PGDHRL results

Results for my PG diploma course in Human Rights law is out.

And i have passed (not with flying colors). Here is my marks breakup -

Paper 1: History of Human Rights and Rule of law : 54
Paper 2: Civil and political rights: 70
Paper 3: Economic social and cultural rights: 55.5
Paper 4: Legal Aid and access to justice: 65.5

These results by themselves may not look that impressive but if look at the overall class marks, these are quite good. As usual , i am not the topper and not even in top 5 , probably in top 10 but if you look at the class overall, i am not that bad either.

oh well!

peepli live

Peepli live
A film by Anusha Rizvi
Co-directed by Mahmood Farooqui

Highly recommended by me.

Why i loved it so much?
1. It had cast by Naya theater. I had met Natha :). Yes, he was in NSIT during my final year as part of Naya theater. I had seen him before during a play (ponga pandit) at Indian Habitat center. It is so great to see him on screen.
2. Raghubeer Yadav. And yes, he is a Yadav, makes sense eh? (caste reference)
3. I did not knew that Des mera had such powerful lyrics. So true song about India. i am in love with that song now. And also about Zindagi se darte ho, see previous post. The local songs were also very good.


The subject matter. There are many important issues in this country. So many documentaries are made about farmer suicides but the idiots like me will never watch them. We are the "bigde hui bachche" of this generation who want everything in an accessible form. Documentaries are too heavy for us, reality of life is too much for us to handle. We prefer our virtual worlds, our facebooks, our blogs, our so-called social network which runs over a network of wires now; How do you make dumb-wits like us to know about farmer suicides, to know what happens in majority of India, to those who are making our food. P.Sainath has written a book (Everybody loves a good drought) and it has got 13 awards, everyone is calling it an excellent achievement, but why should we read it. It is going to be another diatribe about poor villages. Dude, India is shining, duh!!! The truth is that we middle class Indians, in our lives have stopped looking at the those poor people as human beings. They are like a different species, a different race which is also sharing the planet with us and it just happens to be a co-incidence. If you do not agree, just watch this hulu video and if you are able to watch it till the end, my respects to you. Farmers suicide has no relation to my life and there is also no relation between what happens in Kashmir. My life is a struggle in itself, why should i think about others? We belong to that generation who believes that there is no caste system in India, we who never say no to gifts during marriages, who always pretend that we are religious by chanting some mantras, who are ok with salty water in our taps as long as we have levis jeans and reebok shoes; the question is how do you make this generation aware about fundamental problems such as farmer suicide.

The answer to last question is Peepli live. And i thank Anusha Rizvi for making this movie. This movie is a fictional satire on farmer suicide issue. There is so many punch lines, so many rhetorics that you will laugh, you can not escape it. But there is a lot that is happening on the screen that you just can not avoid and that is not laughable at all. Soon, you have to question yourself, what are you laughing at, the movie or the society or is it this the laugh of shame on yourself. This movie is like what Jon Stewart does every weekday, present complex issues, stories in a satirical fashion so that we can understand what's so wrong with the system. My point is that it has to be done through satire, it has to be done by making us laugh. As the saying goes, a great man is one who can laugh at himself. And so it applies to society as well. If only we can laugh on ourselves, then only we can be great. Because behind those laughs, there is a pinch which is internal and the laugh is just the instantaneous gratification of delight but the pinch is long term and it definitely bites. Or may be we have just become such high degree consumers that for us to understand deep concepts, they have to sold to us and the packaging matters. We need Munna bhai to tell us that we should always speak truth, we need Larry Wilmore to address race issues between us. Peepli live does just that.

Moreover it is not just the farmer suicide issue that is dealt here. I love the fact that whenever bollywood decides to make films about indian villages, they always show the wife as a mature, sensible and responsible person as opposed to someone who just sits at home. (Another example - Ishqiya). Bollywood's contribution to women independence is indeed commendable. The movie also shows mother-daughter-in-law relationship where the daughter in law is always abused. It also talks about the liquor problem, caste issues etc.

One interesting thing is that it is also a big satire on Indian media. It is more notably so because the director comes from NDTV. But i did not find it as funny as others here. (Disclosure: As blogged before, i am a fan of Indian media now). I sympathize with Indian media. We laugh about the rat race between news media channels. But i ask, if the rat race was not there, then only one channel would have covered it, shouted about it but no one would have listened. It is because of the rat race, everyone covers the same story and hence it gets such a big attention. Think about it! Yes, rat race brings competition and thus comes the selling points and thus story hunting turns into a scavenger hunt. I am able to accept it as side-effects, but it seems that people are too obsessed with the side effects that they overlook the main advantages.


And it brings two more days of guilt in my life. Two days later, i would have forgotten all about it, i will be in my world again, Natha will be somewhere else, a different planet, a different century. Two days, thats all it takes now a days for me to forget about all this. Sad!

Zindagi se darte ho

Just came back after watching Peepli live (review in another post). But at the end of the movie, while the casting and other information comes, there is a song performed by Indian ocean - Zondagi se darte ho.
The movie was good but this song in the end. everyone in the theater had left except four people, all listening to this Indian ocean song. I think this is definitely one of the best songs of this year for me. And Indian Ocean is definitely my favorite band now. They are able to bring the raw energy, the passion into these songs, it just makes you stand up and run! Yes run!

The song is written by Noon Meem Rashid.
Wikipedia page - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noon_Meem_Rashid

I got the lyrics from this page http://dastangoi.blogspot.com/2010/07/zindagi-se-darte-ho.html


Zindagi se Darte ho

Zindagi se darte ho (4)
Zindagi to tum bhi ho (2)
Zindagi to hum bhi hain
Aadmi se darte ho (2)
Aadmi to tum bhi ho (2)
Aadmi to hum bhi hain
Tum abhi se darte ho

Aadmi zabaan bhi hai
Aadmi bayaan bhi hai (2)

Harf aur maani ke rishta haaye aahan se
Aadmi hai waabasta
Aadmi ke daaman se zindagi hai waabasta
Us se tum nahi darte ho (2)

Ankahi se darte ho
Jo abhi nahi aayi
Us gharri ki aamad ki
Aagahi se darte ho
Tum abhi se darte ho

Pehle bhi to guzre hain (2)
Daur na rassai ke
Be-riya khudaai ke
Phir bhi yeh samajhte ho (2)
Hech aarzumandi
Yeh shab e zubaan bandi
Hai rah e khudaawandi
Tum yehi samajhte ho

Tum mager yeh kya jaano
Lab agar nahi hilte
Haath jaag uthte hain
Haath bol uthte hain
Subh ki azaan ban kar

Roshni se darte ho
Roshni to tum bhi ho
Roshni to hum bhi hain
Tum abhi se darte ho

Raah- e- shauq mein jaise
rahru ka khoon lapke
Ek nayaa junoon lapke
Aadmi chhalak uthe
Aadmi hanse dekho
shaher phir base dekho
Tum abhi se darte ho (4)

ZINDAGI SE DARTE HO-THE SECOND COMING

Afraid of Life, are you
You too are life
We too are life
Afraid of Man, are you
You too are human
We too are human
Afraid already are you

Man is speech
Man is expression too

To the iron bond
Uniting utterance and meaning
Man is joined
Tied to his sleeves is Life
Not afraid of that

Afraid of the unsaid
Afraid of the moment
That has not yet arrived
Afraid of the awareness
Of the coming of that moment
Afraid already

We have seen the times
Before
Of inaccessibility
Of guileless divinity
And yet you believe
To desire is worthless
This night of silenced tongues
Is the path
To divinity

How will you know though
That if lips don’t move
Hands begin to stir
Hands begin to call
Like the Azan at dawn

Afraid of Light
You too are light
We too are light
Afraid of light

As in the journey of love
The traveler’s blood soars
A new passion leaps
Man boils over
Man laughs, look
The city is reborn
Afraid already
-Translated by Mahmood Farooqui with inputs from SR Faruqi


Now some videos

Indian ocean live performance : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0sxapniwqI&feature=related



Sung by Zia Mohi ud Din



And by Noon Meem himself



More research is needed about Noon Meem Rashid.


zindagi se darte ho, zindagi to tum bhi ho, zindagi to hum bhi hain.

kya baat hai! and in the end it says - tum abhi se darte ho!

You are afraid of now!

Hai pyar to musafir

Music! Yes, music was missing from this blog for a long time and what a way it has chosen to come back. Randomly, i started listening to Shubha mudgal and i came across this song - Hai Pyar to Musafir from the album ab ke saavan. And i was hooked. The lyrics, the way it is sung, the tempo increase. Kya baat hai! And the lyrics...... so many songs about love are there, yet this one finds a unique spot (well it is not ishtehaar level, ek kudi jiska naam muhabbat) but it is definitely at just one level down.

And Shubhaji ji awaaz....kya awaaz hai! FYI, she used to blog too. Her site is http://shubhamudgal.com/


Music can be downloaded from here - http://www.dishant.com/mailsong/8563.html

kab aaye kab jaaye kahan thehre kya khaye
Hai pyar to musafir, marzi se aaye jaaye
naraaz hota hai, ukta jaata hai
kaun jaane kiski baaton mein aata hai
bas uthta hai chala jaata hai
kitna koi roke, kitna samjhaye
Hai pyar to musafir, marzi se aaye jaaye


kab aaye kab jaaye kahan thehre kya khaaye
Hai pyar to musafir, marzi se aaye jaaye
naraaz hota hai ukta jaata hai
kaun jaane kiski baaton mein aata hai
bas uthta hai chala jaata hai
kitna koi roke, kitna samjhaye
Hai pyar to musafir, marzi se aaye jaaye


kabhi umar bhar intezaar karwaaye
kabhi darwaaze pe khada muskuraye
gali gali sheher sheher tehelta rehta hai
na kuch sunta hai, na kuch kehta hai
phir bhi baithe hain sab aas lagaye
kya pata kab kiski rah mein aa jaye
Hai pyar to musafir, marzi se aaye jaaye


Na rupya na paisa jo koi kamaye
na sharbat na paani jo koi bahaye
na dhoop na batti jo koi jalaye
na rekha na kundali jo koi padhaye
na mandir na masjid jo koi banaye
man se hi nikle aur man mein hi samaye
Hain pyar toh musafir, marzi se aaye jaaye
Hain pyar toh musafir, marzi se aaye jaaye

कब आये कब जाए कहाँ ठहरे क्या खाए
है प्यार तो मुसाफिर , मर्ज़ी से आये जाए
नाराज़ होता है , उकता जाता है
कौन जाने किसकी बातों में आता है
बस उठता है चला जाता है
कितना कोई रोके , कितना समझाए
है प्यार तो मुसाफिर , मर्ज़ी से आये जाए

कब आये कब जाए कहाँ ठहरे क्या खाए
है प्यार तो मुसाफिर , मर्ज़ी से आये जाए
नाराज़ होता है उकता जाता है
कौन जाने किसकी बातों में आता है
बस उठता है चला जाता है
कितना कोई रोके , कितना समझाए
है प्यार तो मुसाफिर , मर्ज़ी से आये जाए


कभी उमर भर इंतज़ार करवाए
कभी दरवाज़े पे खड़ा मुस्कुराये
गली गली शहर शहर ठहलता रहता है
न कुछ सुनता है , न कुछ कहता है
फिर भी बैठे हैं सब आस लगाये
क्या पता कब किसकी रह में आ जाये
है प्यार तो मुसाफिर , मर्ज़ी से आये जाए


न रुपया न पैसा जो कोई कमाए
न शरबत न पानी जो कोई बहाए
न धुप न बत्ती जो कोई जलाये
न रेखा न कुंडली जो कोई पढाये
न मंदिर न मस्जिद जो कोई बनाये
मन से ही निकले और मन में ही समाये
है प्यार तो मुसाफिर , मर्ज़ी से आये जाए
है प्यार तो मुसाफिर , मर्ज़ी से आये जाए