When I heard that there is a place called Beatles Ashram at Rishikesh, I was keen to visit it. I was lucky to have explored the space with Raju Gusain, a friend who researched for 20 years to play a key role in helping restore this historic space.
Huge amount of money is spent on brand communication to influence our likes and dislikes. Targeting children to influence buying decisions is pretty commonplace. Knowingly, or unknowingly, we create a today that consumes more, and is less thoughtful, than yesterday!
Apart from being political adventurism, demonetisation and the subsequent withdrawal of two thousand rupee notes is also about abject narrow mindedness and short-sightedness of a class of citizens who are unwilling to play their democratic roles.
We were told that it was an encounter, but what we witnessed was a murder of sorts. As students, it was learning of a lifetime. We understood that an academic course on political science is quite different from the entire political science.
Whenever I think about the origin of hate politics in India, I end up concluding that it is wrong to blame any political dispensation for this mess. They do not wield that kind of power even though there is proven relationship between hate and votes.
These short films were made in 1995 as part of my college project. It was a wonderful opportunity to marry my two interests – poetry and film making. So many years have passed by and the idea still excites me.
There are few words that we know well but seldom put to use. For me, oxymoron and paradox are two such words. I have a good connect with the word paradox due to nostalgic reasons. And also because paradoxes in real life are not so amusing.
A heinous crime took place. The perpetrators were convicted and sentenced for life. After fourteen years there was a request for their release. Courts consented. Everything happened within the ambit of law. Except justice!
We often blame the system for the evil we see around. We believe that the evil is imposed upon us. We seldom stop and ask ourselves – who imposed it? More often than not, we get what we deserve. Be it the government or a social hierarchy. They are nothing but a manifestation of our collective worldview.
Every piece of law ensures that constitutional promises are well kept and legal remedies are readily available to the citizens. Then why do we need the remedial laws? Does their existence suggest that the existing legal system has failed to keep its part of the promise?
As a child I used to often wonder about God and had many ifs and buts. I was almost sure that I was not a believer. But I was also unsure about being an atheist. Thankfully there was no urgent need to stake any claim.
