Good Riddance

How deliciously ironic and how fitting that the Lalu Prasad Yadav era and the Sourav Ganguly era ended on the same day. What a glorious day for india.

the wonder years

"Growing up happens in a heartbeat.One day you are in diapers, the next day you are gone.
But the memories of childhood stay with you for the long haul. I remember a place, a town, a house -like a lot of houses; a yard like a lot of other yards on a street like a lot of other streets. And the thing is after all these years, i still look back....with wonder."
- The last words of 'The Wonder Years'

Today, got to see the final episode of the show again after many years.

Black Diwali

I have been seething with rage for the last couple of weeks.Something inside me has snapped big-time.
I feel angry and vengeful,bitter and frustrated.But most of all, i feel shocked and betrayed. Shocked and betrayed by the nonchalance and callousness of my government and the apathy of my fellow citizens.

On 29th october,2005 ,62 people were killed in the heart of the nation's capital in the worst terrorist attack in this country since Black Friday(12/3/1993).Since then, i have been waiting.I have been waiting for my leaders to shout from the rooftops that the victims won't be forgotten nor will the perpetrators be forgiven. I have been waiting for the PM to tell our neighbours that either they are with us or against us. I have been waiting for the opposition to pressure the govt. to bring our enemies to justice or justice to our enemies. I have been waiting for stricter anti-terrorism laws to be implemented and the police to be given more powers. I have been waiting for a response; a response like 9/11 or 7/7, goddammit. And all i have got is silence.The political debate,the news cycle and regular people have all moved on; to things like the volcker report, the bihar elections and the cricket team's good form.The blasts seem to be a distant memory.

They say that Indians are able to get on with their lives after such tragedies far quicker than people in other countries.It is said that is a sign of our courage and resilience. That's bullshit. it is a sign of our helplessness and the fact that we are resigned to our fate.Our thoughts are not 'i hope it never happens again' but 'i hope i am not in the bus the next time one of them blows up'.And when our own attitude is like that what more can we expect from our elected representatives.truly, our reputation as a soft state is well earned.

reality to the rescue

The spark for this post is an hour and a half spent on thursday night watching tv celebrities gyrating to remixed numbers on star one's new reality-celebrity dance show, Nach Baliye. i absolutely loved it. i loved the fact that i could recognize all the real-life couples, i loved malaika's green sari, i loved the fact that farhan akhtar just repeated what malaika said, i loved saroj khan's acid tongue and most of all i loved the (attempts at) dance. of course, the concept is borrowed but at least its made well which is true of most of the recent shows in its genre.
Interactive reality television has captured the imagination of the common viewer(as well as the critic) and threatens to change the face of indian television. just sample the following facts:
- a 36 year-old housewife in jabalpur ran up a one-month cellphone bill of one and a half lakh sending smses in support of qazi, the young boy from kashmir who had a habit of weeping in every episode of fame gurukul and ultimately won the title. she would start messaging at five in the morning and not stop. i read this as part of a story which talked about how people used qazi as a medium to show their solidarity with kashmiris. they felt it was their duty to make sure he won. he got 48 lakh smses in all.
- the debut album of indian idol winner abhijeet sawant is the highest selling indipop album of the year.
- kbc2 has received almost 90 lakh smses so far.
-the humble house painter from ludhiana, ravinder ravi (whom the judges on indian idol hated and the audience loved) now spends his time between painting and performing in stage shows.
-let me repeat, i could recognize ALL the couples on Nach Baliye.

All in all it means that this has been a great diwali for the producers, the channels, the cellphone operators,the sponsors, the participants and most of all for the viewer. She never had it so good.

P.S: Indian Idol second season starts on nov.21
Nach Baliye on star one ; tue-thu at 9