How shall I thank the wonderful LINK TVfor bringing not one, but a whole series of films that use my Indian home city of Poona/Pune as the backdrop ? By sharing the news wherever I can, and hoping you can catch some of it soon.
The link to the series 'Indian School' opens in this way: ' What's it like to grow up in a country with the largest child labor force in the world, an ancient caste system and a film industry bigger than Hollywood? Over 10 episodes INDIAN SCHOOL follows the highs and lows of the students and teachers at Kalmadi Shamrao High School and Rewachand Bhojwani Academy in Pune - near Mumbai, one of the world’s fastest growing cities.'
A great way of introducing the whole world to the charming city that I grew up in, where I earned a B.A. in English Literature before immigrating to America at my sister's behest. I have tried my best to survive in the USA for decades without caving in to many a corporate bigwig. I chose instead to seek alternate methods of survival other than chasing the American Dream, much to the dismay of well-wishing friends and family members. What I brought with me from Pune is the inherent Indian qualities of hard work and brotherly love, born of humble family beginnings. Things I appreciate increasingly as I continue to work while others of my age have reached their goals of a comfortable retirement and grand-children to dote on.
But enough about me.....the point that I was trying to make is that the person from Pune is as determined and focused as his counterpart from Mumbai, the home of big Bollywood stars and World Finance contenders. Mumbai's little sister might be on the fast track to big-city success but it comes from a small-town ethos that is at the heart of its residents, past and present.
'This fast-paced, observational documentary takes us, over the course of a school year, into the world of India’s ‘rising generation’. The series gets inside the skin of India’s middle classes, exploring their dreams and anxieties in a world that seems to be changing every day '~ also from the Introduction.
From the NY Times Review of 'Slumdog Millionaire' : " In the end, what gives me reluctant pause about this bright, cheery, hard-to-resist movie is that its joyfulness feels more like a filmmaker’s calculation than an honest cry from the heart about the human spirit (or, better yet, a moral tale). "
Long before the Slumdogs'Millionaire creators convinced Hollywood that Bollywood deservedgreater Hollywood treatment (since Bollywood had beengiving itself the Hollywood treatment for decades)Filmmaker Mira Nair had slowly but surely pavedthe way for this day, giving us her deep and personal insights into an alternate Indian film culture. 'Mississippi Masala', Bride and Prejudice, Salaam Bombay and The Namesake all attempted to arouse Hollywood Film Moguls to the unseen dramas of Indians abroad and at home. And now Hollywood sits up and takes notice of the still-untapped but burgeoning Bollywood market.
With lush scenery like India as the backdrop forHollywood hijinks played by a diversecast that includes Keanu Reeves, David Alan Grier, Maya Rudolph and others, this new Mini-series promises to keep all Bollywood fans enthralled and amused. Saturday Night Live'sChris Kattan is a wannabe Hollwood herowho isn't making it to stardom., Fed up with his situation, heseeks his fortune in Bollywood, figuring he has the Hollywoodinsider advantage to get his big breakthrough moment via the Mumbai film industry.
Subscribers to the wonderful Independent Film Channel are the only ones who will initially be able to enjoy this comedy starting Aug. 6, 7 and 8. The best I can do is push this trailer and hope anyone who has access to the actual show will consider sharing this with the rest of us ;-)
Mature Content Ahead ! As a favor to a Photoblogger in another country I am briefly sharing his true and woeful Cry with the world, with the simple warning :Watch who you Add as Friend on Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, WordPress, Scribd, Blogger, Twitter..........everywhere !
Firdaus Zakir (real name withheld) of Mumbai, India is a talented Muslim lensman who found his niche taking pics of Transgenders and Muslim religious occurrences in his area. Not an easy task to accomplish, since many of the subjects belong to an arm of internationally reviled 'Trannies', forbidden by society leanings to be in the mainstream workplace, who are often forced to earn a living in the sex trade where they constantly face threats, violence and harassment from Johns and local authorities. Protection is available from those authorities, but at a price in the form of weekly bribes and yes, sexual favors. Crooked cops and perverted politicians have their cake and eat it, too. That's nothing new.
Apalled by the state of affairs in the 'hood Firdaus Zakir the humanitarian decided to do something meaningful with his 50-odd years' existence, and began publishing his collection of religious Muslim rituals, Eunuchs and LGBT pics online via any website or Blog he naively assumed to be free of scandal. Many sleepless days and nights spent in scanning, uploading and posting his work yielded results with unbelievably high online posting stats. He became a Hit counter even as his websites' Hit Counters generated torrents of comments and views.
But as is usually the case with ignorant and jealous folks online, all the comments posted weren't of the kindly variety. Increasingly his Blogs and websites received harassing mail and responses and elicited repeated hacker visits. The worldwide hatred for Muslims post-9/11 didn't help his case either, and try as he might, he will not shake off that stigma, short of turning Atheist. The final insult came a few days ago when he was threatened by a Facebook 'friend' who roused his ire and forced him into an online shouting match complete with CAPS LOCK attitude. This 'friend' added Firdaus at the suggestion of the Facebook sidebar on the Home page, then experienced religious rage leading to vicious and nasty exchanges. The result was that the local police took down a formal complaint from Firdaus of Cyber death threats and violence, and Firdaus (once again, as he often did in the past) swore he would stop Adding friends, allowing Comments or posting his poems of pain. He is now a victim, he claims of Racial Harassment not only at Facebook, Flickr, Scribd and Word Press but also at Now Public and many other free sites. Facebook was kind enough to auto-reply with the standard link to the 'Help' section.
So what are the chances we've seen the last of Firdaus and his self-flagellating persona online ? Will this poetic poster boy of Pain inflict more grief on his soul ? Stay tuned....he gets verse.
It usually means a transsexual, although it could theoretically mean a transgendered person or a transvestite.*
In this case, I honestly couldn't tell you for sure which category this person might fit into, but s/he was clearly born as a man, and dressed as a woman.
Anyway, this title is a bit of a joke for people here in the US (and maybe also other English-speaking groups) because a lot of commercials used phrases like "Peanut butter and chocolate- together at last!" and it's become sort of a sarcastic expression.
*Transvestite means someone who just likes to wear the clothing of the opposite gender, while transgender means the person actually lives like someone of the opposite gender every day...and transsexual is someone who has gone a step further to have surgery, hormone treatment, etc. to modify the body. Posted 32 months ago. (permalink )
Something I posted on Facebook that you may not have seen.A neat Podcast....listen and enjoy.
The raging reporter Egon Erwin Kisch of yesteryear Europe lives on in today's driven, attacking PhotoJournalist/Blogger who floods the entire landscape with his passion.
A Superhero reporter as depicted by the photographer, Umbo, Egon Kisch experimented with multiple exposure, unusual camera angles, photomontage, collage, and x-ray film. He took part in FiFo (Film und Foto), the important international exhibition of avant-garde photography and film held in Stuttgart in 1929 (Catalogue of Cleveland Museum of Art). Way ahead of his time.
I tagged most of you so you can use this as a point of comparison in YOUR creative journey, not because I am seeking comments. I'm just looking for an alternative landscape from the ones I keep seeing on Flickr, Facebook, etc. At times like that I find it helps to take a look at the past .....I'm nostalgic to the bone.
Tired of the same old Tourist twists on what India looks like in the Entertainment Sections, Fashion magazines and in Travel Guides, I recently decided to search for more realistic and meaningful photographic captures that pay homage to the seamier side of life there. The life that I saw as a boy growing up in India, long before I immigrated to America. Fortunately, I had a head start when I saw that three of my Flickr contacts had already paved the way for my quest. None of them can be pigeonholed, easily related to or explained. Each one approaches their work from a Mission standpoint. Each brings the full force of their lens to every picture, which is a near-unachievable feat in my experience, an experience not that of a Photographer but that of an adult, one who has grown to understand and more deeply appreciate true artistic talent. The kind that speaks directly to the soul of Man, as I learned from my artist Father.
Firoze Shakir of Bandra, Mumbai has the approach of a poetic soul and he rips it open, while hoping you won't rip off his precious, personal mind-boggling collection. I intend totell you more about his tremendous achievements at a later time - if that is ever possible - because I have yet to digest the brunt of his prolific blogging, photography and outpourings on Flickr, WordPress, Scribd, Friendfeed, Twitter, etc. http://www.flickr.com/photos/firozeshakir/collections/
Psychiatrist Dr. Glenn Losack of Manhattan, New York is a world traveler, Musician, and a National Geographic- calibre Photographer among other things. A true humanitarian and a Renaissance man, he was introduced to me online by Firoze Shakir....they are like two sides of the same coin, having shot Mumbai street scenes in tandem. http://www.flickr.com/photos/glosackmd/
Another great recent connection made thanks to untiring Mr. Shakir, is AuthorLinda Schaefer who teaches at ECU in Ada, Ok.This lady who has served as an NYPD photographer and workedwith CNN among other things, considers one of her finest moments to be the work she did at the Missionaries of Charity, an Organization started by Mother Teresaof Kolkata. That icon blessed Linda with her personal permission to shoot what turned out to be the final photo documents of an exemplary existence. A Single Mother, Linda tours the country frequently, sharing her life experiences via speeches and photo exhibitions. Linda is my idea of a true Renaissance lady. http://www.flickr.com/photos/schaeferphotos/
And finally, to round up my list of great unknowns, may I present the simply amazing talents of Roland Lubiger of Dresden, Germany. His son Bertie was an International Exchange Student living at my sister's place in Pearland, Texas where I had the opportunity to learn of Roland's Travel and Photography exploits. While Mr. Lubiger does not display images in the same vein as the Trinity above, his work is nonetheless in their league when it comes to quality and content borne of sheer gusto. From climbing the highest peaks in the Himalayas to up-close shots of theKomodo Dragons in Indonesia, from dancing natives inWest Papua to the ruins of mountainous Machu Picchhu, Roland is fittingly represented by fotocommunity.com which feels like a broader-based European alternative to the USA's National Geographic Magazine. Find more photos like Roland's on Flores eco tourism
Click on all the links. Leave comments, for it is only with your honest input that these artists receive appreciation, inspiration and recognition.
I always love aWorld Globewhen I see one. Like so many children of my time, I was fascinated by this intelligent toy/ Educational aid so prominently displayed in many a living room I visited back in India. Relatives who returned to India from their work overseas used the Globe to sneak in many an exciting tale of villages in Africa; Colonels in the Indian Army leaned back at their desks and expertly flicked their wrists to outline regions where they had seen combat, and my school teachers came up with truly creative ways to incorporate the Globe into subjects other than Geography and History. The ability to pinpoint a country location in the shortest time was something we considered a great talent, simple pleasures in the days before computers, Google Maps and GPS entered our lives. The importance of these World Globes have thus receded but their history and unique designs will always have a respected place in our memories.
Nowadays, it's all about high-speed locating of areas of critical importance, as we know from the 'pinpointing' of targets in Iraq, and the locating of missing personnel in similar situations.
This week the UN is deploying aMapAction team in the African nation of Benin where severe flooding has affected 20,000 or more people in 43 communities. Click here to find out how you can play a role in keeping MapAction’s volunteers ready to respond to disasters around the world.
There are tales of despair that I thought would never darken the pages of this little corner of mine where I share the kinder, gentler, funnier things that visit my consciousness in life and online.
And then there is this : masterful images from an extremely talented individual who has made my acquaintance via Flickr andFacebook, someone I now count as a friend, even though we have never met in person.
Like a snail-mail Penpal from the days before email, I share many interests with him such as Music, Art and the need for a better place in this world for the folks such as he pictures in his Flickr sets and on his website.
Visiting his photographs and pondering his words I find many parallels in my life for I have seen a lot of the misery and misfortune that has befallen so many of his subjects, and have personally faced trials similar to what he mentions.
So as a small tribute to Glenn Losack, MD ( yes, he is really a Psychiatrist ) I have taken the liberty of linking to one of his recent works in the hope that sharing his amazing photos will help in spreading his message of love, compassion and understanding.Which is what he desires, I gather.
Please visit his website and leave a comment. and also his Flickr collection here.
My sincere thanks go to Glenn for allowing me the liberty of uploading the small-sized picture above as a teaser for you, the viewer. Enjoy !
Alook at what might have been an amazing comeback/final live performance. I believe he had his talent and spirit pretty much in control here, true to all the talk about his 'control freak' behavior.Wish his health wasn't permanently affected by that fire at the Pepsi commercial shoot.He certainly had the moves in control.
on guitar taking it up more than a few notches I think this is a sizzling moment that serves well as the last bit of live footage we are privy to there will be more unseen but not unexpected footage popping out , I'm sure and I hope).
PetWerewolf says:Erm... What's a tranny?
Posted 32 months ago. ( permalink )