Loss of a Friend

 Losing family and friends is always tough. Around two years ago, my mother passed away at the age of 91. Though she had a full life, healthy and satisfying-pathbreaking in many ways too-it was not very easy to digest the loss. COVID saw many lose their life, and even hearing those stories was tough. Now, I heard about the loss of a dear friend who was a pillar of support, and a great joy to be with, in Greenwood, where I taught for a few years before returning to India. He was a prof. at the same place too.

We would land up at his house unannounced, any time we felt like meeting up, Indian style. He was always welcoming, and insisted on us having a drink. His wife also became a great friend, and continues online to this day. His sons were little at the time, and I remember them prancing around, or playing Basketball out in the lawn.

Well, it's true that the bell tolls for everyone, but still, hard to bear some losses of dear ones.

Om Puri Obituary

He proved that good looks are not mandatory for an actor to succeed. He was far from good-looking, but played many memorable roles. Some films that I can remember are Aakrosh, Jaane bhi do yaaro, Ardh-satya, Gupt. He had an excellent voice, and emoted well on screen, whether it was as a hero or any other character. He had a hilarious role in Janne bhi do yaaro, along with Satish Shah and others. I still remember a few of his scenes and dialogues..

Along with Naseeruddin Shah, he brought many themes to life in the so-called parallel cinema of Govind Nihalani, Shyam Benegal and so on. He also starred in commercial cinema, and some Hollywood productions, though I did not watch any of those.

His personal life was mired in some controversies, but professionally he was one of the best. I remember watching him on the Anupam Kher show along with Naseer, his classmate at the film institute, and they were fun to watch, quite candid about things they did. There is also a fond mention of him in Naseer's autobiography that I read a couple of years ago.

Will miss him.

War and Peace

It is hard to say this under provocations of the kind that Pakistan keeps throwing at India regularly. But it needs to be said. War is never a great idea, for the victor or the vanquished. It may be necessary in self-defense or extreme provocation, but shaming, sanctions, or any other way (proxy, covert or guerrilla war) is always better than war. It results in destruction on both sides, with many lives being destroyed-innocent lives too, in addition to those of soldiers-those are also unnecessary losses, by the way.

Look at any ongoing or recent war around the world- Palestine/Israel, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam, etc. and you will find misery on both sides. We are unaware of the casualties that India suffered in 1971, though Bangla Desh was liberated and Pakistan defeated. Just because the military complex in Pakistan has no better ideas, India does not have to engage in full-scale war at a cost to its civilian population. It could try many other options.