CHERISH with HARISH

There was a time when a news bulletin in the evening, on the radio was the most awaited thing for the day. I wasn't born, when such things were prevalent. But similar things continued... I remember, as a kid, whenever my  family would sit for dinner, we would watch the 9 o'clock news bulletin on Doordarshan. This was an unsaid rule, because there was just one TV channel and you had to go through the national news if you watch TV at 9. And to add to this, my parents were very particular to have dinner at 9, so that we could get to know what's happening in the country. This made news bulletins a part of our lives. Everyone had an idea of what's happening in the country and the society in general. Friends at school, relatives across towns had common topics to ponder upon. With time, there was cable television and this gave birth to many news channels. The problem with these channels was they were 24*7 news channels. So, they would keep giving us news stories for the wh...

I kept walking, as I saw and felt things, I kept walking, Looking at them, Seeing them, Being lost in those things, I kept walking. That wall of that bungalow next to the road, Which was waiting for a listener to listen to its story, Of how people admired the big house it protected, But no one noticed the job the wall was doing protecting the house. I wanted to stop, and talk to the wall, I wanted to listen to its sad story, But then, I had my own journey to finish, I kept walking. That weak stray dog looked at me with hope, His eyes had pain, hunger and tears. It wanted to tell me, that it was not food he wanted. What he wanted was love, just love. The tail wagged in a request. I wanted to stop and pat on his head. I wanted to sit down and smile at him. But then, I had my own journey to finish. You see, I kept walking. This big tree next to the road. It stood there with its huge trunk, With so many birds living on it, With that little cycle shop in its shade, With no one looki...

This is a quick journey through many journeys I made in 2011. I tried exploring the split screen format. Enjoy :)

In NID, after every big festival there is a community dinner organised, where the dishes of that particular region are served to the whole community. It was the Onam Community dinner in 2010. I happened to sit next to one of my seniors, Sanaa. The conversation started with pleasantries and moved on to specifics, "So what is your next project?" asked Sanaa. I replied, "I am looking for subjects for my documentary. I am confused." Sanaa thought about for a moment and asked "Have you heard about this 'criminal' theatre group which is based here in Gujarat?" That sounded very new: ' a criminal theatre group'. The subject sounded very interesting because I knew very little about it. This conversation at the community dinner started the process... I looked it up on the internet...I came in contact with people working on this issue. Then I visited the community in Chharanagar. The tribe is called 'Chhara' and the group is called ...

“न होती उलझनें , तो न मिलते हमें सच के और पहलू , न होती अंधेरी रात , तो न दिखते हमें वो टिमटिमाते जुगनू।“

It’s nice to get back to this space, sharing things with a space which is yours, yet very public. I am enjoying the Delhi winters, which I missed for the last two years. The winter is just beginning to get painfully cold, but still it’s not what it used to be in the December of may be 3 years ago. Just hoping that the temperatures continue to fall down! My schedule these days somehow reminds me of school. I leave for office at 8:45 and come back home by 7 pm. When I drive to the office in the morning, through the fog, it is a great feeling to see other bikers leaving for their offices, battling the fog with me; everyone wrapped around with jackets, mufflers and what not. It somehow looks like a uniform: Jackets, hand gloves, mufflers, hand gloves and backpacks carrying laptops. Then I reach the warm office. It is energetic to work in the first session, with energy levels dipping considerably till lunch. Lunch is a nice time to leave work and have food. Food or a meal in particular, has...

When I see a mad man, it is his mannerisms; it is the way he eats or talks that is a new show for me. Then I wonder madness is! What exactly is madness? How do you define madness? Someone is termed ‘mad’ when he or she stops behaving like the population. But then can’t this be possible that the population might be mad and that one person is sane. This is all about perception. Who actually is mad? Thousands of years ago, when man started, we were all mad, with no clothes, no plans for the future, no societies and no rules. Then we started going ‘sane’. We learnt languages, we learnt how to write and we learnt something which we call today as ‘Culture’. And then we made rules, of eating, of reading, rules of sleeping, and as a whole, rules of ‘good’ living. We declared what is right and what is wrong. And we started a race. The race followed all the rules and we continued to follow the rules blindly. Today our life is governed by strict rules. We keep following them because we have learn...