Month: October 2012

The (sad) world around us

October 17, 2012 / / 0 Comments

Nothing specific to write. Just a random post.

Was watching TV and the corruption sagas getting unfolded. How common man is being looted by the corrupt politicians and he can’t do much. The so called democracy looks more like dictatorship.

Thoughts of the large fraction of people are shaped by the “biased” media. So a big number doesn’t even understand what is good and what is bad for them ?

Move outside the country and in the neighborhood a 14 year old girl was shot in head for promoting education for women. What ? EDUCATION !

Move little more and you see a country that has been at war since so many years. As many as i can remember i think.

Have a look at the world map and countries are fighting with each other. Reasons ? either one wants to become more powerful or wants to have access to some natural resource that other country have in plenty.

The financial imbalance is increasing like anything. There are people who don’t know how much wealth they have and on the other side there are millions who don’t know whether they will get a meal before sleeping or not ?

Newspapers are full of news about rapes, murders, killings, corruption.

People are fighting over religions. Or are being killed in the name of religions.

Such a sad world we live in !

I am not sure if there is some God watching all this. Did he want the earth to be like this ? If NO then why doesn’t he do something ? After all it is he who is running everything. No ?

Malala Yousafzai – the brave child

October 10, 2012 / / 1 Comment

The kind of materialistic and violent world we live in it is normal to get disappointed thinking that where exactly this world is heading. But then you come across something that brings hope like Sun brings rays of light in the morning.

Malala Yousafzai is a young girl from Swat region of Pakistan who has been advocating for right to education for women. She was 11 years old when Taliban imposed a ban for education on women in the region and she felt the need to raise a voice against it.

Yesterday few gunmen attacked her school bus and she was critically injured. She is being treated at a hospital in Peshawar and reported to be out of danger.

What to say of a sick mind that thinks that some purpose can be achieved by attacking a 14 years old child. And what about his belief system that feels threatened by voice of a child who is merely 14 years old ?

While going through related news I came across one documentary titled Class Dismissed made by a journalist from NY Times. You yourself should watch the video to see the courage and confidence in her. She was merely 11 years old when this documentary was shot in 2009. An 11 year old child, living in such troubled area where you daily hear the sounds of bomb blasts and gun shots…so fearless and determined for a noble cause of education. Such confidence, the ideas to excel and do so much for the society. To be honest watching this whole video was so emotionally draining for me that I felt like writing something as a mark of respect of this young and brave soul. For most of the kids the childhood is all about playing and having fun and this girl at the age of 11 was thinking about getting the right of education for the girls of her area. She is a blessed and a special child. She is just half my age and I can compare the thoughts that run into my mind with what she talks about. It is an inspiration to be better, do better and do something for others. Here is another video of her and her father from Morning with Farah which will throw more light on her life and childhood.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bB5OQaKIPuY

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6U6JR_lSkM

She is a blessed and brave child and gonna be all right. Our prayers are with her. This world needs more Malala’s who can bring more hope to this troubled planet.

God bless you child !

Challa/Jhalla – Jab Tak Hai Jaan

October 9, 2012 / / 4 Comments

Bollywood music is not something that even deserves a blog post but when there is some really really big confusion being spread about some of the legendary symbols of folk, it needs to be talked about.

There is a new song stupidly, wrongly, absurdly titled Challa from the movie Jab Tak Hai Jaan. Lyrics are by Gulzar and the music has been composed by none other than awein hi overrated A R Rahman sahab.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_q5duWVfDJo

Now the problem with this song is that it has been titled Challa whereas the word he has pronounced (and probably Gulzar has written) is Jhalla. These two are totally different words and have different meanings. Gulzar & Rabbi both are Punjabis and they very well understand the difference. There has been some mess up somewhere in between and it is a big one.

Impact ? Some experts have declared that Challa & Jhalla mean almost the same thing. I am writing this post to address this stupidity. Please…these are two different words and mean absolutely different things. And of course a song Jhalla shouldn’t be titled Challa.

Challa literally means ring…a token of love exchanged between lovers. A girl whose lover is away from her…talks to Challa and tells her pain. In Punjabi folk it is a metaphor which has been used in this kind of context. Later there were other versions written by some other people. But the original one finds its roots in the regions of Sandal Bar (in the present day Pakistan). It developed there as a folk few hundred years ago. Here is a post explaining the meaning of the complete song.

Jhalla on the other hand literally means manaic or foolish. But in Punjabi this word is (mostly) not used in this context. It is used for someone who is passionately in love with someone or someone who is in pain due to separation from his/her loved one. Someone who is so impacted by the pain that he appears like a mad to the rest of the world.

Now tell me how these two words mean the same thing ?