Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Another One Bites the Dust.

First up, apologies to everybody. I've just dusted the virtual cobwebs off my blog, courtesy the "no time, no internet" phase in Mumbai. I've taken a vow to spend more time connecting with myself and people I love, so like it or not... you're stuck in my head again!

Last Sunday, a few friends from XIC and I were part of the studio audience for a talkshow under CNN's "Eye on India" series. This was a discussion on the Indo-Pak peace dialogue and the panel included eminent guests like Shabana Azmi, Imran Khan, Humayun Khan(?), Nusli Wadia, Praful Patel and a Pakistani industrialist whose name i cannot remember.

At the outset, one hour is much too little time to hope for the debate to be constructive leave alone conclusive. Just when the passions seemed to simmer, the curtains were drawn. I'm leaving out the details of the show because it was nothing you haven't heard before. The 'K' word was oft repeated, no surprises there. Shabana Azmi couldn't stop gushing on Veer Zaara and future collaborative film productions paving the path to peace. Imran Khan looked supremely uncomfortable on those little bar stoolesque chairs and he would have been more entertaining if he was throwing darts at a picture of the president. Mr. Mush that is! If any of you are thinking, why did you brave the grime of Lower Parel and make your way to studios on a lazy Sunday evening, it beat watching the other Emran in Aashiq Banaya Aapne on a pirated cable channel.

At this juncture, I'd like to proudly note that my interaction with several Pakistanis in the virtual world has been far more fulfilling than a rehearsed discussion of contentious issues where the distinction between right and wrong has long been blurred.

1 comment:

Sairam said...

exactly !! This goes to show that the solution to this problem is with the people ..not the politicians !!!