As I have nothing worthwhile to do in my vacation, I pass time by writing blogs, reading books, playing keyboard (yes I have started to learn that) and sports, watching TV (it really sucks these days with no good programs) and of course reading newspapers.
In the last few months, I suppose everyone must have watched the hoardings of various new papers making their way into Mumbai. Mumbai Mirror, Hindustan times and DNA being the prime ones.
I am used to reading the Times of India and its supplements for years now and when they started giving Mumbai Mirror free for few days I decided to check it out as well. But I wasn’t impressed because it is simply another variant of Mid-day. No doubt, why it brings different offers all the time to boost its publication. But it is bound to get a lead early in the sales as it comes from the stable of Bennet and Coleman.
Secondly there is Hindustan times which is similar to the others in the fray. It tries to be different here and there, more graphic at places. But otherwise it has nothing new to offer. It had a pathetic ad on air and didn’t publicize much through hoardings and other medium. Maybe it believes that it doesn’t need that kind of publicity.
Finally we have the DNA Daily News and Analysis from Zee media conglomerate. Well it has spent the maximum in publicity (a cool Rs.60 crores…). There are hoardings placed all over Mumbai asking you to select among options. It had a marketing team which must have ensured that a salesperson would go to each house. This person would ask various questions regarding the functions of an ideal newspaper. (I wanted to say that don’t try to be one since it is impossible) but I must admit that it has tried to be different from the others in certain respects. Let’s see how it turns out in others like content when it does come.
One thing is for sure that when we have a lot to choose from, it automatically leads to competition and hence to efficiency and better outputs. Finally the consumer is benefited from this.
Joke of the day:
A mother is waiting anxiously for her son on the last day of term. “At last you are home. Where is your report?”
“I haven’t got it.”
“How come?”
“I lent it to my friend.”
“And why does he need it?”
“He wants to scare his parents with it.”
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
F.R.I.E.N.D.S
4 years of engineering leaves you with a lot of good memories. In those 4 years you are always with your friends for half of the day. Even at home, you remain connected with them through phone, internet, SMSes and outings.
So when your engineering comes to an end (after the final exams get over… it is obviously a relief) you are suddenly left with a void in your life. Everyone is experiencing that in the vacation. You are left with nothing to do but just sleep for long hours and killing time.
So any mention of a reunion always sparks off excitement in all those concerned. I got to meet my old school friends after a long gap. Most of them are in Pune for achieving BE in some branch or the other. But I was never able to meet them when they arrived in Mumbai for their break after every sem. The prime culprit being my sem exams. It clashed every single time. Their exams always used to finish quite earlier than my exams.
But fortunately the last sem got over at the same time as their did. I was finally able to meet them and we had a nice long chat on films, books, trips, photos, etc. we had pizzas from pizzahut and cracked jokes on each other. Vasudha in fact insisted that Nitin perform the dance in front of them which he performed in college for some event. We discussed ragging in our respective colleges and our own experiences related to it. And finally we discussed professors of the colleges (harsh have u got that book in which u had written about kallu?)
Then there is my friend Pratik (Kothari…there are 4 pratiks that I know) whom I meet almost daily. We go to the temple and during the short journey we are able to discuss films, cricket and other topics of interest. We assume ourselves to be masters of the first two. We find flaws in all major films and tell how it could have been improved. We become selectors and decide who should be in the Indian 11 and who the rising star is.
Recently he was baffled by his college friends’ behavior. And so our topic for that day was his friends.
Of course, there are my college friends with whom I maintain contact through phones or orkut scraps and messenger and mails. Occasionally we meet and roam around in malls or at the beach.
And finally when I am not with them I am thinking about them as I am right now writing this blog and listening to ‘dil chatha hai’. By the way, you are doing the same by reading this blog. J
Joke of the day:
Calling the waiter, a man in a restaurant complains that there are no crabs in the crab salad.
After a moment’s thought the waiter asks: “And have you ever seen any Greeks in a Greek Salad.”
So when your engineering comes to an end (after the final exams get over… it is obviously a relief) you are suddenly left with a void in your life. Everyone is experiencing that in the vacation. You are left with nothing to do but just sleep for long hours and killing time.
So any mention of a reunion always sparks off excitement in all those concerned. I got to meet my old school friends after a long gap. Most of them are in Pune for achieving BE in some branch or the other. But I was never able to meet them when they arrived in Mumbai for their break after every sem. The prime culprit being my sem exams. It clashed every single time. Their exams always used to finish quite earlier than my exams.
But fortunately the last sem got over at the same time as their did. I was finally able to meet them and we had a nice long chat on films, books, trips, photos, etc. we had pizzas from pizzahut and cracked jokes on each other. Vasudha in fact insisted that Nitin perform the dance in front of them which he performed in college for some event. We discussed ragging in our respective colleges and our own experiences related to it. And finally we discussed professors of the colleges (harsh have u got that book in which u had written about kallu?)
Then there is my friend Pratik (Kothari…there are 4 pratiks that I know) whom I meet almost daily. We go to the temple and during the short journey we are able to discuss films, cricket and other topics of interest. We assume ourselves to be masters of the first two. We find flaws in all major films and tell how it could have been improved. We become selectors and decide who should be in the Indian 11 and who the rising star is.
Recently he was baffled by his college friends’ behavior. And so our topic for that day was his friends.
Of course, there are my college friends with whom I maintain contact through phones or orkut scraps and messenger and mails. Occasionally we meet and roam around in malls or at the beach.
And finally when I am not with them I am thinking about them as I am right now writing this blog and listening to ‘dil chatha hai’. By the way, you are doing the same by reading this blog. J
Joke of the day:
Calling the waiter, a man in a restaurant complains that there are no crabs in the crab salad.
After a moment’s thought the waiter asks: “And have you ever seen any Greeks in a Greek Salad.”
Saturday, July 16, 2005
dilemma about our constitution
Recently I was talking to my friend who is appearing for the IAS exam. His name is Dilip. I was drawn to the topic because of its nature. He told me some interesting things about this UPSC exam (union public service commission).
First of all, like the IIT entrance and CAT, this is one of the most difficult and national exam conducted in our country. It provides our country the required administrative personnel required. It can be taken by any citizen of the country irrespective of his or her background. Lakhs of people give this exam, hoping for a nice government job.
The first 150 rankers get the IAS tag (Indian administrative service). The next 150 or so get IFS (foreign) and the last 150 or so get the IPS (police). The highest salary can reach up to 30000 or 35000, but you get so many additional perks that it almost makes up for this slightly less salary. Housing, conveyance, various services are all free. In short it is lucrative. Besides you get to work for your country. Of course you have to work really hard for this.
Anyways we came up with a few interesting things out of this. Every year the annual budget, the railway budget and other decisions are taken on the floor of our big parliament. The fate of the country is decided by the so called wise people of our country. But the policies and various ideas are in fact formulated by the UPSC employees. It is their brain behind these policies. The ministers and other MP only give the finishing touches of presenting it to the general public.
Today’s politicians are by large illiterate. There is no point of their understanding the policies regarding finance, foreign and others. The UPSC employees think about the benefits of society but those can be easily crushed if the politicians want to. Isn’t it weird that the final decisions in our country are taken by people who don’t even know what democracy is. Shouldn’t it be the intelligent people in our country, who are educated, take the country ahead?
I raised these questions to my friend. He said that our constitution is framed in this way. Then I realized that since any change in constitution has to go through the two houses of parliament, this change can never be brought about. The simple reason being that the MPs are literate enough to understand this and will therefore crush any such attempt.
However I can still not blame our constitution for this because I hardly know anything about it. Who knows, I may be wrong about it.
Joke of the day:
A dietician and a garbageman met on a blind date. To break the ice, the dietician asked her date about his work. He mumbled that he was involved in refuse collection.
“What a coincidence,” exclaimed the lady. “I am in waist management.”
First of all, like the IIT entrance and CAT, this is one of the most difficult and national exam conducted in our country. It provides our country the required administrative personnel required. It can be taken by any citizen of the country irrespective of his or her background. Lakhs of people give this exam, hoping for a nice government job.
The first 150 rankers get the IAS tag (Indian administrative service). The next 150 or so get IFS (foreign) and the last 150 or so get the IPS (police). The highest salary can reach up to 30000 or 35000, but you get so many additional perks that it almost makes up for this slightly less salary. Housing, conveyance, various services are all free. In short it is lucrative. Besides you get to work for your country. Of course you have to work really hard for this.
Anyways we came up with a few interesting things out of this. Every year the annual budget, the railway budget and other decisions are taken on the floor of our big parliament. The fate of the country is decided by the so called wise people of our country. But the policies and various ideas are in fact formulated by the UPSC employees. It is their brain behind these policies. The ministers and other MP only give the finishing touches of presenting it to the general public.
Today’s politicians are by large illiterate. There is no point of their understanding the policies regarding finance, foreign and others. The UPSC employees think about the benefits of society but those can be easily crushed if the politicians want to. Isn’t it weird that the final decisions in our country are taken by people who don’t even know what democracy is. Shouldn’t it be the intelligent people in our country, who are educated, take the country ahead?
I raised these questions to my friend. He said that our constitution is framed in this way. Then I realized that since any change in constitution has to go through the two houses of parliament, this change can never be brought about. The simple reason being that the MPs are literate enough to understand this and will therefore crush any such attempt.
However I can still not blame our constitution for this because I hardly know anything about it. Who knows, I may be wrong about it.
Joke of the day:
A dietician and a garbageman met on a blind date. To break the ice, the dietician asked her date about his work. He mumbled that he was involved in refuse collection.
“What a coincidence,” exclaimed the lady. “I am in waist management.”
hosting olympics
the venue for the 2012 olympics was decided last week at singapore. london was the chosen one this time around. it outlasted the other 4 giants- paris, new york,moscow and madrid.
the event had grabbed considerable media attention throughout the world. during the last few days before the selection, the lobbying became even more intense with all major sportspersons supporting their favourite city. famous personalities like david beckham and her better half, raul, lance armstrong and other sportsperson coming to singapore in the final few days. world leaders and nation heads also arrived to support their cities. the prime egs being tony blair, french president jacques chirac,etc.
the interesting thing was that all of them were the biggest cities of their respective countries and therefore expensive as well. their budget for organising the event ran into billions. all of them claimed to be the best with regards to infrastructure, transport, security, health and environment. well they must be since they are the major cities of developed countries.
since the sydney olympics ( it was one of the most elegant), all bidding teams woo to be more beautiful than the previous one. ofcourse it is nice to be elegant and create a splendid show. but we must observe that this is fast turning into a paegant sort of thing. this indirectly leads to more costs and more taxes for the host city residents. the organisers may argue that they are actually helping out the economy by this event. they are generating employement and other facilities. those arguments are going to continue forever.
in all this, we are forgetting that the olympic bidding teams consisted of rich cities. in this, if a city from a developing country like india, say for instance mumbai, bids then it is obvious that they hardly have a chance. no wonder istanbul from turkey has lost 3 times. in other words, the IOC in its attempt to make the event beautiful hardly supports the developing countries to come forward to organise.
an effective solution would be to let the developed countries help in preparing cities of developing and underdeveloped countries. this would not only help the olympic from spreading everywhere in the world in the truest sense but also bridge the economic difference between the poor nations and the rich clubs like the G8. this especially at a time when they are discussing ways to remove poverty in africa.
joke of the day:
joe's wife bought a new line of expensive cosmetics after hearing that they would make her look years younger. after applying the products, she asks her husband, "darling, tell me honestly what age would you say i am?"
looking her over carefully, joe replied,"judjing by your skin, 20, your hair, 18, and your figure, 25."
"oh, you flatterer," she gushed in delight.
"wait a minute," joe warned. "i havent added them up yet."
the event had grabbed considerable media attention throughout the world. during the last few days before the selection, the lobbying became even more intense with all major sportspersons supporting their favourite city. famous personalities like david beckham and her better half, raul, lance armstrong and other sportsperson coming to singapore in the final few days. world leaders and nation heads also arrived to support their cities. the prime egs being tony blair, french president jacques chirac,etc.
the interesting thing was that all of them were the biggest cities of their respective countries and therefore expensive as well. their budget for organising the event ran into billions. all of them claimed to be the best with regards to infrastructure, transport, security, health and environment. well they must be since they are the major cities of developed countries.
since the sydney olympics ( it was one of the most elegant), all bidding teams woo to be more beautiful than the previous one. ofcourse it is nice to be elegant and create a splendid show. but we must observe that this is fast turning into a paegant sort of thing. this indirectly leads to more costs and more taxes for the host city residents. the organisers may argue that they are actually helping out the economy by this event. they are generating employement and other facilities. those arguments are going to continue forever.
in all this, we are forgetting that the olympic bidding teams consisted of rich cities. in this, if a city from a developing country like india, say for instance mumbai, bids then it is obvious that they hardly have a chance. no wonder istanbul from turkey has lost 3 times. in other words, the IOC in its attempt to make the event beautiful hardly supports the developing countries to come forward to organise.
an effective solution would be to let the developed countries help in preparing cities of developing and underdeveloped countries. this would not only help the olympic from spreading everywhere in the world in the truest sense but also bridge the economic difference between the poor nations and the rich clubs like the G8. this especially at a time when they are discussing ways to remove poverty in africa.
joke of the day:
joe's wife bought a new line of expensive cosmetics after hearing that they would make her look years younger. after applying the products, she asks her husband, "darling, tell me honestly what age would you say i am?"
looking her over carefully, joe replied,"judjing by your skin, 20, your hair, 18, and your figure, 25."
"oh, you flatterer," she gushed in delight.
"wait a minute," joe warned. "i havent added them up yet."
flooding ur thoughts
this being the monsoons, our country is bound to get heavy rains and cyclones at some places. this may or may not lead to floods depending on the topography.
recently we had this situation in gujarat where it caused heavy losses and destruction all around. then it was in north india particularly in parts of J&K and himachal pradesh. this also happens in orissa and the nearby coastal areas. it is a natural phenomenon so we have no control over it (direction and intensity). this is not a local phenomenon but it occurs all over the world. it happened in china and indonesia as well. in USA and the caribbean islands we have got 'dennis the menace' hurricane.
but let us now look at some differences as regards to the destruction they cause to human life in general. infrastructure takes a pounding in such situations. there is huge financial loss running into millions. however when it comes to human life there is a vast difference in losses in our country vis-a-vis other countries.
whenever there is a chance of a cyclone striking the region, the US and other developed countries issue warnings in advance and give strict guidelines as to how to protect yourselves and advise them to move to safer places. various facilities are already in place such as 'disaster management plans'. everything is in place to take action if something unexpected happens. as a result very few people die. as we already know, human resources are more important than any other kind of resources.
now let us look at the indian scenario. in india whenever such calamity occurs, human resources are lost in huge numbers. the losses are pegged in hundreds of crores. but do they take the human factor into account? the ministers will do a survey of the affected areas from helicopters and planes. it is nothing but a joy ride for them. they will tour the affected areas by foot and get themselves covered by the media to ensure their own publicity. the media finds another story to keep themselves busy and increase their revenue. they are agog with news and incidents. there will be special articles related to the events.
the states then demand monetary help in millions. from this most of the money goes into the deep pockets of bureaucrats and the corrupt officials. no wonder aid comes from everywhere immediately. but look after around 6 months or so. you can see the area in same state as it was when the calamity struck. so no one know where and how the aid is used. in fact nobody cares either. in such cases the 'right to information' bill would be a much needed boost to reduction in the corruption.
india is believed to be an emerging economy. it is also in the forefront in areas of scientific and astronomical research. it has many satellites all providing information all the time. why arent we using this information then? why are early warnings not given to those who live in vulnerablea areas? why are they not told to adopt different measures as regards to infrastructures? every year the government talk about an effective disaster management strategy which they feel will be effective.
in short the attitude needs to be changed from reactive to proactive. then only we will be able to call ourselves a really developed nation.
joke of the day:
fred had spent the entire morning laying a new concrete path. as soon as his back was turned, a gang of children ran past leaving footprints all over the hardening surface.
a neigbour, who heard fred's colourful language, reproached him saying,"i thought you liked children"
"i do," replied fred, "in the abstract, but not in the concrete."
recently we had this situation in gujarat where it caused heavy losses and destruction all around. then it was in north india particularly in parts of J&K and himachal pradesh. this also happens in orissa and the nearby coastal areas. it is a natural phenomenon so we have no control over it (direction and intensity). this is not a local phenomenon but it occurs all over the world. it happened in china and indonesia as well. in USA and the caribbean islands we have got 'dennis the menace' hurricane.
but let us now look at some differences as regards to the destruction they cause to human life in general. infrastructure takes a pounding in such situations. there is huge financial loss running into millions. however when it comes to human life there is a vast difference in losses in our country vis-a-vis other countries.
whenever there is a chance of a cyclone striking the region, the US and other developed countries issue warnings in advance and give strict guidelines as to how to protect yourselves and advise them to move to safer places. various facilities are already in place such as 'disaster management plans'. everything is in place to take action if something unexpected happens. as a result very few people die. as we already know, human resources are more important than any other kind of resources.
now let us look at the indian scenario. in india whenever such calamity occurs, human resources are lost in huge numbers. the losses are pegged in hundreds of crores. but do they take the human factor into account? the ministers will do a survey of the affected areas from helicopters and planes. it is nothing but a joy ride for them. they will tour the affected areas by foot and get themselves covered by the media to ensure their own publicity. the media finds another story to keep themselves busy and increase their revenue. they are agog with news and incidents. there will be special articles related to the events.
the states then demand monetary help in millions. from this most of the money goes into the deep pockets of bureaucrats and the corrupt officials. no wonder aid comes from everywhere immediately. but look after around 6 months or so. you can see the area in same state as it was when the calamity struck. so no one know where and how the aid is used. in fact nobody cares either. in such cases the 'right to information' bill would be a much needed boost to reduction in the corruption.
india is believed to be an emerging economy. it is also in the forefront in areas of scientific and astronomical research. it has many satellites all providing information all the time. why arent we using this information then? why are early warnings not given to those who live in vulnerablea areas? why are they not told to adopt different measures as regards to infrastructures? every year the government talk about an effective disaster management strategy which they feel will be effective.
in short the attitude needs to be changed from reactive to proactive. then only we will be able to call ourselves a really developed nation.
joke of the day:
fred had spent the entire morning laying a new concrete path. as soon as his back was turned, a gang of children ran past leaving footprints all over the hardening surface.
a neigbour, who heard fred's colourful language, reproached him saying,"i thought you liked children"
"i do," replied fred, "in the abstract, but not in the concrete."
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
Wimbledon specials – part 2
In the just concluded tournament, we had many riveting matches to see.
Let me begin by paying tribute to the finest player on court today. He is the 3 time champion now. His name is Roger Federer. In every few years, you have a genius unearthed. The sublime ground strokes drive the opponents in a dizzy. You just need to look at the faces of Andy Roddick and Lyetton Hewiit for that. Their expressions say it all. The graceful yet powerful serve, the returns, the one handed backhand, the slice and the spin are just out of this world. In short he is a magician. I doubt whether anyone is going to stop him from breaking Pete Sampras’ record. You like to watch him play.
The women’s final was a tough three setter which was finally and deservingly won by Venus Williams. She defeated Lindsay Davenport who gave her a good fight but fizzled out in the end due to her injury. The Venus win certainly told that Williams sisters still dominate the women’s game.
There were a few good things to come out of this tournament for Indians. The match against Svetlana Kuznetsova should that Sania has a great future ahead of her, assuming that she isn’t nagged by injuries. Her groundstrokes and serve were really powerful. She has the making of a champion provided she improves in a few areas. Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi should join forces together to win many more grand slams. It was nice to see Mahesh and Mary Pierce win the mixed doubles. This was their first outing together and lets hope that they win more of them.
This year also witnessed the rise of new talents - Andy Murray, Richard Gasquet, Sania and the emerging girls from east Europe. The Russians were there as well. Rafael Nadal of Spain wasn’t so successful however. I hope there is a Pete among these budding talents as well.
Joke of the day :
Q. What’s the difference between ignorance and apathy?
A. I don’t know and I don’t care.
Let me begin by paying tribute to the finest player on court today. He is the 3 time champion now. His name is Roger Federer. In every few years, you have a genius unearthed. The sublime ground strokes drive the opponents in a dizzy. You just need to look at the faces of Andy Roddick and Lyetton Hewiit for that. Their expressions say it all. The graceful yet powerful serve, the returns, the one handed backhand, the slice and the spin are just out of this world. In short he is a magician. I doubt whether anyone is going to stop him from breaking Pete Sampras’ record. You like to watch him play.
The women’s final was a tough three setter which was finally and deservingly won by Venus Williams. She defeated Lindsay Davenport who gave her a good fight but fizzled out in the end due to her injury. The Venus win certainly told that Williams sisters still dominate the women’s game.
There were a few good things to come out of this tournament for Indians. The match against Svetlana Kuznetsova should that Sania has a great future ahead of her, assuming that she isn’t nagged by injuries. Her groundstrokes and serve were really powerful. She has the making of a champion provided she improves in a few areas. Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi should join forces together to win many more grand slams. It was nice to see Mahesh and Mary Pierce win the mixed doubles. This was their first outing together and lets hope that they win more of them.
This year also witnessed the rise of new talents - Andy Murray, Richard Gasquet, Sania and the emerging girls from east Europe. The Russians were there as well. Rafael Nadal of Spain wasn’t so successful however. I hope there is a Pete among these budding talents as well.
Joke of the day :
Q. What’s the difference between ignorance and apathy?
A. I don’t know and I don’t care.
Wimbledon specials - part 1
- Wimbledon came to end on 3rd July and with it my favorite grand slam tournament. It was a year of domination and grit from some players.
Wimbledon is my favorite for many reasons.
• It is telecast live in the evening and all major matches can be viewed while having dinner or resting in the night. While other grand slams have schedules which don’t suit us. US open is late in the night. French open is in the afternoons. Australian open is early in the morning.
• Being a grass tournament it is suitable for all almost players. Except for the clay court specialists, grass is comfortable for almost all players. Grass gives a beautiful look to the entire event.
• It is the most traditional. Of course white looks boring but then someone has to be different from the rest. And even in white there is definitely good scope for fashion and variations. This was visible in the Nadal shorts and the Sharapova jewellery. The umpires and the ball collectors also have green dresses to match the green court.
• It is a representative of the general state of tennis world in those few years. Every few years, a champion for that entire decade appears. This person has all the shots and a treat to watch on court. Wimbledon provides us that person. From 1990 to 2000 it gave us Pete Sampras who of course won 7 of them. Now in the new millennium, it gave Roger Federer. It also gives us the great rivalries of that period and the domination of certain players. This is proved by many of the 5 setters
• The event organization and management is superb. The facilities provided are top class and a peek in the interior training facilities will prove that easily. The speed with which the courts are protected with covers during rains tells us about their readiness. Many matches are conducted throughout the day. They are of so many different types- men’s singles and doubles, ladies’ singles and doubles, boys’s singles and doubles, girls’ singles and doubles, mixed doubles, wheelchair and elders (35 and above, 40 and above).
• Good courts and green pastures are good for your eyes. There are around 20 courts and arranged in a grid like structure. The Center court and court 1 are the biggest and beautiful. There is a ground where people sit on the grass and watch major matches on a giant screen. Food courts and stalls satisfy your hunger with strawberries and wines.
• A beautiful audience ( :D ) is always welcome. When you have beautiful girls and handsome guys around the park, it turns everyone ON.
• It attracts the spectators all over the world and the who’s who of industry and Hollywood for major matches. In the recently concluded tournament, we had the likes of Sean Connery, Ernie Els and others visiting center court. We have industrialists like Laxmi Mittal, Infy MD Nandan Nilekani, etc. also giving support for the Indians out there.
Joke of the day:
Desperate for a child, a couple asked their priest to pray for them. “I m going on sabbatical to Rome,” he replied. “I will light a candle in St Peter’s for you.” When the priest returned three years later, he found the wife pregnant tending two sets of twins. Elated, the priest asked to speak to her husband and congratulate him. “He’s gone to Rome,” came the harried reply, “to blow out the candle.”
Saturday, July 02, 2005
bollywood award functions - are they ??
Award functions today have became an essential part of our film and television industry. it has become a means for the film fraternity to come together and get to know the latest happenings. It is also a platform to give recognition to individuals for their hard work.
But there are certain flaws in our award functions.
Initially there used to be only one – filmfare. But now we have so many different award functions: iifa, screen, zee to name a few. This has raised a serious concern over the quality of any single award function. Each one has a prominent sponsor like manikchand, Samsung, sansui, etc. It is like each television channel should have one. If you look at the Hollywood award function – Oscars, you will observe that it may have sponsors but not anyone which will share space with banners.
Our award functions have only one thing to show – ‘song and dance’ sequences. There is nothing else that they can do. Occasionally we have some troupe from Russia or Africa that will perform some acrobats but that’s all. A few antics from some action heroes, mimicry from the leading comedians, a few songs by some leading singer are the deviations that are possible.
Why do you never see Aamir Khan, Ajay Devgan and few others at any bollywood award function? The reason is very simple. They don’t believe in our award functions because they feel it doesn’t award merit but lobbying. And this lobbying is prevalent everywhere.
If we observe carefully, we notice that awards are never given for academic or technical performance. Instead the criteria is the popularity of the cast, performance at the box office and how much power the producers have in the film industry. No doubt why films like ‘Main hoon na’, ‘veer zaara’ got so many awards at all functions whereas films like ‘Swades’, ‘Lakshya’ and the like hardly got any recognition. This happens despite the fact that they were better technically (and for me in viewing as well) than the former.
If this is not enough, we also have specially made awards for some of our biggest stars.
E.g. Hrithik Roshan got an ‘Extraordinary debut’ award at filmfare, Shahrukh gets a technical jury award if he doesn’t get one in the popular category. All this is just to keep them happy.
Finally our award functions are too gaudy. The setup and the overall look of the award function are strictly OK. There is absolutely no theme and idea. The hosts are as confused and don’t know what to speak. They have their pathetic jokes which bore everyone. The recipients have nothing else to say except for a long list of ‘thank you’. A glance at the front seats shows fake and plastic smiles of the various artistes.
I wrote this article because the award function that took place at Amsterdam (IIFA) had all the above ingredients. I hope they improve in the future if they want to compete with the Oscars.
But there are certain flaws in our award functions.
Initially there used to be only one – filmfare. But now we have so many different award functions: iifa, screen, zee to name a few. This has raised a serious concern over the quality of any single award function. Each one has a prominent sponsor like manikchand, Samsung, sansui, etc. It is like each television channel should have one. If you look at the Hollywood award function – Oscars, you will observe that it may have sponsors but not anyone which will share space with banners.
Our award functions have only one thing to show – ‘song and dance’ sequences. There is nothing else that they can do. Occasionally we have some troupe from Russia or Africa that will perform some acrobats but that’s all. A few antics from some action heroes, mimicry from the leading comedians, a few songs by some leading singer are the deviations that are possible.
Why do you never see Aamir Khan, Ajay Devgan and few others at any bollywood award function? The reason is very simple. They don’t believe in our award functions because they feel it doesn’t award merit but lobbying. And this lobbying is prevalent everywhere.
If we observe carefully, we notice that awards are never given for academic or technical performance. Instead the criteria is the popularity of the cast, performance at the box office and how much power the producers have in the film industry. No doubt why films like ‘Main hoon na’, ‘veer zaara’ got so many awards at all functions whereas films like ‘Swades’, ‘Lakshya’ and the like hardly got any recognition. This happens despite the fact that they were better technically (and for me in viewing as well) than the former.
If this is not enough, we also have specially made awards for some of our biggest stars.
E.g. Hrithik Roshan got an ‘Extraordinary debut’ award at filmfare, Shahrukh gets a technical jury award if he doesn’t get one in the popular category. All this is just to keep them happy.
Finally our award functions are too gaudy. The setup and the overall look of the award function are strictly OK. There is absolutely no theme and idea. The hosts are as confused and don’t know what to speak. They have their pathetic jokes which bore everyone. The recipients have nothing else to say except for a long list of ‘thank you’. A glance at the front seats shows fake and plastic smiles of the various artistes.
I wrote this article because the award function that took place at Amsterdam (IIFA) had all the above ingredients. I hope they improve in the future if they want to compete with the Oscars.
Mumbai Woes --------- episode 2: attack of the problems
We know that Mumbai has many pressing problems at hand. So it is important to concentrate on these problems and find a solution to the woes of Mumbai.
Traveling in Mumbai is like going through hell. You have the trains which are always crowded no matter at what time you board it. You have the irregular BEST buses (they are actually really good). Roads are full of potholes or they are dug up for some work by some governmental organizations like MTNL, gas companies, sewage authorities, etc. this is even more problematic during the monsoons. To top it all there are around 60 flyovers all over Mumbai. They actually compound the already congested traffic instead of reducing it.
Sewage system of Mumbai is 150 years old for the part below Mahim. So you can imagine the conditions of those pipelines today. There is no effective system in place for the remaining areas. As a result the garbage flows into the sea. Naturally this has a detrimental effect on the environment.
Basic amenities in Mumbai are always in short supply. In many areas, water shortage is an evergreen problem. Electricity is normally available but when it goes off, it goes away for quite a few hours. Housing is costly and difficult to obtain. So the standard of living in Mumbai is quite high. As a result we have slums like Dharavi.
Hospitals are also few and are generally costly. The ratio of number of doctors to patients is also quite high. And very few hospitals maintain the cleanliness. Latest technologies are hardly available anywhere except for a select few.
The pollution in Mumbai is always on the rise. We have many new cars added to the road everyday. The old cars and trucks are also there contributing to the pollution. And of course since Mumbai is an industrial city we have pollution from factories as well. But the worst part is that there are very few green spaces in Mumbai and even they are being reduced by the greedy fourth estate. Everyone must have heard about the mangroves being cut away at Versova.
If that is not enough, the crime rate in Mumbai is reaching new heights all the time. We have bomb-blasts, murders, ransoms, extortions, etc. combined with the corruption everywhere around us. The court proceedings go at a slow rate and criminals go scot-free.
The
Education, they say, can remove lots of problems. But it can help only when the majority of the public gets quality education at affordable rates. When this doesn’t happen, it has direct effect on crime and corruption.
You might feel that I am criticizing the city I love most. But that’s not true. I am only highlighting the problems. In the next episode, I suggest a few solutions.
Traveling in Mumbai is like going through hell. You have the trains which are always crowded no matter at what time you board it. You have the irregular BEST buses (they are actually really good). Roads are full of potholes or they are dug up for some work by some governmental organizations like MTNL, gas companies, sewage authorities, etc. this is even more problematic during the monsoons. To top it all there are around 60 flyovers all over Mumbai. They actually compound the already congested traffic instead of reducing it.
Sewage system of Mumbai is 150 years old for the part below Mahim. So you can imagine the conditions of those pipelines today. There is no effective system in place for the remaining areas. As a result the garbage flows into the sea. Naturally this has a detrimental effect on the environment.
Basic amenities in Mumbai are always in short supply. In many areas, water shortage is an evergreen problem. Electricity is normally available but when it goes off, it goes away for quite a few hours. Housing is costly and difficult to obtain. So the standard of living in Mumbai is quite high. As a result we have slums like Dharavi.
Hospitals are also few and are generally costly. The ratio of number of doctors to patients is also quite high. And very few hospitals maintain the cleanliness. Latest technologies are hardly available anywhere except for a select few.
The pollution in Mumbai is always on the rise. We have many new cars added to the road everyday. The old cars and trucks are also there contributing to the pollution. And of course since Mumbai is an industrial city we have pollution from factories as well. But the worst part is that there are very few green spaces in Mumbai and even they are being reduced by the greedy fourth estate. Everyone must have heard about the mangroves being cut away at Versova.
If that is not enough, the crime rate in Mumbai is reaching new heights all the time. We have bomb-blasts, murders, ransoms, extortions, etc. combined with the corruption everywhere around us. The court proceedings go at a slow rate and criminals go scot-free.
The
Education, they say, can remove lots of problems. But it can help only when the majority of the public gets quality education at affordable rates. When this doesn’t happen, it has direct effect on crime and corruption.
You might feel that I am criticizing the city I love most. But that’s not true. I am only highlighting the problems. In the next episode, I suggest a few solutions.
Mumbai Woes --------- episode 1: the haunt of the transformation
We hear about this everyday. Every second day we read about various plans to transform Mumbai into a world class city like Shanghai or New York. But before we even think of such plans, we should consider a few issues.
First, cities like Shanghai are newly developed. This city was a small farming village some 10 years ago. It was when the Chinese felt the need to look at other avenues like industries that they decided to develop the village into a present day Shanghai. By this time, we already had the facilities and ideas for modern city planning. So Shanghai is much more organized and ready to expand easily as and when needed.
Mumbai was developed 150-200 years ago. Initially it consisted of 8 small islands and then more and more land was reclaimed. So the present day Mumbai actually consists of vast stretches of reclamation land. We have already stretched the limits. Changing it further is only going to have a negative impact on the city.
Further, we live in a democratic society. So before taking any firm decisions we have to hold various meetings and discussions. We have to take into account views and advantages of all concerned parties. This naturally takes up a lot of time. Many times the proposal is not okayed by all the parties and so we feel that the development is slow. A few examples of this are the worli-bandra sealink, the new oceanium, the various flyovers and buildings, the proposed metro trains, etc.
This is not the case in Shanghai because the government does not follow a democratic process. Some of the decisions are simply imposed upon the common public. But this is not the only reason. The people there are willing to cooperate and are much more hard-working than us. The corruption and narrow-mindedness is very less and decisions are approved much faster.
Every individual is different from another. Likewise every city is also different w.r.t. culture, goals, people, needs, etc. so things appropriate for one city need not be the same for another. This is precisely what the government of Maharashtra needs to understand. They need to understand that Mumbai doesn’t need the glossy and fake beauty but instead needs some basic solution to everyday problems. Anyways the aam junta isn’t concerned with these piped dreams at all.
Mumbai is beautiful in its own ways. We have the so many unique features that makes our city distinct from every other city in the world. We shouldn’t try to copy others, instead we should change ourselves in such a way that others try to imitate us.
First, cities like Shanghai are newly developed. This city was a small farming village some 10 years ago. It was when the Chinese felt the need to look at other avenues like industries that they decided to develop the village into a present day Shanghai. By this time, we already had the facilities and ideas for modern city planning. So Shanghai is much more organized and ready to expand easily as and when needed.
Mumbai was developed 150-200 years ago. Initially it consisted of 8 small islands and then more and more land was reclaimed. So the present day Mumbai actually consists of vast stretches of reclamation land. We have already stretched the limits. Changing it further is only going to have a negative impact on the city.
Further, we live in a democratic society. So before taking any firm decisions we have to hold various meetings and discussions. We have to take into account views and advantages of all concerned parties. This naturally takes up a lot of time. Many times the proposal is not okayed by all the parties and so we feel that the development is slow. A few examples of this are the worli-bandra sealink, the new oceanium, the various flyovers and buildings, the proposed metro trains, etc.
This is not the case in Shanghai because the government does not follow a democratic process. Some of the decisions are simply imposed upon the common public. But this is not the only reason. The people there are willing to cooperate and are much more hard-working than us. The corruption and narrow-mindedness is very less and decisions are approved much faster.
Every individual is different from another. Likewise every city is also different w.r.t. culture, goals, people, needs, etc. so things appropriate for one city need not be the same for another. This is precisely what the government of Maharashtra needs to understand. They need to understand that Mumbai doesn’t need the glossy and fake beauty but instead needs some basic solution to everyday problems. Anyways the aam junta isn’t concerned with these piped dreams at all.
Mumbai is beautiful in its own ways. We have the so many unique features that makes our city distinct from every other city in the world. We shouldn’t try to copy others, instead we should change ourselves in such a way that others try to imitate us.
An evening at my community function
every year my community organises a function. my community is called the ' Shree Surti Panchal Gnati Samaj '. so we are basically 'panchals' i.e some kind of artisans i.e my forefathers were either blacksmiths or dealed with metals. at those times they were called engineers. ( that may the reason for surnames : engineer, contratctor, lohar, panchal,etc in my community).
anyways this annual function has always got something different each year. we have been in gujarati dramas, sangeet sammelans, dandiya raas, etc. it is a nice place for people to talk who hardly meet otherwise in daily life. they ask about each others life and their well being.
this year we had a show with many different things : fungames, magic show and some demonstrations. My exams got over earlier and so i was given some work to do for the function. i first created 4 boxes in which each member of the community put a chit of paper. this chit contained the name and the membership no. the 4 boxes were to classify different age groups. my responsibilty was to oversee this part. people for the games were selected from a lucky draw.
i reached there by 2 pm. initially we registered the different families that arrived. each of them were given a pad and a pen for the demos and games.
the gates were closed at 5 pm owing to the rains that day. (it actually happens every year). initially there was a general GK round in which i was asked ' why did india became a republic on 26th jan 1950? '. i answered it correctly and was rewarded with a scent bottle.
after this happened the american auction. if u dont know this then i should tell u that the person that correctly determines the exact price of a commodity gets a prize. commodities like horlicks, surf excel, fa shampoo, etc were auctioned like this.
after this came the majic show. the person displayed tricks like hiding a hankie, guessing someone's thoughts from a crowd, removing water from ears when that person was made to drink,etc. it is not possible for me to explain each magic item in detail.
then came the games. for kids there was a ballon game. youngsters had to drink pepsi from a bottle using nozzle. elders were made to exhange polos using a stick from a mouth.
but the best part was the couples games. the first round was our true pals elimination. in the second round the husbands were asked to kiss their counterparts as much time as possible in 1 min. after each kiss they were to run to their starting position. in the 3rd round wives were supposed to help the husbands in wearing a saree. after this the husbands were told to do a catwalk in their sarees and also seduce the judge. this was fun.
ofcourse there is a break like intermission in a movie in which academic performances are rewarded. also at the end of the ceremony a dinner is kept. overall it was a very nice sunday for me for i was not bored that sunday.
joke of the day:
on the wall in the ladies' room :" my husband follows me everywhere"
written underneath:" no i do not "
anyways this annual function has always got something different each year. we have been in gujarati dramas, sangeet sammelans, dandiya raas, etc. it is a nice place for people to talk who hardly meet otherwise in daily life. they ask about each others life and their well being.
this year we had a show with many different things : fungames, magic show and some demonstrations. My exams got over earlier and so i was given some work to do for the function. i first created 4 boxes in which each member of the community put a chit of paper. this chit contained the name and the membership no. the 4 boxes were to classify different age groups. my responsibilty was to oversee this part. people for the games were selected from a lucky draw.
i reached there by 2 pm. initially we registered the different families that arrived. each of them were given a pad and a pen for the demos and games.
the gates were closed at 5 pm owing to the rains that day. (it actually happens every year). initially there was a general GK round in which i was asked ' why did india became a republic on 26th jan 1950? '. i answered it correctly and was rewarded with a scent bottle.
after this happened the american auction. if u dont know this then i should tell u that the person that correctly determines the exact price of a commodity gets a prize. commodities like horlicks, surf excel, fa shampoo, etc were auctioned like this.
after this came the majic show. the person displayed tricks like hiding a hankie, guessing someone's thoughts from a crowd, removing water from ears when that person was made to drink,etc. it is not possible for me to explain each magic item in detail.
then came the games. for kids there was a ballon game. youngsters had to drink pepsi from a bottle using nozzle. elders were made to exhange polos using a stick from a mouth.
but the best part was the couples games. the first round was our true pals elimination. in the second round the husbands were asked to kiss their counterparts as much time as possible in 1 min. after each kiss they were to run to their starting position. in the 3rd round wives were supposed to help the husbands in wearing a saree. after this the husbands were told to do a catwalk in their sarees and also seduce the judge. this was fun.
ofcourse there is a break like intermission in a movie in which academic performances are rewarded. also at the end of the ceremony a dinner is kept. overall it was a very nice sunday for me for i was not bored that sunday.
joke of the day:
on the wall in the ladies' room :" my husband follows me everywhere"
written underneath:" no i do not "
A for AATANKWADI
at the end of my engineering life, i do like to remember those days where we used to do a lot of fun. i particularly want to express my views about my practicals batch.
i have normally always been in A batch. these were the original set of people in the batch:-
sharad, ashish, rajeev, harsh, anish, kedar, trupti, pranali, rahul, sumant, pavan, jinen etc... and ofcourse ME!!!
our batch used to do everything except for work. we were the laziest among the four but when it came to submissions, we were always the first to finish. we always attacked the printers and used to sit for hours taking all kind of printouts. this was done during other batches' practicals and turns. during our practicals we just used to gossip about all kind of things.
our practicals were always gossip sessions...we used it as a means to spread hot news, rumours,etc...we would always listen attentively to the profs when they came up with someting new (those were for people in front of the prof... those who were behind the prof used to laugh profusely) we would then use the google search engine to find something related to that topic...( some prof even advocated the use of such practices...for eg. dholay used to say - "do google na" ) we would make our prof sign on incomplete journals and printouts...whenever the prof appeared in the lab, we would switch from our gaming sessions to some website or the blue compiler screen of Turbo C.
i particularly remember a practical session in which D batch people (miten, pooja, hardik,etc..) were sharing the printer with us. we were 6 from our batch (sharad, harsh, anish, rahul, ashish and me). our practicals were going on and as usual we were gossiping around... sharad decided to tease harsh on the topic of neha narula...to which our outspoken harsh replied something related to ass... this shocked the D batch that they decided never to do anything with the A batch again...
our batch always had some stalwarts...
ANISH: he was the interface to the profs.. whenever we wanted to cancel or prepone any practicals, it would be so easily done by anish. i dont know what magic he performed but he mostly did it everytime...but thats not all...he also fooled the profs on many occasions...he would say that the computer crashedwhen the prof was not here or the PC is not booting and there is no other PC available...he always had one webpage of 'moneycontrol.com'...
HARSH: he was the one who would turn to the net for programs and other material...he would search any thing in a jiffy...from his brothers website to some obscure sites...he always had a solution to any problem that could screw us...ofcourse the solution would not be ethically correct always but then who cared...he would always bring out some new and interesting topics for the entire batch to discuss...
RAHUL : he joined us only in the 4th sem...but he has been one of our prized possesions...he always had the program ready for any kind of topic...ofcourse we converted him into one of us i.e. he also would hardly program in the lab...but he would definitely do it later alone or at home...he was very flexible and listened to others views as well...
the others were also a part of this great batch...we had SHARAD who hardly used to do anything but always was on the forefront when the prof was to be contacted regarding something...there was SUMANT who hardly attended any practicals...RAJEEV, JINEN, PAVAN, ASHISH who would be teasing TRUPTI and PRANALI...KEDAR would try to do some work sincerely but like us he would also give up...
the reason for writing this article was that i missed it in my last sem vey much...our batch got divided and i came into a batch which i would say was not happening...so thank all those who helped us create what was called the AATANKWADI batch
P.S. : please put your views and experiences in the comments if u were one of the jehadis of this organisation.
i have normally always been in A batch. these were the original set of people in the batch:-
sharad, ashish, rajeev, harsh, anish, kedar, trupti, pranali, rahul, sumant, pavan, jinen etc... and ofcourse ME!!!
our batch used to do everything except for work. we were the laziest among the four but when it came to submissions, we were always the first to finish. we always attacked the printers and used to sit for hours taking all kind of printouts. this was done during other batches' practicals and turns. during our practicals we just used to gossip about all kind of things.
our practicals were always gossip sessions...we used it as a means to spread hot news, rumours,etc...we would always listen attentively to the profs when they came up with someting new (those were for people in front of the prof... those who were behind the prof used to laugh profusely) we would then use the google search engine to find something related to that topic...( some prof even advocated the use of such practices...for eg. dholay used to say - "do google na" ) we would make our prof sign on incomplete journals and printouts...whenever the prof appeared in the lab, we would switch from our gaming sessions to some website or the blue compiler screen of Turbo C.
i particularly remember a practical session in which D batch people (miten, pooja, hardik,etc..) were sharing the printer with us. we were 6 from our batch (sharad, harsh, anish, rahul, ashish and me). our practicals were going on and as usual we were gossiping around... sharad decided to tease harsh on the topic of neha narula...to which our outspoken harsh replied something related to ass... this shocked the D batch that they decided never to do anything with the A batch again...
our batch always had some stalwarts...
ANISH: he was the interface to the profs.. whenever we wanted to cancel or prepone any practicals, it would be so easily done by anish. i dont know what magic he performed but he mostly did it everytime...but thats not all...he also fooled the profs on many occasions...he would say that the computer crashedwhen the prof was not here or the PC is not booting and there is no other PC available...he always had one webpage of 'moneycontrol.com'...
HARSH: he was the one who would turn to the net for programs and other material...he would search any thing in a jiffy...from his brothers website to some obscure sites...he always had a solution to any problem that could screw us...ofcourse the solution would not be ethically correct always but then who cared...he would always bring out some new and interesting topics for the entire batch to discuss...
RAHUL : he joined us only in the 4th sem...but he has been one of our prized possesions...he always had the program ready for any kind of topic...ofcourse we converted him into one of us i.e. he also would hardly program in the lab...but he would definitely do it later alone or at home...he was very flexible and listened to others views as well...
the others were also a part of this great batch...we had SHARAD who hardly used to do anything but always was on the forefront when the prof was to be contacted regarding something...there was SUMANT who hardly attended any practicals...RAJEEV, JINEN, PAVAN, ASHISH who would be teasing TRUPTI and PRANALI...KEDAR would try to do some work sincerely but like us he would also give up...
the reason for writing this article was that i missed it in my last sem vey much...our batch got divided and i came into a batch which i would say was not happening...so thank all those who helped us create what was called the AATANKWADI batch
P.S. : please put your views and experiences in the comments if u were one of the jehadis of this organisation.
pandu goes english
'kay re kutthe challas?', ' aamcha chai-pani cha kai?' and few others will soon be replaced be 'where are you going?', ' what about our commisions?' respectively. confused?? Well dont be so because thats what you will hear from our so called pandu hawaldars soon. (ofcourse if everything goes as planned)
the maharashtra government has decided that the mumbai police should be taught English. They wiil be given training at the 7 training centers in mumbai. the reason behind this idea is that it will help the law and order situation in mumbai as also help the foreign tourists that come to mumbai.
this is their plan of action :
• why : so that the police force can use computers in a better way and also interact with foreigners.
• how : with the help of training centers located in various parts of mumbai.
• what : a basic course that will make them speak, read and write english. their speech need not be fluent.
this looks like a good idea. this will not only help people who are not well-versed with hindi and marathi (e.g. people from the south do not even know hindi properly so there is no question of marathi ). it is obviously going to help them cope up with the technological advancements both in general life and in the crime field. and obviously in this age of globalisation it is very important to know english.
so it does seem that the idea is a positive one from the government.
but is it going to work?? considering our political scenario, i m sure that in the coming days there is going to be opposition from a few parties ( everybody knows who always opposes anything that is against marathi !!). from the purist's point of view it is actually a degradation of the language because the police is obviously going to create a bhelpuri of the language. (who cares about the purists these days !!) police may easily misinterpret or communicate wrongly with the foreigners. therefore instead of helping, the situation can get worse. communication can occur correctly using the local language.
so the point is that while they should learn english, they should always first use the local language to solve any problem.
joke of the day: a company official tells his executive : " u have done so much with so little for so long that i would like u to move on to doing everything with nothing"
the maharashtra government has decided that the mumbai police should be taught English. They wiil be given training at the 7 training centers in mumbai. the reason behind this idea is that it will help the law and order situation in mumbai as also help the foreign tourists that come to mumbai.
this is their plan of action :
• why : so that the police force can use computers in a better way and also interact with foreigners.
• how : with the help of training centers located in various parts of mumbai.
• what : a basic course that will make them speak, read and write english. their speech need not be fluent.
this looks like a good idea. this will not only help people who are not well-versed with hindi and marathi (e.g. people from the south do not even know hindi properly so there is no question of marathi ). it is obviously going to help them cope up with the technological advancements both in general life and in the crime field. and obviously in this age of globalisation it is very important to know english.
so it does seem that the idea is a positive one from the government.
but is it going to work?? considering our political scenario, i m sure that in the coming days there is going to be opposition from a few parties ( everybody knows who always opposes anything that is against marathi !!). from the purist's point of view it is actually a degradation of the language because the police is obviously going to create a bhelpuri of the language. (who cares about the purists these days !!) police may easily misinterpret or communicate wrongly with the foreigners. therefore instead of helping, the situation can get worse. communication can occur correctly using the local language.
so the point is that while they should learn english, they should always first use the local language to solve any problem.
joke of the day: a company official tells his executive : " u have done so much with so little for so long that i would like u to move on to doing everything with nothing"
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