Life

Ugliness and beauty cohabit in sin; their illicit progeny is life, forever trying to find approval but excelling in the prohibited.

Armed Forces

The armed forces of a democratic nation are essentially a paradox; glorying bullying in order to protect the bullied. The meek shall inherit but the weak shall be done for.

A Riddle

A riddle is a statement with a purpose; a statement is often a riddle without one.

Profound and Prosaic

The profound and the prosaic both arise out of the everyday; the former is a necessary outcome of the latter.

Manly

Being a man has its advantages; one gets to crib about being a man.

Relationships

01
Relationships are like a ship on choppy waters - balance desirable, but rarely possible.

02
Relationships are like fish in choppy waters - the deeper one goes, the calmer it is.

Lies and Truths

A lie is a modified truth; a truth falsehood revised.

What makes a film great

Question: What makes a film great ? 

Answer: If it (the film) evokes an affirmative response in me that's longer lasting than today; if I see my 'truths' resonate in it in a manner which I perceive to be graceful and germane, then...

Foreign students on exchange

Its great to host foreign students on exchange; an outsider can often bring in to focus the missing obvious, and consequently add value to his/her and the hosts' here and now.

Sight

We go looking in remote lands for what is hidden in plain sight in our backyards; its not just our eyes that we need in order to see.

Art imitates life ?

When art imitates life, both suffer. The former thrives as an inspired impression of the latter, not a true copy.

The tangle of life

Its people who tangle life; God (if he/she is there) had meant it quite straight. Quality of life depends on how much we stay away from messing up each others lives. Or, more accurately, how much we do.

Possessive

To want to possess is a fundamentally flawed fundamental desire.

In one's company

If only we were comfortable being with ourselves, we would easily find enjoyable company. Being in company however is no guarantee of enjoying our own.

Kashmir

Kashmir is not a military problem; no muscular nationalism of a majoritarian kind is going to solve it. Others have bones, muscles, body fluids and majorities too.

Film Direction

Film Direction is as much about the world around as it is about film. A well-formed and informed point of view helps in putting one's point across on cinema through the application of film language onto matters at once personal and public.

Travel

Travel opens your eyes - to heat & dust, and Indian men.

Film Appreciation

Film Appreciation helps you understand the world and take a literate and considered position in the debate; it also helps in making sense of films.

Hindi

When you make Hindi compulsory, you demean it, because of the necessity for compulsion. You also ensure a lifetime of hate towards a tongue already in rapid decline because of its officially enhanced status.

The tourist trade

The tourist trade makes natives eager to please the visitor, the country caricature its culture & traditions, and american dollars strut around in knickers and a freckled pot belly.

Travel

Travel is a cheap way of spending money and earning an education.

Of whys and why nots

The why (and why not) of a creative expression is as important as its how to; and luckily its much cheaper.

Education

Education was meant to give us a vision; instead it gave us a reason for not possessing the same.