Movie Review: Dorr

I got to know about Dorr during some award show where it was nominated for a few awards. I got to see the movie yesterday. Namrata had it among her Cd's and what can I say, like how I want to write a book like Khaled Hosseini, I'd like to direct a movie like Dorr.

The story is based on two women. A muslim woman in Himachal Pradesh (Zeenat - Gul Panag) and a Agniwashi woman of Rajasthan (Meera - Ayesha Takia). Both their husbands go to Saudia Arabia to work and stay together. Both the husbands become friends and once in a tussle, Meera's husband Shankar falls off the balcony and dies. Aamir, Zeenat's husband is accused of killing Shankar and the only way the Saudi Government will let him off from being hanged would be if the widow of Shankar, Meera(Ayesha) would forgive him and sign on the mafinama or forgiveness statement. The catch? The external affairs minister does not know where to locate Meera as the address on Shankar's passport was false.

Zeenat goes out in search of Meera to get her to sign the papers. She doesn't not know where she will find her but that she is somewhere in Rajasthan. She has two months before the Saudi government hangs Amir. She takes a ride from a truck driver and gets to Rajasthan. The only clue she has is the photo Amir sent her of him and Shankar.

On her way, Zeenat meets a topi-baaz, (Shreyas) whose acting is amazing as it was in 'Iqbal'. He stills her bag and she is left stranded. Her money, possessions are all in that one tiny bag, but most importantly, her husband's life, in the mafinama papers. She spends the night on the street and is accosted by two men in the wee hours. Its there when Shreyas ( now I realise he didn't have a screen name!) returns and saves her. In turn, he offers her help in tracking down Meera and they finally do.

Zeenat meets Shankar's family and requests them that she needs to meet Meera. When they realise that her husband is the one accused for killing their son, they spit on her and ask her to get out. Zeenat has to find a way to meet Meera, who is reduced to a widow, working all day long and wearing a simple navy blue widow attire. Shreya spies and finds out she leaves the house once every day to go to the temple.

That is where the Zeenat meets her. She wants to tell her the truth, but she is scared that Meera would refuse her like her in-laws did. Meera's in-laws did not mention Zeenat's visit to her and dismissed her as a beggar. Zeenat decides to befriend Meera so that she can win her trust and tell her later on, the real purpose why she needed Meera's help.

The suspense I'd leave for you is... Will Meera, whose life has been stolen, who at such a young age made a widow have the compassion to sign the papers or will she refuse, as it's her right to do what she wants.

A beautiful climax that makes you appreciate the complexity of emotions, ego and pride. A movie that makes you want to celebrate women and make you believe, there are strong women, good women. The refreshing element was the beautiful friendship portrayed between Zeenat and Shreya's. A movie that communicates 'You have the choice to do whatever you want... and to bear the consequences'

In the movie, the two women are so stark different. One who is bold and brazen, who speaks to the point and has the courage of a lion. Another, who is as soft as the water dew on the early morning petals, who has so far lived a life beneath her gungath and came to life when she was with her husband- a husband who is no more. A widow expected to remain sad all her life.

Gul Panag surprised me with her strong character. I have seen her on TV as the bubbly mischievous anchor and I was taken back by the strengh of her performance.

Ayesha Takia wins your heart with her innocence and her soft voice. She makes you want to protect her and save her from her misery.

Shreyas is just amazing with his rajasthani accent and naughtiness. He is a superb actor and I hope so see him get good signifacant roles in future.

My verdict - This is cinema. Bare and fact. The two women wore no make up, there wasn't a love story, there wasn't songs, there wasn't NY or London- there was only the raw beauty of reality.

I rate it 4.5/5 , must watch movies

A few words of encouragement... can change a person's world

Today I received a call from my colleague. He told me Prof. Sunil (My senior marketing professor from IIM-Ahmedabad) asked me to call him. I did immediately and sir said

"What is this I hear? You applied for planman?!"

"Yes sir, I did"

"Why? An intelligent student like you should go back home, do something there or go to UK or USA. Why do you want to get stuck here?"

He went on to say he wanted me to meet him tomorrow at 6 p.m. in the library to help him out in writing a paper. I told him I surely will meet him and thanked him for his kind words. He told me he valued me as a student

He renewed the faith in me. Thank You Sir! :)

Planman is out

Planman is out coz apparently I they don't want a teacher and I didn't get all the GK questions right. I also won't fit in the culture as everyone dresses up in suit and boot while I go in with my colorful veils which puts people off..hehehe. Just joking, but beneath all the sugar coating I can make out the clear reasons.. and don't forget.. I'm not perfect either ;)

I mentioned this to one of my very good friends and she said a few words that have really boosted my spirit:

"keep praying that u get thru a company thats good for u, ur life , ur religion and Aakiraah as well!"

Amin to that and now I have a wide variety of options to choose from! :)

A Job I'd love to do... Teach.

Plan man, the consulting branch of IIPM came to campus today। Actually Planman offices is in the same building of IIPM। It's amazing that you could do crore rupee business in one compact building that not only houses the B-school IIPM but also it's consulting firm Planman, It's placement division and various other SBUs like Planman Media, Planman Motions etc। The PPT was conducted by my Ex-Comm faculty who is also the vice president of Planman Consultancy Mr।Vikram Tanwar।

As far as marketing goes, I must admit that I have not seen any B-school, consultancy market itself as PM & IIPM does। The whole audience was captivated by how far and wide Planman has expanded and diversified। My interest however, was on the one thing I wanted to do since १२थ् grade - Teach। Therefore, I applied for IIPM Academics where when I get selected, I'd have to be trained in the academics department for two years before I get my first real class। In the mean time I handle the administration part which is the low end, no one wants to do it job (me neither)। The plus point is that one get's to be part of any project team and I can write articles for our publications such as ४प्स्, Business & Economy, journals like Need the Dough and so on। This way I get to remain a student my whole life and who knows, InshaAllah I will get to do my PhD and one day publish my own book।

I had to write a write-up as to why I wanted to join IIPM Academics and my area of interest। After that we sat for a GD। Thankfully, I was in the first group and it went O.K। I didn't come up with extraordinary great points but I made a good start। Let's see what happens। My heart tells me that I have a ५०-५० % chance of getting through। My placement officer told me I'd be an asset to IIPM but then, what the VP and All India Dean think is a totally different issue।

Tomorrow the shortlisted candidates results will be announced। We shall then proceed to the interview round and from there... it's gonna be either 'You are hired' or 'We will get back to you' ;)

Back from my great vacation

My Eid dashed past as I went to college after attending the Eid prayers and from there home where I did my last minute packing and rushed to join my uncle in his auto mid-way, parking my bike at my cousin's. We met a terrible traffic jam and there was 50-50 chance that we would catch our train. We did and we were off for my cousin's wedding in Khandwa, a small industrial town in the state of Mandya Pradesh.

The wedding was excellent. We met all our relatives, cousins and second cousins from all over India. It was a small and simple wedding and I told my aunt I'd like mine on the same lines. After blessing my sister and wishing her all the happiness of married life, we rushed to Burhanpur where we did Ziarat, paid our respects to our past leaders and again caught the train to Jalgoan, my mom's hometown. Here we ate Kulfi - Ice lolly made of thickened milk and cream and it was out of this world. My uncle turned a little boy having one after a another! We did Ziarat of my grand mom, uncle and extended family. Prayed for their souls and for a good akherat... and again we were off... this time to Ahmedabad, the capital city of the state of Gujrat.

The first thing that struck me was 'so many people!' It's true for all metro's but I never felt that when I went to Mumbai or Delhi but in Ahmedabad I couldn't help noticing it. My cousins joined us in the evening. My uncle had gone to collect them at the airport. We were all frazzled out and somehow I found myself sleeping soundly even during the day! I don't have a habit of sleeping during the day but travelling does something to you.

We left the next day for Syedi Hasan Pir Shaheed's ziarat, paid our respects and then from there to Galiakot, Rajastan to pay our respects to Syedi Fakrudeen Shaheed. The best thing that happened here was we got to share our car drive back to Ahmedabad with an Amil Saheb and his family. I made most of the opportunity and asked him all I could of all the saints. I never knew that Syedi Fakhrudeen Shaheed was killed at only 27 years old while doing dawah in Hindustan.

At Ahmedabad, Amil saheb was a guide to us. Just like we have a guide who takes us around historical places and museums. The other people were a little surprised to see our tiny group. He gave us a brief history of each Dai in Ahmedabad and the opposition they faced, their courage and achievements. May Allah Taala be pleased with them all. Amin.

This was my short trip though by the 6Th day I was dying to get back to Bangalore. Our flight was quite good. I travelled by Air Deccan the first time. It's quite similar to Indigo but here, I enjoyed reading their in-flight magazine. I think it's the best in-flight magazine I have read, combining both domestic and international airlines. It didn't have just ad's of super exclusive luxury products, but relevant and interesting articles like 'what to ask your potential employer' and tourist information. Another thing I noticed was that they had printed ad's on their seat covers. When a person is seated, he looks front and sees the seat cover of the chair in front of him. This was a fantastic idea coz this is one time when a traveller has enough time to stare at whatever comes in front of him. Brands should note of this new avenue of advertising. It'd be ideal for tourist firms, hotels and high-end product manufacturers.

Eid Mubarak

5th term

5Th Term MBA has begun and I am lost. Lost because both the finance classes have been combined into one class of 100 students. Out of which hardly 50 attend. Some have taken up placements and moved on to the career phase of life and others have no inclination - for whatever reason. That makes me one of the very few students who is still interested in completing her studies. The atmosphere in the last semesters of any education programme (be it BCA or MBA) is that of 'take-it-for-granted'. It surprises me at the level of post graduation where one has invested so much not only financially but also mentally, the students become careless at the last moment.

If I were to draw a student graph, at the moment I am going into a slump. When we began MBA everyone was so excited, enthusiastic and eager to learn. As time went, all the three came down and now it's like everyone just wants to move on to the next stage even though there is 8 more months to formally wind up the programme. Its similar to the analogy of a relationship or a new job. One is excited during the first few months, everything is new and exciting but once you fall into the system, then it becomes monotonous, boring.

One studies so much that the cycle repeats itself at the beginning of every trimester so we know the pattern. The struggle to understand, the reading needed, the presentations, the assignments, the tests and finally the month-long exams. It's fixed, predictable.

What can one do to make it more exciting? Especially when you are a one-man army trying to maintain the zeal (that you don't feel) and want to make the most use of your academic years. Therefore, I have come up with a few heuristics to follow in my 5Th term

1. Read, Read and Read

2. Don't rely too much on classes

3. Drown out the noise of disinterested students and focus on the lecturer

4. Be positive

5. Start practicing aptitude and logic

6. This time take part in organising events, seminars and become active on the co-curricular front

7. Don't get distracted by the companies coming to campus - the salary, the profile might tempt but most important goal is to learn.

I suppose since I have the industry experience I am not so eager as my colleagues to get back so fast. The freshers are dying to start working and earn their own money. Understandable. That is how most of us feel during our student years. Yet when you are in the industry, you get the taste that it's not a play ground out there. There is real work to be done and it's actually playing the game. Therefore, I bought my time to learn the game and I am going to use it to the maximum. When one goes in the industry, it's a whole new cycle of learning the ropes.

In the sea of confusion I am trying to hold tight to the steering wheel and remember my aim, mission, vision to take up MBA was to learn.

Man plans, but Allah is the best of Planners

There are times in life when you see the trials, the examinations your brethen has gone through that truly makes you understand the verses of the Quran where Allah Taala says that though we plan, Allah is the best of planners.

I was doing my tasbhi when the lady sitting next to me began a friendly conversation. She told me about her work as a teacher for special children and her husband. He is suffering from a rare disorder Werner syndrome which happened to him around two years back. A disorder that made him loose 40 kgs in a year and he lost his flesh and muscle plus various organ functionalities.

From being the a dynamic production manager of an international garment company to a clerk's job. From a self-respected man who stood on his two feet to the mercy of his wife and two small daughters. From a six figure salary to searching for a reasonable flat. A wife who had dreamt of having a mansion and a smooth life to working night shifts, sending her children to school, cooking for her husband and making the rounds to the emergency room. A wife who left a glamour world, an ambitious career to a future that seemed happy and secure - only to find her faith in God tested especially when the doctors told her 'It's time to call the family'

We sat there listening to her while uncle kept quite. I could feel his pride and I am sure he had been a proud man. We came to give them company. I took a friend along with me as I knew how lonely aunty had felt. She had managed to blink her tears in a second when I offered to come visit her and meet uncle. She told me how lonely she felt, her large family she had left behind in Mumbai and how she missed them.

It made me realise that no matter what we plan, God has already planned our lives. He has set aside the various tests, either through sickness or through other ways He will test our patience. It takes for Him, hardly a moment to make or break a man. To bring him down from his proud post to that of a humble servant praying for redemption. Redemption of past sins, of actions, of disobedience. Praying to relieve him.

May Allah Taala help uncle, relieve him of his sickness and grant him health again. May He show him and his family good days after these days of trial.

Amin.