This is my second attempt at blogging; my first attempt itself being a 152nd attempt at keeping a diary. Well, this is just what was noteworthy from the 3 posts of 2005.
Thursday, May 12, 2005
Random Thoughts on Friday the 13th
Today's newspaper carried an article on the film Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (DDLJ) running 500 days, beating Sholay's record. It described how this 32 yr old Catholic girl had been inspired by the movie to elope and marry her Hindu boyfriend the day after watching the movie. The premise of the movie is typical- boy-meets-girl; after initial dislike they fall in love, parental opposition (on the girls side), girl getting engaged to someone else - run of the mill Bollywood. However - unlike in previous love-stories (QSQT) the hero refuses to elope when exhorted by the heroine's mother to do so. In typical filmi fashion - he claims he would win her father's approval and marry her with his blessings. This was also against the backdrop of the protagonists being NRIs - born and bred in UK. So the tale was about the resilience of "Indian" values, even against the lure of "western" ideas and upbringing. It is ironic then that this movie was identified as the inspiration for the elopement of the Catholic girl. Stoutly disproves my mother's theory of a direct corelation between Hindi cinema and the behaviour of youngsters - particularly in matters of the heart.
On Wednesday - I attended a lunch where the Pakistani PM, Shaukat Aziz spoke briefly on the changing face of Pakistan. First of all Shaukat Aziz was an impressive personality - tall, statuesque, he was an accomplished speaker. It was also amazing how he had transitioned from being a corporate leader to quite a political leader and a statesman. He had a good grasp of the the 'financials' of Pakistan and like any good Citibanker he reeled off the numbers - increase in number of mobile phone users, tonnage of wheat , number of automobiles. He conveyed some astute political messages too - when describing relations with neighbours he started from the West - Iran and Afghanistan were mentioned before India and then finally China. Plenty can be read into this : an association with Islamic neighbours where Pakistan could have a stronger position - vis-a-vis giants India and China on the east? You got the sense that he was painting the picture of a resurgent Pakistan that wanted to shed its past associations and looked to the wider world for partnership. This he reiterated when queried about promoting trade with India, when with a dismissive flick of his hand he said "As far as doing trade is concerned, the whole world is out there. Apart from the geographical consideration of reaching from point A to point B quicker, trade with India had no particular advantages for Pakistan."
Of course - it was a little disappointing that he reiterated the position that trade or economic co-operation would not take precedence over the political question of Kashmir.
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