Ready for the Rice Bucket Challenge?

By

-

September 5, 2014

Hope you have heard about the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge… While all of us have heard enough about this challenge – which many of us actually thought was silly – people across the world have taken part in it or donated to the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Association. As expected, many Indian celebrities who have an amazing copycat behaviour, immediately took up the challenge to pour ice cold water onto themselves. Particularly, since the Indian monsoon had not covered the entire country this time, it was easy to douse cold water in the intense heat!

During my stint in a research firm in Hyderabad, I worked with a colleague named Manjulatha Kalanidhi who was also a journalist. She always had a quirky retort for everything in life. Her quick wit and one-liners always raised eyebrows. If we guys were talking about “Koffee with Karan”, Manju would say, “come, I will serve some Kashaya. Let’s have Kashaya with Kalanidhi!”

It was obvious that Manju would come up with a befitting Indian answer to this ice bucket challenge. Being quite active on social media, she messaged,

“Chalo I am all ready for a #RiceBucketChallenge… desi style… cook or buy one bucket of rice/ biryani and feed the poor in your locality. If you can’t take this challenge, donate medicines worth Rs 100 to the nearest government hospital.. Whoz joining me in this one? My own local, practical and tangible version/response to #icebucketchallenge …. save water feed the hungry!”.

Image Via politicalblindspot.com

The social media cyberspace went abuzz about this crazy yet sensible idea. Why pour cold water onto yourself to promote some unknown disease; better do charity at home! Over the last one week, the Rice Bucket Challenge has spread like a wildfire and has become the most discussed topic on the internet. School children, social activists, celebrities all have joined the bandwagon to take up the Rice Bucket Challenge.

While we constantly crib about our governments doing nothing, our corporate houses doing meagre CSR service, rarely we find individuals taking up social causes. I would say Manju’s act is the ultimate example of Individual Social Responsibility.

So this International Day of Charity, are you ready to take up the Rice Bucket Challenge? All you have to do, take a bucket of rice, find a needy person, click your pic while donating it, and upload it on the Facebook community link!

Factfile –
http://www.bbc.com/news
timesofindia.indiatimes.com

DU Food Haunts – A foodie’s paradise!

By

Udita Purkayastha

-

September 3, 2014

0

Continued from Food Haunts in Delhi University – gastronomic excellence!

Kamla Nagar haunts

While DU colleges have their canteens and there are umpteen thelas to choose from, one must not forget the food haunts in Kamla Nagar, the market closest to the campus area and GTB Nagar. Kamla Nagar has a delightful joint called F.Y.I. Maggi that serves about 15 different types of maggi! It will surprise you with Punjabi Tadka Maggi, Crispy Maggi, Maggi in White Sauce, Maggi Kebabs and so on. Each version of maggi is named after SMS abbreviations like LOL, WTF, KO, TTYL etc. It has a funky décor in bright colours and is reasonably priced. A single visit is usually not enough!

DU Food - Chache-Di-Hatti — Chache-Di-Hatti

Kamla Nagar is also famous for Chacche di Hatti that sells some delectable chole bhature. Unless you see the crowd queued outside the stall, you will not believe the extent of its popularity. There are separate queues for men and women, and the stall opens at 10 in the morning and everything is over by 3 in the afternoon. We were intrigued by the rush and decided to give it a try. Needless to say, the long wait was totally worth it and we kept going back for more.

There is a narrow lane in Kamla Nagar that once had restaurants on both sides serving delicious and reasonably priced food. Most of these are shut now but Momo’s Point continues to serve oily, spicy, fattening, lip-smacking, finger-licking food. It is a small restaurant, usually overcrowded, which serves a wide variety of modified Chinese dishes. Try their crispy chilli potatoes with fresh lime soda or their chicken salt and pepper with mocktails like Blue Lagooon and Pina Colada and you might just be surprised!

The narrow intersecting lanes hold many delights for unsuspecting foodies. The Shawarma Point is one such. The cane structure with piping hot shawarmas on paper plates are sure to impress. Similarly, Shake Square has a wide range of milk shakes and ice-cream floats that can make anyone happy on a summer day. The price is a little high in comparison to other places in the campus area, but the drinks will make it worth your money’s while.

G.T.B. Nagar haunts

G.T.B. Nagar is just a few kilometres away from the Delhi University campus and can be reached by either cycle-rickshaw or auto-rickshaw. This area has some of the better dining options that are priced slightly higher than those in Kamla Nagar. QD’s is a favourite among both students and residents of that area. Its signature dish is tandoori momo, but regular items like chilli chicken, garlic chicken, and a variety of mocktails with names like Jump Up & Kiss Me, Woo Woo, and Green Lady are equally popular. The bright interiors and a collage of posters make this a lively place to eat at.

DU Food - Tandoori-Momo-at-QDs — Tandoori-Momo-at-QDs

The Big Yellow Door is a few steps away from QD’s and is famous for its Napolitano pasta and black forest shake. If you are willing to wait outside for 30 minutes or so, then you will be seated at a table in this little restaurant that serves the best Continental food in North Campus. It is a casual but classy place and easy on the pocket.

The Patel Chest area, with its lines of photocopy and computer printout shops, is also an eatery hub. It is an especially good option for those living in hostels who wish to sip tea after midnight. There are no prominent food joints in this stretch but the little stalls that serve kachori, samosa and tea are all-time hits with the students who fill their bellies, while waiting to get their notes photocopied. Do not miss the bhelpuris that will leave you craving for more.

So, whether you are in College A or College B, whether you are a student, an alumnus or a visitor, whether you got to choose the course you wished to pursue or grudgingly took admission into a course that was second-best in your list, one thing is certain – when in Delhi University, academic excellence goes hand in hand with gastronomic pleasure.

Disclaimer – This article only mentions a few handful of the really popular eating DU food haunts, but all you need to do is peek into the corners and discover some tiny new stall serving some mouth-watering delicacies or allow yourself to join the crowd and find out what the rush is all about.

Check Out Our Exclusive Delhi Page

Delhi University Food Haunts – Gastronomic Excellence!

By

Udita Purkayastha

-

September 1, 2014

0

Delhi University Campus Food — Image Via delhigreens

Delhi University has been finding its name in the newspapers almost regularly these days: be it due to the confusion regarding the Four Years Undergraduate Programme (FYUP), or because of the Vice-Chancellor’s “to resign or not to resign” issues, or because of the high cut-off percentages that can formidably challenge Dettol’s 99.9% germ-killing assurance. So, as a DU-alumnus, it becomes necessary for me to highlight the non-academic aspects of the varsity. Yes, DU is not just about sky-high marks and lectures in derelict buildings; it is also a foodie’s paradise.

FOOD! Cheap food. Yummy food. A wide range of food. All of it can be found in DU. Having been a part of the north campus, I shall focus primarily on the variety of food haunts in Delhi University that the seeker of both high-end and downright cheap food can visit. To begin with, the area between the Faculty of Arts and the Faculty of Law was our favourite haunt. If you are looking for proper meals, you will be disappointed. This is where students go between classes to drink cardamom tea, dig into piping hot samosas and bread rolls, munch on chips and cold sandwich and hold lengthy discussions on every topic under the sun.

Nandu ki Chai

There are two or three benches, a few circular metal tables that are not yet broken and cement slabs where students sit and pontificate on Marxism, Feminism, Modernism, Writ jurisdiction, the Civil Codes, and gossip about who is dating whom, whose car got impounded etc., while the campus dogs sniff the bins looking for leftover. The two best advantages of this place are: it is shaded by a number of trees and is close to the classrooms for those who don’t wish to be late for their lessons.

The tiny shop that sells the tea and snacks is referred to as Nandu ki Chai although who Nandu is, remains unknown to most of us. Just next to this is a juice-wala whose pomegranate juice (at least that’s what he called it) was a favourite with many of us. These places are cheap not only in terms of cost but also in appearance. Clearly not a place for snobs; but experiencing this cheapness is also being a part of DU. Plus, with the money that a student has saved, he/she can buy clothes in the Kamla Nagar roadside stalls!

DSE Mutton Dosa

Another place that was a favourite back when I was a student is the canteen at Delhi School of Economics. Among others, you will find a man popularly called Baba who serves meals, calculates the balance and shares quips with the horde of hungry students. The DSE canteen has proper seating arrangement and is quite hygienic as compared to other places in the campus. Students also take their plates and sit on the steps or under the trees sometimes.

This place is famous for its mutton dosa and egg fried rice. While the quality of the dosa is debatable, the very fact that you get mutton dosa at such a nominal rate will make you return to DSE canteen over and over again! The atmosphere, too, is warm and welcoming, regardless of which college you belong to. The J. P. Tea Stall just a few paces away from the canteen is also worth checking out.

Irfan’s Maggi Point

Irfan’s Maggi Point is another must visit for foodies. This tiny joint is in Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC). So what if you couldn’t make the cut-off and join SRCC? You can still enjoy its maggi. This is not a part of the canteen or the college establishment; it is simply an overcrowded thela that delights students, especially in bone-chilling winters, with uniquely flavoured maggi noodles.

Breakfast café at St. Stephen’s

St. Stephen’s is one of the few colleges in DU which has a canteen with a non-veg menu. It is known as ‘breakfast café’ by the students and it appeals to the taste-buds of everyone who belongs to DU North Campus. The café is pleasantly lit, clean and has proper seating arrangement. However, do check the timings before you visit because unlike most other college canteens, the breakfast café does not remain open throughout the day. This place is known primarily for its spicy cutlets that can be enjoyed with strong coffee.

A quick reminder to the first time visitor: do not miss taking a look at the church of St. Stephen’s. While it is neither large nor grand, its gothic architecture and beautiful stained glass windows are worth seeing. So, eat those cutlets, sip that coffee and gaze at the warm, red-brick architecture of the college and the church which is far superior to the derelict, falling-apart buildings of the rest of the university.

Continue to read – DU Food Haunts – a foodie’s paradise!

Pran and His Epic Creation – Chacha Chaudhary

By

Caleidoscope

-

August 28, 2014

4

It goes without saying that with the demise of the father figure of Indian Comics – Pran Kumar Sharma, a part of our childhood would also be no more. Pran had created a fantastical world of Chacha Chaudhary, filled with delightful characters such as Sabu, Billoo, Pinki, Raaka, Shimatiji, Raman and Channi Chachi that had won hearts of millions. As children, we would eagerly wait for the next edition and grab a copy of his creation every month.

It was way back in 1969, when Pran first sketched Chacha Chaudhary for a Hindi magazine Lotpot, which made him well-known. Chacha Chaudhary was created at a time when the only comics available to Indians were foreign publications like Superman, Batman and Phantom. In the 1970-80s, these foreign publications created such an influence there was an illusory aura of muscular and good-looking superheroes. In order to break the stereotype, Pran desired to go beyond unrealistic characters. He wanted to create someone who was essentially Indian, down-to-earth, and not-so-powerful like his western counterparts. To craft such a unique inimitable character, Pran took inspiration from Chanakya – who is known for his intellect.

“Chacha Choudhary ka dimag computer se bhi tez chalta hai.”

It was important for Pran to create an image of an Indian superhero, who was a simple and realistic commoner dealing day-to-day problems with ease. The initial image of Chachaji was that of a village simpleton who wore a turban with dhoti kurta and used to carry a laathi along with him. He used to fight off petty criminals, conmen and thieves. However, with changing times, Chacha Chaudhary’s image changed too.

Soon we saw him in his modern avatar – a man wearing vest, tie, shoes, sporting a walking stick and fighting present day burning issues such as plane hijacking, terrorism, bomb blasts and so on. Over time, his characters took on modern technologies like mobile phones and computers as well. The only thing that remained intact was Chachaji’s turban and his moustache.

Pran believed in embracing the changing times not just fearlessly but also elegantly. To keep up with time, he switched not only from manual colouring to digital tinting, but also used new media like computers, television and radio to reach out the masses.

Chacha Chaudhary - Pran Kumar Sharma — Pran Kumar Sharma Image Via freepressjournal.in

Pran’s career graph was quite dynamic. In 1960s, cartooning was not considered a lucrative profession. Hence, there were no special courses to get into this field. Those cartoonists were already well-established like legendary cartoonists of India, R. K. Laxman, Abu Abraham and K. Shankar Pillai, were all self-taught. Their illustrations were serious, focusing mainly on social and political issues. Even though Pran took an inspiration from them, he wanted to try a different genre of cartooning, hence he opted for comics.

Pran began cartooning for a Hindi publication, Daily Milap. To start with, Pran created pocket cartoons that were mostly political. Soon he thought of creating something unique, and he came up with an idea to make cartoons using lines from poems by famous poets of his time like Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, Sumitranandan Pant and Nirala. When he approached Dharamveer Bharati, the editor of Dharmyug, he was thrilled with the idea and named the series Kavita Cartoon, which soon became popular.

To get his cartoons published, he approached newspapers as back then there was no concept of comic books. Initially, only a couple of newspapers showed interest in his cartooning, but soon leading dailies like Punjab Kesari, Navbharat Times, Karamveer began publishing his cartoons. Even though the pay was low, Pran enjoyed cartooning.

It was only in the 1980s when Diamond Comics approached him for compiling his cartoon strips that were published in various newspapers and magazines into a book form. To begin with, he gave them content for two 45-page comic books. He received good response with all the prints sold out within two weeks of their release. There was no looking back since then. Diamond Comics not only gave him a platform to be famous, but also gave him a stable source of income for survival.

Today, Pran has over 600 comic books and 200,000 drawings to his credit. In fact, two episodes of Chacha Chaudhary have been acquired by the International Museum of Cartoon Arts, USA. In 2005, Sahara TV, an Indian television channel approached him to adopt Chacha Chaudhary into a serial, in which Raghuvir Yadav played the lead role.

Over the years, Pran had become internationally well known that in 2006, Pran was invited by the Cartoonists Society of America in Chicago to deliver a lecture on the subject of comics. Two film documentaries – ‘Chitrakatha’ and ‘No Kidding’ had rough cut interviews of Pran in which he talked about his creation Chacha Chaudhary, how and why he became a cartoonist and how the plots as well as characters of Chacha Chaudhary kept adapting to the changing times. This year at ComicCon Delhi, Pran was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Today, my heart fills with sorrow when I realise that the man who made our childhood so memorable is no more. His creations not only made us curious when he incorporated various features like Aankh-Micholi, Saptu, Chor Police and Beer-Bhahuti into his comics, but also brought immense happiness in our childhood, which is irreplaceable!

Factfile –
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com
http://www.chachachaudhary.com

Do we learn from mistakes?

By

Caleidoscope

-

August 25, 2014

12

Author – Sharad Yadav

Recently, a pleasant TV commercial of Federal Bank caught my attention. This ad portrays the importance of having a correct partner by saying that “if partner is right, life become joyful”. A cheerful old man who admits that just to give company to his laughing wife, he laughs loudly every time his wife cracks the old Santa Banta joke, which she keeps repeating very often in front of her friends.

What appealed to me more than the ad itself or the bank’s assertion that a correct partner makes life joyful was the Santa’s joke. The joke goes like this – “After seeing a banana peel on road, Santa says ‘Oh… Now I have to fall down again!” Good one, but try to find what is funny about it. The elements of humour here is that Santa is so dim that he lacks the basic human ability to learn from experience or mistakes. He remains ignorant of choosing the obvious option, i.e. not doing the same mistake again.

While we have a laugh at it, all of us have the same two elements in our actions and behaviour in personal and professional life like Santa. Give it a deep thought and to your surprise you will find it true. We keep repeating almost the same mistakes again and again. Leave aside the question of wisdom of learning from others’ mistakes; if that would have been possible then graphic videos of accidents caused due to traffic rule violations would have turned us into staunch abiders of traffic rules. The point here is how many times in life after facing the consequences of our own mistake we come out enriched with the learning of not repeating that mistake again…

Does an accident or a near miss on road due to our rash driving persuade us become sensible drivers for rest of our life? The answer is No. Media reports indicate the infamous Hollywood actor Paul Walker had five speeding tickets in three years before losing his life in a recent car accident and investigations revealed the cause of accident was again, speed!

Leading Indian businessman Phaneesh Murthy was fired from the post of Director in Infosys in 2002 and again in 2013, the board of iGate sacked him from the post of President & CEO. On both occasions, the reason was illicit relationship with his subordinate with accusation of sexual harassment. Take your own daily life, how many times your negligence or carelessness has aggravated a preventable and self-manageable health condition into a serious health issue necessitating medical intervention? Answer will not be one! Similarly, after losing out the last promotion to nearest competitor in office solely due to the habit of arriving office conspicuously late, does one change his/her routine and starts being punctual?

Examples are umpteen. A friend of mine runs out of fuel on road very often and he ends up pushing his bike sweating all the way to the nearest petrol pump. One fractured hand and six stitches on the forehead are not enough to stop my cousin from riding bike after drinking. Yes, merely experiencing the serious repercussions of our mistakes does not make us wiser; we have to keep imprinting that learning into our conscious mind for that. It is these accumulated learnings over the years that turn us into a wise, mature and enlightened person, who is less prone to make mistakes.

To err is human, but every mistake teaches us something and provides an opportunity to improve ourselves, so that we can be careful enough to avoid doing the same mistake in the future. Whether we utilize this opportunity to learn from mistakes or not lies in our hand. Next time, when you will see this TV ad again, the Santa joke will not sound funny but satirical unless you begin making an effort to learn from your own mistakes unlike Santa!

Factfile –
Link to video – http://www.youtube.com/watch
http://www.nydailynews.com

Selfies: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

By

Caleidoscope

-

August 20, 2014

2

Selfies are just a fun trend, popular on social media, right? Well sure, when you just look at the surface of the issue. Teens taking photos of themselves and then uploading them onto sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat seems like another fun trend for teenagers and young adults to participate in. Unfortunately, if left unchecked, this harmless fad could be the root of various emotional problems.

At the very best, some say that selfies are actually a form of empowerment and go a long ways toward promoting a healthy self-image as shown on wellnessgeeky.com. But more often than not, selfies can lead to an obsession of self, narcissim, and can even have lasting damage if taken too carelessly. The infographic below, by TeenSafe, sheds a little bit more light on this highly popular teen trend.

What do you think – are selfies cause for concern, or is it the more the merrier?

It’s Raining Pictures

By

Caleidoscope

-

August 18, 2014

17

Tomorrow is World Photography Day! On this occasion, we urge our readers to share their images on any specific theme to celebrate the visual treat that they offer. Here is our collection of rain pictures based on “Indian Rain” theme.

Rain Clouds in the Sky

Rain Clouds in the sky, ( I ) Don’t know why
They make me blue, when I’m thinking of you
Maybe they want to cry, As I walk on by
Hiding my tears, in a world of good byes
{Dheemtha Dheemtha Dhera na Dhera ///
Dheemtha Dhera na………na ne na }

Web dew drop

Love during summer rain, Causes no pain
Cause I’m looking back, at you once again
Memories crowding my mind, You’re one of a kind
Life with out love, I’m helpless I’m dying
{Dheemtha Dheemtha Dhera na Dhera ///
Dheemtha Dhera na………na ne na }

Lucky Girl Mamma Let Her Play in Rain

Rain drops and dance, strange kind of romance
I don’t know why (whether) to cry out loud, But I’m feeling fine
Watch the rhythm of the rain falling down
{Dheemtha Dheemtha Dhera na Dhera ///
Dheemtha Dhera na………na ne na }

– Colonial Cousins – Indian Rain Lyrics | MetroLyrics

Warm and Wet

Reflection of Rain

Durgam Trek Slime

No Mood to Drench

Lightning n Thunder

Mouth Watering Street Food in Monsoon

Jugaad innovations

By

Levine Lawrence

-

August 11, 2014

1

I was watching this interesting conversation between Anand Mahindra, Chanda Kochhar, Arun Maira and Rajan Anandan about how to make “’India – the next innovation superpower”. This Google Hangout webinar was organised by Mahindra Rise and was moderated by the infamous Arnab Goswami, who actually allowed his participants to talk!
While Arun Maira was of the opinion that an ad hoc ingenuity done frugally and swiftly to create a makeshift arrangement (Jugaad) cannot make India the next innovation superpower, Anand Mahindra felt that there must be a distinction between ad-hoc ingenuity and process driven innovation. Mahindra said “Frugal innovation is good, but we need to move from Jugaad to Jhakaas!”

jugaad Innovation North India — Image via www.team-bhp.com

That made me wonder, what is this Jugaad and why has it become such a buzzword in the Indian corporate world? I suppose the authors of the recent “Jugaad Innovation” are to be blamed for the surge in popularity. By definition, Jugaad is a colloquial Hindi word that can mean an innovative fix or a simple work-around, sometimes pejoratively used for solutions that bend rules, or a resource that can be used as such, or a person who can solve a complicated issue. The term ‘Jugaad’ finds its roots in the Sanskrit word ‘Yukti’ which has been corrupted in Indian languages, roughly translating to “overcoming inconsiderate constraints by devising an efficient solution using limited resources”.

Examples include the Jugaad vehicle contraption popular in North India, the Mitticool refrigerator in Gujarat, or the Osho Chappals in Maharashtra.

There are two streams of thought on this Indian innovation –

Puritan stream – Jugaad is considered a derogatory term to describe our attitude to bypass all obstacles and fix things. Noted scientist Dr Raghunath Mashelkar feels India’s image in the global scientific community has taken a beating because of the tendency of “jugaad” in making innovations affordable.
Frugal innovation stream – This stream considers it as an undeniably Indian approach of unearthing novel, ground-breaking ideas, for which one needs one to have an out-of-the-box thinking.

One may call it as, ‘Indian style of creative ingenuity’, other may say it’s just an “crooked makeshift solutions”. Whatever you may call, Frugal innovation is a burning topic today as post-downturn business-oriented start-ups and companies seek ways to produce more, while keeping an eye for affordable inputs. This requires practicing the gutsy but enterprising art of frugality. Innovative, inventive, and ingenious, a Jugaad is probably has a key to all locks. All and sundry in India yearn to find a Jugaad an an option to solve a tricky problem. One can even have a broader perspective, like we do, and call it as “an art of creative improvisation constrained in a framework of profound knowledge and experience”. Seems quite interesting! Right?

Why Jugaad is a promising alternative?

The spirit of Jugaad is incarnated in the aptitude to work with limited available resources, nevertheless, also building something germane and valuable. It also personifies a spirit of clever impudence that commemorates workarounds, quite often at the expense of established and well-settled structures. When Napster came by the side of the viral populace, they over lied “peer-to-peer” sharing on top of customary digital infrastructure as well as thumbed their noses on the big music labels. Western corporations are lacerating multi-billion dollar R&D budgets, crowd sourcing research projects globally, and tasking teams to turn up with innovations quicker.

They are being skilled to apply Jugaad ideologies, which may be anticipated as a kind of bottom-up approach which involves just about rebuilding the product for the target-market. A live example running on streets around you is the $3,000 Nano car made by Tata Motors in India, which was developed from the bottom-up to put together an inexpensive car for an average middle-class Indian. The whole structure revolves around various Jugaad innovations from the Indian streets themselves. Hence, Jugaad is perhaps a promising alternative when it comes to cost-effective solutions, primarily focused in bringing up an inexpensive, eco-friendly (at times) and profitable product.

Here are a few ideas that have turned out to be eco-friendly Jugaad innovations

Factfile –
More details at jugaadinnovation.com
More details at business-standard.com
More details at wikipedia.org/wiki/Jugaad

Crossover Genre Movies in India Larger than Life!

By

Eshaa Patnaik

-

August 7, 2014

2

Continued from Crossover Movies – Part I

Shobhana – Mitr My Friend

Cinema in India is still something that is supposed to be entertaining and hence reality in cinema is yet to appeal to the masses. Crossover genre movies in India have been successful to some extent in giving us a reality-based cinema that goes beyond the “larger than life” portrayal that Bollywood offers. Such movies generally appeal to the urban, educated elite. It will be a while before the gloss and flash of Bollywood is overtaken and reality and its portrayal accepted by the audience wholeheartedly.

Crossover category of entertainment also refers to plotting two or more discrete characters, settings or stories together in one story. This is generally done to combine the essence of two different concepts and reap the benefits of them together. In many cases, such Crossover movies try to explain their existence through a dimensional rift or science fiction.

Mitr – My Friend (2002)

This film is a classic portrayal of the quintessential Indian housewife who sacrifices her life for the betterment of her family, and later feels dejected when the family sidelines her. The protagonist Lakshmi (Shobana) is a typical South Indian girl from Chidambaram, who is happily married to Prithvi (Nasir Abdullah), a software engineer working in California. However, when her daughter Divya (Preeti Vissa) grows up to an adolescent who adapts to the American way of life, she is offended by her daughter’s carefree lifestyle.

Divya moves out of house one day, overwhelming Lakshmi who realises that there is more to life than just cooking and caring for the family. She seeks a shoulder in an internet chat room, where she meets a “Mitr” (Sanskrit word for friend), with whom she is able to share her feelings. The film was also noted for Director Revathi working with an all-woman crew who shot the major part of the film in California.

East is East (1999)

Well, how can I not mention East is East, the all-time classic movie that depicts the situation of a truly mixed family from every sense. Set in Britain in 1971, in a mixed-ethnicity British household headed by Pakistani father George (Om Puri) and an English mother, Ella (Linda Bassett), there is force to accept and practice the Pakistani way.

The second generation children born and brought up in Britain increasingly see themselves as British and reject Pakistani customs in general, leading to conflicts in the family. The irony of a dual life and expectations are expressed beautifully. The family goes to Pakistan for finding a bride for the eldest son, and all hell breaks loose when George’s first wife finds out about his British family. The film did fairly well across Europe and won the Director Damien O’Donnell many awards including Best British Film at the BAFTA Awards and the Best Comedy Film at the British Comedy Awards.

English, August (1994)

Dev Benegal’s directorial debut is based on the book by Upamanyu Chatterjee depicts a crossover experience of a different kind. Our protagonist, Agastya Sen, (Rahul Bose) is a Delhi-bred young man who has the dream like most Indians of cracking the civil services and joining the IAS. His Delhi University education and posh upper middle class upbringing does not prepare him for the culture shock that awaits him when he joins as a trainee probationer in Madna, a small dot in the vast Indian hinterland. No education or study of philosophy is quite enough to face the list of “characters” he encounters in Madna.

English, August is one of the earliest films and the best ones that analyzed the dichotomy prevalent in Indian society. The elite and educated India pitted against the caste ridden, poor and complex India, which is very upwardly mobile and “noveau riche”.

36 Chowringhee Lane (1981)

This is one of my favourite movies and was released during the height of the parallel cinema movement in India in the early 80s. This movie was Aparna Sen’s first directorial venture and explores the life of isolation for Anglo Indian Violet (played by Jennifer Kapoor) in Post-Independence India. It very beautifully captures the pain of loneliness, old age, uselessness and of being a “fish out of water” for old Violet who tries her best to establish a social life for herself unsuccessfully.

Many times in the movie, we find Violet reminiscing about good old times when she was younger. The final scene of the movie is most touching where Violet recites from “King Lear” and the only spectator is a dog. This scene captures the situation of her entire life where she feels lost, unloved and unwanted in post-colonial India.

Image Sources –

http://news.releaseday.com
http://danhussain93.wordpress.com
http://sandyi.blogspot.in
https://movieza2z.wordpress.com

Crossover Movies – Have they clicked in India?

By

Eshaa Patnaik

-

August 4, 2014

4

Immigrants and their ways of living have often captured the attention of the Indian film industry. ‘Cultural Crossover’ movies, just like the name suggests seek to explore the different value systems and beliefs that emerge when a person or a community crosses cultural boundaries. Indian Diaspora has been in existence for ages now but crossover movies have gained popularity only recently due to the impact of globalization in India and the realization that we do have an audience to appreciate such films!

The typical experiences of nostalgia and of being awkward in a new space create hilarious situations and make for excellent entertainment. Crossover genre movies not only give an authentic portrayal of the ways of living in a cross-cultural set up, but also in their own way plead for an open and more liberal society.
Indian filmmakers in the 21st century have ventured into new frontiers and sought newer challenges, which have resulted in many Crossover films. I have attempted to analyze a few well known Cultural Crossover Indian films and their attempt to explore the “unity in diversity” element that all Indians share along with the alienation that they face in their new cultural set up.

English Vinglish (2013)

The latest movie that comes under the Crossover category is ‘English Vinglish’, which is directed by Gauri Shinde. Promoted as Sridevi’s comeback movie, it has been appreciated for its freshness in handling a seemingly simple yet complex issue of acceptance. Set in an upper middle class household, Sridevi plays a typical housewife cum mother who is perfect in every sense, and yet feels unaccepted and inferior due to her lack of English skills.
By exploring the insecurity of a woman who develops courage finally to come out of her comfort zone and learn English all on her own, it shows how in India itself, identity and respect still depend on the universal language of our erstwhile rulers. The movie also depicts the universal nature of the issue as the protagonist’s English class is an amalgamation of various nations/races. Hilarious and yet very simple, this movie touched my heart and in a way depicted yet another context in which we find Indian society today.

The Namesake (2006)

Crossover Movies The Namesake — Image via Flickr

The most prominent movie that comes to my mind as a crossover film is Mira Nair’s “The Namesake”. Based on the book by Indian American author Jhumpa Lahiri, who herself been recognized as someone who explores her own experiences as an Indian immigrant in US, the movie vividly depicts the feelings of rootlessness, the disconnect with one’s culture and the strive to change oneself as per cultural expectations.
At a deeper level, this movie explores familial expectations and the subtle ways in which relationships between parents and children change over the generations. The protagonist ‘Nikhil Gogol Ganguli’ is named after a renowned author, but he changes his name in the movie as its uniqueness becomes an embarrassment to him. He feels his new name fits in better with his circle and is able to handle conflicts of assimilation in his mind. However, some incidents force him to think over his name. Tabu and Irfan Khan were phenomenal as the lead characters and the film did fairly well at the box-office.

American Desi (2001)

A classic in the crossover genre, American Desi identifies the pain of the confused and uncomfortable Indian boy who wants to adopt American ways. He wants to be something that he obviously is not. The movie is a light romantic comedy and in the process of exploring the romance, the hero realizes the worth of his heritage and finally comes to value and love it.
Directed by Piyush Dinker Pandya, the name of the movie belies the light romance that it depicts throughout. However, at its core it does touch areas that would affect any young confused second generation Indian in America who wants to “fit in” within a culture by shunning his Indian background and prove himself as good enough for his lady love.

Hyderabad Blues 1 (1998)

Crossover Movies Hyderabad Blues 1 — Image via Flipkart

Hyderabad Blues is a comic depiction of a US-returned software professional to his hometown. Varun, the lead character played by Nagesh Kukunoor, the director himself, returns to his country after a good 12 years. Everyone in the neighborhood is curious to know about him and all the aunties want to pair him with their daughters. However, the protagonist is irritated with all the attention coming his way and is immersed in wooing a girl who doesn’t seem to notice him much.
Varun, our hero, is unable to come to terms with the Indian concept of an arranged marriage and is piqued that at every stage of his romance, there is curiosity expressed by others and no privacy to explore the relationship. This movie is essentially the story of the classic Indian software professionals who through the 1990s ventured out of the country and experienced new ways of life. The film was well received by the audience and was featured in many film festivals.

Continue Reading Part 2…