Jun 27 2016
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Papa CJ -A Bold Experiment

I have always followed CJ’s progress with great interest. It never fails to surprise me as to how he’s willing to reinvent himself and experiment with his performance. His yesterdays show fell in the same category. He already knows what works for him, but to allow a change takes some courage.

He tried to mix his stand-up act with a serious discussion of varied hues though largely focused on youth. The foursome tried to steer the conversation to the topics of interest which might have been paramount in their minds but sometimes audience can play spoil sport. They have their own agenda or ideas or personal grouses which seem to be of global relevance to them but might not hold relevance for all.

The effort was very genuine and endearing as it’s not easy to keep your head on the block and put on stake your reputation as an entertainer. It takes supreme confidence, self assurance and a desire to deliver which eggs on the performers to do that. To merely entertain would have been a cake walk for them, which they did do eventually albeit to entertain the audience before calling it curtains. This is the hallmark of a true performer that though he was definitely trying to break stereotypes (taking a dig, or cracking jokes all through) yet he managed to accommodate their demands.

In fact the format had made it abundantly clear that he desires to engage in an interactive session with the audience but it did not seem to have registered as perhaps people just came for some laughs irrespective.

The show was a Spritely effort(pun intended) The show was partially allowed to be hijacked by the audience. The end result only reiterates the fact that a professional is better at it, hence they should have called the shots allowing some movement within the  defined framework.

As usual , I enjoyed this show as it was a refreshing break. Due to his being engaged in conversation I could not personally  express my thoughts but I am sure he would fine tune it to his advantage and do a great job.

My  admiration is based on other issues which have a greater relevance. He always remains calm, unruffled and a true gentleman which may be difficult in his line of work.

Looking forward to more of you

Cheers

Meera Bhardwaj

 

 

Mar 16 2015
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Papa C.J ( Naked) Breaking Myths

A tribute to his spirit
I’ve been a long-standing admirer of CJ’s shows but the show witnessed this Sunday, 15th March, broke several myths vis-a-vis him. It was intrinsically different from any other shows of his. The jokes, punches and sexual innuendoes were in place, but what was different was the attitude. He had taken on a challenge, to go on an inward journey in a saucy and irreverent manner. To be both flippant and vulnerable in the same breath and yet to be in total control. It was taut, packed, with no one to fall back on except his own resources and he did not miss a beat.
The concept was both bold as well as evocative with traces of poignancy.
The moment you began to go soft, the sharp wit was back, swinging you from one extreme to another of raw emotion. The unbridled, raw sexual energy had perfect counterfoil in terms of poignancy of his inward journey. I’m sure it must have been scripted, yet it needed a great deal of intelligence, dare and attitude to carry it through.
The Sunday before, on 8th of March, I’d gone for Radhika Vaz Show in suspended animation, ostensibly to celebrate Women’s Day. Did I come out looking in a celebratory mode? Was I smiling as I left? No, none of it. It left me cold for two reasons. One for the want of content and other for the lack of audience connect. She was more self-absorbed, almost wary of tangling with the audience. It needs confidence, quick wit and attitude to be able to do that. She was lacking in all these departments. I emerged with zero feel good factor and also felt cheated out of a good laugh. I had to make amends, so headed for CJ, and it did work. I was smiling through the drive back at recounting things which tugged at nostalgia without becoming obsessive about them. It was just a walk down and nothing more yet each recounted incident fingered some lurking memory in the recess of our heart.
His wit is not didactic, pontificating, preachy or only sexual it just promises to give you a good time and delivers.
This show will remain iconic in many ways. It’s soul-searching. It only could be attempted by a man supremely confident, in control and with a capacity to carry you along. His act and final march needed a great deal of panache, and panache he had. With a lesser showman it could have gone horribly wrong. But he is not CJ for nothing.
A toast to his ten years truly
Cheers
Meera unplugged

Jan 08 2015
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Kapil Sharma versus Karan Johar

At the onset it seemed that the twain shall never meet. One an upstart from the streets of Amritsar and the other rubbing shoulders with the hoi polloi of ‘the filmy world’. One rustic, albeit with a roguish charm, the other polished to the last nail, slick and ruling the gossip world of Bollywood.

Karan in his wildest dreams would never have patronised the likes of Kapil or had them on his show and Kapil in his wildest dreams could not have thought that he would end up hosting a show where the mighty from Karan’s world would come and warm his ragged sofas.
His slow climb in comedy circuit culminating in scintillating success of his Comedy Nights is a fairy tale story. Karan was born to host such shows and display his friendships, intimacy and knowledge of the world he was born into.
Karan’s is an insider’s view coloured by his dynamics and friendships and secure position whereas Kapil was an outsider who had foraged into this world accidentally and now was holding his own and learning the strange ways of this closed, almost incestuous world where everyone is related to everyone.
He has come a long way from the gauche, hesitant, overtly humble, ingratiating host to a confident, sassy, saucy, cheeky and brash host who is calling the shots. His show is touted to be the preferred choice for publicity, to appear cool, nonchalant and let your hair down.
He has learned to don a veneer of sophistication guised by rusticity which has become his USP and on the other hand Karan has lost his crown, has started winking uncontrollably, giggling like a teenager and gossiping like our auntiji in mohalla except that his mohalla is of rich and happening.
He could have capitalized on his strengths and built on his restrain and dignity at display in his earlier years but he chose to fritter it away and squandered it on a gossip starved public.
Kapil has been steadily stacking his stock by being free from any burden of pretence as we had no expectations.
Now that he has tasted success and has himself photographed with the titans, its time that he soul searches and doesn’t let it go to his head and swell it. Keeping yourself grounded and not forgetting that what comes can go as easily should be his mantra.
meera unplugged

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Jan 08 2015
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smriti Irani – See the writing on the Wall

The HRD Ministry has changed hands but not the fate of lakhs of students who are dependent on the degrees awarded to them at Secondary or High School level. The CCE effect has greater reverberations than Raman effect. It amounts to steering to mediocrity inexorably. The situation is so dismal that students notorious for choosing the easier path have also expressed their displeasure over prevailing system.
Doing away with the Board Exams was not a heinous crime but substituting it with CCE was.It was a signal for all learning to be bundled under mindless tasks, projects, gradings etc which ensured that no parent and student to ever know their true worth or merit in any sphere.
Co curricular activities have always been integral to school education but mixing and conjoining academics with it have done irreparable damage. Both attributes have been diluted and lost relevance as one is substituted by other.
Apart from this, the percentage to pass is ridiculous with umpteen chances given to re attempt leaving no stone unturned to ensure that a student who is way below the expected norm of learning at a particular level is sent further up to suffer and inflict his ignorance on society. We are the perpetrators of this monstrosity and should take immediate steps to undo the damage already inflicted.
You may have singed your hands with University programme fallout but this is imperative and needs no further prevarication.Hoping you see the urgency to act in the best interest of the students
meera unplugged

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May 06 2014
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Grief – Coping With It

Coping with grief has no thumb rule. It neither dulls with time nor is assuaged by religious explanations and leanings. Nothing works except your own self preservation instinct. Your own mind auto suggests certain justifications and tries to numb or block out painful components. Each person absorbs the grief differently and reacts accordingly. Some succumb to it and enter into depression or opt out, while others might immerse themselves in work. Some are in denial and a few wallow in it and relive it.

In my case, I have been on a guilt trip. Could I have been more alert to signs of failing health, spent more time with him, shared joyful past more or been more proactive in some manner. It may not be a unique experience, but it definitely is the worst kind of pain where you berate yourself for not having done something that could have altered the course of events.

The people try to reach out to you, but you are not ready yet and keep shut in. The mere existence seems meaningless but there is a duality of feelings. You have reached the nadir in your emotions but a part of you keeps living and carrying out all the necessary activities , reasserting your will to live and not merely exist.

Each day I carry a false face with a false smile on my face to tackle the world without my loved one. I ward off any query or talk about him as it is not only painful but also intrusive. You are amazed at the capacity of people to mourn with you for a minute making the right sounds and in a wink don another persona. I steal myself each day from answering any questions about how I feel.

I am unable to fathom how I feel. A complex churning of emotions is constantly happening. There is a sense of finality about it and the advise to move on, to some extent has been followed, but the thoughts come unbidden to haunt you.

Added to it is the norm of expected behaviour imposed by society. They desire and will you to express your grief in a manner acceptable to them. Any deviation is a sign of aberration according to them. This stifles you. They couch this with words like ‘ I admire her will power and bravery’. There is a hint of disapproval if you recover from grief in haste or appear to be happy. It’s as if you have committed a sin or social faux pa.

It’s time to live your grief your way without being compelled to follow any norm of accepted behaviour. Only this can eventually heal you. Take your time.

meera unplugged

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Feb 16 2014
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Teachers Increased Workload/ Hours/ School Teachers Exploited

Teachers Increased Workload/ Hours/ School Teachers Exploited.

Feb 16 2014
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Teachers Increased Workload/ Hours/ School Teachers Exploited

 The most recent news  of increasing the  working hours of teachers came as an extension of the hare brained reforms which are either under process or on anvil. One of the worst decisions that could ever be taken. Very few people of quality join this profession due to poor pay packages, promotion and growth avenues. The few good ones lingered only due to the timings which to some extent help them look after their own young children. The governments world over harp about parents spending time with kids, but our government refuses to see this. I’m sure they haven’t realised that lakhs of children would travel back home without any teacher escort if hours are extended.

 Recently, I heard Mr Panda speak about increasing the duration of B.Ed. course to two years in the hope that it would eventually materialize into better teachers. You also made a point about poor pass percentage of teachers clearing the competency test. Is it the teachers to be blamed or your poor universities which are govt. recognised and have substandard lecturers. How way off the mark are you sir!  What training is given to college teachers before they take on teaching? Why all this for school teachers only? Many school teachers are as qualified as lecturers and from better universities but are ignored as they lack a strong organisation like DUTA.

 Instead of concentrating on improving their working conditions for better output, they continue to add to their woes. Has the govt. ever thought on the lines of providing comfortable chairs, staffroom, ventilation and workstations to them?  A teacher as a routine carries work back home thus extending her working hours anyway. Has any thought gone into reducing number of students per class? Have they thought of reducing no of teaching periods and workload so that they can do quality correction and have time to be creative rather than the automatons they have become.

Work on better universities so that better quality graduates emerge, do not tamper with or harass the already burdened teacher who has against all odds been teaching with the welfare of the student at heart. Unlike college teachers, they also substitute for mothers, care givers, counsellors and guides. They are the most valued part of society and also the  most neglected.

Teaching as a profession has constantly been losing its sheen. All policies and ideas are an effort in the wrong direction. As compared to college lecturers, school teachers put in more working hours, have twice as much correction, zero flexibility, lower esteem, thrice the workload and less then half their salary. The misguided CCE has doubled the documentation and reduced worthwhile teaching. Documentation has become bigger than actual knowledge transfer. In the midst of all this churning and confusion is the hapless teacher who is usually the last one to know about the changes and the least consulted.

Ironically, being the first point of contact with the child, their feedback and opinion is of paramount importance. They are side-lined and only used as mere tool of implementation, hence the poor quality of students who are the end product. It will do the society some good if this community is well looked after.

There is a mad rush for admission to good schools, what is a school without a good teacher! Panacea of all problems that ail education is not to burden the teacher, but to introspect and work towards a wholesome teaching community.

Meera unplugged

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Feb 02 2014
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Karan Johar- The Rise and Fall

Karan Johar- The Rise and Fall.

Feb 02 2014
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Karan Johar- The Rise and Fall

To begin with Karan Johar came across as a smooth ,suave and polished person. Sophisticated, well spoken with some panache though always frivolous. This was his television persona which may not have been reflected in his films.
His presence was guaranteed to tide over awkward moments even though they were created by him, but of late he is losing the script. Even his mannerisms are becoming more pronounced in a particular manner. He has become garrulous and crass at the same time.
His new season of Koffee with Karan alongwith his introductory act and song are unbecoming of the stature he had. He came across as shallow as some of the climbers of the industry. There is a subtle change in his body language which is distancing him with his earlier image.
Akshay in one of his shows raised some genuine questions and grouses which were beyond being peevish as they had some truth in them. Touche.
The sophistication he carried with ease earlier now only appears to be a veneer and his true unguarded self is coming through or is the transition is for real. Is it age or the feeling life slipping by and you want to do some catching up. Letting your hair down in the most gauche manner .
It sure is risqué. You might lose certain class of followers but conversely a different kind might add up. One could credit you with certain level of conversation and depth earlier but today your credit stands on a slippery ground. Do get a stronger foothold lest you skid.
meer

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Jan 10 2014
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MODI versus AAM AADMI PARTY

The game / war called elections has entered its final and most uncertain phase. The game changers are AAP who began as underdogs , clinched enough seats to be called stakeholders, ended up forming govt. in Delhi, albeit reluctantly. All these feats were commendable ,to say the least. Having risen from the embers of a movement they have become a style statement and can be called flavour of the decade.
The history will always remember them for the twist in the tale. Their meteoric rise has been unprecedented and displays several shades from the past, Like Jaiprakash movement. They have upset several carts and calculations. They can no longer be trivialized.
They have been a wake up call for several parties who are now resonating with right sounds like cutting electricity costs etc. But they should rest a while on their laurels and consolidate their achievement by good governance.
I for one had voted for them in Delhi polls, not because I expected them to pull off the feat of bagging adequate seats, but as a sign of my disgruntlement with the existing state of affairs.
Before leaping to the forefront of politics, they need to learn the ropes, gain experience, learn governance, form policies and charter paths which are not hurried fulfilments of promises but a lasting affair. Their dalliance should mature into a long affair before they take on the country.
The stock markets are already jittery at this upset and it does not bode well for the country to have complete novices at the helm of affairs. With due respect to their minister Rakhi on NDTV, though well- intentioned, she looked a complete green horn. We re talking about a very large nation and not a well – meaning experiment which might set us back.
We need to give a chance to Modi now at the Centre as Congress has already had its chance. I, for one will put my weight behind Modi in the hope of development.
There’s a race to join the cadres of AAP, which is the sign of changing times and spirit.
I honour the spirit of India and hope the churning cauldron of politics brings good times
meera unplugged

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