12 Jul 2009, 1:45am
I was once that guy. No, not the 'that guy' Bruce Willis makes a reference to in Die Hard 4.0. I was a general 'that guy' which is not to mean I was one of those who belonged to the general populace. Of course, in the larger scheme of things you could say I was part of the general populace. But I was special. No, not the Aamir Khan's 'Every child is special' kind of special. Let's just say that I had special skills. Not the kind you could use to seduce women, though I do have those sorts of skills now. Some may say that those skills have not been used very successfully. The more enlightened ones may say that they have not been used at all. Either way as George Clooney in Ocean's Eleven in response to Julia Roberts quip about there being a conflict of interest when he advises her on her love life says, "Yes, but that does not mean that I am wrong."
Critics may argue that the development of skill sets is a natural evolutionary process but that would be missing the point. Had critics chosen to evolve would they have remained primitive enough to criticise everything? There is not a single subject matter in the world on which opinion is not divided. Even something as trivial as 'You want fries with that?' can have two critics tear each other to bits, which is not a bad thing. Entertainment apart, one critic dead is one critic less. Or so we wish! They seem to be crawling out of the woodworks, even in these days when wood is scarce.
But why am I gibbering? It is not often that I actually have something to write about, though I usually find loads of stuff to talk about. Sometimes, I have my moments. Mostly I end up with foot in the mouth disease. That is not such a bad thing if you are Govinda in Partner trying to impress the super hot Katrina Kaif who has a weakness for goof balls. But in the imperfect world we live in, it normally means your girlfriend of 20 years will never become your wife.
At any rate, they have decriminalised homosexuality in India. Note the choice of the word 'decriminalised'. It is almost as spineless a choice as the use of the word 'ninda' in the Indian Parliament to condemn the unilateral US strikes in Iraq. No wonder they could make a movie in which Sunny Deol could scream his guts out in the courtroom spewing out the now legendary 'tareeq pe tareeq' dialogue. Why the lawmakers could not give a positive spin to the issue by 'legalising' it is slightly beyond me, and I have spent a good part of the last one week pondering over it.
Then again, most things are slightly beyond me. And it is frustrating. I mean, how would you feel if you were a foot from the summit of the Everest only to return because the thorny bushes would scrape your perfectly manicured fingers?
Current Mood: Gloomy
Current Music: Jagjit Singh - Woh Kaagaz Ki Kashti
Critics may argue that the development of skill sets is a natural evolutionary process but that would be missing the point. Had critics chosen to evolve would they have remained primitive enough to criticise everything? There is not a single subject matter in the world on which opinion is not divided. Even something as trivial as 'You want fries with that?' can have two critics tear each other to bits, which is not a bad thing. Entertainment apart, one critic dead is one critic less. Or so we wish! They seem to be crawling out of the woodworks, even in these days when wood is scarce.
But why am I gibbering? It is not often that I actually have something to write about, though I usually find loads of stuff to talk about. Sometimes, I have my moments. Mostly I end up with foot in the mouth disease. That is not such a bad thing if you are Govinda in Partner trying to impress the super hot Katrina Kaif who has a weakness for goof balls. But in the imperfect world we live in, it normally means your girlfriend of 20 years will never become your wife.
At any rate, they have decriminalised homosexuality in India. Note the choice of the word 'decriminalised'. It is almost as spineless a choice as the use of the word 'ninda' in the Indian Parliament to condemn the unilateral US strikes in Iraq. No wonder they could make a movie in which Sunny Deol could scream his guts out in the courtroom spewing out the now legendary 'tareeq pe tareeq' dialogue. Why the lawmakers could not give a positive spin to the issue by 'legalising' it is slightly beyond me, and I have spent a good part of the last one week pondering over it.
Then again, most things are slightly beyond me. And it is frustrating. I mean, how would you feel if you were a foot from the summit of the Everest only to return because the thorny bushes would scrape your perfectly manicured fingers?
Current Mood: Gloomy
Current Music: Jagjit Singh - Woh Kaagaz Ki Kashti
12 Jul 2009, 5:19pm
i was here
12 Jul 2009, 11:20pm
You would question this? You?! You have broken all my past perceptions about you. If perceptions can be broken, that is.
Anyway, they have decriminalized it and not legalized it because it was a criminal offense before and not anymore, and the reason why it is not being reported as legalized because almost everyone hates the decriminalizing of it. It's like... 'ok, we cannot put you in jail for it now, but we WILL still discriminate against you and this should not be taken as a sanction towards a gay movement or gay rights.' It's still bad, but not unlawful / illegal.
Now, I am so unclear about this thing. Are we talking only male gays or lesbians too with this law? Was being a lesbian ever a crime in the first place?
13 Jul 2009, 12:19pm
Aran, it took me a while to fully understand what you wrote.
I don't think anyone hates the decriminalising of it. Yes, it does not mean gays will be automatically accepted into the mainstream but a change in the law goes a long way in forming opinion. It was a change in the law that has nearly killed off the practice of sati. And this is why I wanted the whole issue of gay rights to be given a positive spin.
But you make a pretty valid point. Did people despise lesbians? I don't think so. Only goes to show that sometimes women have it easier. But it is a reflection of the kind of hypocritic society that we have become.