Thursday, April 13, 2006

Ayyo Paaaapa!

My hands are itching to write this. Its 10:19 pm, 13th Apr. One legend was released from the worldly life -Dr.Rajkumar was buried. Another star was realeased into life- Salman Khan. The cable operators have disconnected all channels except for Kannada and News channels to express respect to the Legend.
Whats pissing me off is what all the news channels have to say about Salman Khan(In my opinion, he is one of the smartest lookin heros we have in Bollywood.)- sounds as though he has been unjustly locked up.
With the recent news coverage on Salman, it was difficult to mistake it for the Indian Laughter Challenge. Why? Salman Khan gets away for running over a human being but gets jailed for shooting down an animal(an endangered specie)! I know life is life- be it man's/animal's but the legal systems around the world does draw a clear line of distinction between both. Living in a time where we have got to see innumerable people slip thru the hands of justice just because they have the weird smelling printed paper in their wallets. I was beginning to feel proud of the legal system when it took this bold step of booking Salman Khan. True that the legal system does try to act too much of a hero the moment a reel hero is on the other side of the law, but still I hoped that he would spend sometime in jail. Celebrities should be punished cos they are far more responsible for their actions as what they do sets an example to people who look up to them. I secretly wanted him to pay up for runnin over the street bum thru this sentence. But yet again influence and money has the final say. Wait and watch, the next thing you know, Abu Salem will be out- completely innocent or cos of failure in gathering concrete evidences against him or simply the 'poor' guy was framed.
U should listen to the compassion in the voices of the news readers and the reporters, "Aap ne theeeen din aur chaaaar raat guzari jail mein. Aap ko kaisa laga?"(you were in jail for threeee days and fooour nights! how did it feel?). Yeah right- it aches to watch a well manicured guy thru bars, what about people who have been waiting for more than decades living in a jail, with the benefit of not having to wear the uniform just cos they are waiting for their day at court that would deciede whether they have to wear the uniform (convict) or live outside a free person (innocent),branded a criminal thanxs to the time spent in jail. Salman was facing the music for somethin he had done in 1999/8. Yet again, this is an example of how slothful is the functioning of our legal system. With this kind of time lapse- people change, situations change, memory changes... what good is that for any investigation, for Pete sake?!!!!
"theen din ke liye Salman ko roti aur dal khani padi, jisme pathar thhe!" (For three days salman had to eat (what the other inmates have to eat)- roti and dal with lil gravel) Oh! how sad- somebody should have ordered him a lasagne! The media isnt still, making the right point there- be it a super star or a real criminal, food is a basic need just as cleanliness. This shows that conditions inside in the jail is absolutely inhumane- the legal system is responsible- they need to set that right. Its not sympathy for Salman you need here, its sympathy for those who might have to eat the same crap for a lifetime.
Dont read me wrong, I am not the kinds who would go out and call capital punishment a breach of human rights. A criminal is a criminal, he is in jail, isolated from society to pay the price for his doing, but that doesnt mean,they dont deserve any of the basic needs.
I dont know...I am in this mood... perhaps...I've been seein the same thing since morning- same scene, same news.
And to top it, all the violence thats been happenining in Bangalore in the name of the death of Dr.Rajkumar seems insane! Rajkumar died a natural death, what are the fans gonna get by destroying public property?! Fellow bangaloreans, do you think its really the fans who carry out these acts? I think its just anti-social elements who are just waiting for such occasions to come out and destroy anything thats not theirs- and how can cops put you behind bars for something that looks like the act of a mad crowd?!!! Sad is the way people find joy in destruction. Real sad.
To lighten up: