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The Indian Crab Theory

We Indians can never stand the prosperity of another fellow Indian. Especially if it is attached with fame & glory abroad. This culture in India is called the “Indian Crab Theory”. You all may be wondering as to why it is called so. It is an observed fact that a cast of crabs in a basket can never come out. The crab that tries to climb the basket is pulled down by the rest of the crabs.


 


 I have made many observations in the past years which prove its existence in our country. These are a few instances that I can remember:


 


Shekar Kapur is a well known film director. He is famous for making the movies “Masoom”, “Mr. India“, “Bandit Queen” & “Elizabeth“. We all know that his movie “Bandit Queen” secured him an Oscar nomination for the best foreign film. The only problem he faced was that the film was not being screened in India at that time. The Oscar’s have a rule that any film being nominated in the foreign film category must be screened in its home country. Shekar Kapur hence tried his very best to persuade the Indian government to remove the ban on the movie. The ban was not removed until the film lost its nomination. The film was then screened with absolutely no cuts.


 


Amir Khan’s movie “Lagaan” was fortunate enough to secure a nomination at the Oscars. Mahesh Bhatt started commenting that Amir should not go to the Oscars. According to Bhatt, this would degrade Indians. He felt that we were trying to get acceptance from the western world (Well he did not say it so diplomatically either). Most of the media scrutinized Amir for agreeing to attend this award ceremony. They wanted him to boycott it as he does at all the Indian award ceremonies.


 


Amitabh Bachchan brought the Miss World Contest to India. Being the host country has a lot of plus points. It helps other countries understand India & drastically improves tourism. This initiative should have got ABCL a lot of money. What happened was a total reverse reaction. All the women’s rights activists came to the streets & demanded that this show be stopped. Their reason was very simple. Women barely clad showing their bodies on stage was unacceptable. We as a country have had barely clad women in our films since the 60s (May be even earlier). We have been sending our girls to these contests since ages. We have continued to do so after all this hue & cry. The police at Bangalore refused to provide security unless he gave two crores for their housing plan. Amitabh was forced to do all this & ABCL booked losses.


 


Karnam Malleswari won the bronze medal at Olympics for weight lifting. She made us proud. That’s true, she definitely made us feel proud, but do you know why she got a bronze medal? Well the story goes like this: She could lift weights more than that lifted by the winner. Her Indian coach knew that. He hence told the Olympics organizing committee that she was taking drugs. They hence did several tests on her. This accusation was made repeatedly. She then asked the organizers as to why she was being asked to take these tests again & again. They told her that an Indian had reported this & so they were forced to take these tests. The organizers cannot ignore pleas from the home country. The tests were negative but this forced her to sit there for hours. She lost on her practice in the most crucial few days which made her get the bronze. (She personally expressed this on a TV show. This is not a rumour.)


 


We won the cricket world cup & those memories are etched in our minds. Yes that was a great moment in our history. The prestigious cup should be in some museum. On the contrary, the cup was broken by the Shiv Sena workers when they were agitating against the BCC.


 


IIM & IIT are the most prestigious universities in the world. There is a saying in US that an Indian studying at Harvard is a guy who could not secure a seat at IIM. We are respected all over the world but what are we doing to sustain this glory. We are introducing OBC quota & fee cuts to destroy its reputation.


 


BPOs in India are booming. The reason is simple. We have a large population that can speak good English when compared to our counter parts like China. China has hence taken the initiative of adding English in their school education. Children are being taught from an early age of seven or eight. We on the other hand are banning English medium schools if they do not add Kannada in their curriculum. The children have been forced to join some government school in the middle of their term. These children have become the scapegoats in this political drama. It is very much possible that a lot of children will fail this year.


 


Well… what can I say? We don’t need foreigners to beat us in games. We don’t need outsiders to meddle with our industries & our educational institutes. Leave us on our own & we will destroy ourselves better.


This is a very shameful state of affairs. We need to change our attitude. We should learn to encourage our fellow citizens so that they can truly make us proud by reaching new heights.  

Posted in society.

22 comments

By Chethna Shenoy – October 3, 2006


Review of the film “Dor”

I watched the movie “Dor” on Saturday. I had watched the promos of this film on TV. My assumption was that the movie would be a strong movie showing the harsh realities of life in an almost hard to watch way. I am very fond of the so called “Art” movies & hence decided to watch this one too.



The movie begins by showing the lives of two women from two different parts of India. One is from Himachal & the other is from Rajasthan. It shows their families & their love for their husbands. Something unfortunate happens which forces a meeting between the two women.



The woman from Rajasthan is shy & timid while the one from Himachal is strong & courageous. The entire movie is about how the shy girl learns to be strong & bold. It shows how the woman learns to take her own decisions rather than letting others take it for her. It is a movie which talks about empowerment as well as the fact that nobody can run our lives but us. By “Dor” what he is trying to say is “Apni jindagi ki Dor apne hath mein rakhiye” (Keep the reins of your life in your own hands).



The movie is on a very serious issue but has no melodrama attached to it. The movie is just about 2 hrs long. You hardly see tears & there is absolutely no violence in the film. I applaud the director’s ability to portray such a movie so effectively without using these tactics. The movie makes you think. Nagesh has made a light, feel good movie. Like any typical Nagesh Kukunoor film, this film too has its share of humour. The music is wonderful & has a nice rustic feel to it. The acting by the cast of the film is just awesome & the editing is crisp. An excellent movie, must watch for people who appreciate good cinema.



Rediff these days is asking people to tell them who they think should be India’s Oscar entry for 2006. Well… my vote goes to “Dor”.



Rating: 4 stars.

Posted in Movies.

8 comments

By Chethna Shenoy – September 25, 2006


My comments to the views posted on “Why are women considered special?”

Hi friends,


Thank you very much for your overwhelming response. I have got a lot of praises & some brick bats too. All in all I take this as compliment. I am happy that my blog was strong enough to force you into writing your comments.



These are a few comments that I would like to answer.



Shilpa called me pessimistic & confused.



To answer this, I’d like to say that I am not a pessimist. On the contrary, I am an out & out optimist.


I do feel I am treated like a handicapped person when women all around me fight for special treatment. I never said that womanhood was a handicap, I was commenting on the special treatment. I never said that we should not celebrate womanhood. I just said that we should also celebrate manhood. Well asking for a Man’s day should not hurt or threaten women. Especially you, for you believe in being an optimist.



Pratik dave called me “Dominique Francon of Fountainhead”.



Pratik, Thanks a lot for that. That is a truly wonderful compliment.



vishal rathod requested me to lead the men’s liberation movement.



Wow Vinod! now that's just wonderful. I am always there to support you guys & would consider it an honour to lead this movement.



Soaring eagle blew his “I am a Man” trumpet.



As I said, every man and woman is an individual. Soaring eagle, This is your view as an individual & the post is mine.



Friendly Ghost challenged me to reveal incidents from my life to prove that I have been bolder than men on occasions.



Well let's see…


I have presented in front of a hundred people. I have addressed crowds effortlessly. I have voiced my opinions to people at very high posts (Includes the CEO of the company). I was called a Bandit Queen in College. Stage fright & shyness are words that are not present in my dictionary. A lot of my teachers have told me that they have never met anybody as bold as me in their entire life.


Ok, enough is enough. Sounds a lot like boasting doesn’t it. I know it sounds weird to me too. Well, don't blame me for that. You ASKED for it. Any ways, this is not to say that there aren’t smart or bold men in this world. There definitely are a lot of them & I have been fortunate enough to meet many.



Most of the women disagreed with me on the Women’s Reservation Bill. I would specially like to mention rn khanna & Nilakantan V who fought for women’s rights.



Thank you one & all for voicing your opinion. I truly appreciate it. What is a discussion without different views?



Monishikha RoyChoudhury warned me about all the brick bats I had invited with this post.



Thanks a lot. I am glad to tell you that the number of people for the cause has out numbered the number of people against it.



Merich Rodrigues supported me & ended her comment by saying that women are superior.



Thanks for your support. As far as superiority is concerned, I don’t think so. As I said before, we are all equal.


AMBY said that the word “WOMAN” was coined with “MAN” in it.



Well said.



Bhushan Agrawal demanded special treatment for men who help with household chores.



Now that's what I meant by equality. Bhushan, you are one of the very few men who have publicly admitted that they do their household chores. I support your demand for special treatment. Companies have accepted paternity leaves in their policy. Who knows? May be then very soon this may also become a reality too.




I would also like to thank all the others who supported me & encouraged me with their comments.



Looking forward your views in the future.



With Best Regards,


Chethna


Posted in society.

9 comments

By Chethna Shenoy – September 19, 2006


My contribution to the Tag Game

Chanchal Nishanth just tagged me. I normally don’t play these games but I don’t want break his chain. This is my contribution to the Tag Game

Tag Game
 
Here’s a little get to know me fun game…be a sport and please keep it going.
Here’s what you need to do…cut and paste this entire blog (yep…no copyright!) and answer the questions and paste it on your page…at the end name the person you want to tag and leave a message for the person with your link on his/her guest book page…The next tag you replace the previous person’s answer with your own and tag someone else and follow the same process again…don’t break this…check out what others have to say…here goes…
 
1.         How tall are you barefoot?
            5′3”


2          Have you ever smoked before?
            NO



4.         If you had a mental disorder, what would it be?
            Amnesia. I tend to forget names
 
5.         How many letters are in your crush’s name?
            Sorry no crushes


6.         What’s your favorite silly song?
           A song from Mr India. (Bijali ki rani main hoon Aayi)


7.         What do you prefer to drink in the morning?
           Milk.
 
8.         What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up?
           What time is it?



9.         What is your secret weapon to lure in the opposite sex?
    I don’t lure the opposite sex :-)).
          
10.       Do you own a knife?
          yes. I use it as a pencil sharpner :-)


11.       Do you own a gun?
          No


12.       Name the last things you have bought today.
   Nothing yet.
             
13.       Name five drinks you regularly drink.
          Water, Fruit juice, milk, lemonade, Jal Jeera


14.       What time did you wake up today?
            6:00 am



15.       What song do you want played at your funeral?
          Who cares? Once you’re dead, you’re DEAD.


16.       What song did you last hear?
          Confide in me by Kylie Monogue


17.       Favorite place to be?
          Home.


18.       Least favorite place to be?
          Can’t think of any.


19.       Do you own slippers?
          yes


20.       Where do you think you’ll be in 10 yrs?
          I will be in a nice house with my family. I would have accomplished a lot of my aims in my career.


21.       Do you burn or tan?
            yes


22.       Yellow and blue?
           blue



23.       What songs do you sing in the shower?
   None.        


24.       What did you fear was going to get you at night as a child?
          Can’t remember. Sorry.



25        What’s in your pockets right now?
            I have my mobile & my hand kerchief.


26        Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment.
   Apple
   Mango 
   Banana 
         
26.       Last thing that made you laugh?
          A joke


27.       Best bed sheets you had as a child?
          Obelix bed sheet. Really cool


28.       Worst injury you’ve ever had?
          God has been kind. No such memories.



29.       Do you wish on stars?
          No


30.       What were you doing 1 AM last night??
           Fast asleep


31.       One thing that u have Loved, one that you have Lost & one that u r afraid of?
    I love my family. I have lost a mobile :-(((((. I am afraid of flying cocroaches. Its the fear of those creepy crawly dirty bugs sitting on my head.


I tag :
Bhushan Agrawal
Kanchan Bhattacharya

Posted in Friends.

5 comments

By Chethna Shenoy – September 19, 2006


Why do women expect special treatment?


I am a woman myself. I am intelligent, bold & strong. Sometimes I find myself much bolder than the men that I know. Now that just shows that I am as much a man as I am a woman. This makes me wonder as to why then do women expect special treatment. I feel that it is degrading to ask for special treatment.



For e.g. why do women ask for 33% reservation in the parliament? For God’s sake, it's the parliament. People sitting in the parliament are supposed to be elected and not selected. Some may say that the situation in the cities is far better than the villages & hence we need to do so. Well, then why not ask the political parties to make sure that 33% of their party’s electoral candidates be women. I am not all for it but then it becomes fair in the end. The best candidate would be chosen by the citizens & this will be irrespective of the fact that the candidate is a man or a woman.



How about Women’s day? Ever heard of a man’s day? I feel that there should definitely be a man’s day. Don’t we all think that they are special too? Don’t you love your brothers, your father & may be your uncles too. How about your friends? Wouldn’t all the women like to tell them at least once a year that they are special & that they mean a lot to us? Then why is it that we celebrate womanhood & not manhood?



I sometimes get some absurd emails. Some of these emails say that women are like gods & others say that women are God’s best creation. Women are sweet, patient, calm, caring & that they work all day for others. They are emotional rather than logical.



Let me clear this once & for all. Women are just human beings. They are all different individuals with different qualities. Some are sweet but some are truly rude. Some may be patient but a lot of them are short tempered. Some are caring & others are not. Some may be emotional but there are women like me who are very logical.



It is foolish for us women to try to put ourselves in a box & call ourselves as “Women”. We can’t create a niche for ourselves by using reservation tactics. It is dumber to expect men to respect women by expecting them to give us special treatment. The special treatment campaigns sometimes make me feel like being a woman is a handicap. Let's compete with men as equals & at the same time let's not forget to compliment them when we see an admirable quality in them. I am sure men would do the same if we did so. Men are not our rivals. They are our friends & our family. Let's grow up. Lets be one.



I was watching a program called ‘Astitva’ on Zee. It was a nice program. The intention of the event was to acknowledge & honour all the women who are contributing most of their time towards social causes. It is definitely a nice gesture. We should have many more of these award ceremonies to encourage these noble people & also inspire others to thread similar paths. It is a nice thought but it would have been wonderful if they acknowledged the men too. I would have liked to see Baba Amte, MC Modi & many others like them get these awards.



Here’s wishing a world of equality where one is not more equal than the other :).


Posted in society.

50 comments

By Chethna Shenoy – August 30, 2006


A tribute to a Jawan …

Last night I watched a TV show named 11 ghante Maut Ka Tamasha (the 11 hour show with death). This was an accident that had happened in some part of Rajasthan. A family of five was traveling in an indica to attend the funeral of a relative in a nearby village. On the way it began to rain very badly. In this stormy weather they tried to cross a bridge. The river below the bridge began to overflow & it pulled the indica into it. The indica got stuck in the river. The passengers came out of the car & stood on the roof to save themselves. They started pleading for help. The villagers tried their best to save them. They first tried on their own but realized that the force of the river was too much for them to do anything on their own. They hence called the police & the fire brigade. The fire brigade tried their best but to no avail. They then called some local minister. He asked for a helicopter to rescue these passengers. This entire ordeal took more than 11 hours. The passengers could not hold on for such a long time & unfortunately drowned into the river.

Now this definitely is a sad story but what made me write this article is something different. During this rescue effort, two Jawans decided try to save these people. They hence jumped into the water. One of the Jawans was washed away by the river & sadly that Jawan died.

The presenter on TV kept on talking about the five passengers who perished. He even showed the mourning family of the passengers but not once spoke about the Jawan. The simple reason being that his attempt was unsuccessful. It is heart rendering that such valor is not recognized. A man gave his life in an attempt to save the lives of five strangers and the TV channel didn’t even feel the worth of mentioning his name. It is a shame that nobody bothered to think about him or his family. It really was a Tamasha but I did not know as to who was the bigger villain, death or the heartless TV presenters. Looks like all the channel cares about is its ratings.


It hurts me to see this happen. I therefore have written this tribute which I believe the Nation owes him. I truly feel that we should all pay our last respects to this man & pray that his soul rests in peace. I also feel that the country should honour the other Jawan too who fortunately survived. It is these people who look after our country in times of war as well as peace.

Posted in Tribute.

18 comments

By Chethna Shenoy – August 23, 2006


Maturing hindi film industry …

I watched KANK this weekend. I had heard & read a LOT of bad reviews of KANK. Let me say this outright that I am not a fan of Karan Johar films. In fact there is hardly any film of his that I have liked. I still watch his movies for all the publicity that his films create. KANK for that matter is an exception. Surprisingly, this is his only movie that I liked. The best thing I liked about the movie is that it told Indians in the face that it was ok to break a marriage if two people are incompatible. It is definitely better than an entire life of hating each other. Every body lives but one life. Let's make it a better life.
People take up jobs, partner in businesses, make friends etc all the time. Some times it works & sometimes it doesn’t. In society, it is ok to be wrong in these cases & it is perfectly normal to separate but when it comes to marriage, it is believed that a marriage should not break in spite of infidelity, mental & physical abuse as well as through total incompatibility. Let's be mature enough to accept that we should come out of this shell.

KANK deals with four characters played Abhishek, Preity, Rani & Shah rukh. A lot of essence is there in each of them. (My apologies to every one for not remembering the names of their characters). Each character is well defined & very realistic. This is what is my understanding each role:

Abhishek : A man who truly, madly, deeply loves a girl who he knows does not love him. Even on his way to the wedding (Barat), he asks his father if Rani would run away. Abhishek tells him that she agreed to this marriage after he persuaded her for three years. This definitely shows that he clearly knew that she was not very happy about this idea. It is more his interest & his hope that things will change after marriage.


Rani : She is a girl who was looked after by the Bachchan’s family after the demise of her parents. She feels obligated to get married to Abhishek but is not at all happy about the situation. She is sitting in the garden on her wedding day shows that she was never happy. Even after marriage, Abhishek is a great husband but still he is not the husband she wanted. She hence is always sad. Nothing that Abhishek does is enough for her. Her “cleaning syndrome” also signifies her dissatisfaction with life itself.


Shah Rukh: He looks after his son with a lot of love & care. His problem is that he is tired of being abandoned. He wants his wife to spend time with the family. His frustration shows in almost all his comments.


Priety: She is an over ambitious woman. She cares only about her wants & needs. In one of the scenes, shah rukh tells his wife priety that he has secured a five million dollar contract to which she comments that it was his dream rather than theirs. She doesn’t know when her husband is playing though it means so much to him. The same indifference is shown by her towards her son. She doesn’t even know that her son likes to play the violin & not the sitar. Her character still has a good side to it. She is not a cheat. She believes in working late nights but not in cheating on her husband. This is very clearly shown when her colleague makes a pass at her.


We see here four individuals who are not totally bad people but are becoming worse day by day in their relationships. Karan was right in saying that living such partial lives is foolish. Amitabh’s advice to his daughter in law is perfect. Amitabh doesn’t want to see his son suffer. He knows that Rani is looking for happiness outside (I don’t want to comment on if it is right on her part to do so). He realizes that the only person suffering now is his son. He requests her to leave her son so that he too could find a person who loved him.


What I felt about the entire movie? It is bold in saying that marriages are not cages in which people need to suffer their entire life. Infidelity is just not ok ( both Abhishek & priety throw them out). It also makes each and every person who is single to think twice before getting married. It is meant for them to look at their partner & analyse if it truly is a wise decision to get married. It is a message to every body that they should get married for all the right reasons. Don’t get married if you are not committed & for God’s sake don’t ruin other peoples lives by making the wrong decisions.


Well the intentions were good but the execution could have been better. It was long specially the last 20 mins which was almost unnecessarily dragged. Amitabh role in the first half speaks ill about his personality. It doesn’t look good when such a person gives some rational advice to his daughter in law. It would have been better if his role was a little different. My total disgust was when shah rukh son has a crush on some girl. Please guys leave the children alone. Let kids be kids.


Posted in Movies.

13 comments

By Chethna Shenoy – August 21, 2006


Make India Proud …


We are celebrating the 60 th year of our Independence. At this moment I urge all my fellow citizens to join hands & work towards making India a great nation. I believe that we can achieve even the impossible if we all work towards it. We all feel that we are just a drop in the ocean & that our effort are negligible. Well … I believe that this is not true. Even small efforts when combined can create a revolution. All that is required is our support toward this cause. It is not as difficult as we imagine. These are a few ways we can contribute to achieve this:


1. Save fuel - Switch off your vehicle while waiting at the traffic signal. Use electricity & water judiciously. Switch off the light bulbs & fans when not required. Opt for solar energy where ever possible.


2. Vote - Use your right. How can the political arena change if we do not take part in the system?


3. Be polite - Help outsiders, people who come from different states as well as different countries. Lets help people communicate when the regional language is a deterent. Be courteous. Use words like Please, Thank you & Sorry. Lets work towards being called the most friendly country in the world. This will also help in tourism :-).


4. Be Alert - Lets keep an eye on what happens around us. Terrorist will find it difficult to achieve their goals if we all work towards the security of the country. Lets alert the police on finding unattended bags. Lets cross check the background of the stangers in our locality.


5. Follow traffic rules - Let us follow traffic rules & avoid honking unnecessarily.


6. Plant a tree - If every citizen in this country planted just one tree, India would have become a greener place to live in.


7. Work - Work in India & increase the working population of your country. If the best brains stayed in India we would create many more Tatas & Birlas.


8. Population control - We can all help by supporting the slogan “We two, ours one”.


9. Respect diversity - Nobody can divide us if we believe that all of us are one and that no caste, creed or language can divide us.


10. Don’t waste food.


11. Don’t support piracy - Buy original CDs & DVDs. Help Indian industries thrive. Even watching a movie in the theater helps our country for it helps the theater owner, the film industry & even the guy who supplies sandwitches and other snacks to the theater. Please spread this word. Create awareness amongst people. Give them hope & help them be responsible citizens.


MERA DESH MAHAN !


JAI HIND !

Posted in Patriotism.

10 comments

By Chethna Shenoy – August 16, 2006