Chak de! India

Finally!! After quite a bit of a long wait, appearing especially prolonged owing to the 'hero' in question being none other than King Khan, who by no means can be given diminutive importance by one of the many ardent fans of his, I watched Chak de! India.

My preliminary preparation began by hunting for the meaning of 'Chak de' and a Punjabi friend of mine came to rescue with the meaning - 'Dhoom macha de', 'Waat laga de'. A quick google search yielded 'Buck Up India', 'Come on India' as the equivalent of' 'Chak de India'.

Wow!! What a movie it was. A power packed performance by Shahrukh Khan bringing out the best of his histrionic capabilities supported by 16 young girls portraying the members of the Indian Women's hockey team.

What better way to kick alive the patriotism lying dormant in every Indian's heart than to release it close on the heels of the Independence day. SRK, patriotic fervor, sports, women's issue-couldn't have been a deadlier combo and perfect mix to deliver a sure-shot hit.

It is the story of Kabir Khan (SRK) who had been previously blamed as a captain for the loss of the Indian hockey team at the World Cup by missing a goal, and hence proclaimed a traitor. Seven years later he vows to redeem his honour by coaching the Women's hockey team and leading them to victory at the World Cup and successfully does so.

Of all the scenes portrayed the one which really struck me was the one where the entire team of women unite against a gang of eve-teasers and give them a taste of their own medicine by showering them with a sound beating. Though a little impractical as it may seem in our current scenario, and the objective of the scene being altogether different - that of team effort and building unity - I believe it really serves as a wake up call for all women to stand up and fight instead of meekly resigning to their destiny.

Overall a really classy and standard movie made without a minimally dressed lead lady or hip-swinging item girl and definitely worth a watch considering that such movies are rare to come by.

Lajja(Shame) by Taslima Nasrin, 1993

A book that I read a couple of days ago which really moved me was Lajja. Post-reading I realized the guts the lady had to write such a book which bares the inhuman side of one's motherland.

This book captures vividly the aftermath- the riots that the demolition of Babri Masjid in India (U.P.) on 6th Dec 1992 sparked in Bangladesh. The inhuman torture meted to millions of Hindus in the Muslim dominated country and the resulting outflow of Bangladeshis to India and how a patriotic Bangladeshi Hindu family clung to its roots, and homeland through all the travails and gruesome murders only to be finally ousted from their motherland when the daughter of the family is carried away by young fanatic Muslims.

It's a heart-rending story which shows how deep a patriotic fervour can run in a family which crosses over the distinction of religion, bound together by the common thread of nationality and held strongly by beliefs of humanity only to be shattered and rudely awakened when the bitter truth finally hits them that in such a situation of crisis, the country really doesn't come to the rescue or try to protect its citizens and finally it's the religion which triumphs. Despite being declared secular this goes on to prove the deep rooted communal hatred that rears its ugly head in a country which fought for its independence with the combined efforts of all its citizens irrespective of religion.

It is a must read if one wants to get a peek into the post Babri Masjid demolition impact on Bangladesh free from the media 'make-up'.