Salil Tripathi, in an email conversation about Mahendra Kapoor (quoted with permission), writes:
[H]e took chamchagiri to new depths during the Emergency. He was invited to perform at a function in Delhi, and he sang “Mere Desh Ki Dharti” from Upkar. And he did the Indian version of airbrushing history. Remember, there’s that stanza -
Rang Hara Hari Singh Nalwe Se
Rang Lal Hai Lal Bahadur Se
Rang Bana Basanti Bhagat Singh
Rang Aman Ka Veer Jawahar Se
Kapoor, taking sycophancy to new lows, sang:
Rang Hara Hari Singh Nalwe Se
Rang Lal Hai Indira Gandhi Se
Rang Bana Basanti Bhagat Singh
Rang Aman Ka Veer Jawahar Se
Salil quotes from memory, of course, and the excerpt above is an aside—Kapoor was a great singer, and his death is undoubtedly a tragedy for his family, friends and fans.
It can’t be denied, actually, that the dharti of our desh was made lal by Indira Gandhi, in more ways than one.
Salil also writes:
Kishore Kumar, too, was invited to perform at this program, in aid of family planning. Kishore refused. Result: All India Radio and Doordarshan were asked to ban Kishore Kumar’s songs.
America has long been generous to comedians, electing dudes like Dan Quayle and George W Bush for their derision, and Sarah Palin is a worthy addition to that list. This excerpt from her interview with Katie Couric is unbelievably WTF:
Here’s a transcript of the excerpt above:
Couric: You’ve cited Alaska’s proximity to Russia as part of your foreign-policy experience. What did you mean by that?
Palin: That Alaska has a very narrow maritime border between a foreign country, Russia, and on our other side, the land — boundary that we have with — Canada. It, it’s funny that a comment like that was — kind of made to cari — I don’t know. You know. Reporters —
Couric: Mocked?
Palin: Yeah, mocked, I guess that’s the word, yeah.
Couric: Well, explain to me why that enhances your foreign policy credentials.
Palin: Well, it certainly does, because our — our next-door neighbors are foreign countries. They’re in the state that I am the executive of. And there in Russia —
Couric: Have you ever been involved with any negotiations, for example, with the Russians?
Palin: We have trade missions back and forth. We, we do. It’s very important when you consider even national security issues with Russia as Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where — where do they go? It’s Alaska. It’s just right over the border. It is from Alaska that we send those out to make sure that an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation, Russia, because they are right there. They are right next to — to our state.
I don’t know what’s funnier: her fumbling over the word ‘caricature’ or the image of Vladimir Putin rearing his head and flying over America, only to get beaten back by (presumably airborne) hockey moms in Alaska. Palin reminds me of a certain Miss South Carolina.
My dream is to see Sarah Palin, president of the USA, get into a mud wrestling encounter with Mayawati, prime minister of India, in front of a cheering UN general assembly. My life would then be complete.
Sarah Palin comes to India and wants to visit a dhaba. Sonia Gandhi takes her to a dhaba on the road to UP. They order. The food comes. Palin takes a bite.
Palin: Eeks. Waiter, waiter, come here.
Sonia: Wait, he won’t come if you call. Let me call him. Manmohanji!
Waiter Manmohan: Yes madam. Is the food okay?
Palin: No, it isn’t. I ordered Moose Masala. This doesn’t taste like moose to me.
Waiter Manmohan: That’s right madam, moose not available here. Local food inspector Kamal Nathji won’t allow. This is a replacement. Very exotic dish, you will like.
Palin: But I wanted moose! Anyway, what meat is this then?
Waiter Manmohan: Madam, this is lightly braised human foetus, freshly sourced from a tribe threatened by extinction.
There’s a Neo Sports ad out just now that might interest you.
Big hoarding, dominated by an image of a foot with a crushed big toe, and blood leaking out.
The tag line reads: Last year, Brett Lee’s Yorkers didn’t always hit the wicket. Our turn to return the favour.
That’s the best they can do to promote what could be an intriguing Test series?
Well, I suppose juvenile bluster is an improvement on ‘Pakraman’-style warfare metaphors. But does anyone really need to promote this series?
Also, how will our fast bowlers bear the weight of such expectation? The most famous attempted yorker in India’s history turned out to be quite a disaster…
You must have read by now about the CEO of a Noida company who “was bludgeoned to death by a 200-strong armed mob of dismissed workers.” Well, here’s what Oscar Fernandes, the union labour minister, had to say about the killing:
This should serve as a warning for the managements. It is my appeal to the managements that the workers should be dealt with compassion.
So now you know whose fault this was. I can see in my mind the image of an old Hindi film in which Amitabh Bachchan leads an army of workers to deal with evil capitalists led by a suited-booted-goggled Prem Chopra. I don’t know if there actually was a film like that, but I wouldn’t be surprised—we’ve glorified this sort of vigilante justice way too much in our movies. I’m not blaming the movies for that—but I expect better from a minister.
Posted by Amit Varma on 29 September, 2008 in
Arts and entertainment |
Freedom |
India |
Politics
