A 'Tail' Of 2 Multanis, 2000 Years Apart

I was taken aback when I heard it. It was a BBC special being shown on National Geographic. Some Brit reporter tracing the route of conquests of Alexander The Great through the Sub-Continent, which is now Pakistan and India.




When Alexander came upon the walled and fortified city of Multan (then the capitol of the Trigarta Kingdom), he ordered his army to scale the walls. But whoever tried, met with stiff resistance from the locals and perished.



So Alexander ordered a ladder to be put up against the wall and he climbed-up himself. As he reached the top and started fighting, a poison arrow struck him between the ribs and pierced his lung. He collapsed and fell back to the ground. There the Multanis pounded on his helmet, his breastplate till the mighty warrior was left cowering against the wall. That was the turning point of his campaign. His wound got infected. He went into shock and his army retreated through the white deserts of Balochistan (Makran today), where he is said to have lost the majority of his men to thirst and hunger.

BaRay beyabro ho kar teray kochay sey hum niklay

This is what the Multani ancestors of Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani did to the superpower of their time, armed with bows and arrows. And look at this Multani today. He probably needs a change of diaper, about now.



John Kerry came swinging down from WA, like Tarzan on a vine. In one blow, he kicked the joint resolution of the parliament onto the trash heap, which was trumpeted out at 2:00AM in the morning after a closed door session that continued for 11 hours straight. The collective will of the people, in the hands of cowards and opportunists, lays waste.



Not only that, Kerry ordered our nincompoop leadership (civilian+military) to hand over the tail section of the stealth chopper that hides the secrets of America's latest technology. This chopper stalled and fell into the Abbottabad compound and was supposedly blown-up by the Seal team. I guess they didn't do such a hot job, since they were in a hurry to get out.



And would you believe it, these bey-ghairat, boot-polishing chamcheys have acquiesced on bended knee ?. Yes, we are not going to study it and make sure we are not taken-in-by-stealth the second time around. No, we can't be bothered to safe-guard our national interests. Kerry will be taking it away with him, to turn around and send it back to attack us, another day. Pehlay aik chamaat, phir doosri chamaat. The cycle-of-capitulations continues.

Will PML-N make any hue and cry about this ?, of course not. All Pakistani leadership (minus Imran Khan) has stored their nest eggs in western capitols. They may be corrupt, spineless, shameless, incompetent, but not stupid enough to do that!.

Hum hain na, to rant and rail against the "Bahadur Shah Zafar"s of our time.

Here is the second leg of Alexander's retreat out of today's Pakistan. At least this is less embarrassing.

Movie Review: "The Mechanic (2011)"... Poetic Mayhem

The Mechanic (2011) - Jason Statham, Ben Foster, Donald Sutherland (8/10)

This movie is a remake of the 1972 classic starring Charles Bronson. While the main theme remains the same, the plot and nature of operations has been updated to reflect the human condition and technology of our times.





Jason Statham is a hired assassin, a mechanic who fixes problems and makes them go away (generally bad people who 'deserve' it). Don't mistake him for a mindless trigger man. When he gets an "assignment", he first takes time out to study it. He is part scientist, part magician. A master strategist and a cold operator. And in the end as it turns out, very much human, much to the detriment of his boss.

He kills people for money, which is a grave sin. And like all sinners he has found a way to somewhat rationalize that aspect of his life. His code of ethics however, are not immune to personal pride and guilt, which make him vulnerable and put him in jeopardy.

I like this movie because it's a in-your-face, no-nonsense action flick. It does not feel obligated to make frequent detours into "touchy-feely" and "get-in-touch-with-your-emotions" bit to appease the PC liberal police, who I suspect would love to see Superman in a tutu, Batman doing Yoga (Oh shit! that's already been done, damnit) and Wolverine sprawled out on a therapist's couch, working out his "daddy issues".

One can make a case that gratuitous violence, as depicted in this movie, desensitizes the audience against real-world violence. Yes, it does. But there is a redeeming quality to this movie. Simon West (who has directed Con Air, Lara Croft and The General's Daughter) has directed this movie like it was a ballet performance. It is violent, but beautiful. The rich colors, controlled movements, perfect timing, synchronized feats of murderous acrobatics and human beings in fine mental and physical form is almost poetic. Far from being sense-less, it rings out all the six senses.

And speaking of senses, what would be violence without sex appeal ?. Coming to the rescue are Mini Anden, a leggy Swede supermodel and Christa Campbell, for the junior partner-in-crime. Their roles may be small, but their parts are substantive. However, there is hardly any character to develop here.



There is a brief topless scene and backside nudity. Nothing major. This was exactly what I came looking for, got it, and enjoyed it. This movie does not make any excuses for what it is. I am not about to, either.