Communal Stereotyping in Bollywood Movies Delhiwala,

``practising Sikhs don`t have any caste system`` :-)

I`ll answer your post later...gtg now

Communal Stereotyping in Bollywood Movies DMji,

Nobody is ready to give credit to Sunny Paaji for putting Sikhs on the map of Bollywood. Before this, would anyone have dared to cast a turbaned Sikh as the lead protagonist? It is true that the roles are cliched, but a good start nevertheless.

The trend of opposing things under the pretext of `hurts the religious sentiment` has moved to TV commercials too. In the ad of one of the million products which Mr. Bacchan has endorsed, he plays a Padre and wears a slightly dirty cassock. A kid tells him to use a detergent, and lo and behold, the garment is sparkling white. Christian groups have objected to the ad saying that it shows Christianity in a bad light coz the robe is dirty!

Stuka and Ana,

Sorry for the slip! Appreciate u guys pitching in.

Netizen,

What is the language used in Pakistani movies - Urdu or Punjabi? We mostly watch movies on pirated CDs. I believe, most of them are made in Gulf or Pakistan. They always have an ad of some Chintoo candy and promos of Pakistani movies. A particularly hilarious one had a bearded guy in shalwar kameez firing in the air like there was no tomorrow and some scantily clad bimbo dancing to the tune of `dile de tu Punjabi, nach Punjabi, nach` or some such :-)

Communal Stereotyping in Bollywood Movies Drlokraj,

``Politicians,fundamentalists and a section of press made Pakistan a villain prototype and fuelled national chawnism``

Generally, I`m all for bashing politicians, but here I disagree. One doesn`t need to project Pakistan as a villain in Indian context or viceversa - it is as obvious as it gets. 3-/2 wars, uncountable border skirmishes, regular show of hostility at Wagah, Aurangzeb, Shivaji, Jinnah, Gandhi, Arjun, Khalid, it is an endless list. In my opinion, filmmakers were slow to cash on this perpetual enmity.

Vagabond,

I agree. There is no point in gettng unduly concerned about stereotyping, it is here to stay.

Vivek,

Bollywood movies may be shitty, but we identify more with them. Last year Kunal Kohli released a rip-off of `When Harry Met Sally`, `Hum Tum`. Having watched the original, I didn`t think much of the copy, but all my friends and family were oohing and aahing over how well made the movie was, Rani even managed the filmfare for that.

Communal Stereotyping in Bollywood Movies Labyrinth,

``Sunny Deol leads the pack in PBM`s because he doesn`t have what it takes to make a movie hit like Sharuk or Khan pact``. You are too hard on Sunny Paaji. As Karan Johar aptly put it, ``the only man amongst boys in Bollywood``. His forte is action, check out his trilogy with Santoshi - ``Ghayal``, ``Damini`` and ``Ghatak``. The `dhai kilo ka haath` he delivered in his cameo in Damini is one of the all-time hit Bollwood dialogues.

Unfortunately, it is tradition of Indian filmdom to punish artists for doing good movies. Take SRK for instance. When he does run of the mill song-and-dance routines, movies click, when he tries something different, they flop. Check out Kabhi Haan Kabhi Na and Swades to understand what I mean. Aamir did a fantastic job in Akele Hum Akele Tum, movie bombed. He did a mediocre Raja Hindustani, it was a runaway success.

The Utility of Art Shiraz,

I once asked Temporal, what should I do to improve my understanding of poetry. He replied, understanding is too loaded a word for an esoteric subject like poetry, appreciation is more apt.

It is not possible to quantify everything in life. Looks like you`ve not looked at your showcase lately. The adornments on various shelves are not utility items, they are there just for looking good. Unless, you`ve stacked your showcase with gadget manuals :-)

Fauzia’s Rejection Being the acting president of UPA (Ugly &/Unsuccessful People`s Association), I demand equal consideration from women who are pushing `look beyond the mirror`, `it doesn`t matter what you have in the vallet` garbage on this board. Yes, the fair damsels might fall for a crow but only if he has enough moolah to present a diamond ring once in a while.

Dusk Re: # 128

``please write something more intelligent``

Tahmed Babu,

World is already reeling under the weight of your intelligence, nobody would complain if I fail to contribute 2 milligrams of grey matter :-)

Ozer,

Cheer up pal! As Tahmed Babu rightly pointed out it doesn`t matter to me whether you are an offspring of Chahmanas or Oguz, what you bring to the table is more important.

Dusk Ozer,

When I saw your UK Election article, I checked your profile...Ozer not being a very common name in the sub-continent. My first reaction was this guy is the self-proclaimed descendant of the Chahmanas - Mohd. Salim Chauhana. But I let go.

Now someone has expressed the same suspicion on this board and my curiosity has got the better of me. Are you :-)

The Long Shadows of Hindu Kush DMji and Amit,

Great posts! I would guard against anyone playing with integrity of India`s neighbours. Any disintegration would mean that the resultant smaller states would be even more malleable to the wishes of extra-regional and non-state actors. Just imagine uncle Sam guarding the Pak-Iran border under the guise of Baloch nationalism. Ironically, we may see ourselves rooting for Pakistani nationalism when their own people seem to have given it up for more `universal` causes :-)

Poverty creation - Maharashtra ishtyle In India, the name of the game is tokenism. Nothing has to be done, just raise a few empty slogans, beam for the cameras, engineer a few articles by sympathetic word prostitutes and arrange for positive coverage in the media...the job is done. Even after six decades of self-rule, governments in India are clueless about governance. So, we have Laloos oiling their lathis, Mayawatis building elephant parks, Uma Bhartis performing Yajnas and VilasRaos `beautifying` cities. Nobody ever accused them of sagacity, they`ve steered clear of any such controversial labels.

It is not that people erect their tents illegally because they want to occupy prime real estate, they have no other go. I suspect this legality logic is a charade for hiding underhand deals. Honble CM and his deputy must have got a few khokhas from real estate people. We won`t have to wait long, the lands freed of illegal presence will be sold to bhoomi dons at concessional rate and they`ll erect concrete jungles to house the affluent. Then another tent, another eviction and the game will go on.

Going Home to Lahore, and a World Left Behind Chowk-staff,

I wonder when enough is enough? The same story is repeated over and over again - families driven out of their homeland because of partition want to see the land of their forefathers after six decades, go to Pakistan, Saidan Shah, Lahore, Badshahi Masjid, ``Jinde Lahore nahin Dekheya o janmeya nahin``, concession to Indian visitors, Wagah ceremony, Ketas Raj... The fact that this one is not written by a Chowk regular adds insult to injury. And why is the visit to food street missing from these memoirs?

Is someone visiting Karachi, Delhi, Agra, Peshawar, Bangalore, Kolkatta or Mumbai? Please do and post something, anything, if only do remind the Chowk staff that there is a word called excess in English language.

The Long Shadows of Hindu Kush Re: # 32

Nazar Saab,

This is what Wikipedia says:

``Chandragupta Maurya`s origins are shrouded in mystery. Having been raised by peacock tamers, he could have been of low-caste background. According to other sources, Chandragupta Maurya was the son of a Nanda prince and a dasi, Mura. It is also possible that Chandragupta was of the Maurya tribe of Kshatriyas, a clan of Hindu kings and warriors.``

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandragupta_Maurya

Like I said in my last post, his caste is still not established. Moreover, Kshatriya is different from Khatree or Khatri. The former are members of warrior caste who today are known as Rajputs. The latter are a merchant community in and around U.P., Punjab & Delhi. The surnames are also different. Foe instance, Rajputs mostly use Singh followed by their clan name like Tomar, Chahmana (or Chauhan), Solanki etc. while Khatris use Malhotra, Tandon, Kappor, Khanna etc.

Did you mean kshatriya when you used Khatree in the article? Is there something I`ve overlooked?

The Long Shadows of Hindu Kush ``His nemeses was Chandra Gupta, a khatree from Taxila, who unified South Asia and captured the Hindu Kush introducing Buddhism. ``

There have been three ChandraGuptas in Indian History. CG Maurya, CG-I of Gupta dynasty and CG-II (CG-I`s grandson also known as Vikramaditya). The famous Vikram and Betaal stories are woven aroind CG-II`s person, who was considered a very wise ruler.

CG Maurya captured Magadha under the tutelage of Chanakya, his Brahmin advisor. Legend has it that Chanakya was riled up by the discourtesy shown to him by Nanda ruler of Magadha. So, he vowed to not tie his `Shikha` till he had seen the last of Nandas. It is improbable that his protege would convert to Buddhism while Chanakya was prime-minister. And Chanakya it was, as is attested by contemporary Greek documents about `Sandrokottus`. Please read the interesting story of how William Jones solved the riddle of first pan-Indian ruler of India!

There are many views about his caste ranging from Brahmin to so-called lower caste. The question of CG-I`s caste has not yet been resolved. Though, this is the first time I`ve heard that he was Khatri. I`m curious to know the source of this information.

There is a school of thought that believes CG Maurya converted to Jainism and ended his life in Karantaka by starving himself to death. If I get it, I`ll post a link during the weekend.

The Long Shadows of Hindu Kush Nazar Saab,

As usual, a good read!

Trivia:

``the average the average`` in first para needs editing

``doze`` in fifth para should be dose

My request is to work out an arrangement with Chowk staff so that your articles are published only during the weekend. Otherwise, the temptation of interacting gets the better of the sense of duty :-)

Border Crossings J&K CM`s nephew succumbs to bullet wounds

The reality of Kashmir is captured in the headline I`ve posted above...bunch of savage, blood-thirsty, brain-washed fanatics hell-bent on killing everyone who dares question their methods, neutralizing all forms of protest against their tyrannical ways, sabotaging peace process, letting loose terror and violence on the hapless people of the state. Like the Bhasmasur of Indian mythology, the proverbial Frankenstein’s monster, these zealots will ultimately bite the hand that feeds them. Only then will their cheerleaders come to their senses. Till that happens, these thugs are running amok and we are bearing the brunt of their excesses.

Border Crossings Re: # 23

OK... using the cuss words was carrying the free speech thing a bit too far.

But, would you be willing to explain as to why is Sajjad Lone not fighting the elections? Since I`ve been accused of not knowing about the ground situation, let me point that security cordon provided to Mr. Lone comes from the money paid by Indian tax payers. His father was assassinated by ...you should know since you are a Kashmiri. Why is Mirwaiz spewing anti-India rhetoric when he travels to US on Indian passport? His father was also killed in cold blood by...you should know since you are a Kashmiri. Is it our fault that Farooq Abdullah prefers Golf courses to discussions on the plight of Kashmiri people?

Leaders who are corrupt, idiotic, undemocratic, lethargic and indifferent to the well-being of general populace is not a rarity in our country - Laloo, Mulayam, Uma Bharti etc. are not exactly role models of good governance. But, only in the land of Dal lake do you find people rebelling against government because Mufti Saeed spends more time smoking Wills than working on development projects.

Since you like using that phoniest of phonies, `human rights`, would you be kind enough to tell us why are thousands of Kashmiris living in refugee camps in Jammu and Delhi? Why are ears of young girls chopped off? Why are 4-year kids slaughtered for being `informants`? Why was Koka Parrey killed? Why were civilians massacared in Nandimarg? What about suicide attacks on campuses that house families of para-military and army? While we are at it, who burnt Charare-e-Sharief and who seized Hazratbal mosque?

And Sir, trigger-happy soldiers are answerable to their superiors. If you`ve been following the current affairs, a Major of the army was court-martialled on charges of molestation (even though the civilian court had cleared him of any such misdeed). Looking into the barrel of gun wielded by wild-eyed terrorist is no better than being on the receiving end of trigger-happy soldiers.