Views, not news

It’s a beautiful sunny morning. i settle down with my morning cuppa and pick up the newspapers to glance through them. This is probably my 259th attempt at making a habit of reading the newspapers. After all i’ve woken up every morning of my life with my dad sitting with his paper and morning tea and now my spouse is no different (except that he likes coffee).

A little background to the failed attempts. For one, newspapers aren’t an ideal size for comfortable reading. There are too big to fit into my lap so i can’t snuggle in my sofa and read them. i have to stretch my arms wide or resort to the dining table. (silly reason but i shall please myself) Also, i’ve somehow not been happy with the idea of starting the day with newspapers. (guess there are 2 ways to react to things that you see since childhood - you take it as a way of life or reject it as a way of life!) Wouldn’t there be a better way to start the day than to bolt for the newspaper after a cursory nod for a good morning? Maybe with a cheerful good morning to others in the family and catching up with them before moving on with the day with positive vibes from our loved ones ? i've had my parents lecture me all my life about how good a habit it is to read newspapers. And like everything else that is imposed, I dislike the idea. (Who loves to do things that parents' lectures insist are important for survival in life!)

Back to my beautiful morning. i look at the front page and the headlines scream at me about some scam a respected politician is found to be involved in. Sighing wistfully, i move to the bottom of the page only to be told that a 12 yr old girl was being repeated raped by her cousin and 9 others for over 2 yrs. Horrified, i move on to page 2 and read that the city lost millions of litres of water because a couple of pipes burst in the city and the administration had not yet taken any action about it. i am, by now, done with yet another attempt of being among newspapers readers in the morning.

There is something about news that is repulsive to me. It's no longer what it used to be or what it's supposed to be. The story isn’t any different on television - for instance when hubby darling wants to catch up with news during dinner. The stories on the idiot box can put any Ramu thriller to shame! As if it’s not gory enough that an 11-day old infant is stoned to death in Kashmir, the story begins with special effects with shots of a mob on half of the screen and an innocent child on the second half. Is it one against the other? Can’t we just report it as it happened? Do we need to be shown repeated shots of mobs pelting stones and the mother in tears? Repeated shots of a minister kicking a party worker while the bloodied man lies helpless on the floor is another case in point. Am done with my dinner already!!

Coming back to newspapers, i guess they were a nice way to start the day in yesteryears when news was reported and not written to entertain, scandalise or shock. Reporters didn’t go nosing around to find newsworthy items. They had enough sensible stuff that a common man would want to know. There weren’t too many supplements to fill and crime wasn’t the daal-roti of news presenters. News items had credibility and the writing, a sense of style. Newspapers were just that and not a magazine that cover a variety of topics to ensure broadest readership with no depth.

As for me, i am very happy banking on my spouse, who is a regular, for my occasional dose of "The world at 8!". And i am thrilled whenever i hear him say, "it's there in the papers today". i know i have the newspaper intelligence in my life without having to read it!!

Quick trip down the memory lane....

When was the last time you looked up for a word meaning in the dictionary? You can take a minute to recall. Honestly, i don’t remember my last time!

i just finished reading a fantastic book on the craft of writing by William Zinsser. One of the important things, William says, a writer should do is to frequently dip into a thesaurus to find the exact word for a given context. i brought out my thesaurus to look up a word. And this is where my musing over the charm of the old world began. It was truly nostalgic to turn pages of a huge volume of Roget’s thesaurus and chant alphabets in my mind while looking up a word!

Wow! This is how i’ve looked up words all my life. i didn’t even realise when this wonderful habit of school days was replaced by online dictionary and thesaurus. It’s so convenient to google a word and look at the limited meanings a website chooses to throw up. For me, it’s simply ‘right click’ and ‘look up word in dictionary’ from the set of options that show up on my Mac. It suffices for the current need and i move on with my writing. The transition from holding words in my hands to mechanically hacking away at the keyboard, just because it is quick, seems to be so seamless.

i guess it’s the same with reading. We have become prolific online readers. Carrying a book is passé. Welcome wi-fi-enabled cellphones, ipods and other devices equipped to let you read any topic under the sun on the world wide web. The latest - Online Library - will ensure that the next generation gets to see libraries only in museums! Thankfully, online reading isn’t very appealing to me. i can’t spend hours online wading through the tangle of links. i still miss my books and go back to them often. In fact, feel guilty that i don’t read regularly enough.

i don’t think i need to even invoke personal touch of the snail mail lest i get carried away too far and you guys decide to bypass my memory lane. Though it does seem incredible now to think of having written reams to my best friend in college days. Hah! Just pick up the phone today and talk to her wherever she is! Simple! From entertainment to academics to business, technology has pervaded all!

Technology is great but are we losing the fun and innocence of the old world? Is it so difficult to occasionally tune the radio to our favourite channel? (I don’t mean the FM in your mobile phone, silly!) Or just log out of the websites, switch off your laptop and go talk to your neighbour. At least find out who lives next door. Pullout snake and ladder and roll the dice.

Or just look up the dictionary!

F.R.I.E.N.D.S. - More thoughts

i am on Season 7 and overcame my addiction for the sitcom long back. It’s still dumb and funny. “What next?” has kept me glued to the program. i have a better understanding of the characters and so i know Joey is dumb but not sensible, as i thought earlier. The others are pretty much the same.

Though shocked initially, i’ve digested that Monika got together with Chandler, my least favourite. It feels, to me, as if it was a move out of desperation to induce some change in the equation between the friends. The stories of other friends is not parallel for sure since none of the others is any closer to finding their mate. Why only Monika and Chandler? Weren’t there any other combinations to explore, i wonder?

i am also a little surprised at the flatness of the characters. There isn’t any development that they seem to have gone through. Guys still lusting after boobs and gals still drooling over men. i thought it would have been great for the characters to evolve along with their audience over the decade that it was aired. Or for the story to lead to some substance in it.

i was thinking about how appropriate the serial must have been for the Indian viewers back in the 90’s. i have lost count of the number of times people mentioned ‘sex’ and the deluge of sexual innuendos throughout the series. i consider it inappropriate for my kids to watch till they are old enough to understand the suggestive remarks and are capable of handling the innuendos. i might sound like i am going to be an old-fashioned mom but as much as i know about bringing up kids, things have not changed one bit. i don't think i would have enjoyed it as much as i do now, 15 years ago. The fun is in being one with the characters and enjoy the quips and puns.

Wishful thinking, the last one but i can go back to enjoying it since i can handle it!!

Train the Trainer at Dale Carnegie

The last 3 days have been the best days of my life in about 2 years now. Sitting through the Dale Carnegie session for Train the Trainer was such a fantastic and eye opening experience. i believe there’s so much to learn and a bit of formal education helps instead of learning everything by experience which can take ages. After hunting high and low for a course that could help me formally learn the ropes of training, a friend suggested this. I grabbed at the opportunity since Dale Carnegie has an international name.

The first thing that i realized was that training had spread to every sphere. It’s no longer training the untrained youth to place them in jobs or the general HR training that i thought training was all about. Training has applications in Nationalised banks and govt organisations that have made training a regular dept and have regular trainers. There were a few senior people taking the course since training had now become an inherent part of their job profiles and they wanted to do it well.

i was a little nervous initially about facing people during my presentations after a gap of more than 2 years. i guess all the participants were a little knotted at the thought which is quite natural. But all of us did a great job, made a few mistakes and invariably ran short of time for our 7 min slot each.

The trainer, Mr. Rajesh Parekh, (the most suave gujju I have come across!!) was exemplary and taught us so much by just being himself. His voice projection was just amazing. He didn’t jump around to create energy levels but his presence itself made everyone sit up and pay attention. There wasn’t one dull moment during the 3-day workshop.

The training methodology of Dale Carnegie ensures a great mix of slides, presentation and participant activities. When I look back, I don’t remember one stretch when we had to wait for the trainer’s monologue to finish. At all points, we were engaged in giving ideas, doing activities or listening to the trainer who made complete sense. Sticking to only 90-minutes of training between breaks was a great technique to keep us alert all the time.

It was training and fun. The group of 28 participants were from a variety of professions and age groups, added to the learning. On the third day, when we were divided into 2 groups to make presentations at the same time in separate rooms, we really missed each other. We were eager to watch each topic and get everyone’s feedback on what we did. That quite didn’t happen but time was managed extremely well due to the division. Each group had enough time to make their presentation and discuss feedback at length.

Final word: I can safely recommend the TTT at Dale Carnegie since it truly lives up to its name.

My Favourite Fruit

MY FAVOURITE FRUIT

Don’t bother to wash before eating it

Don’t bother to wash even your hands since eating it is mess-free

Doesn’t need a knife to peel it

You don’t have to worry about it being sweet while buying it.

Comes in a lot of varieties, all of which are sweet.

Can be used raw or eaten ripe

Available in red, green and yellow colours

From tiny to Bigg in size

Well, i know it's not rocket science to guess my favourite fruit. Just trying to get your mind off the fact that it's not really been a great comeback like i said in my last post. i almost lost the motivation to ever come back. i mean, it’s been a month since i scribbled here and i don’t know if there is a valid excuse for being absence for this long. i don’t know if it happens to other bloggers - this losing-the-drive-to-write thing, it sure happens to me. The key lies in the determination to stick on to something. How many times have you found yourself making a plan that goes bust in a few days? Remember the number of times you resolved to stick to your gym routine but...the less said the better! I understand! What happened to your resolve of calling up your old grandmum once a week? And your promise to yourself about learning two new words everyday?

There is something inherently repulsive about things that we have to do. (No, i am not talking about writing my blog). Or rather things that we need to do regularly (No, i am not talking about popping a piece of chocolate everyday after lunch....i’d love that!). Probably because these are just nice-to-have goals. They are at best enabling goals and not critical to our everyday functioning. It’s nice to write my blog regularly and unleash my otherwise redundant creativity at hapless people who choose to read it. But the point is, how many people actually visit my blog. i know there’s no one waiting for me to write a post and dying to read what i’ve written about. i am no great bongali with expectations of thousands of readers across the world. So what’s the incentive for me to go on writing? Me, Myself. i had a good reason to start a blog (which has nothing to do with boring you guys) and i need to keep focused on it.

There i go again ! i’ve successfully written my first post for this month. Achieving this goal is sufficient for now despite the fact that this post doesn’t spout out profound gyan about the politics of the women bill or the status of uranium production in India. So I am off to seep with the happy thoughts of this noble deed that I did today..

Good night! 


Hey! I am back!

It’s been quite a long time since i posted (i go by the fact that I forgot my blog address when i had to type it on my desktop since i am so used to one click on my bookmarks in my laptop). From ill health to being busy with work, lots of reasons for my absence. The world moves on though.

Meanwhile, a lot of news items caught my attention and set me thinking. Surprising because i am not a news person at all! Newspapers are a waste of time and too big in size for comfortable reading and there are better things to watch on TV than news. This seems like masala for a separate post, catch you there!!!

First of all, what left a sour taste in my mouth is the whole political arm twisting about the release of My Name is Khan. (decided not to watch it at all). i mean it’s just a movie and has to do with the personal profit and loss of the people involved. Should the government have deployed over 40,000 policemen (some of whose leaves were canceled for the extended weekend!) to ensure a safe release of a movie just because Shah Rukh Khan, the businessman (not the actor) happened to mutter a sentence related to his business?? The level of manoeuvring involved threatening the Sena big bosses that their men under custody would be treated as criminals. The theatre owners were forced to showcase the film or they would lose tax benefits leaving them no way out. i have a problem with the degree of the government’s involvement in the whole issue. If a movie is a threat to the peace of a city, just stop the release. If our respected Chief Minister were to act so promptly in matters that require urgent attention, we would probably not be spending millions on Kasab’s security. I don’t remember any such action being taken to ensure successful screening of better made films on better on important subjects where the creative freedom of the makers was at stake.

i hadn’t got over this when the news of blasts in Pune filled the TV screens. What else can we expect when our dear rulers are busy protecting the personal interests of a few influential people? The lapse is unpardonable since this was yet another classic case of intelligence failure. There was intelligence as early as November 2009 that German Bakery was in the radar of attacks. Wasn’t it the duty of the government officials to prioritise saving the lives of innocent people by stationing their armed forces at a sensitive location like this than at the theatres of Mumbai?

Talking about the country as a whole, Maoists were also given easy access to killing innocent lives in Bihar despite the officials being informed 3 hours in advance about the attacks. In Amethi, the bastion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, a dalit woman was brutally beaten up by the upholders of law to make her confess murdering her husband. (I thought the world was celebrating the liberation of women, sic!) Such is the extent of human apathy in today’s times that a woman constable remained a mute witness to the heinous act. Though what takes the cake is the comment of Renuka Chaudhary on one of the channels. Madame says she’s not surprised that it happened in UP which is not safe for anyone anymore. The CM, Mayawati might be party to such vandalism by the police since she doesn’t pull them up for such barbaric behaviour. Do we commit the blunder of electing such people to power??

I am happier not watching the news on TV. It only debunks the myth of India shining well on its way to becoming a superpower. I don’t think my country can ever be a superpower in the real sense while women are being beaten up and the government is more interested in safeguarding its prestige over paltry matters. Economic figures might suggest otherwise.

On a different front, Arnab Ray of the greatbong fame has started pre-order booking of his book, May I hebb your attention please. The preliminary reviews suggest the book has “politically incorrect” take on a variety of topics that formed the culture of the 90’s. I can kinda guess the experience of reading the book written in Ray’s typical style. And I am not dying to read the book. I acknowledge that he is a great writer since writing a whole book is no mean feat. But reading stuff with terms similar “peripetatic peregrinations of millions of people” in the Calcutta Book Fair is not my idea of a fun read. I might be jumping to conclusions about the nature of the book being similar to his blog writing but what the heck! This is my blog and I can write what I honestly feel about things.

That was all that caught my roving eye in the last few days. Watch this space for more....

Swayamvar - Season 2

Rahul dulhaniya Le Jaayenge - i guess the change in the title of the show is more of a positive affirmation after the fiasco of Season 1. It ended with the Swayamvar - only choosing the spouse. We know how happily-ever-after the first pair turned out to be. And well the after taste still lingers in my mouth, having followed season one closely, despite the evidently manipulated histrionics. It’s no longer this historical and momentous adventure anyone can embark on. Everyone has the right to choose one’s spouse in today’s times, so we don’t need to invoke the whole Swayamvar jingbang. That’s no longer the USP of the show.

One look at the set and the memories come beating back. Not all of them good ones, though. It’s like hey, we’ve seen all this before and all this hullabaloo did not lead to happy ending. We all felt cheated at the end of it!!! In fact even Ram Kapoor has to confirm from Rahul if he will really get married, just for the benefit of the viewers. Well, this is reality TV and anything can happen.

Well, i check out the first episode of Season 2 just to check out what else is different apart from the name. i realise that i can tolerate Rahul, after all, as long as he doesn’t laugh. (my first memory of RM is of his stupid laughter irritatingly punctuating the comic talent of kids in Bade Miyan Chhote Miyan. Keep your mouth away from the microphone, you moron!!). His first shot and i am like uggghhhh... He’s has a whole cake of compact on his face!! Some candidates are really gorgeous but none seem to fit him (just like the last time). They all are confident women who carry themselves in aplomb and he looks agape at them like a shy kid who’s just turned lucky to have so many PYT with him. (i kept thinking about all the designer clothes and jewellery they get deck up in during the show. Who cares about RM anyways!) Episode 1 is crammed with romantic Bollywood numbers before the cat fight starts at the party.

i don’t need to gaze at my crystal ball to know what the future episodes would bring. At the outset, RM is going to be a bad monitor in handing a class of 16 women who are assertive and know what exactly they want. It’s going to have a lot of cat fights and bitching about the other candidates - it happens all the time when reality TV brings women together. (remember Dancing Queen, anyone?). That’s the most masaledaar way to the TRPs.

There were enough roaring complaints in the first episode itself. i lost count of the number of times i heard the ladies say “ab hamen bhi time do”. Some of them launched a protest by singing so loudly to ensure others don’t get to talk to RM. Wondering if there was a better way to handle the crowd of women or was it a deliberate attempt to show that women can’t mind their manners when they are in the presence of an irresistibly sexy man like RM!! It was surely better handled the last time. Maybe Rakhi was better at juggling men or maybe men mind their manners and women tend to get insecure quickly.

Can't they get people who the nation would really like to see married, on these shows? Or probably such people find their soulmates easily on their own. They don't need to get paid to act out a dedicated hunt on National TV. i am not going back to watch the show for sure. The manipulation kills the whole concept and then i am not up for being fooled a second time.