Nikhil

Indian Cinema- Entertain and Educate?             Indian cinema has always been in the news, more so for the wrong reasons than the right ones. Reports of underworld links, money laundering, carrying arms & drugs, promiscuity & affairs, lack of morals, sleaze, illegal hunting, rash driving etc. have always portrayed cinema as a vice. All this tends to obscure the other side of cinema and this is what I’d like to discuss today.             “I would rather entertain and hope that people learned something than educate people and hope they were entertained. “ – This is what the great Walt Disney quoted. It’s so true that entertainment revives your soul and educates your personality. Right from India’s first motion picture by Dadasaheb Phalke to the recent releases, Indian cinema has never failed to entertain the classes & masses alike. At the same time, consciously...

Morning Walk                 A morning walk would generally be viewed as a monotonous activity. But if you observe carefully, it has its own potpourri of various events.  I am not aware of other cities, but in Pune, a morning walk is like a cultural thing. It’s an important part of one’s life.             The drama begins to unfold even as you step out of your home towards the place you walk, either a walking track, hill (tekdi) or a ground. The neighbourhood is full of activity as newspaper delivery boys are busy preparing their stack of papers and scurrying around the lanes while milkmen, too, are busy with their routine. You’ll see the streets empty but the side-walks are abound with people in sports-wear and shoes. Somewhere, sleepy-eyed kids with their parents are waiting for their buses. Street dogs, either sleeping or scratching, are also a ...