The snowfall, which never happened

When i was a bit more young, whenever i used to see pictures of USA, it was easy for me to spot the differences. The beggars where different. They were richer and fewer than ours. The roads were clean. Stray dogs, cats were few than ours. It made me think. I was never good in those financial/social theories and never understood them well. Much later, one day i realized that one thing which happens there and does not happen here! It snows over there!


What will happen if it suddenly snows in Kolkata? Or India at large? The beggars will die. They will freeze to death. The positive thing is that they will die white! White as dead fishes. The poverty line will no more ashame us. Population in turn will reduce. Alcohol consumption will increase and give people a pinkish tone. The sun wont burn as brown anymore. We may even turn white!


Now come to the political canvas. We will have young politicians in the lead. Like that we see abroad. The cold will slowly but surely reduce the number of aged politicians. They also wont have to take all the trouble to wear national dresses in parliaments. As that surely wont kill the cold. They can wear western clothes, develop India like the western countries. They wont need to give stupid excuses as they give now, to bring foreign aristocracies. Young politicians, with relatively less days in politics, will naturally have a better resume, with less crime records.


That snowfall may cover the India we knew. It may be there preserved under the ice like dead fishes. At least it wont decompose. What we are seeing know, is it not worse than that? They are making the progress slow. Taking the steps in a way so that there wont be any return. Not even in children s' story books. Because they, along with the progress are also changing the people to accept it. Forcing them to think that "this" is natural. But how can we blame them? Its not there fault that "nature" is very much there in the word natural.

Piracy: A Whole New World of Cinema

Once I had a brief encounter with a film producer. Later when I read interviews given by him, I found out that he said, next time he produces a film, he may himself upload it in the internet, so that everyone can share. The reason was simple. The previous film which he produced was a small budget film and they were short of cash. Thus, they barely managed with the campaigning for the film. The film was not much of a success in the beginning. Suddenly there film was climbing up the ranks and was doing the rounds all of its own! As the reason they found out later that some one has uploaded the film in the internet and helped others to know about it.

Now a very glamorous and trendy slogan is "Kill piracy, save (my whatever product)". Talking of films they shut down normal cinema halls one by one and force you to go for the multiplexes. It’s true that most of the people can pay to see films in these places. Who cares if for that I am forced to watch only one cinema in my budget where I used to watch many? But the question is what if I don't want to see the films which they are showing? Are we puppets of the system? To see what they show? Talking about world cinema literally nothing get screened in the cinema halls in here. People are not ashamed of that. Maybe they are afraid of that. Because if that happens there profits from selling cheap celluloid s will fall drastically. They may argue that all the people are not ready for that much exposure. Then how come a world movie gets popular when some one knows that there home production is a copy from that? Stupid quiz shows where knowing a set of answers make you famous help people to get a global exposure. But if knowing the name was enough then why the printing presses or the sets? If we could bypass these in between processes like letting other know something only after a number of people has made there profits from it, maybe people would be benefited.

It is more or less true that people can buy some of the global cinema DVD s which comes lately in stores. If that is true, then how come millionaires cry telling that they are broke because some students have downloaded there films from internet? They can also do with a little less profit! Someone who spends crores on publicity, is surely interested in profit rather than making people know about there product. That publicity or "kill piracy" slogan in itself are generating other avenues for making profits. Now people determines a film's success in all sort of ways other than those related to cinema. Like how much was spent to make that movie or whose son directed it or how many stars acted there etc.. In the past an actor used to get famous after acting in a film. Nowadays a film gets famous depending upon who is acting in the film.

Piracy or the Internet gave access to the vast collection of films, knowledge. It’s hard to believe that these geniuses are failing to understand that if world cinemas along with home productions are screened here in a reasonable quantity and price, then why will someone take all the trouble to do piracy? Piracy also helps a lot of people to earn there bread. When they cry because they may be forced to eat bread in place of there pastries, its justified. But those who ate bread from the beginning should be forced to believe that they can spend more and they are there only to supply the God pastries. It’s a common image that a millionaire should not cough! They cannot get angry just because some more number of people has seen or got the access to something. They can only feel insecure. They are no more Gods sitting in a sofa and pretending to casually drop some names of films to which only they have the access. There time of offering no choices to people than watch there movies may very well end. If cinema is made for the sake of cinema, then its supreme goal is to be watched, not money. In past money was not a constraint in making masterpieces.

Concerto

"Bangla" is legal. It is called "Country Liquor". So what? Does that change in name make it purer or change the ratio of mixing its contents ? Short in cash is the sole reason for one to drink that. A little more he earns, a little higher he moves in the business of alcohol. The change of the name only helped it to pass in society or printed media. Its like the hierarchy of our financial/social system. The lower you go the more astonishingly stupid excuses you get to make something legitimate. Its like superstitions. Only superstitions are not originated from the old dead files and folders.


In every social level the problems are the same. But the way of handling them are different. So is it money or education that is more important? You need money to get educated and vice versa. Its like the water cycle taught in the school.


Education holds good in the long run, on an average . To get its fruit you need to invest a minimum of 15 years. Else it would be useless. It is normal that you need to have a good patience as well a good roof over your head. What the hell will someone do by having at least primary education? To count or to know which side is east etc can be taught without a school. The job you will get with that primary education, wont be more than what you can earn without going to a primary school. But "school" is more of a tag name nowadays. Their is also a deadline to start. Like you cannot just admit your child in any class you like and give the necessary pre education in home. You are redundant. You are for those clubs and social gatherings and friends and alcohol. Schools encourage you to be so. Well its not entirely true that you will be redundant. You can teach him, but for the degree you are bound with the school rules.


Money is a plenty out there. You have some to spare, i have some to spare. On top of that there are charities, rich people, live shows etc. The flow of money for the poor is constant. But the question is were are all these money going to? Do we here also have a water cycle? Not a single slum has vanished. But a lot of people got job and earned more money in the process of collecting money! Is there any logic to pour water in a bucket when you know that it has a hole? Throwing away money will help you pass time. It will also get you a good night's sleep and some hours peace thinking that you have done a good job. But the net result will be zero. There is no meaning in keeping crores in your vaults and then securely shout in favor of the poor. That shout will last as long as you have your savings secured.


In the end alcohol joins money and education to make a concerto. After the music probably they would sit together and see the sun set. They don't ride horses. Where ever they want to go, one or the other has already been there.

Plastic

In school, attendance was the only time when my name or roll number was called without my surprise. Other than that if i heard my name i used to get surprised thinking how did some one managed to know me? To my relief most of the times the boys sharing the same name were called, not me. When i came to college, i had a bit of a promotion. Attendance was taken in each period. I did not complain as that helped to take a bit of boredom off the long periods. I was not a nerd or something like that. Its true that i am shy but i was also odd and tried my best to help people forget me quickly.


Although i made sure that people manage to walk through me and not notice me, i also did some events. Like beating up boys, breaking tube lights, quarreling, getting occasional good marks, participating in sports, falling in love etc.. These should very well had taken the invisible cloak off me. But i am still wearing it. I was always afraid of success, but happy to pursue it. Its like i may get 40 when the highest is 60, but when the highest score fell to (say) 30, i would make sure that my marks fall to 20, irrespective of the paper. That way i was at least not left behind.


I have different sets of friends to pass my time. One set do not get well with the other. They are different. I behave accordingly with each set. Which one i like or which behavior is mine--i have forgotten or maybe i never knew. Its not like i follow their views blindly, many a times i put my views. I am not to be mistaken with the decoys. Who have nothing of their own and just goes with the trend of the group. I enjoy or distaste each group in more or less the same way. But i do admit that i am a very confused mind.


I try my best not to be a hypocrite like "Democracy" (in this case the word meaning is taken and explained as seen on Earth and not in the dictionary). Where you are given the right to express your thoughts and at the same time given the assurance that you are a nobody. If your view does not match with that of the guard of the guards, then thanks for coming and be thankful that we helped you to spend some times of yours with us and don't expect any thing more.


The odd thing is what ever i do, i manage to be dispensable and survive. Like books maybe. You read it like it, but when you are (say) shifting to some other place and your bags are full or too heavy, the books are the first to be parted with. You have read it, you know the story so why keep it? Or sometimes you keep them in shining bookshelves and forget them. It gets rented, the pages get old, people talk about the author or the story, but the book is dispensable. Its just a container of knowledge. Like the safe place were the caterpillar falls asleep dreaming of becoming a butterfly. Like the plastic bottles. Twisting, shouting, crying in vain to be destroyed. All of them in the end finding something to survive on, through Naphthalene or through clothes or through recycling.