Abeer - Fragnance of Flowers

( This is her only pictue available, from her ID when she was 2 years old)

Abeer was her name, which means "fragnance of flowers". She was born August 19, 1991. I know exactly where I was when she came to this world. I dunno what to write. I do not know what to write. Sometime I think this world is fucking too civilized to deliever justice, and this is one of those moments.

How the hell these sick minds made it o the US army I wonder.

BBC World
Feb 21, 2007
US soldier admits murdering girl

The house in Mahmudiya where the rape and killings took place

A second US soldier's plea of guilty to the gang rape of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and the killing of her and her family has been accepted by a judge.

Sgt Paul Cortez admitted four murders, rape and conspiracy to rape. His plea means he will avoid the death penalty.

In November, Spc James Barker, 24, admitted rape and murder over the same killings and was jailed for 90 years.

Cortez broke down as he confessed to raping the girl as her parents and sister were shot dead in another room.

The case is one of several in which US troops are accused of killing Iraqis.

According to the plea agreement, Cortez admitted conspiring with three other soldiers, Pfc Jesse Spielman, Spc Barker and Steven Green, a now discharged soldier, to rape Abeer Qassim al-Janabi.

Card game

Pfc Spielman and another man, Bryan Howard, are awaiting court martial on charges related to the attack.

Mr Green is being tried as a civilian because he was discharged from the Army before his superiors knew of his suspected involvement. He denies the charges against him.

All five belonged to the 101st Airborne Division based at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, which is also where the hearing took place.

In court, Cortez admitted the plan was hatched as they played cards and that the girl had been targeted because there was only one male in her house, making it an easy target.

Family murdered

He said: "During the time me and Barker were raping Abeer, I heard five or six gunshots that came from the bedroom.

"After Barker was done, Green came out of the bedroom and said that he had killed them all, that all of them were dead."

Cortez added: "Green then placed himself between Abeer's legs to rape her. When Green was finished, he stood up and shot Abeer in the head two or three times."

The entire crime took about five minutes and the girl knew her parents and sister had been shot while she was being raped, the hearing heard.

Monday Morning Quarterback...

Mulalh speaking to someone on the phone first thing this Monday morning: “Look here man; do not marry a girl who knows how to play Chess. She will treat you like a kiddo, and will always be ahead in the game.”

60 seconds later:
“Yeah – that’s so true – OK then, do not marry someone who does NOT know how to play chess. She would still treat you like a kiddo and would still be ahead in the game!!”

This is going to be some entertaining day…

Doosra Kinara - Singer

I missed the most important day of my "filmy" life when I could not make myself available at the song recording. I was out of town on a business trip. I called Bhupinder ji from there and apologized. He did not mind and made me comfortable with my absentia.

Later that night, by the time I got to the Studio they had already recorded the ghazal. Even this grammatically wrong English fails me in describing how I felt when I heard the first sher in his voice. Each stanza has so many images attached to it, and even today when I play it, all those images come dancing in front my eyes. I reckon they will forever. No one knows what those images are. No one ever will, and may be no one is missing much.

Hum hi us ke ishq ke kaabil na the !

Kiyoon kisi Zalim ka shikwa kijieye?

Woh kahin mil jayen to kiya kijieye?

Apurva ji is in love with music and words. He grew up watching his father Pt. Raghunath Sheth compose music for so many Hindi films including Ek baar phir, Ek Pal and many more. He knows Urdu well including the fine nuainces of each word. Sanhdya ji told me that during the rehearsal, Bhupinder ji was not happy with a couple of words. Apurva ji requested him to change however he wanted it. He refused saying " Nahi, Shahid yahan nahi hai - Writer ki marzi ke bagair main kuch change karna nahi chaoongaa"

That touched me deeply. Here is a man who worked with legends like S.D. / R.D. Burman, Khaiyyam, Kaifi Azmi, Sahir, Chetan Anand, Gulzaar and M.S.Sathyou – who the hell I was? I can not even write for Ghalib’s sake. Writing a few “aadi tircheen lakeeren" is no Shairi Saab!

Now I know what stuff legends are made up of, besides having a great voice!

PS: When Mulalh Luis heard this story he said “man, didn’t he know that you are just a regular jebroni, and one can do whatever one wants to you – anytime, all the time?”

(In pics: Bhupinder Ji, Apurva Shrivastava, Sandeep Savla, Sandhya Bhagat and Nita)

Doosra Kinara - Poster

I have received some responses justifying which poster should be used. What I found interesting is how gender is affecting the choice here. Guys wanted the third photo with Kristi alone, where as girls preferred the picture with Kristi and Vikas both. Mullah too prefers Kristi alone with a single tone and gave me a very convincing reason.

Some one wanted more details on the last option i.e. taking Director for Breakfast and Lunch etc. Well, we do not have a big budget for this activity, so Mullah suggested that we ask folks to bring their own food and we supply the Director for FREE!

BTW Thanks for your responses!

Doosra Kinara - Poster

Well, the D-day is approaching and I am trying to come up with a poster for my film. There is a graphic designer on the job but I can't resist taking a shot at it.

Folks, I am going to put up some possible posters here, and would request you all to vote on it. The poster with most votes will be the official poster, and the bhai / behan log that voted for it will be invited for a lunch with Kristi Hutchinson.

PS: For the winning individual, there can be a possibility of a breakfast, lunch and dinner with the Director of the film (in case some one is really, really desperate!)

Doosra Kinara - Song Composition

We started looking for a good voice to record the song. We advertised, called friends and acquaintances, to inform them that we are looking for a male singer. Soon, we were having our own version of Atlanta Desi Idol every weekend. But it was all in vein as no one came close to what we were looking for.

Apurva ji is a stickler for perfection and that made it wrost. Folks who could sing had no sense of Urdu diction. I remember showing up for the auditions with lots of expectations of finding the guy who would sing the very first song of my career, but every weekend brought more frustrations.

In desperation we started auditioning our friends. I too auditioned and was rejected in about 60 seconds (actually he rejected me in 9 seconds but gave me 51 seconds more to get it right, which I never did!).

In the meantime he continued to work on the Ghazal. Sandhya ji, Sandeep Savla and I used to be with him at the studio. Man, that was an experience. I have never seen a person with so much energy. He is amazing and can function with less sleep. He can compose music till 3 am and show up for the board of directors meeting at 8 am. Apun ko jis din 8 ghante neend na mile us din us din ye malum nahi padta kea a raha hoon ke jaa raha hoon!!

Sandeep Savla, the sound engineer is another night bird. Both of them enjoy working at night. I was exposed to raagas and thumris first time in my life and it was so overwhelming.

One day Apurva ji called me to ask if Bhupinder ji's voice would be ok. What, OK?

I could not hear any further than that as I went into a flashback. Those days in college, hanging with friends, listening to Bupinder Ji's songs, smoking ( not me! ) and talking was our favorite pass time. Those were the days when "Zindagi mere ghar aana" used to bring images of girls that we thought would soon be our wives and later girl friends - in that order. Our college had only one girl, and was already taken by a senior. So guys from our college used to hang around the bus stops of liberal arts colleges.

We were mostly from Urdu medium schools, so studying engineering in English was a challenge in itself. We did not have time for "fielding" as it used to be called in those days. My favorite line was ' jis ko chaiyye apna intezaar kare - apun ke paas time nahi hai". Now I look back and think those "fielders" were "gyani" and must have seen the "nature of things to come!"

I grew up listening to “Dil Dhundta hai” and “ Ek akela is shere main” and was excited at the possibility of having a legendary singer giving his voice to my emotions. He has sang words of my poetic idols like Gulzaar and Kaifi Azmi. It was too good to be true.

I saw things falling in place and could not believe it. Nita says when something has to happen the universe conspires to make sure it does. I sure was enjoying this conspiracy …

(Above in pics: Pt. Raghunath Sheth, Apurva Shrivastava, Sandeep Savla, Akanksha Joshi, Sanhdya Bhagat and Lauren Winterbottom playing Oboe)
(To be continued.)

Phir kuch is dil ko be-karari hai ...

Phir Usi Be-Wafa pe marte hain
Phir Wohi Zindagi hamaari hai !

Phir kuch is Dil ko be-karari hai... Ghalib

Aye Awaaj ...awaaj...

This is how it used to be when a sound went out in the middle of a picture in some cheapy theatres in Mumbai. Our college "Mandli" use to visit these cinemas where a ticket would cost anywhere between Rs. 5 to Rs 10.00.

Those were the pre-multiplexes days and sound used to go out very often. We used to enjoy the commotion every time sound went out. Being in the college we had the license to go insane. We used to shout " Datta Samant - Zindabaad, Datta Samant Zindabaad!" in response to these situations. Folks in the cinema hall used to get confused about the whole scene, about our political affiliations and the connection between veteran trade union leader Datta Samant and the film sound.

Koi puchta “ kiya party ke karya karta ho ?” to koi kehtaa “ yaar ye naare baazi ki kiya zaroorat hai awaaz hi to gayee hai?” ….Kaun log hain? College ke ladke lagte hain….

This week Rafiqi emailed me and sounded very much like " aye awaaj ...awaaj". The only difference, he was not protesting sound but non-availability of my film. I promised him next week is the week.

Nita says that I use my film as a pick up line now. Kamal hai...Idea accha hia waise.Thanks.

Anyways - Next week is the week!

Ok, I am going to do it....

There were some " demands " on me to enable the comments section. Mullah said " Good idea man, that way atleast people to whom you owe money can catch up with ya!"

Some one wrote " you can not handle comments and that is why you have disabled it". Others were upset coz they were not getting a chance to take a "stab" at me. Mullah himself wanted an opportunity to blast me in public.....Good Luck.
Here we go...
Peace...

PS: The image above has no hidden meaning nor any relevence to this post. Yellow is my favorite color - that's all. Ab har baar meaning kahan se laoon? Had hai saab !!
( Picture courtsey: N Y Times)

Fiddler on the roof...Superbowl 41 and a depressed Mullah

Went to see Fiddler on the roof, a musical written by Sholom Aleichem in 1894. Our desi drama group performed it Rafiq and Anuraag were part of it. Rafiq played Perchick the revolutionary student and did good job at it. I had invited Mullah Luis as well since he was feeling low this weekend.

When I saw him he was not the Mullah who makes un-usual observations and almost stupid comments, but a man deeply depressed.

Me: " Kiyoon Guru Dutt ban raha hai baap?"
Mullah: What? Say that in English
Me: Daant main dard hai kiya? You are having toothache?
Mullah: I am ok.
Me: Come on man cheer up. It is natural to miss a few "alphabets" in life, when they are no longer yours. But remember thankfully we have 26 in english (and many more in Indian languages as well, from Bengali to Telgu to Rajasthani), so one of them will have mercy on you...Kitne logon ko to zindagi ek shabd bhi mahobbat ka nahi deti...
Mullah: I do not need some one's mercy...
Me: Look here man, women are good at having mercy on jebronis like you, so don’t' disregard your best shot.

Mullah was not amused. I shut up and tried to have a serious discussion.

Me: Missed her this weekend?
Mullah: Nope.
Me: Why don’t' you find some one and get married?
Mullah: Do you think I enjoy this f***g single life man?
Me: Ok ok. Tell me what can I do for you? Unfortunately I am still interested in opposite sex else we would have gone to Boston to get married...
Mullah: Girls are not a problem they are plenty. Problem is what I want - they do not have?
Me: Man - that is scary. I am not going to ask you what you want in a woman. Let us keep it confidential.
Mullah: You know what I want.
Me: Spell it out man. Come on...
Mullah: I want f***g honesty, love - the real one not the perception of it, and I want it as my right and not as a privilege. Is that too much to ask?
Me: Why you think you deserve all that on a menu? Are you some special man?
Mullah: Only special folks deserve it?
Me: Yapp. Are you a prince? An heir apparent or you have a film in Oscars.
Mullah: What I am asking is not new; men since Adam have wanted that.
Me: Yeah true, but times have changed. Be thankful of whatever you get. Women are going through a revolution and they are in a state of transition. They have been mistreated for centuries and now when they have freedom and power, they are still doing trial and error to see what works and what does not in a relationship...

Mullah: Where are we going with this? Let us go see the play....

He was right - I had no clue where the hell I was going with that. I was speaking like a stand up comedian in a local joint, trying to make as little sense as possible! After the play Mullah did not stay to watch Superbow 41 between Indianapolis Colts and Chicago bears. Tomorrow is going to be a depressing day in America as the football season ended tonight.

BTW Colts won it by 29-17 and I am happy as I was rooting for them.

This can happen only in America!

I was listening to NPR this evening and heard this fascinating story about folks wanting to have their mail stamped with the word Fidelity. To do that, they have been mailing their letters to the Post Master of a really small town in Illinois called Fidelity (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fidelity,_Illinois) asking her to stamp their letters and send them to whatever address they wanted them to go.

Valentine Day is coming up people in love have been pulling this trick for the amusement of those lucky ones that these letters were meant for.

Terry Gross interviewed the Post Master who read out a few messages that she had received. One of them touched me. It was from a widow whose husband passed away after 64 years of marriage last year. She wanted to commemorate his death anniversary by putting this letter with a post office stamped “Fidelity” on his grave. When asked if she does not get tired of doing this, as this is not part of her job, the lady postmaster remarked, “ are you getting bored listening to this? When it is so easy to make some one’s day so why not?”

She said she even puts stamp from her own pocket if someone forgot to mail her the stamp. This is from a woman who lives in a small town in the middle of nowhere with a population of 104, 30 families and which has a poverty rate of 29%.

I had a somewhat interesting experience with the US Postal service 6 years back. I was going for my evening classes at Kennesaw State University. I ran to the parking lot of Gwinnett Place Mall, kept the packet that I had on the roof of my car so that I could open the door. Got in and drove off without realizing that the packet was left sitting on the roof.

I got home late after school and realized my packet was missing and went looking for it at the parking lot. My roommate called me to let me know that some one delivered a packet with my name on it. He said he was a postman at a local Post Office and saw me lose this packet at the mall and came running after me but I sped away. He found my address on the top of the envelope and decided to deliver it.

He left no name or which post office he worked for, so I wrote a thank you note to the “ guy who delivered my packet from the Gwinnet Place Mall” and sent it to not one but two post offices. I do not know if that gentleman received the expression of my gratitude but I still enjoy talking about it.

Hats off to these guys who strengthen our hope in humanity, in universal brotherhood and in our future!

...and then I think to myself, what a wonderful World!

Doosra Kinara - Lyrics

There is only one song in this Doosra Kinara and I wrote it. The reason it is written by me is not that the Director (again me!!) was a fan of my shairi, but my friends were convinced that I can write it.

I must give credit for pushing me into writting this Ghazal to Apurva Shrivatsva (Music Director) and Sandhya Bhagat (Production Manger). They had heard some of my ghazals from college days, and said that there is no one who knows the story better than me and I should write it. I wanted Nida Fazli, Gulzaar or Javed Akhtar to compose it. I thought that the mood, the nostalgia that scene demanded can only be captured by greats like them. I am a big fan of Gulzaar and thought that if I can have his song in my debut film, it would be unbelievable start to my directorial venture. The situation had that “ Dil Dhundta hai” feel to it.

I remember driving home that October night after promising Apurva ji and Sandhay ji that I will try writing whatever it comes out to be. The distance from Duluth to Norcross, my apartment is hardly 15 miles but I kept on driving on near empty roads. Driving alone in the middle of the night somehow helps my creativity. I drove and drove and more. I knew what had to be said in the ghazal but somehow it was not happening. Frustrated I went home and went to bed.

Next morning was Saturday and as usual I woke up earlier then the usual time. The creek outside was covered with mist and fog. I just lay there on my bed watching the nature and then, right then I felt I could write. I reached to my writing pad and wrote the entire ghazal in one go. It took me 15 minutes to write it. I could not believe it. It just descended without an effort as if wanting to get out. I think may be there were some thoughts in my heart, that were trapped all these years, and were waiting for an opportunity to pour out.

Har Roz Ek Naye Roop main Dekha hai tujhe
Zindagi, bol tere kitne maani likhoon?

This word “Zindagi” is just a 7-letter word but it encompasses so much that we many times cannot even understand let alone explain. Zindagi can be anything one wants it to be. For some it can be a Green Dollar for others the freedom from daily bombings and secterian killings. Rain can be Zindagi to a draught stricken farmer; a decent warm meal can be zindagi yet to someone. For some it can be a child, a parent, and a spouse and yet for others it can be a smile – an honest genuine caring smile. I like this word Zindagi and feel that it can be used as a powerful metaphor for many things in life. That was the first word I wrote in my ghazal and it went like

“ Zindagi umr bhar yuhi tujh se wafa ki hai
Bas yehi, haan ek ye hi hum ne Khtaa ki hai.

Na karenge ab koi ummed tujh se hum
Khush rahe tu, khush rahe ye dua ki hai.

I recited it to Apurva ji the next evening and he composed the music in an hour or so. I had tears in my eyes when he finished composing it. I hugged him and said “ Aap ne to mujhe Geetkaar bana diya” to which he replied “ Aur aap ne mujhe Sanget kaar!!!!”

Hue tum dost jis ke …

Whom we managed to rope in to sing this Ghazal is another story dreams are made up of. Wait - do not go away!!!

If FISHES were horses ...!

Mullah Luis and I were invited by some friends to visit the local aquarium recently. It is suppose to be one of the World’s largest aquariums, which attracted record three million visitors a year since opening for business in 2005. The last time I visited an aquarium I was in Bombay and it was not a very memorable experience, so I was not very keen on joining these folks. But since I am a team player, I decided to chug along and meet some friends. I am not a fan of things that live under water. The only seafood that I enjoy is fish and that too of certain kind and prepared in a certain manner. Mullah says the only time he likes fish when they are barbecued and served with cole slaw, hush puppies and sweet tea with lots of ice!!!

So here we were and sure it was busy. I felt like I have gotten inside a “big fish tank”. It was cool with each fish tank having a certain theme and a certain corporate sponsor. It was a pretty educating experience. I noticed Mullah stopping by each tank and chatting animatedly with guides. I asked Mullah why couldn’t he stop flirting every girl he finds on earth.
“ What you call flirting is not flirting. I call it exercing my humor” Mullah defended.
“Exercing humor”
“Yeah – look man it is not easy to be humorous ok. You have to work at every day. Why don’t you call it flirting when I do the same to the office janitor, just because he is a man – besides this time I was trying to get an answer to something that found I perplexing”
“ And what is that?” I asked
“ We have been taught for ages that big fish eats the smaller ones. Have you noticed the big fishes here are not eating the smaller ones”?

Yeah – I looked around and saw fish of each size from Shark to Grouper to Bass hovering around each other like they are best buddies and this is some kind of a happy hour networking party after work.

“ That is a good one Mullah, what did they say?”
“ They responded like a politician, words but no meaning. I think either the big fishes are dumb, blind or are running for some political office. I am beginning to suspect their intentions. Something is missing here."
“Nothing is missing Mullah they are just tolerant – that’s all” I reasoned”

Mullah went into momentary philosophical silence and then said “ Imagine man, if we can bring all these politicians and corporate CEOs over here and demonstrate that a 4000 lbs shark can hang around a 1 lbs fish and NOT feel insecure.

Rewind a little bit and imagine a World with no conquest from superpowers of the day on smaller weaker nations, from Alexander to Ghengis Khan to Hitler, Russian czars to present day. Imagine no corporate wars for supremacy, no domination of one class over another, race, neighborhood, continent, and city over another.”

“I think we need to bring these religious right wingers over here Mulllah, they are one that almost always feel most insecure in the World, no mater what century we are living in” I added.

“ I don’t know what they feed them here, but look at that shark, don’t you think she knows how tasty that grouper can be? She is got that grouper within her jaw range man, but she is not even threatening her let alone eating her.

“ That is a good observation man” Mullah was making sense.

“ Going a step further we can bring all these quarreling wives and husbands down here to show that folks with different temperament, ambitions and dreams can exist in complete peace and harmony under the same roof thus reducing number of divorces.

“ Do not forget the gang wars of Mumbai man” I knew, now he will keep on explaining till he exhausts all the examples and establishes his theory.

“Yeah man – I forgot about them. Imagine no bloodshed, no rivalry no Bhai giri - only Gandhi giri. Most of the problems in the World can be attributed to a desire by some one to dominate the other, be it political, social, religious or geographical and if we want a peaceful World, we need to secure each and ever human being, all 6.3 billion of them ...

Mullah kept talking and I stepped back, looked at the fish of every shape, size, color, and strength floating, dancing enjoying their existence and wondered, “If fishes were horses”!

Doosra Kinara - Kristi Hutchinson

Someone said acting is all about giving meaning to the words and for me Kristi perosnified this theory. A good actor can bring life to medicore words and can take any film to a new level. She nailed this role to a tee - could not have asked for a better actress.

In addition she is not the type of blonde stories are made of - she is quick witted, smart and very humble. She is a World Citizen who knows no man made political boundries - she is just awesome!

Yes, you can expect here in my next film that I am writting these days!

Iqra - To Read ...

Mullah what was that deal about wanting to see the card? I asked.
What about it? – Mullah Luis responded with a grin.
Why you wanted to know if she has a library card? She is going to be your real estate broker, what a library card has got to do with it?
EVERYTHING. Mullah was confident, and right then I knew a sermon is on its way.

Everything?
Yes. I had decided long time ago not to do business with anyone who is not a reader. See people who read have some personality traits. They are compassionate, confident and open-minded and care for the whole World. They are adventurous and are not afraid to let others (authors of books) take over their brain for a few days and weeks. These are the secure people that I want to encourage and deal with all my life.

Is it not discrimination?
May be, but It is my way of doing things and I am sticking by it. Why don’t you look around and make a list of people that are readers v/s non-readers. You would know what I am talking about.

Look at the global political scene since Adam, and see what kind of a people brought misery to this already suffering world – you will be surprised my friend. For example Genghis Khan who brought so much destruction to Iraq was not a reader where as Columbus was a reader so was Gandhi. Even this is true in films; Don Carleone in Godfather was not a reader nor was Mughambo in Mr. India. Can you imagine Gabbar Singh reading Femina or War and Peace? Compare them to Dr. Zhivago, Raziya Sultana, and even Umrao “Rekha” Jaan was a reader. Did you notice in film Shakti, Ashwini Kumar, the honest DCP played by Dilip Kumar was a reader where as Vijay played by Amitabh was not.

What about our parents?
Those are the only exceptions built in this model. I do not care what people read as long as they read, be it newspapers, holy books, gossip magazines, cartoons, horoscopes, fortune cookies, sports magazines, even girlie magazines are fine by me. They must read something if they want to earn my trust and business.

Why you never asked me if I read?
I did not have to, half the time what you say comes straight out of an ideological novel and other half is cluttered with signal timings, accident data, sight distances, tangents and curves. Whatever little is left you pack it with films…

That's very deep Mullah how did you pick up this up?

Mullah gave me that mischievous smile and said " coz I READ!"

You are not alone ...

If there is one principle more deeply rooted in the mind of every American, it is that we should have nothing to do with conquest.

~Thomas Jefferson

...no mother would ever willingly sacrifice her sons for territorial gain, for economic advantage, for ideology.

~Ronald Reagan

War remains the decisive human failure.

~John Kenneth Galbraith

( Courtsey:Huffingtonpost.com and antiwar.com)

Hero, Heroine and the Jebroni...

When Mullah Luis saw this picture he wanted to know the "status" of what he referred to as the Blonde "Front Page News", and whether the Hero is on the right or left of her?

Well, I told him Kristi is in the middle for sure, and she is the Heroine (and her status is non- negotiable!). As far as the Hero is concerned – this time the Hero is in the eye of the beholder….

Vikas, Peace !

Doosra Kinara - Crew

When the US army announces it sending 1000 soldiers to Iraq, what it really means is that it is sending 329 combat troops and 671 support personnel. For every soldier fighting and taking bullets, there are two more to support him. These so-called support troops are very important for any combat operations. They are Engineers, Doctors, Psychologists, Corpsman, Mechanics, and Bomb Loaders to name a few and holds ranks ranging from Private First Class to a Colonel.

That’s how it is in making films – I reckon. For every Blonde and beautiful actress romancing her boyfriend on the screen; there are many (depending on the Paymaster) that "support" her, and make it possible for those scenes to happen jus right or as per whims and fancies of the most nervous guy on the set usually referred to as “the Director”!

Even though the folks above are part of the word “crew” they are much more than that. If weren’t for them my challenges would have had a field day. I am obliged to these and many more (…and you know who you are!) that made it possible for me to realize a long cherished dream.

A short cut to find how happy you are is to find how many friends you have. I am happy that this film multiplied my happiness by bringing closer these bunch of good-hearted people. Some of these would be my friends for life and some would move on chasing their own Doosra Kinara. However, I am happy to have known them.

Above: Sandhya Bhagat, Akansha Joshi, GiriMohan Coneti and Rafique Batcha.

BTW the folks shown here are all 4 stars Generals in their own rights. They are Tarantinos, Deepa Mehtas and Mahesh Dattanis of the future - Watch out for these faces.

Mullah Luis – Back to school…

Mullah Luis registered for some 2000 level classes at a local university this semester. I asked him, Mullah how do you feel learning accounting with students much younger than yourself. He said that he felt – vindicated.

He always prophesied a theory which he calls career @ 16, that questions the ability of a 16 year high school student to choose a career of a LFIETIME. He says at 16 you make all kinds of “hormonic” mistakes and to believe all your life that what you choose at 16 was right - is absurd. We must decide on life when we have somewhat complete information and no blinders. He adds God forbids if you decide on your life partner at 16; then you are pretty much doomed, unless you are a local Sheikh with a secret harem in Southern France!

My days have gotten more interesting with new stories and observations that he comes back with each day. I am also beginning to appreciate accounting 2000 as well. It is good to see him with a bag pack filled with books these days. He says that there are two kinds of people who use bag packs:

- Students
- Losers

As far as Mullah is concerned, I think he just got himself promoted!

Doosra Kinara - Editing

Jeff Shipman and I have two things in common. Both of us have passion for story telling and both are certified rebels. From FY 2007, I have vowed to check my tenencies to swim against the current - Jeff still is making up his mind.

Jeff is an awesome friend and an expert editor. I was amazed at his expertise of film editing and insights of human nature. How many editors can edit a film in a foreign language that too with comic scenes?

A film is made three times ( writting, filming and then editing) and I am glad that Jeff agreed to cut my film as he has kept the same vision that I had while writting it.

Jeff lives in "Trilok". If he is not on earth editing, then either he is in sky flying to Wisconsin to spend time with his girlfriend or he is 200 feet under water in Lake Lanier. Rumor has it that he is searching for his Doosra Kinara down yonder......!!!

Doosra Kinara - Cast

Life is not about two people. It involves a number of others who play "character" in your life. These good hearted people called simply "characters", add so much to your life making it live-able beyond imagination. Sometime they take away a lot without even realizing it - there is a reason it is called life!!

Barring a few most of my cast were new, and were acting for the first time. It added more challenge to the mix but in the end it all worked out fine. It invariably does.....isn't it?

Doosra Kinara - Cast

Ahmad Plays Rustom.....
Sorry, can not go further than that....

Hosla ...

Ye Hosla Kaise Jhuke ?
Ye arzoo kaise Ruke ?
Manzil Mushkil to kiya
Dhundla Sahil to kiya
Tanha ye Dil to kiya ?

Rah pe katen bikhre agar
Us pe to phir bhi chalna hi hai
Shaam chupale suraj magar
Raat ko ek din dhalna hi hai
Rut ye tal jayegi ...
Himmat rang layegi ...
Subah phir aayegi ...

Ye Hosla kaise jhuke
Ye arzoo kasie ruke?

(Mir Ali Husain in Nagesh's Dor)

Hayat ....( Zindagi)

Khird ke paas khabar ke siwa kuch aur nahi
Tera Ilaaj nazar ke siwa kuch aur nahi

Har Ek Mukaam se aage mukaam hai tera
Hayat Zoke safar ke siwa kcuh aur nahi

Urus-e-Lala munasib nahi hai mujh se hijab
Ke main naseem-e-sahar ke siwa kuch aur nahi --- Iqbal