The One in Which

... Saif says in a TOI interview:

Would I watch "Thoda Pyaar..."? No I prefer American films. I don't see that many Hindi films.

This reminds me of the FRIENDS episode "The One With Joey's Interview", where Joey is tensed about his interview with Soap Opera Digest magazine and enlists his friend's help to control what he says. But ofcourse, as parting shot he does blurt out something true:

Interviewer: Other than Days of Our Lives, what is your favorite soap opera?
Joey: Oh, I don't watch soap operas. Excuse me, I have a life, you know?
Interviewer (stunned): Thank you. The readers at Soap Opera Digest will be happy to learn that.

And to think we unsuspecting public gratefully partake any bs the media (Films & TV) guys serve us. They don't put much thought or put responsibility in what they create. But we spend hours thinking, analysing & absorbing the thoughts & concepts they publicise. We grow on those lines, change our thinkings, even make them our culture. But the truth is, most of all Film & TV output is crap !

No wonder parents across cultures, have a tight hold on every single thing their children are exposed to. Or indulge in manipulative brainwashing their kids, so they growup well. Ofcourse children will feel 'icky' about it and pen out angst pieces in children/teen magazines or blogs. But ultimately it works out fine.

Frankly, it much better to let kids loose in playground, let them get into brawls with cousins & neighbour kids, let them participate in dogmatic orthodox religious family customs, be told all even juicy extended family history, rather then be babysat by TV. Living in the real world, whether good or bad, will only strengten their instincts and help them think & make decisions. As compared to watching TV or Films, where we simply offload conclusions derived by someone else, for their benefit.

Yuhooo ! And another Bronze !

Ya, I think after tasting Gold, we have become more greedy.
But Vijendar's Bronze is great too !



There is something to be said about this Gen.
Everyone kept cribbing about the "corrupt youth" and "wise elders".

I say, look at the youth today. Focused towards education, careers, family, even environment. And now sports. Sports as in not cricket, but shooting, wrestling, boxing, tennis, football, golf & more. Each one wants to achieve more and thus contributes more individually, as compared to a pack of 10 of the older gen.

I remember seeing angry young men in the 70's movies; they were angry coz there was shortage of 'government jobs' and so they were unemployed. So in the 80's & 90's, youth went about 'creating jobs', rather than waiting for vacancies. And now that focus has seeped into sports too. Efforts of these 3 guys & their families contributed to the success, more than any government effort.

Keep it coming, you champs ! 3 more days to go.

Lalita Pawar

i found out that my one eye is closed when i wake up unexpected in the morning or middle of the night.

its 1:30 am.
right now am feeling sleepy.
almost falling.
but my one eye is open.
& the other is shutting by itself !

to give some background, when we were young, some of the late nights my brother & me would create some ruckus - watch TV loud & late or fight or something, my mom would stumble to our room, barely awake, with one eye shut tight, to dhamkaofy us to sleep off. so we would tease her as "Lalita Pawar" ! i would give more background, but i can barely type.

anyway in recent times, i have taken over the Lalita Pawar tag. but atleast i have a scientific explanation about the cause !

Yuhooo ! Yet another medal !

Bronze in Wrestling is great !
Congrats Sushil Kumar !


(Photo: ZeeNews)

Happy Independence Day !

Happy Independence Day !

I have a whole lot of good wishes for India. Among them:

More & better roads in each & every city & village.

Stricter RTO, so there are better drivers on road.

Honest Traffic police to stop horrible drivers & allow only non polluting vehicles.

All these leading to better safety for children, whether travelling to school in bus, auto or with parents.

Overnight, sonography practisioners should loose their knowledge to identify gender. That way more safety for children before they are born.

A Ministry of Education. Right now the HRD handles education as well. And obviously it is not on a priority for them. Separate ministry may be able to focus on what & how our children study. It can rethink of a lot of simple but important issues, like the heavy bags kids carry, drop-outs, course contents.

A strong voice for children in media and among economic decision makers. Because they do not have a say in these areas, children issues are often the most ignored ones.

Some new variant of agriculture economy so farmers wont face any loss. Maybe professional & lucrutive courses related to agriculture in economics, hoticulture & more. Maybe a whole new economic system which makes agriculture more profitable for the people who grow our grain.

More water harvesting and less electricity & fuel usage.

New India may turn 61 today, but we have a lot to do for our children.

My I-Day wishes from 2005 & 2006.

Now to pep up the mood, I present my I-Day Playlist:

Vande Mataram - Maa Tujhe Salaam - A.R.Rahman

Mile Sur Mera tumhara

Vande Mataram - K3G

Yeh jo des hain tera - Swades

Chak De

Apni Azadi Ko Hum - Mohammad Rafi

Hum layen hai toofaan se Rafi in Jagriti

Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani

Sarfarosh

Yuhooooo ! Finally a Gold !

Yuhooooo ! Finally a Gold !
Congrats Abhinav Bindra !!!



A perfect Independence Day gift !

Mother-In-Law Blogs !

After Amitabh, Aamir, Salman & others, finally my Mother-in-Law has stepped into the world of Blogging !

She will showcase her culinery adventures here. Most of which she can prepare blindfolded too. But here it is mainly for the benefit of her Son-in-law & Son who can feast their eyes (आँख सेक लो) on good home-made, actually Mom-made Indian food, from East & West parts of the globe, respectively.

Secure Gift

Now-a-days all personal interaction, happens on mobile phones, webcam video-conf & voice chat, IM and ofcourse Emails. Postal service and courier is only for official documents & bills. Really, all romantic notions of letters have been thoroughly & definitely squashed.

But once in a while, courier brings along a surprise or much-awaited gift. A usually very quiet, sober collegue of mine & who did not entertain chit-chat, she visibly melted when I got a courier parcel. My husband had sent me his photos & 2 novels from Toronto. "Oh so romantic to get parcel gift :)".

Anyway those were the days. I always give my office address, as it's easier to collect courier. Mainly because it is not returned due to the no-response-on-door reason, like at home. Here an office department collects all couriers, email us to collect our consignment from the Dispatch department. (Or that it would be dumped in 3 days). Anyway so, we go there whenever free, collect the thing, be exicted and then life goes on.

But now with the terror shadow everywhere, there is added exictment. I got a call from Dispatch to come over. Once there, they sent me off to entrance gate to collect my parcel. This was new ! Once there, after all signing & stuff, I got the packet. Now it was the company security's turn to check it up. And the thing beeped a lot ! So he gingerly opened it. We peeped in. Baby clothes & 2 long boxes. Which beeped. The dolls beeped, and they being Dolls, were definitely suspectable. But can anything fit inside Barbie dolls ? I don't think so. Few seconds of quiet decision making & I was off with my baby's gift from Aunty M :)

I am not only happy for this added zing, but also thankful. The security people ,inspite of being in such stressful pressure, take their job so seriously. And hey, Thanks M !