Jai ho?

jai ho, err Slumdog Millionaire has been facing 2 kinds of responses for its 8 or so oscar wins. The first group is ecstatic at the Oscar loot. The second is dismissing it & saying: "Would we have got an oscar if an Indian film maker had made the movie?"

My position is quite comic. I am unhappy for the oscars since I think the movie is not quite deserving. But to the second group i express disdain, & that i shall elaborate below succinctly:

1. Oscars or Academy awards are given by the American Academy of Actors for American / british cinema (please read English if you skipped it). regional movies have a separate category for nomination where Taare didnt make it.

2. yes, bollywood has thousands of movies better than Slumdog, but none made by an American / British filmmaker. Have you ever thought that of the zillions of award functions that Bollywood hosts, how many even acknowledge world cinema, forget bestowing awards on them! We can't be complaining of injustice when we don't even reach a similar platform.

3. Maybe the movie is crap, but it dint win a filmfare or such award? so why complain? Those are not awards, and hence, not ours to comment on. The american audience votes for them. We can vote down Slumdog in filmfares if we wish.

4. my most important reaction is that a lot of Indians won the oscars today. Our best music composers & mixers won the award. Is that not good enough? They made an English film & won it? its better than making a hindi film, which they are used to, and still wining! get a perspective guys!!!

The monkey metaphor

Last night i saw Bollywood regaining its lost maturity. We have seen many movies & tele-series in the 7os & 80s that had hidden puns & metaphors on public life. Rakesh O Mehra revives the glory of Nukkad, Mungerilal, Jaane bhi Do Yaaro & the likes. It would be unjust NOT to compare Delhi-6 with scripts that were brimming with social meaning. 

I went into the movie expecting good songs & a messy story. However I came back amazed at the depth of the script, although it was quite messy. In addition R. Mehra was quite up to his act with a vivid portrayal of each character. 

What caught my attention throughout the movie was that each character had a strong sense of purpose & definition in the movie. Screen time was not a criteria for etching out the depth of meaning each character was imbibed with. A local moneylender, the neighbourhood idiot, a helpful halwai: all were woven into the script, and still stood their own ground as a performance. I was wondering if this was a theatre act & not a movie. It would have still done excellently!

The script was shoddy in terms of its sequence. One thing did not lead to another and the jumps were hard to comprehend. But one must give a standing ovation to the scriptwriter who took the effort to take up a normal Bollywood story of the homecoming of an NRI & weaving it with an urban legend. The very portrayal of the story around this central theme is catchy!

The art direction is par excellence! Using Ramayana as a narrative to the ethics of the story, a reverred local tree and the likes add life to the storyline. Rahman's music is also commendable & runs well with the speed of the movie. What's more interesting is that most of the songs are not shown in complete length. Rather, they are inserts into the movie's moods.

The two points are still about the movie's script & direction. However its the story that took my mind by storm. The depth of the script lies in the urban legend of the kala bandar, a monkey-man who took the imagination of Delhi-ites by storm. The script aptly presents each character's version of the imaginary monkey as a statement on the person's life / state of mind. It then goes on to bring out the mass hysteria that results. I am not sure if it should have touched the communal line, since I am not quite aware of the original monkey story that happened in Delhi. It may have carried the story too far, but it does succeed in capturing the meaning. The demon that lies within us is the true root of all our ramblings. The moral of the story is not effectively brought out since it jumps around too much, but the sequence to the same is commendable.

Atul Kulkarni gives yet another mind-boggling performance as the local fool who plays along the tunes of the neighbourhood in order to feel one with them. His dialogue delivery at the climax is truly breathtaking!

The same should be said of Vijay Raaz as the typical Delhi policeman. His acting actually makes us despise him and laugh at him in the same breath!

The central character of Abhishek Bachchan is not too strong in the movie. But that is expected when stalwarts of cinema & theatre are given their due in small but well framed roles of the community people. Every one of them presents a classy performance!

Addendum (personalized democracy)

Call it instant gratification! I wrote my previous post just as i was finishing Future Shock (Toffler). I decided to start his second book: The Third Wave right away. The book starts with a dissection of current political systems! I will reproduce an analogy presented by Toffler:

Political systems, when viewed from an engineer's viewpoint, provide us with unprecendented understanding of the elites (representatives in power). In engineering there are 2 kinds of processes: Batch flow & continuous flow

In a batch flow process the machine works intermittently. Once a batch is produced, it waits idle till raw material for the next batch is provided. Whereas, in a continuous flow process the machine works without any break, as raw material is feeded continuously, and hence the results are also produced continuously. 

Using this analogy, Toffler says that Democracy (the process of electing representatives) is like a batch process. It takes place at given intervals of time, between which the voters are unable to influence the power mechanism. However, influence groups are a continuous process. They work with those in power on a daily basis, thus modifying the results for their benefits. Also, this means that the power system is closer & more accessible to an influence group (being in close & daily contact), than to the democratic electorate.

Personalized democracy...a few thoughts

I have been trying to understand politics since some time: not just Indian politics, but politics in general. I have read some excerpts of Marx, a book by Chomsky, another by Diamond and so on...

I have not yet arrived at any clear understanding of the same. What I have gathered is that democracy has a very personal definition. It can mean one thing to me & another to you. There is NO established framework of democracy.

We understand communism & its failures, but democracy, as a concept, evades us in general (not just me). That is exactly the reason why each democratic nation has its own version.

What unnerves me is that a person is chosen by the voters, and assumes power to perform acts on behalf of the voters for a said period of time. This gives rise to 2 problems:
1. assumes power
2. said period of time
(the very basics of the system)

1. when the representative assumes power, he or she ceases to consult the voters again. Not literally, but it is largely seen that power can silence the public word. This means that the representative is generally free to do what he or she chooses, as long as it can be controlled by the power vested in the person (whether it is right or wrong is immaterial). Also, power-groups, interest-groups and similar informal / underground institutions come together to bribe / chide / influence the representative to swing the course of action. Here, it should be noted that its easier to influence one person than the whole population. So we are actually narrowing our power instead of distributing it (as should be done in a democracy), and allowing it to be manipulated.

2. Since the representative is in power only for a brief period of time: very simply put- power corrupts, and the outlook is quite myopic. Long term goals go for a toss, and the Beta syndrome hits the representative. He or she promises to do better NEXT time (meaning they want to be voted next time). Short term goals rule, and hence some interest groups are favoured over others. More importantly, the representative is always busy performing acts that aid his or her success in the next election cycle.

So, as i see it, we are:
1. narrowing our power & concentrating it
2. cutting it into parts over time & in effect, losing out on our long term goals

The latest advertisement by IDEA cellular set me thinking. The representative asks the people via SMS everytime there is a decision to be made. That is ofcourse a utopian idea, but somewhere it clicks by giving power to everyone. However, our political systems are expert in crippling that idea through brainwashing & mob-theories, for which i need not give any examples - the recent newspapers will do.

So, what could be a way out of this? Since democracy has a personal definition, how about a personalized democracy? The constitution grants us several basic rights. Beyond that, its just a mess of laws, acts & amendments gathered since the British era. What if we are given a chance to chuck all that away, and be able to follow a pattern which suits us?

At first thought it is absurd, immensely complicated (for legal / political systems), impossible, downright stupid and maybe insane!

But a deeper look may provide us with glimpses of answers that we may be looking for. Maybe, its not the right thing to do. However, what if it is atleast the right direction to follow? Would that not matter? So here it is....

If each one of us is allowed to form our own set of rules, I think a perfect analogy would be the Hindu religion. It is so personal that no one person can claim to own / direct / prescribe it. Those who try to manipulate it stand out easily (self-proclaimed Hindutva activists), while those who want to follow can do so without any pressure. It is a loose composition of crores of believers living in perfect symphony with each other, respecting each other & yet each one having a unique set of guiding systems!

I am only able to provide an analogy through Hinduism, since I am not qualified to provide answers to political turmoil. However, if a religion can be compiled in such a manner, I believe it is comparatively easier to compile a political system!

It is like each one of us having ipods or computers from a different vendor. The basic rules are the same, but the tweaks are varied. It provides freedom of belief, freedom of movement from one sub-system to another & more importantly, it is impossible to influence it single handedly!!!

Those who want to be led & not be disturbed with the politics can choose one system, those who want to be active participants can choose another system, and so on...

This is just the tip of my discussion; there are many ideas that are bubbling away, but are yet hard to frame into mere words. I would welcome a discussion on the above aspect to shape future posts.

Future-TENSE

Two things are on my mind right now: Alvin Toffler's Future Shock & an interview with an eminent city planner. 

Toffler talks about the need to perceive the future and be ready for it. He rightly talks about our education being backword looking in a world that is headed towards the future. He also talks of innovations happening in the world, and how they have affected the society. The planner whom I interviewed also talked about the need to see the future & build cities for the same.

I believe that the future can be predicted only by understanding the past. Rote learning is not the point, but understanding & dissecting events of the past can provide us with crucial insights into the future. Hence, I started with a list of inventions / discoveries that have changed the course of human society today morning. This is the rough list (incomplete):

Mechanization:

Division of labour factory (Ford) - part mechanized factory - automated factory (CNC systems)

Manual labour - supervision of machines - creation of supervisory machines & networks (Computers)

Communication:

Telegraph - telephone - internet (written communication - spoken communication - communication & illustration)

Telegraph - radio - cellular phone networks (recorded communication - one way live communication - interactive two / multi way communication) - satellite networks (non-importance of physical location)

Painting - Symbolics - writing - coding (binary)

Transportation:

Personal transport (cars) - public transport (planes, trains) - personalized public transport (rent-a-car, chartered jets)

Biology:

Darwin's theory of evolution - Discovery of DNA - cloning (human controlled evolution)

Organ Transplants - test tube babies - cloning

Philosophy:

Marx & Lenin - Ayn Rand & Ford - Chomsky 

(this sequence may be highly erratic as it is based on the limits / extents of my reading)

Construction & Habitat:

Structural grids - non-grid structures - self-evolving structures

Centenary structures - decadal structures - transient / temporary structures

Skyscrapers / ghettos - urbanization - urban + sub-urban

land cities - water cities - space colonies

The above is a mapping of the developments till now. Then, I proceeded to shortlist technologies that will affect the future: - 

Mechanization: shape memorizing materials (AI) & nanoscale robots (AI+scale / energy reduction)

Communication: telepathy (meaning mind to mind conversation here)

Transport: teleportation

Biology: artificial culture of body parts, regrowth / healing controllers in brain

Philosophy: True democracy (like the IDEA ad we see, ultimate participation / control) or personalized democracy (choice of one's own set of rules from a given set)

Construction & Habitat: non-cities

That is where i stopped. The word non-cities hit me & the pattern in my own set of choices for the future hit me. If we are able to achieve teleportation, the need to live together / nearby would cease to exist. Infrastructure would change dramatically. If teleportation becomes possible, we could teleport our needs to our home & send back the wastes to a recycling facility. We would not need ANY PHYSICAL CONNECTIONS!!!!

As planners how far into the future are we looking? 10 - 20 - 50 years? Most of our urban projects take about 20 years to accomplish. But within that time, the original calculations have gone wrong. & yet that is just a short-sighted example. At the macro level, the government is investing some hundred thousand crores of rupees in developing india wide highway / railway network, urban transport systems, airports, etc. All of these will take atleast 10-15 years to materialize. 

Imagine if, within that timeframe, say Tata is able to create a Nanoplane: a personal aircraft that runs 20 kms a litre (with partly air powered, partly solar powered) engine & that can also take off from rooftops. Imagine the lack of manpower in Air traffic control that would face us! & we are preventing aerospace use for SECURITY REASONS. One has to only imagine if aerospace is exploited for public use (not limited to chartered / public flights), one can form a 3 dimensional network of highways in the air without any substantial investment! The only large scale investment would be in form of ATC manpower! Any person desirous of using a car provides for the garage himself. The same will apply for landing facilities & maybe area / building wise ATC personnel. Even this would make our investments in highways & railways a joke! Because super-efficient engines are not too far away! (skeptics may use google to enlighten themselves) & I am still talking on a present scenario basis.

Now, imagine if teleportation is established in next 50 years! (Cellphones were established in 20 years. Teleportation of electricity within 1metre is possibly as of today) The immense investments that we made in next 20 years would be obsolete in just 30 more years! Not to say what a waste of land would be found, when physical transit would die off! 

In my earlier post I mentioned that we provide about 20-25% of our urban spaces to streets & connecting infrastructure. All that space in cities & the space between cities would be now utilized for better purposes! & I have still not reached the climax!!!

What cities???? Once everything is teleported, why should i live next door to my office, or to anyone for that matter? I can reach anywhere i want in a matter of seconds via teleportation! Ditto for material needs!!! If we are using communication to talk to people in space on a live basis, why is it so hard to imagine we can even go there in future on a live basis??? That, is the ultimate death of urbanization! People are capable of building spaces better than cities to congregate. Our stadia, our theatres, our plazas could be in more exotic locations; and yet just a jiffy or few jiffies away! (hey, in case you forgot congestion, your current call drop rate could bring you back to earth!!!)

So, as planners: provided with the responsibility of developing human environments for the future, are we even thinking of the future? or are we just reflecting on the present & trying to mend things, rather than evolving with them??? While I completely agreed with the talk of the planner i interviewed, I am unable to understand why, inspite of having studied so much history, we are still not into the business of future anticipation (not prediction) based on current pace of growth (be it technological, political, philosophical,etc etc) If we are unable to provide visions into the future as planners, and guide public opinion towards the same, I believe we fail somewhere as professionals.

PS: I'm just an amateur thinker & a blog is definitely a product of the BETA world. Hence, it contains a collection of my random & almost live stream of thoughts. More importantly, I may have (with my limitations of exposure / understanding) got the chronology of past developments & connected future perceptions wrong. But, I DEFINITELY HAVE NOT got the point wrong. We ARE too SHORTSIGHTED to see what's going to hit us in the next few decades. If a much-publicized (thanks to Star Trek) technological research is beyond our vision of the future, how can we claim to be the directors of future growth patterns? We don't even try to understand what these patterns will be based on!!! One has to only imagine the combined effect of many such technologies, and lament the futility of our so-called PLANNING.

An encounter with a thinker

It is not everyday that one gets to meet a prominent thinker. I got a chance to meet one such personality when I was asked to interview him for a magazine. I was obviously excited, as I wanted to know what he thought, & more importantly HOW he thought.

The person in question is one of the leading architect-planners of the country, having received awards from national & international spheres. The interview was for a landscape journal, which wanted a planner's viewpoint on the fast-spreading fad of township development & instant city creation.

It was comforting to know that the person being interviewed was a lateral thinker too. I was hardly a party to the discussion, owing to my lack of experience at conducting interviews or any discussion at higher level for that matter. So, I was listening to him while he reflected on a set of questions given to direct the session.

Instead of answering those directly, he laid down the history of the planning profession, and the country in general. He also outlined the history of urbanization. Only after he had created such ground, did he proceed to answer the questions presented to him. In that light, the discussion reached a different level, and holistic solutions were discussed.

i have been doing a lot of lateral studies, trying to obtain answers for my field of work by reading politics, sociology, technology & other such things. I was quickly fascinated by the discussion. I also had a chance to transcribe the recording of the interview, allowing me to absorb more of the subject.

While I am hardly discussing the subject, it is immaterial. The very fact that lateral thinking does lead to holistic and better solutions is a conclusion, although premature for me, that I wish to adhere to.

Circle of Innovation - Tom Peters

I read this book a few weeks ago. I was attracted to it by its innovative writing style - no nonsense adjectives put together & sentences done with altogether where not needed!

The book is a quick read (despite its apparent size) due to the above reason. Also, it helps that a quick read keeps one engaged, without losing track. I did find it repetitive in a lot of places. Also, since the author used a quick-writing style, the repetition did not reinforce the subject, it only made it boring!

The jist of the book is about Innovation (& hence his innovation in writing!) 

Peters says 

- Any person / business / corporation must keep innovating continuously or die! 

- The best way to change things is not to restructure, but to destroy them!

- Innovation is the key to growth!

- In a fast paced society, if you are not growing / innovating, you are slipping / dying / decaying.

- Skillsets need to change fast: not in years, but weeks, as per consumer demand.

- Each employee / person is a business head by himself / herself & should contribute directly to consumer satisfaction

- If an employee cannot answer how he /she directly satisfies the consumer, he / she should be done away with!

- One should not be afraid of failures. It adds to the experience!

- Its the death of bureaucracy. Companies having internal departments, that are not directly connected to the consumer, will die early!

- Innovation should be long term, the individual / company should think of future innovation capabilities instead of planning for the present.

- Innovation should be inclusive & exhaustive: from products to internal management systems, to mechanization to employee efficiency, everything about the company should be innovative!

To sum it all, its a fast paced book about a fast paced corporate world! I would gladly recommend it for everyone. Be prepared to NOT listen /agree to everything presented, but absorb the gist & the book opens our eyes to a lot of prevalent non-sense!

Dev-D (a dissection)

I hadn't the slightest clue that the movie was a remake of Devdas! I only realized that halfway through the movie! 

The movie follows a pattern of few western movies like Romeo & Juliet  and Macbeth (the new versions set in the modern world). I found both the above to be quite palatable.

I would first commend the director for making this movie, just to show what the audiences can also expect from THE SAME OLD STORY! The story of Devdas, although quite an interesting piece of literature, would have worked great in the 90s, when showed in the same manner. But this is the 21st century & we would like some creativity in the movie.

At the risk of being thrashed by a dear friend of mine, who is an ardent Madhuri fan, i have to say that her & Shahrukh's Devdas bored me to death! I found the whole portrayal so stupid, i couldn't have found a worse way to spend my time! The performances in the movie were excellent (except for Shahrukh, who is capable of doing much better work), but the script, the art direction & the locations were absolutely wasted for this era of films! SL Bhansali must understand that even theatre needs creativity, lets not be monkeys!

To come back to DevD, the movie was absolutely stunning from the point where i realized it was a remake of Devdas. Till then, I was lost, trying to understand why this movie was even made.

Abhay Deol gives yet another great performance with his no-nonsense no-emotion acting. The non-Indian actress also gives a good performance, while Mahi Gill leaves a lot to be desired, including her wardrobe choice.

The movie moves very fast (thankfully), brashly trashing unwanted parts of the original story & adapting itself to the current society. Most of all, the director tries to give it an enormous amount of accountability (by connecting it to current events) & making it interesting, but reflecting on the society through a historic story! That part is what i liked best! That also forms the premise of the remake, and the freshness endowed with such directorial angles makes the movie lively & bewitching!

Bewitching, because although we hate some characters, although we hate some parts of the movie, it keeps us glued! As if, he director intended to bring out hate in us for some parts! That, I think is a class work of art!

Another aspect of the movie which i wanted to discuss is the way viewers are kept sub-consciously confused and drawn into the movie. The art director uses a lot of high paced, loud sequences, which keep changing the environment in a jiffy. Although it creates a shock, it does not make the viewer lose interest at any point. The repetition of a few words, characters' names, incidents from current society; all of these mixed with trance music & dazzling colours & carefully choreographed scenery create an effect of a high!

This, i think is the most important part of Devdas's story! The whole story is about a man in a trance, due to whatever reasons in life. Dev-D does justice to that aspect & hence portrays the story more realistically & in a more classy fashion than Bhansali's true-to-the-book version!

Ghajini - a belated review

I tried to avoid writing a review for Ghajini because:

1. i love Aamir Khan's work, in general & in the movie

2. i hated the movie because i was expecting a remake of Memento

However, i got a chance to watch it again. The first time i watched it, i was bored to death, waiting for the love story to move on & the real movie to keep continuing. I was really expecting a remake of Memento & desperately wanted the movie to proceed in the same manner, for whatever reasons.

We were a large group of friends who went to see the movie. After the movie, we were divided into 2 parts: those who had seen Memento were bored & disappointed, those who hadn't had enjoyed the movie thoroughly.

But, this time when i saw the movie, I actually liked it! & not because its an Amir Khan starrer, but because the movie does form a good plot / script, with acceptable performances & great photography! 

The movie was well (re) written, addressing the Indian viewers. The story begins at a point towards the end (& not AT the end), and a flashback is smoothly inserted halfway into the movie!

Although a large part of actors suffer from bad acting, especially the irritating & downright stupid Jiah Khan (i wanted to kick her at times!) and also the police inspector who seems to have an agenda of his own, coupled with tasteless & immature acting. 

The roles played by Asin, Amir & the villian ( i dont know his name) were quite passable (though not great), but it wove together a story that was very radical & quite watchable for general viewers. I remember we went for a paid preview & the cinema was half empty. But the next day onwards, the tickets were selling in black (i heard that word after quite a few years!)!!!

Although this movie is nowhere near RDB or TZP, its a choice work from a dedicated actor. I wouldn't know if the director was capable enough to handle such a movie, or whether the scriptwriter got confused while translating the Tamil version to the Bollywood one, but a lot of the movie still played to South Indian movie style tunes, something that doesnt work at all in Bollywood. 

Some action sequences were stupid & some actors equally dead-faced!

I think the only thing that holds the movie is : THE STORY!

For humans or machines?

In a country where caste is a basis for assigning quotas, I wish to present a caste / life war that is, as yet, unaddressed. I do not support the caste system, but since we are still living with it, I would like to bring to everyone's attention, a new quota system that needs to be in place.

I am a landscape planner by profession. We work on many road sytems / urban streets / public transit systems. I have been enlightened by the company of many leading professionals in India, and my friends who have been living the cause of urban spaces.

We are allocating increasing amounts of space to cars & road systems, while the amount allocated to pedestrian activities is on the decrease. We like to take out our vehicles for distances that we would have happily walked a few years ago. In the foosteps of the USA, we are becoming an automobile society.

Some statistics are so shocking, that it is insane to think how ignorant we are. A city is usually designed based on a masterplan. The plan allocates about 25-40% space for public activities from the total land pool (depending on the political / social preferences). 20% of the total land pool (minimum) is used to road systems & access! That is almost 50-80% of the public spaces!

If we have a road with a width of about 40 meters, we allocate a measly 4 metres width to pedestrians (both sides of the road included!) Talk about human rights! We are not allowed to walk. We are promoting policies that are pro-car & anti-pedestrian. Every driver believes it is his / her birthright to be able to have unhindered access to roads, where crossing pedestrians are unnecessary & should be done away with!

Recently, Ahmedabad Corporation did a one-of-its-kind experiment by closing down a part of its largest shopping district for one sunday. The place: C G Road, is a prime commercial area with heavy traffic & congestion during peak hours & weekends. When the road was closed for pedestrian activities, people started walking all over the road! The entire 24-30 meters of road width was available for pedestrian use. One could see people walking freely in groups (& not in a single line), children racing about or skating, older persons sitting & chatting with ease & so much more! All this without the noise & hindrance of vehicles. Whats more, all shops recorded 2-3 times more footfalls that day! This is because people had already left their vehicles and were walking by leisurely, finding more time for window shopping and hence stepping in more often!

The corporation had been sane enough to club this occasion with performances by schools, NGOs, traffic sense presentations, etc. The whole space became one vibrant public space. It was that day i realized that if a small 250 metres long stretch of road could hold hundreds of people with ease, who were enjoying themselves, imagine how much space we actually waste, by handing it over to the vehicles!

This brings me to an important question: are the vehicles for us, or we for the vehicles? Why should we allocate increasing space for those monsters, when we can easily do away with them, endeavor to create better public transport in the same manner as we endeavor to build better roads / flyovers. How wonderful it would be if we can leave our parking & traffic worries, enjoying the trip as well as destination!

culture shock / future shock

For starters, I am back at writing after a few weeks' break...

An online acquaitance wrote very strongly about the decay of moral values with regards to the incident of Ram Sene attacking girls in Mangalore pub. I have been trying to find answers to the same. I'm reading Alvin Toffler, starting with Future Shock. I intend to read The third wave & Powershift after this one.

Alvin Toffler talks about the culture shock that America experienced in 60s / 70s due to accelerating rate of technological change, which resulted in drastic change in culture & society. One of his statements is: "Evidence strongly suggests that overstimulation leads to bizarre & anti-adaptive behavior." He explains the situation of soldier's during world war 2. They were so overwhelmed that some of them used to fall asleep during battles, a way of shutting oneself down. Others used to become hyper-sensitive, over-reacting to every small movement & noise, imagining it to be the enemy. 

Most of us will have seen Vietnam war movies, where soldiers are found to be guilty of unthinkable atrocities on locals. Such events are also increasing in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo, Somalia, Congo, etc.

This, for my understanding, also explains the root of terror. Most of us take technological revolution & change casually. But for many people, who are not in sync with the current pace of the world: things are moving TOO fast. The world is non-comprehensible for them.

For them, there are 2 ways of dealing with it: shut-off, or go on an offensive. The second reason is, I believe, the core of the problem why such activities as those of Ram Sene are increasing all over the country. The perpetrators' agendas are misunderstood or misinterpreted by themselves. They seem to be angry at changes happening, where they are either not included, or they do not want to be included.

These people do not try to push back the wheel to its original position. The results of the same are beyond even their control in the large run. The victims of change become the reason for change itself!

I remember this dialogue from the movie Main Hoon Naa  (hero to villian) : " Tum itni nafrat karne ke aadi ho gaye ho ki tumhe amaan se dar lagta he. Nafrat ki aag mein tum wohi hevan ban gaye, jis ke saamne tum jung ladne nikle the!" (this is not the exact dialogue, but something to that effect).