PEEPLI LIVE; ANOTHER GREAT AAMIR KHAN PRODUCTION.

Peepli Live, a film produced by Aamir khan, starring no big names but wonderfully directed which has a strong content and multi layered satire. This film takes you straight into the heart of the real India. It basically explains the problems of the BPL (below poverty line) people. The script while focusing on the predicament of the farmers also manages to bring in the role of the media and the politicians. Hence it is probably one of the better rounded scripts in Hindi cinema in recent times.

The plot centers around a poor farmer named Natha from Peepli village in the heart of rural India is about to lose his plot of land due to an unpaid government loan. A quick fix to the problem is the very same government’s program that aids the families of indebted farmers who have committed suicide. As a means of survival farmer Natha can choose to die!!. Though he himself is reluctant to do so, his brother is happy to push him towards this unique “honor”. Local elections are around the corner and what might have been another unnoticed event turns into a “cause célèbre” with everyone wanting a piece of the action. Everybody wants to stake their claim such as high ranking bureaucrats, politicians and ever fanatical media and so they descend upon the sleepy Peepli. The biggest question for everyone that arises is “will he or wont he?” As the mania escalates what will be the fate of farmer Natha; nobody seems to care how he really feels.

The film has its moments of quick, unintended laughs. The turn of events in Peepli Live provides full entertainment during the films running time. Basically Aamir Khan brings out the plight of poor farmers in India and how their devastated conditions force them to take such steps as ending their own lives. As for the intrusive habits of the media and the government’s apathy towards the farm sector, we have all been reading about them for a long time now. So there is nothing strikingly new that the filmmakers are dealing with. This might be counted in the negative points of the film and so the film succeeds only to an extent. But by and large, Peepli live is a lively and living document that lives beyond the same ideas of Hindi movies of love and romance. While on the periphery the film might appear to be a take-off on the farmer suicides, it ends up conveying much more and presents some shocking facts.

Sunflower production to blossom in Pakistan.:)

Pakistan is most likely to enjoy higher sunflower production. This is due to the heavy floods that have actually increased soil fertility in the main cotton growing regions of the country. This would increase the agricultural incomes of the farmers which is an advantage to them as due to the floods they were already losing out on their incomes. The land in the belt of upper Sindh now has increased fertility though the current floods had particularly caused heavy destruction in the agricultural sector of the country and much other damage as well. An area of 400,000 acres of land in lower Sindh is being used to sow the sunflower crop. This will result in 1.5 million acres of cotton being produced, yielding Rs.60 billion for poor farmers.

The floods have reduced salinity and due to silt the growing conditions have improved plus the Rabi crops don’t need that much water this season. The area which was being used for wheat production will be used for sunflower production as the wheat is likely to suffer a great setback. In this way Pakistan is making a profitable opportunity for farmers as it is currently producing 360kg. I believe that this way a chance is being provided to save precious foreign exchange n edible oil imports and this is the best way to do so at the moment. Farmers had demanded from the government to provide subsidies which would encourage them to grow more oilseed. This demand of theirs would cover the costs of drilling, fertilizers and seeds. Pakistan is already going through a very crucial moment so a great chance like this to boost up salaries is not to be missed, this increased production of sunflower should be greatly considered as it might solve many other problems too created by the destructive floods. At least from somewhere there is hope coming in Pakistan otherwise conditions keep deteriorating day by day in this country and this might improve Pakistan’s image too worldwide by improving its beauty as well but this is only possible if this thing is taken seriously in the coming days.

"Niqab" is officially banned in France!..

This Tuesday the French senate passed a bill banning the burqa-style Islamic veil in public. The senate voted 246 to 1 in favor of the bill in the final phase before the ban turns into a law. This move affects less than 2000 women however possible implications are many. This law would stigmatize the French Muslim population which at an estimated 5 million is the largest in western Europe though Muslim leaders have agreed that Islam does not require a women to hide her face. After this law has been passed numerous Muslim women who veil their face have said that they are now being continuously harassed in the streets.

In addition to this many Muslim women believe the legislation might act as a catalyst in raising the level of Islamophobia in the country. But on the other side people who support this law say that such a step will preserve the nations value, worldly and fraternal foundations as well which they believe are not possible when people are hiding their faces. They even believe that is aimed at increasing the strength of gender equality, womens self-esteem and security. Most importantly they think that it is upholding the countrys secular values. All this is the opinion of people who are not Muslims but the views of Muslim should also be given consideration its their religion they should be given freedom to practice their religion their own ways but in France this law is forbidding Muslim women to veil their face this might hold importance for them in their own way.

France became the first European country to pass such a law. This law has gone to such a extreme that if any women is caught covering her face they would have to give a fine of euro 150 and plus there are strict penalties for anyone, such as husbands and brothers convicted of imposing the veil. This way Muslims would not at all feel comfortable living in such a country where they are being under pressured with such laws. And I strongly believe that every country should give equal freedom to all its citizens regardless of any religion they belong to. This is totally wrong as it seems that Muslims are being targeted purposely everywhere in the world!!

PTCL employees on strike!!

Pakistan Telecom Company Limited (PTCL) employees have been on strike since the last month as their demand for a salary rise has not been met. Its one of the biggest news these days as the recent floods have damaged the communications network in Khyber Pakhtoonwala province and because of this telephone lines have submerged in water and infrastructure have been affected badly. This has resulted in a breakdown in of services in some areas such as Makland, Swat etc.

 Although the Prime Minister announced a 50% increase in the salary of the government employees but the management of PTCL refuses to give the increase in salary due to which there is a countrywide strike of the employees of this organization. The employees are not even willing to carry out any repair works till they get their salary increase. So the cable faults remain unrepaired leading to a switch over by business men, industrialists to wireless, mobile services and other modes as they cannot afford to lose their buyers. This switch over is leading to a great revenue loss for PTCL. People are now using other internet services in order to stay n touch with their local and foreign buyers.

On the other hand the PTCL management says that the strike is illegal because it has already raised the salaries of the employees by 50% in addition to many other incentives that have been offered. They believe that the employees are staging protests for their own vested interests and ignoring the larger interest of all employees.

PTCL remains one of the few profit making institutions in the country and the strikes are badly affecting its services to customers. I myself use PTCL internet connection because I had heard that its one of the best company but now I am facing connection problems as well forcing me to change my connection. Customers are looking towards private mobile phone companies to remain in touch with the outside world. PTCL hence should solve this problem as soon as possible otherwise the whole company would go down the drain completely.

Eid ul Fitr-the true essence of the festival.

As the month of Ramadan comes to an end Muslims all around the world prepare themselves for eid ul fitr. We see shopping malls flooded with people and special offers for eid at different shops. Eid means “festivity” and “fitr” means purity; it is a symbolic representation marking the end of the holy month of fasts, sacrifice and patience. Celebrated on the first of Shawwal, eid is a special occasion for Muslims around the world. What does eid mean to you? Eid ul Fitr is celebrated in different ways across different countries and communities; hence eid in its communal sense holds distinctive meaning for all Muslims. Some Muslims were interviewed to see their opinion of what eid means to them.

Mostly Pakistani expatriates and homemakers insisted that eid celebrations were far more joyous back home. They basically focused on the importance of teaching our children about the value and sanctity. This is actually true because we are engrossed in the preparations of eid that we so often forget to educate our children regarding the importance of eid. Every religious festival should be celebrated with zeal so that our children take the tradition forward. Zehra Sayed, an Indian however held a more meaningful stance because for her eid is a way forward to continue with the personal traits we so gracefully adopt in the month of Ramadan. However an Indian homemaker; Syeda Gohar insisted on helping the underprivileged to celebrate the festival in its true spirit. By making a conscious effort to go to NGOs or orphanages on eid and spending time with the less unfortunates we realize how blessed we are and children even learn the concept of sharing and charity.

But one thing that binds Muslims is unison; the one ideology that glues them together is the belief in the sanctity of the festival. Muslims hold this day in high regard and celebrate it to mark the gratitude for being blessed with life, health and opportunities.

"INCEPTION"; a brilliant American Thriller!

Christopher Nolan’s intellectual, exhilarating, mind twisting sci fi extravaganza, starring the great actor Leonardo DiCaprio presents the best mix of modern and traditional film making. Inception premiered in London on July 8th 2010 and was released in theatres on July 16th 2010. The trailer was great which made the movie worth watching.

What would it be like if someone could enter the dream of another without them having the slightest clue? Time passes by too quickly in the dream and there is a possibility that while in the dream one could steal the secrets of others from the sub conscious and reveal those secrets. In the movie this idea becomes a reality.

Leonardo is the leading character who plays “Dom Cobb”. When it comes to stealing information from unsuspected sleepers he is considered to be the best thief in the movie. Cobb works under Saito (Ken Watanabe). Cobb’s boss offers him a job which if he successfully completes he will be reunited with his children again. Cobb realizes that this is a big challenge for him and so he has to build up an idea in the mind of his boss’ rival instead of stealing information from the dream. This type of dream planting is called inception. Isn’t the whole idea of dream planting simply amazing?telling us that "your mind is the scene of the crime". Ellen Page as Ariadne is hired on Cobb’s team as an architect. He creates the scene of the dream making sure that the dreamer does not realize that it is a tactic. But the problem which arises here is that if one finds himself in an alternative world created by his own mind then there is a possibility that the laws of physics might be observed.

Christophe Nolan has also been the director of The Dark Knight and Insomnia and Nolan’s accomplishment with The Dark Knight helped secure the film $100 million in advertising expenditure. Inception is a fascinating movie because Nolan is an expert in creating the effects and stunts out of the ordinary elements but with the whole idea of inception the movie might appear to be difficult to comprehend as DiCaprio himself did not understand the whole script when he first read it. The idea of the whole movie is magnificent no doubt with incredible effects but some of you wont get the real gist of the movie by just watching it once. So no worries you might want to watch the movie again any ways because of the dramatic ending which holds your breath.

Facebook breeds NARCISSISM!!..

Nowadays facebook has become a total addict for people of every age especially teenagers. It seems as if it is their part of life which they cannot live without. Of course such an addiction is not good and the most important reason for this which is up on the news is that “facebook breeds narcissism”. Narcissism is defined as a pervasive pattern of grandiosity, exaggerated sense of self importance and a need for admiration leading to the person being selfish in a way.

A survey was carried out in the department of psychology in York University in Canada with 50 male and 50 female students which showed a positive correlation between narcissism and self esteem. The survey showed that when the online activity is more self-promotional individuals show even higher levels of narcissism and on the other hand lower self-esteem. People refer to their own intellectual abilities on facebook and have photos which display their physical attractiveness. This denotes that facebook allows its users to have a control of how they present themselves and how they are perceived by people they know. Does this not give birth to fakeness? Because when one communicates in reality the person’s identity is constructed under certain limitations such as social background, ethnicity affecting the way they are perceived by others and when people communicate online ideal traits are conveyed easily through photos on facebook. These photos increase their self promotional behavior and their about me sections show their high intellectual behavior. Hence the identity is controlled by the individual. Even the Hollywood actress; Kristin Stewart refuses to use a networking site because she thinks it shows narcissism, she says “there is never a point of satisfaction that you can accomplish, so why start.” The study in York University showed that narcissism was correlated with extraverted acts, being especially predictive of being in a group, talking about friends and socializing.

Hence there should be limits on such social networking sites where the possibility of increasing your own self promotional behavior should be minimum because narcissism is such a great problem that even psychologists have difficulty in studying narcissists because they are likely to present themselves in the best possible light in simple words they love themselves. Hence they become oblivious to their own true selves. So does this prove that your facebook page is more than just telling of what you are doing? Of course yes. Its a telling of your personality too!. And not to forget that such a site as facebook offers a gateway for many shallow relationships and emotionally detached communication.

Junk foods in schools coming to an end

Health authorities in Abu Dhabi are combating the ever growing obesity epidemic in the United Arab Emirates by regulating food choices in schools. It was reported in Khaleej Times that the Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority and the Abu Dhabi Education Council joined forces to implement new food guidelines in schools at the start of September. In their view this would tackle unhealthy dietary in school canteens. 20 percent of children between the age of 8 and 12 are overweight because of bad food provided in schools.


This is a positive move towards a healthy lifestyle. Eating junk foods is the addiction, which is affecting many people across the world especially teenagers and children because in today’s competitive world people want everything to happen fast. People prefer fast food more as these junk foods can be bought within a short time. Children nowadays don’t eat vegetables at all they just have junk food which have loads of disadvantages for the children because these foods are rich in harmful substances such as salt, fat and sugar. Plus these are high in calories and low in nutrition. These calories and harmful substances cause many different complications in the human body including heart diseases, cancer, diabetes and not the least; obesity. Too much saturated fat in junk food causes obesity. Pizza, chips, burgers cause people to put on weight leading to many health complications as a result. Chocolates and soft drinks are obviously high in sugar causing diabetes and heart attack as well. Hence this great step towards reducing junk food is better because 60 percent of school children eat chocolates and chips daily, while only 23.3 percent consume vegetables and fruits.

Strict guidelines have been imposed by Mohammad Jalal, director of public relations and it has been stressed that these should be followed by all school canteens. Fizzy drinks, hotdogs and fried foods will no longer be included in school menus and for this purpose food inspections will be held. This is such a great step towards a healthy life so the government of other countries should also take this step even Pakistan where many diseases are spreading day by day. This step would solve all of the problems provided people adhere to the rules properly.