Sarfaroshi ki Tamanna

It was this day, 79 years ago, when three brave sons of India walked proudly towards the ultimate sacrifice. Singing 'सरफरोशी की तमन्ना अब हमारे दिल में है' as legend has it.

I dedicate this post to the three of them, as well as an entire generation of lesser known Indians who chose the path of fighting for what they believed was right, against all odds, driven only by a fire fueled by desire to see the country independent.

Also, Bhagat Singh being my idol, this is in remembrance of the maturity, grit, tact and foresight shown by this great leader, visionary and thinker who gave the freedom struggle its cutting edge and brought it to the foreburner of day to day politics. All at an age of 23 years.

I sometimes wonder what it would have been like if he was saved (I believe Gandhi could have) and having a firebrand like him in the first cabinet to run the nation. However, none of this happened and India was deprived of somethings he was definitely capable of.

Signing off with the below lines which I sincerely wish were true but are not. Sadly, hardly anybody remembers our martyrs.

शहीदों की मजारों पर लगेंगे हर बरस मेले
वतन पर मिटने वालों का येही बाकी निशाँ होगा

Of unsung heroes and glamorous underachievers

The Sunday Times of India, March 21 2010 was not a paper I was looking forward to. Mumbai Indians, ‘my’ team simply because it is led by Sachin, had lost meekly to Royal Challengers Bangalore, and that was a reason enough. However, as I read through mechanically to ease off a lazy Sunday morning at home, there was one piece that caught my eye between the loud and glitzy IPL coverage

Milkha Singh, the flying Sikh, has decided to hand over his life story for a movie being made. All for a sum of One rupee. Sheer greatness. Here is a man who in 1947 saw his parents murdered in front of his eyes, hid among corpses in a train to escape to India, ran barefoot in initial competitions, and went on to win Asian Games, Commonwealth and later on an Olympics record. Today also, he stands tall as he runs a distress helpline. 20% of film’s profits will go there.

What a pity, icons like him are hardly known of amidst the shrill and glitz of things like IPL which, at best, is a murky money minded madness with a little bit of sport thrown in.

Hats off to this proud son of the soil, quite literally.

Atithi tum kab jaaoge

Admittedly, I am no movie buff. Back in college, I used to be the last guy to be seen near a theater. Further recently, my movie sprees are limited to 'No other option available' scenarios. Similar was my today's encounter with this movie.

However, this is one impressive movie, though I guess is is not gonna be a respectable hit. With witty references to a common Indian's psyche, the movie goes on to touch pretty much all the unexplored areas that we either don't know about, or are not interested to touch. This includes the self induced aloofness of our lives from our famed family systems, utter disregard for little pleasures and pains of life that go on adding up, and in some cases, sheer indifference towards the values that we pick up and impart subconsciously.

At least in my case, this one managed to inspire some thought and introspection. Must watch if you are looking for light humor and substance packaged into one.