Why ‘Court’ is India’s Best Shot at Oscars..

Every year India send movies to Oscar with much hoopla, however, these movies fail to make a cut the Oscar’s year after year. India has unfortunately always returned barren hands from Oscars. However, things are looking bright this time around as Court has been selected as the official entry of India at Oscars.

“Court” is a movie that takes a potshot at Indian Judiciary System and how it affects the life of a common man. Here are the few facts about the movie that makes it a perfect choice for Oscars-

1) In the race to Oscar’s it left behind commercial movie like Baahubali, Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Piku, and also critically acclaimed movies Masaan and Haider.

2) Made on a budget as low as 3.5 crore movie is boast of strong cast, story and direction.

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How Traffic near KR Puram Station (Bangalore) is so Much of a Mess ?

Original Article-  9hues.com

Hanging Bridge near KR Puram Railway Station is probably one the biggest disaster in Bangalore. The cable bridge was inaugurated by the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee among much fanfare. No doubt, it is one of the best hanging bridges in country but also it has become a subject of mockery over the last few years.

In last decade or so Bangalore has gone through an unprecedented Development. While the development helped Bangalore gain recognition across the globe as Silicon Valley of India, it also led to a massive increase in traffic. 

While the main purpose of Bridges is to relax the traffic and help people commute easily via different mode of transport, the now infamous Hanging Bridge has only made it more difficult for people to commute.

The whole problem starts at the point where bridge starts on the Old Madras Road. There is a bus stand (unofficial ) right at the point on start of bridge and you will find all type of people old, young, women and kids standing on a slender divider waiting for buses and as soon as bus arrives you will see people running all over the road to get into bus. And by the way this all happen when regular traffic continues to move further.

In the meantime, before a bus moves another bus would stop at the tip of bridge only to increase the chaos. Be it morning, afternoon or evening, if you are coming via old Madras road be ready to stuck in traffic and if it is peak hours’ time, then God Save You!

Hanging bridge Bangalore, KR Puram traffic, KR Puram railway station, Cable bridges India, traffic situation in Bangalore, Bangalore traffic, facts about Bangalore, Facts about Bangalore traffic

And if some how you manages to cross this point and took the service lane adjacent to KR Puram railway station you will find yourself still into the middle of heavy, slow and sometime nonmoving traffic. 

This stretch is home to a lot of transporters and automobile service centers; you will always come across a lot of trucks and other automobiles standing at those service centers. And there is one more bus stop just before the KR Puram stations and buses will throng them one after another to get everyone coming out of station right into their buses. Right then and there you will find yourself waiting for these buses to move and unfortunately they refuses to move an inch until they are full to capacity. 

Over the years stretch near KR Puram station has become an object of scrutiny among the commuters and rightly so. It is not less than a nightmare to cross the stretch. Although the hanging bridge is an engineering marvel but that part is one of worst in Bangalore when it comes to traffic management.

"The Sun Raises!" : My entry for the Get Published contest

Idea- 

Dreams! That’s what we live for. We dream and want them to turn into reality. A great dream begins with a dreamer. Suraj, a third year engineering student was one such dreamer. Always on top of his game, he wanted to revolutionize the Robotics Industry. He got his biggest breakthrough when he was shortlisted for Robotics Olympiad at IIT Roorkee.  Kiran, his partner was as skilled and efficient as him. She not only used to top the examination charts but was also the unprecedented queen of every boy’s heart. Like every other boy she had ruled the Suraj’s heart for years.

Suraj had always loved her and she knew it always. But Kiran was not ready to move into a relationship. She had dreams too, they were her biggest priority. Of all the boys, Suraj was closest to her, may be because of the same passion they shared, Robotics! In Roorkee, they created history and finished the Olympiad as runner-ups. And then it was the time to go back but Suraj didn't want to go back. He wanted to spend more time with her. Luck had never eluded Suraj and it stood by him when he needed it most. A twist of fates and they were in Haridwar.

Starting with Snan at Holy Ganges and a ride through Ram and Lakshman jhoola in Rishikesh they moved to a city located on the foothills of great Himalayas, Dehradun. However, they knew a little about what was coming in their way on the land of Gods. An evening at disco, a night at railway station, an unknown girl and a few policemen.  A night that threatened to shatter Suraj’s dreams! A night that made Kiran realizes susceptibility of being a woman in independent India.

What happened at the railway station? Who was the unknown girl? Did Kiran fall in love with Suraj? Will Suraj and Kiran meet under the sky again? Let me take you through the most imperative chapter in Suraj and Kiran’s life where Suraj whose unconditional love was made to confront the world against all the odds on a night that transcends belief and humanity.

What makes the story real?-                           

Love is not only about looking into your partners eyes and holding their hands. It is about standing by your love against the odd. Today when the crime rate in the country is on all time high especially against woman, the story emphasize on one such event when vulnerability of a young couple in Independent India was exposed!

This is my entry for the HarperCollins-Indiblogger Get Published contest, which is run with inputs from Yashodhara Lal  and HarperCollins India.

If you liked the idea please take your time and vote for me- It won't take more then a couple of seconds :) "The Sun Raises!"

Story of how I craved and got rid of Stubble!

“I’m loving it!” she said as a wild wave lifts us two feet’s in the air.

“And I’m loving you!” I screamed.

For the last thirty minutes we were playing with the waves coming from Arabian Sea. Life had never been so beautiful. It was our first vacations together far away from the chaotic world. I always wanted to go to a place where I would not know anyone but her. A place where I won’t have to care about anything but her. A place that breathes romance. My fascination for beaches took us to Malpe beach near Udupi.

By the time we came out of the water, Sun had changed its color to orange and was slowly settling down at the horizon of Arabian Sea. We sat on the sand near the sea shore. It was white and cold. I wrapped my arm about her shoulder and pulled her close to me. She turned her face towards me and smiled. I looked into her eyes and tucked her hair behind her ears. Her flawless olive skin emphasized her pecan shaped eyes. She looked beautiful! Our lips caressed as we leaned in closer. But before I could have captured her lips in mine, I was pushed back.

“What was this?” I threw my hands in despair.

“What’s wrong with you?” She said as she got up. What’s wrong with me? The most romantic moment of my life had been screwed just now and you are asking me?

“What’s wrong with you?” I asked.

“Do you know what I hate most?” she asked.

“Apple!” I said confidently. Because she doesn't own any Apple product, she started to hate Apple the fruit as she just can't stop loving Mr. Jobs and his innovations.

“I wish it was Apple but unfortunately it is the same thing that you guys are so fondof!” She said as she cleared the sands from her legs.

What guys are fond of? Ok, what I’m fond of? I had to think. There were not many things. A plethora of thoughts succumbed in my brain but still I could think of nothing.

“Our toughness?” I said with a poker face.

“Oh come on. You guys only pretend to be tough but you are not. In fact you all are cry babies.”

Cry baby? Has she lost it? I thought and looked at her quizzically.

“It’s your stubble, I hate most!” She declared.

Shaving is no Fun!

“What is with keeping the stubble?” she asked.

 “I didn’t have the time to shave.” I replied. clean

“Come on! It is about couple of minutes only.” She declared.

“It actually takes more than couple of minutes.” I knew better than her.

Image courtesy- Google images

“You are no Brad Pitt. So stop experimenting and clean your stubble next time onwards. It makes you look dirty.” She said.

Dirty? Hell no! I took a bath before coming to meet you, I’m wearing the perfume you gifted me and I always use hair gel on our dates.  All you noticed is my unshaven face? And by the way it’s the brand new t-shirt that I’m donning, I thought. Though I agree if Braddy and I were participating in Mr. World contest and good looks was the only criterion, at least in this birth I would never win the coveted title. But who cares? You are no Angelina Jolie either.

We used to discuss a lot about the looks. How people dress? What they do to look better? I never hesitated to tell her when she needs to visit a BEAUTY PARLOUR. Was I her fashion consultant? I mean come on, make up is a girl’s birth right. Who would like to have a girl with thick eye brows? At least I don’t. I would never mind my partner spending time and money in Beauty Parlours.

Nevertheless, it was one of the few instances when she asked me to shave though I don’t like completely clean shave look and trust me, shaving is the biggest headache. Ask the people who shave daily. It’s time consuming and boring. There is nothing extra ordinary about it.

Happy New Year

It was breezy Saturday night. Winters had started and nights were colder now. Dark clouds hovered just below the sky. The earth lightens up momentarily as lightening struck the sky. After the lightening it was the time for rain to wet the surface of earth. The dogs start yapping as another lightening struck the sky.

When the rain stopped and watch clocked at 11:50, a motorbike stopped near the junction. A man in his thirties got down and parked the bike at corner of the road. He removed his helmet and wiped his face with a bandanna. He slipped his hand in the pocket of his pants and pulled out a packet of cigarette but to his dismay it was empty! He pulled the bag from his back and checked in its pockets. He found a cigarette rolled in a paper. He unrolled the paper, lit the cigarette and closed his eyes. It was a long and frustrating day in the office though he had waited for this day for a long time. He had goose bumps and couldn't sleep previous night. He was nervous and excited. However, he knew a little that all his efforts were going into the vain and it had left him devastated.

“Take it easy Rahul. It happens!” said Sanjay, his colleague.

“I’m not going to leave him. He will die!” screamed Rahul. He had given his everything to the company. He had worked early mornings, late nights, on the weekends and the least he expected was promotion.

“Come on man. This is not the end of the world.” Sanjay tried to calm his nerves.

Normally a man with soothing and pleasant demeanor, today Rahul was bursting with anger. He wanted to go back into the cabin of his boss and throw him out of the window. He had been overlooked in favor of Ritesh who was coincidentally the nephew of the company’s vice-president.

“I’m sorry man. Better luck next time.” Ritesh winked at Rahul.

He almost smacked Ritesh into his face before being stopped Sanjay.

A bright light and a boisterous sound forced him to open his eyes. A fast moving heavy truck was headed in his direction. The truck gained more speed as the distance between them reduced.

Eclipse of love- My entry for the Get Published contest

Idea-

Being in a relationship was never a new thing for him. For her relationship meant a bond for lifetime. Essence of love was unknown to him. For her love was a quintessential thing. Meet Rahul and Ira, best friends of sort who were so different yet so similar. Both were narcissist minus egoistic. For them marriage was the biggest life event. And of course they believed in arranged marriages. Not to fall in love before marriage was their thumb rule.

They say rules are mean to be broken and a twist of fates made them break their rule. They were in love, not by choice but by kismet. Rahul fell in love with Ira. Did Ira fall in love too? Yes, she did but it was not Rahul and it tore apart the Rahul’s world. Just when everything looked bleak and gloom fate changed ends again. Ira was back in Rahul’s life. Gradually they settled in their professional and personal lives and world around them was almost perfect. But as it goes, falling in love is easy but to endure in love takes more than what you expect. Love brings lot of challenges with itself. Biggest of them is to keep the essence of friendship. When it starts to disappear, it’s the high time to wake up.  

Rahul and Ira were going through one such phase. It was not late when distrust replaced trust and expectations changed along with priorities. To add more gloom to it Ira moved to a new city, some thousand kilo meters away. And if it was not enough Rahul’s parents mounted the pressure on him to get marry, of course to a girl from his own caste.

Did Rahul meet Ira again? Were they ready to move into long distance relationship? Did Rahul confront his parents? What about Ira? Did she still have the same feelings for Rahul? Did they find their lost friendship?

What Makes This Story ‘Real’ - Falling in love is easy but to stay in love confronting all the hardships makes a relation work. In today’s world priorities changes in a blink of eye. You not only have to fight the world outside but also how you deal with changing expectations of your partner and yourself eventually decides fate of the relationship.

Extracts-

That evening I realized what was her connotation of love. Abruptly her sleep broke and she looked for me in the room.

“Rahul.” She whispered.

She turned towards me as I was about to respond. I smiled and waved my hand. It brought a smile on her face too. She went into kitchen, took her coffee and came to balcony. She came near and we kissed.

“I slept.” She said cutely rubbing her head against my shoulder.

I wrapped my hand over her shoulder and she leaned her face on mine. I kissed on her forehead. It was the most beautiful evening I ever had.

  

Endnote: This is my entry for the HarperCollins–IndiBlogger Get Published contest, which is run with inputs from Yashodhara Lal and HarperCollins India.

P.S. If you like the idea please take a minute and vote here- Eclipse of Love . Thank You!! J J