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Showing posts from July, 2016

Haiku #1: Matsuo Bashō who Traveled 1200 Miles by Foot, What is Haiku and My First Successful Haiku!

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Long long ago, in 1689 a Japanese poet Matsuo Bashō set out on an epic 1,200-mile journey through the then narrow roads of Japan. He wrote his travel account in the form of poetry (haiku) and also prose. This poetic travel works added lustre to his reputation which continues till today. Like Shakespeare for west, Bashō is to Japan. More so as everyone in Japan can recite at least one of Bashō’s poem by heart. The part of the route he traveled is traveled by thousands of people today in memory of the great poet. People go to pilgrimage at his birth and burial sites. Bashō today is part of Japanese culture. In his masterpiece, Oku no Hosomichi, or Narrow Road to a Far Province, as first entry Bashō writes, “Each day is a journey, and the journey itself home” That was 300 years ago. Today, Bashō is mostly remembered world over for Haiku. What is Haiku? It’s a Japanese form of poetry which uses few words to capture a moment into reader’s mind. Unlike other forms of poetry,

A not-to-be-missed letter from a Cow to Indians stripping naked, beating and killing people over bovines!

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Dear Human, This is your mother, not the one that gave you birth but the one whose nipples you pull hard early in the morning to have your glass of milk, my milk. It feels embarrassing though when you touch them in front of my hubby but we’ve grown used to it now after around 10,000 years. For those who don’t milk in the morning, we are four-legged creatures you see on Indian roads that block your horny vehicles. By the way, are you blind? Can’t you see our long ears? We can listen you honk; just that we don’t care. You pulled us from our homes to this disturbing world of yours, at least let us be. You know, around 10,500 years ago, we used to be in the wild. Then the moronic neolithic humans whose clan you are, caught us to domesticate, I mean to milk, kill and skin us for your kinds’ good. In the beginning it was Turkey and Pakistan but then it slowly spread all over the globe. There was also time when we were used as currency; what do you call it? Oh wait, B

Sultan: How 'happy-ending' Salman Khan story becomes tragic when viewed from Anushka Sharma's point-of-view!

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Sultan to sum in a single line is a film where underdog wins against all odds. But that's like saying, all superhero films are same where world is at the cusp of extinction and then a superhero arrives to fight all evil forces. Sultan has many side plots apart from the story of its protagonist Sultan Ali Khan (played by Salman Khan). Of the many plots, one that intrigued me was of female protagonist Aarfa (played by Anushka Sharma). Sultan is a breather in otherwise myriad number of Salman Khan movies where female leads are merely used to move their bodies to peppy dance numbers or say that one catchy dialogue (remember 'thappad se dar nahi lagta..' from Dabangg? ) and disappear. Just go away. But Aarfa had her share of the story and screen space which is otherwise rare in Salman's movies. She is not another ordinary village girl who in our films dreams to get married to dashing hero who comes on sports bikes with oiled muscles. In fact she wants them n