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Of The Two Agneepaths and Youth Versus Wisdom

2012-02-01T16:08:49Z

I went to watch this movie without any expectations — no hangover of the original version. Or so I thought at the beginning.

I knew Karan Johar’s Agneepath isn’t just a remake; it is another version with some crucial elements removed from the previous one. But by the time I was out of the cinema hall, I could not stop thinking about comparing the two and the manner in which screenplay has taken its course.

In the end, just like we write or view it differently, director Karan Malhotra also tries doing the same — different from the previous.

The details and the way sets have been erected is a commendable job. Just goes on to show that Bollywood is improving by the day in matters related to sets detailing.

Overall, the movie had more Indianness to it than the previous one where Westernisation had just started taking roots in the country. Hrithik’s stubbled, sherwani-clad look is a far cry from the clean-shaven well-tailored Amitabh, giving the impression that our hero isn’t bothered with the trendy elements of life but nevertheless manages to look good with the outfits he chooses.

Now comes the part where I feel the remake was a let down. There are huge gaps in the new version which I fail to understand and as I write this, I am still unable to fathom a few scenarios that are presented as they are. In fact, more than a remake, it would be apt to call the new Agneepath a heavily inspired movie where the characters lack depth and sense of purpose. If Mukul Anand’s cult version is the benchmark, then it has not done justice in keeping the soul of the movie alive in important moments.

The vengeance is clear but I have issues with the way script has been narrated. Agneepath was meant to be displaying the path of fire — the fire inside a child that gave birth to a rebellious youth who is all out to fulfill his childhood ambition. In the new version, the fire is there in short bursts and the path is devious with unnecessary murder plots, completely irrelevant to the main goal of the movie. These little breakaways from the highway make it incomplete to say the least.

By this time it is clear about who I am favoring and it isn’t Karan Malhotra. The stories about how Vijay taking to crime isn’t convincing in spite of the dark hanging scene shown. The killing of Rauf Lala’s son and Shantaram could have been avoided; there could have been a better way of highlighting the circumstances behind Vijay’s determination to get back his village, Mandwa, his relationship with the cop Gaitonde isn’t clear and lacks dialogue and screen presence emphasising the clash of ideologies. The only thing that is obvious is Vijay wants to kill Kancha and just goes about it without thinking much.

Now, I am in a mood for comparison, as the soul of the story and purpose were supposed to be same, with variation just in the manner of interpretation. But Let me warn readers, this is my personal interpretation after some hard thinking (which included bashing up a friend for taking us to this movie!). The story leading to the death of Master Deenanath is very poorly scripted; a person with such revered status cannot be eliminated in a flash. The faulty police system isn’t well highlighted and the very purpose of making Vijay taking to crime isn’t convincing. Suhasini Chauhan makes an appearance to the police station towards the end in panic; revealing her identity isn’t exactly the way you hand in the most important part of the movie. You need an eye-to eye scene to capture the range of emotions Kancha would have displayed knowing the hidden face of ‘Vijay’. This direct confrontation is badly missed.

Priyanka Chopra is pretty, but there is little scope for her to show her acting prowess. Alongside Chikni Chameli Katrina Kaif, Priyanka playing Kaali is just a character added. Bulk of her scenes isn’t consequential to the movie and the more I think, her character is just a requirement to increase the glam quotient.

Sanjay Dutt as Kancha plays more of a dark magician whose sole purpose is to keep the power and make money. Though the modern Kancha has some witty lines straight out of the Holy Hindu texts in spite of the character lacking the charisma, it is acceptable as he does justice to his role and has a significant presence throughout. Rishi Kapoor’s character Rauf Lala impressed me. Zarina Wahab as Suhasini Chauhan has lesser presence than Rohini Hattangadi, who had some of the best lines in the previous version.

Now comes the part where you would want to compare Hrithik and Amitabh, for obvious reasons. Thankfully, there is a clear demarcation with respect to age and timing of the revenge. In the earlier version, the bulk of the story took place 25 years after Master Deenanath’s demise. In the new one, it is 15 years. This gap of 10 years helped me to live with the fact of the way the modern Vijay goes about his approach — in 10 years even a character matures a lot. While Amitabh’s voice did justice to those power filled lines, Hrithik’s strength is in his innocence and the way he uses his physical prowess. I stopped comparing keeping in mind the 10-year gap seen in both the movies.

So what are our takeways?

I can’t remember any line from the Karan Malhotra version. Sorry, you could have nailed it here if only emphasis were given on dialogues, especially that of Vijay’s. Where are the punch lines expected out of a rebel who is on a mission? Is a great body a better substitute to the way you use your mouth to make your presence felt?

But by this logic, if Amitabh’s Vijay was to be 10 years younger, he would have faltered too, would have struggled to protect his family, would be ambiguous but physically more agile. So it is only fair to say, the latest Agneepath takes a detour and accelerates in accompanying the mission — to kill Kancha in order to get Mandwa.

While you start looking at it like that, you get the feeling that may be Karan Malhotra thought on similar lines.

But, the important part of any movie is to have some sort of intellect driving its characters, and with all due respect, the latest offering misses some key moments that could have bolstered it better. To a great extent, Rishi Kapoor’s was the only character whose role is appealing and to a lesser extent that of Sanjay Dutt, mainly because he has a few good lines.

I wonder how the original Agneepath would fare if it were to be re-released with minor changes keeping with the latest technological trends. Would it have been a hit unlike previously when it was released in 1990?

It is difficult to comprehend if today’s youth would have identified with Amitabh’s Vijay. But one thing is for sure — the characters used in the Mukul Anand’s version had a solid reasoning and it seemed the flow of the story to be well connected. It is another matter why the movie flopped. But then that happened to Swades too. So let’s not get into the mysteries of the Indian box-office.

Irrespective of the box-office collections, the 1990 version of Agneepath to me was a cult-classic, one of the very rare crime- and gangster-based movies Bollywood has produced. Amitabh Bachchan won his first National award for this and his performance as Vijay Deenanath Chauhan will be remembered for a long time to come.

Images courtesy: agneepaththefilm.com.

Agneepath: Remake Lacks Fire and Vijay Still Needs More Work to be Done

2012-02-01T16:10:14Z

Okay, so the K-Jo take on the chronicles of the iconic Vijay Dinanath Chauhan (pura naam, mind you) is out and is raking up big bucks at the box office in its opening week.

Agneepath looks nothing like a Karan Johar production — the westernised sophistication and oh-so-urbane “chic”ness of K-Jo’s style factory is totally absent, and instead, the movie celebrates unabashedly a loud return to the glory days of masala Bollywood flicks. The younger Johar’s conscious decision to keep alive the feel and look of his father’s original (it was the Johars who produced the original back in 1990) is evident in every frame. With larger than life storylines, over-the-top drama, can-do-no bad heroes, monstrous villains and heroines that are no better than a pretty portrait in the background — the famous “formula” of filmi fantasy is back in director Karan Malhotra’s movie. And if the cat calls and whistles of the audience in the theatre I watched the movie in is any sign of the popular national mood, then Salman and his front bench-pleasing South remakes are in for some serious competition.

But love it or hate it, there is no way you can watch the new without a tinge of nostalgia for the old. Commercial potboilers both, starring some of the biggest names of their times, the two Agneepath stories demand a head on comparison like no remake ever has.

The Story: very little has changed in the actual tale. A revenge drama played out with all guns blazing (and all horns blaring in the background score), the story of Agneepath needs no retelling. Mandava is still the paradise by the sea gone wrong, Mumbai is still the chaotic city of dreams, familywallahs are still as melodramatic and the set pieces as cliché as ever. Karan Johar’s decision to keep the soul of the story intact in its original avatar works wonders and so both movies level out in this particular department.

The older version feels more real what with all its masala and style. Vijay Deenanath Chauhan still rules.

Ironically though, it is the older of the two versions that feels more real — the “sambar” slums when Shiksha gets kidnapped, the sea-side Mandva of Vijay’s childhood and even the crackling dialogues written by the incomparable Kader Khan adds a delicious tadka to the filmi flavor of the story. The gloomy “bargad ka ped” and the dark lair of Kancha in the latest version, however, are a little too obvious as props and not as real places. Dialogues are restricted to some fancy lines by Sanjay Dutt alone while Hrithik decides to sulk his way through most it. The screenplay and the dialogues of the original outshine the remake completely.

The characters: True to Mukul Anand’s inimitable style, the original Agneepath gave us memorable supporting performances by some veteran actors that are remembered till this day. Tinnu Anand’s abusive drunkard, Alok Nath as the masterji, Rohini Hattangidi’s powerful role as the hero’s mother and the fabulous portrayal of a young Vijay by master Manjunath (who can forget him dragging his father’s body on a push cart!) are important parts of the story and leave a mark alongside the lead actors’ brilliant performances.

The remake however, belongs solely to three male characters and all others are converted into insignificant parts. Even the lead actress, Priyanka Chopra , who tries hard to redo her Marathi mulgi act from Kaminey, is reduced to a mere footnote.

The older version scores yet again.

A brilliant performance by Rishi Kapoor as Rauf Lala.

Rauf Lala vs Krishnan Iyer MA: The “nariyal paniwala” of the original tale was a performance by Mithun that could never ever be recreated. Any attempts to do the same would have made a mockery of Krishnana Iyer MA and the simplicity and honesty that he represented. The makers fortunately decided to keep the awesomeness of a lungi-clad, coconut cleaver-wielding, dark-skinned second hero to a side, and instead introduced the utterly evil, kohl-wearing Rauf Lala. The evil slumlord Anna Shetty of the original is replaced by this brilliant performance by Rishi Kapoor and his filth-spewing portrayal of the lord of the ghettos is applause worthy.

As far as secondary roles go, both score high in terms of performances, but I bet that it is Mithun with his swagger, white lungis and Tamil dialogues who will live longer in your memory.

Kancha Cheena: This is where the remake trumps over the original. Danny fans don’t get me wrong; his Kancha Cheena was evil enough and he looked uber cool in his tailored suits, gelled hair and dark shades. But as the makers reinvented the iconic bad guy for the remake, they were able to create something far more evil and primal.

Sanjay Dutta simply re-invents Kancha Cheena.

Sanjay Dutt leaves the goody two shoes of Munnabhai far behind and dons a mask of mindless hatred and psychotic rage right from the early moments. His leering, hairless, black-clad avatar is the real show stealer in the new Agneepath. And with some of the best lines in the story he easily towers above everyone else.

Be sure to watch him in the opening scenes as he drags the noble masterji across the village and then brutally lynches him. A very few villains have left such an impact in Hindi cinema of recent times.

Vijay Deenanath Chauhan: Ah, the million-dollar question. Hrithik or Amitabh? SRK proved through his Don movies that it is impossible to redo what the Big B did, one could only reinterpret it. Hrithik tries to walk down the same path and tries to remold Vijay Deenanath Chauhan in a cast of his own making. The fans of Bachchan in the original would be sorely disappointed by this because even as Hrithik tries and tries real hard, he simply lacks the flair and verve that comes with the character. You end up blaming the screenplay and the direction for this.

We would rather see the suit-clad Big B

Even with Hrithik’s brave efforts, both Rishi Kapoor and Sanjay Dutt have a more dominating presence than him on screen and it is only when he delivers the lines from the original that he brings some credibility to his character. Kudos to Hrithik for exploring greater shades of grey and for creating a new take on the character, but frankly speaking, we much prefer the suit-wearing Bachchan with his kohl-darkened eyes any day.

Verdict: Debutante Karan Malhotra shows immense promise and owns the movie in the opening shots. His storytelling is more brutal and his shots more graphic than what we are used to see in Bollywood and his direction sparkles while the story is in Mandva. But his train loses steam by the middle of the first half and for some unknown reason the story goes around in meaningless circles before he launches the hapless audience into a totally unbelievable climax (I know it’s Bollywood but a man getting stabbed five times and still lynching a dude of Sanju baba‘s size is plain stupid).

Keep it dark and deliciously brutal, you want to tell the director, but all you get is a strange cocktail of Chinese beauty parlors and Chikni Chamelis that do little for the movie. Like the surprising statutory warning in the Katrina item number, the movie comes with a rider of its own: Revisit Mandva to meet the new Kancha Cheena and Rauf Lala alone, Vijay still needs some more work to be done.

Images courtesy: agneepaththefilm.com.

Pardon Me Madam Chief Minister, but Your Slip is Showing

2012-02-01T14:48:00Z

The headlines in Hindustan Times flashed: Not paid salary, transport worker commits suicide.

According to the report, Vikram Singh, a non-technical casual employee of Calcutta Tramways Corporation (CTC) had committed suicide after being denied salary for four successive months.

Now, as our state transport minister Madan Mitra commented, when being informed of the incident, that the government first had to check whether Vikram Singh was an employee of CTC at all!

A perfectly justified point, given the fact that all forces — Ms Mamata Banerjee’s ‘friends’ and ‘foes’ (read Congress and the Left) as well the media seem to have “joined hands” to label the government as inefficient.

All this, after all, cannot be anything but a conspiracy.

Take for instance the series of farmer suicides that occurred just before the CTC employee’s suicide, reflecting very poorly on the governance of Ms Banerjee. According to media reports, the state government had failed to ensure that the farmers got the minimum procurement price for their products. I am sure that was a gross case of misreporting, a CPM conspiracy to show state government in bad light.

But then, law minister Moloy Ghatak was gheraoed by irate farmers demanding that the mill owners be made to purchase paddy from them. That could have made anyone wonder about the real state of affairs and question the government’s performance.

But of course, our dear Chief Minister showed us the right path. She has, very rightly, smelt a CPM role in the deaths. She has also said first we need to ascertain whether they were farmers at all!.

No wonder the transport minister took a leaf out of her books.

Now, what is all this brouhaha being made about the series of crib deaths occurring at regular intervals in Kolkata and surrounding districts? (Read: 100 crib deaths in West Bengal since Jan 1) After all, hasn’t Ms Banerjee said this is normal? Further, hasn’t her think-tank provided enough “necessary empirical evidences” to show that crib deaths were much lower in Paschimbanga? (Read: CM gets figures right but dates wrong: Left)

A section of the “biased” media is just hell-bent on attacking the failure of Ms Banerjee’s government just because she personally holds the health portfolio. What is all this noise about no visible paribartan in the state-run hospitals and heath centres? Why are they calling it mere poll promises? Hasn’t she made surprise visits to hospitals and hauled up ‘erring officials’? Didn’t the “evil” media report those events and capture them on TV cameras? Wasn’t that supposed to improve the state of affairs? If that doesn’t do the job, why blame her and her government? And didn’t she clarify that incidents like the rat-bite death at PGI was again a CMP conspiracy?

Then, some people talk of daylight robberies and murders. There are others who talk about heads of educational institutional being roughed up by her partymen. Why make a fuss over all that? As if Paschimbanga is the first state in India where such incidents are taking place!

And why do people say the performance of the TMC government in the last eight months been dismal? After all, hasn’t she been making tall promises? What if they can’t be fulfilled? How many parties and leaders fulfill their promises in India? Why single her out?

After all, she has been busy, relentlessly fighting friends and foes in all these eight months. How bravely she took on her ally Congress and showed Congress minister Manoj Chakraborty his true place! So what if the development of the state appears to take a backseat for now?

These “lies” have done so much of harm that now even her ‘friends’ from the business community had expressed their apprehensions in a recent interface.

Naturally, she is seeing “red” in every incident. Of course, she is right in accusing the Left of maligning her image. But then the “biased” media is not passing off her remarks as great oratory and witty remarks. Sold off, as they are!

How they comment on her bad English or not knowing Bengal from Bangladesh, or the fact that Bangladesh is on the borders of Pakistan! How unfair!

Doesn’t people realise the multiple problems she is facing? The fissures between the TMC-Congress ties — especially after she unceremoniously removed Manoj Chakraborty – is increasing. And there are mischief-makers within her party too. The Mayor of Kolkata Sovan Chatterjee is a man with dubious credentials and his wings are being clipped as another Mayor-in-Council is being given more prominence.

And then people talk about her being insecure!

Insecurity with a Capital I

On a serious note, why does a political leader of national and ‘international repute‘, who swept to power with overwhelming popular support after decimating a party that had been in power for 34 years, suffer from such paranoia? What is that she is afraid of? Is it the Red Demon that she has supposedly slayed?

Has she realised that she was better off as an Opposition leader without any responsibility and accountability? Is she finding the crown full of thorns and heavy?

SRK’s Don 2 was a runaway hit. But, Mamata’s tryst with her directional venture Lon-DON 2 (read Kolkata to be transformed to London) has not cut much ice with her critics and public alike. She now wants to paint government offices and public transport utilities, including the famous yellow taxis of Kolkata, blue and white, maybe with an artistic insight to spruce up the city ambience.

The Left has begun to sharpen its knives, having played the role of a model opposition all these months as they prepare to launch an all out anti-government tirade. However, their ruckus is unlikely to bear any fruit until and unless her image is demystified. It will take time to unveil the real Mamata from the carefully built image common people have of her – the messiah of the poor and downtrodden and the forthright leader who fights for equity and justice.

It’s time we replace that with “incapable administrator” and “an insecure leader”.

Adelaide, the Final Indian Whitewash

2012-01-29T15:46:02Z

India came into the series as the favourites but displayed nothing to live up to it.

Letting the chances go by, suffering and finally humiliation.

Summing the theme of the first three Tests, Team India came into the fourth after a long gap and one wonders if there could have been a three-day match organised just to keep the cricket flowing instead of having nets alone. Did we overlook this gap when the schedule was drawn up?

In reality, as it stood in Adelaide, there was nothing much to lose since the Border-Gavaskar Trophy was already taken. Winning the dead rubber would have only salvaged some pride but not repaired the dents.

M.S. Dhoni, who was banned for the final Test for over-rate issues, probaly got time to plan for the forthcoming T-20 and the ODI series, while Sehwag, the stand-by captain, had hopes of continuing his good record as the leader.

Prior to this match, Adelaide had been kind to the Indian team in the recent past, having seen them win in the 2003/04 season and dominant for most parts in 2007/08 season. This time, the scene was different and any result has no bearing to the morale of the team, as the damage had already been done. Any positives out of this Test would have been an indicator as to what where the team was headed or if at all there was light at the end of this dark tunnel.

Michael Clarke won the toss on a good batting track and had every intention of keeping the Indians on the field for long. Ashwin was back in the team, replacing for Vinay Kumar, and Wriddhiman Saha was keeping for the first time in Tests after having made his debut earlier in 2010 as a batsman.

Did India miss a trick by not opting Ojha instead of a third seamer?

Indians had a good start as the Australians found themselves in a situation like the previous Tests; losing the top order, only having two of their in-form batsmen making the rescue act. It was time for a sequel of the “Pup and the Punter Show” — and the show went on much to the frustration of Indian fans and delight for all the Australians.

The Indian bowling was patchy at best and lacked any penetration.

Runs flowed continuously for 95 overs, spanning close to 400 minutes, yielding 386 runs in the process. For people who love records, this partnership was for statistical delight — the highest for an India-Australia Test for any wicket. The selectors must be patting themselves for having kept Ponting in the team, as it weren’t to his revival, Australians would have struggled to post those big totals which has been the difference between the two teams in the entire series.

Not sure if it had to do with lack of penetration by Indian bowlers or really good quality batting. From what I have seen from the series, it was clearly evident that the Indian bowling lacked penetration at crucial junctures and intensity was missing when partnerships were built. Barring the Melbourne Test, India never looked like picking 20 wickets and the failure of batting didn’t help the bowlers either as Clarke went on to make another double century and thereby became the first captain to hit a triple and double hundred in the same series.

Ponting and Clarke played yet another great innings.

It isn’t a pleasing sight when you are a fan and even the most cynical Indian fan would not have anticipated the extent the Australians have been drubbing our bowling attack in this series. It had been just three innings and those three innings have seriously dented the confidence of the bowling attack. This, in spite of having the luxury of having injury-free bowlers, unlike in England. The misery finally ended with Ryan Harris hitting a six off Ashwin and Clarke declaring the innings after his team posted 604 runs in little over five sessions of play.

What do you expect from the Indian batting this time around?

All I knew for a fact that if Australia were to win the Test, Indians had to be dismissed twice. With 21 overs left on the second day and three more days, I hoped one brave act from our line-up. Sehwag blazed away scoring boundaries before getting out to Siddle. Not to mention, India did manage to get their highest opening partnership of the series, a meager 26 runs!

Enter Rahul Dravid, a run later, the wall came down yet again. I am no expert talking about his technique and I shall only say that he is a much better player than this. Not often I have got this feeling, but in this series, I felt Dravid looked like getting out on most occasions whenever he came out to bat. I was speechless when he was beaten and was left with no explanation as the replays kept showing him getting bowled. The feeling only got worse when the broadcaster displayed all his previous dismissals in the series.

Another day gone as I was left with wondering will the third day be the day?

On the third morning on Thursday, barely had the Republic parade started and the Indian batting line-up had a parade of their own thousands of kilometres away, losing five wickets for just over a hundred on the board. A Republic Day hundred was what the whole of India hoped for, but it didn’t come from the bat of Sachin. Gambhir and Laxman soon left and it seemed even a good batting track wouldn’t be of much assistance to the mental state of the Indian team.

Will be there another low score? (By this time I was used to getting up early and watching India perform badly with the bat.)

Kohli and Saha, a fresh pair was a pleasant sight to watch. For the first time, there was some intent and purpose in the way they batted. The pair went on to add 114 runs before an error of judgment from Saha at the stroke of tea. Wow, we had almost gone through a session wicket less… well almost!!

Kohli's hundred was the first Indian century in the series.

Now, with wickets falling at the other end, there were some anxious moments whether or not Kohli would score India’s first century of the tour. He got there finally and erupted like a wounded gladiator having just won a hard-fought battle. His hundred was redemption of sorts, a personal victory more than anything else. His maiden hundred will be the highlight of the tour and a glimmer of hope for the batting line-up that someone stood up and made it big while for many the pride was lost in their final playing days.

It wasn’t a green-top wicket — the batting order was disturbed by sheer discipline and Indians were lost all the wickets for 272. Clarke didn’t impose a follow-on. With the pitch still good to bat coupled with the heat, it wasn’t such a bad idea to give the strike bowlers some rest for a session or two before going all out on the Indian line-up.

It was the final showdown in Australia for many of our batsmen and they would have no option but to save the match, avoid another white wash in less than six months or wilt away in the heat of the battle. So I, and am sure many of us, thought. But they had to wait as Australians opted to bat for some time.

Bowlers again stuck to their task and picked up the first three wickets easily. Barring the Perth massacre, the Australian top-order has rarely troubled the Indians. In quest for quick runs, the resurgent Aussies went after the bowling with Ponting having another good hit and showed no signs of being under pressure. Clarke declared with a lead of 500, and with little over five sessions to bat out, the Indian batting was merely a formality as one expected nothing but a miracle to avoid the whitewash.

Looking at the batting scores posted in the series, even the die-hard optimists wouldn’t have bet on India winning this Test.

But cricket in the past has defied logic and has shown miracles don’t just happen on ice. I fervently prayed for one last glory as the track was flat.

Frankly, the finale started on a low note with Gambhir getting out cheaply as Sehwag opened up his attacking instincts with boundaries coming at ease. It was the first innings at Melbourne did Sehwag last play such a knock and when Lyon tried to strangle him for runs, the stand-by captain could not resist the temptation for too long and mistimed a full toss to Ricky Ponting.

Was this the Little Master's last innings Down Under?

Sachin Tendulkar, in what seems like his final outing in Australia, came to the crease with no expectations whatsoever. Or was that an exaggeration from my side? The 100th hundred talks had taken a back seat ever since India’s surrender at Perth. But expectations are like nails, they keep growing and can only be clipped from time to time but can never be eliminated. His hundred would have appeased few on the ground who had a tough time supporting the Indian team. Indians, after all, were the favourites coming into this series but never played like the ones with the top tag.

The procession soon followed first with Dravid getting out to a wide delivery and then Sachin trying to defend Lyon’s ball gave an easy catch to short leg. Irrespective of what had happened to the little master, he was given a standing ovation send off for the memories of 20 years. As he walked back to the pavilion having had the worst Australian series individually, he must have wondered how life seems like a full circle. After all one of the best innings in his career has come in this country. India had lost 4-0 when he had first toured Australia and now in what seems like his last tour, India were in the brink of losing 4-0. He has seen much better days and who knows he might make another trip to Australia, if form and body holds up.

V.V.S. Laxman and Kohli put on some resistance before Lyon managed to induce a false stroke from Laxman and was out caught at short mid-wicket. Surely, Laxman played his last innings in Australia. His career took a notice when he made that hundred 12 years ago at Sydney. It feels a curtain has been drawn and he has all the time to decide in the coming months as to where his career and life was headed.

With a few overs to go in the day, Ishant Sharma walked in as the night watchman. The decision to protect the night watchman proved costly for Kohli as he was short of the crease when he tried to take a tricky single. With four wickets and a day to go, the question was how long the tail would last?

The final four wickets could add only 35 runs and India had their second whitewash in as many away series. Not only they plummeted to number three in the Test rankings, it is a hard fact to believe that they are still ahead of Australia in the ICC Official rankings, although it is mere technical basis.

Later in the day, with England losing to Pakistan on a spin-friendly track, I asked myself as to who really is Numero Uno at the moment. It would take few more series and years to find a team which is suited to play in all conditions.

A few of the players likes of Dravid and Laxman would not be there for the ODI series, but the bulk of the squad will be boosted by few fresh minded ones who have come to Australia for the two T20 matches and a tri-series with Sri Lanka as the third team. The outlook will be different as India would like to repeat the heroics of 2008 when they won the tri-series. Will they perform as is expected from the World Champions? Or would the whitewash have an impact on the psyche going into the shorter versions of the game?

Images courtesy: BCCI TV.

We the People and the Emergence of Social Enterprises

2012-01-25T17:09:54Z

Dawning of the Internet era where the entire consumer populi have gone social makes it imperative for organisations to turn into “social enterprises”.

The intense public anger against SOPA and PIPA last week and how it browbeat a determined government to shelve it for the time being is an eye opener about the significance of the Internet in our lives — personal and professional. The so-called attempt to throttle the freedom of the Net ended in a whimper as a harried government, a sure defeat staring at it in Congress, announced it would look into the issues and may take up the Bills again next month.

“What has happened in the last few weeks will permanently change the way citizens communicate with their government,” Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), was quoted by The Washington Post.

I am not getting into the merits or demerits of the Bills here. I want to talk about the growing importance of what Wyden called “citizens”, or the public at large, or consumers in corporate language.

The industrial era in the early 20th century to the knowledge-based era — as we typically love to attribute our own times — has seen an increasing importance of the general public in the overall attention quotient of the enterprises.

With the Internet, and consequently the rise of the social networks, crashing borders and brining the world closer than ever before, the “people”, or consumers, have become the most important issue for organisations. People across the globe are more connected now and capable of expressing themselves better. While they talk about their hobbies, favorite hang-out places, passions, geo locations or travel destinations on social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace, they are also telling each other their own perception of a product, a brand or a company.

Consider this: Facebook has 800+ million active users and Goggle+, which was launched in September 2011, is touted to reach 400+ million by the end of 2012. Naturally, the viral effect and word-of-mouth spread are more potent now than ever. When the entire consumer populi have gone social, companies cannot afford to fall behind, and it is imperative for them to turn into “social enterprises”. Organisations need to listen, examine and analyse the tonnages of social data floating around in the various networks, find out cues and then act effectively and immediately.

Things were never so difficult for the corporate world earlier. In fact, the industrial era was typically attributed with “production orientation”, where organisations only focused on producing efficiently, with the prior supposition that anything produced would be consumed.

Remember the iconic “Black Ford”, where Henry Ford said that he could provide any color as long as it is black?

Then, things started changing, slowly giving way to the more mature “product orientation” system. Suddenly, superlative technology and product features became the main focus, which naturally meant the consumer would love to consume. Note, the importance of consumers was rising as now they would have to “love” the product instead of just “consume” it. Sony Corporation is a stellar example of this phase, as it developed revolutionary products like the personal stereo and compact disc technology. The Japanese automobile industry is also one such example.

The next phase focused on “selling the product”. It was more of a “push” strategy, where proper selling and distribution channels meant businesses could achieve the desired market penetration and market coverage level. The FMCG industry was the main proponent of this strategy as they came to be known as the “sellers industry”.

Now, with the dawning of the Internet era, the customer has become the all-important entity for organisations. Not only they can afford to lose a consumer, but also they need to pamper them even to increase their perceived sense of self-worth.

The Red Bull page has been ranked by social media examiner as the most attractive and user-friendly Facebook page by a company.

So, innovative ads, gifts and hampers for consumers apart, what is the best way to spread a brand? Use the medium your consumers use. Use the social media.

It’s not for nothing organisations have also logged into Facebook to reach consumers (not to be left behind, Google+ also recently allowed business pages on its platform). They now spend millions on social media tools and campaigns and even employ social media experts to interact with users and develop new ideas to catch new consumers while retaining the old ones. (Check out Social Media Examiner‘s Top 10 Facebook pages )

But when we talk about customers, we loosely mean external customers. However, in today’s parlance, there is also a concept of internal marketing wherein the stakeholders internal to the organisation are considered. Here, we are mainly talking about the employees. In today’s industry, the two main pillars of success are definitely technology and service. In both paradigms, the primary importance is due and reserved for the employees of the enterprise. Hence, one of the prime concerns of organisations nowadays are to keep a track of the social behavior of the employees.

It’s all about creating a democratic organisation — flattening all hierarchies, abolishing bureaucracies, establishing top-to-bottom transparency, allowing tens of thousands of employees to chat with the CEOs, VPs, sharing ideas with the peers, white-boarding, group-videos — all on same page without leaving the workplace. Businesses must engage with everyone, get through all the hurdles and send the message straight down the hierarchy.

Various social enterprise networks for engaging employees such as Chatter and Yammer have come up.

For holding on to the employees, there are various enterprise social networks like Chatter from salesforce.com, yammer.com and tibbr.com from Tibco besides various other always-emerging options. These tools, though quite predated in looks as against a “consumer” social tool, are inherently stable and supporting robust business processes. You can try out a free version of Chatter. Yammer is the more innovative, light-weight, and “social media-savvy” amongst its brethren, but sometimes falls short in its support for robust business processes or as a prospect for those who are eyeing startup investment. A very new entry in the block is Nimble. “Salesforce is doing it wrong when it comes to social,” says CEO Jon Ferrara, adding, “We are effectively Salesforce but social.”

Salesforce’s obvious counter point here would be that its Chatter is the market leader, and also Radian6, which is more of an enterprise social CRM.

Whoever is right and whatever stands tall, in the open and free world of Internet, for organisations, it’s the public who matter most. There are a few corporations which have successfully created an enabling framework for enterprises to go social with their customers and employees. But that is for the next time!

Images courtesy: Company websites.

Whining Karnataka MLAs want iPod 3

2012-01-25T17:42:21Z

Over Rs 35.17 lakh was spent on equipping all MLCs in Karnataka with iPad 2.

No, the headline is not wrong and I did not make a mistake and call the iPad an iPod! And I am well aware that iPad 3 is not yet out of the Apple stable.

It’s just that a circular from the Karnataka Legislative secretariat lists “iPod3″ among the list of demands made by its MLAs. Now, Apple doesn’t have such a model of its portable media player either.

So what’s the confusion?

According to The Times of India report, the secretariat has admitted that the circular “demanding IPod3″ was misspelt. They obviously meant the iPad 3.

Now, the bigger joke, of course, is that iPad 3 has not yet been launched by Apple. So why do the MLAs in Karnataka want a yet-to-be-launched gadget? Definitely as a one upmanship over their cousins in the Legislative Councils who were given the iPad 2 last month. But did they know iPad 3 has not yet been launched and there is no statement from Apple yet about its launch? Did they think adding “1″ would make them more advanced than their Legislative Council counterparts?

Jokes apart. Now, why in the world do our MLAs require iPads? Especially when most of them are not even tech savvy enough to make optimum use of even their smart phones or have operational email IDs?

Secondly, why should the tax payers’ money be used for providing them with the latest models of any such gadget coming out in the market? The TOI report says over Rs 35.17 lakh was spent on equipping all MLCs in Karnataka with iPad 2.

And, now the MLAs are demanding the Ipad 3 which, when launched finally, will obviously cost more. It will cost the state exchequer more than Rs 1.05 crore (going by current prices of the iPad 2) to fulfil this demand.

In 1989-99, the secretariat had given Rs 50,000 in cash to each member of the 11th Legislative Assembly to purchase computers, according to a Deccan Herald report. Later, members of the 12th Legislative Assembly who were not part of the 11th Assembly were also given the money to purchase computers. But a number of them have not even submitted the necessary bills to show that they have indeed made the purchase. And to top it all, most do not even use them — the hi-tech gadgets gathering dust at home or being used by their sons and daughters for their personal use, of course.

India recently launched Akash, the world's cheapest tablet in an effort to equip millions of students across the country but looks like it's too cheap for our leaders.

The Deccan Herald report quotes Legislative Council chairman Shankaramurthy as defending the move: “We want to make the MLCs more productive. And this is possible by making them use modern technology. The device (iPads) will enable the members to access Internet and do their administrative works like sending letters to heads of departments and ministers online.”

Some time back, the Lok Sabha secretariat sanctioned Rs 50,000 for each member to buy an iPad in an effort to make its office paperless and the members tech-savvy. This came close on the heels of a similar move — iPads for all Rajya Sabha MPs to curtail use of paper. ”We are encouraging MPs to use iPads. This would save a lot of paper,” Lok Sabha secretary general T K Vishwanathan was quoted in a ToI report. (Also read: MPs Go Green at Our Cost, Vote for iPads!)

Point taken. But I have a few points to make.

1. The fully loaded 64GB iPad 2 comes for Rs 46,900. Why were the MPs sanctioned Rs 50,000? Why were they paid more? The government may like to act generous and not bother for loose change, but Rs 3,100 for 790 MPs (245 for Rajya Sabha and 545 for Lok Sabha) means a whopping Rs 24,49,000. That’s not loose change for we the people.

2. How much paperless have the two Houses of Parliament become in the last few months? What is the reduction in paper cost? Is anyone keeping an account?

3. India is home to Akash — the world’s cheapest tablet — which was launched in October last year for just Rs 1,750 amid much fanfare. If productivity comes from making our legislators more tech savvy, then why aren’t they being given Akash? If our students can do with Akash — the government touted it to be the magic machine to equip millions of students across the country — why can’t our leaders, who by their own admission do not know how to use modern technology, need such expensive gadgets at our costs?

Images courtesy: Apple website and Akash Tablet.

Wenger Crushes Arsenal Hopes, Team Bows to Manchester United 2-1

2012-01-23T14:07:34Z

Valencia gave Manchester United the lead in the first half

August 28 2011. It’s a date that would be etched in my memory forever. Not because of any fond memories that I would love to cherish; rather it was a day that left an indelible scar. Arsenal humiliated by Man United 8-2 in the first leg of the English Premier League.

January 22, 2012. I had checked out the date of the return fixture at Emirates. In the last few matches Arsenal was on the ascendancy for a brief period as they finished 2011 on a high note — fourth in the league table. However, before the D-day, their fortunes again slumped and suffered two consecutive defeats. Further, the non-availability of their African stars viz. Gervinho, whose searing runs had been a revelation this season, meant their attack was depleted. Though Thierry Henry had returned to his favourite club, he was out for this crucial derby.

Vendetta was clearly in my mind as the countdown began. It was going to be a war; not only at the Emirates , but also at my home as me and my daughter Ginny, an ardent United supporter, would lock horns before the TV set.

The match began well for the Gunners as they seemed to control the proceedings with their trademark passing game. I could see young Oxlade-Chamberlain, making his debut, was a bundle of energy. However, United took control over the match soon as Djourou, the defender was horribly exposed by Nani as time and again he slipped past the hapless defender and sent inviting crosses into the box.

My daughter was screaming her team on; I looked on with a grim countenance. Deep down I had a sinking feeling that this wasn’t going to be our day — United would win comfortably as Valencia, Nani, the wide players were running freely, ably backed up by Evra. Though Rooney was not at his best, he was still trying hard. However, for a change, Arsenal was defending set pieces in a better manner this day. Mertesacker was having a better game and he was coolly blocking the waves of attacks.

Suddenly, the predictable thing happened just before the half time break. A United goal was conjured out of nowhere. Vermalen, who had effected a clearance a moment ago, went to sleep when Giggs sent in a measured cross. Valencia was left unmarked as his header found the target.

1-0. United.

The screams from my daughter possibly broke all decibel records. All the pressure and all pervading attack paid off. As the referee blew the first-half whistle, I could see our players seemingly dejected as they trudged off the field. My wife joined my daughter in chiding me about the possible outcome of the game.

Immediately after the equaliser, Arsene Wenger substituted the energetic Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for Arshavin, who is known as the “Lord of Lethargy”. Naturally, the home fans seethed in anger and disbelief.

The second half started with both teams playing an open game. Chances were being created. Arsenal seemed to be playing with a purpose. Just after resumption Chris Smalling slipped just inside his own half to give Rosicky a clear run at goal, whose pass found RVP, who weaved himself into position to place the ball of his favourite left foot but unfortunately fired wide of the post. Any other day, the ball would have found the target. I let out a sigh as my daughter was all in smiles. A close shave and indeed a massive moment in the match. At the other end Man Utd was creating chances, Szczesny made some brilliant saves. The defence came to his rescue at times.

The match was full of passion and excitement as United pressed forward, while Arsenal retaliated with swift counters. In the 71st minute, Oxlade-Chamberlain found his captain whose diagonal shot beat Lindegaard before finding the corner of the net.

1-1. Match on.

Van Persie celebrated by showing a T-shirt bearing a 91st birthday message for his Grandpa. My screams this time could be heard from two houses away as I broke into a delirious jig much to the chagrin of Ginny.

However, I was in for a shock as immediately after the goal Arsene Wenger substituted the energetic Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for Arshavin, who is known as the “Lord of Lethargy”. As the home fans seethed in anger and disbelief, I could see RVP mouthing “NO” as he too stared at his coach at a shocked disbelief. The irate fans were seen booing the coach while giving a tumultuous reception for the young Oxlade-Chamberlain as he left the field.

I was mentally settling for a draw, however, the ending had a different script. Nine minute from time, Manchester United again conjured a second and a decisive goal. Valencia burst in from the right, drew in the Arsenal defence and fed the young Danny Welbeck. The striker drilled the ball in.

2-1. United. Game over for Gunners.

Wenger should learn from Man Utd coach Sir Alex Ferguson, United’s resilience, of their ability to win despite not being at their fluent best. That’s how champions are made.

Ginny jumped on the bed and broke into a Kolaveri-di jig. My wife scolded her but she too was smiling. The daughter again prevailed over her Dad.

I was disconsolate. Wenger should learn from the Boss (Sir Alex Ferguson), United’s resilience, of their ability to win despite not being at their fluent best. They are the true champion material. Unfortunately, such traits are not in Arsenal.

Painfully for Arsenal fans like me, this was again a reminder of the inflexibility of Wenger, who is letting the team down over and over. It was a catastrophic decision to remove Chamberlain. As he had made up his mind, Wenger could not improvise. The decision backfired as it was due to Arshavin’s lack of defensive capability, which paved the way for the United winner.

The resurgence of the Gunners was cut short due to the horrendous error of judgment. No wonder fans would vent out their anger on the Coach as the events gave them a reminder of the fallibility of their coach.

The defeat left Arsenal way down in the fifth position, with hopes of a Champions League berth fading by the day. United is still in the run for the coveted title. If the team does beat City in the race, I would not mind.

Image courtesy: premierleague.com.

In Defence of Freedom of the Net

2012-01-22T12:15:03Z

Internet security and domain name services company OpenDNS shut down on January 18, 2012. in protest against the SOPA.

On January 182012, when the world tried to log into its favourite online encyclopaedia, they saw a black screen with the site’s logo and a message: Imagine a world without free knowledge. The 24-hour shutdown was Wikipedia’s protest against the SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act ) and PIPA (Protect IP Act ) regulations the United States government wanted to implement. As scores of other websites joined in — Google put a black logo on its search bar — and following a huge public outcry, two days later the US Congress decided to postpone any vote on the two Bills.

If passed, the Bills mandate service providers and search engines to block websites that link to copyrighted materials. Critics of the legislation say the Bills have the potential to alter the way business is conducted on the Internet and bring about unwanted censorship and regulations.

Back in India, a similar news had hit us a few weeks back. Certain websites were asked to remove “objectionable material” or face censorship as they do in China.

Now, what is the definition of “objectionable material”?

“We have to take care of the sensibilities of our people, we have to protect their sensibilities. Our cultural ethos is very important to us,” IT and communications minister Kapil Sibal had maintained while talking about the government’s objections to certain material on certain websites, which, according to it, could spread disharmony. “We will certainly evolve guidelines to ensure that such blasphemous material is not part of content on any platform.”

The minister had, however, denied a New York Times report that claimed the government wanted to “censor” user contents. “This is far from the truth. (But) If someone does not wants to remove this kind of incendiary material then the government has to do something about it,” said Sibal.

India is a democracy. Or is it? Is the largest democracy in the world going the autocratic way on the lines of what China and Iran do? Are they trying to stifle criticism against a political dynasty? According to many critics, the move has strong political overtones.

Google and Facebook have acknowledged that some of the articles were “objectionable” but the Internet was too big for them to control and that they cannot protect its politicians. The two Internet giants are among 21 companies that have been asked to develop a mechanism to block objectionable material in India. ”No human interference is possible and, moreover, it can’t be feasible to check such incidents… We cannot control a billion minds,” Mukul Rohtagi, counsel for Google India, acknowledged before the Delhi High Court.

Internet is a powerful medium. With the advent of computers and Internet, the world has become one, in many ways. The ‘playing field’ has been levelled. Today, people across the world have instant access to information and knowledge. We know the weather in Alaska or the culture of people living deep inside Africa. We can get the recipe of any dish in the world and one can share one’s happiness, joys, and insecurities, get questions answered from people across the world. At any given point of time, you know you can reach out for any kind of information at the click of the button.

But this also means we get to know faster about corporate scams, political corruption and government oppressions. And we also know what information and Internet can do — just look at the popular political uprisings in the Arab world in the last one year.

I agree with Google. The world is and should be open and free. Since we are a democracy and freedom of speech is our fundamental right, we should not control the Internet. This is one world where one can say what one feels, what one likes. Do we really want to join the bandwagon of countries like China, Iran, Pakistan or North Korea?

Facebook is among 2,600 sites that are blocked in China. They also filter Google and scores of other websites. A similar thing happens in the entire Islamic world. We have minimum, highly censored-material coming out of North Korea. Why should the governments decide which websites people should or should not visit?China’s logic is it wants to allow its own cyber industry to flourish. Not a bad idea. But, it restricts the interaction among people and also relive the concept of “frog in the well”.

Content related to Nazism and Holocaust denial are blocked in France and Germany. These events are part of history and everyone should have access to all kinds of information on these events.

Does blocking objectionable content really help? If any event or news in important enough for people to take note of, there are other means taking it to the public at large. After all, the Talibans didn’t have Internet to spread their message among the people. Neither did Hitler.

So, in the end it’s the people who decide what they want to believe and follow. Governments across the world need to have faith in their people, face facts and not live in constant denial.

Internet provides us with freedom to get knowledge, to mix with people across the world, to learn about the world and enhances our freedom of expression and well-being. Social networking sites, search engines and phones should not be controlled or filtered. This is just a denial of the basic tenet of freedom of speech and right to expression. Let’s not throttle the freedom of the Internet and its use because of human narrow-mindedness.

Image courtesy: Screenshot of OpenDNS on January 18, 2012.

SOPA Vote Put Off for Now, but what Happens the Day Atlas Really Shrugs

2012-01-21T11:01:10Z

The black page of Wikipedia on January 18 when it shut down for 24 hours.

In my high school days, I read a book called Atlas Shrugged. Ayn Rand’s bestseller, which, for some time, made me a rebel without a cause. Just like many others. Over the years, much of what I read has faded. But I remember it talked about all the brains in a country uniting to finally shut down everything. I also vaguely remember the end of the book talking about something like New York plunging into darkness because the crippled power system in the city shuts down as the protagonist’s plane takes off.

The all-black homepage of Wikipedia on January 18 instantly reminded me of Atlas Shrugged. The message on the page was equally profound: Imagine a World Without Free Knowledge.

And it’s not over yet. As the Wikipedia page keeps flashing the warning: “We are not done yet.”

And, Stop Online Privacy Act (SOPA) and Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) are not dead too.

“More than 162 million people saw our message asking if you could imagine a world without free knowledge. You said no. You shut down Congress’s switchboards. You melted their servers…Millions of people have spoken in defense of a free and open Internet.” — The message continues on Wikipedia

The US Senate and House of Representatives on Friday have only put the controversial Bills on hold for the time being. Lamar Smith , chairman of the House Judiciary committee, was quoted on Friday by cnet.com saying he expected the debate over the Stop Online Piracy Act to resume sometime next month. “We must take action to stop” online piracy and counterfeiting, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, thundered after the postponement.

“They are waiting in the shadows… We’re turning the lights back on. Help us keep them shining brightly.” This is Wikipedia’s appeal after it turned on the site after the 24-hour blackout on January 19.

Now, there could be a dichotomy here. After all, Atlas Shrugged was about individual aspirations and creativity — what we could call in modern parlance Intellectual Property Rights. The very thing that the two controversial US Bills aim to protect.

Interesting. But then why are Internet sites — ranging from Google to Wikipedia protesting the Bills? Why is every creative faculty within our society — from writers to publishers to filmmakers to musicians — protesting too? Who are these Bills supposed to serve?

“It’s Hollywood against the tech world, in effect,” columnist James Barraford, who writes about social media for MediaTapper.com, was quoted as saying.

So there is no rocket science here. This is not about copyrights or intellectual property rights. Just like Atlas Shrugged, this is about individual creations and freedom, and the government serving a particular interest group in the name of greater good.

While the Bills have widespread support from content owners (or shall we brand them content distributors from the last century?) — Hollywood and music studios who are concerned that online piracy damages their businesses — technology giants have claimed they will amount to nothing but censorship.

“The mismatch between Silicon Valley and Congress isn’t just that Silicon Valley isn’t engaged enough with lobbying Congress, but that Silicon Valley has this outmoded idea that your ideas succeed when they are right, as proven in the marketplace, rather than because you were better at making a backdoor deal than the next guy,” says Tim O’Reilly, founder of O’Reilly Media, one of the biggest publishing houses of the US.

Now, why would O’Reilly oppose a Bill that claims to protect his business interests?

Because, as Lance Ulanoff, editor-in-chief of Mashable.com, a leading American news website and Internet news blog, says, SOPA will take us back to the dark ages. Ulanoff, while accepting that real content piracy remains a persistent and daunting problem for companies and creators, points out “the language in SOPA is so irrational that I can only assume that the authors and backers wanted nothing more than to fundamentally change the rules of the web: to shut down the open post fields, kill reposting (goodbye, Tumblr), end shared videos (sorry, YouTube), expand the definition of what it means to infringe (sorry, Twitter, no sharing links that aren’t yours).”

And, as O’Reilly points out, “the motion picture industry has a history of opposing every new technology, even those that proved ultimately to grow the market”.

“The Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, was not written by people who fundamentally misunderstand how the web works. They understand all too well, and want to change it forever.” — Mashable editor in chief Lance Ulanoff

So, we are back to Ayn Rand’s page about individual excellence and creativity versus backdoor dealmakers.

As January 18 showed, a partial shutting down of the virtual world set off a frenzy in the US (which faced the maximum shutdowns) and other places across the world (thanks to the Wikipedia strike).

“We want(ed) to give people a visceral example of what would happen when content is blocked,” Rob Beschizza, managing editor of Boing Boing, one of the largest tech/science news/opinion blogs in the world, was quoted as saying.

“Student warning! Do your homework early. Wikipedia protesting bad law on Wednesday!” Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales tweeted on Tuesday before shutting down the site for 24 hours.

Yes, I have had editors thundering again and again that Wikipedia was not the gospel and shouldn’t be substituted for encyclopedias or “genuine” sources. But for all its shortcomings, can you imagine a world without Wikipedia now? And what happens when Google shuts down even for a day? And what if Facebook and wordpress.com join in? What if Twitter and Reddit and the scores of others also decide to throw their hat in the ring?

What happens when the Internet shuts down? What happens, when, as John Galt says in Atlas Shrugged, they “stop the motor of the world”?

What if, just as in Atlas Shrugged, these people try to demonstrate that a world in which the individual is not free to create is doomed? That a civilisation cannot exist where every person is a slave to society and government?

What happens when Atlas really shrugs?

Imagine a world without free knowledge…

Journey to Yosemite, Land of Hidden Treasures & Grand Temples in Granite

2012-01-20T15:21:36Z

“Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves…”
John Muir

John Muir, the famous American environmentalist, naturalist, traveler, writer, and scientist is, however, probably best remembered as one of the greatest champions of the Yosemite area’s natural wonders. It was this one man’s Herculean effort to protect the serenity of the primordial world from Alaska to Yosemite, from Redwood Forests to Kings Canyon, from Giant Sequoia to the California Sea shore.

Ansel Adam, the legendary photographer, also paid fitting tribute to the glorious monuments in his inimitable style. Check out Ansel Adam’s Gallery.

One fine Autumn morning, Kaniska Mandal and Saurayan Chaki venture into Muir’s most favorite place, Yosemite, and play the wonderstruck tourists as they train their cameras on Nature’s Grandest Temples in granite.

Nature will bestow all its hidden treasures upon the travellers as they step into the world of Ansel Adam and John Muir. As you touch the primordial granite monuments rising several thousand feet straight from the ground, it virtually transports you to the pre-historic era of mankind and the material world simply vanishes for a moment.

“Aaa leee huiii aaa…” -- a chorus cutting through the air as Red Indian troops barrel down the meadows. The ground sweeps away under your feet… But wait, hold your breath, the racing horse riders come to a sudden halt. They look up to the sky. The Half Dome bathes in Moonlight. The Red Indians bow down on their knees and start chanting. Yes they are worshipping Half Dome, their most sacred natural monument.

That’s why John Muir reminds us: “People ought to saunter in the mountains not hike. Do you know the origin of that word ‘saunter’? It’s a beautiful word. Back in the Middle Ages people used to go on pilgrimages to the Holy Land, and when people in the villages through which they passed asked where they were going, they would reply “a la sainte terre (to the Holy Land)”. And so they became known as sainte-terre-ers or saunterers. Now these mountains are our Holy Land, and we ought to saunter through them reverently, not ‘hike’ through them.”

The Bridalveil Fall.

The Toiga Lake.

Yosemite is not just about monuments. It boasts of one of the highest mountain passes of America -- the Taiga Pass.

Just keep rolling your head in awe and wonder.

The Tenaya Lake.

As we venture in further, words fail us. We have no option but take resort to Ansel Adams, once again. “When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence… A true photograph need not be explained, nor can it be contained in words.”

So we give up and decide to restrain from describing the immense beauty of Yosemite National Park and the mesmerising effect that it exerts on the travellers.

But then there are things that must be recorded, to be told to less fortunate ones who haven’t yet had the opportunity to set foot in this Heaven on Earth. We pick up our pens, again.

This is one of the most captivating images hidden inside Yosemite Valley. The Tunnel View that changes its colours and unveils new stories every single moment. It is an eternal sustenance of imagination for painters, novelists, photographers -- around the world.

A hundred years back John Muir had discovered this hidden beauty. And this is an attempt to recreate the vintage moments … a tribute to the saviour of Yosemite!

When we reached glacier point it was not at its glorious best but the bizarre display of monuments was thrilling to say the least.

In Adams's words: "No matter how sophisticated you may be, a large granite mountain cannot be denied, it speaks in silence to the very core of your being."

Again, to borrow from Muir: “No synonym for God is so perfect as Beauty. Whether as seen carving the lines of the mountains with glaciers, or gathering matter into stars, or planning the movements of water, or gardening — still all is beauty.”

And, again from Muir: ”When we contemplate the whole globe as one great dewdrop, striped and dotted with continents and islands, flying through space with other stars all singing and shining together as one, the whole universe appears as an infinite storm of beauty.”

Yosemite has a strange resemblance with our very own Yoshimath (including the name) which is the gateway to Himalayan wonders like Auli, Valley of Flowers, Badrinath, Mana Village, Brambha Kamal and so on. The same way, Yosemite Valley unlocks the chamber of secrets like the Tunnel View, the Glacier Point, the Toiga Pass, Tanya Lake, Mono Lake, Alpine Meadows and the list goes on…

Photographs also by Saurayan Chaki: View other posts by Saurayan.