You are currently browsing the monthly archive for January 2009.

The music of Dilli 6 is out. This might be a bit too early to review a Rahman album plus being too lazy, may I point you to this review of Dilli 6 at Mitasha Muses :

A word of warning…at times the album brings out the unexpected with a flair, and that might not gel with everyone. For example, if you’re expected Mohit Chauhan to sing the kind of lovely smooth ballad that he has been singing in the last year…well, Masakali is nothing like that at all. If you’re willing to take the risk, you’ll be amazed at how sleazy and rebellious and bold he manages to sound in this number. Similarly, the title track is a little wild, not in the least because of the singers and the free use of digitalization, but its also very characteristic of Rahman (think Paathshaala)

I liked the title track Dilli 6, which is an ode to the vibrant modern Delhi. But I still don’t think anyone can write a song better than the one by Rabbi Shergill.

The latest addition to reality TV is the 15th annul (sorry annual) Star Screen Awards with the controversy surrounding Ashutosh Gowarikar taking on Sajid Khan for making fun of film-makers during the show.

Following this, Akshay Kumar rejected his Star Screen award for Popular Actor as he thought Aamir Khan deserved it.

I do not take sides in reality TV fights. I am just glad there are 2 sides so that people can fight more efficiently. In fact, I would like to have more sides.

But whatever happens : You cannot reject a STAR SCREEN AWARD FOR POPULAR ACTOR !!!

For people who think that reality TV in India is hardly even real : I know this might sound untrue but a few days back I had a fight with a friend and believe me, everything went black and white, I could hear thunder and lightning in the background plus I could feel camera closeups all over !

I am just waiting for reality TV to take over our news channels. How we would love a catfight between Barkha Dutt and Sagarika Ghose over who gets to ask a victim, “How are you feeling ?”.

The MNS chief would be a happy man today.

Mumbai defeats UP in the Ranji trophy finals.

MNS manages to drive out all Pakistani terrorists out of Mumbai. No ..  wait. Just the comedians ?? Yeah but still.

MNS forces all shopkeepers to take books by Pakistani authors off the shelf. Now if only I could name one book by a Pakistani author.

But just when I thought that everyone will truly fear the MNS now, this snap comes around (edit : since this was causing confusion, focus on the pink turban in the snap and not the traditional costume. Not just turban, ‘pink’ turban).

The cabinet has vowed to drive out poverty.

Everyone has called for an increased security to drive out terrorists.

Shiv Sena has asked the government to drive out Bangladeshis.

…..

Manmohan Singh visits an RTO to renew his driving license.

If anyone thought that climate change hadn’t reached us yet, here is a documentary that analyzes this issue in the cradle of the Himalayan range, Ladakh. Environmental changes are never tangible to us who live and die in the cities. But for the people who live up in the mountains and corners of the world, it affects their day-to-day life in various ways. The documentary is called ‘Living With Change: Voices from Ladakh’ : Video

If not anything else, enjoy the vast unending picturesque landscapes of Ladakh. If you are ever planning a trip to Ladakh, you’ll get a glimpse of what you can expect to see. Personally, it made for a very interesting watch since I had been to many of the places shown during a recent trip and I learnt one thing : take along the camera with the widest angle, best zoom and panorama; you’ll still never be able to capture Ladakh on film.

The WT# quote of the day comes from a certain Samir Guliyani (this sentence also touches a new low in meaningless censorship) on the subject of Pamela Anderson writing to the Municipal Commissioner of Mumbai about the recent ruling that okayed the killing of stray dogs. Samir says :

“She is hot but why is she writing to the municipal commissioner?”

Since this question has baffled many, I take this opportunity to educate my readers about the Vicky Mendoza diagonal that tells how crazy a woman is allowed to be :

So she isn’t breaking any rules here. The commissioner meanwhile has rubbished the request but is desperate to meet Pam. Seriously.

While the PETA guys, girls and animals are cooling their heels over the above episode, here is something that will cheer you up :

Annoyed with barking dog, man kills three of a family.

So back off, we are still ahead of you in the game.

Video from Girish Y. Link by Nikhil A.

Onkar W writes about his experience while attempting to attend the Ranji trophy final at Hyderabad : 

We have always heard what a nightmarish experience watching cricket in India is. The whole experience I had today, just reiterated the fact that the most important stakeholder of the game in India – the cricket crazy audience – is the most ignored as well. 

The setting was for the Ranji Trophy finals between Mumbai and Uttar Pradesh at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Uppal, Hyderabad. I am currently working in the Hitech city area, that’s near Kondapur, a good 30 km from the stadium. During my whole trip to India, I have been trying to catch a cricket match of some sort live at the stadium …..  

Continue reading here.

Watching it on television is no fairytale experience either. For a glimpse of Mandira Bedi you have to stare helplessly at a rapidly balding Charu Sharma. For a Harsha Bhogle you have to bear with the utterly incomprehensible commentary of Arun Lal and Yashpal Sharma who always hunt in a pair to leave no room for escape. And we don’t even have anything to compensate for the king of cliches Ravi Shastri and  Navjyot Singh Sidhu, whose metaphors at times are like an elephant studying algorithms.

Well, life is tough being a cricket fan in India.

The fight between the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party over the birthday of the biggest politician in India, Kumari Mayawati is almost getting embarassing. Here are the events in order of occurence :

BSP decides to call the birth day as Swabhimaan Divas.

After the allegations of murder and extortion, the SP decided to call it Durbhagya Divas.

BSP the decides to denounce the allegations by calling it Dhikkar Divas.

A desperate SP runs out of ideas decides to call it Thu Thu Divas.

Masterstroke I must add. How can you possibly counter a Thu Thu ? Unless of course, Mayawati decides to jail the leaders of SP (spitting is illegal in public places no ?).

Link by Neelima B.

I have been expecting some investigative journalism from the Indian media in the Satyam case, but with disappointing results. The fraud is now well established, but taking the news to the next level is investigative journalism. We all know that Mr. Raju is in prison. But moving beyond that :

Who are his inmates ?

What did he have for breakfast ?

What did he have for lunch and at what time ?

Ditto for dinner.

What god is he seeking refuge in after the scam ?

What do handwriting experts have to say about his signature on the resignation letter ?

Now these answers would make us proud of the media, even more than we already are.

P.S. : This is not at all funny if you are one of the 53,000 employees of Satyam. It is sad that they have to suffer for no fault of theirs.

P.P.S. : In case you thought this post was just satire, here are the answers :

His inmates are dowry offenders.

For breakfast, 100 grams of `pulihora’ (tamarind rice) and tea.

For lunch, 250 gram of rice, 250 gram of beans and radish curry, rasam and curd. 11 a.m.

For dinner, chicken curry, rice and rasam.

Raju started reading books on Gautam Buddha.

His full signature tells that Raju was not happy about being called Raju. He preferred the first half of his name. The initials, far from indicating high levels of uncertainty, show that he was feeling lighter after getting this off his chest.

The quote of the day comes from Joe, the plumber :

I’ll be honest with you: I don’t think journalists should be anywhere allowed war. (sic) I mean, you guys report where our troops are at. You report what’s happening day to day. You make a big deal out of it. I think it’s asinine. You know, I liked back in World War I and World War II when you’d go to the theater and you’d see your troops on, you know, the screen and everyone would be real excited and happy for ‘em.

Incidentally, he is himself in Israel as a war correspondent for Pajamas TV. Seriously. And he wasn’t even around during the World Wars !

I am not sure if I feel sorry for this guy or irritated by him. The only intelligent thing he ever did was ask Barack Obama an honest query. Since then, he has only pretended to be sensible. And the Republicans/conservatives who have gotten him into this mess aren’t helping either.

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