123 Citizen Journalist

Pappu Can't Dance Saala; But Pappu Can Act Saala…

noreply@blogger.com (Yogesh Goel) — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 14:53:00 +0000

Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na - Movie Review

Is love being able to spend most of the time together, happy times; be opposites but still feel complete without the other because they complete each other; want to keep each other happy and smiling.

And is it possible that despite having all these things the two concerned people don't know it? Then again if love were so easy, it couldn't be love. Or could it?

I don't know what it is with this movie; script ok ok, newcomers, the best performance is by a dead man in a portrait played by Naseerruddin Shah; music ok ok, (little disappointing for a Rahman movie); script ok ok, nothing too great. But still there is something which makes you not want to get up from your seat; I guess it's like what Abbas Tyrewala said "it's a with clichés, but in a very non cliché manner".

The first half way better than the second, it has the gripping affect, to a certain extend. The flashback trail starts at the airport; and then the journey starts: a funeral, Juhu beach, fight in the college canteen, home to a talking portrait, farewell party, the pub, a painter's room, the police station fights at parties, on a horse to the airport; with short glimpses of a black stallion in the middle of a desert in search of justice. The second half is where all the clichés add up and get caught on to each other.

Imran Khan (Jai) gives justice to the character, and proves to become a true Ranjhor ka Rathore after all. Genelia D'Souza is the pampered brat whom you just want to kill at times, but looks as cute and fragile as need be. Prateik Babbar's acting deserves a mention; small role but played to the T: a useless, not-to-do-well nothing. As I've said before, the best performance is still the dead man in a portrait hanging on the wall. Overall, decent movie, worth the ticket's movie. Just don't go in with too many expectations.

Jaana, dil, jaana kaise maine na jaana,
Ke pyaar yehi hai, yeh jaane tu ya jaane na…

Race Movie Review and Pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Yogesh Goel) — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 16:40:00 +0000

Language: HINDI Genre: Action, Drama Director: Abbas-Mustan Producer: Kumar S. Taurani, Ramesh S. Taurani Cast: Anil Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan, Akshaye Khanna, Bipasha Basu,Sameera Reddy, Katrina Kaif Music: Pritam Lyrics: Sameer Cinematography: Ravi Yadav Editing: Hussain Burmawala Screenplay: Anurag Prapanna Story/Writer: Shiraz Ahmed Action: Allan Amin

Director duo Abbas and Mustan (Baazigar, Humraaz, Ajnabee) are back with yet another taut thriller titled 'Race'. The movie is an action thriller and a murder mystery round the corner with a dash of romance and humor. After the moderately successful Naqaab, the duo is back with a strong star cast and yet another twisty tale. So have the Masters of Thrillers succeeded in thrilling the audience? Is race, a racy ride? Read on to find out...

Story:

Race is a story of two brothers. Ranvir Singh (Saif Ali Khan) and Rajeev Singh (Akshay Khanna) are step bothers who own a huge stud farm in Durban and are biggest bookies in the horse racing circuit.

Sophia (Katrina Kaif) is Ranvir's personal secretary. She adores her boss and loves him. Ranvir is totally unaware of her feeling and regards her adoration as her efficiency.

Shaina (Bipasha Basu) is an upcoming Indian ramp model in Durban. She and Ranvir share a very beautiful relationship, which is just on the borderline of love. But fate gets her married to Rajeev, a chronic alcoholic.

In moments of truth Ranvir and Shaina come close to each other, which leads to suspicion in Rajeev's mind. In all this chaos a murder is committed, a contract killing is issued, double crossings become the order of the day and betrayals are executed at the blink of an eye.

R.D, a flamboyant police detective who lives by his wits, along with his secretary Mini is assigned to solve this murder mystery. As they unfold the mystery, a point comes where you cannot pick the good from the bad, the evil from the righteous and the tame from the wild.

Analysis: Race starts of brilliantly. The perfect execution of the script by the director duo combined by the brilliant performances of the actors holds your attention throughout the movie. The first half of the movie with great stunts and twist in the tale is a great watch. Post interval the twists in tale continue but after a certain point of time gets very dreary to sit through. Just like the director duo's earlier flick Naqaab, the climax of this film to seems a little dragged. Just when you think the movie has come to an end, there is another twist and the race continues. If only the twists in the climax were executed in a better way and made less confusing, the movie would have been a winner throughout.

The performances of the actors make the movie even more engaging. Saif Ali Khan, as the macho and smart man, pulls his act exceptionally well. His expressions, dialogue delivery and passion are first-rate and he emerges a clear winner. Akshaye Khanna delivers an amazing performance. He acts brilliantly throughout the movie.

Anil Kapoor was hilarious and fun. His comic timing is brilliant. Superb performance. The ladies are no less compared to the men in their performances. Bipasha Basu sports a hot n chic look and bowls you out by her fabulous performance. Katrina Kaif looks gorgeous but needs to work on her expressions and her dialogue delivery. She is good.

Sameera Reddy in her limited roles makes an impact. To sum up, the director duos Abbas Mustan shine once again. They succeed in entertaining the audience throughout. However two songs from the movie could be chopped off easily for an even more racy enjoyment. Screenplay is good and dialogues hilarious and superb. Cinematography is mind blowing. The locales of Durban are shot exclusively well that makes you want to visit the place. Not all the tracks of the movie are good. The title song is enjoyable. Atif's pehli nazar is a chartbuster. Performances add to its credits.

Over all, Race is high on wheels with a twisty story and power packed performances. Worth a watch!

Race Movie review Wallpapers Pictures Images

Inflation at 6 months high

noreply@blogger.com (Yogesh Goel) — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 06:14:00 +0000

By Yogesh Goel

Wasn’t it a most probable thing to happen when every economy in the world is facing a crisis. I have my strong doubts if the figures were manipulated before or during these 9 months. Makes you thinking. Isn’t it?

When economies go down then everything is shown as down. Now even the oil companies have started making their demands for more of price increase of petrol and diesel. Oh! My goodness. Now we must be ready for yet another sharp rise of various daily use commodities thus making the inflation figure more pinching. Afraid aren’t you?

The methodology of the UPA government has come to light. They have never been able to handle the economy. And the result is now clear. It has become a mock for the poor to have even one times’ daal chaawal. Things have never been good under this current government ruled by UPA. Things have become unaffordable. In their rule rich have become richer and poor have become poorer.

Even when 4 out of 10 richest people in the world are Indians, India still has 20% population living below poverty line. And mind you. This is increasing with no chances of betterment.

Why am I writing all this to bug you all? Well, I am here to present my greatest doubts of all times. Is India’s growth really about 9% and is inflation rate 5.02%. I have strong beliefs that the two important datas are being played with.

What if one fine day we finally wake up to find the real truth of Indian economy manipulated by people who have an extraordinary mind than us? What if the headlines everywhere display my doubts to be true? What if you find the news that the growth rate is 5% and the inflation is 9%? Shocked you’ll be. Won’t you?

Well, by the time you wake up with this news, I’ll be off to arrange my daal-chaawal. What about you?

Sensex battered to 5 month low

noreply@blogger.com (Yogesh Goel) — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 06:12:00 +0000

By Yogesh Goel

Friday, 7^th March –The last trading session of the week. Indian Sensex is battered 1603 points (9.1%) in just 4 sessions which made investors and traders poorer by 6.2 lakh crore. Uuufff. Too much of a loss. Isn’t it?

Well, this is nothing comparing the fall of January 21. But nothing can be done. The holes in Indian economy during the UPA regime has come up after the Union Budget 2008 was presented publicly. The real things are becoming a reality now. People have started fearing of the future of India in terms of economy and growth. Global weakness can also be sighted as an example of such a crippled state.

To cap it all the domestic banks have come up declaring their losses through indirect exposure to the sub-prime loan market. Can I have the pleasure to ask where were they some time back? Sub-prime is not a new issue. It has been haunting the world and India since more than 6 months. Where were these banks that time? Where were they when the sensex crossed 21k? Don’t they make us think that all was planned for India between the forces who control the economy, inclusive of our finance minister and domestic banks.

Why am I shouting on this issue? Why? I am shouting because I am sitting idle in my office. Why? Because people don’t have money to purchase my material. Why? Because their money is either locked in shares or they have incurred huge losses in the share market crash.

I sit here, I go to the market. All is blank. No buyers. No activity. All simply thinking. No money in hand then what to spend? All just because crores of money has been sucked out of the system. God knows where the money has gone. If you find then lend me some too.

Do you want to Die Hard or Live Forever???

noreply@blogger.com (Yogesh Goel) — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 06:02:00 +0000

As you know scientists are finding ways in which a human being can live a longer life. That is to stop the aging process in very simple words. So now you can very well guess that many people are against this and many people are supporting this research. No surprises! Even I do.

Our very own net-techie friend Scott Wainner has come up with quite a unique way to support this research. Seems he is desperately in need of a longer life. Well, friends he is asking all of us to support him support this research. Now for the first 100 people who support his cause by writing about his post and cause in their blog or website will get 20$ paid through paypal. Good enough for a post. Isn’t it.

Well, think like this. He’s giving away 2000$ to make people support this thing. So you see he not only wants to live longer like us but also wants his beloved ones and future loving ones also to live longer. So in this way. We all live together forever. Isn’t it a cool idea?

Remember what Bon Jovi said in his song.

“I gonna live forever. Its my life”

The link to Scott’s post is-
http://www.wrevenue.com/2008/03/06/living-well-indefinitely-20-blogging-challenge/

And his website is-
http://www.wrevenue.com/

I support his initiative to support this research to stop aging of human beings. Will you?

Jodha Akbar 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Yogesh Goel) — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 16:02:00 +0000

Director: Ashutosh Gowariker
Writers: Haidar Ali (writer) Ashutosh Gowariker (writer)
Release Date: 15 February 2008 (India)
Genre: Biography / History / Musical / Romance
Plot Outline: A sixteenth century love story about a marriage of alliance that gave birth to true love between a great Mughal emperor, Akbar, and a Rajput princess, Jodha.

Write your reviews in the comments section.

Zoomin - Misleading ad at The Economic Times website

noreply@blogger.com (Yogesh Goel) — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 16:03:00 +0000

I suddenly chanced upon this not so silly thing. Found a misleading ad. Different ad and different delivery. See yourself.

Note the Zoomin at the top as a banner ad. It shows you that if you sign up which is free then you get 25 prints for free.

Now do you notice that you will actually be given 15 free prints and not 25 as shown in the ad displaying at The Economic Times.

Perhaps the people at the ET should notice this and disregard this ad as the newspapers job is to put in the reality in front of everyone. Isn't it.

I have no personal grudge with this ad but then it somehow mislead me, tough free still my mind swayed and I fell into the trap. I was actually so happy that no other such website is giving 25 free prints on sign-up so why not go for it. But then I landed up seeing 15 which is a common freebie with such type of websites.

By Yogesh Goel

Hanuman Returns today

noreply@blogger.com (Yogesh Goel) — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 03:03:00 +0000

Producer: Percept Pictures Company
Director: Anurag Kashyap
Music Director: Tapas Relia
Lyrics: Satish Mutatkar

Singers: Daler Mehndi, Hrishikesh Kamerkar, Neuman, Francois, Shaznine, Samantha, Shravan Suresh, Sneha Khanwlkar, Baby Aparna, Armaan Malik, Adnan Sami, Mangal Mishra, Vijay Prakash.

Today India will witness yet another making of a new history. All ratios will change and the style and face of the film industry shall change for better. In yet another avatar the hero and all powerful Lord Hanuman shall return in the latest presentation from Anurag Kashyap's HANUMAN RETURNS.

I liked the mind of the scriptwriter and director. First they brought out the original script in the all time traditional way and now they are here to present the hero of all Hanuman in his childhood avatar in this modern world.

I am very sure children will simply love this new hero avatar. Seeing the trailer I can very well guess that todays modern examples have been implied in the movie so that it can make the viewer think that it is happening for real in his or her world today. So friends get ready for a dose of mast entertainment and fun. Be ready to embrace India's all new hero - HANUMAN.

By Yogesh Goel
(You can download HANUMAN RETURNS mp3 songs here)

Dhirubhai Ambani - Happy Birthday sir

noreply@blogger.com (Yogesh Goel) — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 02:50:00 +0000

28th Dec, 1932 - Forever

We celebrate Dhirajlal Hirachand Ambani's 75th birthday today. You and I know him as Dhirubhai Ambani. A man who gave India its development direction. A man who built up a company known as Reliance which is today known as People's Company. A man who thought only of connecting people and their development. A man who went on to make the largest business house in India. A man who changed the face of India bringing it to the front line globally.

Millions have gained & earned from his king-size company and even today everyone is attached with his ideals and vision in some or the other way. Dhirubhai believed in people and their strength and so we can see the results. We believe in Reliance and we benefit from it. Isn't it.

We salute the one man show of India - Dhirubhai. Many Many Happy Returns of the day. Wish you a very Happy Birthday Sir.

By Yogesh Goel

Bhutto family sacrifice

noreply@blogger.com (Yogesh Goel) — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 16:35:00 +0000

Benazir Bhutto's full family has laid down their lives or sacrificed their everything for Pakistan. They have suffered everything which could be worst and a nightmare for a single human being. They came back again and again and showed how much they loved their country. Even when she came back recently she kissed the grounds of her homeland and thanked God that she is there and that she never even believed this could happen.

Pakistan is on high alert. Musharraf is trying to restore peace and democracy which actually was never there ever. A person with very high and aggressive ambition can never think of goodness for anyone.

Electricity and all communication has been stopped and cut in Pakistan as of now. People have come up on roads. Total unrest in all parts of the country. No one can still believe this actually happened. The most loved leader is no more.

Elections to be delayed as of now. Well, wonder for whom the elections are to be done and who actually will be two opponents on two sides. If at all elections take place then that would be merely a big hoax drama.

Musharraf is always batting. He is the baller. The fielders are all yours. He is the umpire. He is the 3rd umpire. So you can understand what will happen to the match. lol:)

We at 123CJ pray for Benazir's souls to rest in peace.

By Yogesh Goel

Benazir Bhutto killed in pakistan bomb blast

noreply@blogger.com (Yogesh Goel) — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 13:45:00 +0000

In the latest tragedy from Pakistan the hottest and the most current news is that Benazir Bhutto is killed in Pakistan in a heavy bomb blast. Politics and dictatorship has shown its colours. This is heights. When Pervez Musharraf was in with his throne Benazir and Nawaz Sharif had to leave the country. She came with so much of hopes and ambitions to restore democracy but failed. Completely planned Musharraf did what he always wanted.

Directly its a warning to all the people, be it the politician or any other. Damn if anyone goes against Musharraf. The world will now have lessons as to how a state of mind Musharraf is. We Indians never said wrong and we have all the proofs that all the terrorism which happened on our land were led by pakistan and Musharraf. All politicians who are against Musharraf have now to fear and run for their lives.

Pakistan is out of democracy and is now in the hands of a killing dictator like Hitler. Pakistan has now become unsafe. No one is free in Pakistan and no one can now raise voice for anything in Pakistan.

Benazir, the head of the largest political party of Pakistan had already notified that she and her life is in danger and now her fear has come true. Pakistan is now in a major crisis. Security of Pakistan is now in question.

Benazir Bhutto is no more. Pakistan stands in crisis and a question mark on the security agencies.

Complete details can be read here.

By Yogesh Goel

What are we leading towards?

noreply@blogger.com (Kuldip Kumar Garhwal) — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 10:45:00 +0000

No Shelter
People sleeping outside a Gurudawara in Calcutta.

Cleanliness is next to Godliness
More than half of this street is covered with Garbage. There is no garbage bin around.

Photo by : Kuldip Garhwal.

Balancing Act

noreply@blogger.com (Kuldip Kumar Garhwal) — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 10:36:00 +0000

The girl who is walking on the rope is probably 5-6 years old.

Location: Dharamtala Road, Salkia, Howrah, WB.
Photo by : Kuldip Garhwal

Feel free to express yourself

noreply@blogger.com (Kuldip Kumar Garhwal) — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 03:57:00 +0000

Here are a few common public questions waiting for your opinion.

Should India and Pakistan have borders without any visas?
Is Shahrukh Khan a bigger star than Amitabh Bachchan?
Should the death Penalty be abolished in India?
Will Indians ever stop spitting on roads?
Should smoking in public places be banned completely?
Is Gandhigiri relevant today?
Should sting operations be admitted as evidence in courts?
After Chak De, will hockey become a national craze again?
Should offices of the President and governor’s be abolished?
Should same sex marriages be legalized?
Is MS Dhoni a better captain than Saurav Ganguly?
Should there be state censorship in India for arts & movies?
Should animal sacrifice during festivals be abolished?
Should India have different teams for one-day and test-matches?
Will Ekta Kapoor ever do a non-K serial?
Should India sign the nuclear deal with US?
Is news today turning into entertainment?
With so many records, should Sachin Tendulkar now retire?
Should India have a uniform civil code?
Is BPO culture tarnishing our youth?
Do Indians still have a white skin complex?

Source: Lead India.

Don Bosco School Liluah Annual Sports Day 2007-08

noreply@blogger.com (Kuldip Kumar Garhwal) — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 11:31:00 +0000

Event: DBL Annual Sports Day 2007-08
Date: 20 Dec 2007.
Location: Don Bosco School Liluah (DBL), Howrah, WB.
Photos by: Kuldip Garhwal
To view all the photos visit : http://picasaweb.google.com/garhwalk/DBLSportsDay

To view all the photos visit : http://picasaweb.google.com/garhwalk/DBLSportsDay

Welcome

noreply@blogger.com (Kuldip Kumar Garhwal) — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 16:45:00 +0000

by Kuldip Garhwal

Welcome is a fun filled movie with a simple story (which is just there to support the comedy.) Both Nana Patekar and Anil Kapoor have acted very well. Its a must watch for all movie buffs who njoy comedy movie.

Taare Zameen Par: Kya Hai Problem, Kyun Tera Bheja Kum?

noreply@blogger.com (Yogesh Goel) — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 03:23:00 +0000

by VP

Idiot, Duffer, Lazy, Crazy; Kyun Karte Nahi Try, Why, Why Why,Why Can’t YOU???
…Akshar Jo Nache, Kya Khayi Hai Bhaang?

Not all fingers are the same length,but how we sometimes wish them to be. Then again, its God’s creation, and there’s a reason for it. What a thumb is capable of doing, other fingers can’t do. Just like that, TZP is about opening our minds to things other than academia and its pressure. Your destiny is where your true happiness lies.

Following the steps of an elder brother who is perfect in studies, as well as a tennis champ, can sometimes be hard to fall in the same footsteps. Top that with failing 3^rd Standard once. As the teacher asks Ishaan (Darsheel Safary) to read a paragraph from the text, all that comes out are the dancing letters in a language that really isn’t. But the importance of staying in a classroom and learning is all forgotten as more and more time is spent outside the class in punishment; faking burps and moon dancing in the cooridors. The world is perfect as long as there is day dreaming, cathcing fishes and lots of painting to be done even with failing tests and getting into fights with the other guys. As his parents send him to boarding school to bring in ‘discipline’ and fix the boy up, something inside him closes up. A substitute teacher Ram Shankar Nikhumb (Aamir Khan) sees Ishaan and wants to help him help himself.

If Aamir Khan the actor is labelled as a perfectionist, then I don’t know what to label Aamir Khan the director. I’ll leave the labelling to others. The first half is a little slow, but it lays a foundation that ensures that Ishaan is thoroughly understood by the viewers. Of what he is and what he is not.

The music need not hold the film together, but it does. Prasing Shankar, Ehsaan, Loy and lycrisist Prasoon Joshi would be adding salt to the wound. Duniya ka naara, jame raho.

Imagine if life were really all of academics and getting good grades, where would Sachin R. Tendulkar be today, for that, where would the Indian Cricket Team come from, most of them, barring a few, don’t hold degrees, probably don’t even have great handwriting, but see where they are today. Where would Shah Rukh Khan, Big B, and the endless list of brilliant actors be? Musicians, artists, businessmen, where would they be, if all that mattered was written in books just to be regurgitated?

…Bhej na itna door mujhko tu, yaad bhi tujhko aa na pao Maa;
Bhed mein yun choodo mujhe, ghar laut ke bhi aa na pao Maa;
Kya itna bura hoon mein Maa?
Tujhe sab hai pata, hai na Maa?

Narendra Modi - Lion King - He stands tall as ever

noreply@blogger.com (Yogesh Goel) — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 08:58:00 +0000

Gujarat/Elections/2007 - Narendra Modi has done it again. Its not a joke and no one is here to fool around.

A man disgraced by the central government.
A man shown ill by the media.
A man whose visa is rejected everytime he wants to go to USA to meet his lovers and well-wishers.
Called a terrorist by the embassies.
Disliked by his own party, BJP.
Called the 'Maut ka Saudagar' by the indirect PM of India.

So much of a curse and still he stands in front of you undefeated. All types of tools and ways and politics was used by every opponent to dethrone him but he stands tall yet again today to take the oath as CM in the Sardar Patel Stadium on the 27th December, 2007.

Greatest tragedies and natural calamities have happened in India on the 26th December. This time on 27th December people will wake up to see a lion out on way to mass development and love for his own people. Might be we want a PM as brave-hearted as him. A person who always took everyone along with him. Sabko saath le ke chalne wala.

I was built to be the best
Number one and nothing less
Leave me to my destiny
I have waited patiently
I have vision' oh i believe
I know I can count on me

So stand up for the champions
For the champions stand up
Stand up stand up.....

Remember - Dogs bark but Elephants march on straight and undeterred.

Click here to read a short write up I found on the web from ndtv.com. You'll love to read it again and again.

By Yogesh Goel

INIFD Fashion Show Tommorow's Makers 2007

noreply@blogger.com (Kuldip Kumar Garhwal) — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 04:25:00 +0000

Event: INIFD Fashion Show Tommorow's Makers 2007

http://www.shareapic.net/content.php?gid=207814&owner=123flicks

What makes a good photo?

noreply@blogger.com (Kuldip Kumar Garhwal) — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 14:03:00 +0000

by Kuldip Garhwal
Major: Bachelor of Business Administration
Minor: Advertising and Marketing Communication
Webster University

What makes a good photo? A photographer. Composition, light, shape, line, form, etc add life to a photo.

If you want to become a good photographer, start taking photos with a digital camera. It’s easy and inexpensive. What you see is what you get. In the last three years, I have clicked 14,349 digital photos. You do not have to worry about light meter and shutter speed, because it is automatic. Digital photography has improved my photo taking ability a lot.

But when I started using a Single Lens Reflex (SLR) camera, I found out that the real essence of photography lies in traditional black and white photography. Let me explain how a photo is taken through a SLR camera.

Digital Camera

When you take a photograph, the film in your camera is exposed to light. The quality of your photograph depends on how much light reaches the film, and how long the film is exposed to light. Two camera controls, aperture size and shutter speed affect exposure.

The size of a camera’s aperture regulates how much light reaches the film. As you increase the aperture size, you increase the amount of light that can reach the film. Aperture size also determines the photographs depth of field.

SLR Camera

The camera’s shutter speed also controls exposure. A small shutter speed allows more light to reach the film. Shutter speed also controls the appearance of moving objects in the photograph. Fast moving objects appear blurry if the photograph is taken with a slow shutter speed. Exposure is determined by the combination of aperture size and shutter speed. The two controls act together to produce the final image.

If you master the combinations of these two controls, you can click good photographs.

Can You Hear Silence? - Part II

noreply@blogger.com (Kuldip Kumar Garhwal) — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 14:24:00 +0000

By VP

The rumblings of trucks fade. The whistling of a train is heard in the distance. The thought of hearing silence still drums my mind. My eyes close with a heavy burden. Will I ever hear silence one day?

The milk vans start. The workers, working on yet another building being built opposite our house, are not doing much. The rain last night made the things that they work with wet, I don't think they are going build more of the building today.

The making of the building started a long time ago. Everyday I see a few men carry shovels on their shoulders. And some of the women are just carrying long cloths in their hands, which they later fix on their heads to help them balance containers of cements, bricks and all the other weird stuff that they take upstairs. There are a few children also with them. I wonder what they do. But whenever I am at home, I always see that they are playing with the rocks kept near the building.

I get up to the sounds of the rumbling trucks and the hooting of trains. Why can’t I get up to the sweet chirping of birds? Will I ever get up to the chirping of birds?

“Rashmi. Chhaya. Get up, or else you’ll miss the bus again,” Mummy warned, pulling off the covers.
I get up quickly, almost jumping off the bed, and go out to the living room for a rain check. It had rained hard all last night. If we are lucky, again, we might not have to go to school today.
“Do we have to go to school, Papa? Is the road flooded?” I queried.
“No flood,” he says as he goes through the newspaper.
Our routine day starts. First me and Rashmi agrue about who is going to go to the bathroom first to take a bath. And like usual, she wins. I hate it when she wins. I never get to go to take a bath first. Everytime I have to fill the buckets before coming out. Then putting on the school uniform and socks and shoes. Rashmi is constantly shouting at me as she dresses me.
"When will you learn to put on ur own shirt, skirt," she keeps whispering loudly as she buttons my shirt.
"Little brat. Can't do anything yourself can you," she continued now as she was fixing the knot on my tie.
"At least I know how to tie my shoelaces," I said in defense.
"Yah, and that makes you the brightest girl around, right," she snapped back at me.
And as I struggle to tie my left shoe shoelace, both of us rush for the table for breakfast. And like everyday since I can remember, there are two toasts with strawberry jam and a glass of milk placed in the front of my chair. Same for Rashmi.
"Don't forget to take your vitamins," Mummy shouts from the kitchen.
As soon as she says, both of us take the tablets kept on the table and put them in our pockets. They are the only secret between me and Rashmi.
"Rakesh, your tea is getting cold. Don't tell me to reheat it later, I don't have time for things like that everyday," Mummy calls out to Papa from the kitchen.
We go to school, and come back home. Eat something. Then Rashmi goes to her tuitions. She comes back and starts acting funny with Ravi, again. They both stand outside his house and talk. They keep talking, not noticing anything aroung them. And in between she keeps laughing and giggling.
Mummy comes back from work. Hopefully, she won’t be looking like an angry ghost, as she usually does. Hopefully she’ll make us something nice to eat. Um…I’ll tell her to make samosas, we haven’t had them for a long time. And I don’t want to go to the shop downstairs. The gaint-like-man behind the counter scares me. He never says anything. He only hands the samosas. He is so big and fat that I think that he must be sneaking the samosas and eating them. Plus Mummy makes them better. But she looks very tired. Mummy works so hard that she has no time for us. I don’t like that. Megha is so lucky. Her mom makes what Megha wants. And she is home to look after Megha and her sister.
After that Megha and I go to play in the corridors. It’s fun playing with everyone. Megha cheated yesterday. She didn’t close her eyes when she was counting.
“Rashmi Didi, want to come and play with us?” I asked.
“I don’t play with small kids,” she replied with her back still facing me.
I only asked so that she would cheer up a bit. She was fighting with Mummy yesterday, yet again. But she shouldn’t have fought with Mummy.

Papa is still not home. He was late yesterday. And the day before. He was late all week. And even the days before that. I can’t remember all the days he was late. To think about it, I can’t recall the days that he comes in early or by dinner time. And he is late again today. Can’t he come early? Megha’s papa is always home by 5 o’clock. I know Papa works very hard, but…he has to think about Mummy also. And Rashmi. And me. He has to think about all of us.

Everytime he is late, Mummy and Rashmi fight. And Mummy scolds me for watching TV and having dinner. But what do I do? Everything is really quite at home when he is not there. And Mummy is trying to do everything. If something is broke, like the clock yesterday, she will try and fix it. And Mummy doesn't eat until Papa comes. And she doesn't like watching TV, I don't know why, because I love it. It is so cool. They show so many interesting things on TV.

The only time we see him is in the morning, with his face dug into the morning paper. He also, like Mummy, has no time for us. Rashmi and I hardly get to see him. He also started working on Sundays for the past eight Sundays. And in school we are taught that Sundays are family days. Everyone in the building goes out to the parks, cinemas and god knows which other places. We are the only ones left behind here.

We were having dinner when Rashmi started arguing with Mummy again. Or maybe Mummy started first.
“What were you doing with Ravi outside, I’ve told you before also not to talk to him,” Mummy warned Rashmi.
“God, you have a problem with everything I do. Now I can’t even talk to my friend,” she snapped back at Mummy.
“I know what type of friend he is,” Mummy said.
“You don’t know anything. And why would you even care. You and Papa don’t care about me. Leave me, you don’t even care about Chhaya. All you care about is your jobs and money,” she shouted and slammed the spoon down.
“Rashmi! Stop arguing and eat your food. This girl, I tell you, she has lost all her senses. Wait. You just wait. Wait till I tell your father. Yah, I won’t do anything, I’ll let him handle you. He can very well do it,” she said almost talking to herself.
Rashmi left the table and went to sleep in her room, without eating dinner.
And then there was silence. Wait a minute, was that silence. Didn’t seem like it. I could still hear the trucks, trains and traffic outside. Was Rashmi hearing it? Can anyone ever hear silence?
Mummy quickly put me to sleep. Papa came late again today. And he even fought with Mummy…again. Actually as usual.
I can’t fall asleep. Will Rashmi be asleep yet? She came in here quite sometime back. Maybe. Maybe not. Let me check.
I sit up on my bed. Look left, look right. Look out the window, I can still see the trucks and traffic outside. Can’t see the train, but I’m sure it’s about to come. It always comes at this time.
“Chhaya…what are you doing? Go to sleep. Tomorrow is not Sunday, you have to get up early,” she told me.
I couldn’t see her. Not because she had her back to me. She did. But I couldn’t even see her back. It was too dark. I knew what I had to do.
I just had to wait a little longer and stare somewhere in the dark. And then in a few seconds, I’ll be able to see her. Maybe even her face. Because by then she would have turned around. And my eyes will also get better. I discovered this long time ago. The art of seeing in the dark. Hmm. Sounds good: The Art of Seeing In the Dark by Chhaya Varma. My first book. Good good. And plus I like writing. I can write 4 good sentences. That is a lot. The best in class. I wrote even better sentences than Megha. She cannot write good sentences.
“Didi, you did not eat nah? Are you hungry?” I asked her, still trying to see in the dark.
“No Chhaya, just go to sleep,” she replied softly.
“No, but…” I said even softer.
I didn’t say anything after that. I didn’t feel the need to. I could see now. I got up and went to the study table. I was sure in my heart that it wasn’t there. It couldn’t have been. She hadn’t eaten since lunch that day. But then, this happens many times.
I don’t like it whenever Mummy and Didi fight. I don’t like it whenever Mummy and Papa also fight. I don’t like it. It is so bad. Everyone is always shouting. And they are always shouting at each other at the same time. That is so dumb. They shout at each other and they can’t even hear each other.
But it is better than the fighting we have. Me and Megha fight a lot in school and when we play at home. Sometimes she cheats. And I don’t like it. So I tell her and then she shouts at me telling me that I am a cheater. But I do not cheat. At least not all the time. And then she cries and hits me. She pinches me also. And hits me on my face.

A few days back we were playing in school during lunch break. Anita wanted to do something inside the classroom that day. She cannot walk properly. I don’t know why, I guess she has some problem with her leg.
It is not there. She has no leg. At first when I saw that I thought it was weird because I did not know where it was. I mean she was the first person that I saw that it did not have a leg. Everyone else had two legs. She walked on some sort of sticks. Two of them. She left them outside the classroom. So in class whenever we have Story Time, she is carried by our teacher. She is always the last one to come to the carpet area. But there are always 3 pillows saved for her. Not fair, I sometimes only get 2.
But she is a nice girl. She always asks me if I want to share her lunch with her. Her mother sends aloo puri most of the times. And the other times she brings good delicacies that her mother makes.
Mummy never makes them. She has no time to make them. So I get bread and jam everyday in my lunchbox. Sometimes bread and butter. But nothing else.
Anita is the only one who asks me to share her lunch with her. No one else asks me. Not even Megha. Megha never asks me if I want her lunch. She knows that I don’t like what I get in my lunch box, but still she never asks.
She is my best friend, but not my best friend. She is my best friend because she lives in the same building as I do, and she goes to the same school as I do. She plays at the same park as I do. We do everything together. But sometimes I don’t like her.

But I don’t understand why Didi keeps shouting at Mummy. She should not do that. She is younger than Mummy. I remember Grandma telling me not to shout at elder people.

“Always remember Chhaya, a small and sweet girl like you should never shout at older people,” she repeated once again.
“If you shout and scream at your Mummy or Papa then monsters will come to your room while you are sleeping and eat your ears,” she would tell me whenever we went to visit them during vacations.
Didi always listens to what Grandma says. But not to what Mummy says. Didi likes Grandma more. She used to spend a lot of time with Grandma alone when we were there. They would just be in Grandma’s room talking and talking all day long.
The room was big. Bigger than my room here. Bigger than Mummy and Papa’s room also. And there was a big bed in the middle. With a clean, white mosquito net hanging from the top. The bed was very old I think. Whenever you sit on it, it moves the whole bed. The bedsheets were also white. But sometimes Grandma puts the one with blue flowers that Mummy gave her.
There was a table full of medicines on the right. There were bottles, big, small, fat; all kinds of bottles. And there were many injections also. Grandma had to put injection to herself everyday. I don’t like injections. They hurt a lot. I always cry when Doctor Uncle has to put injection on me. I don’t think all the medicines were Grandma’s though, some were also for Grandpa. They both took many medicines.

I miss Grandma. I want to go to visit them again, but Papa said that we will not be able to go anywhere for vacations this time. He said that he and Mummy had a lot of work to do. He said there was no time.

Mummy also should not shout so much at Didi. Maybe Mummy does not know that after Didi goes back to the room, she is always crying. I always ask, “What happened, Didi?” But she doesn’t tell me anything. She just keeps on crying.

“What happened Didi?” I asked again, not expecting an answer from her as usual.
She didn’t reply, like I had predicted. She got up and came down from her bed. We had a bunk bed our room, she slept on the top bed. She came down and wrapped me in her arms. I did not understand. Why was she hugging me?
“When you grow up, never become like me. Deal?” she told half sobbing.
“But you are not bad. You just shout at Mummy sometimes. That is just one bad thing. Everything is good,” I replied.
“No, you just don’t become like me,” she told me again.
“Ok,” I said.
“Can I ask you something?” I asked again, thinking it was the right time.
She nodded.
“Can you hear silence?” I asked.
“No. No one can. Silence cannot be heard. And what are you doing asking such philosophical questions anyways. Plan to write your own book someday, huh?” she told me in a more light tone.
I didn’t say anything to her.
“Ok, no Sunday tomorrow, go to sleep now,” she ordered.
“Ok, goodnight,” I said.
She went up to her bed and I went to mine. As I put my head on the pillow, I start thinking again about silence.
Grandma can hear it. Mummy can't hear it. Didi can’t hear the silence. Will I ever be able to hear it?

Report Card

noreply@blogger.com (Kuldip Kumar Garhwal) — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 14:21:00 +0000

By Pratik Patel

This story is the winner of the NDTV Story of the Month.

There I was, couch-potatoeing my way to laziness in front of the TV in my summer vacation. This was life! This was just the second week of my vacation and I eagerly awaited the days ahead.

Being at home the whole day meant that my younger sister and I could emotionally blackmail my mother to cook the specialty dishes that were our favourites. And while we were enjoying the delicious food, we would sit down and watch our favourite movie on the VCR. Wow!! This really was life.

I distinctly remember that particular day. I was enjoying the new luxuries of life that the summer vacation had brought along with it. Since my father had informed us by phone that he would be coming home half an hour late for lunch, we had to wait before we could stuff ourselves with the delicious food.

Our father wasn't so much into movies, so my sister and I thought it was OK to start the movie at least. We must've been watching Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar for the umpteenth time. And of course, we had memorized the dialogues. But, by mutual consent, just so that we wouldn't annoy the nerves out of each other, we weren't allowed to mouth the dialogues right before it was actually going to be said in the movie.

Fifteen minutes into the movie, my father came back home. Being an ardent Bollywood fan, I was used to fantastical and over-dramatic first appearances of the lead character. The actor's pseudo-smiles and free-flowing hair, all in slow motion, were enough to woo most of his audience. My father's entrance had nothing movie-like about it though. His moves were more mellow, in a very matter-of-fact manner.

He completed his pre-lunch formalities. He removed his shoes, neatly folded his socks and dumped them inside the washing machine. He then thoroughly washed his hands with liquid soap. He wiped his hands with a fancy cloth towel and placed it on the back of one of the chairs at the dining table.

All this while, nobody had said anything in the house. My sister and I were too engrossed in the movie and my mother was humming a religious hymn while arranging all sorts of utensils for the meal. For some odd reason, the architect of the house had forgotten to build a wall between the kitchen and the drawing room. I increased the volume of the TV a little to drown out the humming.

My father kindly asked my mother for some water. This was the cue that one of my sister or me was going to have to do some manual work. My mother questioningly looked towards my sister and me. That meant "Who's it going to be today?" We both looked at each other. "It's your turn today," snapped back my sister. I looked to the heavens and wondered why justice was created in the first place. Injustice is so good as long as you're not on the receiving end of it.

I got off my comfortable sofa spot and trudged towards the kitchen. I pulled out a bottle of cold water from the fridge and placed it on the dining table. Next, I fetched a jug with warm water. My father wasn't fond of totally cold or totally warm water. So we had to give him a mixture of both. I wasn't so much of a perfectionist, so I ended up adding more warm water than cold. Like it would make a difference.

I handed it over to my father, who gulped it down in one go. He kindly requested for another glass. His half-hearted wink coupled with the smile only made me proud to make this glass of drink for my father. The imperfection in my character took over again. The second glass took a little longer to consume. He certainly felt more refreshed by now. He began to seat himself in his standard chair, the one with its back facing the television. Only this time, he stopped halfway.

He pulled out an envelope from his shirt pocket. It was amazing how those shirt pockets could house such a large envelope. He placed it on the little table in front of the sofa in the drawing room. I reseated myself on the sofa and pretended to watch the movie. I even fake-laughed at one of the non-jokes in the movie. I slyly inspected the mysterious envelope that my father had placed on the table. It bore the logo of my school, and worst of all, it had already been tore open.

My father caught me examining the envelope, and put the most horrible thought into words. "Your report card for this semester." Even though the envelope contained my sister's report card too, I knew those words were directed towards me. My father had said it in the simplest way possible. In spite of the simplicity, I felt the vibes of unpleasant intonations disguised in that statement.

Shucks! Bad grades! How bad could I have done on the 4.0 GPA scale? I guess I could be forgiven for one bad performance after averaging 3.43 over three semesters. But then again, I wasn't so sure about my father. How was he going to react? And most importantly, how the hell was I going to enjoy all that yummy food now?

"Food's ready," announced my mother. Usually, I'd beat my sister to getting food on the plate. But not today. Getting food before my sister was no longer a priority. Due to the placement of the dining table, it could only seat two people.

My parents were always the ones who would eat at the table, while my sister and I would enjoy our meals on the sofa, with a great view of the TV. I already felt something different today though. My father must've read my mind or something. He asked my mother to eat on the sofa and relegate her seat at the table to me. I was forced to oblige.

I parked myself on the hot seat. My father casually asked my sister to turn down the volume of the TV. Great! Now, everybody could hear in on the firing I was going to get. I started placing all the delicious-looking food on my plate. "Do you know what your GPA is this semester?" My head slumped down. This must've been my worst academic performance ever or something. I didn't even want to delve into the mathematical figures. "Do you know??"

He raised his voice a little. Not enough to get my mother's and sister's attention though. They were enjoying the movie, unaware of the happenings behind them. All of a sudden, I realized this wasn't one of his rhetorical questions to make me feel guilty.

I was supposed to answer this one. I searched my head for the wildest guesses. "Three-point-O?", I guessed. "Three-point-zero you mean? …. Hmmmmm" He sarcastically chuckled. My father could've been a great suspense director if he chose to. But instead of applying that talent to celluloid, he preferred to practice it in real life. He didn't say anything until the next seven or eight bites. This served as a good intermission break for me. I could gather my thoughts and plan my replies more appropriately now.

I pretended to eat. I spent half of the intermission just mixing the rice and the gravy and moving it back and forth from one end of the plate to the next. I finally dared to nimble on a couple of spoonfuls of the mixture. "You got 2.43." My mouth froze.

Under normal circumstances, the food would've just melted in my mouth. But at this point of time, it was hard and chewy and hard to digest. But even harder to digest was the fact that I had got 2.43, the lowest GPA in my entire academic career. There was terrible and then, there was 2.43; I had never even managed a two-point-something GPA. For the first time that day, my eyes met his. I couldn't look at his face, still expressionless.

I wondered if this was going to be my last meal. If it was, then I was doing very badly for a last meal. I loved the specialties cooked my mother, but today, it tasted like any other ordinary food. As a result, I hardly ate even half of my capacity.

"I want you to have a look at your report card and read through your teacher's remarks. This must not happen again. I expect more." He got up from his chair, which meant the silent firing session was over. He washed his hands thoroughly again and rinsed his mouth. He picked up the envelope and headed to the combined bedroom of my sister and me.

I prayed that he wouldn't keep it anywhere near my sister's belongings. I wouldn't hear the end of it. After all, my sister was smarter than me. After grabbing a pair of new socks from the bedroom closet, he rested on the sofa in the drawing room. One of the comedy scenes in the movie was playing. My sister had forgotten the food and had immersed her attention in the movie. Arms resting around the back of the sofa, my father joined in on the fun. At least, they weren't laughing at me.

I couldn't dare to get up from the dining table until my father left for work again. "Look through your report card," as he got ready to exit. "I've left it on your study table. I want you to analyze where you can improve. I'll be busy in the office for the next hour. But I'll call home after that and I want us to talk over it." I nodded, still not able to look eye to eye with him.

"Ok then. Bye." He smiled as he gently closed the door behind him. I looked down at my food and pondered over the events that had taken place in the last 25 minutes. Life can really change in a short span of time.

As soon as he left, I headed for my bedroom. As if a two-point-something GPA wasn't enough, I had to analyze how I had attained such low standards. What was supposed I say? That I slacked off? That I had lost focus? That I hadn't prepared for my finals?

I pulled out my report card from the envelope. My father had neatly circled the GPA, placed on the upper-right corner of the page, in red ink. In large, bold, black letters, right in the middle of the red circle, imprinted was the number 3.61. He had also left a little note for me : "Just having a little fun! Go finish your food."

That is my father.

Webster Thailand Thriving

noreply@blogger.com (Kuldip Kumar Garhwal) — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 14:01:00 +0000

by Kuldip Kumar Garhwal

I joined Webster University Thailand (WUT) in 2002 as a full time undergraduate and graduated in December 2005. In the three and half years that I was there, I saw it evolve remarkably.

Webster Thailand Student Council (WTSC) is comprised of volunteer students who work towards improving campus life. The WTSC is headed by four Officers, elected by the members of the Council. Organizing cultural events such as the Collage of Cultures and the Food Fair, I was treasurer (officer) of the WTSC.

From February 7-13, 2005, WTSC organized the Tsunami Relief Week. More than 81,000 baht was raised, through which the WTSC sponsored the construction of water tanks for a school affected by the Tsunami in Southern Thailand.

Band AIDS, a musical concert to raise AIDS awareness among the local community was held on September 10, 2005. The concert featured eleven bands, with professional and university student musicians. This raised 34,000 baht donated to the Thai Red Cross Society's AIDS Project on World AIDS Day, December 1, 2005. It was one of the biggest events undertaken by the WTSC and as a student stated “was probably the biggest and most successful Webster event yet.”

The International Food fair is an annual event at WUT now. Every year students from various nationalities get together and cook delicacies from their countries. On April 22 2005, it was not only food but also music. 29,000 baht was raised which was donated to the WUT Music Society for music equipment.

Another annual feature at WUT is the Collage of Cultures - a cultural extravaganza in which students celebrate the different cultures in Webster and display unity in diversity. Organized by the WTSC, the 3rd such show was held on December 10, 2005.

The WTSC also redesigned the student lounge, and on October 10, 2005 the WTSC Store was inaugurated. Over the years the WTSC has also organized overnight educational fieldtrips to Phuket, Kanchanaburi, Chiang Mai, Sukhothai, etc. WUT donated quilts and kerosene stoves worth more than 40,000 baht to the victims of the South Asian Earthquake in Pakistan. A new soccer field was inaugurated in 2005. This was possible through donations from students and friends of Webster.

The beach cleanup and Sand Sculptor contest was organized by the Special Events class. The beach clean up made it to the front page of the Bangkok Post, the leading English newspaper in Thailand.

Photographs taken by the students of the traditional black and white photo class were exhibited twice at Starbucks and once in Hilton Resort and Spa in Hua Hin over the years. A new student newspaper was designed in order to reposition community image, and in Fall 2004, the WUT community met CHAI, the first coloured student newspaper in the history of WUT.

WUT's website (www.webster.ac.th) got a makeover in December 2004. Since then the monthly hit counter has more than doubled and continues to increase. The computer network has been upgraded to allow faster connection speeds and easier access. Wireless Internet was also introduced.

Two new certificate programs - Professional Writing and Buddhist Studies - were added to the array of academics programs offered at WUT. Modern Dance, Yoga and Meditation classes were also offered from time-to-time.

And all the above was under the supervision of Rector Kit Jenkins. She has been providing constant effort to support the development of WUT.

There is potential and capabilities among the students; all we have to do is to find the opportunity and help WUT grow.

This above report was also published in an local magazine in Hua Hin, Thailand.

Love or Loyalty

noreply@blogger.com (Kuldip Kumar Garhwal) — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 13:56:00 +0000

by Kuldip Kumar Garhwal

When we talk about Love, don't we think about two persons love towards each other with loyalty? Love and loyalty are interrelated. The pillars of love are made by the bricks of loyalty. Love and Loyalty go together. But it is not true in the case of The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. Mr. Steven is loyal towards Lord Darlington and he loves Miss. Kenton, but if he gives more weight to love, he won't be able to be loyal to Lord Darlington because "Steven thinks that such abandonment of a professional post for marriage is irritating and thoroughly unprofessional." (Spark Notes 1)

In The Remains of the Day there are two stories going on, first the love between Stevens and Kenton; and second the loyalty of Stevens towards Lord Darlington. In real life love and loyalty go on collectively. For example marriages fall apart if there is no loyalty between partners. In The Remains of the Day love and loyalty does not go hand-in-hand, because if Stevens loves Kenton and wants to marry her, he cannot keep up with his position of well-contended-service towards Lord Darlington. That is because if Stevens wants to continue with his love life he has to leave his current job as a butler at Darlington Hall and which will prove him to be disloyal towards Lord Darlington. "In the totality of his professional commitment, Stevens fails to pursue the one woman with whom he could have had a fulfilling and a loving relationship. His rim mask of formality cuts him off intimacy, companionship, and understanding." (Plot Overview)

Stevens values dignity, loyalty & respect more than love. He believes that love & loyalty cannot go together. It's not only Stevens who value this but other people from the same era also believe in this concept. Take the example of Mr. Benn, who was also a butler, he resigned from his job and went to some other city to start a new life, when he found out that he loves Kenton and they would like to marry each other.

Stevens believed in 'dignity in keeping with his position'. He talks about dignity throughout his narration. What does that 'keeping with his position' means? In Steven's context it basically means to be loyal to his Lord Darlington. Now if Steven loves Miss. Kenton he will not be able to keep up with his current position as a butler of Darlington Hall and therefore he cannot continue being loyal to Lord Darlington. Loyalty comes in the way of Stevens love life and he chooses loyalty as he values the quality of being worthy of esteem or respect.

"Butlers cannot choose whether or not to react to any given situation; they are always expected to repress their own feelings." (Spark Notes 2) Stevens follows this rule of gentlemen of stature, and which is why he never expressed his own feeling towards almost anything in general except in his area of expertise, which is taking care of the household. But this does not mean that Stevens did not love Kenton. Stevens loved Kenton a lot but could not express his feeling towards her because of loyalty. "Despite the fact that the two frequently disagree over various household affairs when they work together, the disagreements are childish in nature and mainly serve to illustrate the fact that they two care for each other." (Plot Overview) There are many incidents in the story where Stevens and Kenton disagree over each others decisions or opinions, and most of them were not even worth quarrelling, which show a "notable relationship by far, however, is his long-term working relationship with Kenton." (Plot Overview)

Steven loves his father also but does not put it down in actions or words. "Stevens says that he will come up and see his father in a little while, but that his father would have wanted him to take care of his duties as a butler first." (Spark Notes 1) Steven knows that even his father would want him to do his duties towards his master first. Again loyalty comes in way of love between father and son.

John Rothfork, a critic, says, "For most of The Remains of the Day, Stevens feels that his tragic and wasted life resulted from mistaken loyalty, so that if he had backed a different horse or had played different cards, he would have been a winner instead a loser." (John Rothfork) There are two scenes in the movie which I really liked, and they are the best examples of Stevens putting forward his loyalty and backing up with his love. Scene one is when Kenton caught Stevens reading a romantic novel, the room has a dim lighting to create a romantic atmosphere. In this scene Kenton and Steven get so close, which calls for a kiss to express love, but Steven played a "different card" by staying silent. Scene is two is when Steven goes to fetch a bottle of alcohol from the cellar for the dignitaries. After Steven return from the cellar, he hears the sound of tears from Kenton's room, so he slowly opens the door and go inside the room, and he finds that Kenton is crying. Instead of sympathizing Kenton, Steven told her about some dust which she should clean. This shows again that how Steven respects loyalty more than his love. But still there is love existing here, because if Stevens would not care about Kenton, he would not have entered the room.

Steven goes all the way to Cleveland to see Kenton, from outside he pretends that he is going to hire a Kenton as a housekeeper at Darlington Hall, but from inside he is more interested in seeing her, as they have not met from the last twenty years. "Although it might appear that end of the novel leaves Stevens a wreck, regretfully cynical of his misplaced trust, this is not the case. Stevens talks about hoping 'to make the best of what remains of my day,' in a tone that is not glum." (John Rothfork) Steven wants to lead his remains of day serving his new employer the way he (new employer) wants it to be. So Steven is trying to learn the language of "bantering" to please his new employer and being loyal to him.

_____________________________________________

Citation

1. Spark Note 1, Summary, Day Two-Morning / Salisbury,

2. Spark Note 2, Analysis, Day One-Evening / Salisbury,

3. Plot Overview, Spark Notes,

4. John Rothfork, "Zen Comedy in Postcolonial Literature: Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day," In Mosaic, Vol. 29, No.1, March 1996, pp. 79-102. Reprinted in Novels for Students, Vol. 13.
_____________________________________________

Kuldip Kumar Garhwal
Undergraduate
Webster University Thailand
Email: garhwalk@gmail.com
Website: http://www.kulxp.blogspot.com
This paper was written for 'Literature into films' course taught by Eric Sysak in Summer 2004.

The above paper is also published at Amazon.com

Destruction of the innocent by the evils of the society

noreply@blogger.com (Kuldip Kumar Garhwal) — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 13:51:00 +0000

By Kuldip Kumar Garhwal
The following is the review of 'To kill a Mockingbird'.

"Mockingbirds don't do one thing but... sing their heart out for us. That's why it is a sin to kill a mockingbird." The movie 'To kill a mockingbird' depicts the destruction of the innocent by the evils of the society. Mockingbird is a symbol of innocence, characterized by Tom Robinson and Arthur Radley (Boo) where racial prejudice and ignorance are the symbol of evils in the society.

Tom Robinson, an African-American is accused by Mayela, a white woman, of sexual molestation. Atticus, a prominent lawyer of the town Maycomb, has proved that Tom Robinson is innocent but still the "all-white jury" convicts Robinson of the guilt. Tom Robinson, a "quite humble respectable Negro", becomes the victim of racial prejudice. Arthur Radley (Boo) has been emotionally destroyed by his father, as his father did not let him step outside the house. Boo is one of the "mockingbirds" in the story, who is the victim of ignorance; evil of the society which is trying to kill the good. Boo had a deep affection for children, which is later displayed in the story, when Boo saves Jim and Scout from Bob Ewells.

"There are some men in the world who are born to do unpleasant jobs for us; your father is one of them", said Maudie to Jim after his father (Atticus) lost the case of Tom Robinson. Atticus helped his children to learn values of life and he showed them how to live life by the values; preaching by practicing. Atticus allowed his children to call him by his name instead of 'father'. He wanted his children to explore freedom, but also taught them to stay in limits. Jim is brave, intelligent, and caring. He learns courage, dignity, and value of life from his father. He is transforming into adulthood.

Scout is still a kid; she does not know anything about the existence of evil in the society. She is learning about evils from the real life example of the victims (Tom and Boo) of the evils in the society. By the end of the story Scout's perspective on life develops from that of an innocent child into that of a near grown up. "Mr. Tate was right", said Scout to Atticus, after Mr. Tate, the town Sheriff explained Atticus indirectly that whatever Boo did was correct and he is not supposed to be punished for that. "It would be like shooting the mockingbird, wouldn't it." Scout shows a high level of ability to comprehend at the age of five, and understands the whole situation and judges what is right and what is wrong.

The Music Director of the movie has done an excellent job. Music plays an important role in the movie, by setting the mood for what is been screened. The movie starts with a musical note, which seems like it is played by a kid, one note at a time. The movie also has gothic music to create the horrifying or thrilling environment, when Jim and Scout were walking home after the Halloween Party and they had an encounter with Bob Ewells. Most of the places the movie has melancholy music to produce the feeling of thoughtful sadness. The pleasant arrangements of musical notes in the movie create an atmosphere where we feel that we are a part of the movie, and we go back into our nostalgic memories and look back into our childhood. The movie itself seems like a mockingbird song.

My favorite scene in the movie is when Atticus is walking out of the courtroom after the trial is over and all the "colored" people sitting in the balcony stands up to pay respect to Atticus, a white man, who tried his level best to save a "Negro." The Reverend says to Scout who was sitting, "Stand up Jean Louise. Your father is passing." The scene says it all, there is not much dialogue but the expressions on the faces of the black people was marvelous, with a slow melancholy music at the background. As it this situation there is nothing left to say, because everyone knows in the courtroom that Tom Robinson is not guilty but still the jury has convicted him of the rape, just because of racial prejudice.

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