Old is Gold?

As a kid who grew up in India in the 90’s, there are a lot of memories that I hold dear. One of those includes watching Doordarshan, way before cable television made its presence felt in India. For those who share this sentiment, you will most likely remember that 6 minute gem of an ‘advertisement’ titled Mile Sur Mera Tumhara. Aimed at promoting national integration and unity, it was written by one of my ad world heroes, Piyush Pandey. Below is the video, for those who are so inclined –

So what is the point of my post? Well, a friend recently showed me the remake of the film, titled Phir Mile Sur Mera Tumhara. It aired this year on India’s Republic Day, and has received mixed reviews so far, to say the least. Personally, I think it has its moments, but for the most part, I agree with the sentiments of Krish Ashok, who has systematically torn it apart on his blog. Decide for yourself –

Uncle Sam

I’m on an exchange semester at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School in Atlanta. It’s been phenomenal so far, and I finally understand why all my seniors at SMU kept going “Oh dude, you have to go on exchange!” America is everything people make it out to be. And then some. There's a lot to write about this place. Not sure I want to bore everybody with the details! And I’m lazy. I’ll just direct you to my friend Ying’s blog. She’s been documenting her life as an exchange student here, and she’s doing a great job. And she's got a better camera than mine, so she has some great pictures there!



Some highlights of my semester so far have been my trips to New York and Savannah, seeing Tiësto and U2 live, and well just living in a house with people from 14 different countries. The business school is simply great. We have this “networking session” every Thursday, which is essentially free beer and pizzas. I’m definitely recommending that for SMU on my exchange feedback form. My professors are awesome, and there is no “I am your professor, listen to everything I say” air about them. So my classes have been super so far. Except that I made the stupid scheduling mistake of taking 10am classes everyday. Waking up is hard to do!

Getting around the city is a bit of a pain, if you don’t have a car. Taxi’s are expensive, and the public transport, yeah, lesser said the better. But we’ve managed so far. Most night outs end up with nine of us squeezing into a cab (usually driven by the ubiquitous Mike, or Muhamed, who are stories for another time!).

Atlanta is a city that takes great pride in itself. The southern culture really shines through. There’s a lot on offer for the camera-slinging tourist. It takes a little more digging to find gems such as Little Five Points, a kitschy neighborhood like no other. Eddie’s Attic is another such gem. It’s the place that made John Mayer famous, and it’s where I discovered the fabulous Ten out of Tenn.

I’m here till mid-December, and so are the good times. Flying to Chicago this weekend, and the west coast for Thanksgiving. (Vegas, baby!). Can’t have too much of a good thing, right? Except the song “I Gotta Feeling”. Tonight's always gonna be a good, good night. Get over it.

In and Out

Just thought I'd share a couple of interesting things I've come across in the past few days.

Imogen Heap - Ellipse

Out on Aug. 24th, this album is definitely one to look out for. Imogen's vocals are simply stunning, and everything she touches turns to gold. Try Frou Frou on for size.

Zero 7 - Yeah Ghost

Releasing Sep. 7th, this is the much awaited fourth album from Zero 7. One of the tracks Everything Up (Zizou) is already downloadable from their official website. This band is god's gift to music. Check out Simple Things for unparalleled aural pleasure.

Moving at the speed of light into eternity

Got it from my friend Rajan. The coolest wedding entrance. Ever.

What's Happening?

When I began this blog, I had planned to post quizzes regularly. That idea got kind of lost along the way. So here's a quick set of 10 questions, based mostly on current events. Take a shot.

1. Miguel Muñoz Mozún was the first to achieve this feat in 1960. On 27th May 2009, Josep ‘Pep’ Guardiola became the 6th person to do so. What?

2. It made its debut on May 25, 1992. On April 26, 1999, it began broadcasting in HDTV, becoming the first show of its kind to be shot in high definition. It regularly featured Ross the Intern and Tom Green. Its theme music, "Kevin's Country" was composed in 1992. Recurring segments include “99 Cent Shopping Spree” and “Teenage Wasteland”. It ended on 29th May 2009. What?

3. X is the only company that supplies Y in vials having volumes of 5 ml, 7.5 ml, 20 ml, 50 ml and 80 ml. Only one man in the company knows the formula for making Y - its quality control manager. And he does it behind a secure, locked door and alone. It is estimated that over 400m people have come in contact with Y, in 2009 itself. X and Y please.

4. There have been many instances of suspect nomenclature for virus outbreaks such as the recent case with H1N1 being called Swine Flu. A similar outbreak in 1918 affected an estimated 500 million people, or one third of the world's population (approximately 1.6 billion) at the time. Also called La Grippe, it originated in continental US, BUT was named after X, a neutral country in WWI, which had no special censorship for news against the disease and its consequences. Hence the most reliable news came from X, giving the false impression that X was the most—if not the only—affected zone. Identify X.

5. Recently, AT&T came under fire for offering free texting services and instructions on how to send blocks of text messages, at certain events in Arkansas. While this would seem like a good strategy normally, it is said to have skewed a recent event unfairly. What happened?

6. Started by Jack Dorsey in 2006, recent events such as “Ashton Kutcher vs. CNN” and “I Was Here Before Oprah”, have catapulted it to worldwide fame. What?

7. The first of its kind was opened in Boat Quay in 1992 by an American Investor. Current CEO Mohan Mulani persuaded the owner to let him buy into the company in 1993. Today, there are over 30 all over Singapore. Nick Leeson, of Barings Bank fame, was one of its famous patrons. Identify.

8. Ahmadabad, Kanpur, and any three out of Noida, Patna, Assam and a combination of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Khandh. What connects these places in the context of 2010?

9. A recent sale, held by in Paris the auction house Néret-Minet Tessier, featured many items that have become synonymous with this person’s performance, including his top hat (which sold for about $4,500) and a white sailor suit with a striped shirt and a too-small jacket (which fetched about $8,000). A Paris court had ordered the sale, which was expected to raise about $420,000, to pay for debts left by X when he died in 2007. Who?

10. Google's interface is available in 116 languages, but some of them are extinct, artificial or invented languages. Among the invented languages are Bork, Bork, Bork!, Elmer Fudd and X. X was conspicuous in its absence from something recent. It was first devised by James Doohan. Gilgamesh, Hamlet, Much Ado about Nothing are the three books published in this language. What’s the good language?

The Inertia of Apathy

In a recent conversation over a few beers, some friends and I were pondering over the ongoing general elections, and what it means. One thing led to another, and our conversation took some pretty strange turns, but some points of discussion stuck.

Politics in India is a messy affair. It's not as clear cut as the Congress, BJP and the Left. Mysteriously somehow, this organized mess works. Karan Johar recently made an advert for the Lead India campaign, where he roped in all the hottest bollywood stars to persuade the masses to vote. The message was that nothing can happen to this country unless we take a stand and vote. But how many of us know who we are voting for, and what it means not just to us, but the rest of the country as well?

Our country has an average voter turnout of about 60%. Out of which a majority are illiterate, or have just passed the Indian standard of literacy, which is being able to write your own name in one's mother tongue. Sure, they might still be smart enough to understand who can best address their concerns, but they are also that much easier to fool. In the state of Uttar Pradesh, over 20% of the parliamentary candidates have criminal records. I guess crime does pay.

But politicians are only half the story. Citizens have a large role to play in the problems that plague our country. The number of tax defaulters in India probably outnumbers the number who actually pay tax. Many would say that literacy is the answer to most of our problems. Sample this for illiterate literacy - close to 70% of credit card holders in India default on their bills. Many of these people are city-dwelling engineers with newly acquired purchasing power. Landing that software job that will make all your middle class woes disappear seems to be the promised land for the 1,200,000 students that write exams such as the IITJEE, AIEEE etc. But even after being through these premier educational institutions, basic common sense seems to be lacking. At the end, its sixpence none the richer. It makes me wonder, how can we complain about politicians siphoning money, when we are no better.

The situtation is not all bleak. Despite the shams, there are definitely changes happening. India is progressing, albiet not at the optimum rate. There is talk of making concrete changes such as easing FDI caps etc. Life still goes on, as it can only in India. I would continue on a rant about how there needs to be more accountability in the system, to find a solution to the aforementioned problems. But I simply don't know enough about my country's political and economic environment to make an educated point. Until recently I had never pondered over these issues.

Maybe it's high time we at least spare a thought.

The Holy Grail

Heh. Found this video online. It's made by an SMU student. With exams are few days away, I thought this would be fun to take a look at. To all my kiasu friends, hope you can relate to all the steps in this video! If only someone showed this to me when I was a freshman. Right.

Did You Know?

So I've been meaning to put this video up for a while now. Saw it in my Digital Media class, and the numbers made me immediately get up and take notice. As they say, watch and learn!