not ‘entertain’ anyone. Most importantly, while doing it, she did not do it in a manner which would prove her incompetent for the role. She presented the budget just like a prudent Finance Minister was to do it. Like it or dislike it, do not hope any drama in it. Nirmala Sitharaman means business.

While much of media has given mixed to negative verdict on the Union Budget 2020, I think it is because of their own unrealistic expectations. Anyone who is disappointed from this year’s budget had some unrealistic expectations.

Here are a few things I like in this year’s union budget:

What I Like About Union Budget 2020:

1.      New (Optional) Tax Regime: This was a really innovative idea and ‘bold’ too. Who could think that the govt would “dare” to do away with the old tax deductions. Earlier people used to say that they could do their savings in the ways they wanted and did not want government to force them to use some fixed set of options. By keeping it optional, government has also showed prudence. As analysts are saying, new tax regime is good for those in higher income bracket and people in lower income groups can decide to continue with old regime.

2.      Giving Better Tax Rebates to Startups: Startups with turnover of up to ₹ 100 crore can now claim 100 percent deduction on their profit for computing tax liability for three consecutive years out of 10 years since their incorporation. Earlier this turnover limit was only ₹ 25 Crores. Hence many more Startups would be able to take the benefits now.

3.      Deposit Insurance Coverage Increased: Govt has increased the deposit insurance cover to ₹ 5 lakh per depositor from the current level of ₹ 1 lakh. This will help millions of small depositors in events like recent PMC Bank crisis. This change proves that government is listening to people's concerns and making policies to help people.

4.      Dividend Distribution Tax Scrapped: Dividend distribution tax for companies will be scrapped, even if it causes a revenue loss of ₹ 250 billion to government. This is a major boost for the share market.

5.      Special Package for Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh: The government has allocated ₹ 30,757 crore for Jammu and Kashmir, and ₹ 5,958 crore for Ladakh, both of which are new Union Territories.

6.      Budget Allocation for Controlling Air Pollution: ₹ 4400 Crores has been allocated for improve air quality in big Indian cities. This was a very timely decision and shows that our government cares for people’s health.

Other Good Decisions:

7.      Milk processing capacity to be doubled by 2025

8.      100 more airports will be developed by 2024

9.      150 New Trains will Operate under Public-Private Participation (PPP) route

10. Introduction of Freight Trains and Airplanes for farm products

11. 20 Lakh farmers to get "solar pumps" for irrigation

12. 5 new mass vaccinations to be launched

13. Push for direct benefit transfer (DBT) which avoids corruption

14. Concessional corporate tax rates for new local companies in mfg and power sector

15. 5 new cities to be developed as Smart Cities

16. Higher Allocation for Education (5% more than earlier)

17. Higher Allocation for Agriculture (5% more than earlier)

18. Higher Allocation for Health Sector (10% more than earlier)

Overall, I liked this year’s Union Budget for being financially prudent and not being political in nature. This year’s Budget proves that our government has India’s long-term benefits in mind and the ruling party is not like some other smaller political parties which waste public money for votes and political benefits. Hope the government continues in the same prudent, transparent and progressive ways. And we the people do our part too.

- Rahul Tiwary 

Travelogue: Adventure Park, Sanjay Lake, Delhi, India

E.O.D. Adventure Park, Sanjay (Gandhi) Lake, Mayur Vihar, Delhi, is a themed adventure park situated besides Sanjay Lake. You can also get nice view of the Sanjay Lake from here. It also has boating facility and you can see ducks and other birds which settle in the lake. 

Entry fee is only Rs 25 and you can separately buy tickets of the rides and activities you want to do. 

- Rahul Tiwary | Feb 2020

Travelogue: Sanjay Lake, Trilokpuri, Delhi, India

The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) created Sanjay lake in the year 1970. This is a rainwater lake. It is named after Sanjay Gandhi.

It is situated in Trilokpuri area in East Delhi. This is adjoining Mayur Vihar- II residential area. The lake is Spread over 42 acres in the middle of a 170 acres forest area, also known as Sanjay Lake Park.

The lake attracts several migratory birds and has many indigenous trees. It also has a fitness track and attracts people interested in spending time with nature. 

- Rahul Tiwary | Jan 2020

Happy Saraswati Puja!

Photos: NRN Touching Feet of Ratan Tata

This is Indian civilization at its best! 73 yr old NRN touching feet of 82 yr old Ratan Tata. This is how millions of Indians greet elders each day.

Photography: Hide and Seek

Rahul Tiwary

Nature: Story of a Dog-mother

I go for an evening walk in my neighborhood park. I make two rounds of walk along the walking track. A few days back, I met with something unexpected.

That day, as soon as I reached a particular corner of the park, I saw a female dog barking at me. It was in the bushes; but moved a bit ahead and tried to make me go away. I moved briskly and walked away. When I reached the same spot in the second round, once again the same dog started barking at me. I wondered why it was doing it and kept walking.

The next day, I had forgotten about above incident. But once again as soon as I reached that corner of the park, the same dog started barking at me. I literally shouted at it, “Why are you after me?” I noticed that the female dog was a bit malnourished. I decided not to take any further chances and started avoiding that corner of the park.

The next day while walking, I once again reached the same spot of the park. Without waiting for the dog to bark at me, I stared to walk away fast. But then I noticed something. In the bushes, there was a small pup. It was completely black. Then I noticed that by that time the dog-mother had noticed me and had started barking at me. At least now I got her reason for barking at me – she was trying to prevent anyone getting near her baby!

After a while I noticed the same dog-mother outside the area. She was searching for some food here and there. I felt a bit sad for her. She must have hidden her pup somewhere in the park and then would have ventured outside to search for food. Until the kid grows up, she would have to find more food to feed herself as well as her kid.

By now, I had remembered that corner of the park and started avoided going there. Once a while I would see some other walkers go to that corner and I would hear the dog-mother barking at them. But the people looked comfortable, perhaps because they walked in groups. I imagined the hard time they were giving to the dog-mother.

This evening, I saw a more interesting scene.

A girl had taken her pet dog to the park. She was walking with her pet dog; the dog was big and completely black. And then I saw that from that corner of the park, the same dog-mother and her pup were going after them. Both were barking at the girl and her dog! And the pup had kept the same body-language as its mother! It was behaving as if it was some big dog itself. After a while, the pet-dog looked back at the mother-son and scared them by barking at them. The mother-dog and her pup immediately went back a few steps. But they started barking again. By this time the girl and her pet dog had gone away from that place.

After encountering this dog-mother and her pup, my walks in the park are no longer enjoyable like before; since I can’t go to full stretch and I have to turn back after reaching that spot. I am waiting for the pup to turn old enough. But I know that the dog-mother is more worried about the pup. While I write this, she would still be protecting that portion of the park – so that her pup would be safe. I can hear her barks in my mind.

- Rahul Tiwary

PS: 13-Feb: In between, occasionally I kept seeing dog-mother wandering far away in search of food. Sometimes she and her kid played around in the park; where she could be clearly seen training it. This evening, while she was playing with the pup, she was running after raising one of her legs; as one of her legs was seen hurt.

History of Shaheen Bagh, Delhi

Shaheen Bagh area in Delhi is now becoming synonymous with Muslims’ unhappiness in India and opposition political parties are putting up a show of strength there not seen in the recent past.  But what is the deal about Shaheen Bagh? Well, for starters, this area is nearly 100% occupied by Muslims. How did that happen? Let us go a bit about its history (based on Hindustan Times article).  

History of Shaheen Bagh

Shariq Ansarullah, now 61 years old, had come to Delhi from Uttar Pradesh’s Rampur to study at Jamia Millia Islamia in 1979. After completing his graduation, he joined MA in Arabic at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in 1982. After completing his studies in 1984, he started a real estate business. In the same year, with the help of his family, he bought a large plot of land (80 bigha) in Jasola village and developed this colony on the land.

Today, Ansarullah runs two schools known as Shaheen Public Schools — one for girls and another for boys - in the same neighbourhood.

Before Shariq Ansarullah there was another family that was developing residential neighbourhoods in this area. They named the colony developed on their plot as Nishat Bagh. And later Ansarullah named his colony as Shaheen Bagh. Shaheen Bagh and Nishat Bagh both have come up on agricultural land.

In May 1992, the RWA (Resident welfare association) decided to register the neighbourhood as a society with the DDA. They passed a resolution to name it after Abul Fazl Enclave that was already there. But keeping in mind the popularity of the name Shaheen Bagh, they mentioned it as ‘Abul Fazl Enclave Part -2 (Shaheen Bagh)’ in the papers. The name Shaheen Bagh had become so popular that even after registering as Abul Fazl Enclave Part-2, no one called the colony with that name.

Shaheen is a Common Muslim Name of Persian Origin

Shaheen is a very common name among Muslims. The word "Shaheen" or "Shahin" is of Persian origin, meaning "royal white falcon" or simply "worthy of a king", "majestic" or "kingly". This name is widespread in Iran and throughout the Indian subcontinent among Muslims.

Key takeaways:

·        Since the person buying large plot of land in this area was a Muslim, he would have sold small plots of land to fellow Muslims. As normally happens, people from other religions leave the Muslim dominated areas after selling out their houses. And hence this whole area grew up as a 100% Muslim occupied area.

·        Even though media is showing the ongoing Shaheen Bagh protests as some kind of “civil unrest”, this picture is totally wrong. 100% of protesters are Muslims and most are women (since men have to go to work, they can’t protest for weeks/months at stretch).

·        The Shaheen Bagh protesters are mostly uneducated and illiterate. When television news channels ask them what is wrong in CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act), they are seen speaking miscellaneous things in gibberish and it is clear that they do not understand a thing about CAA.

·        The protesters are not allowing even school buses and ambulances to pass through the area; thereby forcing them to take much longer routes. The Shaheen Bagh protests are the ugly side of what happens when uneducated people following outdated leaders gather forces against a government.

Why Support Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA)

CAA was passed by India’s Parliament to protect the minority population from neighboring Muslim countries (Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan), after many years of human rights violations, abductions, rapes, forced marriages and forced religious conversions against those minorities. Naturally, minorities in Muslim countries would mean Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains or Christians. Thereby Indian government specifically allowed only non-Islamic people to be protected and given Indian citizenship under this act (while Muslims can still apply for Indian citizenship through normal existing route). Opposition parties which are on the backfoot for long time have misguided Indian Muslims into believing as if this new law is some kind of unfair treatment to them. While the truth is that CAA is not even applicable to any Indian, be it Muslims or others. CAA applies only to those foreign nationals from listed countries who are putting application for citizenship of India because of religious persecution in their respective countries. 

CAA is a totally humanitarian act which shows India’s commitment to global peace and it is founded on compassion and goodwill. Let us hope that the Muslim protesters would wake up to this truth and allow road traffic to operate by giving up their protests in Shaheen Bagh. 

- Rahul Tiwary 

Photography: An Evening in Delhi - Shades of Sky

© Rahul Tiwary | New Delhi | January 2020 

Travelogue: World Mark in New Delhi