Welcome to Hell

Dost, the four-day weekend was too good. Thanks to Thanksgiving Day! Waking up on a Monday after a longgg weekend sucks!!! Anyhow, let me recap a bit and ponder upon my relaxation days. Ahh, the weekend was filled with too many nitty gritty things happening here ‘n’ there. As you all must know that Thursday was the Thanksgiving Day for all Amerikan’s! For the first time our family decided to throw a potluck and enjoy another get-together on the T Day. It was a pleasant evening filled with rations everywhere. The whole family successfully showcased their culinary skills. Needless to say, every entrée was delectable and savory.

While gazing at those countless ‘happy T-day’ wishes on Facebook, one of them grabbed my attention. It had something to do with North Korea documentary. Instantly I browsed through Google and luckily found the documentary. As I started watching, I got extremely antagonized at how people are obligated to hail at the ‘The Great Leader’ of their country. The citizens have no life, no future, that country is a complete hell. Infact, if hell does exist then it is North Korea. A picture taken from the space clearly shows no signs of electricity except for a small [probably a lamp] lighting the capital Pyongyang and the residence of the great leader, Kim Yong-il. This country has no economy, no faith and zero belief. From birth countrymen are obligated to serve the army. One of the most popular diseases is Cataract. There are no hospital facilities to cure people and very minimal equipments which are afforded only by rich people. By rich, I’m referring to the people living in Pyongyang and probably working very closely with the great leader. No outside books are available to read.  From childhood, everyone is taught to obey and salute the great leader.  Humanity word doesn't exist in this country.  Only the capital has wide roads but no signs of any cars. It’s only used by the leader himself. A common man cannot even travel from one city to another. There are several prison camps for the residents who dare to disobey the leader. Entire families get exploited for chemical testing in special gas chambers. No one is allowed to keep any outside contact and even the radios and television are controlled by the government.

North and South Korea are divided by a Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) which has electric wires all across the line. People have actually tried to escape North Korea and in return either faced death or imprisonment and torture for the rest of their life. Few people who were successful have horrific stories to share. No sign of freedom, no food, no economy, no outside contact, no internet; the entire country runs by one dictator. Period. The documentary showed how the residents would get drastically emotional while conversing about their great leader. One could clearly make out the fear and terror of Kim Yong-il in their eyes.  He rules and controls...end of story!

Highly recommended and a must watch – Inside North Korea Documentary!

Recap of 2010

It sure has been a roller-coaster since Jan 2010… Gosh, where do I begin??? The year 2010 kick-started with the entire media going frenzy over IPL games and Rajasthan Royals bringing home the Cup. Making their curvy lady completely glorious and well-pleased. Should have seen the smile on Mrs. S S Kundra's face! The lady got all the limelight and left no stones unturned in flaunting the victory of her team [of course with the help of immense ghapla and ghootala]. Since we are on the two G’s, I do have a little more to mention on that. Remember the dispute for IPL Kochi team which brought along a name not-so-known in the media until Mr. Shashi Tharoor brought her along with him! Shobhaa De likes to address her as Mrs. Pushy-kar mam. However, hands down, the winner of two G’s was none-other-than Modi sir. Ditto for Kalmadi and the entire corruption issue on CWG games 2010. Can you imagine the biggest ever opening ceremony of Common Wealth Games in New Delhi? I mean, it was fantastically mesmerizing and breath-taking. The cover of the games were complete dhamaal, however, if you dig deep, it is left and right golmaal. Oh, that’s an addition to my two G’s. By the way, it was a pleasure to see Obama Uncle visiting India and celebrating Diwali. Apparently, his visit got higher ratings than Clinton’s.

On a lighter note, my heart goes out to all the people who lost their loved ones in the Mangalore crash. Also, to all the Bhopal tragedy victims and survivors. I still feel despondent towards the court’s decision. After all, the cost of poor has come down to Rs. 25,000 for injured and Rs. 1 lakh for the dead! Consuming poisonous gas is as deadly as a hurricane or earthquake or a landslide. Don’t we encounter enough natural calamities every year, then why create one manually? In addition to the Bhopal Gas tragedy settlement, there was another pending case which announced the verdict this year. Ayodha’s Babri Masjid longed for more than a decade and finally when the Judge gave his verdict it was [as expected] not fully acceptable by many. The court case is never considered a blissful solution as one has to lose, whatsoever! A special mention about Khap Panchayat and Honor Killing, which brings anger and tears to the eyes. Why, just why is such insanity still alive in our country?

Moving on to some B’town gossip! Munni got fully badnaam in order to make Dabangg a successful hit! A well composed effort from the Khan Parivaar. The feud continues on between Salman Khan and Mr. Bachchan. Way to make it obvious guys! With Bigg Boss airing and providing with any and every ridiculous, cheap and derogatory ideas, it came down to Pamela Anderson [the porn star] and Dolly Bindra [C grade actress] to boost the TRP against AB’s KBC. Karan came back with his hot brewing Koffee and opened doors to the secret life of our much known celebrities. As if we were short on buzz town gossip! Vivek Oberoi decided to get hitched and got over the bhoot of Ash. Not many block buster hits except for a few. Aside from Bollywood, I can’t stop myself from mentioning the most famous site of the year: Facebook. So, Facebook, let’s tweet?

WOW… What a year! From 3G’s to IPL to CWG to controversies’ to verdicts to honor killing to Munni… sigh! This is India, dost !

Koffee with Karan

I like…nah…I love this show! A-class celebrities babbling with ‘The Man’ and sipping koffee in a very gay mood. Since the news channel and B’town media is ranting a little too much on Ash calling her father-in-law ‘Hot’, I knew season three is brewing… Gawd, can this lady grow up at all? I mean, who calls their father-in-law HOT publicly or privately? Anyhow, irrespective of this, I’m anxiously waiting for the season three to start. One thing’s for sure, Karan does everything with panache! Whether it’s throwing a party or sipping koffee.

Yesterday evening, after a thirty minute run in somewhat a chilly yet sexy weather, I surfed through some YouTube videos. Out of nowhere, I came across Rakhi Sawant’s episode with KWK. I got too startled and watched it all over again. That girl is Something. O yeah, believe me you, she is considered the gutsiest lady of India. She’s blunt, bold and just out there… However, at times, the boldness should remain inside only. Like she mentioned on the show, “my parents tell me, you don’t have to act like a Damini.” On a side note, remember the legendary dialogue from Damini, ‘tareeqh pe tareeqh’ alleged by Sunny Deol. Well, the Deol clan is coming out next year with a bumper dhamaka of their ‘Yamla Pagla Deewana’. Oops, got a little side-tracked here! Back to Rakesh Sawant, ohhh I meant Rakhi Sawant!

According to Rakhi, if she talks in English then only she can understand, audience will misinterpret every word of her. This was proven when she performed at the opening day of Bigg Boss and called herself ‘Solitid’. Salman and I, both took a while to figure out that she actually meant ‘Solitaire’. Everyone just loves to hate her. Karan fancied her company to the fullest on his show. There wasn’t a single dull moment around Rakhi. I believe this is the only episode where Karan could not stop laughing. And yeah, the entire Rakhi chapter was too hilarious even for the audience.

Going in a loop…Season three will start with a big bang! The first guest [like I mentioned earlier], will have Jr. Bachchans followed by an awaiting episode of Aamir Khan. I hope this time Karan brings on Rakhi Sawant and Dolly Bindra together. They’ll bring the entire house down with their cheesy comments. And yeah, the producers will have a ball with the highest TRP ever!

“Jo God nahi deta, woh Doctor deta hai!” – Rakhi Sawant

Happy Diwali, Folks!

Guys, it’s that time of the year again. Homes lit up with lots of diya’s, everyone dressing up in their newest clothes, Lakshmi ji sitting right beside Shree Ram accompanied by Sita ji and bro Lakshman and a smile on everyone’s face! Ahh, the feeling of Diwali every year rejuvenates every inch of my body. Loading up on mithai, distributing gifts among family and friends, divulging in countless phone calls, lighting up the house and much more. It’s a delight to see celebrities throwing taash parties, news engines showcasing Diwali Dhamaka’s in all the cities, Facebook status’s changing, every single market flooded with lights, patakhe, mithai, gifts, happy diwali posters, rangoli, diya’s, candles, Lakshmi Ganesh sculptures and tons more… sigh! Absolutely, fantabulously, amazingly the biggest ever, breath-taking festival in our India.

On that note, I wish everyone a very happy and safe Diwali minus pollution of the mind, heart, body and soul. Enjoy tons with your families, load up on every mithai [especially Kaju barfi], and kick in some taash! Have a thrilling Diwali, everyone…

Halloween – Day of the dead

Really, what’s the deal with this day? Halloween – the name sounds weird; everyone dresses up to scare others; the night seems eerie; and candies flying across all neighborhoods with a bizarre saying, “Trick or Treat”??? Odd combination, isn’t it? So, I decided to write an article on it and got started with a bit of R&D.

Now, please don’t assume that I’m writing an essay on Halloween. Essay is the last thing I’ll be writing as it is highly boring and irritating. Oh well, so the whole festival started out long back. Around 15 or 1600’s; I don’t think there’s a specific year mentioned anywhere in Google search results for Halloween [Lol, there, I cited my research as well]. Primarily only four countries observed the day: Ireland, Scotland, Canada and United States. However, from the past couple of years several other countries have started to enjoy this day as well. India too, has started to fancy this day. As if we had shortage of festivals??? Oh well, more the merrier! Anyhow, the roots of this day are connected to Celtic festival. Which, by the way means a religious belief adhered by the Iron Age people of Western Europe. So, the Celts believed that Halloween was the day when our world and the ‘Otherworld’ became thin and allowed spirits and ghosts to enter… And then to ridicule the incoming of such people or objects, [whatever you may call them] Iron Age people decided to mock them by dressing up as one of them. The whole purpose was to disguise oneself as a harmful spirit and thus avoid them. By tradition, one may only wear a costume of ghost or witches, however, as the technology is advancing in the world, so are the festivals. People started to dress up as anyone and everyone. The custom is to dress up and walk around the neighborhood houses asking for candies. The famous saying is ‘Trick or Treat’? The word trick refers to a “threat” to perform mischief on the homeowners or their property if no treat is given. Oh and by the way, there are rotten teenagers who throw eggs at your home if you don’t supply them with some candies. So, beware guys!!!

It’s really a treat for your eyes as homeowners to watch small kiddos dressed up as their favorite movie/cartoon character. Speaking of which, I had a very cute and adorable kid [might have been 3 or 4] on my door asking for candy. He dressed up as Spiderman and definitely looked handsome and a complete darling! Wanted to kiss him but as you know these gora’s act berserk if you touch their kids, let alone kissing! Nevertheless, I fancied all the kids who trick or treated at my door last night. Happy Halloween, mate!