Charity at its worst

I have this age old habit of mine to keep me abreast with the world news and can often be found skimming through the headlines of various newspapers. Although I am out of my home country nonetheless I have a keen interest in what the Indian political and sports scene is up to and Times Of India (TOI from here) website has been very helpful in quenching my reading thirst regarding this. TOI is a busy web site with lots of traffic day in day out, hence lots of ads. I don’t mind ads at all as they are the reason the website is up and running and its worth – small cost for readers to get the latest news at their doorstep.

A few days back I noticed an ad for some charity organization – it shows a disabled kid. Below him was a text message urging readers to help him change his life. One look at the ad and I bet it will sweep all the thoughts but this picture off your mind. A kid having a big cut in his upper lip that even his gums were visible - asking for help by demonstration of shortfalls.

I don’t mind their selection of a well known website to reach out to people. That’s how the marketing ought to be. What irritates me is the image that they display - A helpless kid shown in the disgust (in lack of a better word) with a message asking readers to help him. I saw this and the first thing that crossed my mind instantly was – WHAT NON SENSE!!!. What am I supposed to do after seeing this promotional graphic? Feel guilty for not being able to help him. Or feel bad for him and other children like him. And to your amazement, I was none of them. Instead, I was ashamed of organizations that chose these cheap tricks to raise money.

In my opinion the whole idea of displaying the image was to hit where it hurts the most – GUILT. Guilt of not being able to help a kid who lives such a nauseating life, Guilt of sitting in a comfortable chair in your office while there is someone who can’t even live his normal life.

I have seen many ads from many reputed charity organizations. For example, CRY. They will never attempt to make you feel guilty to donate the money. Instead they make you feel emotional. Which I think is a sin not as bad as this one.

Lots of my friends work for several NGOs and I have seen them working hard for their organizations. One look at their efforts and you would realize how sincerely they believe in the cause they are working for. They arrange marathons, publicity booths, online campaigns, music and dramatics events. They just don’t expect others to help their groups by just asking for funds. They motivate people to donate by setting the right example. And I think that’s how the charity is done.

May god bless that kid (from these organizations)

Aye Hip Hopper

“Hey bro”, “Nah bro, I ain’t comin.”, “Wassup with ya man”

No No!!! I have not turned gay or black. I am still the same old fashioned guy who speaks traditional English. Just that I have noticed some deshwaasi frequently using this form of English in various places. You can easily spot them in restaurants, coffee shops, chat and even orkut. Not sure what goes in their mind when they use these words or what influenced them. But they do it with pride. None of my business I know, but I can’t help me ignore this.

I have tried to give it a lot of thinking but still not sure why would a normal Indian guy talk like a hip hopper. Does being an African American (I will refrain myself from using the other word) is so in thing now that a usually good looking Indian male wants to epitomize them? Or is it just ignorance? Yes, ignorance it is. The reason being no sensible man on earth would like to be a black Bappi Lahiri. No offence!!!

Being an Indian I know what a typical Indian youth mentality is. And I think the same applies not only to Indian but youngsters in any geography. They just want to own a thing which they see is in. Be it cloths, accessories, music or accent. Most of the Indian youth have not been to this side of the globe and whatever cultural impression they have about America is inherited from Hollywood movies or song. What they don’t realize is that, a movie is just a glamorous package, made in a way that sells the most. It doesn’t reflect reality. Not all of them at least. The same way as not every Indian is named as Raj and not every garden in India has hidden orchestra and groups dancers, who appear just when the hero falls in love with heroine. The same goes with music too. Not every Indian sings a song when he wants to ‘pataao’ a girl and not all the Americans talk in the distorted form of English like those glossy hip hoppers who wear (be)low waist jeans and a hoody.

I personally know many guys and girls in my country, who proudly address each other as “hey dude”. When they talk, they keep two fingers (index and middle, to be precise) intentionally popping out and their body shaking in a rhythm. They think it looks cool. What they don’t realize is how idiotic they appear when they try to fake it.

Another disease, which is no less contagious, is their accent. I have seen people who were onsite for three months (by onsite I mean in US), and when they came back they have somehow picked up a fake US accent. Come on, how can you pick US accent in just three months? Unless you had gone through a call centre training.

I know how mean I sound when I talk like this. But this is how I feel.

Bhagwaan inhe sadbuddhi de!!!

At the end, here is a nice song for you to checkout -

Bandini

I had heard a lot about the movie and its director Bimal Da. Having less work pressure this weekend, I got a DVD and watched it finally. To my surprise I found it up to no good. All those positive remarks made to me until then appeared having no value. Also from the direction point of view it was average, just average. More so because of having so much expectation built up, Bimal Roy now looked inferior to a regular B grade movie director.
But this was only until I saw the last 10 minutes of the movie. Until then I had almost decided to shut off the movie at one point in time. In the last sequence Nootan meets Ashok Kumar and gets to know about why he betrayed her and married the other woman. Ashok kumar is going to leave via a ship whereas Nootan’s train has also arrived. She is going through a mental tug of war whether to leave him or go back. In the background the famous song “o re maajhi…mere saajan hai us paar” plays. This all has been done with so much perfection; I bet that you can’t miss the magic Bimal Roy is trying to create. All well that ends well. Nootan goes back to Ashok Kumar and movie ends.

And after that there is one more member in Bimal Roy fan club now.