News @ 8

We sat down to dine on a typical Thursday and tuned into a popular news channel to catch up on the happenings in the country. Barkha Dutt appears on screen. After a terrible attempt at serving rice and looking sideways to see if I was in for a lecture on my sloppy serving skills, I finally look up to hear her say, "...how the killing of a young girl has now become a political battle between two women. We have Renuka Chowdhury, the union minister for women and child development on camera with us, live from Bangalore" . The screen now shows the minister on one half and the details of the case on the other half along with Barkha on the top corner.

B: What is it that angered you about Mayawati's comments?
R: My only objection is that the IG of Police, Delhi has no right to make a statement about the character of a minor child and or make a personal remark about her. He should realise the responsibility that comes with the office that he holds. Thousands of children are watching the news everyday, how do you think they would feel about all this?
B: Fair enough Ma'am. You also said, "I feel for this child like a mother and I don't think Mayawati realises what it is to feel like a mother". Don't you think this was a rather personal remark on the fact that she is still single and wouldn't know what it felt like to be a mother?
R: I didn't mean it like that. All I said was I felt for the child like a mother and she being a lady should also share similar feelings for the child. It was not a personal attack.......(blah blah)

They run a short footage with Mayawati's comments. I'm bored by now. It hardly sounds like a political battle. Looks like two women are fighting for media attention and looks like they are getting it. The actual case, the murder of a teenage girl and the manservant of the house, is forgotten in this nonsense squabble. Bah! Let's switch .... (few minutes later we are back on the same channel after a full cycle) Its Barkha again. This time the video clips show men protesting. The headline reads ' Gujjars in the capital' and a reporter is saying, "This is not Rajasthan but the streets of Delhi....." The Gujjars are fighting for ST status. All the highways connecting Delhi to other states have been blocked and the Gujjars are firm in their demands. Barkha now gets the group head on line and asks him why he hasn't accepted the chief minister's invitation for having talks and negotiating. The chief quickly says, "She hasn't phoned me!". Barkha does all she can to stifle a giggle and continues to tell him that the chief minister doesn't really have to call him personally, he has made it amply clear. The poor fellow still doesn't understand, he starts to say, "Look Barkha...." and I see we have moved on to another channel. If people are fighting to be classified as STs ans SCs and calling it a 'status' then India sure has moved on from the days when these were the opressed classes. Today, it seems like they are the privileged ones. Why else would people fight to be scheduled? My dad tells me around 40 people have died in this 'struggle for ST status' and they haven't been cremated yet to arouse sympathy or for whatever reason they saw fit. Yet it sends a shiver down my spine when I think about those poor souls who died without a reason and were let to rot on the streets when their own men went chasing after some meaningless so-called status. After another surf-cycle we are back to news at eight (its almost 8:30 now). Barkha informs us that a 28 year old American has a lodged a police complaint in Chennai alleging that she was kidnapped and raped. She was left in a house in a residential area where she awoke the next day in a semi-conscious state. Barkha exclaims, " Incidents like these re-affirm our belief that India is not a safe destination for women who travel alone". Tch Tch.... and we could take it no more. Click and the screen goes blank. We look at each other, our faces reflect the blank screen. We gobble up the leftover food and leave to finish unfinished chores.

Just Do IT!

Google Squigwart!
PS: :-B

Please spare me the realities :-|

Sometime back, there was a sudden breakout of the Roadies fever. Everywhere one went it was Roadies this and Roadies that. "Have you seen that Raghu chap?... OMG isn't he awsome? He just rapes everybody he auditions, Loser or not" and "Isn't Shambavi hot? And what about Ankita da? Sexxxx na?" are typical comments you would overhear. The build-up was just too much and i just succumbed under curiosity. So i started watching Roadies 5.0 and I swear to god I'll kill myself if they make another edition. The auditions, honestly, were quite funny. How could they not be with all these people doing anything they could to humour Raghu and Nikhil so they'd pick them to be on the show? This one guy pretended to be blind and watching Raghu explode was drama at it best. So far so good, and then came the journey.
I won't go into details about the show because I am pretty sure the ones who read the crap I write watch Roadies but here's a one-line gist of the concept, so to say, behind Roadies. A bunch of radically different young people journey on road and perform so-called tasks, one of whom will be eliminated each week and the last one standing wins. The show cashes in on all the drama and spice that the threat of being voted-out brings out in people. As far as Roadies 5.0 is concerned it has brought out the very worst. Regionalism, sexuality, friendship are all weapons they use and you'd be shocked at the levels they stoop to just be on the show. Girls call each others names, bitch around openly. Is that how you want yourself to be seen on national television? When did using your charm and then playing around with people's emotions become a 'skill' and that too one you can be proud of. Backstabbing is dubbed politics and a friend becomes an enemy before you can bat an eyelid. It's all a part of the game they say. There are no rules in this one though.
This edition of Roadies is the first one to go international and they say it has to be more gruelling and challenging for that reason. I saw a re-run of the penultimate episode yesterday and that's what got me to write this. I also caught a glimpse of the last episode. We've got nipple and tongue piercings in store! I think they got carried away in their own this-has-got-to-be-challenging shit. If this is the future of reality television in India, god save my kids!

How much is too much?

I just can't seem to figure that one out! Someone please just tell me how much is too much?

Are they sentimental fools or am I emotionally stunted?

Come semester 6 and all people can talk about is how we won't all be together ever after this. It is true you know, we won't all be together in either of the next two semesters. So it really is the end of life as we know it. But i refuse to be the person who narrates a million anecdotes about how 'we' had fun in college and then end it with "Awwwww I'll miss that" or slip a "I'll miss you" into any conversation wherever it fits or even if it doesn't. It sucks the fun out of every moment we still have left. Ahhh and don't even get me started on those Gtalk status messages. Just have a look and you'll see what I'm talking about. I blame it all on the ridiculously early farewell BITS throws us. We are bid goodbye when have a good one year left in college, though we will stay on campus for only half of that time period. I hated the farewell for so many reasons. It was way too early for us and even worse for the dual degree students and one hell of a lot worse for the winter batch students. The only thing I remember clearly about the farewell was the number of pictures we took. It was nothing else. Come to think of it, I hated the pictures too. Farewell would have been a lot better without the food and the stupid dances and music performances. I'd have liked a nice day at the beach with music for a farewell. Why the hell are we in GOA??? The dress code was nice though. Oh i think i took a left turn and went the wrong way..... What were we talking about again? Ah right, I think people should quit being such emotional babies and start accepting change as fate unfolds what it has in store for us. Frankly speaking, I'd love some change thank you very much. This life here at BPGC is getting way too predictable with no power or water and all the classes and the tests. Its the same thing semester after semester. I'd be happy to get out of here. As for the people i befriended, I'm not giving up on you guys just yet. So no worries. The best part of this otherwise sucky phase in college is the number of trips we've made this semester. A typical trip will be planned when 4-5 of us are sitting together thinking about how boring the campus and discussing things from here and there. Someone yells "Let's go to Vasco and have dinner! I'm sick of this place. Besides it is out last sem together..." And off we all go to Vasco. The downside of these ever so frequent trips is the empty back account and a month to kill in godforsaken BPGC. I sometimes wonder if I should show a little more emotion. But then i realise there is way more emotion floating around without me contributing and I go back to being my hypocritical self. Cheers!

A good argument is good fun

I was just reading the 'He says, She says' column that appears in The Hindu. Suderman and Shonali, the 'he' and 'she' behind the scenes share great chemistry. If you don't believe me, read for yourself. Over and above the fact that its written well, I love the theme of the column. Its based on two of my ulti-favourites. Its fun to see everything from a man's point of view for the woman and more so when its an argument. It heats things up a bit and makes it that much more interesting. For the sake of argument and argument alone, I've taken the rotten side of an obvious issue many a time. So much for my love of word battles. Interestingly though, I've never been the debating type. Never taken to the stage to fight it out. I wonder if I would have been any good. Hmm. One of the best ways to kill time would be to discuss silly things with paramount seriousness. It makes for a good laugh later as well. The number of discussions i've had about Sivaji, some of which took dangerously ugly turns, would go to prove how something as trivial as a movie can be a good source of entertainment not just in those three hours you spend at the cinema hall but even long afterwards. The verbal volley is far more interesting than the physical dishum-dishum. A good argument is good fun!

Why men want to marry early

Did you wonder about that too? Its a funny thing to ponder really. A lot of you probably still believe men like to stay single and enjoy the joys of bachelorhood. But trust me, i've come across a lot more men who want to marry younger than older. I didn't say how i came across them, so keep your minds straight. A lot of young girls I know are looking to marry and their parents are particularly concerned about what they'd do if their daughters don't get a groom when they are older! This one tamil actor went out of the way to proclaim that his ambition, note the word, was to marry before 21. You guessed right! It's the very same Dhanush. I heard one-of-'those'-girls-i know argue, quite vehemently, that the reason was they want to make quick money. Shocking as it may seem, it definitely has some merit. Everyone's playing to win some more money. I can totally imagine why marriage would be considered a good move, specially because the pluses don't just stop with the money thats coming in. I bet you know exactly what I mean ;) If men are ashamed to admit it, they try and blame it on their parents. Parent's are always happy to oblige. They've got their own interests too, which fall more into the category of things that the society is less embarassed to talk about. I'm not a hypocrite and I don't blame them at all for being, lets say, curious? But, I totally resent the fact that somehow it resembles a business and a way to make a few quick bucks. Nauseating fact! I bet some of the girls around are no less eager to get married. Blame it on the hormones. Don't you think the fact that pre-marital sex is considered taboo makes getting married look like a good option for those with a sensitive conscience? Well, I'll leave it there hanging. Sayonara