Desi Superheroes

One of the fondest memories of my childhood was waiting eagerly every other week for the new issue of Raj Comics to come into the store. I remember asking my auto-waallah to change his route just so that I could quickly pop-in to the comic book store to check out if the latest issue of Nagraj or Super Commando Dhruv had arrived, and how i used to read almost half way through it even before we reached home. Ah, those were simpler times, when a cricket bat and a comic every other week was all that was needed for me to be extremely happy, in my own self-sufficient way.

I used to read a lot of comics, English and Hindi: Tintin, Asterix, Disney, Archie's, Raj Comics etc. But my favorite was Raj Comics and within that most definitely Nagraj (Snake Man) and Dhruv. It was mostly because they were the most prolific and had the best descibed universes amongst all the others (In hindsight I can add that they also had the hottest girlfriends). But by no means were they crude or simplistic even. In fact i will stick my head out and say that Raj Comics could rival DC or Marvel in terms of creativity and story-telling. Each hero had its own well defined set of Villians, Mythology and side kicks and often had complexly layered stories and relationships. (e.g. Dhruv's girlfriend's father was his arch enemy: Crime Master Robo). I'm sure a lot of inspiration came from DC/Marvel in terms of motifs etc. but the Indianisation of these comics was what made them special. They were home grown and ingenious; and in their own way, they were also intelligent.

There were other heroes like Bhokal, Doga, Gojo and the solitary Raj Comics funny man Baankelaal. But pocket money being finite, I spent more on my favorite two.

Over time I stopped reading them and having been in the South for more than 8 years, I completely lost touch with Raj-world. The last time around when I was in my home town, I went to the store but to much dismay it had closed down. I did manage to get my hands on a few new issues but something didn't exactly feel the same; maybe it was because of the lacuna in between.

Last heard, Anurag Kashyap was planning to make a movie on Doga (quite an anti-hero, only one who wears mask, troubled childhood, vague morals: in short a Batman in Dickensian world). If it works out, it's a hugely good news as it would put into limelight the immense talent in these comics and the fact that we have good indigenous material to make movies on that will become maybe as popular as Batman / Spiderman.


Nostalgia is a funny thing; it pops in the most unexpected places. The next time I'm home, maybe I'll take down the stack of old comics and rediscover the mystery of Nagraj's powers or Dhruv's adventures. I hope the soda still has the fizz.

A Trek to the Valley of Flowers

There is something about the Himalayas that has always kept me in awe. It had been four years since I had last been to the North and so yearning for another view of the majestic Himalayas and finding company in the ever willing Gutkha, I set out for a trek that had been on my radar for quite a while, the Valley of Flowers.

Towards August mid we set off from Haridwar. Much like the actual trek, getting to the beginning of the trekking route demands patience, perseverance and above all a willful suspension of (the city bred) control over situations. Although August is the perfect time for seeing the valley as most of the flowers bloom right after the rains, Uttarkhand is notorious for landslides during this time. And so bracing for uncertainties, we set off towards Joshimath, a 250 km drive through circuitous mountain roads. Most of the drive runs parallel to Ganga, and what a majestic view she is. Along the way come Rudra Prayag, Karna Prayag and Dev Prayag (confluence of dhauli Ganga and Alaknanda). 10 hours later we were in Joshimath

To start the trek, you have to reach Govind Ghat, which is an hour's drive from Joshimath. Although I had known that it's 14 km uphill trek from Govind Ghat, here's the thing about it: for people with fitness levels like mine, average at best, its tougher than it looks. Thankfully we packed light (and Gutkha used to play footer back in college).




The trek was a lot like real life situations: the first 3 and the last 3 kms were really, really tough, specially the last 3. But what a beautiful, picturesque route it is, dotted with mountain peaks, waterfalls, little villages and Lakshman Ganga. Most of the trekkers however are there on a Sikh pilgrimage, going to Hemkhund Sahib and so there's plenty of energy in the air. Having somehow managed to complete the 14 km trek, we reached Ghangria, the base camp for the trek to the valley. Hot chai, food and a tube of Moov later, i was merrily asleep, already dreaming about tomorrow.







The next day was the big one, and so a hearty breakfast later we set off for the valley, now just 4 kms away, only to be told at the entrance that heavy rains last night had destroyed two bridges and the valley might open in a few hours. Now, 2500 km and 3 days later, might is not a very good word to hear. But there was not much we could do about it other than waiting and hoping that mother nature would be a little benevolent that day. Luckily, the path was restored and off we went once again.









Those 4 kms were the most beautiful ones ever in my life. It's like partly being in a Tolkien dreamland, partly on a adventure trail of Tintin and totally, stunningly beautiful. But, also the toughest stretch of trekking till then. However, entering the Valley of Flowers is worth all the pain; it's overwhelming, and a little surreal. It is literally so beautiful that for my work-read-sleep monotonic mind it was a little difficult to grasp the beauty of the place. I'll let the pictures do the talking, although to be honest even they don't do the justice.








The return was uneventful, barring a nagging pain in my knee, and a shortcut detour trek to reach Joshimath due to a landslide. Somehow, we finally reached Joshimath. Staying overnight, we left for Haridwar the next morning only to be stopped after a few kms due to another landslide. 5 hours and all my patience later we were back on the road. Compounding to this was a driver going at breakneck speed, 'high' in the mountains and a few close shaves. But as we approached Rishikesh, I saw possibly one of the most beautiful sights of my life: a foggy, misty Ganga entering Rishikesh through the hills and a lit up, nocturnal Rishikesh welcoming Ganga with a silence, signifying the devotion. Ganga at Rishikesh is powerful, fast yet peaceful and mysterious. Looking at the foggy, almost as if shrouded in mystery Ganga in Rishikesh I realised why she has been worshipped for centuries; such a sight can only evoke devotion.

I have never been a true blue traveller; A part of travelling for me is always wishing that I was back home, safe in my comfort zone. But this time, inspite of the landslides and the painful knee and near misses, it felt strangely serene and comfortable. It felt like connecting to nature in its most magical manifestation and to a culture thousand years old which has all but disappeared from my city life.

P.S. Owe special thanks to Gutkha, who btw has become quite fussy about food :D

A Red Herring and a Leash

"That government is best which governs the least"- Thoreau

I have always felt that a more astute observation about governance has not been made. At a time when the national ego seems to have been bruised by the Maoist onslaught, the Indian identity challenged, it is important to question if justifying state violence to appease a collective consciousness is a sign of Indian mentality degenerating into rabid nationalism.

Very few public personalities in India have been lambasted more in recent memory than Arundhati Roy. She's been labelled an intellectual bitch, commie, and has been accused of romanticizing violence. But having read a lot of her work off late, I'm pretty convinced that she's the voice India needs to listen to right now, not the least because in this intellectually bracketed warfare (either you're a Maoist or State) and for this complex problem, of Corporates implicit in dispossessing the tribals and of caste politics, she's one of the few voices bringing out the aspect of the human suffering of tribals. Let's face it, what has been happening here is systematic oppression of the tribals for the mineral rich land and the are just striking back. The maoist just happen to be taking advantage of the mess.

The only place I differ with her are on her deep biases against free markets. What's happening here is not capitalism gone mad, but the merger of the State and the Corporate interests - the original definition of fascism. In free markets (ideally) the power to decide lies with the local communities as a result of private property. Unfortunately, because of poor land reform in India, people living for thousands of years in the land are being evicted for the sake of corporate interests.

For some years now, there have been dangerous trends emerging in the behavior of Indian state. The UID is one of them. Purportedly, to root out corruption and improve delivery of government schemes, every individual in India will be given a Unique Identification card, forcibly if required. At an estimated spend of $35 B, this program looks like a totalitarian's dream come true. Not only is it a gross violation of civil liberties that the state is poking around in your life too much, but its a potential tool for mass control (and transfer of wealth from people to the governments IT stooges). Oh no, don't you think this is paranoia; in UK public concern recently made government cancel such a program. In other countries, such a move would be met with mass protests, but we Indians trust our government a tad too much. This can happen only when technocrats like ManMohan Singh and Nandan Nilekani think that the solution to a social problem is rooted in technology, and not in social changes.

What is needed is more liberty, land reforms, lesser power to babus and decentralisation. I always thought that the Indian state was somewhere between active benevolence and passive malevolence. Not so sure about that anymore. But one thing I'm certain of; changing an age old way of life forcibly in the name of development is not progress, regardless of what GDP says.

P.S. I would direct anyone who is interested in knowing about how central planning is detrimental to personal liberty to read F.A.Hayek's seminal piece 'The Road to Serfdom'

Let's Talk

"I think, by optimizing the integration of the synergies, we can channelize the utilization of the energies."

What the ... ? Checking my response in time, I tried to comprehend whatever I had just heard. Bracing for getting confounded again, I mustered up enough courage to ask

"I beg your pardon. I got a little lost in the verbiage, Would you be kind enough to repeat that?"

"Hmm. Uhmm. Yeah..What i said was that...umm...by integrating the optimization of the synergies, we can utilize the channelization of the energies"

I gave a dumbfounded look.

"Or maybe...By synergising the integration of the optimization, we can energize the utilization of the channels...or utilize the energies of the channels?"

He looked down hopefully. Registering zero comprehension again, I looked around to see disdainful looks. Fearing public rebuke I chided myself for not having taken that business minor in college seriously. Afterall, this is the Newspeak. Gathering about my wits, I began thinking in this Newspeak. Before long i blurted out -

"But what about internalizing the efficiencies of the new paradigm?"

Silence. Stunned at my loquacity, I managed a grin. Impressed, he said -

" That's a great point. Let's connect on this later, do you have my co-ordinates?"

Sensing something dreadful was to happen, I realized that he meant to discuss this again. Frantically searching for a pen and a paper, to write down whatever I had spewed I realised that it was totally unnecessary. I had the formula, I could always come up with something in this Newspeak.

I had indeed internalized the efficiencies of the new paradigm

"Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounc'd it to you,
trippingly on the tongue; but if you mouth it, as many of our
players do, I had as lief the town-crier spoke my lines." - Hamlet

P.S. A Dilbertian rambling

The Ecstasy of Gold

Music is very often an important part of cinema, an important part of the story and the vision of the filmmaker. Whether its the haunting violin piece from 'Requiem for a dream' or the innumerable songs interwoven in the hindi movies, music has an important role of conveying a certain mood, an emotion at that point in the movie. However, rarely is the soundtrack of a movie so outstanding that it develops a life of its own, a work of art complete within itself.

Ennio Morricone's soundtrack for 'The Good The Bad and The ugly' is one of those brilliant achivements in cinematic scores. The eponymous title song, resembling the howling of coyote, is one of the most popular soundtracks, but the rest of the track is just as good, if not better. Ennio Morricone's use of synthesizer, mouth organ, guitar and his slow, sweeping style were instrumental in giving the 'Western' feel to the movie.

Not only do the tracks sound great, but their nomenclature also conveys the true genius of this soundtrack. Whether its the solemn 'The Story of a Soldier' and 'Il Forte' or the soulful 'Il Tramanto (The Sundown)' each soundtrack is simply a beautiful evocation of a mood and almost like a complete musical story in itself. But my favourite is the climactic 'The Ecstasy of Gold', a depiction of the epic showdown between the three characters and a culmination of all the chasing, adventure and the greed. It stands out as one of the best climaxes ever filmed simply because of this powerful and sweeping musical play of emotions.

'The Good The Bad and The Ugly' is one of the greatest soundtracks ever.

P.S. Just a layman's interpretation of some beautiful music.

The Cove

"The assumption that animals are without rights and the illusion that our treatment of them has no moral significance is a positively outrageous example of crudity and barbarity. Universal compassion is the only guarantee of morality." ~Schopenhauer

The Cove (2009) is an eco-thriller documentary that sets out to expose the cruelty to dolphins in Japan.

Well, the Japs, they like their fish. And they are not particularly kind to animals. I mean if you actually listen hard enough, you might hear a lot of dead whales complaining. However, strange as the Japs are in their ways, they kill a lot of dolphins when the dolphin meat isn't even the preferred food there. Most of the dolphins are captured to be exported to the various marine entertainment parks around the world. The Cove sets about as a band of 'Environmental Crusaders' are trying to expose the slaughter of the remaining dolphins in the small fishing village of Taiji, Japan.

The most stunning aspect of the documentary is the compassion and collaboration of these people in trying to uncover the cruelty to dolphins in the face of many dangers. Whether it is Ric O'Barry, one of foremost dolphin activists or Charles Hambleton, a sailor and diver, their zealous activism is inspirational to say the least. They end up exposing not only the cruelty meted out to the dolphins, but through their compassion also end up making us realise the sensitive and intelligent nature of dolphins and how captivity itself is cruel to them.

Its the same story everytime isnt it? Ignorant and cruel humans leading to collapse of eco-systems, endangering their own health and survival, and the inefficacy of government and institutions in taking any kind of moral decisions, governed as they are themselves by the diktats of money. Prone to cynicism as I am, it is an example like this, where the passion of individuals makes about a difference, that is a reason for hope and inspiration.

Theres a scene towards the end of the documentary when an underwater camera, planted by this team suddenly starts seeing red, even as you hear (and understand, somehow) the pain in the squeal of a dolphin which is being slaughtered with the most cruelty. Compassion, ironically needs a glimpse of cruelty sometimes to be kindled. And it is this scene really, which makes you relate to the intense ardour of these activists.

The Cove will shock, disturb and inspire you. Must watch

P.S. I'm back.