Learn the cool DU lingo; speak the DU [Delhi University] way ;)

DU Dictionary Masti ki Paathshala

MEDHA SHRI, TNN,

Jun 20, 2009

..Form submission, cut-off lists, standing in queues – if you thought that admission in DU was just this, you might want to prepare yourself for a hatke education.....

Once you make it to DU, if your friends insist you treat them at KNags or to Chacha's for CBats, you wouldn't like to look baffled, right? Now, you may not come across words like KNags and CBats in any dictionary, but nonetheless, if you don't know these words by the time you enter the college campus, you may feel a little out of place. Allow DT to update you on the univ lingo...

Univ

Meaning: Delhi University. University of Delhi, isn't that a lengthy name? Univ is more like it – short and cool.

Usage: I'm going to the Univ office dude, wanna tag along?

Campus

Meaning: North Campus. While campus is a generic term in DU, the word means only and only Nor

th Campus

. Make no mistake of calling the South Campus by the same name.

Usage: Heard the Campus has some cool hangouts, let's check them out.

KNags

Meaning: Kamla Nagar. One of the hippest markets near the Campus. KNags is your one-stop complex for books, branded clothes and even a small flea market.

Usage: Let's catch up at KNags in the evening.

CBats

Meaning: Cho

le Bhature; Eating Chole Bhature is so out of fashion. Cool people eat CBats.

Usage: I have a craving for CBats today, let's go to Chacha's. (Chacha ke CBats are pretty famous in the Univ)

GJams

Meaning: Gulab Jamuns. After CBats, if your sweet tooth is nagging you, what better way to indulge than by gorging on some GJams? And for god's sake, don't call them Gulab Jamuns!

Usage: I need some sugar fix, people, wanna go for some GJams?

Soc (pronounced as Sock)

Meaning: A cultural or departmental group which is called a society. Once you are in the univ, you'd have to be a part of a dance, music or literary Soc.

Usage: I'm planning to join the Lit Soc (literary society).

Res

Meaning: The college hostels are popularly called Res, probably a short form of residents. Also, a resident of the college hostel is called a Res.

Usage: It's cool to be a Res, you kinda rule the college!

Amma

Meaning: Hostel warden – never mind the gender. It's not because they remind you of your mother, but hostel wardens are generally referred to as Amma as they keep a check on the students and try to make sure that the res follow rules.

Usage: Hide those bottles dude, Amma is on her way.

Vella

Meaning: A person who has nothing to do in life and is simply whiling away time. Vellagiri, the act of being Vella.

Usage: I have started a Vella Soc in college, a non-official Soc, for other Vellas like me.

CATing

Meaning: If you are preparing for CAT then you are CATing.

Usage: Are you CATing this year? (Are you planning to take CAT exam this year?)

Dope-chi

Meaning: A person who takes drugs or who looks like s/he takes drugs. A shabby hairdo (which is the in-thing at the Univ these days), black or grey T shirt, dark thick kajal (for girls), chappals, and a gait that says 'Whatever, man!' are the traits that mark a Dope-chi. Most of them are loners, who like to keep to themselves and are rock music fans. Forgive us for the generalisation.

Usage: He is a Dope-chi yaar, he's lost in his own world.

BTMs (short for Behenji-Turned-Mod)

Meaning: Girls who were behenjis by DU standards when they were freshers but have undergone a sea change over the years. However, a DU student says, it's not too hard to trace BTMs in the campus as they still speak with their native accent. Also, their attitude is a dead giveaway.

Usage: That girlfriend of yours looks like a typical BTM. Did you notice the synthetic fruity top that she wore to the classroom yesterday? Please dump her for Jes' (as in Jesus') sake.

Biyatch

Meaning: Distorted version of B**ch. This word comes in handy when you have to abuse a good friend of yours, pyar se. What's more, the term can be used for both boys and girls. You obviously can't call your friend a b**ch, right?

Usage: You are such a Biaytch, why didn't you tell me you were going to wear a black top? Now, we both look like identical twins.

Dramchi

Meaning: A drama queen or a melodramatic person, also, someone who cooks up stories.

Usage: You are such a Dramchi! I'm not going to share my notes with you.

Yava

Meaning: It's something like embarrassment. Whenever you find yourself in a situation when you don't know what to do, or when someone asks you some embarrassing question, the answer for which you don't have, or when someone pulls your leg and you don't know how to react, you become Yava.

Usage: My friend's mom asked me if I have a girlfriend in front of my professor. Mai toh Yava ho gaya, yaar.

Khapeter

Meaning: When you fall short of words to describe someone who's very mischievous, you simply call him or her a Khapeter.

Usage: My teacher asked for my assignment. And I told her that I'd forgotten my register in the hostel. But this friend of mine is such a Khapeter, he took out the register from my desk and asked loudly, 'Are you looking for this register, dude? I got so Yava in front of the entire class.

Here are few more words that would come in handy when you are in DU:

Jahnkees: People who overdress and especially boys who wear ekdum tight shirt and faded lose pants and sport bleached hair.

Ricks: For rickshaws

Sutta: For cigarettes, joints and dope

Adda: Hangouts

Robert Pattinson's interview:[The Sexiest Man Alive or something like it! no i am not flaunting just sharing ;)]

I'm a bore: Robert Pattinson

MEDHA SHRI, TNN 6 December 2009, 12:00am IST

Says the Sexiest Man Alive, Robert Pattinson [Edward Cullen of Twilight] , even as he discloses how he loves all the attention, and why he did a bare all in

Robert Pattinson More Pics

Twilight.

How did you prepare for your role?
Getting in to character for Twilight was the first thing I needed to do and for that Physical fitness was the priority and my only concern. I remember, before Twilight, I never worried much about exercising my abs out, but for being Edward, I did every freaking thing possible. Regularly for 2-3 months, I ran for two hours daily and had a three-hour long session of kickboxing followed by hitting the gym for some weight training and abdomen crunches. In addition, I was on a stringent diet regime too. I was just trying to lose every ounce of body fat, so when I took off my shirt, I would look like an alien.

Are you enjoying all the attention that you are getting?
Before Twilight people use to complain about a lot of things in me like my chest hair and I must say post Twilight it’s about me wearing same clothes. I got more compliments over complaints though, when I heard people say, ‘He wears same clothes, wow that’s so cool and real.’ Actually, I don’t mind wearing what I have worn before; after all they are all my clothes I am wearing. It has got nothing to do with keeping the paparazzi away. I do not desperately repeat the clothes. It is just by chance and sometimes in shortage of time, in fact a couple of times while promotion. I guess people like me as I am. And yeah, I am enjoying all the attention I am getting, ’coz it was my choice to be an actor first. So whatever the results, I have to accept.
How do titles like – sexiest man alive, make you feel?
Who won’t like being called the sexiest person? Well, actually I don’t know whether I am sexy or not. How could I comment about myself? Ask others I guess. I am ok with such tags as far as there is no stereotyping. But yes, I would like to rename the title to The Sexiest Actor instead of just Man. After all I am an actor first.

Q: Do you remember any particular incident where a female fan bothered you a lot?

Also, women walk up to you and say ‘bite me.” True? we know it freaks you out, but how do you react?

Ans: I do enjoy the attention, who wouldn’t and after all they have made us this popular. Our identities would be lost the day we aren’t treated by fans, but then we too are normal people and need some privacy like others, like you need it, like your friends need it and like the rest of the world needs it. See I never despise Fans, until they are in huge quantity and talk really weird.

Well it is all true what you have heard. Though Recently I’ve had less direct interaction with people because there is way more security on sets and promotional tours, but it has been happening and is very funny when older people come up. Like in an incidence, there was a women who came up to me, who must have been like in her 90s may be. It’s very unusual and they say exactly the same thing as 12-year-old girls. That is kind of bizarre. And about the bites, it has happened many a times now, but one incident I remember of New York, while I was shooting and a 7 year old girl turned up asking me for a neckbyte and I was like stunned not because she demanded it, but the way she said that. Her tone was so desperate and sounded that of a young lady. What could have I done, and simply turned her request down and making her understand that she was just a kid then. Well this is one really weird incidence in particular where I really felt unanswerable.

Your favourite stars – male and female? Whose position do you envy? Who would you like to be?
Jack Nichn male, I always wanted to be like him since my childhood. I used to try and be like him in whatever I did. I copied his accent, dressed like him. I do not envy him but yes he was my source of aspiration I must say. Among favourite actresses, actually there are many but yes, Kristen Stewart has impressed me and the whole world, with her acting skills at such an early age.

You have flaunted your bare body a lot in the Twilight...
That was ’coz the character demanded it. In my opinion, it is the USP of Edward Cullen.

You have been linked up with a lot of women. Who’s your girlfriend?
I do not have any girlfriend and neither do I want one, considering the environment I am in now. I am only reading books and watching films always. I am quite a bore kinda person you know. If I’d have a girlfriend, why would I shy away from the media glare and letting my fans know?

Have you watched any Bollywood movies? Do you know any people from Bollywood?
No, I haven’t seen any Indian film yet. Though I have seen a couple of Hollywood films having an Indian touch and that’s where I see Indian actors and they are great-great performers. Names are hard to recall you know. Then this year’s Oscar showed us glimpses of Indian actors and India in Hollywood while Slumdog swept all the awards, so I guess it is needless saying how far the Indian cinema has come.

Have you been approached by any Bollywood movie makers for a film, except by Mira Nair for Vanity Fair?
Not yet, but I won’t mind working abroad if it is a good project and has some potential for me to perform as an actor instead of adding just a name. There is no reason though for this choiceBut at this time, I am too busy with my current commitments. And once these projects are over, I must look for a short break for making some music may be.

Any plans of visiting India? What do you know about this country?

Yes, I know in bits about India. Also the ongoing Indian and Hollywood associations have a lot to keep an eye on. Our actors are moving East and so is the Indian film industry moving here. Well it’s really good to have an exchange of cultures through the world’s strongest medium of communication, Films, which influences heterogeneous masses. Yes, I’d love to be there in near future, and why not? It is such a nice place. I went to Japan for promotion of our film, I wish I could have come to India too then. Apart from films, I know there is some real cool music in different genres and food that stirs the taste buds in India.

Karisma Kapoor talks Pregnancy, Bollywood and Kareena

What's that glow about?

MEDHA SHRI, TNN 25 September 2009, 12:00am IST

The perennially svelte Karisma Kapoor, whose figure has been the envy of many a successor in Bollywood, is looking curvier than usual these days.
The rumour that her daughter, Samaira, might have a little sibling soon is also strong, after sis Kareena reportedly told the media that she’s very excited about her sister expecting a second child. At a recent Delhi do, when DT asked Karisma if the good news was true, she only smiled and replied gaily, “It’s something very personal. All I would say is that we are very happy at the moment.”

No denials, then. But Lolo’s got a lot to celebrate. She’s enjoying motherhood, she loved her stint on TV, she’s glowing and she isn’t ruling out a comeback to the movies either. As for that glow, is she a yoga person, like Bebo? “Surprisingly, no!” Lolo laughs, adding, “I know my sister endorses yoga, but I’m more of a gym person. I find yoga difficult. Kareena tries to get me to do it, but I manage to escape. I have a very healthy lifestyle. I’m not in favour of crash diets and I don’t deprive myself of anything, but I do have everything in moderation,” she says judiciously.

Okay, so not yoga, but is she into polo like hubby Sunjay Kapur, who’s a well-known polo player? But Lolo is content with cheering Sunjay on from the stands – she even says that she tried to dissuade him as she thinks the sport’s too dangerous. “It’s a very dangerous sport. No matter how experienced you are, anything can happen anytime, because you are riding an animal. So one person from the family is enough,” she says with a smile.

Karisma and Sunjay Kapur have the only charity polo cup named after their daughter – the Samaira Cup – which was held in Delhi. “Yes, I don’t know if we have it this year, but if it’s happening this year too, I will be there for sure,” said Lolo, during an interview to DT at a recent Delhi do.

And will she be doing movies again soon? “I’m enjoying my break from movies at the moment,” says Lolo. “Yes, David Dhawan is doing a script keeping me in mind, and I’m looking forward to it.” So is that going to be a David-Karisma style comedy flick? “Yes, something light. But, you know, it’s too early to talk about it.”

But the industry seems to have limited roles for married female actors. Does Lolo think she’ll get roles worth her salt? “I beg to differ on that,” Karisma says with conviction. “It’s not like that anymore – look at the lovely role that Kajol played in Fanaa. And then there are so many other avenues too, there’s TV, there are ads, etc.” says Lolo. “I’m happy that I saw the industry change. I was a part of the industry when things were changing. I saw it happening. I started with doing some not-so-meaty roles, but I did some very substantial roles later, like in Zubeida, Fiza and Shakti. There were some very female-centric films that the industry made and I was part of some of those. In fact, Biwi No 1 was a commercial film and was a female-centric film; even the title was Biwi No 1!”

Since Karisma says she enjoyed her stint as a judge on a TV reality show, would she like to compete in any of them? “No!” pat comes the reply. “There’s so much pressure on the participants all the time. There are no retakes, and if you make a mistake, there’s no way you can undo it. They’re under constant scrutiny all the time,” says Lolo. And what about allegations that reality shows are staged? “People do say they aren’t real, but that’s not true. Even we wouldn’t know what will happen next – like sometimes, the person that you liked would get eliminated,” says Karisma.
Lolo might not like polo, which her hubby plays, but she does like cricket. With many of her colleagues from the film industry getting into the glamorous IPL biz, is she planning to bid for a cricket team too? “I do love cricket as a sport, but no, we aren’t getting into it,” says Karishma.
Pics: TOI

Feroz directed Gandhi My Father

‘GANDHI’S OUR CONSCIENCE’

The director and actor of the National Award-winning Gandhi, My Father, Feroz Abbas Khan & Darshan Jariwala, explain the rationale behind making the film, and why Gandhi and his thoughts are still relevant

MEDHA SHRI , Times News Network; 2-oct-2009

Feroz Abbas Khan’s Gandhi, My Father won accolades and bagged awards not just in India, but also at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards and the Tokyo Film Awards. Not just that, the film won admiration and praise from Nelson Mandela himself. More recently, Gandhi, My Father has become the talk of the town again for bagging three National film awards for 2007. “I had moved on after the movie,” says Feroz, the director. “The other awards were more timely.”

Feroz, who’s travelled across continents with his film and several plays, says that his plays generally, “deal with the Indian audience and people who are familiar with Indian culture.” But cinema, he explains, is a wider medium. “Thus, my film cuts across different nations and cultures as it deals with humanity and concerns that are universal.”

Though Gandhi, My Father is a period film that required Feroz to spend time in libraries and browse through autobiographies and letters, the movie appealed to the audience worldwide because it was contemporary, he believes. “The film is not about Gandhi and his son Harilal, but about a challenge that all parents face today – the aspirations of children, the parents’ limitations, and their constant effort to reconcile both. The problem is universal and that’s why it affects people in every corner of the world.”

Did he have any apprehensions about making a film on the personal life of a national icon? “I have been asked this question often,” says he. “I was never scared because I was in the pursuit of truth.” As for the ‘super censors,’ Feroz makes a point, “This is all political posturing in the garb of social policing. Whenever a political or any other group wants to attract attention, they do this. And we are soft targets because they know we will not retaliate. The publicity is great for them and they know the advantage that they get out of this.” The filmmaker adds that it’s sad that the government doesn’t do anything about it. “The singular responsibility of checking these people lies with the state. It’s the state’s abject failure to protect people’s rights,” he says vehemently.

So much is said about Gandhi – people like him, don’t like him, people attack him and put him on a pedestal “because they have vested interests. The real Gandhi is somewhere in between,” says Feroz. “A lot of it is political mudslinging, particularly by the right wing, which tries to negate his contribution. He stands for so many things that define the nation. He stands for responsibility, accountability, truth and a lot of what is right in the country. He is our moral conscience. Anything or anybody that doesn’t pass what I call the Gandhi Test, blames Gandhi because it makes them feel uncomfortable. No matter what you say, you’ll have a reference to Gandhi in India and other countries where he shaped the nation.” Feroz quotes Gopal Gandhi here – “Gandhi is the inconvenient truth.”

Feroz likes the other recent Gandhi film, Lagey Raho Munna Bhai. “It’s a novel way to convey the ideas and ideals of Gandhi to the younger generation. It’s an outstanding, entertaing film. It shows Gandhi as a nice person doing good to everybody,” says Feroz. He believes that sometimes, the problem with filmmakers is that they expect stars to act. When he approached Akshay Khanna, he told him, “You have to be an actor, not a star.” But that doesn’t mean he won’t make the musicals. He says, “My next film is again going to be something that I feel for and that I want to stand up and share with people. It can be a musical.”

Pics: Times Of India

Gandhi On-Screen

The best filmi Gandhi
Directors and actors who’ve done Gandhi-based films choose the top Gandhi acts on celluloid. Here are the results

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

In the romance and action-filled cinema coming from India, there are not very many movies based on Mahatma Gandhi. But there is a surprisingly long list of actors who’ve played Gandhi in small roles or brief appearances in movies about other freedom fighters or political dramas.

Nevertheless, few actors have played Gandhi with the finesse to win awards for it. Rajit Kapoor won the National Award for his portrayal of Gandhi in Shyam Benegal’s The Making Of The Mahatma, and now, Darshan Jariwala’s won it for his Gandhi act in Feroz Abbas Khan’s Gandhi My Father. Of course, many sterling actors have played Gandhi on stage, which is a tough act to pull off, literally. But it seems that actors on the big screen have been more than equal to the task.

We asked some actors and directors to rate the most memorable Gandhi acts in cinema in order of merit, but they begged off. They did choose three of the best, though.

Shyam Benegal, director, The Making Of The Mahatma

“It’s not possible to compare the many Gandhi performances in cinema. The ages and facets are so different that they aren’t comparable. My Gandhi (played by Rajit Kapoor) is Gandhi as he was from the age of 24 to 45. The rest are much older, so it’s hard to say which is better. If you’re asking me about the definitive Gandhi, that would have to be Ben Kingsley. That’s the image of Gandhi we all have, that’s how most people think of him. My Gandhi is the Gandhi whom nobody knew much about. The Gandhi we know best is toothless, staff in hand, the Gandhi of many satyagrahas. Each performance is a fine one, and brings out different facets of Gandhi. Ben Kingsley is the public face of Gandhi, Darshan is the private one, and my Gandhi is the younger, unknown Gandhi. I wouldn’t include Dilip Prabhavalkar in the great Gandhi acts because he plays a symbolic Gandhi.”

Anupam Kher, actor, Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Maara

“Ben Kingsley’s performance in Gandhi is unmatched and beyond compare. The way he portrayed Gandhi in his youth till his demise is unparalleled. The role played by Dilip in Lage Raho Munna Bhai was just a ploy in the script. It is nowhere close to the real Gandhi, and we are talking about ‘unbelievable superior performance’, hence it can be only Ben Kingsley. Naseeruddin Shah (who played Gandhi in Hey Ram) is a great actor, but I don’t know about his performance as Gandhi for I haven’t seen Hey Ram.”

Feroz Abbas Khan, director, Gandhi, My Father

"There is something more that differentiates my film from not just other films, but other Gandhi films as well. Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi was the political Gandhi, Shyam Benegal’s was the Gandhi of South Africa. And this film is an attempt to humanise Gandhi, a subject that has not been dealt with so far. It was about how that person met challenges, sacrificed things, took actions in his pursuit of whatever he did, the things that he did. Gandhi is too grand and encompassing to fit in one film.”

Gandhi on celluloid

>> Ben Kingsley – Gandhi

>> Dilip Prabhavalkar – Lage Raho Munna Bhai

>> Rajit Kapoor – Making Of TheMahatma

>> Mohan Gokhale – Babasaheb Ambedkar

>> Naseeruddin Shah – Hey Ram

>> Darshan Zariwala – Gandhi, My Father

Surendra Rajan – (Small roles in) The Legend of Bhagat Singh, Veer Savarkar

(With inputs from Diksha Kamra, Medha Shri and Chandna Arora ) Pics: TOI

Darshan Jariwala played Gandhi in Gandhi My Father, won a national award too.

Gandhi ka filmi Darshan

Medha Shri, TNN, 2-oct-2009

He’s won the National Award recently for his portrayal of Gandhi in Gandhi, My Father. But how does actor Darshan Jariwala like the other Gandhis on screen? “Honestly, I haven’t seen many of those films. I don’t think Lagey Raho Munna Bhai had a portrayal of Gandhi. It’s actually one character’s imagination of Gandhi. I saw Ben Kingsley as Gandhi many years ago,” says Darshan.

What preparation went into playing the character? “This is a director’s construction of Gandhi,” says Darshan. “It’s a unique take on the Mahatma as it deals with a side of Gandhi that was personal, which is a more human Gandhi, which doesn’t deify Gandhi, doesn’t presume his greatness, though at the end, one realises that Gandhi was indeed great. He stuck to his principles and did what he thought was right. Not that he didn’t care for his son, but he cared for truth more, or at least for his beliefs. I read up on Harilal to understand the relationship of the father and son.”

The stereotypical image of Gandhi is that of an old man in a dhoti with spectacles and a stick. Does that make it easier to play him, because one knows how he was, or difficult, because there’s nothing new left to do? “The portrayal of Gandhi becomes easier if the actor makes an attempt to make Gandhi grow from the inside out in him. I look a lot different from Gandhi, yet, when people saw me, even those who have known me for 40 years thought I looked like him. I did that not by mimicking him or his actions but because it came from the core. An actor needs to unearth what he accumulates over years and empty himself to let Gandhi take shape. He shouldn’t be himself, but the character. If I looked like him, it was because people didn’t see Darshan Jariwala anywhere.”

There are as many critics of Gandhi as there are admirers. What is Darshan’s take on Gandhi? “I’m too small a man to sit in judgement on him. It will take generations of people after us to actually form anywhere close to an opinion about him. He is too big a phenomenon and too recent to be assessed correctly. As for the film, I would say, the nation disappointed Gandhi as much as his son. The Partition, the violence that followed, was an anathema to Gandhi, like his son’s behaviour.”
Gandhi tees and quotes are quite the ‘in’ thing. Does Darshan think people actually understand Gandhi, or do they think it’s just cool to do all this? “There may be a case or two where people think it’s cool to use Gandhi quotes, etc. Even if people do not totally understand Gandhi, they perceive the subtle truth of it,” he says. And that truth would be...? “That you always have a choice – between good and bad, speaking the truth and not speaking the truth, violence and non-violence. People should stand by their choices,” says Darshan.
Does he also follow Gandhian principle in his choices? “Of late, I must confess, I’ve started acknowledging the fact that we have a conscience that tells us what is good for us. The inner voice won’t be stilled, and it does need to be heard,” he says. Does “of late” mean after Gandhi...? “Yes, I learnt a few things from that character – like, people are not afraid of the truth but of the consequences of the truth. If we shed that fear, there’s no way we can go wrong.” And he adds, “Gandhi needed to communicate much better with his son, though there’s no evidence that he didn’t, he constantly expressed his views through his letters, yet there was this unbridgeable chasm between both of them and I’m quite aware of how difficult it is to communicate.”
Has he faced the same communication gap with his children? “Not just with children, it happens even when you are in a minority of thought and you have to take a stand and ask yourself whether the approval of this or that person is necessary for your happiness,” he signs off.
Pics: TOI

Take-II on Ravana

Headed your Way
Ravana might be one of the greatest baddies in Indian mythology, but there are others who beg to differ. On Dussehra, DT talks to people from Lankesh's home country for a Take-II HE WAS A BAD GUY? REALLY?
MEDHA SHRI Times News Network; 28-sep-2009
Like they say, one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter. So’s the case with the Ravana, who in many countries, isn’t such a bad guy after all. We speak to some Sri Lankans.

When Sri Lankan student Nadeera Nilupamali saw the effigyburning in India, she didn’t like it. “Back in Sri Lanka, we had no idea about this. About 57% of people there are Buddhist and don’t know about the Ramayana.But why would people want to burn somebody’s effigy like this? Ravana was not evil.” Nadeera, who thinks that the Ramayana is just a story, doesn’t agree that Ravana was totally evil. “Ravana was a learned man. He had done some great deeds for mankind. Ram-Ravana is just a story that we read in school. Ravana was a great king. Come to think of it, Ravana didn’t even touch Sita but Ram

asked Sita to walk on burning coals. Ram didn’t trust his wife.”

Aruna Kumar, who came to India last month, can’t agree with people who call Ravana a rakshasa or evil. “This is wrong. I don’t know if there’s any clear historical evidence of Ravana, but I believe that whatever evidence we have, shows he was a great king, a genius, a scholar, an inventor. I think he did some bad things too, but as a Sri Lankan, I am proud of him.”

Nalini Pillai, who’s been staying in India for the past five years, says she was amazed to see that Dusshera was a big deal here. “When I saw the celebrations in India I realised that people identify Ravana with evil. I used to think that Dussehra was a festival to just mark the end of the Navratras. I don’t agree that Ravana was evil. Rather, he was a scholar.”

Toshini Harasgama, who graduated from Delhi University, was shocked to see the way people thought of Ravana in India. She says, “I wonder why people in India would do that, they believe in ahimsa. This is like celebrating revenge. I felt bad for Ravana. I believe he was a very learned and brave man, who invented a lot of things for mankind, like the flying machine,” says Toshini.

medha.shri@timesgroup.com

Visual courtesy: Percept Picture Company; Pics: TNN