Salute to Mumbai Martyrs (26/11)

Saw a Spine Chilling documentary on 26th Nov 2015,of the Mumbai terror attacks and the Siege which lasted for more than 60hrs from 26/11/2008 to 27/11/2008 and was too shocked to speak or have any opinion. Excerpts from Ajmal Khasabs interview in Hospital shown on HISTORY channel are shared below.
Police: Whom are u asked to kill?
Kasab : Logon ko (People)
Police: U know what is meant by Jehad?
Kasab: Nope!
Police: Then Y r u killing?
Kasab in a satirical tone: For the money sir (Paisa milta hai baau)
Police: Dont U feel guilty for doing so many killings? Havent U questioned your trainers that?
Kasab: Yes. At times I feel so, but they do wash our brain and in 3 months make us ready for sacrifice.
Other than this, all the live conversations on radio phones between the handlers from Pakistan who were coolly giving instructions to each Terrorist to kill, to not get diverted, and to scare people by throwing grenades or burning the dome were recorded. They also passed continuous instructions on how to fight till the end and not get caught by police men made me too dejected , helpless and my eyes and head were boiling by the end!
I was not aware that they also had put Rdx in taxis which took some more lives . Looking at the feed of surveillance cameras made me silently cry. Hearing to stories of survivors did not make me courageous. At one juncture the handlers from Pakistan over the radio phone, when the attackers were amused by the hotel were exchanging conversation like below:
Attacker : “You know here they have computers with 30 screens or so, masha allah ! So amusing!”
Handler: “Don’t get distracted . Have you put the rooms and dome on fire or not? I should see them on TV Live . Do that ASAP.”
They were discussing their agenda and passing orders between each other simply like we do in case of an office project or some sport played for fun or a good cause :( I watched the massacre on TV for more than an hour and couldn't sleep properly the whole night as the scenes and voices kept dancing infront of my eyes!
8 terrorists or may be more in groups of 4 destroyed the city like never before. They are doing it with out any thoughts or feelings , like robots who are keyed and loaded with evil programs. I was too terrified when I saw that the terrorists made it a point to kill till their last breath. Not sure if it is right to feel this, but when a guy called Fahadullah said that his partner died just beside him, I felt pity - Pity on their nonchalance, the life they lived, the parents who gave birth to them, the country(ies) who nourished them. I felt weak and hopeless when they were chanting the beautiful words like Insha-allah and Masha-allah for these evil deeds. Again the same questions bothered me! How can they be brainwashed? How do they become so evil? What can stop all this? How can we uproot terrorism? How to do our part in uprooting it?
I know there are many Indians too who are recruited by all the terrorist organisations like ISIS or Al-Qaeda or any such inhuman organisation which makes me shudder. How and what can stop all this ? Can we be united and come up with a strict agenda to end the evil? It was Mumbai or Hyderabad then. Peshawar or Gaza later, Paris and Mali now and the places like Syria, Palestine, Nigeria, Gaza, Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan and so on , so forth who always live under the canopy of terror."Saddest fact is that the main motto of these people who call themselves saviors of Islam is to destroy Muslims like me and many." The terror waves are getting bigger with each day and How ? What ? Why? When? - such questions keep flogging the mind as always.
Wish the youth gets a right direction. Wish God takes the lives of terror creators in worst possible way. Wish initiatives like this - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Islam-and-terrorism-now-in-madrassa-course/articleshow/48383137.cms keep increasing. How I wish everyone can prefix the words Non-Islamic to all the terror organisations, instead of tagging “Islamic” with all attacks. How I wish I can live a life where there are no questions bombarded at me about the religion I follow!
But for all the perpetual questions, the only answer I have is- " I am a human and any human who does an act which I can't even fathom for the betterment of humanity is God to me!" I am not sure how to end this post but I just want to salute all the brave hearts , like Vijay Salaskar, Unnikrishnan, Hemant Karkare , Tukaram Omble and many more who have lost lives during this massacre - http://www.ndtv.com/photos/news/a-tribute-to-mumbais-bravehearts-982#photo-9649 . Whether or not it counts this is my tribute to all the “HEROES”

Note: This is an FB note I wrote on 26th November

The pics courtesy : https://www.facebook.com/Indianarmy.adgpi/photos/a.154174701445834.1073741939.123788044484500/437212886475346/?type=3
http://drop.ndtv.com/albums/NEWS/2611bravehearts/1ff.jpg

The biggest "Tamasha" called Life

After a dilemma to choose from some new movie releases (like Cheekati Rajyam & Size zero ) I finally zeroed on Tamasha.

Film: Tamasha
Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Piyush Mishra
Director: Imtiaz Ali 
Writer: Imtiaz Ali

Tamasha - After watching it, I felt reviewing is tough because  not every one can be an Imtiyaz Ali who can explain all the complicated emotions in such a simplistic way ! Like some one told in a review , only he can understand the complicated heart matters like no one else and also succeeds in letting the viewers understand them! 

Tamasha makes you go in to a pensive mode. Fun and emotions are blended well and it presents to U the finest PAIR OF THE YEAR Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone heart emoticon - Both have evolved beautifully and Imtiyaz brings out the best in both the actors. Deepika is drop dead gorgeous and Ranbir is no less. His demeanor which naturally gets transformed, his expressions, the Dev-anand act , the very acting prowess will just charm you.They both complement each other perfectly well.

Story line, songs and my views: 
Tamasha is a fantasy world created by Imtiyaz which is not actually full of fantasies and depicts the real tamasha we all face called life. It is an off beat movie which suits only a niche audience. It is like a stage show from start till the end where you get enchanted by the characters dancing on the screen and also the characters which come to your mind from your real life experiences :) 

If the song Chali Kahani kick starts the story showing the little Ranbir who gets intrigued by all the magical stories embedded in the universe and happily lives in his world, the song Matargashti gives you a picture of a fairy land and fills a kind of zeal in your heart which makes you want to go out and be the free spirited person, you actually are from your heart. The song Heer to badi sad hai shows the transition and transformation of characters which evolve in a period of years. The song Safarnaama sung by Lucky Ali, shows the path to your own heart and describes the journey.

The imaginative narration and unique story telling technique used in songs will definitely create happy and sad emotional waves in you! In the first half the bonus is the beautiful Corsica in France where our mystery boy and girl meet. 

image source : here

Deepika is more or less like Ranbir from heart, who loves stories and Asterix in Corsica is the reason she travels to the place which shows that she longs to live the stories she reads or hears. She gets totally awestruck by the hero. However, as per their pact of not revealing their identities, they separate without the knowledge of who they actually are and the second half of the story shows the transition of hero who gets used to the maze created by the world, becomes a product manager and lives the same day every day and is tuned to being monotonous and boring! I loved both the story telling DON in the first half and the robotic Ved in second half, who is more realistic and strikes a chord with 90% of population who kill their hobbies or passions to earn money for a smooth life! Ranbir showed his excellence in both the roles.

 You may occasionally remember the Jordan of Rockstar where he finally succeeds in making passion his career but doesn't succeed much on the personal front. There are glimpses of Ranbir from Yeh Jawaani hai Deewani as well in the movie!

The story is all about the journey of the boy Ved, who loves hearing stories and dwells in the spirit of all stories but eventually gets burdened by the education, mathematics, management and in general the life which makes him do everything he dislikes. Meeting Tara creates ripples in his head and he ultimately decides to explore his own story and embrace his inner self. The way hearts are broken and distanced is also so beautifully shown , that you almost want to go in to the screen and hug Tara and Ved during the song , agar tum saath ho and the book shop scene. However I would have preferred a more supportive Tara who could have helped Ranbir when it’s traumatic for him!

Some of the scenes which will stay with me:

• The scene where Ved’s storyteller from his childhood- Piyush Mishra mocks him, when Ved requests him to give an ending to his story. He shouts, ” Kaayar , apni kahani kaise khatm hogi mujhe poochta hai. (You are such a wuss, you ask me your story’s ending?)” It is like an eye opener to all the viewers who seek advice from others and wait for approvals!

• The entire Corsica episode and the fun and frolic side of Ved and Tara which is beautiful and heart warming. 

• The scene after the stark realization Ved has , where he narrates a story of Heero to his dad (Javed Sheikh) , mom , Sushma Seth (grandmom). You should go to theater and hear to the actual story which makes you question yourself!

• All the songs of the movie which are unique. I loved the way the wat wat song  (sung by Arjit Singh & Shashwat Singh) is shot (the auto driver whose passion is singing is shown in this foot tapping song).

Even if this is not something which You haven't watched before, You gotta watch this just for the unique "story telling" style! Three cheers 2 the team! Jab we met is undoubtedly Imtiyaz's best to me . The music of Rockstar and Highway is heart touching and the music and story of Tamasha is like Chicken soup for the viewers' soul which is soothing and nerve tingling and definitely helps in clearing your head :)  "Tamasha is the best possible reason to divert yourself from all the Aamir Khan's Tamasha" 
tongue emoticon smile emoticon Go for it glasses emoticon . 

All those creative people who are more or less like Ved, can identify with Ved’s character; who is mesmerized with stories but has outgrown his imaginative self due to the mundane life he chose. The film definitely helps them to recognize and revive their old self. The concept of the movie is rather appealing, but it may not every time work in real life, because a lot of home work needs to be done before turning your passion into a full blown career!

PS: You may either love or hate this movie but cannot have any mediocre feelings after watching. You will definitely get high on emotions! I end the post with my favorite song.

Originally Published at The Views Paper