Recently there was a small news item amongst all the excitement about the trust vote about women two wheeler riders in Pune. To protect themselves from heat and pollution, a lot of them cover their faces with scarves, which now the police find to be a security threat as one cannot determine the identity of the person with the scarf.
Oddly enough, there was also a woman from the NCW who must've felt she is in some surreal nightmare as she defended the right of the women to cover their heads and faces. A two wheeler rider also felt that if women can wear burkhas and ride bikes, then why can't she wear a scarf over her face. Even stranger was the normally ultra-conservative police force asking women to NOT cover their heads and faces.
This brought to mind a legislation in France a few years ago, which made the display of overt religious symbols an offence, where burkha clad women protested saying its their right to wear what they want to wear. And the modern, secular, gender-sensitive state cracks down on them. Orhan Pamuk's Snow speaks of a similar irony in secular Turkey where wearing the burkha, even out of choice and not out of compulsion, is seen as a sign of fundamentalism and chauvinism.
Secularism and modernity contradict themselves all the time. Yet, it's odd to see and hear things like these, when one more or less thinks the lines between two polarities have been clearly etched and the two sides very easily definable. So does one say that in one case, allowing women to cover their heads is okay and in another it's not?
Or does one simply wear a helmet on a two wheeler?
3.8.08
It's Finally Over!!! (or is it?...)
The first 4 are of the living-dining room, the 5th one of the study table and the last one of the bedroom. i take horrible photos.
19.7.08
Patriotism...
The legal length of the Indian national anthem is 52 seconds.
So the next time you wonder why your local movie theatre subjects you to a extra long rendition with AR Rahman flipping his hair or are forced to see a horrendous animation of the Indian flag, just remember that the theatre owner is making sure that no disrespect is shown towards the anthem. A anthem-like song going on for more than 52 seconds doesn't remain the anthem anymore, so it really doesn't matter if someone doesn't stand up. Naa rahega baans, naa bajegi baansuri.
Very patriotic. Maybe some of our political parties should N-gage in such silent show of patriotism, rather than the tamasha going on right now.
So the next time you wonder why your local movie theatre subjects you to a extra long rendition with AR Rahman flipping his hair or are forced to see a horrendous animation of the Indian flag, just remember that the theatre owner is making sure that no disrespect is shown towards the anthem. A anthem-like song going on for more than 52 seconds doesn't remain the anthem anymore, so it really doesn't matter if someone doesn't stand up. Naa rahega baans, naa bajegi baansuri.
Very patriotic. Maybe some of our political parties should N-gage in such silent show of patriotism, rather than the tamasha going on right now.
6.7.08
23.6.08
Stupid...
Today, as he sways his cool arthritically bent hands to some heavy bass, AD declares with the air of a savant: "Indians are too stupid to understand rap music"
For a minute lets assume he didn't mean to be so blatantly stereotypical. What does one need to understand about rap music?
Is the highly misogynistic lyrics too difficult to figure out? Does it take a genius to figure out that Eminem is "singing" about killing his wife?
Is it the extreme fascination with sex coded into the lyrics not easy to understand? i mean, how obvious does 'I like big butts and I cannot lie' sound?
Don't get me wrong. i like certain rap artists, atleast the ones who have something useful to say. Like when Jay-Z makes '99 Problems', you know he's writing from the heart about being stereotyped. Or even some Dr. Dre and Coolio songs are really about what rap music set out to be: the voice for a minority community.
But what does one make out of 50 Cent and his glamourous tale of being shot 9 times and still living. Or Akon faking a prison term so he sounds cooler. Or Kanye West being made an outcast in the rap world just because he had middle class parents. Or the dumbification of people in an entire country and maybe even the world by people singing about 'Du-ing thaat thang' who can't even spell their names correctly. (Yung Joc? What grade did he dropout in?)
Does anyone else find extremely outsized clothes and pants that fall off on a single touch irritating? It was apparently started by some rap musicians from the Bronx who were so poor they couldn't afford to buy new clothes and mostly wore oversized hand-me-downs. So the attire became a part of their identity. But it looks really absurd to see a visibly well-to-do Bandra boy with pants that start at his knees and so loose that he's trying hard to hold it up. i wonder what will happen if someone tries to steal his "bling-blings". Will he run after the thief or stand back to protect his degraded sense of self?
Maybe what attracts people to rap music is the glamour factor of an adventurous life. For a white middle class guy or a bored spoilt townie, the life of a rap musician is exciting. A life marked by gang wars, drugs and loose women who want to drop their clothes at the snap of a finger.
So AD, i'm sorry i don't understand rap music. Maybe one day when i get into your position of protracted ennui, i would be a little more enlightened.
'If you're having girl problems i feel bad for you son, i got 99 problems but the bitch ain't one'
For a minute lets assume he didn't mean to be so blatantly stereotypical. What does one need to understand about rap music?
Is the highly misogynistic lyrics too difficult to figure out? Does it take a genius to figure out that Eminem is "singing" about killing his wife?
Is it the extreme fascination with sex coded into the lyrics not easy to understand? i mean, how obvious does 'I like big butts and I cannot lie' sound?
Don't get me wrong. i like certain rap artists, atleast the ones who have something useful to say. Like when Jay-Z makes '99 Problems', you know he's writing from the heart about being stereotyped. Or even some Dr. Dre and Coolio songs are really about what rap music set out to be: the voice for a minority community.
But what does one make out of 50 Cent and his glamourous tale of being shot 9 times and still living. Or Akon faking a prison term so he sounds cooler. Or Kanye West being made an outcast in the rap world just because he had middle class parents. Or the dumbification of people in an entire country and maybe even the world by people singing about 'Du-ing thaat thang' who can't even spell their names correctly. (Yung Joc? What grade did he dropout in?)
Does anyone else find extremely outsized clothes and pants that fall off on a single touch irritating? It was apparently started by some rap musicians from the Bronx who were so poor they couldn't afford to buy new clothes and mostly wore oversized hand-me-downs. So the attire became a part of their identity. But it looks really absurd to see a visibly well-to-do Bandra boy with pants that start at his knees and so loose that he's trying hard to hold it up. i wonder what will happen if someone tries to steal his "bling-blings". Will he run after the thief or stand back to protect his degraded sense of self?
Maybe what attracts people to rap music is the glamour factor of an adventurous life. For a white middle class guy or a bored spoilt townie, the life of a rap musician is exciting. A life marked by gang wars, drugs and loose women who want to drop their clothes at the snap of a finger.
So AD, i'm sorry i don't understand rap music. Maybe one day when i get into your position of protracted ennui, i would be a little more enlightened.
'If you're having girl problems i feel bad for you son, i got 99 problems but the bitch ain't one'
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