Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Zindagi hai behne do

Turning 77 on 8th of September, Asha Bhosle's melliflous voice has enchanted millions for six decades. It still keeps me spell bound whenever I listen to some of my favorite numbers of hers. Versatile, effervescent, lively, she is the living legend and heartthrob of millions. Her dynamism is evident in her voice as well with more than 12,000 songs to her credit. The magic that her voice created with Kishore Kumar,Gulzar and R.D. Burman is unrivaled. Having personal playlist of their songs for every mood, I can listen to them for hours and hours. I wish that Ashaji goes on forever and ever.

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Balibo: Bloodshed and much more


Balibo, the name fascinated me enough to watch this movie. It is based on the book Cover-Up (republished as Balibo), by Jill Jolliffe. Balibo is the name of a small town situated near Indonesian border of East Timor, which is witness to the gruesome murder of five Australian Journalist on 16 October, 1975 now known as Balibo Five. The five journalist in their 20s-Greg Shackleton, Tony Stewart and Gary Cunningham from Australia’s Channel Seven; Malcolm Rennie and Brian Peters from Channel Nine went to cover up the Indonesian invasion of East Timor go missing from Balibo. Roger East, veteran war correspondent with much persuasion from Jose Ramos-Horta, an aspiring politician of East Timor, goes to investigates their death after four weeks but never comes out alive from the country. The official line stated that Balibo Five were killed in a crossfire. But in 2007 Australian investigation discovered that they “were shot and/or stabbed deliberately, and not in the heat of battle” to prevent them from revealing Indonesia’s invasion.
East Timor achieved independence but not before seeing the brutal killings of 100,000 Timorese. Jose Ramos-Horta, a Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1996 served from 2006 as Prime Minister of East Timor until his inauguration as President after winning the 2007 East Timorese presidential election. As a founder and former member of the Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor (FRETILIN), Ramos-Horta served as the exiled spokesman for the East Timorese resistance during the years of the Indonesian occupation of East Timor (1975 to 1999)
The movie is a depiction of the risk faced by journalists all over the world in bringing out the truth. Unfortunately, the deeds are covered up or go unaccountable for some ulterior motives by government and policy makers. After 35 years of Balibo Five, journalists are still in danger. Each year more than hundred journalists are killed in different parts of the world (International News Safety Institute).

Longing

From dream to dramatic, that's how I will describe my 2016. It was a glorious, adventurous, full of uncertainties and a transitional y...