Rajesh Khanna: The First Indian Superstar Passes Away!

A small town of Assam—long time ago. The town had only one movie theatre and every Friday there was a change of movies. As small kids we were always focused on the movies being screened there. On Fridays, a cycle-rickshaw covered with huge posters and fitted with a loud speaker used to roam the town streets announcing the new movie. It came to our area too and we used to wait eagerly for the spectacle.                     

On a particular Friday the spectacle arrived and it announced the release of a new film called ‘Aradhana’ (Worship-1969) with a brand new hero named Rajesh Khanna. We never heard about him before. Songs of the movie were also being played and we got instantly attracted. We decided to watch the movie pretty soon. But rumors of a particular song (we came to know much later that the sexy song was captured in one camera take) prevented our parents giving the green signal. They watched it first and then fortunately for us thought it prudent to allow us to go for it. 

And we came to know Rajesh Khanna. We were never able to take our eyes off him ever. We desperately waited to watch one and every of his movies—as a classic romantic hero, as an action hero, as a comedy hero, as a tragedy hero and to the character roles in later years. His style of acting, his gait, his dialogue delivery, his facial contortions, his unique singing and dancing flair, his mannerisms and gestures and every detail about him got embedded in our mind since those childhood days. If his ‘Haathi Mere Sathi’ (Elephant My Partner-1971) fascinated us with the spectacle of a child being brought up by a pack of wild elephants, unheard of in those days in our parts, his family drama ‘Bawarchi’ (The Chef-1972) made us long for the movie again and again to cherish its heavenly goodness.

We started growing up with the Phenomenon of India Cinema. ‘Aradhana’ gave him instant nationwide fame that was incredible in those times when there were no television channels. Due to ill health of Mohammad Rafi who was signed to sing the songs Kishore Kumar was brought in and his voice became a made-for-each-other for Rajesh Khanna giving rise to the eternal controversy about who helped whom to rise to fame. Within the next three years from 1969 Rajesh Khanna gave as many as 16 super hits. The first superstar of Indian Cinema was thus born and we were the proud beholders of history being made—Rajesh Khanna becoming an integral part of Indian folklore. 

The greatest Bollywood hero had been unwell for the last few days with complaints of fatigue and exhaustion. He was moving in and out of a local Mumbai hospital. It had been a very painful experience for his millions of fans to see the superstar, the Phenomenon, the Indian actor legend reduced to a skeleton. But that is reality and it is always hard.

Rajesh Khanna was shifted back home yesterday and he passed away at his home in Mumbai today—the 18^th of July, 2012 at the age of 69. A date that is going to remain with us forever. Bollywood has been stunned today and thousands of his fans are thronging his home here in Mumbai. The police and security personnel are having a real tough time controlling the surging crowds.

The mortal remains of Rajesh Khannal will be assigned to flames tomorrow—the 19^th of July—at 11am. We pray for the eternal bliss of the departed soul.

Rajesh Khanna is here to stay to go on entertaining and enthralling his fans all around the globe. 

Indian Presidential Elections-2012: Finally Mamata U-Turns To Support Pranab!

After ushering in the most bizarre twist to the Indian Presidential Elections-2012 and after maintaining the most unmitigated suspense over her party's support Mamata Bannerji, finally, decided to vote for Pranab Mukherjee--the Presidential candidate nominated by the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA-2). The unstoppable Chief Minister of West Bengal had earlier said that her party, the TrinamoolCongress (TMC), would declare its decision 72 hours before the polling date on July 19, 2012. And today, with less than 48 hours to go, she informed the press in Kolkata that her party had no other option but to support Pranab and that she was doing it to uphold democratic traditions as abstaining from voting would've amounted to betrayal of the people. If fact, after her Kalam dramaMamata became helpless as her partner-of-the-day Mulayam Singh Yadav dumped her the moment Pranab Mukherjee’s name was officially announced. But the firebrand leader maintained even today that Pranab was a poor choice and Kalam had been the ideal one.

Anyway, the  'dear sister' had finally come out in favor of her ‘elder brother' perhaps thus ending the dilemma of the people of West Bengal in being able now to freely rejoice over the prospect of having the first ever Bengali President of the country. In the preceding days Mamata had been continuously approached by both Pranab Mukherjee and the self-styled Presidential candidate PA Sangma for her precious support. Now, the road for Pranab's landslide victory is almost clear while PA Sangma would be feeling utterly disappointed and maybe even let down. The Presidential Poll had become a contest thanks to the last minute decision of the main national opposition party (BJP) to nominate PA Sangma. 

Meanwhile, the process of electing India's Vice-President had also begun with UPA-2 nominating the present VP Hamid Ansari for a second term and the opposition's National Democratic Alliance (NDA) nominating veteran BJP leader, Jaswant Singh, for the post. The Vice-Presidential Elections-2012 is also poised for a straight contest between the two with odds in favor of Hamid Ansari as all of UPA-2 partners and the Left alliance had decided to support him. While several NDA partners who shied away to vote for Pranab Mukherjee had come back into the alliance to vote for Jaswant Singh the latter's chances were still considered dim. The ‘democratic’ contests for the prestigious posts of the country have come about thanks to a 'committed' opposition who does not believe in 'consensus' in the nation's interest and desperately want a mid-term poll to further aggravate the inflationary trends for which it always condemns the ruling coalition! 

'Pained' Mamata reiterated again her 'commitment' to oppose the ruling coalition from within on economic reforms that she did not believe in and true to her nature she kept the suspense on regarding her support for the Vice-Presidential candidate. For a change she did not mention the mandatory hours, but only said there was still enough time! Reports suggest she is most likely to support Ansari too as the Prime Minister had already requested her.

All set now for the 14^th Indian Presidential Elections-2012 on 19^th July and the results to be declared on July 22, 2012. 

Cricket: India To Host ODI Series With Pakistan In December!

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) agreed to host a One-Day International Cricket Series with Pakistanin Indiathis December. The decision was taken at meeting held in New Delhi today. The series will consist of three one-day internationals (ODI) and two T20 matches. The ODIs are likely to be held in Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai while the shortest games in Bangaloreand Ahmedabad.

The landmark decision means the two greatest rivals in cricket lore will be having a bilateral cricket series after a gap of five years. The last bilateral series was hosted by India too in 2007 when Indiawon both the one-day and the Test series. The decision comes after persistent requests by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in recent months. The PCB wanted bilateral cricket series to be played either in Pakistanor in neutral territories, but the BCCI was not in favor of playing Team India in Pakistan. The cricket link between the two countries snapped after the horrific Mumbai terror attack in 2008 and Pakistan’s consistent policy of denial and contradictions.

The landmark decision means the people of the two countries now need not wait for either the World Cup or the Asia Cup to relish the classic encounters between their favorite teams. This means a new beginning in opening up cricket ties between the two neighboring and yet strife-torn countries.

The landmark decision has also started the politics of the game of cricket. While the PCB welcomed the initiative wholeheartedly the Congress of the Indian ruling coalition and the opposition alliance partners, the BJP and the Shiv Sena, had opposed the BCCI decision. The Congress in Maharashtrarequested for considering people’s sentiments while the Shiv Sena has continued with its traditional anti-Pakistan stand, though in IPL-5 when ex-Pakistan cricketer Azhar Mahmood was playing in the party’s headquarters, Mumbai, it preferred to remain silent. The main opposition party BJP too decided to oppose while it’s most prominent veteran and the leader of the opposition in the upper house of Indian Parliament was very much a part of the BCCI decision. Surprisingly, the legendary little master of Indian cricket, Sunil Gavaskar, had criticized BCCI for the initiative. He held that as a person belonging to Mumbai he could not support reviving Indo-Pak cricket ties in view of Pakistan’s obstinate non-cooperation in the Mumbai terror attack investigations.

Politics and critique apart, the cricket lovers of both countries would definitely rejoice at the prospect of the titanic clashes about to unfold. Of course, one cannot wish away national interest and the dangers to it, but cricket between the two countries is sure to strengthen the national spirit in both which in turn is expected to strengthen strained relations. Pakistan would do much better by coming out boldly on anti-terror initiative and ending its eternal mode of denial.

Cheers for cricket and better neighborly relations!