...and I am back (for a little while though!)

I know I know Ive been off for too long! I've been busy vacationing, pampering little kids and getting pampered by elders. What a good life, aah!

I don't have too much to write except that I went to Kerala on vacation and was in awe of the place! The greenery is just mind blowing. I also realized, for the Nth time, that I am a city girl - out and out. Each time I am visiting an exotic location my head and heart tell me I can live there in peace and solitude forever but in exactly 3 days I start missing the bustling traffic and lousy malls where there is either too much or nothing to buy! :D

I also went to our Holy place, Tirupati - after 23 years and I think the God must have been some dude to have such crazy fan following! We had a VIP entry to the place so it took us only 45 mins to get to the Sanctum Sanctorum but for people who had come there for 'Sarva Darshan' had to stand in that claustrophobic queue for 10 hours just to catch a glimpse of the God. I can tell you that some training in Bombay locals will help you stand there for anywhere between 2 to 5 seconds to get a view of the idol, otherwise you will come out after suffering blows and pushes from all directions - and feeling abysmally low cause you couldn't see/feel/experience any divinity.

As predicted, my extended family has been casting doubts about my ambitions - and have been asking me to be more realistic. But my parents are by me for whatever I do, so that is all that matters! My brother's younger boy is ADORABLE! He is the naughtiest thing I have ever seen but he is just tooo cute!

India lost the match last night... sigh! RP Singh and Rohit Sharma can find someone else for themselves. I don't love them anymore. :|

I realized that the friends I used to speak 3 times a day to, I now only speak to them once in 3 weeks - no prizes for guessing, they are all married. Hmph! But I really couldn't care less. (Damn, did I just lie?)

I am job hunting and hoping I find one before my rapidly depleting bank account touches the big zero.

I have 2 weeks to go for a make-or-break exam and I have been royally chillin' for the last 2 weeks which means I'll be seen less often on blogosphere. I must now get back to books and must spend my spare time looking for work :|

So am off for now and I will keep reading blogs and commenting, though I dont think I will write much myself. See u later peeps!

IPL 2009

We are 3 people who live in this house. And when the 3 people are cricket fanatics supporting 3 different teams in a breathtaking tournament, the tension is inevitable.

 

After 6 straight victories, little did Mr. Brother-in-law know that supporting Bangalore Royal Challengers would only break his heart. Pseudo-fan that Ms Sister is, she was quite clear she wanted her ever favorite Sehwag's team to be picking up the trophy, but alas. And me, I had the gumption to support the worst team last year - Deccan Chargers. 'GO CHARGERS!!!' has been my mantra in the last 60 odd days.

 

I wonder if it was mockery or support, but Mr bro-in-law bought me a Deccan Chargers Pin-up badge that I would wear for every single match. Today was special. With sister's team having to bite the dust in the semis, it was a battle of nerves for me and Mr Bro-in-law. And how my team emerged from the ashes to be a proud, jubilant team - is just history.

 

Considering how I fall for things like intellect and talent, there was no doubt I was developing a soft corner for a few players in my team. Little did I know that this soft corner will turn into almost obsessive  love for both of them. I write this post, feeling terrible - because my heart is resting with 2 people instead of 1 - and my conscience is battling with me. I have decided that whoever plays a better game in T20 World Cup, gets a definitive place. Until then, I have to live with the guilt of loving Rohit Sharma and RP Singh in scarily equal measures.

 

As I sleep tonight with the badge pinned very close to my heart, I will think of Andrew Symonds - THE man, Adam Gilchrist - THE leader, Rohit Sharma - whose presence on the field gave me goose bumps and last (and sure as hell not the least)  RP Singh - whose calm yet broad and clear smiles are probably the most potent thing in the world. 

I need an answer.

Was it in fact a good idea at all that we chased the Brits out of our country? 

Think about it and tell me. 

But what is happiness except the simple harmony between a man and the life he leads?

Guess what?! I watched TV today... like not news, but other entertainment channels. (Indian politics and other news items are also entertaining, not denying it.) These are my observations from the minute I switched on the TV - 

1. TATA Sky is awesome. I mean digital TV is better than cable TV. We've had digital TV for the last many years (since it was launched in India) but I think today was when I actually watched TV with like loads of attention. It makes the 'surfing' and the viewing experience so much better. 

2. There is no dance show like Boogie Woogie. It's been there since I was in school, like 4th Std or something. Off late there have been shows like Nach Baliye, Jhalak Dikhlaja, Dance India Dance and what not. They are these melodramatic shows with little or no real talent. But boy the talent Boogie Woogie contestants have, it is crazy. I watched it today again and the way Javed, Naved conduct the show is plain, simple and nice. 

3. It is bloody IPL time!!! Are my esteemed readers aware that I am this crazy cricket fanatic!? Yes I can even watch test matches, 5 days at a row with not necessarily India featuring in it. And I feel SO damn guilty that I still don't know the IPL team composition. :( My Sunday schedule is to figure out which team has which players and choose my team. (Since I am more of an Indian than a Punjabi, Hyderabadi or a Delhiite, I will choose my team totally bias-free)

Ok now beyond TV - 

I am damn happy today, for no particular reason. :))) Yes, I am all smiles! I have a few movies that I can watch tonight and some kickass books lined up for my reading pleasure. I am all set to pack my bags and to go awayyy! (I am not thinking of the other not-so-pleasant things which I have no control over.) 

Aren't ya'll happy for me? :) 

Sending loads and loads of hugs and kisses for allll of you who need it. :)

* Oh btw, I have put on weight. Not being sad (decided not to) but just letting you know. Will go for a run from Wednesday onwards. And will start gyming from April 10th. OK Tata ByeBye.

...yet again about elections - you think I'm diseased?

Ok please excuse me, I am still obsessing over the elections. Kindly bear with me -

 

I was watching an early morning show on NDTV which is called 'Youth for change.' The journo went to Presidency college, Kolkata and was talking to the students. They are the typical intellectual student community  but have a long way to go. When asked about how would they choose their leader, they spoke of Recession and Terrorism - definitely 2 big issues at the moment but not the only criteria for choosing your Government for the next term. I don't blame them poor kids. When I was their age, I am sure even I spoke of the topics that had max media coverage.

 

What I am trying to say is - it is important for media houses to educate these collegians into the nitty gritties of policy issues. There is a whole game of geo-politics, (which I think should be an important factor while choosing leaders ) issues of trade agreements and the stand of different parties on these issues and very importantly - the issue of the poor of the country - food, clothing, shelter. Transparency, governance, sustainability etc are some other important aspects. And I say these should be looked into while peaking at agendas and manifestos because a political parties stand on these important issues determines the nation's growth. It is a cumbersome process and there is nothing like some solid tv show/road show talking about these things and creating mass appeal.

 

I honestly think we have to move beyond talking about the most talked stuff. 

Lok Sabha Elections and my wasted obsession!

It is not easy being a 24 year old MBA aspirant during days of stunted economic growth and political instability. Though it helps that my dad is a public-sector employee without the threat of recession lurking over his head.

 

My blog might make people think I am obsessed with politics and elections. But the turn of events in the last few months have been such that I can't seem to get the damn thing out of my mind. Today I spent about 3 hours reading up about various political parties and alliances and their election agenda/manifestos etc. At the end of it I concluded that which people have known since age eternity -

 

Politicians go blind in the love of power. They completely forget the cause for which they should be contesting an election.

There cannot be 75% votes for any one party and it will no doubt be a coalition government. (The very thought scares me. There should be a way if the resultant PM is the likes of Mayawati, we as public are able to discard her as our national leader.)

 

If we look at a hypothetical situation where every constituency elects the best people's representative for  lok-sabha, we can still not guarantee that the party with the best national leader will win the election, since all parties are mixed baskets - rotten apples and nice apples.

 

In another situation, If people casted votes for party 'X' since it has the best prime-ministerial candidate, it does not mean the local representative at the lok sabha will do any good for his constituency. He might be the biggest convict in your locality, for all you know. If Rahul Gandhi for instance is your next dream leader, it will mean electing congress in local constituencies and you might just have to vote for a 80 year old murder for that lok-sabha seat of your constituency!

 

Also, the point to note is, the affairs of the state are handled by the state govt. and so the entire mess of  how do you maintain sync in lok-sabha and rajya-sabha elections. Plus you never know which small party or independent candidate will go shake hands with whom. Uff!

 

The conclusion being it is anyway a Catch 22 situation for 'aam junta' like us. And we cannot deny it, there will still be security slip-ups and corruption no matter which ever party rules. Ours is a bloody big country and running it in a corporate setting is such a stupid pipe-dream.

 

Ideally, there have to be 543 clean-record educated candidates for EACH and EVERY constituency of India. I am not talking about 'cool, suit-tie' leaders but a very well planned system where these candidates go through rigorous training for understanding the problems in their constituency and state-of-affairs of the country in general AND THEN they go campaigning in such a way that they win both urban and rural votes. Let's face it, most of our population is in the villages and they care 2 hoots if you are from IIT. But if you really ARE from IIT and able to answer their questions about food, clothing and shelter - you have BOTH rural and urban votes. City lads love it if you are that crème with the nation as your cause.

 

And these educated people will make educated choices - the professionals like IAS, IPS officers, bureaucrats etc will help them learn these nitty-gritties and make wise choices.

 

Oh I know I've been brooding too much over it and I also feel terrible for being the only-words-no-action bloggers, but I don't know how to start! Else I swear I would have. The logistics are just so complicated and daunting! And this is where the doom begins - so many of jinus blogging and unable to use technology to make a real difference. Sigh!

 

* A quick snippet - 

UPA = UPA +Trinamool - SP

NDA = NDA -BJD

Third Front = Communists + assorted regional parties

Expect this equation to keep changing till we go to the polls and after it as well.

Resources - http://www.indian-elections.com/ and today's edition of TOI and HT! 

Rights and Duties go hand in hand.

This is what most of us did over the last few months/years - 

We blogged and bitched about blasts in Jaipur, Bangalore Gujarat, the economic melt down, about Mumbai attacks, and about our ever favorite topics - Shiv Sena, Ram Sene and communism. With or without blogs, we still bitched a lot about Fodder scam, Tehelka, Bofors, Naxals, LTTE, Godhra, Babri Masjid, Ayodhya, Flight hijacks, safety slip ups etc etc. 

We shouted out to the world about how open minded and awesome our generation is. 

We felt proud that we are aware citizens who speak our mind out and do not mind protesting, creating focus groups etc. We bitched non stop with our pride intact and concluded event after event that we need a better leader. 

Until someone someday shook us and said - 

"Bob, the farmers and the slum dwellers go and vote. Not you. So bastard/bitch just shut the f*** up and live with it. And if you can't, go and cast your damn vote." (If no one ever said this to you - then consider me telling this to you on behalf of every single awakened Indian citizen.) 

To cut the long story short - if you are a blogger or even remotely tech savvy and happen to come across this - I will urge you to get your voter ID card and cast your vote. If you thought the entire process is painfully long, there is www.jaagore.com which not only makes the process just 5 mins long, but also helps you get rid of a few voting myths. 

I have a voter ID card and I voted for the state elections last year. Elections are around the corner again and I will vote again. And I will vote each time there is an election in my country - so that I can write about issues that matter to me and not feel guilty. I don't want to carry the burden of being a poor citizen. It is a big weight to carry. I am a proud daughter, sister, friend and a proud individual. I want to be a proud citizen too. 

I also know that casting your vote is just step-1. Step 2 probably is trying to clean the nation by getting our hands into the muck - Yes, to contest elections. It might take us about 3 decades to cleanse and purify this mess. But at least we will be a part of the change, a catalyst and will give a happy nation to our future generations.

If you are reading this post, I will love it if you leave your comment and tell me if you

a. have a voters ID card (if not, you know that www.jaagore.com is the place to go.)

b. will cast your vote this year. If not, then why. 

I understand very well that it is my most fundamental right and my most important duty - to vote. I will fight until my last breath for the right to vote and will perform my duty as reliogiously as I brush my teeth. 

P.S - A special note for my non-Indian readers - This post stands true for you too, as long as you come from a democratic country where you have the right to vote. After all, if all the nations of the world have good leaders, we can all peacefully co-exist. 

Muthalik FAQ

How many pink chaddis did Muthalik receive?

 

About 50K… and do not forget, that's a small fraction of the actual mass of the forward, pub going women.

 

What is Muthalik's reaction?

 

He must be thinking of selling the chaddis off, but no one wants to buy chaddis with cuss words written all over with black marker-pens!

 

Wasn't he gonna send Pink Sarees?

 

Dude! He never thought he'd have to send out 50K odd sarees!!! His 'sene' will need to sell itself off to pay for so many sarees!

 

What will he do now?

 

Unable to sell the chaddis, he must have given out to his sainiks to distribute them to their girl friends. His next step is to sue all of us 'loose, pub going and forward women' (jokes jokes all the way!!)

 

Will the loose women like being sued?

 

Hell yes! I  I'd love to have in my name such a law suit and maybe even be jailed for a few days with pub going, loose and forward women like me. :D It will be one helluva party!! 

 

What if they manage to shut all the pubs in cities?

 

Tell me, will Rihaana stop spinning music? Will Kingfisher stop producing beer? Will Bose and Creative stop producing Bass Booster Speakers? Will we forget how to light a cigarette? Will parents of our rich friends sell off their farm houses? Long live house-parties!!!

  

So what’s the conclusion?

 

Even if all the pubs were to shut, Beach parties, river side parties, rave parties, farm house parties etc which have been going on since eternity, on the sly, will continue being there. We will continue the pub culture even without the pubs and we will continue being loose, cheap and wasted. We like it like that.

 

Mind it, we will still manage getting married to these really awesome men at age 27, quit smoking and drinking, and breed children who will continue our legacy of being cheap, forward, loose, drunkard pub-goers.

 

Tell me Mr. Muthalik what will you do of us? Your 'sene' is just too small in size for us wasted pub goers. Go do whatever you can.  

Incredible India

So as I said some people inspire us to write about somethings. Gale inspired me to write about India with her post about the Spanish guy who has her dream job sings a Hindi song for her. 

I have been thinking of SOOO many things that I would write once I actually start writing, but I am finding this task so daunting. Really, a blogpost can't ever do justice to the myriad things this country has to offer. Please note this is not to glorify the country but to state facts the way they are - the good things are great and the bad things are horrible. 

And that is where the beauty lies. We never have a dull day in India. 

I don't think I can go writing endless prose so I will just list highlights in contrast. Go Google them to learn more - 

Solitude and aroma therapy to Beer and hip-hop

Pashmina to Khadi

Vada-pav to Idli Sambar and momos to Dhokla

Jet airways to Garib Rath

Mother Teresa to Ramalinga Raju

Bollywood to underworld

We do not easily break marriages. We persevere and when we do break them, we do not need therapists. We have a strong family system for shock absorption. 

Our children stay with parents until the kids have grand children. 

Auto rickshaw wala will dupe you for 5 extra bucks and will take you 20 miles for free when you have forgotten your wallet at home. 

We go to the west to make money and we form an Indian community there where you will get sambar powder and garam masala. 

We have abundant sunshine and we do not need tanning salons. We are obsessed with Shahnaz Hussain's fairness creams! 

South-Indians can't speak Hindi without the accent and North-Indians can't differentiate between the the 4 south-indian states. They will bitch about each other and will fight with families for an inter-caste marriage. 

Fair girls will color their hair blonde, the dusky ones will wear brown lipstick. They can both sport short skirts and sarees with equal grace. They will sizzle in parties and in pujas. 

Guys in India will use fairness creams and will hate to be called metro sexual. They think its gay. They will wax their chest and will glare at you to see a pink razor in the girl's bathroom. 

We speak a million languages and dialects. Students in Pune were seen dancing on a telugu soundtrack for well over a year. Now I call this mindlessly beautiful integrity. 

We have huge scams - Fodder, arms, share market and off late IT. Millions of rupees have gone donno where. Laws are archaic and judiciary system is slow. Cops are lazy and we have a new trend of citizen jornalists who now bitch with a vengeance. 

Your friend will go to Kanha and see 5 tigers. You will go and see deers only. If you started at an unauspicious timing - you will see dogs only. 

You will be happy eating at Delhi haat and the next thing you know someone pinched you on your butt. You will be seeing beautiful paintings at an exhibition and will realize the centre piece is of a French artist, which is not half as great but is there because he is French. We are obsessed with firangs. 

Oil prices will kill us but we won't use public transport. When we do, we are not saving fuel but just saving time. Indian middle class still puts money in National Saving Certificates while Mallya buys islands after islands. Pepsi will sell us nimbu pani (yes, its the latest news) We anyway already sell Cobra beer to the Irish.

Finally a girl's perspective as to why we almost never want to marry a non-Indian. Because we have awesome guys here. We do not need to look elsewhere! 

A North-Indian boy - Extremely good looking 8 times out of 10 a disaster when he speaks. But he is just so good looking you don't care how he sounds. 

A south-Indian boy - Company t-shirt, laptop, beer belly. Not even remotely attractive. But when he talks, you just listen. He knows it all and is an awesome orator. Now you don't care how he looks. 

A westerner - Looks fine, talks fine, decently educated but will suddenly do one such thing (like talk loudly or belch after a meal) and you are put off. You go home and decide to ignore it. The package is great and you leave the belch behind. 

An eastern boy - Is either at IIT or almost an IAS officer. Or plays the guitar like a dream. Or knows Shakespere and Othello like they are his neigbors. You don't care now if he belches or looks like a mess. You will gladly go with him to the tea-estates or to the crowded streets of Calcutta. 

(Indian boys can now stop feeling happy. I might just be bitching about you in the next post!)

There is so much more to write but my common sense says people will now lose focus from here on. So I will break my love into different posts to retain reader's attention. 

Mwah to my stinky, sticky, corrupt, mad, colorful, tasty, hot, fairness-obsessed country. 

PP reminded me its been 5 days since my last post. Yes, it has been a frustrating week. Snippets of my diary rearranged below to look like a blog-post. I've been preoccupied with the following -

 

1. Economical meltdown - The entire economic cycle is right in front of my eyes. I am not a witness of the phenomenon but a victim of it. Individuals are cringing to spend money, organizations are not recruiting and the jackpots of one era (read: Finance and IT) are the latest wells of misery.

 

I am a part of the rut. I am educated but not educated enough. I quit a well paying job with a giant organization at the wrong timing. I had not anticipated the melt down. I now work for a start-up and I have not received salary in the last 2 months. I have long bills which are being foot by my parents, who themselves live an almost hand-to-mouth existence. (An honest public sector class 1 officer has perks which do not turn into cash and a salary which has not been revised in the last 8 years. My mother is a home-maker. )

 

2. Slumdog Millionaire - People were hysteric. Shobha De and the likes wrote posts everywhere about the movie. Friends on facebook were swearing by the movie. Internationally, people have another half-baked story on Indian poverty to talk about in their social gatherings. I downloaded it on Torrent (added to piracy) and watched the movie.

 

I thought it was just ok. Love overplayed for a 'slumdog.' In those harsh realities what does a kid know of love? Never mind, he still chases the girl to a happy ending. (extremely happy ending considering IIM grads of my country are almost out of job and a slumdog is a millionaire!)

 

Spit on my face all ye Europeans and Australians. I am an Indian. I need Danny Boyle and Gregory David Roberts  to tell me that Dharavi is bad life.

 

3. www.intent.com and spirituality - I was going through intent.com for a case study in my organization. I have always been spiritually inclined (I do not read self-help books, in case you were wondering.) and so the website caught my attention. I was mesmerized by the content to start with and emailed a whole bunch of friends about it. Ritually, this morning I was reading intents there and someone said - Only perfection exists. There is no imperfection.

 

I thought to myself, when you write self-help books and cash on the millions of depressed people or make sub standard movies, you are in a position to easily look away from this world's imperfections. Watching slumdog millionaire and dubbing it the movie of the year is stupid if you do not know that world is full of slumdogs who will never ever get a full meal, let alone become millionaires. Life is far from perfect, I am not speaking out of frustration but out of conviction.

 

4. Growing older and other insecurities related with it - Less than a month to growing a little more older. I am starting to get crushed by the number game. I am trying damn hard to be the right sister, daughter, friend etc. and I am missing myself more than ever before. I started 2009 being broke and I will start the 24th year of my life being broke too. Friends are settling down and I m becoming restless since I don't want to settle down but want to feel more secure.  blah blah blah.

 

(pre-midlife crisis.) 

My best friend is going through hell and the only way I can keep my mind off all the mess is by scribbling on my blog. And since I can't write about what he is going through, I will write about my vacation plans for 2009. 

My first list does not seem too long and I will cover the places based on what season it is and of course company availability at that time. Yes - I will look for company while I travel but if I can't convince anyone to travel with me, then I am very much out on my own (plus iPod and Books, of course!) I plan to cover the typical:

Beaches - This will hog most of the annual plan since I am a huge beach fan! The idea is to do a few crowded beaches (read Anjuna) and a few quaint beaches (Malvan maybe?) 

Jungle Resorts - Corbett, Kanha and Sunderban top the list. Of course will add more as I explore. 

Hills/Mountains/Valleys - Definitely Wayanad and Coonoor. 

I am happy with my list! Not too long and just enough to keep me happy! Looks completely do-able and gives me time to first finish GMAT!

Anjuna - Goa

Malvan - Maharashtra

Corbett - Uttaranchal 

Sunderban - West Bengal

Kanha - Madhya Pradesh

Wayanad - Kerala

Coonoor - Tamilnadu

Darjeeling - West Bengal

Khajjiar - Himachal Pradesh

Quite obviously, I am gonna post a new post here well before I plan to take off to one of these places, in case anyone wants to join me! 

* Please excuse me for the bad quality of websites (links on destinations.) But these websites have the best information ever! Also, do leave a comment if you have been to any superb place in India, which might be non-descript and you think one should visit! 

And I finally voted...

I finally feel like an Indian. I exercised my most important right as an Indian citizen - the right to vote. While I patiently stood in the queue, I wondered if it is appropriate to call it a 'right'. Should it not be a duty - rather a 'mandatory' duty instead?

I casted my first ever vote on the day when India faced the worst ever terror attacks. Mumbai was split wide open with major breach in security by the Intelligetsia and by all other security agencies. Huge amounts of explosives and 20-something terrorists sneaked into - in fact swam into my country - so easily! My faith in the entire system shook with this incident and I wondered if my vote would make a difference. The answer was frustrating to start with, but the long hour at the queue in the polling booth gave me a whole new perspective on elections and the nation. 

My polling centre was at one of the most  up-town localities of the city. In the entire booth, I could count 6 people, including myself, mum and dad who seemed educated. The entire queue (which was rather long) was of people who were well below poverty line. I was proud of them. Proud of the fact that they exercised their most important right as citizens of the world's biggest democracy. They do not know what difference the next finance minister can make to India's standing in the global economy, but what they do know is who is that one person who can give them the basics of food, clothing, and shelter. They at least made a choice. 

I now think that each and every educated person of this country who has a strong opinion (that is probably 90% of the educated junta!) about economics and politics and state of affairs - has no right to make any negative comment, unless they exercise the right to vote. So far, we only cribbed about how the country lacks good leadership and how the government is always wrong. It is wrong not because we chose the wrong people, but because we never exercised the right to choose! 

Guys, go get that voter's ID card, not because it is the next best thing after your passport, driving license and PAN card - but because it is probably your passport, PAN, and license to creating a better India. Spend a few hours understanding state of affairs and elect the right candidate. 

It is time India boasted of Quality rather than quantity! 

Beauty and the beast or Bhajans and the loud speakers.

I love the celebrations, new clothes, sweets and the life that Indian festivals bring along. But there are some superbly annoying things associated with festivals. For the last 6 days, a neigborhood pandal has been playing Ganpati Bappa Mourya, agale baras tu jaldi aa... (refer to my next post to see what it means, in case you dont know yet.)

We have laws preventing clubs from playing music, or for that matter, even staying open after 11 PM. Yes, after 11PM we all gather at the push-cart tea shop outside the railway station and eat Omlettes (Yuuum!) 

On new year's eve, we cannot play music beyond a certain decibel level and the cops, as soon as they kiss their loved ones (fellow constables) happy new year, are out on their jeeps, chasing 20 somethings out of party destinations. 

But come festivals! and you can break all rules! Afterall, who are those mortals a.k.a cops and law keepers, to stop us from showering affection on Him? In fact if they did, their dismissal letters are just a laddoo away. 

My ears are begging of me to give them a change of music. I tried playing Toxicity and other SOAD tracks on my music system since they are the loudest of the lot. But hell, no! the speakers invariably take over ALL the music around you and replace them with the same agale baras tu jaldi aa track. 

I love all this fun and truly respect your feeling of love and devotion towards beloved Ganesha... but have mercy on the patients at hospitals, have mercy on the mosque goers trying to woo their God of belief, have mercy on mothers trying to put their babies to sleep, have mercy on lovers trying to silently gaze at each other, have mercy on the oldies at the local library, have mercy on poor me, I am taking the GMAT in 4 days... 

Indian television - It's good you know!

Indian television is surely a notch above the rest. I remember this one month I spent at Europe and the frustration that TV brought along. First, there is no cable operator like in India, who will fix every cable related and small TV related problem for you. They have Set Top box or more popularly Sky TV (yes, the British version of Tata Sky, or is it the other way round?!) We did not have Tata Sky at home before I went to Europe, so operating 1 TV with 2 remote controls was quite a task for me. Oh was it 2 or 5? Yeah, the room had a remote control for the heater, for the DVD player, for the music system, the TV and for Sky TV. Phew! I spent an entire evening with my palms freezing outside the gloves (we Indians cant seem to do anything with gloves on!) but alas, I had not the faintest idea how to work the damn TV.

The next evening my friend came home (who had quite easily figured out switching on the flat screen monster) and we started surfing. There were many shows (read American idol, old episodes of friends and sex and the city - thats it.) There were about 60 channels playing either one of the 3 - All The Time. There was nothing else to watch. Again, my friend found for me a channel that would play hip-hop 24x7. And there too, no surprises, it was the same set of 5 songs. sigh!

And that is when, the me who cant stop saying how much I dislike TV, I started missing Indian television. The joy of Star Cricket, news on NDTV, Roadies on MTV, Boogie Woogie on Sony TV! Aah! man is that heaven!! I was desperate to the extent, some big bindis and zardosi sarees in a K serial-ish setting on TV would have made my day!

How can I forget the quintessential Indian advertisements? Authors' note: All ads in Europe were as if I was watching Asian Sky Shop. Ya, like what Bingo has tried doing, in a mocking way, is exactly how ads for packets of yucky looking potato wafers to the ads for washing machine are. That is when I appreciated Indian advertisements the most. I mean just see the latest Himani Pain relief ad, so symbolic of today's world.
The ad for an Insurance policy - Khwaab thode zyaada - it touches you somewhere. They know what we relate to. And the old dairy milk ad, remember? Kya swaad hai zindagi ka? Oh my God! now these are what I call advertisements. They are supposed to sell products, and they do!

Though I am back in India and it turns out I am not an Indian TV freak yet, I will still sign off saying - Long live Indian TV and the masala!