August 24, 2010

Daily Soaps and their side effects-PART 1

I have never been an avid fan or viewer of daily soaps. The mere prospect of watching a stretched out story running into years of moribund drag gives me the willies. But I don't govern Public opinion and uptill this date the public has rarely paid heed to whatever little I've ever had to say. I am quite satisfied with my situation,though I would not mind if the public started lending their overworked ears to my sparingly utilized thoughts.

Today I would like to devote sometime to a handful of such soaps which have made my existence a little less comfortable . These stalwarts are "Jhansi Ki Rani" aired on Zee TV. Emotional Atyachaar and similar shows aired on "Hep" Youth targeting channels...and lastly Talent Hunt shows..ranging from from the clone army of singing talent shows to general talent shows.

Jhansi Ki rani

This show is the embodiment of everything sordid, typical and ridiculous about our entertainment industry and also our culture as a people. The show dishes out an elaborate account in the early life of Laxmi Bai , one of the heroines of our long Independence struggle. It was as if the writer smitten by the concept of voyeurism in his past life (contemporary to that of Laxmi Bai) had planted secret cameras in and around the dwelling house and scene of activities of The Patriot and hence had obtained an in depth view of her life in first person perspective.

If this were not the case then I am not sure how anyone could have known what was happening in the lady's life , before she rose to fame . I am sure she didn't have any private secretary who had been commissioned to chronicle her daily life in minute details.

The show does more harm to the Indian Reputation than Bollywood has ever been able to inflict.
I mean in their effort to reconcile the show with the scheming soaps of the day they have proved beyond doubt that in the absence of in house Indian conspirators The British would have failed to establish their rule and flaunt their clout in our Country. The series is infested with hatred directed towards the firangi in it's dialogues , although the plot and script signify otherwise. It also boasts of the most pathetic art direction I have scene in the recent times. The King Gangadhar looks more like a cheap sidekick in an 80's fantasy flick than a member of 19th century royalty. For God's sake, even Rakhi Sawant has more style than the on screen Raja.

The Costumes of the Firangis and the Firangi actors themselves are outrageously funny. Funny hats, useless gowns and an insignia not remotely in sync with the union jack.

The series has set new standards for nonsensical writing.

The show has had episodes which were rip offs from equally dubious (historically speaking) movies like Jodha Akhbar, yes I am talking about the movie where the entire star cast below the age of 40 had come straight out from a rigorous work out session in Solaris.

Another thing which has never failed to amaze me, I don't know why it doesn't bamboozle the audience, is how can people wear those hideously thick layers of clothing in Tropical climate.

A single helping of this show shall force even the most erudite scholar of History to question his knowledge. The show has distorted history to such an extent that the warning preceding the show calling it a work of fiction seems insufficient to absolve it's makers of any liability which may arise due to their epic creation.


Parts 2 and 3 (if needed) shall follow soon







August 19, 2010

Weather,Climate and The state of affairs.

India , technically has 5 seasons. Summer, Winter,Monsoons, Autumn and Spring. It is another thing that at any given time in our country no season ever lives up to it's name or showcases a benevolent side of it's diverse set of personalities.
It is always too hot, too cold, too dry, too wet, too long, too short , too imperfect to be labelled as any single season.

The summers for example often take up the time allotted to Spring and then themselves get vanquished by the rains which if they do appear often eclipse Autumn as well and if they don't , well then we have a "too long" spell of summer . Both spring and autumn for that matter , being the more tolerable seasons , never infringe anybody's space or right thus shortening their stay on earth. Many people would rather have them play truant and invade summer time and winters, and monsoons than be fictitious gentlemen in an ungentlemanly game.

Winter , of late has made up a lot of ground in our country. Traditionally a region tormented by heat, the cold has emerged as the next best tormentor with fog, frost and no sun marking the winter months. Winters however rarely take up other's time .

Then of course we have another issue here. If it rains well we have floods waiting in the docks, if it rains moderately we have drought licking it's lips, if it rains heavily the crop gets destroyed , if it rains lightly the landslides surface. Another thing, the fact that one part of our country is receiving normal rainfall does not mean anything in context of another part. In fact floods and drought are often observed i the same academic year.

In Shimla, the situation is quite exciting as well. In summers there is wager shortage due to scarcity of precipitation, during rains there is water shortage due to silt deposit upsetting the power stations' belly. In winters, the water freezes. Now I can hardly wait for a new season to come up and solve our water crisis.

Weather it seems has taken one step forward and is now mirroring the image of the havoc we have reeked upon our environment.What with failed climate conventions and mindless consumption of precious resources it won't be long before seasons give way to calamities and we associate months not with seasons but water shortage, drought, flood and repentance.