A Quick Note...

To anyone visiting this page, check out the music of Shor In The City....wonderful music. I have been listening to Saibo in rotation for an hour now, and that hasn't happened in a long time.

Added later:


Contrary to reports of blogs dying, if my blog stats are true, they are only reviving. The visits to my blog have never been this high!! It seems that bloggers are only staging a fightback, proving to world that blogging is not dead.

You're so 2000 late...

So I reconnected with a very old friend of mine, a chaddi-buddy, whom I haven't met or talked to in years. Such are the pleasures of Facebooking, your past catches up on you.
But thats not he point I am making here. We got talking and to my query about how he is, he replies' 'cool'! To put that line into context, let me tell you that the said friend is a small town guy, who was not conversant in English till the year 2005, when I last met him. Come 2011, and he is all 'cool-ed' up!! In fact, he also caption most of his photos as cool, which brings me to the conclusion that cool is the most uncool word now, from being uber hip, the word is now downgraded to ghati status. Everybody and their grandfather are using that word now.
So, to all the young people out there, stop saying you are cool, your fathers are probably cooler than you when they use that word. You need to come up with another word.

One For The Road(ies)....

Roadies is back!! And how!!!

I am not much of a reality show person - I like my fantasy, the more fantastic the better. Hence my preference for sci-fi and superhero cartoons.

But Roadies is a different beast. Every since I saw it from season 5, I was hooked. This is one show that has managed to be interesting throughout its run. The concept of the show is quite simple - a bunch of youngsters leave on thir bikes, with tasks thrown in. But what makes it interesting is the presence of Raghu.

Raghu is one host that knows how to make the show interesting. He has taken the shows linear format and turned it over its head, Every episode has an interesting twist - I wont call it unexpected, because we actually wait for the unexpect twist.

The past two years, Roadies was losing its unexpectedness. Gone were the youngsters looking for an adventure. In their place, there was this tribe of Roadies, people who have seen every episode, and come with their guards up, impenetrable. Roadies 6 was watchable, mainly because of Kiri, who was a treat to watch, his passion for Roadies visible to everyone. As for Roadies 7, I have trouble remembering even one memorable person from that bunch.

But now, with season 8, Raghu and team have managed to do the impossible. They have somehow managed to bring the unexpected back into the show. Quite frankly, this year's contestants are not better than the previous years, each playing their cards too close, their guards always up. But Raghu, Rajiv and Rannvijay have been able to get some interesting characters for the show. From the over confident Avtar to the totally obscure Suraj, this group has every personality type.

To be sure, this season has managed to come up with a few surprises. Firstly it was the first Roadie to be voted out, Rahul, who turned out to be quite urbane, as opposed to his village boy persona on teh show. Then there was the secret pact between Avtaar and Dev,which took everyone. When these two got voted out, Renee, with her women-versus-men plotting got our attention. These tricks have managed to get the viewers attention, rather than the tasks and the vote outs themselves.

The previous two shows were quite bloated, meaning, the tasks were too high concept to be entertaining, case in point being the season 7 finale. They actually built a replica of an auditorium for that and had the contestants running around like gladiators. Thankfully in season 8, they have shed all the excess baggage. Its back a bunch of youngsters on bikes, with a takla testing them.

In future episodes, expect to see boxer Vijendra Singh, ex contestants Ashutosh Kaushik, Nihal, Tammanna, Polomi and a naked Suchit.

With the unexpected back in Roadies, I am looking forward to an entertaining season.

Another Kranti...

A nice piece by B Raman on the recent fasting till death by Anna Hazare. I totally agree with what he has to say about the fast. the fact that the government has capitulated to the demands of Anna Hazare is down more to the youth power than to the man himself. Of late, the youth participation in social issues has been very encouraging - the caandle light vigils at India Gate for Jessica, the protests in DU for the broad daylight murder of a girl being two of them. The reason police acted swiftly in the second case was clearly because of the youth power. The politicians realize that the youth today, for all their couldn't-care-attitude, are socially aware. It takes a brazen criminal act  to get them to worked up about an issue. Mr Raman rightly points out that the recent success of the agitation has been thanks to the youth rather than because of them.

That said, I do have a point to say, namely the youth, for all their social awareness, are quite fickle minded as youth down the ages has been. The agitation is as much about social awareness for them, as it is about being in the right crowd. Indian history is replete with youth movements that have not amounted to much, the Mandal agitation, being a prime example. This agitation against corruption will be a success if the youth emerge more dedicated to root out corruption.

An asking point among the youth should be about the Lokpal Bill, which is what Anna Hazare has been demanding the implementation of. Do the youngsters taking part in the morchas know what the bill is, and what are its implications? The bill itself lays the onus of removing corruption on the civil society, since the general public can initiate corruption charges against government officers. To do so, the civil society must be aware of the laws to defend it, but we as a society with seniors included may rant against widespread corruption, but at the end of the day, we will settle for a little jugaad.

We Are The Champions!!!

Congratulations India, you did it!!!

It was a thrilling end to an exciting match. Personally, I don't follow cricket, but this being the world cup, it was hard to stay away.

Throughout the series, India played consistently, putting up a score and then chasing it. Thought we faltered against England (tie) and South Africa (lost), we finally pull our strings together for a thrilling India-Pakistan semi-final, and the India-Sri Lanka final.

With the world cup coming to India after 28 years, I am proud to say that I was there both the times.

Jiyo India!!!