Off the record
Lead not us into temptation No sacrifice is too small for the people of Telangana to achieve their dream of an existence in a state of their own where they will be free of internal colonisation, exploitation, injustice and humiliation.
Therefore, the 500-odd residents of Khilashpur in Warangal district of Telangana, that is the entire population of the village took an oath to give up alcohol, no less, till their dream of Telangana state comes true.
Actually, this ‘protest’ is to deprive the state exchequer of revenue however small Khilashpur’s contribution is. So, last week, the ‘regulars’, motivated by a software engineer of the village got together and took oath on their wives and children not to touch liquor till Telangana state was formed.
Some even gave the undertaking in writing. So strong is the commitment to the Telangana cause that the two communities that sell liquor, the toddy tappers and Munnur Kapus, heartily endorsed the ‘ban’.
Interestingly, they are inspired by the anti-arrack movement by the women, that began in Nellore in coastal Andhra in the mid-1990s which eventually leading to the electoral defeat of the Congress government.
No liquor can beat the high provided by the prospect of throwing off ‘neo-colonial yoke’, argue the Khilashpurians. This is one instance where temptation yielded!
R Akhileshwari, Hyderabad
New kid on the block
Shatrughan Sinha, of late, may be accused of changing colours for ‘greener pastures’. But unruffled with such uncharitable political accusations, he had more better things to do at his hometown in Patna — launch his actor son Luv Sinha, who is making his debut in Raj Kanwar’s ‘Sadiyaan’.
Raj, who has made films with Shah Rukh Khan (Deewana), Anil Kapoor (Ladla), Salman Khan (Judai) and Abhishek-Aishwarya (Dhai Akshar Prem Ke), has also starred the original diva Rekha, Hema Malini and Rishi Kapoor to add glamour quotient to the movie based on Indo-Pak relationship.
Those who have seen the rushes of ‘Sadiyaan’, slated to be released in the first week of April, aver that Luv may not have the deep baritone of his father, nor the ‘tall stature’ of Shotgun, still the handsome hunk is firing on all cylinders. “I have my own individuality,” said Luv, who has done mass communication from Webster University. “I am not the one who will bask on my father’s glory. I have to carve out a niche for myself on my own, much like my father, who took a train from Patna to Bombay some 45 years back to get a foothold in tinsel town,” argued Luv, one of the twins of Shatru and Poonam Sinha.
When an aspiring journo questioned Bihari Babu about his other son — Kush, Shotgun shot back, “Khamosh! Right now, concentrate on Luv.”
Abhay Kumar, Patna
Camera conscious
Who says our film star-turned-politicians are not concerned about their ‘image’?
During an informal interaction with a group of women journalists, Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan shouted at a lady photographer for not taking her pictures from a ‘certain angle’.
“Why are you taking my picture from such a low angle? Don’t you know it will show my double chin?” a visibly upset Jaya asked that photographer.
The lenswoman, who was trying hard to find her position amidst TV tripods, crew and over-enthusiastic scribes sitting on the floor, sought to lighten the situation saying, “ma’am, you are beautiful, why bother about these petty things.”
But Jaya was unrelenting and said, “no, no, this is not the proper way to take a picture. Every star knows he or she looks good from which angle and for me it should be slightly side-facing. I will definitely insist that you shoot me from that angle.”
Shruba Mukherjee, Delhi
