Dreadful Indian Television

Indian television seems to be going from bad to worse. Reality shows centering around dance & music was one thing but then the progressive decline into finding the perfect (sic) bride is completely another matter. Do the majority of Indian audience really enjoy these kind of shows? Why isn't there a single Quiz show or a science program like Turning Point in any of the popular channels? Even a Travel Show taking the audience through lesser known places would do wonders than the steady junk serials they are being fed.

Star Plus one of the most popular TV channels seems to have mastered the game and comes up with one mind-numbing story after another. Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai tells the story of a marwari family who arranges the marriage of their daughter with the scion of another marwari family. The serial shows the girl sacrificing her dreams of furthering her education, giving up any ideas of a career for the role of a subserviant wife. In the name of tradition it portrays the girl playing a submissive coy daugher-in-law who needs to take permission for everything from visiting her parents to taking a tour along with her husband. Incidentally all her such requests are squished down.

And there is ofcourse another fantastic serial - Sajan Ghar Jaana Hai where a girl who gets married to a rich landlord is shunned when it is learnt that one of her forefathers had married out-of-caste (or whatever) and she is reduced to being a maid servant while her husband is forced to remarry another girl of unquestionable lineage. The list of such mindless serials is unending.

Now are they trying to kid themselves that they are altering mindsets by showing such serials? Do they feel justified in earning their TRP's through such mindless shows in the name of entertainment? To top it all they have an annual award function where they get together and distribute awards which go something like - "Best Bahu" and "Most Loved Devar".

The funniest response evinced was when my father-in-law saw an episode of "Yeh Rishta.." where the lead protagonist gets ticked off by her mother-in-law for wanting to go for a movie with her husband. Gravely my father-in-law said, "The period of 1920's & 30's was very tough on the Indian middle-class woman." I didnt feel like breaking his wrong assumption that the serial was trying to very much portray 21st century women.

On second thoughts, considering the unbelievable money involved and the sea of aimless, gullible public ready to devour anything showcased under the garb of tradition & moral values, I realize that these serials are here to stay and possibly will be coming in 1000's of different avtaars.

Maybe all we can do is tune into other channels. Maybe one can acquire a taste if forced into watching them. Maybe these serials are the reason for every household acquiring their second & third television sets. These serials might after all be good for our economy.

[Book Review] The Lost Symbol - Dan Brown

Its few hours since I have completed reading the book and am still reeling under the after-effects of it. Its not about being overwhelmed by the book but every book I read usually lingers in the mind for some time, like how the taste of coffee (good or bad) remains. So I will try and be as objective as possible about it.

With Dan Brown for an author, the book is more or less expected to be a racy, entertaining best seller. 'The Lost Symbol' is definitely a nail-biting thriller and am sure is already topping the best-seller charts yet somehow it fails to impress the way the Da Vinci Code (DVC) did. One reason could be that Dan Brown seems to try too hard to meet up to it. 

The novel seems to follow the same plotline as DVC: Robert Langdon travels within the first few pages to a prominent location, faces a grotesque situation, is forced to run , gets lectured and lectures a lot on symbology & solve clues to save lives of many involved. While DVC was all about the Priory of Sions and Knights of Templar, this one is all about Freemasons and the Ancient Mysteries. But the similarities seem to end here. While Da Vinci Code broke new ground with its startling revealations and theories, The Lost Symbol thrives more on numerous twists in the plot.

Mr Brown weaves an interesting tale of science & religion. But this is nothing new for us Hindus who have long seen science in our faith. While he condescendingly talks about Kubera Kolam, the Upanishads & Vedas he hurries to add that the Bible talks more about science than that meets the eye.

If his Da Vinci Code had the churches fuming in anger, The Lost Symbol seems to be his feeble attempt in building bridges. Consider this : Our brains, if used correctly, can call forth powers that are quite literally superhuman. The Bible, like many ancient texts, is a detailed exposition of the most sophisticated machine ever created . . . the human mind

"The mind sits like a golden capstone atop the physical body. The Philosopher’s Stone. Through the staircase of the spine, energy ascends and descends, circulating, connecting the heavenly mind to the physical body"
This we Hindus have known since long as the Yogic Kundalini awakening. Our scriptures even detail the different kundalini chakras, the signs & symptoms accompanied with the rise of each chakra.

There is also mention of Noetic Science and the supposedly made advances in this field but nothing worthwhile is described. The experiment that proves that soul has mass and hence can be weighed has long been circulated in the internet. Brown might probably impress his western audiences with his lecture on the positive effects of meditation, mass prayers and Focussed Thought etc but offers nothing we didn't already know. But yes, we are not talking of "Autobiography of A Yogi"

A well-known trait of Brown's books has been to showcase latest technology. This he does amply in The Lost Symbol and does a fantastic job of it. He talks from EMP guns that can effectively fry the electronics of any device it targets - used to stop car chases from a safe distance to Silly Strings (a nonlethal "incapacitant" that when shot sends a thread of gooey polyurethane that turns rock hard on contact, creating a rigid web of plastic across the back of the fugitive’s knees). Heat Signatures: Thermal-imaging equipment which are so sensitive to heat differentials that it can detect not only a person’s location but also their previous locations. But what takes the cake is his description of the extreme experience labs and specifically the "Total Liquid Ventilation tanks or Meditation machines".

In conclusion, The Lost Symbol is an extremely entertaining 'Bisibele bath' containing a mix of spiritual new-age mantra's, cliffhanger twists and references to the most famous of secret societies - the Freemasons. Enjoy Maadi

Time for Just 140 Words...

I still remember the first time I got a letter from my school friend whom I had left behind when we moved cities. I fondly recollect the adrenaline rush of seeing the blue envelope; I couldn't contain myself till I read through the contents and simply wanted to reply back query-to-query asap. Slowly, the joy of writing letters waned to sending seasonal greeting cards.

Emails brought their own share of excitement, and I can even now recollect the time we huddled around to register our first (Hotmail) IDs. The fun we had coming up with the whackiest mail IDs, and then the rush to exchange IDs. Then there used to be this constant urge to log in and check for new mails. Letters, greeting cards had long given way to emails and e-greetings. Blue Mountain, Flash greetings, Archies and Hallmark went laughing to their banks probably because of us. Soon, when chat was discovered, emails were used to just communicate the times to catch one another online and to forward jokes.

Yes, emails are still in use officially today, but just think back: when was the last time you actually wrote an email to someone? Why write, indeed, when you know your friend is probably at the beauty salon right now or is away on vacation for the week and at this very minute is actually enjoying a boat ride?

Social networking and microblogging sites have brought us closer in many ways and yet have pushed the joy of personal communication as far away as possible. One tweet, one post, one status update, one message for all.

Took a vacation? Go click-click-click and update the pics for the world aglore. Attended a family get-together, put up pics and invite comments. Cooked a new dish at home?..before you let your family taste it, you want to get it dressed and click a snap for the blog. Life seems like an open book for all out there to see. And now with microblogging, 'followers' can know what is happening in one's life by the minute. Well almost.

Despite all these overwhelming means of communication, people hardly have the time for each other. Am not complaining or getting preachy here, for I am very much guilty of the same. When my sister went to London for her higher studies, I studiously emailed her for close to a month. Long emails telling what we did during weekends slowly gave way to video chats and then trickled down to a few messages a day, and now within a couple of months I am quite happy enough seeing her status updates on FB or a photo comment.

Is this what happens when there are way too many means to communicate? Is this signalling some kind of overbearing, omnipresence of technology? Where does all this go from here? Will future generations feel overwhelmed by this all-pervading tech and go completely off the grid?  Only time can tell. 

Hindi Movie Songs: Best of 2009

Its just October yet here is Top 5 list of my favourite songs from Bollywood movies. It has not been a very tough list to come up with considering the crop of movies released this year.

#1 Tum Mile - Emraan Hashmi invariably ends up with a great song to his name. A very lucky guy indeed. This melodious number sung by Neeraj Sridhar has me completely mesmerised. Not a song that can boast of great lyrics but it will sure run all through the day in your mind.

#2 Mere Sang - Maybe I have an ear for only mellifluous songs but I wonder if there will be a single list this year without this song in it. Absolutely wonderful. Am sure Sunidhi Chauhan will be nominated for this one in all the upcoming award functions.

#3 Masakali - An exception to soft numbers I love this song for its lyrics and sheer fun it emits. Sung by Mohit Chauhan, this one peps up the mood like no other.

#4 Tu Muskura - from Yuvvraj and sung by Alka Yagnik is spellbinding. Really wonderful use of cello and percussion. A Rahman classic and with old favourite Alka Yagnik singing it gets to be hypnotising. She will sweep the Filmfares and IFFA's for sure.


Now technically speaking there is supposed to be only 5 songs in this list, but I like both these songs and so they tie-up at position 5.

#5 Ek Tara - Wow! talk about soulful lyrics and perfect rendition...Ik tara from Wake Up Sid will not be forgotten easily. Sung by Kavita Seth and Amitabh Bhattacharya the song takes time to get etched in one's memory but once you take a liking to the unusual voice of Kavitha aptly supported by Bhattacharya, there it will remain. Sounds very original and is eminently likeable.

#5 Pehli Baar Mohabbat - Now I am not sure why I like this song over the immensely popular "Dhan Te Nan" from the same film "Kaminey" yet this song stands out for me in the whole album. Yes, its a painfully slow number the picturization is no great shakes either but I love the way the lyrics have fused to the music. Its simply a must-hear on a rainy afternoon.

There thats my list for now.

Ere..Have I Seen U Somewhere?

Hindu folklore says 7 people around the world look alike. In cultural and folk traditions, these are related ideas about the similarity of faces, destiny, and reincarnation (maybe), and many Indian languages have sayings about people who resemble one another. Some might say it's a myth, and many others even have bizarre reasons to believe in it. While this is a very tough thing to prove, we all surely might have come across someone who looks very similar, though.

Last week I was watching 'Maid in Manhattan,' and I felt I had seen the character of Jerry Seigal somewhere. A few days later I was seeing the movie Fashion, and there I had the answer! A few searches and I came to know that Jerry Seigal was played by Stanley Tucci, and he seemed to have an uncanny resemblance to Ashwin Mushran, who played the part of an agent called Rohit in the movie.

Strikingly similar, isn't it?




Later, I was watching the song - Jiya Dhadak, Dhadak from the movie Kalyug playing in one of the channels, and it struck me that Kunal Khemu resembles the young Heath Ledger from '10 Things I Hate About You' so much.

Don't believe me? Check this out -



The funny thing is, Kunal Khemu sports the same ponytail look that Heath Ledger had in that movie. BTW, if you haven't watched the movie - 10 Things I Hate...do see it. Love the crazed-out character of Ledger in it.

Also, seems like too much of a coincidence for a single week, or maybe I am watching too many movies out here. Lol 

And the list doesn't end here. I have so many in my memory. Just don't have the patience to put up pictures of them. For I don't know their names either, since they are supporting actors in minor roles. 

Let me know if you have come across something similar.

Nestle Baby Food Is Not Safe! - says Greenpeace

I saw this mail mentioning 'baby food,' and instantly my alertness quotient skyrocketed. This was the message it contained:

Nestle food products (including baby food) are fairly popular in India, but I just found out something about their policy for the products they sell in India, and it's shocking. Nestle has actually admitted it would use genetically-contaminated products in the food it sells in this country.

 
But what's more shocking is that this is the same Nestle that dares not sell genetically-tainted food in the EU, Russia, or Brazil.
Are Indian people less human? Are we guinea pigs and lab rats? Are we less deserving of safe food than citizens of other countries?
This has got to change, and it has to change now! That's just why I've told Nestle Chairman Antonio Waszyk to come clean on the products his company sells in my country.
Just click here to join me in demanding safe, GM- Free food from Nestle. And thanks for your support!

Thanks again,

****************************************

A few quick Google searches I found several articles corroborating this fact. It stuns me that a company & a brand as trusted as Nestle could do this. I sure don't want to feed my baby stuff that is an experiment for someone else.

Hope Nestle's paying heed. We don't want GM stuff.

Are swear words necessary to appear cool?

I am not sure, but it seems like our threshold of tolerance, especially for swear words, keeps rising with each passing generation. Earlier, when in school, words like bloody, bitch, rascal (oh yeah!), etc. were unmentionable. And kids who used to utter them within the pristine convent environment were shunned as the bad lot. Sounds hilarious now, but true.

Later, once we entered our teens, it became cool to drop in a 'bitch' or a 'bloody', once in a while just to emphasize strong feelings, yet it was once again the unruly, living-on-the-edge types who swore using the F & C words, which was completely unladylike. But that was the early 90's.

Now I hear my neighbour's son, who is all of 8 or 10, swear an 'F%*k' when he fell off his cycle, and no shocked looks passed among the parent lot. His friend offers his hand in disdain and says calmly - "Dude, here, give me your bloody hand"!

Two hoots says the bloody cool [V] gen? Not impressed is all I can say in dismay.