And Ships Sail

We humans are such suckers for love stories. Correction, we females are such suckers for love stories. We just love couples. I have always shipped people in books, in movies, movies trailers, co-stars, soaps, ads. Everywhere. Even random people on the streets.


My first book shipping was Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy. Even though everyone knows would end up together, they did start on the wrong foot. Darcy insulted Elizabeth, for God's sake! I was rooting for them so badly, throughout the book. When Darcy finally told Elizabeth- "I only thought of you" my only comment was "Atlast!" 

Then Harry Potter entered my life. Accompanied by fan-fiction; with some really weird shipping. How I hate them. I would rather stick to legit shipping.


When rumours of movie co-stars do the rounds( I do know it's mostly promotions, but still) I so wish the two of them get together. I know it doesn't affect my life but I was rooting for Priyanka and Shahid to be actually dating each other. ( Even now when I saw a recent Bru ad I was like aww, they look so good together)


I also love it when I find out that TV co-stars are dating each other. Couples I root for- Karan Kundra and Kritika Kamra( I think they were called  Arjun and Arohi in Kitni Mohabbat hai) and Sushant Singh Rajput and Ankita Lokhande ( Manav and Archana of Pavitra Rishta)


I think we girls also like shipping our single friends with each other. "Oh Ankur and Nilesh are so made for each other" "Esha should  totally meet Shaan" " I wish things work out between Riya and Aman, so cute they are!"


But, I don't like the ternd of merging the names of the couple you ship. Like Romione( Ron and Hermione) Drarry ( Draco and Harry, gulp) Kriyansh ( Kriya and Rayansh of a really sweet soap D3) 


And when Twilight fans keep on saying Team Edward and Team Jacob I feel like catching hold of them and almost shouting- "It's called shipping, it's not a bloody sports team you are supporting. "


Shipping is one of the random things I end up doing. " But it cannot be helped. "


P.S- I always wanted to ship Sirius Black with someone but couldn't think of anyone.

What I hated about 2010

Its the last day of the year. 2010 personally was a good year for me. Tommorow a new year begins. its just another saterday. Mornings will still be the same. The sun will shine in the same way it had today. Nights will still be dark. Yet it will be a new year. But we Indians celebrate New Year so many times, be it Poila Baisakh or Baisakhi. But then its a new year tommorow according to the calender most of us follow.

Today, on the last day of the year I want to list some things I hated about 2010. Here goes

The IPL teams/Lalit Modi controversy



I like cricket. Just don’t ask me the rules. IPL has made the game more understandable and much more fun for non-sports people like me. But this year the controversy regarding ownership of teams spoiled all the exhilaration of the game.


The bad publicity India got for hosting CWG


I Am all for India and her achievements. And if being able to host the CWG is counted as an triumph for India, so be it. But then do a proper job of it. What’s the use of taking up something if you cant handle it. This basically led to something worse- the over hyped bad publicity before the games and the Kalmadi scam after the games took away the spotlight from the Indian participants who had done so well. No one remembers who won gold silver or bronze at the games but ask anyone about the mismanagement and Kalmadi’s skills and everyone will have an answer. Basically instead of the focus being on the games the controversies surrounding it became the center of attention. Not Good.


The late winter


I love every season-summer for the mangoes, monsoon for the poetry and winter for the blankets. The late arrival of any season irks me. One looks forward to something and that something is so damn late. Punctuality is supposed to be a virtue. Virtue or not winter was late and on top of that it’s not very cold. The sky didn’t really turn “a hazy shade of winter” nor was December “deep and dark”. So am not happy with winter 2010


The soaring prices (specially of onions)


Not that I am the one emptying my pockets for veggies. But because of the sky high prices onion consumption was rationed. And yes the high rates became “the” topic of conversation. Mention onions and ears were pricked, people swayed their heads in disapproval and voila a conversation on onions has began, followed by a discussion on onion less recipes and how there are people (unlike us) who have always gone without consuming onions.


The “Big Boss” hype and other sadist, voyeuristic shows


I must admit that even though I hate the concept of voyeurism I have watched an episode here and there of Big Boss, Emotional Attyachar and similar shows. I know Bigg Boss is not exactlyan only 2010 phenomenon but the court had ordered an “after 11” time slot for adult viewership shows. 9, 10 and 11year olds discussing the antics of contestants of adult content shows like Big Boss and Splitsvilla is just ridiculous. But that is a different issue altogether. Hype over voyeuristic shows has increased this year which will certainly lead to more dramatic trends in society in the years to come. These shows are quite popular which proves that the once suppressed phenomenon of voyeurism and sadistic pleasure over peoples discomfort, humiliation and pain is now out in the open. But I, like many do not like this trend.


A series of badly written books


These books are full of grammatical mistakes and typos. With wafer thin predictable plots, poor characterization and bollywoodized situations the books were puke-worthy. And they gave non-readers a right to claim that they “read books”, an open insult to genuine bookreaders and the other extreme bookworms. Examples- ‘I too had a lovestory’, ‘ofcourse I love you..till I find someone better’ . How I hate those books. And their creators who claim to be writers. Whatever.


Rallies in Kolkata



Almost everyday in Kolkata is spent trying to figure out who is calling a rally for what. Not that I care much for the cause but it makes travelling on the Kolkata roads a pain.


Munni and her being badnam



Sorry guys but I hate that song. Even though Malliaka Arora khan supposedly looks hot in it( I am straight)Even though Zandu balm has got loads of publicity. Gawd what a crude song. Am not playing moral police but I wouldn’t ever want to sing that song aloud even if am drunk.


There are ofcourse many other things that I could have hated but can't recall at the moment.
 
On a pleasanter note
 
A very happy New year to all!

Certainly certified

Have you ever cringed while watching TV when a particular scene just pops up out of nowhere? Yeah. I am talking about those scenes, which if shown in a movie hall would be censored. Even normal slang is beeped in movies, right?. Or the movie is given a "to be watched under adult supervision" or "adults only" certificate. And we wouldn't go watch certain movies with the whole family. How many of us can see "Love Sex Aur Dhokha" with our parents, or for that matter with our younger siblings? I certainly cannot.


How many parents would allow their children to watch inappropriate movies? Very few, if any. If  movies are so blatantly certified, why not television content? Recently, I was watching a Hindi soap on a popular channel and was appalled to hear the kind of language they were using. Incidentally, my sister was watching too. I wouldn't want any kid to pick up such language.


Some jokes cracked on laughter reality shows get too embarrassing to laugh at. What is sauce for the gander is not tasty for the goose.


Some scenes, specially in saas bahu sagas or American soaps are to explicit to be watched with family. Yet, while watching TV together we invariably come across such scenes. 


I am not implying that such shows or soaps be banned or anything on those lines. Neither am I criticising the content or disapproving. To portray the story properly  or to add spice some scenes are required. And  everyone has the right to see what they want to.  Soap creators too have the right to bank upon popular themes. I simply want to suggest one change. Certification. A summary of the show's content. Warning about certain language or gestures used.


Certain DTH providers do give information about the content of a show, buy they do not rate any show. Every show before being aired should be rated accordingly. There should be a different censor board for television. This small change will make TV viewing a better experience.


 Indian Television has gone through several changes in the past ten years. We can now personalise our TV experience by recording rewinding or pausing live television. So why not this? Urban viewers have graduated from cable TV to DTH, they would be able to digest this small change. Wouldn't they?


Update: I did a project in my 2nd year of college(2010-11) Children and Adult content on TV where I raised the same questions. I included a survey where I asked children   ( 8-16) to tick off the shows they watch and found that most children do watch Adult Content on TV as it is easily available. I still want the same changes in TV viewership trends. 

Gimme a gimmick

I have been noticing something not that extraordinary in our big bad world, that most of it's areas are filled with gimmicks. We are all selling ourselves in the name of these G-things(now don't take this in any other sense).



Scene 1. Shopping male: sale 50 % off. Look at the price! 50 % off on 10 grand? Gimme another gimmick. 


Scene 2: What about those food products? Adjectives used are new/fresh/nutritious. Can you think of some more?


Scene 3: How can I miss out on our stars? Oh gawd...these are the best...link ups at the time of release,  haircuts to promote movies....

And we lap it all up!


We all take it in with more than a pinch of salt. We spent our sometimes- hard -earned -money on gimmicks.Even when we are smart enough to recognise them. We humans ready to believe whatever is convenient for us. And if our favourite star is endorsing it  we are all for it.



Philosophically speaking, ( or is it spiritually?) this life itself seems a gimmick. There is this theory that this world we live in is a poor copy of an ideal world which exists somewhere. Weird in an escapist sort of way, but I am ready to believe it.


Come to think of it, so what if everything is a gimmick? It isn't affecting us in any way and we haven't seen any other way. So be it.

The TV tease

 I saw this really melodramatic serial on StarPlus called "Pratigya" which was shamelessly promoting ruffianism, gundagiri and eve teasing. The male protagonist of the soap follows the female lead, declares love for her, breaks up her upcoming marriage and basically does everything that an eve teaser may do. And by showing all this the serial is portraying eve teasing as "the thing to do" . It has so easily legitimised this social "evil".


What was the writer thinking? And how could such a respected channel portray such degradation of woman in today's times? When the society is taking baby steps of change to give woman the respect they deserve such regressive soaps certainly do not help change mindsets.




The protagonist runs away to another town to get rid of the guy, and ultimately decides to marry him! This is not how things work. This is not the way to deal with eve teasers! We girls have faced such behavior atleast once. Even if we haven't, we are scared of the occurrence! Unfortunate but true. We should all know how to deal with this problem. There are techniques, you know! Instead of showing people such regressive material the soap could have shown the girl next door how to cope. Running away is NOT the solution!


  
Men forget that they have sisters, wives and daughters at home. And even they don't have one of those, they all have mothers!




Ruffians will always be ruffians. "The bad boy turned good" syndrome is only true to Hindi movies. Awareness of this fact is important. We all should know that there is a way out and soaps like the one I talked about are certainly not portraying the right way. I want to end this "eve teasing promotion". And I want your help. Do share your feelings on this forum




All woman invited to comment. Complain. Act. React.

baah baah!!!

Crying on TV is so damn cheap. Gawd!!!I have enough people crying their hearts out around me to care a fig about some pseudo celeb cry her eyes out on the idiot box. When I see people crying on national television my mouth forms a big fat "duh". But ofcourse the prize for crying the most on TV goes to Miss Bharatiya Nari Rkhi Sawant! ( BTW her latest is a show which involves babies! Sadists!)
By now the world and his wife know all about publicity stunts
click
Mandira Bedi crying
click
rupali Ganguly shedding tears
click
watever!!
And then thre are the soaps
click
Anandi crying (not again)
click
Ridhima crying
enough right?
Wrong. We are sadists. We love to see people cry. Its pathetic actually but cant be helped.

But honestly do give us something happier. We are saddled with so miuch sorrow anyway.
Not good huh?
Big blobs of tears generate bucket loads of TRPs. Why? coz we love tears. None of us say
"Jaani, I hate tears"
So there, "cry baby cry tujhe paisa milega"
Rote Raho.