RAJESH KHANNA ,NO MORE ! But, what is Really, Really, So Special about him?

RAJESH KHANNA

NO MORE

But, what is Really, Really, so special about him?

RAJESH KHANNA is no more. He passed away yesterday, after a prolonged illness. 

But, he will live for a long, long time to come - through his memorable Films. All of us, who loved him in his films,  know that.

Rajesh Khanna was Highly attractive. But was he beautiful or handsome – is difficult to say. There is no particular definition of Male Beauty. But, Male Handsomeness is more easily understood. Big Biceps, triceps, all brawn and no fat – sort of thing. The western Hero is typically that. Indian Heroes are fast becoming that.

Rajesh Khanna was attractive and Glamorous – and no one could match him in that, during his period, or perhaps, later and earlier too. 

It was a great treat to watch him live his Roles in films like Aradhana; every movement of every part of his face (especially)  was so captivating. His heroines were highly talented and beautiful – but – in the company of Rajesh Khanna, people watched Rajesh Khanna more, and his heroines less.

Whether it was romance, love, sadness, anger or pain, he emoted with such ease that – it was near perfect. Neither more, nor less. Just what the audience need. Just what the role needs. His face could show any emotion with such ease. Of course, his body co-operated well too.

By contrast, today, we find biceps and triceps and leg muscles acting more – and  the FACE muscles acting TOO LESS. I am not against great muscular Bodies, but face! That’s important too. Or, the most important one. That should act too.

It is not an exaggeration at all to say that – Rajesh Khanna was absolutely ORIGINAL. There was none who did what he did on the screen - either  earlier or even later- as effectively as he could. And yet, it was so effortless and so captivating.

His voice – was his great asset. It was romantic, slightly husky, extremely malleable and flexible. He could raise his voice or lower it –to the levels needed - in split seconds. He could make the blandest of Dialogues, most memorable. 

Take that memorable dialogue in Anand. When, he mouths the dialogue first, it looks comic – almost. We laugh. But, the same, repeated in the last scene – turns the film so tragic. Most people weep – at least their eyes get filled with tears invariably. 

All other actors and actresses, including Amitabh Bachhan – were only contributing factors in the movie. It was all the way Rajesh Khanna – who was the prime cause of success  of Anand. Or, of Aradhana. Sharmila’s performance was superb in Aradhana. Yet, it was Rajesh Khanna whose presence registers powerfully in audience minds for decades.

Kishore Kumar was an integral part of Rajesh Khanna. It is difficult to separate the voice of Kishore from Rajesh Khanna. I think - Kishore Kumar started overshadowing Rafi - starting with his superb Hits in Aradhana.

Rajesh Khanna’s screen Romance is perhaps the cleanest Romance I have seen for a long time. Never an overdose can be seen in his screen Romance – even in his legendary  rain song in Aradhana with Sharmila Tagore.

Whether the songs became legendary because of Rajesh Khanna's acting or Rajesh Khanna's acting became legendary because of the songs - or it was both - is difficult to tell. Many times, when a song sequence starts, we will feel, it was actually Rajesh Khanna who was singing. The previous dialogue of Rajesh Khanna so perfectly matches with the song. 

Many a time, I felt, Rajesh Khanna could as well be a Great singer.His voice was so good.

His on-screen chemistry with all of his heroines was beautiful and near perfect – but, in my view, Mumtaz was one actress, with whom he acted with real ease and closeness. Like in Aap ki Kasam. 

Many of his movies had almost no villains. Just that – the stories were so beautiful. He did not act much in MASALA movies of today’s Genre – sex-violence-villains -  etc – barring one or two, which any way were not his best movies.

In fact, he faded away later - when Good stories did not come by. This is my strong feeling.

While I am generally averse to commenting about his personal life – I feel – If Dimple and Rajesh had lived together, despite their differences , it would have been great for both. It was good that they were together when he breathed his last. That they remained single after separation, till the end – also speaks well of both of them. That ensures that his soul will rest in Peace.

He was of course the First Super Star. Such labels really carry no meaning and have no depth. He was a consummate actor. In that – there are no comparisons. There are lots of things to learn from Rajesh Khanna’s success in Films.

Any Film – needs a Good story. Any Film needs good, relevant, moving, meaningful music. The less, the villains and villainy, the more, the film, the Hero and other good things of the film will be remembered for a long time. 

Sholay (with Dharmendra and Amitabh) has a memorable villain – but much, much less villainy than today’s movies. The more down to the earth the film, the more it will have identification in the minds of audience. There are many such important lessons to learn - from the success of his films.

All this means – we need Producers and Directors – with willingness to make Great Movies. If this happens, Great Actors like Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bacchan will come up again. Else, Biceps and Triceps will be the ACTORS.

*  *  *  E  N  D  *  *  *

His Heroines were highly talented actresses. Even so – it iHhhhhh

SATYAMEV JAYATE - THINK BEFORE YOU DRINK - An Excellent Effort By Aamir Khan - Deserves all Praise and Support

SATYAMEV JAYATE

ALCOHOL  ABUSE – THINK BEFORE YOU DRINK

Aamir Khan is different. He is not the average Glamour-seeking, Popularity seeking Film personality – though, he is glamorous and Popular. He gets then as Bonus – apart from what he seeks to achieve through his movies. 

Aamir, to me, looks like an intense individual, who wants to make a difference to all people around.

His movies are therefore different. They do not merely entertain. They create an impression. They evoke some thought processes, which linger – longer than most other movies of today - in the minds of the audience.

His SATYAMEV JAYATE – is much different from any of the movies he makes. They stand on a much higher pedestal. 

How many have watched these Satyameva Jayathe episodes – I do not know. But, how many should watch – this, I think, I know.  All of us should. If not already done, now is the time.

Yes. I have also not seen all the EPISODES. But, I saw this Episode on “THINK BEFORE YOU DRINK” yesterday - twice. It was Excellent; It was Brilliant ; and It was purposeful; And, it went straight into the heart.

This episode, and may be many more like it, were needed sixty years ago, when India became FREE.

An Aamir Khan was therefore needed sixty years ago – to make such episodes. India would have become REALLY FREE – from the real Dictators of our life – like Alcohol, drugs, Smoking and….. so on.  Crusaders against these real enemies would have had lot of public support and political support and success back then.

Today – such support is  likely to be considerably less. The fight against ALCOHOLISM is therefore that much more difficult.

There are more Politicians, more film personalities, more leaders in other fields, more students, more fathers  and more- of everybody – who are drunkards today – than 65 years ago.

The worst of all changes that is taking place today is that– the last hope – the young educated woman – is taking to Drinking – very fast. And she protests more, when others advice or object. In a scenario like this, this episode of Satyameva Jayate – is a refreshing contrast. 

End to end – the Episode is absorbing, educating, inspiring and refreshing. Stephen covey, the writer of the Seven habits of Highly Effective people – says in one of his books that - the main thing in life is to keep the main thing the main thing. This Episode is successful in focusing on the Main thing as the main thing. 

The important thing throughout the Episode is that – Aamir preaches or teaches almost nothing himself.

People, who are badly bruised in their own life due to their Alcohol Addiction, speak – of themselves and their life; and very candidly. How they got in to it, how they suffered on account of it, how they got out of it, and how they are now. 

Vijay Sinha, (Executive Editor, Financial world) is one such live example. We must thank him for coming forward and telling us all – how alcohol can become your Master and your most cruel Dictator and reduce you - to worse than the road-side Beggar and worse than the most unethical persons around you – all under the control of Alcohol. 

The important thing is – there is hope; one can come out of it. It needs that strong, tough decision – and there is huge support, once the addict makes an iota of effort and comes into the right company. Vijay Sinha has demonstrated it all with his own LIFE EXAMPLE. He was an effective speaker and an honest confessor – almost in the Gandhian Genre. I can’t help recalling how Gandhi talks of his own failures in his Book “My Experiments with Truth”. Such Public confessions of people who have reformed - are the best way of reforming others.

Mr.Javed  Akthar, the famous film writer, was equally candid about how he got into this habit and how got out of it. He talks of -  how young people feel that drinking is glamorous and how Filmy Heroes look and act like Heroes after drinking. In reality, drunken people don’t act like heroes; they do utterly stupid and dangerous things.

You don’t get drunk with Milk, even after a decade. You won’t say, I drank one cup of milk then, I drink ten now. It is only Alcohol, which gets you down the hill along with it. Akthar candidly says - Whatever bad and foolish things  I did, I always did under the influence of  alcohol. He says, he has left alcohol over 20 years ago and is totally from it now. Getting Drunk is foolish. Do you want to be A FOOL-  asks Akthar. It is good that he came out with his candid  views on alcoholism.

Dr.Ashish Deshpande  says – Alcoholism is not just a Habit which depends on the Individual. It is really a disease like diabetes. The person who takes Alcohol first time, in his mind, Alcohol receptors take roots. Every time, he drinks, these receptors go on increasing.

These receptors unionise – and demand Alcohol periodically. Every festival occasion and every  important occasion in your life, they demand Alcohol. Come what may. And resisting their demand becomes increasingly difficult.

But, People don’t realize that they have this disease. This is the first hurdle. Ask them – Are your neighbours any time advising you to stop? Or, do you get angry if people say, please reduce your drinking. Sometimes, when you get up from Bed, are your hands trembling and you want to drink – to become normal? This disease goes on increasing progressively – without looking like one. But, it takes its toll on you.

If you are diseased, you are responsible for taking the treatment. The problem is not just stopping alcohol today – but consistently avoiding it permanently  thereafter – says Dr.Deshpande.

You need that desire – to stay away from alcohol. At the earliest - contact alcoholics anonymous.

Another individual, who wishes to be anonymous in the tradition of ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS – calls himself Lakshmanji and he said he could not live without alcholol for several years. When he heard AA will cure him free, he could not believe it at all. After all, he has spent 40 lakhs on this so far. He was of course, a devout person. After puja, he used to drink. One Day, on TV he saw the alcoholics  anonymous Ad. He contacted them – and then onwards life changed for him. With some difficulty, of course. But the contact with AA was the turning point.

The people at AA were so cordial, so understanding, so reassuring and hope-giving. He has stopped drinking now for 15 years. He is now getting the real Joy of Life.

The Program at this point gives the method of contacting AA – as below :

SMS TO 56363

TYPE AAAA<SPACE> FOLLOWED BY NAME, ADDRESS, CONTACT NUMBER

OR

CALL 09022771011

I am giving this Info here – with the hope that readers will inform the suffering persons or their well-wishers quickly and urge them to get in touch with AA.

Aamir says, there is another action, people can take. In states like Punjab, Haryana and Maharashtra – the Governments have empowered the Panchayats – to take a decision in their Panchayats – and if they do – all alcohol shops in their Panchayats will have to close down. One such Panchayat in Punjab (changaal village)– came on TV and detailed how they got these shops closed in their village – and how their live improved subsequently. The villagers say – Governments must not look for revenue in the ruining of the people.

People sometimes say - I am not a drunkard. I drink rarely. But, when they drink, they drink too much and do all bad and ugly things that day. It is called HAZARDOUS DRINKING. In such occasional but excessive drinking - one can even take away one’s own life or the life of others.

Karan Anand, a promising youngster died precisely of such reason. He died because of his friend’s drunken driving. His father described how. Mr. Anand described how his son was not at all drunk, but lost his life sitting in a car driven by his drunken friend. In the hands of a drunken man, the car becomes a weapon. Mr. Anand says – Police must do their duty more consciously – in getting the drunken drivers convicted – which is not happening now. If they do – things may improve to some extent.

Aamir says - please AVOID TRAVELING in vehicles driven by drunken Drivers-whether a friend, senior, or an elderly man. What happened to Karan should not happen to others.

Many families are affected in which the Bread winner or the children take to drinking.

Dr.Vivek Benegal says - around 5% of drinkers become alcoholics. Hazardous drinkers are about 50% of total alcoholics . Which means – this huge number can bring problems to anyone – themselves and others. 

In many foreign countries –what is usually called social drinking – is limited to a maximum of 1,2, 3 or maximum 4 pegs. But, in India, the average person drinks 5 to 8 – which is much more than the upper limit in other countries. 1-4 is ruled out. Starting point is 5. So, alcoholism is more in India than these foreign countries.

Most accidents are due to such drunken people. On festival and new year eve occasions many deaths and accidents happen in India due to drunkenness.

So what do we do ? Aamir says - preferably stop drinking totally. If you can’t, at least reduce it to the barest minimum.

But, I strongly urge - please contact AA – at the earliest - and before it is too late.

Thanks Aamir – for your wonderful effort. I think, this episode is worth translating into all Indian languages (English included) – and playing it in all colleges, companies (especially software companies) and schools.

I urge Readers to see this episode – it is on Youtube also – and ask others too – to see it.

With Best wishes

Sd/-

(V.Vijayamohan)

  

HIGGS BOSON PARTICLE - A FIVE SIGMA WONDER DISCOVERY - WHAT INDIA CAN DO?

THE HIGGS BOSON PARTICLE

A FIVE SIGMA WONDER DISCOVERY

 FOR

EXTENDING HUMAN FRONTIERS

WHAT INDIA CAN DO?

Physicists all over the world, especially those at CERN Research Centre, are extremely joyful at the discovery of a New Sub (or Sub-Sub) atomic particle, which, according to their thinking and reasoning, is the Higgs Boson Particle. Whether it is the HIGGS BOSON particle or a new, yet unnamed particle, its discovery is a very significant scientific discovery.  

The sheer scale of scientific Investigation and the accuracy thereof are extremely commendable. This discovery will no doubt be followed up with further investigations – to know more about the particle – which they believe is the key element in shaping an orderly Universe.

Here are some details of this discovery :

Ø  Scientists at Europe's CERN research centre have found this new subatomic particle, a basic building block of the universe, which appears to be the boson imagined and named half a century ago by theoretical physicist Peter Higgs.

Ø  CERN uses a giant underground laboratory - the Large Hadron Collider –outside Geneva -  to search for the particle. Protons are smashed together at nearly the speed of light, yielding sub-atomic debris which is then scrutinized for signs of the fleeting Higgs.

Ø  CERN's Hadron Collider is the world's biggest and most powerful particle accelerator. Two beams of protons are fired in opposite directions around the 27-km looped pipe built under the Swiss-French border before smashing into each other.

Ø  The task is arduous - as there are trillions of signals, occurring among the particles at different ranges of mass.

Ø  The interaction gives rise to three fundamental forces - the strong force, the weak force and the electromagnatic force. There is a fourth force, gravity, which is suspected to be caused by a still-to-be found boson named the graviton.

Ø  Bosons are non-matter particles which are force carriers, or messengers that act between matter particles.

Ø  When some particles encounter the Higgs boson, they slow down and acquire mass. Others, such as particles of light - or photons - are not affected and have no mass.

Ø  The collisions, which mimic the moments just after the Big Bang, throw off debris signals picked up by a vast complex of detectors and the data is examined by banks of computers.

Ø  The two separate CERN teams worked independently through that data, hunting for tiny divergences which might betray the existence of the new boson, a class of particle that includes the photon, associated with light. The class is named in honour of Albert Einstein's Indian collaborator Satyendra Nath Bose.

Ø  Two CERN laboratories worked independently of each other to avoid bias. They both found the new particle in the mass region of around 125-126 Gigaelectronvolts (GeV).

Ø  The teams said that the results were "five sigma," meaning there was just a 0.00006% chance that what the two laboratories found is a mathematical quirk.

Ø  Both teams found strong signals of the new particle at around 125 to 126 gigaelectron volts (GeV) - a unit of mass-energy. That makes it some 130-140 times heavier than a proton.

Ø  Higgs, now 83, from Edinburgh University was among six theorists who in the early 1960s proposed the existence of a mechanism by which matter in the universe gained mass.

Ø  The boson is believed to exist in an invisible, ubiquitous field created a trillionth of a second after the Big Bang, 13.7bn years ago.

Ø  Some commentators have labelled the new particle as "God particle", for its role in turning the Big Bang into an ordered universe.

Ø  The scientists say - "We know it must be a boson and it's the heaviest boson ever found. The implications are very significant and it is precisely for this reason that we must be extremely diligent in all of our studies and cross-checks."

Ø  "For physics, in one way, it is the end of an era in that it completes the Standard Model," a scientist said of the basic theory physicists currently use to describe what they understand so far of a cosmos built from 12 fundamental particles and four forces.

Ø  UNIVERSAL THEORY :- The Higgs theory explains how particles clumped together to form stars, planets and life itself. Without the Higgs boson, the universe would have remained a formless soup of particles shooting around at the speed of light, the theory goes.

We whole-heartedly congratulate the Physicists teams – for their extraordinary discovery – and wish them greater successes in unraveling the mysteries of the Universe further.

Having said that – we also need to look at the huge super structure we are building on the Big Bang Theory. Whether the Big Bang  is, or is not a Fact – we will never know. What caused, if at all, the Big Bang, and how and why, are not easily explainable. 

There just can’t be a reaction without an action – and the action itself is a reaction, which needs another action. This chain never ends  in any distant past – even if we take it past any number of billions of years. Nor will it ever end in the future, after any number of billions of years.

We can explain movement, gravitation, mass, no-mass, light, heat, sound, touch, smell, change and so on – in absolutely scientific terms. But, can we put them together and explain INTELLIGENCE?

Can we really explain what Intelligence is? Can we explain a consciousness which at least pervades human beings?

If Human Beings do have Intelligence (and the five senses to receive and record it to some extent), what prevents Earth, Sun, and Galaxies from having extraordinary levels of Intelligence – of which we get an infinitesimally small part each – from them? Yes. They give all the Intelligence to us – if physical particles, however minute, are the only things we are made up of. And, the Big Bang theory tells us JUST THAT.

In relation to these huge moving masses in the sky – aren’t we like the white or Red cells in the human body? The cells don’t know why they do, what they do. But they do them all the same. Therefore we are alive as human beings. There is obviously a clock work installed within us, and within them, which takes us from birth to death, through a fixed linear path, unless we end the path foolishly midway.

The Indian thinking on all this is wrongly concluded as RELIGION – but it is not religion; it is not mere faith. It is absolute science. What the West does in the outer world, the Indian scientists had done partly in outer world – but mostly in the inner world.

There is no need for blind faith in any of this; Each person can prove the ultimate riddle of this Universe and the riddle of creation as such , to himself . 

But the search in outer cosmos, will never take us to the end; the ultimate Goal. We will never discover anything One hundred percent even about one atom, no, not even about one Higgs Boson particle. The search will be endless. In due course of time, the Higgs Boson Particles will, without an iota of doubt, reveal further sub-sub-sub atomic particles within them. 

If anything exists in physical form – it is made up of PARTS. 

It can’t be otherwise. Its minuteness is immaterial and does not alter this rule. Does it mean, the search is useless. No. Not at all. The external search must continue. It happened in ancient India too.

But, the inner search, a search in a space-less space within us, in the innermost recesses of the Individual, hides the most precious secrets of the world. Search for Intelligence – not just for mass, not for gravitation, not for physical properties. Search for an awareness that pervades the Individual and the entire Universe.

Indian sciences firmly say – that all that is outside of us – is also equally within us in miniature form. The whole Universe is in us in miniature form.

It is a fact that – in the external world, the Bosons, Photons, Electrons, Atoms, the whole earth, the Sun, the whole Galaxy will all fold back into a nothingness some time in future – and then come up again  in some form . We do have some proof now that  these do disappear into a nothingness. It is happening to some star in the cosmos all the time.

Likewise- human beings come up, grow, play, and disappear all the time.

People are willing to believe either science or even religion – which has come up in the last 2000-3000 years. But not earlier than that! Science which had sprung up in Ancient India is looked at with suspicion – and not with absolute scientific spirit. People are unwilling to think straightly -  and admit that huge body of scientific knowledge could have come up several lakhs of years back – when the world looked different; and extraordinary levels of scientific spirit was available in India. India was certainly not roaming bare; and not eating raw flesh – even lakhs of years back. It had extraordinary levels of knowledge and wisdom even then – which is extremely useful to humanity now.

Today-we simultaneously believe both the Big Bang theory and the 7-Day creation theory. Likewise, we simultaneously believe the Human evolution theory as in  Adam-and-Eve story and the Darwinian hypotheses both. Aren’t we excellent, highly adjusted split personalities?

We do not know who we are; yet, we know, by birth that we are going to a heaven, where we don’t know what we will be doing. All religions are so. They don’t reform the most glaring FALSITIES in them – as long as we remain mere believers.

At the same time, science co-existed with religion all the time. It was more so in India. The Indian religions do exist partly for the faithful. But, it also provides a huge opportunity for the explorer, for one who is willing to transform himself into a Powerhouse of Intelligence and awareness.

The Inner science that India promoted so perfectly - is more important to us today - than the outer science – and more beneficial too. It is also the shortest route – to more important facts about the Universe. Instead of “split-split-split –And see”; the Inner science takes us to Join-Join-Join-and become one with it.

India may produce a Satyendra Nath Bose – or many such, for the outer search too; but the inner science is India’s Forte. India has a lot to achieve in this respect.  The world has a lot to gain from it.

Ignoring this takes the world nowhere. 

The Inner science is the easiest path to the finest of truths.

All the same – we congratulate the Physicists – for their path-breaking and Path-extending discovery – of the Higgs Boson Particle.

 *  *  *  E  N  D  *  *  *