Bart Simpson has taken the lead to present her views about the Taj Mahal being one of the seven wonders... Now let me present my views from the perspective of a Taj Nagari Vasi (person from the City of the Taj)... Ok, may be while reading the post you might feel that staying in Singapore has made me "un"patriotric... but then it depends on how you define patriotism.... Patriotism is something like Bravery... For some, a person who has the courage to kill himself (commit suicide) is brave [fair enough! you need courage to kill yourself] while for some the one who faces life is brave.... I prefer the latter... Same goes for Patriotism... For some the person who speaks well of his country is Patriotic.... But for me Patriotism means accepting the shortcomings of the country and then working to free the country from these....
Again, as Bart mentioned, India is known primarily for the Taj and Kashmir, and I feel proud while introducing myself as a citizen of the City of Taj Mahal (Agra)... I am probably among the most happy people from this news and I invited every Tom, Dick and Harry I met to visit the Taj and stay at my place... (Psst psst.... it also includes some very good friends like Juliana and Won Jang, good news being that I'll probably meet Won Jang.... Hurrah!!!) But then, I remember the state of the places around the Taj.... Do I really want people to see that??
It is all shitty, tacky, smelly.... so much so that I (living only 15 km away from the Taj) find it really hard to motivate myself to visit it.... The Taj is indeed a marvellous monument but it is tarnishing... Yellowing... and what about the river Yamuna which flows right behind it... The water there is worse than sewerage water... What are we doing about it??
Just proclaiming that I am from the City of the Taj doesn't mean that I am patriotic.... There are so many children in that City of the Taj who don't even know that their city is one of the most renowned places in the world.... For them life is a constant struggle for survival... What are we doing about it??
And can you guess that what will happen now??
Here is a much underestimated crookedness which will take place... The MP (Member of Parliament) of Agra will appeal for a huge sum of money to maintain the Taj Mahal and the nearby places....By huge I mean, HUGE......
And then, 10% of it will be used to do some temporary maintenance (To last till his term gets over)... The remaining 90%..... ahem ahem ahem.... The result being that the money allocated for the welfare of the people (out of which again only 10% would have been used) went to maintain the Taj or rather unmaintain the Taj...
Do you want to know why the MP would go only for a temporary maintainence??
So, that during his term the Taj looks maintained and in his successor's term...well, let me not use the word I intended to... This will then be used as a point in the next election...
Complicated?? Nah.... This is the most common tactic in Agra Elections...
So, now tell me, what shall I feel about the Taj being one of the seven wonders of the world??
Proud to be from the city or worried about the political game which will be played using Taj's name??
Monday, 9 July 2007
Wah Taj!!
Thursday, 5 July 2007
Reflection!!!
During the last days I have discovered a lot about myself. I was browsing through Dey's blog and shockingly stumbled upon some of his learnings which were in a way same as mine.... These are, perhaps, the learnings which everyone experiences at some point of their life's journey and to be truthful, you can understand them and enjoy the beauty of these learnings only when you actually live them!!! So, here you go!
You don't change people.You change yourself and that changes people. Isn't it so true?? And many times you are just amazed with the change in people's attitude... It is more like a miracle!!!
Your world is what you want it to be. If you don't like it, move! If you like it, enjoy!You don't need to spend your life complaining. It is better to smile.So, look for the things that make you smile.
Loneliness is a good company.Not all the time, not forever, but definitely is a good friend that I need to visit more often. To may be understand myself better.... To understand where I am heading to!!! Is it the place I really want to head to??
Living life fast is the new trend. Not stopping to let things sink is not healthy anyway.Balance is needed everywhere, not necessarily happens continuously, but it needs to be found. I think I have the tendency to make myself extremely busy and living life fast.... Then not be able to step back and reflect... To actually face the innermost problems rather than running away from them...
Don't be scared about the kind of person you want to be. Let it emerge, it is within you.It is within me! Give it all the time and support it needs and life will be heaven!!
Remember!
Forget!
Let it go!
Let it come! Leia Mais…
Monday, 2 July 2007
Lights, Camera Rolling and Action!!!!
Alright, I don't want to sound immodest here to say that I am one of the Best Actresses I have ever known.... (Its not only in my opinion but in that of many others who have seen me act) Being in AIESEC made me realize that I am a good stand up comedian too and have the power to engage a large group of people for hours!!! *thank u, thank u But I never thought that I would be working with professionals in a movie clip in la-la land.... And above all, during my internship with the Singapore Compact for CSR!!! But it happened...
I was asked to reach office on time on Monday (And also, be very smartly dressed *do I not dress smartly everyday??)... When I reached the office, I was informed that the Singapore Business Federation is making a movie clip (5 min long) and they want me to act for them.... Whoa!!! How did these guys come to know about my acting abilities??
I said,"Alright" with the air of Angelina Jolie.... and came out of my cabin (Yes, I have been promoted from a cubicle to a cabin)... As soon as I stepped out Sally, Jenn, Allie and the Director (Jack) said unanimously, "Put some make up, atleast lipstick"...
"Sorry, I don't wear make up"
"She doesn't need one. Jack, you should see the shot, her face is made for the camera", said the camera man *hiks hiks, I am so touched..... I have not heard such flattering words in such flirting tone for full one and a half days.... Good Mr. Camera man (Oops, forgot to ask your name :( )
Anyways, we start shooting for scene 1, where I knock the door, enter the room and shake my hands with Phillis and we exchange cards and I sit and talk for a while.... Can you believe that the part where I enter the room was shot about 10 times before we moved further.... It took us 45 minutes to just shoot the perfect scene for my entry... Sometimes, Phillis blocked me, sometimes the way I opened the door wasn't perfect, sometimes, the way I leave the door wasn't perfect, sometimes I moved my left leg first, sometimes I looked as if I had come to kill Phillis.... Phew!! I pity poor actors and actresses.... But then I was enjoying every bit of it.... Then we moved on to shaking hands.... Gosh!!! I never paid attention to how I shake hands but my, my if you are acting you have to take care of so many intricate details.... Finally, scene 1 was shot in 4 and a half hours and length of that shot in the movie would be 2 min....
And then scene 2, for the remaining day... They didn't need me for scene 3 (length in the movie half a min) so I just ran out of the office.... I enjoyed every bit of it but I don't think I would ever make it my life long profession... I am a kind of person who needs change every moment and doing the same scene again and again is not my cup of tea....
I had always thought that it is so unfair that the actors get paid so much money but acting in this short movie clip, I understand the reason why it is so! I am happy not being an actress... :D
p.s. The movie will be screened on 2nd August in Singapore Business Federation's office. And the voice recording will be done when I will be in India, I just hope that the voice which is used for me matches my personality otherwise it will be hilarious
