We saw ‘The Vaccine War’ yesterday with a group of office friends. Since everyone has been affected in some way or the other in those two to three tragic years when the Corona virus had invaded lives, there was some curiosity on what to expect from the film. Some were aware it had received mixed reviews but were later moved to find many in the sparsely filled PVR cinema hall, vociferously clapping and cheering with fervour for all the good work shown in the two hours and forty minutes of screen time. 

We’ve all gone through the vaccination process in three phases, post the outbreak of Covid-19 in 2000 and it was done very efficiently on a very large scale. But how did we actually manage to get the vaccine ? The film is based on the book ‘Going Viral’ by Prof Balram Bhargava, who headed the ICMR in the critical years. We all truly felt that the herculean job in making a ‘vaccine’ indigenously in just about seven months, is well depicted given the complexity of the subject and must have involved intense study, research and interactions with those who’d worked tirelessly in a race against time !

It’s an awe-inspiring film with an interesting cast that etches out the professional and the  personal lives of the women scientists who turn out to be the real heroes though they were under the tutelage of the unstoppable Dr.Bhargava and Nana is in his elements in that super role. Veteran Pallavi Joshi, replete with ‘South Indian-ised ’ Hindi, Girija Oak, Nivedita Bhattacharya & others are perfect with their effortless sincerity and grace. The background score is hauntingly sombre and at times, unnerving in this grim context.  

However, two cameos caught attention for personal reasons. Vrinda, plays a small role which requires her to emote more than speak and she does it perfectly. She happens to be the talented actress daughter of our close friends, Reema and actor, Raju Kher Sir.

Other cameo (as the husband of one of the scientists) is nicely underplayed by Ashish Kapoor, who belongs to our hometown, Lucknow and is the son of one our old friends.

Talented Raima Sen, gets to represent the ‘baddie’ Indian media, as so called science’ reporter, responsible (in cahoots with foreign press and ‘videshi’ elements against our national interests) for all the hurdles in this slightly overblown ‘war’ that seems to lack overall objectivity in depicting the lockdown and pandemic horrors in the ‘Covid’ years ! 

That said, the film should be seen for the courage and grit of our medical teams and our brilliant scientists working on developing the vaccine with a zen-like attitude and 70% of whom were women with simple lives and families ! That’s so laudable by any yardstick !

Our culture of music, art and literature can never make us forget, escape or overlook the treasures from the past which are ageless. Among many others, one iconic song that has held centre-stage after more than a century is ‘Ekla Chôlo Re’- words of a song which essentially mean that if no one responds to your call, then go your own way alone.

It is a Bengali patriotic song written by Rabindranath Tagore in 1905 but though the lyrics are in that language it has had universal appeal for the song exhorts the listener to continue their journey, despite abandonment or lack of support from others. As an inspirational ‘tagline’ it’s still widely used by motivational speakers, is often quoted in the context of socio-political change movements and was a favourite of the Mahatma !

The song has a fascinating history that’s now in the public domain and has been the subject of research of Gurudev’s immense body of work. We understand that originally titled as “EKLA”, this most uplifting song was first published in September 1905 issue of  Bhandar magazine and was influenced by a popular Bengali Kirtan song. It was later  incorporated in “Swadesh” (Homeland) section of Tagore’s lyrical anthology ‘Gitabitan’.

Like many of Gurudev’s legendary songs, ‘Ekla Cholo’ has had renditions not only from leading exponents of ‘Rabindra Sangeet’ like Suchitra Mitra and Hemanta Mukherji but also by greats like Kishore, who trained to sing in this genre. Bollywood too was not to be  left behind in all this. In 2004, it’s tune was used with Hindi lyrics composed by A.R Rahman and sung by Sonu Nigam in ‘Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero’. In the celebrated ‘2012’ film ‘Vidya Balan’ starrer ‘Kahaani’, it is sung by yes, Amitabh Bachchan, under music direction of Vishal-Shekhar.

In a way, the theme seemed to have caught the fancy of our banking fraternity too in the 1970s era of huge bank branch expansion into remote unbanked interiors of the country. We then had the concept of ‘One-Man’ branches where the Branch Manager was ‘Ekla’ officer with another clerical and office staff and to go on a day’s leave he would have to find an officer willing to relieve him. Later, with computerization things got changed ! An example from business was the one-man show of the intrepid small manufacturers. 

That said, ‘Ekla Cholo’ has a wonderful message not only in the socio-political context, but for those with entrepreneurial ambitions and of realizing their dreams in any field. It’s lonely at the top, they say. The song exhorts us, we cannot be weak even if alone ! ‘Ekla Cholo’ is in ‘Rabindra Sangeet’ genre but importantly, it talks of a fighting spirit ! Here is a modest effort on my part to try this iconic song…

While there is justifiably  talk of empowering ‘women’ and how it’s being brought about, one section of society are the unsung working & retired men trying to lend a helping hand at home. Their attempts at domestic chores don’t get encouragement due to lack of proficiency and inability to cover shortcomings while ‘batting on lively home pitches’.  They are always reminded that Daddies & Uncles of yester-years quietly did all the ‘ghar ka kaam’ so neatly, without fuss and also attended their Office-work. Really, no sweat ?   

After first few years of marital bliss, today’s domesticated working guys accept that to remain in good books of the Missus (apart from proffering gifts and dining-out once in a while!) is to show keen interest in the ‘home ministry’ issues rather than only focusing on ‘external affairs’ that husbands tend to specialize at ! While the work allocated to the ‘worse-half’ by the ‘better-one’ may differ with households, visits to nearby ‘Sabji & Fruit’ (and Fish for Bong families) Markets or Malls, at least twice a week, is high on the list. But that’s just not enough, ‘mol-tol’ and buying right stuff is real work ! For mid-aged pairs, managing children’s homework & extra-curricular activities gets big priority.

What drives these talented men with noblest intentions to make a mess at home – small things like spilling ketchup, leaving wet towels on the bed, the toilet unclean, the fridge raided for milk, kitchen sink stacked with sundry utensils in just making ‘chai’ & so on. Blame it on the fact that husbands are basically like ‘unskilled workers’ who have no real experience or haven’t been brought up to do ‘ghar ka kaam’ which includes a variety of jobs from grocery shopping, cutting veggies, doing  basic cooking, to spring cleaning and operating the washing machine, drying and ironing apparels which ‘dhobis’ will not do ! If told to get five things, they will invariably forget two and bring the wrong brands !!

There are success stories too. I have some friends (generally now retired, senior citizen category) who’ve acquired skills over the years to become handy electricians, machine operators, house-keeping staff,  baby-sitters and watchmen in turns, to assist in smooth running of the house since maids are employed only for specialized jobs like cooking and Missus may be working. Many are now skilled in ‘veggie’ shopping and/or become unsung ‘Chefs’ in their penchant for cooking exotic dishes inspired by Sanjeev Kapoor !

There’s a big shift in perceptions too. Unlike earlier ’patriarchial’ ages, in today’s times a ‘real man’ helps around the house, cleans, washes dishes, helps with the kids and cooks. But like others, once in a while he needs to be patted on the back, if he does a good job !

I remember it as if it was yesterday. In the dark hours of the evening of 13th October in 1987, came a bolt from the blue in the form of some tragic news to all music lovers – Kishore Da, that versatile musical genius, had suddenly passed away in Mumbai at the untimely age of 58 and at the height of overwhelming popularity as the vibrant, majestic singing voice of almost all actors of past and present era, for more than three decades !

Much has been penned about his acting, singing & film career, life’s high and lows and comebacks, a maverick of unconventional ways and personal life-styles with prodigious musical talent sans formal training and amazing legacy of melody that he’s left behind ! Interestingly, barring one dear friend (an avid Mukesh fan) I’ve not met anyone who didn’t love his songs & not tried to croon his style. His clones are a legion themselves.

For me like others of my generation, 1970-80’s was the ‘coming of age’ era of dreams, aspirations, distractions and heartbreaks and bouncing back with resilience against the odds that came our way. It was also the ‘best of times’ in early 70’s when Kishore da was making a glorious comeback under Dada Burman. With Aradhana’s exuberant opening song ‘Mere Sapno Ki Rani’ he was the voice of Rajesh Khanna, later crowned superstar !

In our teens, we identified with all the emotions of romance, mirth, comedy, sorrow & pathos that magically emerged from Kishore da’s incomparable repertoire. My perpetual nostalgia remained with ‘Woh Sham Kuch Ajeeb..’ as I recalled numerous heartbreaks, ‘Jeevan Se Bhari Teri Ankhen..’ gave poetic resonance to love, ‘O mere dil ke chain..’ oozed romance and ‘Zindagi Ka Safar..’ spelt out inevitability of life and death. When I got my first rural posting and travelled by an old bus to the branch with trepidation, my heart sang ‘Musafir hoon yaaron, na ghar hai na thikana..’ but a voice within said to me ‘Ruk jana nahi tu kahi haar ke..’. Songs that brought solace and strength at every stage.

Fortuitously, my genes were inclined to love music and songs because my parents were avid music loving Bengalis and my Dad was an ardent Saigal ‘Bhakt’. After I started my addiction to Kishore songs, Dad grudgingly admitted that some of his soulful songs reminded him of Saigal Saab. My Mom also got into the fan club and had her own set of favourite songs which included ‘Panthi Hoon Main Us Path Ka..’ that was composed by and sung by Kishore himself for film’Door Ka Rahi’ and is considered one of his finest. What better than sing it, remembering Mom and paying a humble tribute to the legend.

It was a highly eventful Sunday evening that didn’t need Netflix to keep you hooked on to a thriller. With usual hype and frenetic ‘media’  build up, people of all ages, bound by our famed ‘cricket’ frenzy, watched the ‘Men in Blue’ (Coach Dravid continued in orange jersey !) take on mighty ‘Aussies’ in their opening World Cup encounter. This was also in progress as curtains dazzlingly came down on the ‘Hangzhou’ Asian Games post India’s truly spectacular show with record medals tally of 107, that many preferred to follow ! Yet, cricket mania ensured that Chennai had its full Indian ‘barmy’ army in attendance.

Foregoing the our ‘Sunday afternoon siesta’ we applauded our bowlers weaving a web of spin that tied the Aussie batters in knots as they got bundled out for a paltry 199, after opting to bat first on what was not considered a difficult pitch. We were all pretty smug that it wouldn’t need much from our boys what with ‘Hitman’ starting the way he does. But ‘kahani mein twist hai’ was horribly apparent as India was down 3 for 2 in no time. Akin to 1983 WC famous 19 for 5 of the historic ‘Turnbulls’ match against Zimbabwe, which had got Kapil rushing out of the shower to rescue ’Team India’, it seems that something similar was happening with KL Rahul, who had to bat lower down at No.5.

Many switched off their TV sets, some decided to take a walk and many tuned in for the awesome ‘Closing’ ceremony rather than get frayed nerves watching India struggle. Boy did they miss a virtuoso ‘Jugalbandi’ between two batting maestros. Initially there were gentle beats with slow ‘taal’ as they ran singles and twos and even a blip when Virat was dropped when just on 12. Thereafter, they got into what artists call their ‘Zone’, the two masters complementing each other nuanced with deft touches and from time to time going into crescendo (of classically hit fours ! ) but never out of sync with each other.

To ask who was better of the two wouldn’t do justice to their intense commitment, never  to go off ‘tune’ when looking at a tricky target ‘sur’ set by the opposition. Spellbinding was their class, maturity and artistry. It was cricket’s ‘poetry in motion’ as King Kohli effortlessly flicked pacers & KL produced classical late cuts reminiscent of Viswanath ! That both Virat and KL narrowly missed their tons was less significant than the way they battled, set templates to other batters, rotate strike, take singles, take the match deep.   

This World Cup did start with an amazing double century partnership in the first match when Kiwis rocked English and then South Africa pulverised Sri Lankan bowlers but the latter didn’t give up without a fight ! Surely, Big players perform best on the Big stage !

The English who’d invented this ‘jolly good game’ had also attributed an iconic line ‘Cricket is a game of glorious uncertainties !’ to it. At times, it feels glorious when you lift the World Cup just as it was slipping out, as in 2019 at home. Ironically, it must feel inglorious (for the English), when the team that they edged out then, hands them one of the biggest and most telling defeats in a World Cup Opening encounter four  years later !  

Avid cricket followers would find some uncanny similarities between the first fixture of the ODI WC played at Ahmedabad yesterday with the memorable opening match of the IPL played in Bengaluru in April, 2008. Those who witnessed that game, would recall that the Kiwi opener, Brendon McCullam playing for KKR, completely annihilated the RCB team with the most audacious stroke play and scored an unbeaten 158, and all the batters just played around that incredible knock !

Cut to ODI,WC of Oct, 2023 and another Kiwi opener, (not as high profile as Brandon but immensely gifted), Devon Conway hits a scintillating 152 not out and demolishes the English attack with disdainful ease to all corners of the park much to the chagrin and horror of the English supporters and the past Captains, who are now commentators ! It certainly was classy batsmanship from Devon and has instilled fear in the other teams.

There were two major differences though in the above two games spread 15 years apart. Devon had for illustrious company and chemistry, young Rachin Ravindra, making an incredible debut in a World Cup which he himself later called ‘unbelievable’ ! Suddenly everyone is sitting up in awe and want to know more about him. For starters his name- ‘Rachin’ has been created by joining ‘RA’ for Rahul and ’CHIN’ from Sachin, by cricket crazy parents of Indian origin.

The other stark difference from the IPL, 2008 was absence of vociferous crowds and our version of the ‘barmy army’ that are the ‘bread and butter’ of our cricket mania. Empty stands in huge stadiums aren’t great ads for 50 overs games competing against T20 ! People it seems are waiting for Sunday when the ‘Men in Blue’ take on the Aussies. As usual there is a lot of hype and burden of expectations on them. Prayers are also needed.

Awe-inspiring displays in the big sporting arena like the Asian Games, 2023 by our Indian athletes and where new champions are being crowned by the day and night, immense pride and feel-good euphoria prevails. Our gritty sportspersons excelled even in lesser followed events such as equestrian, rowing and race-walk. The medals tally is expected to reach three figure mark, an astonishing high-jump from previous Asiads !

In the most exciting event, while ‘Golden Boy’ ‘Neeraj Chopra’ had a magical final throw to clinch the ‘Gold’, he was closely followed by ‘Kishore Jena’ with a super performance.  In the women’s javelin event, the indomitable ‘Annu Rani’ created history with a ‘Gold’. Will these incredible results propel many young athletes to take up this ancient sport that’s got a huge impetus thanks majorly to heroics of now legendary, Neeraj Chopra ?

Most of us have known javelin or ‘bhala’ throw as kind of herculean sport of strength & not suited to those without strong sinews !  A close look reveals that a javelin is a light spear designed to be hurled, historically as a ranged weapon, but today predominantly for sport. The javelin is almost always thrown by hand, unlike the bow and arrow and slingshot, which shoot projectiles from a mechanism.

We read that many African kingdoms have used the javelin as their main weapon since ancient times. Typical African warfare was based on ritualized stand-off encounters involving throwing javelins without advancing for close combat. In the flag of Eswatini there is a shield and two javelins, which symbolize the protection from the country’s enemies. Zulu warriors used a long version of assegai javelin as their primary weapon. Going back further, it’s said the God Runesocesius is identified as a “God of the Javelin”.

How do professional javelin throwers train and achieve perfection, considering that they encounter many vagaries of air pressure etc as they fly ? The forces acting on the javelin while in motion are the drag force and the lift force. The drag force is basically a resistive force and acts against the direction of the flight and the lift force acts vertically to the direction of the flight. Physics of this sport is vital as the ‘swing’ factor in pace bowling !

To achieve the maximum distance in the Javelin, the athlete will have to balance three components – speed, technique and strength. A strong, stable grip is acquired. The grip must remain firm behind the ledge made by the binding (cord), and the javelin must run down the length of the palm and not across it. We’d say, Cricket is easier but ask Neeraj Chopra and you’ll get the right answer. Nothing in sport is easy if you want perfection !!

In an interview, one well known actor stated that he didn’t approve of ‘award functions’ as they had categories for performers called ‘Best’ whereas in his view nobody was ’Best’ (or Perfect) in creative arts but there were good and sometimes, great performances and creations ! Some artists shun the glittering ‘award’ ceremonies citing that subjectivity, bias or parochialism remains attached to them. History is replete with legends who had not accepted ‘awards’ conferred on them to register their protest in support of a cause.

There is also an element of unkindness in declaring who’s the ‘Best’. In our school days there were some who always stood first in class but I recall one great teacher saying ‘To me all three, the first, second and third are best’ and there’s little to choose from them. With some effort, second could upstage the first, if he/she took that place for granted. In life’s journey, however, it doesn’t matter how you started, it’s really where you end up !

Having said that, there is a natural attraction that people work towards ‘rewards and recognition’  which is one of the most essential ingredients in the recipe to fulfillment in work and life. It can come in different forms of work-life balance like a preferred field or place of work, leading a prestigious project or coveted post and rising in the hierarchy ladder with an impressive title and backed and supported by a happy family set-up. As societal values keep evolving, today’s youth isn’t too preoccupied with token awards !

It was said in the good old days ‘There’s no short-cut to success’ and that the intelligent needed to be also diligent to get results. Yet, along with those ‘who achieved greatness’ through sheer dint of merit and years of hard work, didn’t we come across those ‘who had greatness thrust upon them’ ! Despite the fool-proof system of assessing caliber and parameters of performance that applied to everyone, the ones chosen for ‘greatness’ were on top for qualities of suitability- being at right place, right time with right people !

It is in the field of Sports that the ‘charade’ of being the best can get exposed quickly. An initial ‘flash in the pan’ is no guarantee for future success and consistency of class is paramount for remaining in the game. One may have won the ‘Gold’ at an event but the hopes of a billion people will be for repeat of the golden performance and every award that brings with it honour & accolades, also brings with it, great burden of expectations.

As we’re witnessing in the Asian Games,2023, sporting excellence is about perseverance, commitment and mental strength apart from intense training. Dean Karnazes famously said ‘Run when you can, walk if you have to, crawl if you must, just never give up’ !

Many of the ever burgeoning middle-class segment qualify to be frequent flyers these days as most times I’ve flown, the flights seem to be full, barring a few middle seats that aren’t as fetching as the ‘window’ or ‘aisle’ ones. Never mind that apart from the stiff air-fares, one must pay an extra (ranging from 150 t0 350 or so) for any seat. Most airlines democratically declare a few seats free, maybe to keep the total back-benchers pacified !

Not being self-indulgent or prone to frequently wandering away to faraway locations for business meetings or on exotic holiday destinations, somehow in the last few months we’ve done a fair bit of domestic air travel and generally preferred ‘Indigo’ because of its reliability and rightly ‘landing on the pitch’, if one were to borrow some cricket jargon. That said, the adhering to time lines don’t always extend to off loading of the luggage and final arrival of the bags. At times, one spends more time at this than the flight itself !

Airlines invariably thank the passengers for flying with them and seek their feedback on the flight towards the end or by sending an SMS later. So this time, let me give one soon. On my last flight a few days back, I experienced something new in the itinerary of Cabin Crew which was a tad unfair and hard on us, on a longish early morning flight ! In their own edgy way the Airlines was promoting ‘carry your own tea and tiffin if you like’ !

It all began with my asking for ‘Tea’ – the smiling hostess shocked me by informing that it would cost Rs.200 but encouraged saying ‘complimentary’ nuts and cookies came with it. I was suitably impressed with this generosity and agreed to have some 5-star type morning ‘Chai’, which I was yearning for. As the hostess didn’t return, I repeated my request but was told that since the ‘Seat Belt’ sign was on, it would have to wait.

So I waited till two hostesses returned pushing their trolley-full of costly goodies. Apparently the rookie air-hostess had old data with her . ‘Sir’ the senior hostess informed ‘You can get beverages only if you order some food item with it’ & new rules had been recently imposed. Stumped by another sudden change in policy ! We’ve always felt that at least the humble ‘chai’ was within reach !

Note that when booking your tickets, there are items known as ‘Add-Ons’ like ordering your meal beforehand & other services such as taxi etc. This will only ‘Add-On’ to your total fare along with taxes and the other service charges that the service providers will levy before you can blink on the key. But airborne, don’t worry about sundry expenses. Just ‘Sit back, Relax & Enjoy the flight’ !

All reactions:

6Neelabh Sarkar, Subramani Natraj and 4 others

It’s a typical late-life crises of the ‘Old and the Critical’ ! We don’t seem to agree or even remotely connect with many of the latest fads and fashions but it’s not wise to comment. We don’t represent popular sentiment of masses and mean no disrespect to their tastes ! But the kind of euphoric reaction to some of the humungous ‘entertainers’ (big budget films) of late, in terms of the mind-boggling box-office numbers and ‘moolah’ raked in by film-makers, fandom of fading superstars restored, is beyond simple logic.

A lot of heavy-duty groundwork, favorable media reporting and pre-release ‘promos’ are the order of the day for these films giving them a ‘larger than life’ look, much before they hit the screens but that’s how show-biz works, one presumes. The amounts invested in their making seem astronomical and would be financial disasters if the films crashed but in the post-Covid times, it’s bahut ‘acche-din’ again for some of the biggies (led by the much acclaimed and invigorating South creations like ‘Pushpa’ & ‘RRR’ but it was SRK’s mega success of ‘Pathan’ and now ‘Jawan’ (with ‘Gadar 2’ also hitting the bull’s eye ! ) that’s revived ‘Bollywood’s’ masala fare and importantly restored SRK his ‘King’ status !

Not having seen any of these blockbusters in the picture halls for various reasons that included ‘Not Our Type’, I finally decided to watch ‘Pathan’ as it’s now available on OTT, having earned 1000 crs globally I read somewhere to my utter incredulity ! Having been weaned on ‘Bond’ films from the tender age of 18, we could sit through any them again, as long as Sean Connery, Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan were James Bond ! The first half-hour of ‘Pathan’ indicated with hi-tech intensive stunts that SRK was playing the desi ‘Bond’, high on nationalism & Deepika does a ‘Halle Berry’ of ‘Die Another Day’ ! While I’m an avid film buff, I admit I had to leave ‘Pathan’ mid-way out of sheer ennui !

Let’s understand the issue on hand, not everyone is an SRK ‘bhakt’ specially if they come from the era of actors in the class of great thespians like Balraj Sahani, Ashok Kumar, Dilip Kumar, later Naseer, Om Puri, Irfan Khan and of course Big B. Even we understand the power SRK’s charisma spread all across as the ‘king of romance’, but his critics will single out only two movies that showed acting prowess ‘Chak De’ and ‘Pardes’- in all his other films, he remained in his super-star stance and imagery – hands spread wide !

As was said earlier on, at our stage of peaceful coexistence, to see profound emotions, great stories, cinematic artistry and aesthetic nuances depicted on screen appeal more to our senses than stunts, mindless fights and gadgets that fly around and that must explain that we aren’t the target audiences for all the action packed blockbusters and sci-fi movies. They will continue to be made as other people seem to love them …

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