Monthly Archives: March 2012

The great wall of India

Rahul Dravid’s ability and technique is well acclaimed. But, he is much larger than that.  When we praise Dravid, we often forget using words like dignity, fair-mindedness, eloquence, gentleness and determination. Well, he is the kind of man we’d want our sons to grow into. Read my latest article on the NRI.

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Can we afford angry birds?

Our minister of environment and forests recently said- “More than 14 species of birds from India are on the verge of extinction due to poaching, excess use of pesticides, harmful chemicals, and loss of habitat. However, the “National Bird” peacock is not currently under the threat of extinction”. This strongly reminds me of a film that had once given me sleepless nights- Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘The Birds’ Continue reading

Death, mystery, Netaji

The alleged death of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in a plane crash in Taiwan on August 18, 1945, has long been a subject of dispute. There has been three Government sponsored commissions and numerous private investigations to find out if he died of the crash or survived it. The last commission concluded in its report in May 2006, that Bose’s death was staged to facilitate an escape to the USSR, a report which was immediately discarded by the government. Continue reading

For the glory of the cause!

“When death knocks the door, what does a man do?”- a question addressed in numerous works of fiction and cinema. But life is no fiction. However, real events can surpass the levels which even the best fictional works can’t dare to reach. In the year 1930, Bhagat Singh’s father had submitted a mercy petition to the British government. Bhagat Singh’s reply to his father was disillusioning. What, however, sends further shivers down the spine is reading the petition Bhagat Singh himself filed next. Continue reading

Picture perfect Kurosawa

Well, Kurosawa was not just perfect. He was picture perfect. Satyajit Ray recalls- “The effect of Rashomon on me was electric. I saw it three times on consecutive days, and wondered each time if there was another film anywhere which gave such sustained and dazzling proof of a director’s command over every aspect of film making.” This article is a tribute on Kurosawa’s 102nd birth anniversary. Continue reading