Idle musings

TELEVISION MEDIUM: IS IT REALLY A "BAD THING" ?     25-Apr to 1-May was TV turn off week. I don't see the point of having such a week. What were the people who kept their TV off during the week trying to prove ? Was it that television is a medium that dulls the intellect and spreads ignorance ?     I don't dispute the fact that some (or even most !) of what television provides us is indeed "unpalatable". Whether it is the titillation offered in the music videos of old Hindi remixes or the regressive values in a few Hindi soap operas, that is the ugly side of the television medium. What I don't like is to mistake the medium for the message. The story about messengers being killed in Roman times is being played out even in our times ! Television, as a medium, cannot (indeed, it should not !) be blamed for the content that people create - and then consume !     All media have their strengths and weaknesses and when the media are new, there are ...

REVIEW OF "BLACK", THE HINDI MOVIE     My wife and I saw "Black", the Hindi movie today. It is a moving film, which is a director's showpiece all the way through. I am an Amitabh fan and this is one of his best performances as an alcoholic teacher Devraj Sahai to the deaf-blind Michelle McNealy, played by a deglamourised Rani Mukherji.     Sanjay Leela Bhansali likes playing with light, shade and the elements. A case in point is the scene where Aishwariya Rai runs towards the gate in search of Devdas in that movie. The white sari that blows in the wind behind her, in my view, represents both wind and water when I see the sary billowing like the waves of the sea. The elements of light, water and wind are always present in all of Bhansali's movies.     "Black", despite its name, is no exception. The movie starts predictably with the screen in darkness and Michelle introducing us to her world of blindness and silence. It is later that the eleme...

VEER ZAARA     I saw more than half of Veer Zaara yesterday. My comments are below. THE STORY =========     The tale is of an Indian squadron leader, Veer (Shah Rukh Khan) who rescues a Pakistani girl, Zaara (Priety Zinta) and falls in love with her. When she returns home, Zaara has to marry a man selected by her parents, but Veer's declaration of love haunts and torments her. Her friend summons Veer and the two meet, but when her mother requests him to give back her daughter, the gallant Veer concurs. Zaara marries the man selected by her parents, who also arranges the arrest of Veer, supposed to be a spy named Rajesh.     Veer spends 22 years in a Lahore jail as prisoner 786, so that Zaara can be happy. As it turns out, Zaara's marriage ends in a couple of years and she and her friend go to India seeking Veer out - in vain, of course. Meanwhile, an idealistic lawyer Samia (Rani Mukherjee) vows to restore Veer his identity and his country a...

    BULLAH SHAH     Most of the music videos for Indipop that I see on television have provocative visuals and old Hindi film hits remixed. It is as if the director wants to compensate the plain and simple lyrics of yesteryears with titillating images to grab the attention of today's generation ! It is rare to find a video that is sensitively made and even rarer to find music, song and video all finely blended. After a long time, there is such a video and the good news is that the video got the recognition it deserves, in my opinion : it ruled the Indian charts until a couple of weeks ago. I am talking of the song by Rabbi which starts "Bullah ki jaana ....". The web page http://store.indiatimes.com/music/PlanetMMusicDetails.jsp?albumid=alb14687 has the details of the album for those interested.     What attracted me to the song in the first place was the strumming of the guitar in the song. Rabbi, the Sikh singer, blends rock music from his...

NEW YEAR GREETINGS ==================     This is the last day of 2004 and I am writing this in the evening. I wish you and your family a happy new year in 2005, as the last few hours of 2004 tick by. POEM ====     As the year draws to a close, I will end with an inspirational poem that should serve as a balm for the hurt of the old year and at the same time as a hope for the new year. The upper case letters are my embellishment, to emphasize the message.     It is taken from http://www.villagehero.com/motivational-poems.htm . Don't Quit When things go wrong as they sometimes will; When the road you're trudging seems all uphill; When the funds are low, and the debts are high; And you want to smile, but you have to sigh; When care is pressing you down a bit Rest if you must, but don't you quit. Success is failure turned inside out; The silver tint of the clouds of doubt; And you can never tell how close you are; It may be near when it seems ...

    Last week, my wife Suma and I visited Kerala from 22-Nov-04 to 26-Nov-04. We stayed for a night at Cherai Beach Resort ; two nights at Munnar and one night in a houseboat in Lake Wembanad. It was an unforgettable experience - for all the right reasons ! My impressions of the trip are written below.     CHERAI BEACH     ====== =====     We stayed in a cosy cottage with a sit out that looked out into the backwaters. Suma suggested that we spend some time in the sit out and that is exactly what we did in the night. The night was silent and the lights of a moving boat far away, returning from fishing (perhaps !) emphasized the silence. It was peaceful and just the panacea for our ears and eyes, which are more accustomed to the noise of the city.     Before that, we went to Fort Kochi in the taxi that was to be ours for four days. Shaukat, our driver took us along Bazaar Road in Kochi. The road is narrow, but goi...

CAR, BIKE AND THE RAINS I have a car to drive now. I learnt driving a car in the beginning of 2004, but learning to drive and actually driving one's own car are two different things ! I am now better at driving the car than when I first got it more than a couple of months ago. In my own judgement, there is some way to go before I become happy about it. My parking skills can improve and I don't have the comfort that should come when one drives a good car. .... and my car is the best in the world, of course :-)) .... Never mind the Maybachs and the Mercedeses of the world ! Apart from the psychological feeling of discomfort, the fuel bills of my car shocked me in the first month. As a result, I happily return to the motorbike during the weekends. In a way, along with me, my car gets a break during the weekends :-) .... and my motorbike and helmet, conversely, come alive during the weekend breaks ! The rains are heavy in my city this year. It is when the rain pours in the evening...