Twitter, Blogger and Me

It's a curious observation I made today. My tweeting ability is inversely proportional to my blogging one. I see that ever since I became active on Twitter, I've not blogged AT ALL. Come to think of it, I wonder now that it took me so long to deduce something so logical. When one is trying to condition one's brain to a character limit, it's hardly surprising that the ability to express eloquently is stunted.

At the risk of equating eloquence to depth and lucidity, I can (speaking for myself) say that in my attempt to tweet, I've lost my ability to play around with words and think beyond five lines. It's quite sad actually because I love writing! If you asked me the reason behind why I chose my profession, I could wax eloquent... now I'd probably just say, I love writing, and smile.

But is that enough? Has expressing yourself, discussing an issue or voicing your opinion in more than 200 words really become so redundant? As journalists, we are taught early on in our careers that if you cannot tell your editor what your story is in not more than five lines, you don't have a story. But does saying what the crux of your story is eliminate the need to tell your story altogether?

On gloomier days, I think that is where, we as writers, and a large part of the readers are headed. It's all about sustaining attention after all. If you don't give your reader what s/he wants, then you simply lose the reader. If I can tell you all that I want to in six tweets instead of one blog post, which one would you rather read?

Blogs invariable tend to be lengthy as it is one forum where writers can express themselves freely, which just means that there is no editor breathing down your neck demanding why every word in the sentence is where it is.

But on more optimistic days, I think it's impossible to do away with the "essay" form of writing. That's saying that the newspaper business will be out cold soon. While many people argue that newspapers are redundant with Internet calling the shots, they are still a very significant part of our lives. And while I like seeing the Economist send me tweets about it's latest article, reading a line about what the article is, does not stop me from clicking on the link and reading the story. But it does save me the trouble of going to the Economist website and sifting through all the stories to find something I may wish to read.

The obvious challenge is to make use of both forms of writing to make life easier and free up yourself to write about things you really want to and make it worthwhile for the reader in the process. The other challenge is to stop thinking in tweets, Facebook status messages or blog posts. It makes life infinitely easier if we just go with an open mind and not feel that because an idea is expressed as a tweet, it does not warrant further effort to make something more substantial out of it. I think the set-thinking mode is a trap I fell into.

And lets face it, lethargy rocks! Why bother logging on to your blog and getting your thoughts together when you can shoot it out in two lines and forget about it? Considering that I started this blog post two months ago, believe me when I say it's easy to just let it be.

But, did I not choose to become a journalist because I cared enough to pick up a pen and put it to good use? (Metaphor not withstanding, I did use a pen and paper religiously to write through my college years!) . So anyway, as with the many dramatized ethical dilemmas of my life, this was one to share. Lets see which one gets the better of me.

One of the hazards of my job is that everyday I need to speak to scores of people I have never met. These are guys who are out their in the middle of things, effectively regulating whatever is going on in the stock market. (For the uninitiated, my job is to cover the Indian stock market, essentially the prestigious Bombay Stock Exchange. Yes, thrilling.) I have to talk to people ranging from traders, dealers, research analysts, technical analysts and so on and so forth.

But the only guys worth mentioning are the dealers, really. They are the most charged and colourful people one can come across in an otherwise boring set up. Someone once asked me, "People buy and sell because that's what you do in a market. What the hell is there to write about that?" Of course, I had no answer to give, not one that was convincing anyway. And yet we write and sell the news successfully.

So when the essence is so bleak, one tries to make the best of it. I'm going to digress a little more before getting to the point. Stock markets, as a rule, follow no rules. There's no way in hell that anyone can say confidently what really is going on. But the Indian stock market is in a league of its own. Dig deep and you will find people who can put Bernie Madoff and Rajaratnam to shame. After all, these guys got caught. Indian market is one big orgy of synchronized buying and selling. It's fascinating to see real-time trading in some stocks, especially those of tiny companies. They rise 10%, turn flat and fall 20% all in a matter of five minutes. So, naturally there are days when the Sensex (which is what I mostly look at) is behaving like it's suffering from bipolar disorder. These days are the best to talk to people on the "floor." Half of them will say, "Humein sach mein nahi pata, aapne kuch suna kya?" And the rest say whatever comes to mind.

On one such erratic day, I called a dealer. I was really flustered because I had asked a zillion people and they were all stumped. And I have a deadline of 3.55 in the afternoon for filing my market report. Markets close at 3.30; it was already 3.20 and I still did not have my precious quote.

The conversation went something like this:

"So, what's happening in the market? Kya lagta hai aapko?"

"Indian market hai, madam. lt's like this only."

"Magar aaj toh kuch zyada hi upar neeche ho raha hai. There's no logic."

"Indian market hai, madam. Here no logic, onnnnnly magic."

I had my Eureka moment, right there. I drifted away and imagined how this quote would look in my market report on the Wall Street Journal. It's a pity we are not allowed to quote dealers. But his wisdom was amazing, he had totally nailed it. Because the word 'magic' sums up all the rigging that goes on in various stocks. Why the Sensex falls 2.5% in a day and still manages to close 1.5% higher is anybody's guess. Unfortunate as it is, everyday I need at least two names against the "guess."

After all, journalism is all about the eyeballs. The best quote, the best picture, the best footage, getting the quotes of the most popular guy, capturing his image....

Ironically, the only guys worth quoting never get quoted. And that's the magic of neo journalism.

One wonders what the matter with this country is. Really. It's almost like we are taking pleasure in being "victimized" by "terrorism." Red, green, blue...whatever the colour may be. After successfully letting go 26/11 of last year, we are now channelizing all that ardour to get rid of the Reds. Our dear government wants to exterminate these species as they are, allegedly, the greatest threat to our nation at the moment. Hmmm. What was that again? Are we the people, the educated, elitist, righteous people, honestly saying that tribals, who are being evicted from their land, are the greatest threat our country is facing right now?

A country that did not wage a war against its neighbour after a dastardly act like the Mumbai attacks has taken up cudgels to war against its own marginalized people. Now, how and why is this not surprising us? We, the educated class - the supposed creme de la creme of the society. Why are we not shocked by this absolute lack of regard that our government is showing? Because we think Maoists, tribals, people fighting for the tribals and people opposing the commercialization of these forest areas are all the same people, essentially. The naxals - that's the group they all fall under. If they are beheading police officers, hi-jacking trains and killing anybody with remote ties to the government, surely they are not saints? They are not the civilized people this civilized society deserves?

The problem with the class of people, who are largely believed to be "knowledgeable" as a result of their education, is that they are obscenely self-obsessed. It's a fact. I work like a dog, juggle different roles in my personal life and so the weekend that I get, I do not want to spend reading about or watching people of a remote village I have never visited, protest against modernization. After all, surely our country needs to be modernized? And the underprivileged given the opportunity to improve their situation? What could be bad about this? People are protesting that their land is being taken away because they are scared as working the land is the only thing they know how to do. So, the attitude, in general, seems to be that these unfortunate people do not realise that whatever is being done is being done for their good.

And that's where the whole problem begins. To understand what the problem is, we need to first differentiate among all people involved. The point of this piece is to talk about the tribal people who are NOT the naxals. I do not wish to go into the Maoist philosophy but when I say that scores of villages being affected by the government's push towards modernization will involve many, many "normal" people, like you and me, I do hope you will agree. So when the government decides to sell off a hill rich in minerals to corporations, who in the process of mining will, predictably damage the hill, which in turn will affect the plains below, which houses many villages, it is bound to upset a lot of people. So naturally, these villagers will need to be moved. And they do not want to move. The land is their only source of income and one cannot blame them for not relying on a government that has openly said it is incapable of relocating all these displaced people. So what are they supposed to do? One would think they'd migrate to nearby cities in the hope of finding work but since they are not particularly skilled (their only skill not being put to use) , it's fair to assume to a certain extent that they are not adding to the country's count of employed people. And I believe we are all smart enough to fathom what could become of these people. The point is, so are they. Just to digress a little, I think it's high time that we acknowledge that being educated does not equate to being knowledgeable or smart. And vice versa. Just because these people are not educated and probably have not even glimpsed the vast changes the broader society has undergone, dos not mean they are not smart enough to foresee their plight. And this is what they are protesting. Is that wrong, to fight against being forced to give up your life of dignity so people like us can gloat about how our country is fast developing? Yes?

I would genuinely like to believe that we have not turned a blind eye altogether on this issue and that we all have read, heard and seen what is going on in the 'naxal-dominant' areas. But I would also definitely like to point out that we are not so much as expressing concern about the issue. Does education bring a sense of selfishness and cynicism with it? Because all we are doing is thinking about how global our jobs allow us to be, how we can push into places that provide us the opportunities India is not providing and how we can earn more money - all the while cribbing about how the government is not doing anything about slums and why we see twice as many beggars at the traffic light than the previous day.

The idea is not to moralize but to say that we need not lose humanity, courtesy and our conscience while we are at our blasted rat race. If Sudan and Congo, of the blood diamond reputation, can ring a bell for us, why not Orissa and Lalgarh?

I want to say that I belong to a country that is as competitive and developed as any other global country but I am certain I do not want us to attain this fancy position at the cost of fumigating majority of the society because the very same country does not have the means to provide for citizens who make up for more than half of its population.

I have my doubts about modernization that's as expensive as this. Do you?

It's officially crazy weather in Mumbai. Actually, it's fitting. Crazy weather, crazy city. Not that I hate it but it sure is overwhelming. It's hot, humid and pouring -- all seasons at once. I am yet to come across a city that is dirtier, crowded or has worse traffic jams. It's insane. Truly insane. Let us start with dirty. Um, may be filthy is more appropriate. And filth comes from people who have no place to live. So they live in filth - theirs, their neighbour's, the community's, ours. I'm surprised a KFC protest over the conditions in which chickens are kept gets more eyeballs than this issue of Mumbai vomiting people. Anyway, guess think I took care of dirty and crowded there.

Coming to traffic - my pet peeve, mine as well as at least 20 percent of Mumbai's population - I think the rest are adventurous enough to swear by the local. The traffic scene here almost makes me miss Bangalore's deadlocks. But you see, what's different here is it doesn't matter how you commute, you find yourself stuck in traffic. It's the same you say, and scoff? Have you been stuck while walking? Have ya? Well, I have. In rain. I was stuck not because there was a flood. There would be some logic to that. No - I get stuck in one of Mumbai's regular rains, when there are so many vehicles on the road that there is not a foot of land available. You have to trust me when I say that I was trying to hop from one place to the other. When I couldn't I was stuck standing in a jam. All of me under a big green umbrella waiting for the Mercedes in front to move so the auto behind it moves, so the vegetable cart behind it moves, so I can finally find that elusive piece of land. When you eventually do, it's like finding an autorickshaw in Bangalore that agrees to charge you by meter only. Get the picture, don't ya?

That's not to say that the city has no positives. It offers luxuries like being able to walk on the road alone at 4 in the morning and hail a cab to wherever it is that you wish to go, it's got people from every place imaginable - a great way to know people (fine not that I know too many of them but it's a possibility). Places don't shut down at 12. So on and so forth, the regular stuff you hear from Mumbai loyals.

But find me a piece of land to walk on, then we'll talk about what a great city Bombay is.

Into the pit you permeate

Fill me with refracted light

A snickering cynic's path

Evened watered fertilized

To bear shrubs of hope

Shrubs that turn into weeds

Swallow precious spaces

Guffaw, mock

What I find is not the solitude I seek

Shovelling for my cove

In your shoulder -

A haloed moment of truth

Hovers, teases

And you flow into me

As sure as the river into the sea

I seem to have been wishing for novelty very earnestly for very long. So it's raining happenings. Leaving Bangalore, Changing job, Moving into a city vomitting people (and I HATE crowds, did you know?), Will be living by myself - in a city where i know 2 people.

Yes, better keep those sympathies coming.

Twittering your way….through a relationship

So we all know we are in the incredible tech age where anything is possible, where technology has redefined who and what we are or have become. And understandably,  its effect on our relationships has been significant too. I am someone who has always been technologically challenged. I thought SMS-ese was bad, now I’m assured of many more horrors that will arise for as long as I am alive. But I digress.

Steering back to relationships today. I usually don’t write about this topic because it’s terribly hard to come up with an intelligible view AND harder not to sound like one of those writers. You know who I’m talking about. But here goes my attempt.

Technology has become a fantastic excuse for most of us to get away with a lot of things. Breaking up is easier than ever, hiding one’s true emotions is a cakewalk and people who feel no emotions or unsure of what to feel on a particular occasion can always draw from the myriad emoticons floating around. As if communicating in a relationship isn’t hard as it is, we now have the tech demons to stave off.

If you are someone who is too lazy to pick up a phone and go through the cycle of identifying a number, dialling it, waiting for the person to pick up and, horror of horrors, talk to the person, your days of worry have long been gone, I presume. There’s SMS, e-mails, chat services, and for people who like being open about their lives, there’s Twitter. I’d imagine the thought of so many options would be as joyous as the birthday bash of a 5-year old.

By now, you would have figured that the above mentioned type is hardly the one I wish to talk about. What if I am someone who isn’t fond of the phone but picks it up anyway because it is the lesser of god knows how many evils? Too bad. I don’t belong to this century where things change, are done and undone, at the snap of a finger.

Yes people, I belong to the century where it was alright for two people to be in the same room and enjoy silence, read books, talk about anything under the sun, listen to music and just “hang out.” Don’t bother telling me how long ago it was that things were this way. But to me things make way more sense this way. Of course, a lot depends on whether one is looking for sense in a relationship.

Sense or not, I don't think it's too much to ask that communication be intelligible. That "Ok"s come by instead of "K"s and you actually get a chance to look at the person you are talking to rather than send the odd SMS.

But I have also come to believe that I’m a staunch fatalist. Only things that are destined to be doomed attract me. Sigh…. some vintage romance would be just the deal at the onset of the rains. Alright stop smirking. Everyone’s allowed some time in la-la land once in a while.

Today something happened that reinforced my faith in humanity and also took me down memory lane. I got a ticket for riding my bike against the traffic on a one-way street. Yes, that hasn’t happened in at least 4 years now.

But the fact that the cops are doing their job is not what kindled faith in a cynic like me. It was a very small event. The lane on which I broke the traffic rule is right in front of a popular college in Bangalore. For the past couple of years I have cut down riding my bike simply because I seemed to have lost focus. Either I’d forget that I was on a bike or space out and forget where I was going. But old age notwithstanding, of late I have been using my poor, abused bike to go to places close enough to my house.

Anyway, I was returning home this morning, not really focussing on the road, when I got lazy and barged into the one-way street. A bunch of college girls were waving their hands frantically in front of my face and yelling “Cops!” “Turn around!”  Sure I figured what was going on, but I was so surprised by their enthusiasm that an angry, huffing old traffic policeman trying to stall my escape didn’t really bother me. May be the girls were having fun the expense of those cops, may be it was really an act of kindness but their gesture changed something. Either way, it taught me to loosen up a bit.

Anyway, I proceeded to face the policeman who was chiding those girls for acting smart. He already had about 5 more guys around him who had fallen into his grasp. He asked me to pay him 300 bucks. Luckily, I had some cash on me else I’m generally a person who avoids carrying money and just swipes her card. So I hand him a 500-rupee note. He looks at me and asks me in Kannada, “Are you really going to pay me 300 bucks?” I say that is precisely my intention because if I ask him to lower the amount he’d say it’s not possible then I’d haggle some more and both of us would waste our time. I said all this to him as a matter of fact. Just as I was wondering if that might trigger his temper, he smiled, asked me to pay 100 bucks and wrote me a receipt, even as another guy was pleading with him to reduce his fine because he was a student.

So, today was double-whammy for me. It’s possible that I have become so cynical that these random events have the ability to surprise me enough to make me wonder if there is some goodness out there. May be there are a few good men. Then again, the rest…..

Where's that darn muse?

Lull Lull Lull. Almost nothing is exciting. I'm not even enthusiastic enough to write about Getaway-2, which was Kabini, by the way. May be it's because I didn't see anything that I wished to see. AGAIN. Meanwhile, half-formed sentences and words tending towards garble continue to torment. Choking on my own creative juices... Help!

I thought I had learnt this by now. Clearly not.

Stupidity is not only tolerated but also celebrated and felicitated.

Forgive me if I don't join the party.

Sexism - the has been of a nation that doesn't want to know it

What is with the obsession of portraying men as having the liberty to stray? This question disturbs me at a lot of levels but I'll just stick to the simplest one. The advertisements in this country have touched the nadir of crassness. How many ads do we have floating around that say a man flirting with many women at the same time is pretty cool and smart? And how most women are credulous enough to buy anything that the pretty cool and smart guy says? May be it is true, but still… or may be I’m being cynical. Either way, that's not the point.

Alright, agreed that this is not gender specific. There are prototypes of both species. But in India, at least, the bias is towards men. It's OK to get away with a lot of things if you are man; a woman in the same position is definitely not as lucky. The point is not to discuss morality. The issue is the subtle, and in some cases not-so-subtle, exhibition of sexism in our society.

In the urban world, sexism is a fine example of the elephant in the room. No one wants to acknowledge it. Men don’t want to acknowledge that they withheld a female employee’s promotion/career opportunity because she got married or is pregnant. Women don’t acknowledge that they got a hike because they belonged to the prettier lot (versus not-so-pretty women), or that they dint get yelled at for a goof up because they are women.

In the same urban world, most people refuse to accept the perception that a philandering man is actually referred to as a guy who many women want to be with. So poor thing, how can he help that he’s so charming? But a philandering woman is actually someone who gets around a lot and is easy to get into the sack with. So if you want an easy lay, you know where to go. The same is true for the man, but is never said of him. And it is never acknowledged that a guy who is good with his job is good but a woman needs to be exceptional at her job to be “good.”

And that’s the problem. The fact that men and women (I still say men, mostly) are choosy in deciding when they want to be liberal and when they want to shrug off their selfishness and sexist beliefs as “just the way things are” is quite shocking.

I mean, look at the Hindi movies. Sexism has been a staple for years now and is clearly a non-issue. To most people who watched a stupid movie called “Rab Ne Banadi Jodi,” it didn’t even occur that the movie, apart from insulting our intelligence, is being supremely sexist in portraying that an educated woman, albeit a small-town resident, lacks the basic sense to identify her husband without a moustache. Or even that, the very same husband does not so much as bother apologizing when his wife discovers that he was actually conning her by acting like he was somebody else just to test if she would stray or not. I mean, really?

So by the same token, do we project in our movies that a woman trying to “con” her husband by giving her alter ego shorter hair or a different style of dressing gets away with it? That he buys the fact that she is this whole new and different person altogether?

I don’t think so. And this movie is just one example I can think of from the top of my head. Sexism is so deep rooted in our heads, society and culture that people who indulge in it or people victimised by it don’t even realise most of the time. It’s just acceptable because it has been happening for so long. And because we have forgotten to question why some of us are entitled to liberties that many others are not. Why pub-going women are beaten up and not men or why it’s OK if men work long hours and take their job seriously while for women it’s just “attaching too much importance to your work” when “It’s just a job.” It all comes down to the same thing. An archaic mindset that is supposedly our culture. And the fact that it is so darn convenient to go on continuing this culture.

And India is going to be a super power and an epitome of modernity in the next 20 years, when the country is not even willing to move beyond mistakes that were made generations ago. What a joke.

So, the day to proclaim our love for our fellow beings is round the corner. But welcome to India, the recently converted fascist country, where if you are caught on a date, you have to marry the person immediately! Whoever said India was one of the largest democracies?

India is now ruled by men clad in "traditional" attires, with a dash of saffron and vermilion. Men who uphold Indian "culture," which is so pure, sanctimonious and immaculate that it will make the rest of the world cringe with shame. Don't be misguided by reports that India ranks among one of the most corrupt countries in the world. No sir. I belong to a country where smoking, drinking, making merry and communicating with species of the other gender is unheard of. India is so busy playing holier-than-thou that we citizens hardly have time to devote to petty issues like population explosion, corruption, terrorism and potential wars.

Our rulers here are blessed with foresight and based on this virtue our guardians are defining womanhood. The new-age definition. Women are bred for domestic purposes, whose primary goal in life is to... yes! You guessed that one, make chapattis! Now how can this be disputed? Of course, women cannot be naive enough to think they were born for a greater cause. I’d be shocked if they happen to think so. It is our moral duty to serve these valorous men who have taken it upon themselves to “preserve” such a glorious culture.

A culture, where, according to our epics and myths – which are the source of most beliefs and virtues in this country – women wore clothes that were more enticing than your average low-waist jeans and a tee, indulged in alcohol, had children outside marriage or from "divine" men who were not their husbands, and in general, had a penchant for adventure.

Alright, I have exhausted my sarcasm. But really, what the hell is going in this country? I don’t give a damn about Valentines’ day but when you tell me that if I’m caught on that day with a guy by my side, then I’ll be married off to him immediately by men with turmeric who have nothing better to do in life, that’s incentive enough to take part in the celebration.

Is it me or have people forgotten that we are in 2009 and not the era of temptresses, god-women or damsels in distress?

I’m in a country, and specifically in a state, where the government is incapable of protecting me if I get beaten up by a bunch of goons. After all, I’m not in the kitchen wearing an apron. And who is fighting for my rights? A loud-mouth called Renuka Chowdhury, whose brilliant idea is to beat up those who beat us. Yes. Fabulous. Let’s just slip back into the Stone Age, shall we?

If I have to take the law into my hands because I’m being unfairly beaten up for visiting a pub and having a drink, then why the hell do we need a government, law and order and a civil society?

What are the authorities doing? If you can’t save me from thugs within this country, how can I trust that my government has the ability to protect me from thugs who don’t belong here? If these guys, our supposed guardians, have so much pent-up aggression, I suggest they join the armed forces or anti-terrorist squads. If they want to protect me, I’d much rather they did that.

And all around I hear people talking about it; almost everyone’s making noise about the issue. Except the government. The placidity is appalling. We are so obviously slipping into a state of lawlessness; it’s absolutely disconcerting. And if our elected government does not do anything now, then the whole institution, I think, will become pointless and farcical – if it hasn’t already become so, that is. I see no purpose for it to exist. If we can let this pass, we can let anything pass.

Meanwhile, I’m pissing in my pants (exactly what the Ram Sene workers desire from “bad” girls like me) thinking about how I could have dared to write this post and articulate my thoughts, and worse, doing so wearing a pair of denims and a tee-shirt! I better rush!! I think I burnt the chapattis!!!

I did the unthinkable today. I amazed myself with my own stupidity by managing to get myself lost in my office – a place I have worked at for the last two and a half years. It’s true. And all this, because I had the brainwave of taking the staircase and getting some exercise. Isn’t that a just and mature thought? Now you know why I got punished for it.

My office is located on the top two floors of the building I work in, with mine being on the fifth floor. Since I get transport, the cab drops me off in the basement. So I get this fantastic idea of using the stairs just as the cab halts and jauntily walk towards the fire exit instead of the elevator.

See, what you have to understand is I don’t care much about why staircases are marked the way they are. You wouldn’t expect them to carry signs saying, “People who wish to walk, hop on!” Of course they’d carry a fire exit sign.

So the climb begins. There I am. Self-satisfied, listening to my iPod, climbing two stairs at a time and determined to well…beat it. I finally reach the fifth floor but it does not look like the staircase I take when I want to go the fourth floor. A little stumped by the new challenge, I look at a random co-worker through the glass of the door in front of me. She stares and looks like she wants to alert the security personnel; I make it worse for her by frantically trying to open the door. But, as you may have foreseen that misery needs to befall upon me, the damn door does not open.

After carefully weighing my options and considering that the lady with rattled nerves may very well have alerted other people about a possible intruder, I walk down all the bloody way. I get off at the first floor thinking, that’s it, enough of this nonsense. So I enter the first floor basement and I see a stand alone elevator and am wondering what that is because I’ve never seen it before.

I walk towards it and wait for it to come and get me. Come elevator, and the guys with stalls in my office canteen are staring at my face and telling me, not this one woman. Go to your elevator. By now, you agree, that I’ve sufficient ammunition to blow up the building. Anyway, fury notwithstanding, I walk back to the stairs and reach the ground floor, get off the darned fire exit and take an elevator all the way back to my office.

Yes, a fabulous beginning to my day. But I shall not be deterred. I shall conquer it. In the true Christite spirit, I shall march on. Hmpf!

getaway - 1

Jungles and beaches as holiday destinations never disappoint. There is something so absolutely relaxing about them. So, yes have emerged awfully relaxed after the break. Nagarhole was a sanctuary I had not visited until now. The drive from Bangalore is about 5 hours and the road is fantastic.

Nagarhole is strategically placed, in that it is bordering on Coorg and leads into Kerala. Unfortunately, about 4 months ago a ban was placed in the Nagarhole wildlife sanctuary on private vehicles. So if you are looking to spot animals then you have to take one of those noisy, government-run buses. Since it is really a worthless option, we had to cross over into Kerala and enter from the other side of the forest, which was the Wayanad wildlife sanctuary. The forest, I believe, is much drier than say Bandipur or B.R. hills. But it sort of grows on you, I guess.

We weren't very lucky with the 'sightings' . We did see elephants, even a teeny tiny one, a huge herd of bison crossing the road, few breeds of deer and some interesting birds. But the much longed for species of the Cat family remained elusive.

If you are not too crazy about taking frequent safaris, then try visiting Iruppu falls (in Coorg). It's a pretty waterfall, though I have seen it ages ago, and offers water sports like still and white water rafting. There's also a Tibetian monastery close to Nagarhole.

But if you are lazy, like I was, just stay put at your resort. You won't regret it at all. There are quite a few resorts in and around Nagarhole which are priced fairly decently. But, Kabini looks like a better option because as far as I know the ban does not extend to that side and the Jungle Lodges resort there is beautiful and very pricey, of course.

So, may be it is Kabini the next time. In summer. And may be it will also be the cats I spotted that I'll be talking about the next time around.

Getaway - 1 (preview)

The year's kicked off alright... but 2 weeks into my job and I can't wait to get away. I am certain there are a few heads out there, locked in my situation, who are nodding in agreement. So, instead of writing about drudgery, I shall choose to write about the teeny tiny holiday. Well all I can say right now is that I'm taking one. Heading out to the woods and hoping to spot some interesting wildlife. And of course, betting that I will find enough meat for a post. So, be back soon with an update - hopefully.

P.S. : the getaways shall henceforth be numbered. The target is one a month (which means at least 1 in three months. sigh....)

Here's more than just a sneak peek of Gajini. I can be so generous as to critique the movie for any potential viewer who also happens to read this blog. My succinct opinion of the movie - it's ok. Mediocre.

I would imagine the plot is hardly a surprise, given that at least two movies on the same theme have already been made. I have not watched the Tamil movie so cannot take the liberty to compare.

The movie manages to grab attention in parts but fails to sustain it for the remainder. It could definitely be shorter by an hour, at least. I'm guessing the editor fell asleep while doing his job and it's hard to blame him. The romance lacks conviction and falls flat. There is no chemistry whatsoever between Aamir Khan and Asin. And when a character is avenging the death of a beloved, he had better be able to convince you that he is insanely passionate about her.

And yet again, I'm not sure you can blame the lead actor because simply put Asin is intolerable. Unbearable. Extremely trying on the nerves. After a staggering number of movies that bear testimony to the fact that VERY few actresses can pull off the whole "i'm so cute/adorable with strong ideals/convictions" image, actors, directors and screenplay writers should be much more discerning about using this stereotype. Jiah Khan does little for the movie. She desperately needs some acting and voice modulation classes. Aamir Khan is good but his is not a superior performance and definitely not one that will help overcome the other weak links of the movie. But brownie points to him for that great body. He looks fantastic and much younger too.

The plot is not consistent in the sense that Aamir's memory span is not consistently 15 minutes. It is when the director needs to play on it but at other times, it's open to slight modifications or adjustments. The songs just present themselves for no reason at all and even Rahman's music lacks the zing. Prasoon Joshi's experiment with novel lyrics went a little awry to an extent that the words just sound odd. But some of the camera angles are interesting and the action sequences are powerful. A lot of gore and raw anger but works well.

Gajini had a chance of working well, say 10 years ago. At a time when Hindi cinema is veering towards movies that have "real" characters and plots, the whole 'ruthless goon who kills people just to kill time' and the 'avenge for love' angles are jarring. I doubt even an Aamir Khan can pull it off.

And if you are someone who has watched Memento, here's a handy tip. A bit of a hiatus in memory would be useful; you don't want to believe that one movie has anything to do with the other.

One more opinion - MINE

With the Mumbai attacks, we seem to be forced to acquiesce that India is hardly the safe nation it used to be. And that militant attacks are no longer restricted to Jammu and Kashmir, or Northeast India. It is not only prudent but absolutely necessary to assess the gravity of the situation. We are reading so many things about what to do these days, I'd like to contemplate about what I could do as an individual.

In the meantime, I was just pondering on how the media covered the Mumbai story, since I am, for better or worse, a tiny part of this industry. Television, for obvious reasons, is the most powerful medium for covering and transmitting news. But the way Mumbai attacks were covered on most Indian TV channels was a bit of a let down. More often than not, it reeked of our obsession for sensationalism and the journalists' fetish for offering their opinions only. And I'm referring only to the English news channels. I think it's best to ignore the Hindi news channels.

A visual is much more scandalizing than prose can ever be. So it comes with that much more responsibility. Television has become so synonymous with sensationalism and entertainment that we have truly forgotten where to draw the line. It is extremely sad when a tragedy like Mumbai attacks is handled the way a tabloid would handle its latest scoop. Some TV journalists even hide behind their audiences and blame the sensationalism on them. The shield is that there's always an audience out there that wants to watch whatever is put out. Some even say, if they don't get the juicy details, somebody else will. So it's a question of competition and survival.

I have a few questions here. So, if all channels decided not to sensationalize news, stood by a mutually agreed upon code of ethics and conduct, would audiences raise a furore and cry for an explanation for not satisfying their demands?

So do competition and audience demand that these guys thrust their mics into people facing a loss or a private emotional moment, ask these victims and their families questions that are designed to stir their raw emotions? Have we really drifted so far away from a basic sense of decency? Have we altogether disconnected ourselves from responsibility?

Of course, I'm not saying all TV journalists indulged in this sort of sensationalism. There were quite a few out there who restored our faith in the 'trade.' But the supposed stalwarts of Indian television journalism who no doubt have the most number of viewers were the biggest disappointments.

A journalist like Barkha Dutt has far more clout than a novice who just happened to be at the right place at the right time and got the chance to cover a big story. So what does Barkha do? She occupies the entire television screen. Right from when the story broke out and there were reports that a fire had broken out at Taj, NDTV showed us footages - of Barkha, in front of the Taj. While I dont mind hearing what Barkha has to say, I'd much rather watch what exactly is happening at the Taj instead of peering at a face I have seen numerous times.

Arnab Goswami invites about 4 people from various walks of life to share their thoughts and debate about the attacks. Except that he shared HIS thoughts with them. There were so many instances where Arnab would just go on ranting for 15-20 minutes while the supposed dignitaries would just look on. One of the guests even reminded Arnab that he was present in the studio as well. Rajdeep Sardesai speaks at such a decibel that one would imagine he was trying to yell out the news to people, without the assistance of a camera or microphone. Rajdeep, funnily enough, never engages a guest in discussion, he just shouts questions at them and goes on to offer his own opinions on the matter. And much as journalists love digging up facts and telling the "real" story, asking perpetually inciteful questions is hardly a deal maker.

And these are people who changed what Indian television journalism was all about. These are people who inspired so many people who began considering an 'unconventional' career, so to say. And these are people who have become obsessed with their own voices.

While journalism demands that journalists be aware of all that goes on and form an intelligent opinion, it also demands that they use that intellect and knowledge to bring out a story by talking to people who are involved in the matter and are qualified to offer an opinion. You cannot have your own opinions aired ALL the time, and definitely not when you have guests in your studio. You cannot invite a set of people under the pretext of facilitating a debate and then insult their intelligence/expertise by throwing your opinions at them. One would imagine journalists would use all that knowledge to ask intelligent questions to probe deeper and not let anything sloppy pass. And all the while allow people to answer the questions they are asked instead of blatantly cutting them short because you have already assumed that they are going to say something useless, and believe that you have something more substantial and concrete to offer.

Also, asking questions like "How do you feel?" is cruel, to put it mildly. How do you think they feel after all that they have been through? I am in no way discounting the fact that a journalist covering an incident like the one in Mumbai is under a great amount of stress as he/she has to witness the trauma first hand and still be composed enough to share the news with an audience. It sure does require a lot of courage.

But that again is an occupational hazard - basic rules of the game. TV journalists (and other journalists too), in an ideal world, are required to mask their personal feelings/emotions and just tell the story. No histrionics. No drama.

In a world that is brimming with people so full of opinions on every issue, a regular journalist reporting just what s/he sees is, sadly, a rarity.

And so quoth the opinionated journalist.

This is from a while back. Though, I'd like very much to listen to opinions on this one. And I hope I do get a chance to hear some.

And so, the much debated ban on smoking is in place. Yes, I know just about everybody has an opinion on the issue, but I’d like to think another one won’t hurt much. I dislike smoking but I loathe being a passive smoker. I don’t wish to kill myself slowly and painfully so somebody next to me can successfully ignite his/her lungs. So this ban is the best thing that could have happened to the likes of me. But, like all of us know all too well, the place we inhabit is far from being the ideal world.

A ban is not how it is supposed to be done. Today we are told not to smoke and dance, tomorrow we’ll be told not to drink and the day after we’ll be ordered not to think. When did community service turn into fascism? I do understand that there is a something to gain from a ban, but it’s important to be clear on what this ban signifies. Probably, that smokers don’t have the first clue what they are doing and hence need to be told. Or perhaps it’s politely telling them that if they want to kill themselves, they can feel free to do so in the comfort of their homes.

Before starting an argument, it’s important to establish the purpose of the ban. Cutting down death rates from smoking diseases and cancer, reducing risk to heart ailments, a healthier environment are some of the supposed drivers. Perfectly legitimate causes that stand to get little or no help from a ban. People who run the risk of dying due to smoking are compulsive smokers. These are, let’s assume for the sake of an argument, people of at least average intelligence, literate or illiterate notwithstanding, who are well aware what smoking can do. They are also the bunch that the ban is mainly targeted at.

By not permitting people to smoke at workplaces, pubs and other enclosed public places, on what basis can we conclude that it will have the effect of people actually cutting down on their nicotine intake? All I see around me, especially at work, is a bunch of restless, snappy people who can’t wait to go to the road to feel normal again. The roads in India, as we all know, are places that propagate freedom – whatever the expression of it might be. And never mind the pubs; I just don’t see as many people there anymore.

Most offices used to have smoking zones and as for pubs, they could use something similar too. People who wish to smoke know where to head and people who wish to avoid being passive smokers know where not to go. Creepy advertisements about degenerating lungs work on some too, so we can only try to increase awareness. Not shove our own rules down others’ throats.

A ban on smoking will not work for the same reason segregation in co-ed schools and curfews in hostels don’t work. What’s forbidden is what entices.

It's the time of the year that is happy and amusing. Holidays loom, yearly appraisals are visible far more clearly on the horizon and the undesirable but necessary evil of reviewing the year that was grins maliciously. The year that was... Well, it was one heck of an year, to be sure. I had the pleasure of exploring a new country, and new spaces in my personal life as well. Saw some horrid times, sat through months of tedium and sheer frustration, and tried a WHOLE lot of new things. Emerged wiser? Absolutely.

I have made a few conclusions and some remain observations. Wisdom is certainly over-rated. If we were to be wise ALL the time, what's left to learn? How do you grow? But that obviously does not mean we terrorize the world with inanity. I may just be learning to be more forgiving.

A conclusion I made was that I have not met a single person through the year who has made any impact on my life. That might be something to work on; I can't control who I meet but it most definitely will help if I at last make an effort to socialize. I hate to use the term "resolution," as if the beginning of a year were a harbinger to finding resoluteness within. All the same, an effort to change what I believe might be a vice I can do without is on for the forthcoming year.

Also, I most definitely want to travel a lot more, read a lot more and, at the risk of stretching my wants, write a lot more.

It was a sudden realization that dawned today -- I'm revisiting this space after four months. I seem to have written a bit these past few months but haven't gotten around to sharing it. Hope to, after this post.

Meanwhile, welcoming yet another year in all earnestness. Have a good feeling about this one.

I am wondering why common sense has gone extinct. Really. Why? Honest and devoid of sarcasm question. Is it so hard for us to be logical? Don’t most people find the need to ask why they are doing what they are doing? Or even, what the logical repercussions of what they do will be. Or probably repercussions don’t matter. It is amazing how you can go on living a life with just the wrong priorities and not even realise it. So when someone walks up to you and tells you what you really are worth, it kinda forces you to think what sheer cuckoo-ness led to those deviations from reality. If you don’t get your worth, logically you would get on with the programme. And I am about to do it. Shaky legs and shaky ground, but a sense of righteousness prevails. The defiant warrior marches. Where to? It’s time to GO FIGURE.