The Karma of Comics

One day Chacha Chaudhary and Sabu go for a walk. Two Thieves Makkan and Chakkan threaten them with a gun. Sabu gets angry and a Volcano erupts somewhere. But Choudhary, whose brain works faster than a computer, uses his stick to outwit Makkan and Chakkan and they run away"

Even comics like these have always been ridiculously entertaining. I remember the day I found another popular book. It was on a hot summer afternoon in 1987 I found an old & torn book which was hidden between newspapers on the top of a rack! It contained a story titled 'The Neem tree and the Grindstone'-Tinkle had arrived!

Today when I sit and recollect my association with these books, I realize that I have done every possible effort to read more, acquire more and discover more. The price of these books ranged between Rs 6 to Rs 20. And for a kid like me, buying new books remained a dream. I never liked to ask money from parents. Hence, I decided to find ways and means to get closer to my dream. And what all I did then, perhaps looks too embarrassing today, but deep in my heart I feel proud about my efforts. Here are some of them:

1. Making new friends and finding out if they have a nose for books.
2. Praise and flatter a guy who has a huge collection of comics.
3. Wait till late night or under hot sun outside the home of people who promised to give me comics after they return.
4. Visit a Raddi Wala Shop*( * A shack that sells old newspapers, bottles and other scrap) search among those newspapers & old magazines. If found any, I used to buy them at 1 Rupee each!! 70% of my collection consisted of books acquired through this medium. I remember the Uncle who ran that shop also used to address me as Uncle :)
5. Write someone's academic notes in a barter to get Amar Chitra Katha
6. Blackmail a classmate at school and get Tinkle in return.
7. Beautifully convince some of my rich friends to buy new comics for my selfish motive!
8. Chat aimlessly with a friend's sister with an intention to get Archie comics from her.
9. Support the guy who has maximum books if he gets into an argument during the game of cricket or any other sport.

One evening when we were playing, my friend Kartik approached towards me and whispered in my ear that he has got about 20 books. My mouth watered when he said that. He, however refused to reveal the source of books. Later I learned that the source of those books was a person called Nitesh who apparently has a huge collection of books. Suddenly a new mission had begun for me and it was easy for me to befriend Nitesh.

I visited Nitesh's rich house where he had kept hundreds of books in his private room upstairs, which looked like a library. I wondered how much money he would have spent to buy those books. Mine seemed to be a pauper's collection before him. Nevertheless, we began to exchange books.

One day I raised a proposal about starting a library. I conceived this based on my research in the neighborhood where I lived. There were many boys and girls in our who will be interested to read. Nitesh, being a true Gujarathi, gleefully agreed to start in his room. We started our project by pooling our books. Then we sorted out the books under different sub headings. We maintained a list and numbered each and every book. We took it very seriously. We finalized the rental charges of various books according to the number of pages and size. There was a late payment fine too! I also pitched the idea of reading books sitting in the library at an economical price of 50 paise. This concept worked beautifully for some Marvadi customers, who are known for their weird cost effective measures.

Gradually our Library gained its momentum. We became very popular among our other friends. Sometimes I'd go on my bicycle to distribute books door to door.It so happened that one day I had to deliver a story book to a pretty girl of our colony and little did I realize that this action of mine would frame and judiciously link me with that girl! And it paved way for gossips. Blame it on the age!

Very soon I was making a decent profit of 7 to 15 Rs a week. A portion of my income was spent on Paani Puri on Sundays after our usual game of cricket.

While I was involved with this, I didn't realize that my actions were making my other friends envious. Some of them who were very fond of me began to treat me differently. They perhaps didn't like my proximity with Nitesh. While I took utmost care not to get someone's hatred in our 'Business' and us. It took sometime for me to understand their thoughts and feelings. Remember Rajam from Malgudi days Swami and Friends? So much for the originality!

The matter became worse when Nitesh refused to take another friend who wanted to become a partner in our business by contributing his share of books. Well! the sparks had begun to fly all around. I was finding it difficult to manage my association with all my friends. I sometimes had to face the wrath from some of my best friends who said I had become conceited after the Library's success. I was terribly disappointed with the way mindsets changed. It looked as if some of them were trying to detach me and I looked like a sinister.

One late evening, I took an unanimous decision to part ways with our Library. Nitesh was visibly upset with my decision but later even he understood that, friends and mutual harmony is more important.

My life returned to normal and more exiting than before. I found myself sitting with group of friends and laughing away to glory. Those precious little moments which I missed during my basked glory came back to me slowly but wisely!

© All rights reserved with Abhishek Naini. No form of this may be reproduced without prior permission from the author.

The Man who made me cry

While my growing years have taught me not to shed tears, my early years never poised me to balance my emotions. Of course, life was too tender then and fundamentally too naive. I cannot attribute my sadness to various people who I have met in all my 27 years. I don't remember the bully of my school, neither I fancy artificial emotions nor I can list all those who have some way or the other became the cause of my cry. And it would be stupid though if I mention my rona dhona in real life. Simply put, Tears have no value in this fabricated world.

However, this article is a tribute to the man who showed me that "It hurts when you see a movie with your heart involved"

Kamal Hasan teamed up with Balu Mahendra in the Tamil film Moondram Pirai, which was later dubbed into Hindi as Sadma and Vasantha Kokila in Telugu. The picture tells the story of a young woman(Sridevi) who regresses to childhood after suffering a head injury in a car crash. Lost, she ends up trapped at a brothel before being rescued by Kamal Haasan, a lonely school teacher who falls in love with her.

After all the series of hardwork and attempts by Kamal to comfort Sridevi, I was amazed at the amount of loftiness Kamal brought in the entire film. Making her glee with his manoeuvre skills, jumping like a monkey after Sridevi expresses her fascination towards that Madaari

It's a performance that Kamal creates out of thin air, based on his own understanding of the character. Remember the toughest roles to play are the ones that are too simple, too normal It's not easy playing an average guy, but Kamal does it marvelously.

In the end, Sridevi does not recognize Kamal Hasan after she regains her memory and she understands him as a mad beggar. Kamal's memories, heart and soul are put into this very last scene when he reaches out to her. His eyes strikes us instantly with his tragedy, his attempt to get her attention by making unusual faces, the way he trots on the platform to grab a bowl and keep that on his head. And the moment when he bangs against a pole while running after the train, it hit me like a bullet. It hurt me more when when he sits helplessly on a platform and his student, shocked by Kamal's avatar, gets scared and leaves him alone.

Its an ending which the regular film junkies would never have predicted and would have been totally shattered by! Not even a Taare Zameen Par was able to shake me as much as Kamal Hasan did.

I was 11 years old when I saw this movie. I hated Sridevi for leaving Kamal. I never saw this scene again for some years ( Read : audacity lost)

The last 10 minutes of the film showed me the irony of life - You give so much and when giving you never even realize how much of you is also given in it.

© All rights reserved with Abhishek Naini. No form of this may be reproduced without prior permission from the author.

First Time, Second Show

After a long persuasion, my dad finally agreed to take us to a movie. That evening, I there were springs in my feet after I came back home from school. Since my childhood, I never fancied going to movies with my family members, but somehow on that day I just couldn't resist the idea of watching a late evening movie. My mother was against the idea and protested my ability of being awake late night. Despite these constraints we moved on.

The show was planned at an 'open air theater' which was about 1 km walk from our quarters in Ramgarh Cantonment in Ranchi-(Now in Jharkhand). I went to witness a most confusing theatrical layout. My 7 year old brain told me that it was a different world behind that huge wall, where they showcase the movie.

It was late evening when we reached the venue. The theater was full of Army men, Sardarjis and their families of all shapes and sizes. Every Sardarji was a Zail Singh to me! He was the only popular Sikh politician I knew those days.

We looked around and found a seat- after a great struggle. The murmuring crowd cheered and whistled when a light beam appeared on that Great Wall of Ramgarh. This shimmering light, otherwise referred as Ray of Hope was the cause for their ecstasy! I was seated in my mother's lap witnessing all this.

The movie began and my thoughts raced ( as usual) when I saw the fiery eyed Sridevi fox Rishi Kapoor when he tries to follow her in a ruined temple. I felt like going to Rishi and tell him " Hey! She is a snake!" I had no idea about my family enjoying the movie, but my mind coaxed me to ponder about a woman like Sridevi turn into a snake. I also knew that she'd never harm Rishi because he came across as a very nice guy!

Then there was the Tantrik- Amrish Puri. It looked as though his snake charmer tune will sink into my mind and stay there for the next couple of days. Because the place where we lived was infested with snakes, I also thought that his tune will actually lure the snakes out from the nearby bushes! Call it a childish thought or an ultimate example of how imagination can take over and become a reality in time.

Gradually, with the inclusion of potpourri scenes. a much hyped song called" Main teri Dushman, Dushman tu Mera accompanied by that 'not again' snake charmer tune, I lost interest in the movie and paved a way for my 'yawn'.

I was no more afraid of that Tantrik's intimidating look, neither worried about Rishi Kapoor's quest for the subdue reality, nor his Rona Dhona Mother who was shit scared of Sridevi's presence in the house. But I was impressed by Sridevi's eyes that kept me awake on most occasions.

Very soon, the drowsiness got the better of me. I knew the movie's climax will take a long time and I was not ready to sacrifice my sleep. I slept on my mother's lap and believed it as a safest place despite being in a colossal chaos.

Though this happened 20 years ago, I vividly recollect this incident with a pleasant feeling, each time I get ready to watch a Second show!

Because I think it deserves! Don't you think so?

© All rights reserved with Abhishek Naini. No form of this may be reproduced without prior permission from the author.

The Vibe Maker

Like countless of human beings all over the world, I have been influenced by Rajinikant. This article is a tribute to him and also to my friend Ashvin. Reasons you'd figure out as you read along.

It was the summer of 1996. I stepped out from my uncle's apartment in the plush Besant Nagar in 'Madras'. I got into a bus that'd take me back to my dad's defence quarters at Fort St George. On the way I peeped through the window, only to chance upon a behemoth poster. This poster comprehensively captured the filmy flavor and more importantly it conveyed what the actor means to South!

All the other passengers tried to get a better glimpse. The next moment resulted in a conversation where they (including the bus conductor) yakked away to glory. With my limited understanding of Tamil, I realized that they were raving about the film and the actor. That moment in the bus gave me an impulse. And that's when Brand Rajini was born!

I was aware of his presence as an actor (Thanks to those 3 Hindi films: Geraftar, Chaalbaaz and Hum) As a kid, I never wanted him to die in the film Geraftar. I saw him struggle while beating the goons, yet manage to puff the cigarette. I had prayed god to help him drop his cigarette and counter the goons. Because I then knew he was capable!

My innocence made me stay away from his films for sometime but return with a greater respect and adoration during the year Dalapati A.D

Albeit, I have very few Rajini films in my kitty, it was only after watching Dalapathi, I understood why Rajini behaves the way he is. Coincidently, Dalapathi was the work of Mani Ratnam, who I consider my greatest inspiration besides RGV and Kukunoor. The character Surya -true to his name, always made his appearance on the screen from East direction, during the course of the film. That's again the greatness of the director who ensured this subdue reality!

During my Rajini Quest I met a number of extremely intelligent people who spoke about Rajinikant and his great personality, not just as an actor. This became one more reason (however absurd it may sound to you) to push me among the people of Rajini League. And I like intelligent people with full of energy! The more I talked and discussed about the actor's stardom, my vibes went high, my thoughts sailed like Sindbad's voyage and needless to say, my perspective towards Rajini's films changed. I wanted to experience the thrill of watching his film in the theater, sitting the midst of the devotees of Rajnikant!

My prayers were answered when my friend Ashvin managed to get the tickets of Sivaji on the very first day- I consider this as an achievement and equivalent to Sunita William's trip to moon! I was excited about my debut. Watching the movie in the theater, of the superstar who I spoke so much, learned so much and raved so much! I was also gearing up to understand behavioral science of this Demi God's devotees, who succeeded in getting the tickets to witness an epic called Sivaji. However, I'd like to describe my experience in one line- It's a well deserving Glorified Filmy Kumbh Mela. I was goddam impressed! And I do not want to write about what happened on that day! You better get in that groove, or get out of the way!

I have never been impetuous about films. However, I care a damn if people talk about Rajini's impossible stunts or gimmicks. I give a shit if anyone regards him as a ham! I'd give two hoots to those who compare Rajini with any other actor. I'd never even worry about the story line, plot or the production values. I have realized what Rajnikant is for me.

He is my Vibe Maker!

© All rights reserved with Abhishek Naini. No form of this may be reproduced without prior permission from the author.