Hey guys. :)
This post in long overdue because I've been pretty busy / lazy (whichever you believe) but I guess the good thing would be that I have more stuff to talk about, right? Wrong-o. These past few days have been a blitz, and right now, nothing sticks in my head as newsworthy apart from the deepening rift in the UPA. Let's look at the black, white and yellow from the past few days.
Aaaaand we're back to the 2G scam with Pranab Mukherjee and Chidambaram at each other's throats. They've always had issues, but this seems like an all out slug fest. Chidambaram, who has so far seemed like the UPA's white knight looks all set to resign, and it will be interesting to see if he takes his Government down with him. The threat of a Government dissolution and by elections seems increasingly imminent, and the UPA will have to take damage control to a whole new level if they want to salvage this. Earlier this year, we had seen a series of earthquakes rock the UPA Government - The 2G scam, Adarsh, The CWG, The CVC issue and the Anna Hazare debacle and now it seems like the aftershocks are presenting themselves one by one. Not an anarchist, but it's definitely fun to watch. What makes it interesting for me is that it has become about the lesser of two evils at this point, politically. The UPA for another term or Narendra Modi, who would you vote for, honestly? It's become clear now that the UPA MUST play the youth card and pull out not so youthful Rahul Gandhi out from his mother's shadow and show all the mettle that the Congress swears he has. The Times of India has already begun to tear Modi's campaign apart, seen from a collage of 8 pictures showing Modi wearing assorted headgear before proclaiming that he refused to respect the Islam skullcap in public. Religion is a strong force in Indian politics and the TOI knows that. Seems wrong to interfere in matters such as these, so minus points for that. Seems unlikely that we'd ever have a rational election in this country, but then again I guess politicians aren't rational themselves.
Moving away to a different form of media, I've seen so many bad ads this week that it's kinda making me feel sad. Realized that Indian TV commercials do go through ups and downs like any other industry, but this is just sad because it isn't expected from top companies. 'It's not just a car. It's a caaar!' proclaims Nissan and you can see why it hasn't had the most successful launch in India. I personally feel insulted by this ad and believe me, it's still a car. The Apple commercials that state 'If you don't have an iPhone, well, you don't have an iPhone' still manage to squeeze a smile from me, but advertising a brand new car, sorry, caaar by saying something so mindnumbingly stupid just annoys me. A second TV commercial explains a new technological breakthrough in the form of a 'Basmati meter', a device that shows how pure a grain of Basmati rice is. Soha Ali Khan then says that a famous rice company (just a nice way of saying I don't recall the name) obviously chooses grains of rice that are high on the Basmati meter and says (in a tone very close to a teleshopping ad voice) 'Aakhir ek beti bhi maa ka kaam kar sakti hain' to her very proud mother, who should consider censoring that ad for being outrageously mindless. All this within a few weeks of the new Airtel ad that's semi viral right now and also the new Vodafone Blue commercial which I have to give kudos to.
Speaking of Soha Ali Khan's mother reminds me of my own (no, she's neither head of the censor board nor as old as India itself). All this because I realise that I could never imagine my mother measuring grains of rice on the Basmati meter which leads to a greater realization - about how lucky I was to have her, growing up. This isn't so much a sentimental breakdown as much as a systematic reference to the fact that fewer and fewer kids now actually get to spend 'quality time' with their mothers. Guess major cause for this would be the whole 'working mother' trend but and here I pay homage to all the mothers who can juggle a full time career with housekeeping, which is another full time career except with no pay or promotions. It's interesting how house keeping has stuck right from ancient ages as a societal role for women, and even more interesting to see how many women opt to perform that role themselves in addition to working. It makes it seem like much lesser of a burden when they voluntarily agree to it unlike before when it was pretty much implied right from the time you were born. Stubborn Indian society was very reluctant to change and allow women to work only out of fear that they wouldn't be staying home anymore; but it's pretty damn awesome that they just said 'Screw this, I can do both'. At this point I feel that I'm making a great discovery whereas all the women who read this really don't think it's a big deal so I'll stop now. Just a little awestruck. :P
Yes, It's also come to mind that I've been pretty horrible to my mum as a kid (remember this essay where I said 'I saw something that made my heart stop. Not a dog. Not a bull. My mother. - Just for emphasis, I swear) and I probably can't make up for that ever, (not buying you diamonds, mum) but she definitely deserves to be mentioned here. Would have grown up very differently (in a bad way) if it wasn't for her. Thanks mum, I love you. :)
Also, everyone who's basically pampered me and treated me like their son - told me to cut my hair, given me dinner, asked me to stay over, etc. Don't know how many of them will read this, but here goes - Seema aunty for basically calling me 'son' since the ninth grade (I know you're reading this, Vaz, you know she loves me more), Pratibha aunty for calling me ratatouille (also for letting Raunak do hotel management) and Niloufer aunty who gives me too much food. Too much. No, seriously. (also for always siding with me and not her daughter). Haha too much emotion; let's look at the white, black and yellow for the past few days:
White: Literally, Paris Hilton in town. Also, twitter these past few weeks has been particularly entertaining. The coverage of Pranab Mukherjee vs Chidambaram, particularly in the Hindu and HT has been pretty good.
Black: The fact that politics is now officially about the lesser of two evils. Still siding with Rahul Gandhi but I hope he can talk the walk and NOW.
Yellow: Fact that Times of India, Midday and Mumbai Mirror (naming all the papers I saw today) all have first pages dedicated to Bigg Boss. I know it's big with two 'g's but jeez, guys. Haha, got you. ;)
That's all for this week. Stay tuned. :)
This post in long overdue because I've been pretty busy / lazy (whichever you believe) but I guess the good thing would be that I have more stuff to talk about, right? Wrong-o. These past few days have been a blitz, and right now, nothing sticks in my head as newsworthy apart from the deepening rift in the UPA. Let's look at the black, white and yellow from the past few days.
Aaaaand we're back to the 2G scam with Pranab Mukherjee and Chidambaram at each other's throats. They've always had issues, but this seems like an all out slug fest. Chidambaram, who has so far seemed like the UPA's white knight looks all set to resign, and it will be interesting to see if he takes his Government down with him. The threat of a Government dissolution and by elections seems increasingly imminent, and the UPA will have to take damage control to a whole new level if they want to salvage this. Earlier this year, we had seen a series of earthquakes rock the UPA Government - The 2G scam, Adarsh, The CWG, The CVC issue and the Anna Hazare debacle and now it seems like the aftershocks are presenting themselves one by one. Not an anarchist, but it's definitely fun to watch. What makes it interesting for me is that it has become about the lesser of two evils at this point, politically. The UPA for another term or Narendra Modi, who would you vote for, honestly? It's become clear now that the UPA MUST play the youth card and pull out not so youthful Rahul Gandhi out from his mother's shadow and show all the mettle that the Congress swears he has. The Times of India has already begun to tear Modi's campaign apart, seen from a collage of 8 pictures showing Modi wearing assorted headgear before proclaiming that he refused to respect the Islam skullcap in public. Religion is a strong force in Indian politics and the TOI knows that. Seems wrong to interfere in matters such as these, so minus points for that. Seems unlikely that we'd ever have a rational election in this country, but then again I guess politicians aren't rational themselves.
Moving away to a different form of media, I've seen so many bad ads this week that it's kinda making me feel sad. Realized that Indian TV commercials do go through ups and downs like any other industry, but this is just sad because it isn't expected from top companies. 'It's not just a car. It's a caaar!' proclaims Nissan and you can see why it hasn't had the most successful launch in India. I personally feel insulted by this ad and believe me, it's still a car. The Apple commercials that state 'If you don't have an iPhone, well, you don't have an iPhone' still manage to squeeze a smile from me, but advertising a brand new car, sorry, caaar by saying something so mindnumbingly stupid just annoys me. A second TV commercial explains a new technological breakthrough in the form of a 'Basmati meter', a device that shows how pure a grain of Basmati rice is. Soha Ali Khan then says that a famous rice company (just a nice way of saying I don't recall the name) obviously chooses grains of rice that are high on the Basmati meter and says (in a tone very close to a teleshopping ad voice) 'Aakhir ek beti bhi maa ka kaam kar sakti hain' to her very proud mother, who should consider censoring that ad for being outrageously mindless. All this within a few weeks of the new Airtel ad that's semi viral right now and also the new Vodafone Blue commercial which I have to give kudos to.
Speaking of Soha Ali Khan's mother reminds me of my own (no, she's neither head of the censor board nor as old as India itself). All this because I realise that I could never imagine my mother measuring grains of rice on the Basmati meter which leads to a greater realization - about how lucky I was to have her, growing up. This isn't so much a sentimental breakdown as much as a systematic reference to the fact that fewer and fewer kids now actually get to spend 'quality time' with their mothers. Guess major cause for this would be the whole 'working mother' trend but and here I pay homage to all the mothers who can juggle a full time career with housekeeping, which is another full time career except with no pay or promotions. It's interesting how house keeping has stuck right from ancient ages as a societal role for women, and even more interesting to see how many women opt to perform that role themselves in addition to working. It makes it seem like much lesser of a burden when they voluntarily agree to it unlike before when it was pretty much implied right from the time you were born. Stubborn Indian society was very reluctant to change and allow women to work only out of fear that they wouldn't be staying home anymore; but it's pretty damn awesome that they just said 'Screw this, I can do both'. At this point I feel that I'm making a great discovery whereas all the women who read this really don't think it's a big deal so I'll stop now. Just a little awestruck. :P
Yes, It's also come to mind that I've been pretty horrible to my mum as a kid (remember this essay where I said 'I saw something that made my heart stop. Not a dog. Not a bull. My mother. - Just for emphasis, I swear) and I probably can't make up for that ever, (not buying you diamonds, mum) but she definitely deserves to be mentioned here. Would have grown up very differently (in a bad way) if it wasn't for her. Thanks mum, I love you. :)
Also, everyone who's basically pampered me and treated me like their son - told me to cut my hair, given me dinner, asked me to stay over, etc. Don't know how many of them will read this, but here goes - Seema aunty for basically calling me 'son' since the ninth grade (I know you're reading this, Vaz, you know she loves me more), Pratibha aunty for calling me ratatouille (also for letting Raunak do hotel management) and Niloufer aunty who gives me too much food. Too much. No, seriously. (also for always siding with me and not her daughter). Haha too much emotion; let's look at the white, black and yellow for the past few days:
White: Literally, Paris Hilton in town. Also, twitter these past few weeks has been particularly entertaining. The coverage of Pranab Mukherjee vs Chidambaram, particularly in the Hindu and HT has been pretty good.
Black: The fact that politics is now officially about the lesser of two evils. Still siding with Rahul Gandhi but I hope he can talk the walk and NOW.
Yellow: Fact that Times of India, Midday and Mumbai Mirror (naming all the papers I saw today) all have first pages dedicated to Bigg Boss. I know it's big with two 'g's but jeez, guys. Haha, got you. ;)
That's all for this week. Stay tuned. :)
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