A peek at the nuclear threat

Today's Washington Post opinion page is interesting not only for those interested in nuclear issues, but also others who would like to update themselves on the nuclear threats in general.

Scoring at ground zero

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is currently in the US where he will not only address the UN, but also speak at the Columbia University. His visit has kicked of debates and protests about what he should do, what he should visit, where he should speak, what he should speak…. While people are protesting his talk at the Columbia University, the Dean of the said University has promised to grill him about issues of human rights, holocaust, nuclear program etc.

As part of the protests, he is being banned from visiting the World Trade Center site. The reason, it would amount to violation of the scared site. Why ground zero should be considered a scared site violable by the presence of a Middle Eastern leader is not really obvious to me. For one most religious institutions and places of worship, generally considered sacred are open to everyone. Ahmadinejad has no direct proven connection with the 9/11 attacks, that could probably have helped rationalize the ban. And all he would be doing is pay his respects to the victims. This should be considered a positive sign. I have been to the site, and I would say that if anything, he should be encouraged to visit it. Before the visit I was not as empathetic to the incident or the victims as now. The visual impact of the site is huge. Probably letting Ahmadinejad experience it might help deal with Iran. It surely is a long shot, but worth it. By banning him for no apparent reason, the US is scoring no points with Iran sympathizers. If the US desires to talk sense into Ahmadinejad about abandoning Iran’s nuclear program, this action is not creating any goodwill. And goodwill is crucial at this point of time, when both US and Iran are stubborn, and the US cannot afford another war. Any option/opening that can help it score a brownie point should be grabbed by the US. At least in case of an attack, it can be used as evidence of having tried everything 'peaceful'.

But I guess the ban will continue, and so will the protests. It is time to see how Ahmadinejad does.

Nose stud and the works

A woman employee at the Heathrow airport was recently fired for wearing a nose stud! It is said to be a case of religious discrimination. After being outside of India for more than a year now, I realize that wearing a nose stud is more a fashion among the goras than the Indian girls I see around. Not just hippie looking undergrads, but even grown up working women. If I were the woman fired in this case, I would have loved to believe that the nose stud is now more a matter of fashion, than a matter of religion. Guess Britain is still as racially discriminating as this report suggests? Wonder why?

Bollywood Dhamaka!

With the summer vacation in full swing, I have been on a movie-watching spree. Right from EkChalis Ki Last Local to Red Swatik, I watched them all. (Online, of course!).

So after the two consecutive disappointments, I was really hoping for some good entertainment, and Ek Chalis Ki Last Local does do that. It entertains. It is a stupid film, that you don't need to take your brains to. But like all those Govinda-David Dhawan films, it does entertain. In fact I also like Abhay Deol in it. I sincerely think that Abhay Deol is bearable just because I haven't seen him dance yet, and because he is not the regular Deol 'he-man'. But yes, he does look extremely dumb. On the contrary Neha Dhupia looks the 'he-man' here (rather always!) The remainder of the cast, music, etc is good enough and I wouldn't mind recommending it to someone who really wants to laze around, and give his brains a well deserved rest.

But if you don't want to do that, then you should watch Provoked time only! Provoked is a must watch. Its been done beautifully, with all the actors fitting perfectly into their character. Except for Ms . It has everything, right from a cause to Aishwarya Rai! Being based on a real-life story, it evokes a lot of sympathy and anger. Domestic violence is an issue that needs serious thought and remedy. It needs us to raise our kids to respect women. But foremost it also needs some stringent measures to deter the perpetrators, to provide relief and voice to the victims. However, more of it later. Now its Bollywood time! Provoked is a must watch! Its been done beautifully, with all the actors fitting perfectly into their character. Except for Ms Rai. Of course she has done a brilliant job, and for a change she is not her usual Miss World self, but a woman victimised. I would think this is one of her best performances so far. But then, she being herself, it is difficult for a viewer to not look at her as Ms Rai. Her presence makes the film seem a little unreal. A lesser know actress might have made a difference. Or for that matter Nandita Das would have been wonderful in it too. But then one needs to sell the film, attract the crowds, without which the message, the story would be better untold. And that, Ms Rai does well. With due credit to her performance, it is her stardom that overshadows, that makes you want to see the film. I knew the story, I saw it to see why Ms Rai is in it!

And then I decided to see her dad-in-law. In Cheeni Kum. The film is simple and sweet, though it did get a little irritating whenever the 'sexy' kid came up, or when Paresh Rawal went on a Satyagraha. I thought that Satyagraha business was a bit to far fetched, and did not add anything to the film. Instead a nicely thought out debate between Amitabh and Paresh Rawal would have been much better. When Amitabh does his final speech, and enumerates the reasons why the dad wouldn't want his daughter to marry him, the whole issue gets frivolous. The movie till then had raised my expectations much higher than that. Of course the part till then is good. The witty dialogues between Tabu and Amitabh are really well written, and both play them out as if second nature. The screenplay deserves kudos. It builds the two characters beautifully, who I doubt would have been as strong without it. Tabu looks very elegant, and fits the role to the T. Their chemistry is also good, and one can feel it increasing in tandem with the increased attraction between the two in the film. Overall, a sweet film that put a smile on my face.

And because I don't want that smile to go away, I shall not tell you a word about Red Swastik. Or rather, I should well tell you three words about it , Don't watch it!!!

kaphi kafi nahi

I don't think I can get myself to drink that coffee!

Mistaken identity

It pains to read stuff like this. Reading all this I wonder why the Nazi association continues to be so strong.

Having grown up in a normal Indian Hindu family, associating the swastik with something negative is so difficult. It is one of the basic symbols of everything mangal. A primary rangoli design, so easy and meaningful. I remembers hundreds of instances where my mom would have said, "don't bother with an elaborate design now, even a swastik is enough." All those advertisements for real estate, insurance, paints, banking, tourism... deriving maximum mileage from the meaning that the swastik conveys.

The swastik has so much more life and history other than the brief infatuation by the Nazis. I really hope this misuse ends!

Sigh!

Till a few days back I was almost chocking with ideas to write about. But there was hardly any time. And now, I have all the time in the world, and there's vacuum!

Just another disappointment

And while we are at making illogical films, I have a few questions about TaRaRumPum.

1. What were they thinking when they styled Rani Mukherjee in the first half?
2. Who in the world gets away speeding on NYC lanes at that!!! speed, without getting killed, or even a ticket!?!
3. How much does an F1 champion, reigning king earn? Just enough to go bankrupt in a year!?
4. What was Rani doing while Saif was recuperating? A zero bank balance!!!
5. Why did Rani (intellectual as her father claims she is) not complete her degree?
6. If Saif is spending away money, what is she as his wife, the miserly-rich-kid-future-planner doing?
7. Why are kids in films always so stupid?

If anyone can answer these reasonably well, I might actually say that the film is OK.

28 weeks later

Pretty much as per tradition, I went out for a movie to celebrate semester end. With a friend from India down here for a while, it was intended to be even more exciting. I was intending to see Spidy 3, but as he had seen it already, we went in for '28 Weeks Later.' And for the first time in my life I left a theater half way through the film.

The film in short, is disgusting. There is nothing but a lot of blood, screaming, loud music, and stupid irrational behavior. The film shows a part of Britain infected with a 'rage virus' that makes people go around mad with rage, killing each other in some of the most gruesome ways possible. The film begins with a few people in a darkened house, hiding from the infected people. But somehow the infected manage to get into the house, and then a rampage, after which the kind of lead guy escapes. Then you have Britain being quarantined, and NATO forces coming in and doing the disaster management/reconstruction and rehabilitation. After that people are gradually brought back in small numbers. 28 weeks later, a couple of kids of that escaped man arrive. They find out their mother is dead, and so steal away to their old home beyond the restricted area, to get her picture. They manage to break through the security, which is elaborate with cameras, men atop buildings with guns, helicopters, barbed wires et al. They actually find a two-wheeler with petrol in it that can run! And they do reach home and there they find their mother! Alive even after being attacked and infected! How she survived for 28 weeks is a mystery. Thankfully they are caught and taken to the restricted area, the mother tested, and quarantined. But the father, has access cards for the building and manages to reach his wife. And then like a grown up man who's seen the 'rage', been luckily saved from the out-to-lynch-crowd, knows that the virus transmits through blood and saliva, readily kisses his wife!!! At this point for the first time at a film here, I actually heard a disappointed unanimous "come-on-man" from the audience. For me the director had lost it at that point.

After that as you would expect he gets the virus and runs around killing people, first his wife of course, as gruesomely as possible. I don't know much ahead because we left. I was totally disgusted, and nauseous. Unless you can stand goriness and blood, and enjoy irrational behavior just for the sake of inducing more goriness, go ahead and watch the film. Its made for you.

What if?

The Iraq war seems to have turned into a never ending story. What was meant to be a quick-fix-and-out-:), has become a quick-fix-and-out-?? I can imagine myself during my journalism days, of days when you just don't seem to see any story anywhere. With Iraq there would never have been a dearth of stories...experts' interviews, first hand experiences, Indian perspectives, changes in discussions in political science classrooms, probable changes in the international affairs/foreign policy syllabus to make Iraq and the war on terror a permanent feature of it, Iraq quizes for supplements, astrological advise for Iraq, Bush etc etc.

All these readings and discussions about Iraq got me wondering what if instead of sending in troops and actually invading Iraq, the US had conducted one of its covert operations in regime change? What if with their superior intelligence capacities, their secret agents and stuff they had tried to get rid of (read secretly killed) Saddam and his aides? What if they had managed a traditional coup? What if they had negotiated and flexed some muscles to contain Saddam's 'intentions'? I think I should just assume that after considering the various options, the better experienced and knowledgable US policymakers thought that direct intervention is their best bet. In fulfilling their duties towards their people and the world at large, they did their best. I wonder if anyone of them said, "War! karma majha!"