Monday, August 23, 2010

How I did it ;)

I was talking to a friend about the reason I had earphones in a shocking colour... I also happened to mention the fate of my brother's mobile after it came into my hands. ;) He wondered how I managed to spoil a mobile. While I silenced him by explaining it's easy if you have years of experience, I felt I owe him a better explanation. So here it is, how I managed to achieve the feat...

1) Making maximum use of your service provider's SMS packages. What are they for??? :)*

2) Making use of every available feature on the phone... The camera - almost every third moment seemed worth capturing ;)

3) Music - how can you miss the numerous radio shows? ** & when the commercials come on... well, that's when you listen to songs stored earlier :)

4) Gaming - push the buttons around - all the anger and frustration and excitement on racing a car across the deserts or through a forest trail, the keypad bears the brunt of it all...

5) Careful handling on the phone - taking care to see that it does not fall on the hard ground ... too often, just now and then.... :P

6) Carrying the phone properly - I usually end up digging for it at the bottom of my bag, alongside a stapler, pens, pencils & what-nots :)

See, it's so easy ;)

And to conclude, that's how I managed to do it :)

* - I used to be an SMS-junkie once upon a time...

** - There used to be great radio shows with splendid RJ's back then, in the city where I used to be.. Don't know the situation now, though...

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Way(s) to wealth???

Just thinking....

So many ways of getting rich...

1. Photo-shop: After seeing the "beautiful" photo taken this morning for an ID card (it would make a good promotional poster for any horror movie), I discovered a good scheme for minting money - just blow up my photo, & sell copies - as protection against the Evil Eye... (I'm pretty sure it'll work ;) )

2. Music(k): Start singing - and threaten to continue unless paid to remain silent. I can see myself on the road to millionairehood.... Alas, my stamina doesn't last that long, so I think I'll settle down for a lesser amount :) :) Like, a thousand thousand :)

3. F(a)iry tales: Write M&B kind soppy stuff - shouldn't be too hard... Except for the dialogues - maybe I can just quickly read a few to decide the amount of 'sentiment'/'emotion' ... And maybe I can get sponsored lunches in the best restaurants where I go to study the 'atmosphere'....

I'm sure I can come up with more schemes , given time...

And if worst comes to worst, I can even WORK :) :)

Monday, August 9, 2010

C(o)urses C(o)urses everywhere???

"... Concept School, class I-X, IIT Coaching"

Another schoolbus caught my eye; and made me reflect. Why does every school need 'IIT coaching'? Time to think again....

Makes me wonder (this reminds me of Stairway to Heaven!!)... Makes me wonder about the future. Will 'coaching for the top institutes' start from Class I??? Or K.G.??? Or maybe, classes will be held for expectant mothers - along with regular checkups & motherhood-preparation classes, maybe expectant mothers will have to join coaching classes - early beginners, start at the womb!!! Everyday, solve a physics/chemistry/mathematics problem along with your daily exercise routines ...

And of course, we do not want our kids to grow up one-sided. Of course not. Why only academic coaching??? Sports & Arts are equally important. So, mother-to-be, attend music & sports training as well :P

But wait, you need to be able to afford all this. So, parents-to-be, work hard. Really hard... (I believe that at this rate, I'll be able to afford my kids' K.G. education, if I start saving up right away :) )

Well, on a different note, I'm glad I had enough free time, to play and enjoy myself. At times, doing nothing. Just sitting on the terrace enjoying the cool breeze. Running around. Lying down watching the stars in the sky. Simple pleasures. No pressure of classes to attend, courses to excel in. Things learnt & skills acquired out of interest, without having them thrust upon me.

I see today's kids. School-home-computer-tuitions-music class-sports class-dance class-homework-projects-studies-& oh, it's already time for the next day at school. And the cycle continues...

Maybe I'm biased. But I sometimes wonder about today's kids. And tomorrow's. Will they ever know the joy of a childhood? The simple pleasures of life. The joys of just running around. Of just lazing around on a hot summer afternoon. (without the shadow of 'holiday homework' looming large over the horizon) And so much more.

I tell myself that I should ensure that my kids should enjoy the simple pleasures of Life as I knew it. But then again, that might not be what they want. And well, if I'm the only one thinking this way, where will my kids find other kids to play with? And will they feel the burden of peer pressure, and be forced to bite off more than they can chew???

Only Time will tell.

(P.S. It started somewhere, ended elsewhere... Like Life - you never know where it starts or where or how it will end )

Friday, August 6, 2010

An update

For those who read my earlier post, here’s something I should add – I have discovered that some people do not pay heed to where they are – they go about their ‘business’ in full view no matter where they are – even within the university when a proper restroom is hardly 10 metres away!!! Even when it drizzles !!! And one guy even made a request to the van-driver to wait for him until he was done…. Shudder! Shudder!

And even standing among dustbins – I’m amazed you can ‘stand the stench’ that long (pun intended ;) )…

It reminds me of this ad with Kamalahassan in it asking a guy not to piss on the roads. (If I come across the video, I’ll post it…) And at times, I’m reminded of this documentary I read about in Suketu Mehta’s Maximum city: Bombay lost and found – a short film called Bumbay – and wonder if someone (alas, I cannot…) should make a similar film on this… (am trying to imagine what it would be called, if it is ever made…) (Piss-kiya??? Kuch kuch aata hai?? Omg!!!! What’s happening to me??????)

May the world be cleansed someday (with water, that is!!!)

And no, I’m not jealous or anything. Am just another concerned citizen. (concerned about myself, mostly ;) ) Can't help it..... (you can't help it either, na??? ) :)

Idiot on the "idiot box" :)

The TV was on when I entered. I am not normally a TV-watcher, but as I was having my daily round of chai-biscuit then and there, I happened to watch what was being aired. And I was glad I wasn't a regular viewer...

A 'family drama' - one of the kinds of soaps you encounter on TV. Mostly it has women crying, occasionally some of the men cry as well. You have these super-good, super-traditional ladies who have so much to bear... And then, there is this super-evil lady... (You can figure out who is who, even if you have never watched an episode of the serial before - if actions speak louder than words, clothes speak louder than actions... see for yourself, I bet you can identify with reasonable certainty who the 'good' & 'evil' characters are...) (I was reading 'The Omen' today - there was a line in it about how everything good had an evil counterpart (or something similar), which sums up what I'm trying to say - but I'm just rambling here...) Who is forever hatching evil schemes. And of course, there is an element of humour (!?)... Plus some more... (You can't make a serial just like that - you need a family sentiment, a love interest, some humour, some tense moments, some suspense...)

Picture this situation : a man beats his wife and throws her out of the house, and she begs him to take her back??? with assistance from her own sister (!!!)... And she knows he'll probably do it all again, yet goes back!!! Now, what kind of 'situation' is that?? What is the message it sends out? You can beat your wife, she'll come back to you. To the women - accept all that you get?? (Reminds me of this Rahul Mahajan episode - vicious cycle - does reel life follow real life, or is it the other way round? I digress again...) Seriously, whoever makes these serials, please send out some positive messages. We have enough stereotyping done already, without your adding to it.

Moving on from serials... reality shows (why do I seem to find either a soap or a reality show on every channel and almost all the time - with exceptions for commercials (longer than the serial episodes) and movies now and then). Reality shows - of every kind. Dance, music, comedy, actiong - name it, you have it... Sorry, but I'm overwhelmed by the sheer number of such shows... One idea works, you immediately have 10 'similar' shows...

Personally, I feel that while some of it is fine, it's sad to see so many people making a fool of themselves on air. Along with long hours of practise, getting camera-ready. Maybe I'm biased, but I sometimes wonder about the extent to which people go for a few minutes of fame. How
hard they try to impress the judges - I honestly wonder how judges are chosen - I think the last qualification needed for a judge is to know something distantly related to the show being judged... And their comments (expert opinions!!!)... Some things are not worth writing about...

I (thankfully) haven't watched all TV channels /shows. I hear that there are some good shows. But some shows I have read/heard about, and haven't felt the need to watch. Ever. Overall, I prefer to continue this way... Maybe someday some show will again be aired, which will make me want to go back to being the avid viewer I was once upon a time, when I waited impatiently for the weekly episode of some beloved serial.

I now go back to the next novel awaiting me...

And, before I end : V, happy birthday. And I do write positive stuff as well, as you probably know. You know where to find them...

Disclaimer : To remind you, this is a very personal opinion. And I know that many of you do not share these opinions. You are welcome to have your opinions, I have mine. And this is not intended to hurt/ ctiticize anyone. Just a few personal thoughts. Sorry for any unintentional mistakes.

Sunday, August 1, 2010

"One, two, three; take" - My take :)

First of all, apologies for the bad title, couldn't come up with a good one even after racking my brains hard...

If books get written about, can movies be far behind?

I'm not a movie buff. Not the avid cine-goer who watches every movie released, but more the just-a-movie-now-and-then type.

My biggest doubt : why are most movies "inspired" by some other movie?? Why are they always "based on", "inspired by", "influenced by", but never just copied or borrowed?

One of the reasons I'm not too keen on watching movies - I don't like movies where the heroines are just eye-candy. Who "act" (if you can call it that) dumb, the only time you get to see them actually doing something is during the dance sequences... There are very few movies I've come across which have women in good roles. Or atleast passably good ones. I don't know who is to blame - the writers , or the women desperate enough for their claim to fame, to agree to be a bimbette. (Sorry, I know too many strong women, that I just can't take it when the female characters act like dumb dolls)...

And the lines they speak.... The heroes speak lines like "This is how a woman should behave", "Good women should be 'modest'"... And our beloved 'heroines' (an irony, this word. the heroines I know in real life are not dictated to), just meekly obey the hero, and change themselves in accordance with dear hero's words. Women, whatever happened to your individuality?? Don't you have a mind of your own? Why do you want to be dictated to?

Another interesting aspect of the movies, if you ask me, is the portrayal of this thing called "love"... The hero sees the heroine in a crowded bus, and falls 'in love'? Or, more commonly, the heroine initially hates the hero, and so the hero takes it as a "challenge" to "make her fall in love with me"... And if the hero and heroine are constantly at loggerheads, it definitely means that they are in "love"... "I'll make her/him love me, give me a week" ?????????? And guess this takes the cake - "I've decided to love her. So I'm going to make her love me". How does one do that? Why does a villain (who often looks much better than the hero, an irony again) always come in the middle, and help the hero or heroine realize their "true feelings" for each other??? And how dumb is a suicide attempt (or a drama like that) to "make her fall in love" with you? How does the hero, who has seen the heroine once in a crowded bus in Chennai, find her in a church in Mumbai???? How does the hero always arrive at the right moment to "save" the heroine, even if he's somewhere in the US of A, while the heroine is in some remote village in South India?

The cloth(e)s the heroines wear are another issue altogether (the heroes are usually more fortunate in this, except for the 'out-of-this-world' (read scary) costumes, mostly in song sequences). I've heard too many people , while watching movies, wondering if the producers were so broke that they could only afford half-a-metre of cloth for making the heroine's outfit!!! I don't want to say anything more on this (it'd then be longer than half the clothes they wear!!)

Song sequences - I find them good and bad. (Though if you ask me, I wonder why many heroines don't feel cold wearing tiny summer clothes on snow-clad mountains, while the heroes are better wrapped-up... ) I have no wish to elaborate further on this right now...

Fights, I don't have to mention :) The hero is usually the winner - depending on the villain's popularity and role-length, the hero comes away completely unscathed, or gets a tiny bruise that can't be seen under a microscope. While the villain, who is seen lifting weights and gymming, collapses on a single hit (or more, depending on the movie) by the hero. How does the hero single-handedly take on so many men? And always win? Even when he's not equipped with anything but his hands, while the villains have weapons of every kind, from a pocket-knife to the most advanced machine-gun? Why is it that the villain can never hit the hero with a machine-gun, while the hero shoots the last bullet of a tiny revolver (at a distance of more than 100 metres) (and on the move!!), and the bullet is right on target??? And how is it that the hero can take on 15 men, and beat them, all before his half-cigarette burns out?

Comedy - some of it is genuine, and I'm grateful for that. But crude jokes, racist ones are not funny. Seriously. Fat people aren't a joke, please. It is seriously not funny when you make jokes about appearances, physical features or colour. And the most pathetic jokes are when you have to actually try and make people laugh. Double-meanings aren't always funny. And no, cross-dressing isn't funny. Neither is calling people names. Or falling down. Or having flour fall on your face from a box on the shelf above you. I have seen some genuinely funny movies, and movies where the comedy is indeed comedy, and at the same time, makes you think about the seriousness of the issues involved. Sorry, I have also seen some of the stuff that now goes under the name of "comedy", and now I shudder every time I hear this word, and if some movie falls under this genre, I try to avoid it.

There are many aspects to a movie. I haven't mentioned them all. And all the above words are my personal opinion. I know that movies are for entertainment, but then, it's a cyclic process - movies do influence people, and people do influence movies. And I prefer getting positively influenced by good movies, rather than movies that glorify violence, which promote stereotypes ("men know best, women should know their 'position'" UGH!!!!!!!); movies which show that you must 'fight' to get your way, which preach that suicide is the 'easiest' and 'only' way out; and a whole lot more. And hoping that positive movies do get made...

(I can already see a debate brewing, so I better start preparing my defense!!! This is only my personal opinion, based on many of the movies I've seen, and as I've already mentioned, I'm not an earnest cine-fan, nor do I claim to be an authority on movies - most of the above is based on Indian movies - Hollywood would need a separate post :) )