Rang De Basanti triumphs at the Filmfare awards

Rakeysh Mehra's Rang De Basanti won both best picture and best director at this years Filmfare awards, which were televised on Sony TV last night. The Aamir Khan starrer was one of the biggest box office successes of the year. Aamir Khan was once again not present (he never attends these functions).

Other winners on the night were:

Best Actor: Hrithik Roshan (Krishh)

Best Actress: Kajol (Fanaa)


Best Supporting Actor: Abhishek Bachan (KANK) - I was surprised at this choice, as i thought one of the new guys from Rang De Basanti were more worthy of this award. Maybe thats why alot of people think these awards are fixed!!!!

Face of the year: Kangana Ranaut (Gangster).

Saint Soldiers Website coming soon....

A new Sikh site, which looks quite good.

I found this advert in my edition of Sikh Digest.

The advert in the back of the Sikh Digest is mindblowing, it shows a warrior and the caption "1= 125,000". Then there is Gurmukhi text, which is translated as follows:

"The Khalsa goes into battle and never runs away from it. With firm belief he fulfills his warrior faith. He is never without weapons. He is a Khalsa or real Rehat. He never gives up his Rehat and the sangat of Khalsa. In battle he fights head on andnever runs away from it. Khalsa refrains from eating meat, smoking tobbaco and hemp (bhang). Smoking cannabis, using hubble bubble, taking any form of drugs. He who never even looks in the direction of the above is indeed a great Sikh who lives by Guru's Rehat. The true Gursikh when he speaks, he speaks Vaheguru, He contemplates on Vaheguru all the time. When he sees a Sikh approaching he repeats VAHEGURU JI KA KHALSA,VAHEGURU JI KI FATEH."

Ronaldooooooooooooooooooo

Ronaldo produced a bit of individual magic today to basically get Manchester United out of jail. He picked up the ball in his own half, before running past two Fulham players, cutting inside the box, and firing his shot into the bottom right hand corner. On his day Ronaldo is the most destructive player in the Premiership, arguably even in the World.

Fulham must be ruing the missed chances, particularly in the second half, when in all fairness they should have killed off the game. And how they were made to pay in the 88th minute, thanks to Ronaldo's magic.

Fulham were much the better team for much of the game. They deservedly took the lead through McBride in the first half, following some awful defending by Vidic and Van Der Saar. United never looked at the races, but like all great teams they managed to turn it around without ever threatening to play the kind of football that we have come accustomed to. Giggs hit a volley just before half time to pull United level.

In the 2nd half Van Der Saar denied his former employers un several occasions, and probably deserved as many laurels as Ronaldo for this victory. It was certainly a lacklustre performance from United, but we should not take anything away from Fulham, as they were excellent, and did not let United settle into any kind of rythm.

You don't always get what you deserve in football, Fulham deserved more from this game. However, thats why Footballs a funny old game.

When will the time come O Lord

When will the time come O Lord, when my eyes will see thee and nothing else.
When will the time come O Lord, when my tongue will sing thy praises and nothing else.
When will the time come O Lord, when my ears will hear thy praises and nothing else.
When will the time come O Lord, when my mind stops wandering in four directions and fixes on your name.
When will the time come O Lord, when my feet will walk towards thee.
When will the time come O Lord, when my hands will serve thee and nothing else.
When will the time come O Lord, when i can rid my soul of sins.
When will the time come O Lord, when you will bestow thy grace upon me.
When will the time come O Lord, that i can escape from the cycle of chaurasi.

The answer is simply when i stop seeing all these body parts as "mine" and realise that they all belong to "thee"

Eklavya - Something different

Last week saw the release of one of the most awaited bollywood movies of this year - "Eklavya - The Royal Guard". The critics gave it the thumbs up, and the verdict overseas was also very encouraging. However the masses in India are not taking a liking to it. Maybe the fact that it was about only 2 hours long and only had one song may have played a part in that. It seems that whenever a director tries something different, the desi audience in India just are not willing to accept it. Perhaps they've got used to the mediocre, run-of-the mill trash that is produced, and are not used to top quality production - which would not look out of place in Hollywood. I sometimes wonder why a director in Bollywood even bothers to stray from the magic done to death formula of "girl meets boy, they fall inlove, sing 10 songs, the family objects due to status difference, but it's all a happy ending".

The rebab of Shri Guru Gobind Singh

If asked what is the greatest Sikh relic in existence today, few people would suggest a musical instrument. Yet, the Rebab of Guru Gobind Singh qualifies strongly for this title. To start, the musical tradition of Gurbani (religious writing) ties the instrument directly to the center of the faith -- Sikh prayers are done as vocal music and written in standard musical modes (scales) of North Indian classical music.

Further, this particular item is the only known musical instrument from the time of the Gurus that is still intact. We know that Guru Gobind Singh himself played this rebab, making this a particularly valuable and rare find. The Guru gave the instrument to Maharaja Sidh Sen of Suket Mandi (located in today’s Himachal Pradesh) as a gift. The rebab was later donated to the Sikh community and is currently housed at the Sri Guru Gobind Singh Gurdwara of Mandi. Unfortunately, none of this information is available on site and most of the visitors are local residednts. Fortunately, the Gurudwara is only a short walk from the main bus station and easy for outsiders to find.

The instrument connects us with a past that is quickly being forgotten. Less than a hundred years ago the rebab was in common use in Gurdwaras (place of worship). But today, few Sikhs have ever heard kirtan (musical religious recitation) performed on one. Kirtan is now performed on the harmonium, a British instrument. The single-stringed rebab (also known as a rebec or rebek in the West) is referred to in literature of India, Persia and even in Arabic poetry. It is still in use today in derivative forms from the Middle East to South East Asia. It may even be the predecessor of the modern violin.



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I for one would be really interested in seeing someone play this instrument.

A Battle Of Wits

Review: In 370 B.C., China was separated into seven nations and several other small clans, one of these being the city state of Liang. The nation of Zhao is led by the terrifying commander Xiang Yangzhong (Ahn Sung Ki) who orders his troops to launch an attack on Liang in a bid to conquer the small city. Leaping to the defence of the cowed people of Liang is a warrior (Andy Lau) who goes by the name of Ge Li from the Mo-Tsu tribe, renowned for its defensive skills. He is their last hope as the terrors of Yangzhong's troops are unleashed. The future of Liang now hangs in the balance, with all their hopes pinned on the mysterious Mo-Tsu warrior.

I watched this movie, and couldn't stop making comparisons between the Mo-Tsu warrior and a Nihang Singh. There are startling similarities between the two, except for the obvious physical appearance. I'd like a second opinion on my thoughts, so if anyone has seen it maybe they'd be able to shed some more light on it.