otherwise...: August 2016

After her retirement posting as Kerala governor was cruelly cut short by the new BJP government, the political career of Ms. Sheila Dixit has been unexpectedly resurrected. The badlands of UP is her new Karmabhoomi where she is the chief ministerial candidate. Whatever the imperatives for this turn of fortunes, there are other lost faces that we would like to be back:

DD Newsreaders – Those who were born after the satellite TV revolution will never believe that there existed a species that read out news every evening, without emphasizing every 2^nd minute what the nation wanted to know and who were more of newsreaders than an agitated school teacher handling an unruly class. Maybe, that was a reason people in those days didn’t suffer from stress-related illnesses.

Govinda/David Dhawan Movies – Considering that movies such as Grand Masti & the Welcome series are today served as “comedies”, the David Dhawan directed Govinda starrers seem “Padosan” class. Wish they team up again & bring back the Achhe Din to Bollywood. And those outlandish clothes and unbelievable dance moves too!

Poet politicians – When they were angry at someone, it never sounded like a Gabbar Singh or Dharam paaji. Not just AB Vajpayee, a bard in his own right, who taught others lessons in a very amiable way. Before he became Maunmohan Singh, the former PM liberally sprinkled his budget speeches with urdu couplets. Did age mellow them down.

Angry Young Man – Krish & Kabaali have also been righting the wrongs. But they no longer represent the angst of youth fighting against the system. Yes, we do have Hardik Patels in real life but they don’t bash the baddies & clean up the society on their own. They can now take out a rally or sit on a dharna or go on a hunger strike.

Letter Box – There was at least one kid who dressed as one in a fancy dress contest at school. But in this age of instant messaging & online communication, who cares for an oversized red box on the street. Don't we have a mailbox on each desk & an inbox in every hand? Hope the kids today don't have that mandatory question on letter writing in the language exams.

Mallika Sherawat – Long before Priyanka Chopra & Deepika Padukone, she was making Hiss-story in Hollywood. And long before Sunny Leone set the big screen alight (and gobbled up gigabytes of mobile memories), Ms. Sherawat was the Mallika of male fantasy. Wonder where is she now a days.