Was that Roadies or Rowdies?

Its the era of reality shows ranging from the CBB to the desi Bigg Boss, none of which have had my interest despite their raging controversies, cat fights or racial digs. But in all this milieu I confess to one show having caught my attention - MTV Roadies. MTV Roadies 'inspired' from MTV Road Rules (US) is about a gang of girls and guys who bike their way through India while attempting at sometimes crazy - sometimes funny tasks and proving their upmanship over the rest. It also involves elimination of the roadies (as the participants are called) by each one casting votes. So that was in a nutshell Roadies for Dummies.

Coming to the point I am longing to make - The final round for MTV Roadies 4 was done in very bad taste. The viciousness of the ex-roadies (who were evicted earlier) and the way they were baying for the blood of the last two contestants - Anothony & Bani, was disgusting to say the least. I was appalled that these youngsters coming from decent backgrounds with sufficient amount of education (i suppose) to know about manners et all and proclaiming to have qualities such as loyalty, friendship blah blah were actually acting otherwise. Bani's composure despite the hurt showing in her face belies her age and is worth commending. Bravo Bani! Way to go girl.

The rest who were quick enough to pass judgement can sure learn a thing or true which might actually stand them for good in their future lives.

[Interesting Link] O Come All Ye Bookworms

Here are some interesting links which would interest every bookworm worth his/her salt.

What was that word again?
Word Spy

You know all those I'm-so-cool words that suddenly come into vogue with the with-it corpo crowd? That get bandied about by the young B-school grads with the power ties? This site is a good place to figure out what the heck they're saying. Seriously, though (and before my MBA friends put a fatwa out on me), the site is a fascinating repository of what's new and happening. It calls what it does “lexpionage,” or the sleuthing of new words and phrases. And the words it chooses aren't the made-up variety of doubtful provenance that descend into your inbox with monotonous regularity. Word Spy includes detailed citations of each entry.

Click to find
Bartleby.com

This is what the net was supposed to be: free information across borders.
This site is one of many (we'll cover some more in future columns) that give you online versions of books, absolutely free. Bartleby is best known for the invaluable set of reference books it offers. (A small sampler: Roget's Thesaurus, Fowler's King's English, Strunk and White's Elements of Style, World's Orations, Oxford Shakespeare, Gray's Anatomy, World Factbook, Oxford English Verse, the Bhagavad Gita, the King James Bible, and much more.) But it also has sections on non-fiction, fiction, and poetry.
Worth a virtual bookmark, hmm?


The Power of One
One Word

Feeling a little blocked? Need that challenge to get the synapses moving? One Word might help. The site gives you sixty seconds to write whatever come to mind based on the one-word cue you are given when you hit the “Go” button. “it is not about learning new words.” the site says, “nor is it about defining words. the real purpose of this exercise is to alleviate our natural tendency to edit everything—and learn to flow.”


Ex Libris
BookMooch

You know how some people (and you know who you are) borrow books and never return them? Well, this site makes it all official. It works simply: you register for free, and list the books you want to give away. And you can check out what others have to offer, and mooch their stuff. You gain points each time you list a book, send one off (postage is your only expense) or acknowledge receipt of one, and you use them each time you receive a book. Go see. And, er, by the way, you can save yourself the bother of registering and just send your books to me…).

Don't read this
Forbidden Library

Take a look at the date on top of this page. It's 2005, yes? You wouldn't think it from the way, even now, we have self-appointed custodians of culture that exists only in their narrow minds wanting to decide for us what we shouldn't wear (hide those legs, girls), whether we can send roses on February 14th, and yes, what we shouldn't read. This site has neatly sorted lists of books that have been banned or challenged over the years, telling you why they were considered bad for the innocent public. A fascinating and scary view of narrow minds through the ages.

[Info credit: http://bwc-network.ryze.com/]

So all your wordsmiths out there who worship the printed word..go ahead and bookmark these pages. They'll come handy on days when life stalls in neutral :)

A clean slate

Its been a week into the new year now and hope most of you would have had the time to make those customary New Year resolutions that you would'nt be keeping. After all the partying & binging, its easy to get a little disappointed when in retrospect you think of the year that was, the many things left undone, relationships/friendships in tatters.

Here are a few questions to ask oneself that can help bring in focus for a new start -

- What are you acomplishments in the year gone by?[However tiny it may seem give yourself some credit and list them]
- What have you learnt new?
- How can I use my strengths & knowledge to move ahead?
- What are my new goals for this year?
- How will things be different and better before this year ends?
- What will this december look like to you? What needs to be changed?

Things don't end once you are finished with this list. Rather it just starts, for you have to identify your own personal motivation to maintain your resolve.

Have a Fulfilling New Year!

:)