I know this is a very ‘touchy’ subject for many, but it’s not like I’m running for the Presidency of United States of America, so why not talk about it. It all started at the Philadelphia international airport on July 1st. My wife and I were leaving for California, and arrived at a long term parking lot close to the Philadelphia International airport early in the morning. The parking lot was being managed by a few African American people. The guy who received us, asked us to get our luggage out of the car and put it on the side where the shuttle was going to come shortly and so I did. In a few minutes, the shuttle arrived and the driver, also an African American, got out and asked us to start loading our stuff in to the shuttle, and again, so I did.
My wife and I were sitting in the shuttle, and waiting for it to start, when I saw another car pull in to the lot. The car was driven by a white couple in their late 40’s. Both were ‘dressed up’. The guy was wearing a grey blazer, and the lady was also wearing a top notch black dress. Without the luggage, you would think that they were going to a party. So anyway, the same guy who received us receives them. But guess what, he is more gracious and even takes out the luggage of the couple from the trunk and brings it close to the shuttle. The driver of the shuttle, then comes out of his seat, and loads the couple’s luggage in the shuttle. Both of us paid the same amount for the valet parking, but of course I get the lowly treatment. Now I’m thinking, should I have worn a blazer instead of shorts and a T-shirt to get this kind of a treatment? But I know the answer is ‘No’. For some reason, I have noticed that a lot of people of minority races don’t always treat people from other minority with respect. It’s almost like they are racist towards other minorities.
So why is it that some of us get a different treatment than others? I don’t know the answer to that, but I do know that it stinks to be on the receiving end. Once I had this parking lot experience, throughout my journey to California, I kept looking at behavior of people towards the minority races. Sadly, from east coast to west coast there’s not much change. In the flight, after scrambling to catch seats (Southwest airlines), we finally settled in our seats, and after 40 minutes and at 30,000 feet, the air hostess (Caucasian) came over to ask us for drinks. I told the lady the name of my drink 3 times as clearly as I could, but after all my failed attempts, she tells the guy sitting next to me (also Caucasian) “I really can’t understand what he’s asking for?” The guy then says to her “He’s asking for the energy drink” and then she say’s “oh of course! Thank you so much.” At first, I was terribly annoyed at myself, and irritated with her (remember this translation scene from the movie ‘Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay’). Anyway, I looked at my wife nodding my head in disbelief and with red eyes, but she told me to let it go. When our drinks were served, I yelled out “Thank you!” so at least 2 seats in the front and back of us could hear me clearly. The air hostess was perplexed as if she had given me some hard drinks by mistake. The guy sitting next to me started smiling. Now I felt good.
Even in day-to-day life, I have noticed a lot of different attitudes of people towards people like me, people of minority. I have not always been on the receiving end, but I do feel bad for whoever it is. And I feel even worse when it is people, who themselves are part of minority, behave in such a manner. Don’t we have enough issues with the so called superior classes that we have to treat each other also badly? We definitely aren’t always standing in the way of each other’s job prospects. I mean, I wasn’t looking to take away the jobs of the parking lot people? Would they have been looked at differently if they would have given us the same respect that they gave others? I don’t know, but I sure as hell would like to know. Maybe these are just one off scattered incidents and I’m reading way too much into it, but the point is why should there be any incident at all. The recent incident at the Huntingdon Valley swim club in Pennsylvania is just another example of how racism on a broader scale is still very much prevalent in our day to day lives. The video of one of the day care children explaining what he heard is very heartwarming to watch, and the kid is rightfully upset. So did things ‘change’ after we had the first African-American President elected to the highest office? I’m sure they did, but maybe some things will remain the same throughout our lives no matter what. I really hope I’m wrong on this one.
My all time favorite ghazal (is a poetic form consisting of rhyming couplets and a refrain) singer is Jagjit Singh. So Memorial Day weekend, my wife and I went to a live concert of Jagjit Singh at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center or NJPAC as it is commonly known. Being the over punctual people that we both are, we reached way ahead of time expecting difficulties in finding the place as this was our first visit to NJPAC and we wanted to make sure that we didn’t get in to any parking issues. If you know New Jersey, you know that Newark is not the kind of area you want to park your car roadside only to come out of the concert and not find your car - ever. So we took every precaution we could to go early and park at NJPAC parking close by.
So after we got to NJPAC and parked the car, we got to the entrance of the hall only to find that the main door was closed. After a long wait, we were let in to the main building at 7pm for an 8pm show. All along, I kept telling my wife that NJPAC organizers don’t know what they are doing, they should have opened the hall at 6pm, so we desi’s could settle in. If they think this is going to be as professional and easy as going to a non-desi concert they are in for a ‘big’ surprise. And I was right. As soon as the well dressed people waiting in lines knew that the doors were going to open, they shed all their professionalism and courtesy to give way to the true desi hiding beneath those costly attires. I advised my wife to stay behind for the first 10 minutes when the doors open as it will be like opening the door to a horse farm. And I was right, people went crazy, and started pushing and running in front of each other. Old ladies and men were the worst. You suddenly felt like you were at a rally trying to get ahead to see the president, only this was a hall where the show wasn’t going to start on time anyway.
After all the hassle of getting through the main door, we waited again in front of the hall entrance. There were stalls of snacks and drinks (hard drinks too) by the waiting area, which were catered and owned by NJPAC. Since most of the people waiting there were obviously hungry after spending so much energy getting in, they surrounded the stalls to gain some energy. The female caterers serving the stalls were very uncomfortable as the crowd was all around them, and some “smart” husbands even wanted to go behind the counters to get the “best” packed food and drinks for their wives. I mean come on you moron’s its packed food, how the hell is going back to the counter going to help. I reluctantly asked my wife if she wanted to have something, but looking at the crowd she was smart to say no. So we waited some more, and to keep our minds away from the stampede at the stalls, we started noticing the attires of everyone. Most people were dressed like they were attending a wedding reception. There were some smartly dressed couples, and some sophisticatedly dressed middle aged couples. But the majority were dressed either very casually (Jeans and colorful Tee’s) or very gaudily. And then there were a few that stood out completely. There was a Punjabi couple, where the guy was wearing cargo shorts. Can you believe it, cargo shorts and a T-shirt for a ghazal concert? This would have been fine if his wife was also casually dressed, but of course she had to show off her latest designer Indian dress and accessories to go along with it. Do these people even look at their partners while leaving their home and realize that they look badly dressed with each other?There was another elderly couple where the wife was properly dressed in traditional Indian sari, but “uncle ji” somehow decided that it was fashionable to wear sneakers with his crisp suit, which he was falling out of.
Finally, we got in to the hall, and there were some people rushing to get through even though the lady was telling everyone that the seats are marked so please don’t rush. But no, we have to force ourselves in, as if the world is coming to an end tomorrow and this is the last live concert we will ever see. So we get to our seats, and settle down, and the time is 7:50. My wife looks at the seats around us, and just as we are having our conversations, we start seeing flashes as people frantically start clicking pictures with their compact cameras. Couples go close to the stage which is ready for the singer, and want to take pictures with the stage as the background…huh? A few geniuses also asked their friends to click pictures of them while they were on a cell phone talking to other friends…in a concert hall? And just as I was watching this, I saw something unbelievable. I saw a guy carry his few months old baby in to the hall and sit in a row nearby. A few months old kid at a ghazal concert? Are you kidding me? As if this was disturbing, I saw another family bring in their 5 year old son. I mean who in their right mind brings kids to a ghazal concert. Anyway, I told my wife, that if any of the kids started talking or crying in between the concert, the parents had it from me. Of course the kids fell asleep even before the concert started. The row behind us was empty as the lights were going dim around 8:20 (I told you it would start late), and my wife tells me “thank god the row behind us is empty”, and I immediately told her that this is bad news, because this means the morons on the back seat will come in when the show starts and will be even more troublesome. And I was true to the word. The row behind us belonged to a Guajarati family of 4 maybe 5 people. They did come in late, and were the worst because they knew almost every song of Jagjit Singh and were singing along with him as a choir of bad voices. It was so annoying that after a while I lost interest in the concert and wanted to turn around and smack them to shut up. My wife was having her own problems with her neighboring lady, who kept stuffing her purse in between their seats and it kept hitting my wife. Of course the lady was only sophisticated enough to wear designer clothes and was not literate enough to apologize to my wife for shoving the purse. When do we desi’s ever apologize to other desi’s for our mistakes.
Best of all, when the initial announcements were made before Jagjit Singh came to the stage, the announcer said that please do not interrupt the show by taking photos when the concert is on, do not come near the stage, there is absolutely no videos allowed in the hall and no food or drinks are allowed inside the hall. Our desi fellow beings took offense of these orders, and made sure to break each one of these requests. When Jagjit Singh came on stage, there were hundreds of flashes, and as every song started playing there were at least 2 or 3 people who came up close to the stage and took photos of the ghazal maestro while he was singing, some even with their cell phones. My neighbor took out his ultra sleek Canon camera with video recording and started recording when his favorite song started playing. And in between when there was a break of 20 minutes, one family of 7-10 people became comfortable in their seats, and the ladies pulled out snacks and candies and bottled water from their magical bags, and started distributing them to their family members. I showed my wife the beautiful sight, and reminded her of the sign that was posted on every door and on the walls of the hall entering inside. The sign read “No food or drinks allowed inside the hall”. I’m sure these people read the sign and took offense. Awe…doesn’t it feel like we’re right at home?
It’s Friday night around 11pm and I have settled on the couch with remotes both for the TV and the DVR box. I’m a little excited as if I’m finally going to watch the end of this movie I really like. Only it’s not a movie but the season finale of one of my favorite shows “Heroes” on NBC. I started watching Heroes from the first episode just out of curiosity because I like the concept of mutation and powers that come along with that. Of course, I like the X-Men movies too (haven’t watched “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” yet). So anyway, I dim the lights and ask my wife not to make any noises or talk in-between the show and I start the episode.
45 minutes after watching the episode I start getting this uncomfortable feeling with the way the story line is leading towards. The feeling I had been getting pretty much this whole season. In my mind, I’m praying that this season ends with a good story line ahead or at least with one of the following outcomes
1.Sylar loses his powers or someone like Peter Petrelli find a way to become more powerful than Sylar. Peter’s role in this season has been more like “No, I can’t do this!” kind and his first reaction is to always oppose his brother Nathan and his mother no matter what they say. The only person who he listens to is his niece Claire.
2.For once Dr. Suresh finds a scientific solution to help all these people control their powers. The dude has been shown as a scientist in all the seasons, but hasn’t really done anything of essence. Of course they tried giving him powers and that didn’t work out either. I thought Suresh’s fager (word used from Austin Powers dictionary) was all hype, but I think his son leaves him far behind.
3.Hiro and Ando get to do something more essential than keep piecing things based on rebel’s messages. I mean come-on guys, you have become more like the people working in an IT teams application support team than ‘Heroes’.
4.For once, put some sense in to Nathan Petrelli. The guy seems to fly in every direction but the right one. If this is what makes a US Senator, then we know where we are headed. Jokes apart, Nathan has much more issues than any other character. He thinks he’s doing the right thing, and then changes his mind. Then something happens to his mother, brother, and / or daughter and he changes his mind and team again. I mean come on dude. Get a grip of yourself and act like a Hero.
5.Matt Parkman is another character which has not been developed properly. He thinks too much, and is always lost in family and personal issues. Hasn’t he seen Spider Man? Doesn’t he know that “With great power comes great responsibility”? Start acting and taking responsibility like a Hero.
However, at the end of the season finale, I was much more irritated and frustrated with the story line than ever. I really think this was the worst story twist “ever”. Here are the mistakes according to me
1.Sylar is struck with a knife in the back of his head, and he wakes up and tells Danko (the Hunter cop played by Ċ½eljko Ivanek) that “I moved my spot”…huh? What? So the only guy, who is most powerful than all Heroes combined and has one spot that is his weakness, can also move the spot to any part of his body? So why isn’t Sylar the “Hero”?
2.Throughout the season, we keep waiting to see a face-off between Sylar and any ‘Hero’ who is powerful enough to fight him. Finally, when that chance presents itself in the form of Petrelli brothers against Sylar, the director decides to show us ‘flashes’ of lightthrough the crack of the door which Claire cannot open. Imagine an action movie like Die Hard or The Dark Knight and you don’t get to see the climax action scene. That is just ridiculous period!
3.I think Angela Petrelli has all her dreams mixed up. I don’t remember if Sylar can stop time yet, so why couldn’t she dream of Hiro Nakamura helping Nathan and Peter instead of Matt Parkman. You spend so much energy trying to convince the dude to do something good, which defeats the whole purpose.
4.Finally, what the hell is wrong with the story writer? How can you show Nathan Petrelli dying, when his daughter is capable of bringing him back to life by giving her blood? She has already done that with her adopted father once. I mean come on guys. We know we’re not Heroes but it doesn’t take a degree in comic books to figure a few things out. And of all people, you had to give the pleasure to Sylar. It didn’t take him even a second to do the deed. And why would you want to hide this fact from everyone. Even if one agrees to all of the above twists as the writers freedom for his characters, I still did not get how they were able to transform Nathan’s body to show as Sylar. I thought only Sylar (or anyone) who has the power to shape shift can transform into someone else. But how could Nathan, who was dead already, shape shift in to Sylar is beyond me.
Baseline, Heroes season 3 finale lacked the power and courage with which Heroes first began. And as if this wasn’t enough for us fans to take, they bring back Tracy. That is one character I did not miss.
