Let The Good Times Roll | May 2012 by Sahil Mehta

let the good times roll | may 2012

Table Of Contents

Feature

GAME OF THRONES

DOORDARSHAN: A RETROSPECT

AGLE JANAM MOHE TV NAA DEEJO

EVERYBODY LIES

MAHABHARTA

SATYVAMEV JAYATE

let the good times roll | may 2012

Credits COVER & DESIGN:

SAHIL MEHTA

EDITORS:

SAHIL MEHTA NISHANT BOORLA SUBHRAMANIUM N. ABHAY GUPTA WEBSITE MAINTENANCE:

CHINMAY MAHESHWARI

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Table Of Contents 4 THE EDITORIAL 6 FREEDOM, THY NAME WOMAN 8 LET ME SING YOU A WALTZ 10 LIL JOYS OF LIFE 11 A DISCUSSION... 12 INTERVIEW - MOHIT GUNDECHA 14 WRITER’S NOTE 35 DUAL 36 SMOKE SCREEN 38 REASONS TO HATE INDIAN TRAFFIC 40 INTERVIEW - SAGARIKA CHAKRABORTY 42 ANOTHER COFFEE, ANOTHER THOUGHT

The Editorial Nishant Boorla

“I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.” - Groucho Marx

ow Mr. Marx was around a long time ago. Syndication wasn’t what it is today. Back then, a sports broadcast didn’t bring the world to a standstill. When Groucho Marx was around, 2 billion people from around the world didn’t watch the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics. It’s sad to note icons like Marx and Chaplin aren’t around to admire, admonish and monitor[no pun intended] the monster they’ve helped create. One we’ve all taken for granted. Research after research kicks up generic results telling us how the human race can’t survive without cell phones by their side. We love our cell phones. We love our tablet PCs, our laptops, and our netbooks so much we fail to notice why we feel a compulsive need to own all three. I’ll tell you why I believe I need all three [I only own a laptop as of now]. I need my laptop to store a bunch of videos I’ll probably never watch. I need a netbook to keep track of developments in the rapidly intertwining worlds of sports and entertainment. I need a tablet PC to lend mobility to my HD video collection. The kind of mobility my laptop cannot dare dream of. In addition to all these colossal wastes of money, I need a fancy phone to video call my friends and remind them the match kicks off in another 10 minutes. The laptop is to store a treasure trove of TV Show episodes from around the world. The netbook is to keep me updated. A tablet to keep me entertained by playing videos synced from my laptop. All these gadgets then, need to thank the humblest of them all. The television. The television that makes us laugh when Leno is on. That makes us cringe when the Game of Thrones is being aired. That unites

let the good times roll | may 2012

let the good times roll | may 2012 and divides men along club lines every weekend that football is on. The television that gives people something to talk about on Facebook. The television that gives them their next Google search assignment, that helps them pick topics to microrant about on Twitter. Enough has been written about the bright side of having televisions around in the 21st century. Here’s what wouldn’t have happened had the television not been invented: • Fans of the English Premier League wouldn’t have existed outside of England. • Manc would be considered a typo for manic.

• Indians wouldn’t “Bleed Orange” [Bloed Oranje] during the Euros. • In fact as far as Euro 2012 is concerned, Indians wouldn’t give a flying F... •People wouldn’t pose for photographs holding up gang signs, or saying cheese. If there’s one thing television does well, that unites people. It unites people in their love for Barneys and Sheldons as much as unites people for their love of all things NBA. The same multitude that laughs when Phil Dunphy goofs around, groans when Kobe misses a J. What’s on screen later on in the day decides attire, schedules and appointments of the masses and that’s a power worthy of respect. That’s the power of television.

Television is the first truly democratic culture - the first culture available to everybody and entirely governed by what the people want. The most terrifying thing is what people do want. - Clive Barnes

Freedom, Thy Name Woman Kritika Tandon

he woman of today is described as beautywith-brains, career oriented and well educated. However, there are many problems faced by all of them, which are either unknown to us or we force ourselves to remain silent and let them be a subject of ignorance. To this day most parents would rather spend the lion’s share of their income educating their son and not their daughter. The reason behind this may be the need to preserve a fortune for her wedding, or may be in future the family would (want to) depend only on the son’s income. Several researches have concluded that even though on an average, a woman works more than a man; much of her work is not encouraged or given attention. This is because domestic work is not considered as work at all as there is no monetary contribution to the household. And thus, when a woman juggles between professional workload and household chores, a man easily claims to have worked harder by spending more time at the office. In addition to this, women also have to confront the

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challenges of sexual abuse, molestation, eve teasing and domestic violence. Most of us are well conversant with these facts. They exist in our textbooks for the mugging-up business, are exhibited on large hoardings as we traverse from place to place and are also brought up as a ‘mundane concern’ in the popular media content. In spite of such disinterest among the majority it would be highly unfair to say that not even half of us would want to delve into the hypotheses of such issues. When the Indira Gandhi regime could not enforce sterilisation and family planning measures on men for long (especially during Emergency), it diverted its wrath towards women. This is evident even in today’s times when a family is rewarded if the woman goes through certain contraceptive procedures such as the insertion of a Copper T. One silent cause behind all such efforts could be the ability of those in power to hurl impositions more easily on women than on men. Such instances take us to a conclusion that since time memorial, the society has always been busy in

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controlling a woman’s sexuality for if she wears the pants; who would be the rightful owner of property and give the last-name-identity to children? To prevent this pandemonium, the female population all over the globe is made highly conscious of its actions because they are ‘bound to have’ equal and opposite reactions. Thus, it ends up being subjugated to a series of psychological and physical torture.

Nevertheless, the implementation of such laws has not yet met complete success. This is because of innumerable reasons like corruption, high might of the abuser or mere unawareness of several women regarding the existence of their own rights. Absence of consideration of domestic helpers in the Prevention of Sexual Harassment at Workplace Bill, 2010, is another problem for our country.

Instances of sexual harassment occur on an everyday basis, not only with women, but also with men, children and the elderly. The dreadful situation can befall on almost any person. So what action does/ should anybody take at such an event? The ‘wise’ would expect to either ignore or remain hush about it. But that would be ideally wrong.

Moreover, the separation of the complexities of rape than that of molestation is a highly debatable matter. A rape case has always involved a stringent punishment as compared to an act of sexual harassment. This is because where the former is constrained as penetration inside the private area, the latter is limited to external harm.

This, in turn, produces a disarray of emotions amongst most of the victims and survivors of sexual harassment. When somebody touches us or passes lewd comments, our brains automatically start thinking about the consequences of raising an alarm. By the time we’re done suppressing our rage it’s too late to take any reverse action. Mukhtaran Bibi in her book In the Name of Honour gave a brief account of the biggest tragedy of her life. She was gang-raped by men of the rival tribe because her minor brother had been wrongly accused of molesting an adult female of the opposite tribe in a village in Pakistan. Bibi was raped ‘in the name of honour’, she was raped because those men misinterpreted jihad and came to the conclusion of raping her in order to take revenge and reinstate their pride. While other women who had faced similar incidents in the past committed suicide; Bibi fought back, filed a case and got her culprits punished. So not being able to retaliate gets stroked-off from our globally-applicable list of doubts and questions. What becomes important is how to retaliate. In India, the laws are the there to protect us. While Article 14 of the Constitution of India talks about the Right to Equality (gender), Article 21 lays immense emphasis on the Right to Life and Personal Liberty. The Supreme Court has also mandated Anti-Sexual Harassment Policy for every organisation.

“Instances of sexual harassment occur on an everyday basis, not only with women, but also with men, children and the elderly.” Women, as victims-to-be, must become strong and prepare for this challenge. They must be physically fit and morally upright to protest the lewd intentions of those who work along with them or meet them at public places. They should not conform to a man’s ‘muscle power’ and should strive to protect their dignity. But all such attempts will be in vain if notions of equal and respectful treatment towards the opposite sex are not imparted to men (and women) of all age groups. “AS LONG AS THE BIRTH AND THE EXISTENCE OF A GIRL DOES NOT RECEIVE THE SAME WELCOME AND RESPECT AS THAT OF A BOY, SO LONG WE SHOULD KNOW THAT INDIA IS SUFFERING FROM PARTIAL PARALYSIS.” - Mahatma Gandhi

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Let me sing you a waltz

out of nowhere, out of my thoughts. Shweta Khare

he dusky scarlet of nightfall dissolves into velvet inkiness and a distant star spangled heaven shimmers in my eyes. The throbbing restlessness of the city withdraws. It slowly retreats to someplace I don’t know. I can feel it relinquish its hold over the frantic; chaotic; purposeful urgency we call life. Every living moment, each dying second: trying to be a bit more. Feel a trifle more accomplished. Earn a little more respect. God! To feel loved. Hurried and rapacious…I don’t know to an extent of pointless necessity.

fleeting glimpses from another life. Distorted, amorphous and evanescent - it’s a psychedelic blend…Possibly because I have buried you somewhere in forgotten alleyways, possibly because I have closed so many doors to the past. Still it’s so strongly reminiscent of you, that formless whirlwind of colors; heart wrenching and becalming at the same time. I pine for your familiar touch …and I close my eyes for a moment, I am there. As I wander past those cobbled runic paths, your thoughts unfold from the deepest recesses. In a sightless anguish, in that pitch black; I feel my way

But in that deserted silence when the time stands still, I let my heart succumb irrevocably to a numbing calm. The dewy fragrance submerses my senses. The consummate darkness enshrouds my existence until I know not where I end and the night begins. A lonesome moon peeks through the silhouetted branches and its soothing silver is a promise of everything, everything beautiful. I see the drifting clouds alight in the moon’s splendour and I am free. I am free from the prying public intrusion. I am free from judgment. I am invisible. to you. From one melting memory to another, I am me. It’s in the dead of night that I feel alive. from one breathless impression to another; I resurrect a heaven from embers. It’s in the even A cool breeze carries the faraway rumble of heavydarker night of your embrace I fall asleep in. duty trucks. From someplace far off, maybe where the world ends or from where it begins. I love this All this time, you are like the night sky, so near but sound and I strain to hear its diminishing drone. just out of reach. Are things in life so transient, Just then a car passes on the adjoining street. Its so meaningless? The pitiable forever hopeful, front-lights play a shifting pattern on the ceiling. hopeless in me refuses to accept …I don’t know… And it agitates the gentle roulade of thoughts. Up Maybe I was too proud. Maybe you were too until now the slowly surging and receding waves prejudiced…or was it the other way round? I don’t were a dimmed cadenza. But now you come think it matters anymore… perhaps yes we are crashing back. two parallel universes, but I am not impossible to touch. Just so you know. And you shatter the sedate stillness in despairing throes as your deep gruff voice fills me and every fiber of my soul. I try to hold on to the

“I see the drifting clouds alight in the moon’s splendor and I am free.”

lil Joys Of Life

Arpita Nandi

o, I’m not going to start off about the flitting butterflies, the chirping birds, the beautiful sunrise, or the meandering streams! Nature’s beauty has been spoken enough about! Life has plenty of other stuff to give us, most of which go unnoticed by us! Have you ever discovered money in someplace you never thought you would? Or found some lost money in the pockets of an old shirt? How would you describe that feeling? Bliss? Yeah sure, it is! Even better is the feeling of sheer joy you feel when you discover that precious one rupee coin, hiding in some corner of your bag, when you were falling short of exactly that amount while getting your bus ticket(if you get one, that is!)! Whoever said money can’t buy you happiness? Do you remember how you felt when you found a public loo(or maybe a wall, whatsay, Indian men?) after holding back nature’s call for what seemed like a lifetime? Birbal once called this feeling the most satisfying, in life! While I would not go so far, I could surely say, I know what he was talking about! Ever had someone do something for you, unselfishly? Like someone who offered you their

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water bottle because you were thirsty and there was no water around? Has anybody ever waited for you when you fell behind, while walking in a group? Be it a stranger, or your best friend; an unexpected gesture by someone is the best way to bring a smile onto your face! Check this the next time someone is being thoughtful! How many of us can deny having laughed, or at least smiled, while reminiscencing about our past? Old photographs, video recordings, baby books (lucky babies of today! How I envy them!!), or even somebody telling us an anecdote from the past; is bound to melt even the hardest of hearts! Past triumphs still make me feel like a victor, my childhood antics still embarrass me; and old heartbreaks (the ones I have gotten over, of course!) now seem like little jokes! Talk about pain making me happy! I could go on forever! Simple pleasures, especially the ones that seem to pop out of nowhere, make life worth living! Finding joy in the finer things somehow lowers my high blood pressure… and it adds that essential element of mystery to my otherwise humdrum life- for I never know what’s going to suddenly make me happy!

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A Discussion

That Changed a Part of Me Pranav Sukhija

n the face, it was just an ordinary day. However, as I witnessed a not so ordinary conversation between two opinionated gentlemen, and was inspired to change the way I think, the day became worth remembering. The lunch break was on and the three of us, I and these two guys were sitting in the office sipping chai. Guy 1: Hey, did you have a look at the new organisational policy document? Guy 2: Yes, I did yesterday. They want us to work even harder and report each and every detail, isn’t it? I: Yes. As if we were not slogging our asses off already. Guy 1: I was surprised to read the volunteer policy. They are giving letters of recommendation to them after their projects. Guy 2: Yeah, what’s the big deal in that? I had told my volunteers on day 1 itself that they’d be receiving letters. I think it’s a smart move. Guy 1: Really, no actually this wasn’t the case last year. The volunteers came at their expense, worked with full dedication and never got anything in return. Guy 2: They would have probably realized that people would work harder if we promise them something concrete, something that will stay with them. Guy 1: Wouldn’t that be a drift away from the purpose? We want to promote the spirit of volunteerism among college students. If we tell them they’d be receiving certificates for their work, how can we tell if they are really dedicated? I wondered if it would be better if they changed the topic of discussion. Guy 2: See, this is management. You are making these kids miss classes and work for you at their own expenses. You need to give them something. Since money remains out of question, a simple letter will keep them motivated. And how does this question their dedication? Guy 1: My point is that we should only take in those

students who actually support our cause. We don’t need those who are doing it for their own selfish reasons. At this time, I was sure the conversation had drifted into another deeper level. I was afraid the conversation would soon turn into an argument. Guy 2: We are all selfish in that sense, right? Are you a free labourer? Guy 1: Let’s exclude ourselves from this discussion. Guy 2: See, whether someone is coming to us with selfish motives or not, if they are helping us in our work, and helping the organisation by spreading its work among their networks, why should that be a problem? I overheard Maitree saying that the number of volunteers and interns combined has jumped this year, and they had to reject many applications. Almost all start-ups and non-profits are hiring youngsters these days and giving them certificates as a reward for their hard work. Guy 1: What I am saying is, let’s promote volunteerism in its truest sense. This looks like a win-win situation; the firm is getting its work done for free, these kids have something concrete to mention in their CVs. But then how different are we from the others? It’s like being selfish and smart. Guy 2: I have always wondered why people are so quick in labelling acts or people as selfish. Is it criminal to be selfish? Is it no good to think about yourself? I strongly feel that we are all selfish in many ways, doing things we want to do. And why? Because we derive something from those acts, isn’t it? Why are we here? Because we enjoy our work, we are respected and appreciated, we are earning good money. Aren’t we being selfish in that sense? At this point, the first guy seemed short of words. Suddenly, we heard the bell rang and it signalled each one of us to go back to our work. I wished we could continue the discussion. But then the point had already been made. I don’t know about the other guy, but I became less judgemental about other people.

Interview

Mohit Gundecha Sowjanya D. Reddy

Your Next Leap (www.yournextleap.com) is one the hottest startups in the Indian education sector. It is a platform that helps students and young professionals get regular career guidance. It is a recommendation engine that leverages social curation, psychometric evaluations and the career graph to help with career guidance, college decisions and fresher jobs.

The company started by Suruchi Wagh has raised Series A venture capital funding and is backed by the Patni family. Sowjanya D. Reddy talks to the 26 year old co-founder & CEO Mohit Gundecha about the company and his experiences in starting up.

Q. PLEASE INTRODUCE YOURSELF SIR. > I am the CEO and Co-founder of YourNextLeap.com. Before this I was Head of India Operations at mig33, worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s biggest mobile-first community. Prior to that I was studying at Stanford University.

Q. WHAT IS YOUR COMpANY ALL ABOUT? WHAT DOES IT DO? HOw MANY pEOpLE ARE INVOLVED IN IT? WHO ARE THE FOUNDING MEMBERS? > YourNextLeap helps students and young professionals make career choices and get their first jobs. We are a team of 18 people. Suruchi Wagh and I are the founding members.

Q. WHAT MADE YOU START THIS COMpANY? > The ability to impact the way millions of students and young professionals make career choices through a web platform excited us to start this company.

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Q. HOw DIFFICULT wAS IT TO STARTUp? DID YOU RECEIVE ANY SET BACKS? HOw DID YOU DEAL wITH THEM? > Start-ups are always full of ups and downs. One has to be very passionate about the idea and have a lot of self belief to make it happen.

Q. HOw DID pEOpLE CLOSE TO YOU REACT wHEN YOU TOLD THEM YOU wERE GOING TO START A COMpANY OF YOUR OwN? HOw DID YOU FEEL? > Parents were little sceptical initially. But they are very supportive now.

Q. HOw wILL YOUR wORK AFFECT THE MASSES? > We will help millions of people make informed career choices and grow in their careers.

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Q. WHAT wERE THE SOURCES OF FINANCE YOU COULD LEVERAGE? > First we put our own savings and then got venture capital financing.

Q. WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF 5 YEARS FROM NOw? WHAT ARE YOUR pLANS FOR THE FUTURE? > We want most of the 100 million Indian students and young professionals to use YourNextLeap.com to make their career and job choices.

Q. SOME TIpS FOR UpCOMING ENTREpRENEURS? > Listen to your heart and have no fear!

Q. HOw wAS YOUR COLLEGE LIFE? WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE MEMORIES? > It was very interesting at College Of Engineering Pune, India’s 2nd oldest engineering college. I was involved in lot of extra-curriculars. We even organized the 150 years celebration with President Abdul Kalam presiding over it.

Q. HOw HAS THE EXpERIENCE BEEN? > Entrepreneurship helps you appreciate life, people and relationships better than ever before. I am so glad to be an entrepreneur.

Q. WHO HAS BEEN YOUR INSpIRATION AND DRIVING FORCE THROUGHOUT YOUR CAREER? > My family has been a source of my inspiration. My father’s honesty and brilliance, my mother’s vision and my wife’s support and participation in my career progress has been very inspiring and humbling.

Q. ANY SUCH BELIEF AS A FORMULA FOR SUCCESS? > Dare to Dream. If you think you can, you can!

Writer’s Note

Abhay Gupta

ave you ever met a guy who introduces himself as a writer? They always have this narcissistic air of self-importance and elitism. I would know. My name is Abhay Gupta and I’m a writer. And I happen to be better than you.

look pretty and neat. They’re singular building blocks of information that construct the entire article. They need to consistently illustrate a point without disconnecting from the overall idea or theme of the article in question. At the same time, they need connectors so that the entire article flows in a Relax, I don’t really believe that. Honestly, I don’t think smooth fluid manner. Don’t vomit your ideas all over you can qualify yourself as a writer until you’ve written the article, collect the similarly themed points and things that people can appreciate as good work. It’s construct them within a paragraph. Pick a rhythm. pretty simple. You don’t attach an MD to your name Your written words are your readers’ dancing partners just for knowing how to perform CPR or administering and it’s up to you to decide what music’s playing. You first-aid. You need to earn that glorious insigne in may provide the hottest prom date in the world with order to call yourself a writer and that requires some great thoughts penned down but you can kill the incorporating a simple set of skills that differentiates mood if you lack rhythm. Like playing Tubthumping in you from a guy who writes. Well, what makes a good the background. writer? Verbosity? A command over the English language? The ability to flawlessly plagiarize works of The next step is to be clear about why you’re writing those who are well established in the field? in the first place. Are you doing it because all the cool kids are doing it? Are you doing it because it’s easier Well, let’s start simple. What are you writing? If you’re than getting a bachelor’s degree in Engineering? (Nb: writing an article, you need the necessary rhythm Just so you know, Abhay wrote this column and I and flow. Construction is the key here. Collect your helped with the editing and both of us write because thoughts and understand that paragraphs are not we are disgruntled engineers to be!) Like everything blocks of text that people use to make their articles else in the world, you put your best works out when

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“paragraphs are not blocks of text that people use to make their articles look pretty and neat. They’re singular building blocks of information that construct the entire article.” you’re doing it because you’re passionate about writing. You feel for whatever it is you’re translating into text. Writers write because it’s their ideal and most channelled release of the ideas, thoughts and emotions that they have bottled up inside of them. It’s all about expression. Express all that you feel and think about what you’re writing and you’ll find that writing is really an effortless skill if you’re doing it for the right reasons. Paint a canvas with your words. Create a world of imagination and invite your readers into it by structuring your words in the most tantalising form possible.

and pay attention to what works for both yourself and your readers. Never shun criticism in any form. Criticism is good. It means someone actually paid enough attention to your article to realize where it’s inherently weak. Remember that your articles are a reflection of your skills as a writer. If there are holes in your article, there are holes in your technique and you have to revise your technique if you want your future articles to get better. When you’ve grown into your own customized style of writing, you’ll find that you’ve established your signature and groove as a writer and it becomes a part of who you are.

While writing is undoubtedly a skill, a good writer will always recognize it as an art form. Are any of you reading this fans of art? Yeah, me neither. I don’t get it. Some paintings are just scribbly colours or abstract images that probably mean something profound but need a little explanation or the right amount of LSD to understand. Once, I walked into an art exhibition and there was a painting of a blue background and a giant red dot in the centre. That’s it. That was the whole painting. It’s like walking in to a Foo Fighters concert and finding Anu Malik singing on the stage! I asked the artist what it meant and he gave me some artsy jargon involving a tragic love story and the fight between good and evil. Honestly, I just saw a big fricking red dot in the middle of a lot of blue. My point to this is that any and every article is as open to subjectivity and opinionated interpretation as a painting would be. If you try too hard to make an article abstract and full of hidden meaning, you stand to alienate a lot of readers by confusing them silly. If you don’t put in the right amount of effort into it, you’ve made the writer’s equivalent of a finger-painting.

So what have we learned today, folks? Is writing a skill or an art form? Is it structure more important or vision? Is it important to write the way you want to or to appease and please your readers? My personal opinion is a big black tick mark in the box next to ‘YES TO ALL’. Seriously, it’s like trying to answer “Does breadth contribute more than height does in calculating the area of a rectangle?” Just write the way you want and work it out as you go along. That’s the fun of it all. And if you ever find yourself hitting writer’s block, understand that a true writer would see it as a momentary pause in their thought flow and not a full stop. We writers are obnoxious and pretentious and believe we’re better than everyone else because what we do is more than just scribble some fancy words for you to read during your bathroom breaks. We consider ourselves elite members of a society whose primal task is to influence the way you think using something as basic as a pen and paper. The pen truly is mightier than the sword. Unless you’re in an actual sword-fight, because then you’re a fricking idiot for bringing a Cellopoint to save your sorry ass against four and a half pounds of chiselled steel. Words of wisdom for you, kids.

Finally, mould your own style. Understand your own strengths and weaknesses as a writer. If your vocabulary’s weak, don’t fret. Some of the best articles that I’ve read used the simplest words and sentence structures. The trick is to find a style that’s both natural for you and appealing to your readers. Adapt. Incorporate new things into your writing

“We writers are obnoxious and pretentious and believe we’re better than everyone ... We consider ourselves elite members of a society whose primal task is to influence the way you think using something as basic as a pen and paper.”

Feature presentation The one about tv shows

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Game of Thrones Nishant Boorla

t is said that Game of Thrones is TV’s version of Crack. Try it at your own peril. If you are grossed out by the violence or graphic sexuality, you won’t be the first person to quit the show or indeed be scarred for life by it. But if you can get past the shock value, you will be treated to one of the greatest TV shows of all time. Much like Crack addicts, you will be hooked to an extent where the only day worth anything each week will be the day you get your hands on a new episode. If you crave medieval settings, politics and multi-layered plots then you will love this show. Let me lend some perspective - this show has more key characters than How I Met Your Mother and Big Bang combined and then some. It’s not often that one comes across a screen adaption worthy of the book that feeds it. Certainly not in the fantasy genre. For every Lord of the Rings you have several Eragons and more. Game of Thrones is blessed with an exceptionally insightful gang of writers who do more than just bring the characters to life. They let you in on just about enough in terms of plot and schemes to let your imagination run wild. Before you know it you find yourself picking sides and judging war strategy.

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You may even feel cocky enough to assume you know better than the miserable schemers on screen! As gritty as they come this is show where pregnancies and weddings don’t make you groan and complain about insipid writing. Every event, every twist contributes to the plot in more ways than one. Just writing about it makes me want to play a few episodes again. Most film studios are cautious when it comes to making movies based on fantasy books. Unless the book is a proven champion like the Harry Potter series or LOTR, studios wouldn’t want to waste their time. The reason of course is the sheer expansiveness of the narrative. The Bourne series sets the action in the middle of cities and towns. Fantasy stories are set in far off magical lands that aren’t too easy to bring to the screen. From locations to costumes, accents and extensive CGI work to bring mythical creatures to a screen a fantasy adaptation simply costs too much. This is why HBO deserve all the respect in the world for bringing to TV screens what most studios fear to release worldwide. HBO are known for backing

let the good times roll | may 2012 ambitious projects with mega budgets. Spielberg’s The Pacific proves that. So does Band of Brothers. But those were mini-series. Game of Thrones is a full length series which is sure to run for at least 6 seasons assuming all the books are adapted. It was a risk but they were bold and they now have a legion of fans full of gratitude. Not a piece of cloth out of place, no sets built on overly stingy budgets and no skimping on CGI skill. This show is a production design masterpiece. The city of Qarth looks stunning and would put most Hollywood movies to shame. Basics: Game of Thrones is set in the mythical land of Westeros and its seven kingdoms. The Kingdom of the North - ruled by members of House Stark from their castle in Winterfell. The Starks are an honourable clan. Virtuous as they are loyal and brave the Starks are well respected throughout the land and have the support of fiercely loyal banner men. The Vale - ruled by House Arryn from their castle the Eyrie. The Iron Islands - are ruled by House Greyjoy from the castle of Pyke. The Iron Islands are home to a fiercely combative race known as the Ironborns. The Westerlands - rules by House Lannister from the castle of Casterly Rock. The Lannisters are people of immense wealth, high-cheekbones, tactical expertise and incest. The Reach - ruled by House Tyrell from the castle of Highgarden.

“When you play the game of thrones you win or you die.”

The Stormlands - ruled by House Baratheon from the castle of Storm’s End. The Dorne - ruled by House Martell from the castle of Sunspear. Above all else, Game of Thrones deconstructs notions of power and destroys orthodox templates of those worthy of wielding it. The core attributes of power remain the same but the manner in which it shifts is what makes the show a compelling watch. To the faint-hearted - watch the show’s pilot. I dare you. To the rest - Watch the pilot and try staying away from the show. I dare you.

Doordarshan: A Retrospect Vasundhara Goyal

nlike most of my friends and relatives, I grew up watching Doordarshan TV serials. Obviously my parents thought cable channels were a bad influence on society and to impede me and my brother from wasting our valuable time on soap operas, they decided that it was better to feed us a few Holly-Bolly DVDs every month. They figured it beats trying to stomach a badgering family drama sequel every half an hour and doing away with our studies. With time, the craving for cable TV dwindled. Initially there was DD1 and DD2 which later on became DD National and DD Metro. It didn’t find it difficult to get used to Doordarshan programmes. For those who were born in late 80’s and early 90’s, Doordarshan has a special place in their heart. Those were the times we got up early morning to watch He-Man, Chandrakanta, Danu, Alice in Wonderland and Mogli (Jungle Book). We stayed up very late to watch Shaktiman, Alif Laila and Reporter. My favourite

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commercial of Dhara Cooking oil that featured Parzaan Dastur as a small boy who runs away from home, but returns on time to grab the hot jalebis his mother made to lure him back, gave way to my craving for jalebis every Sunday. Till date, I cannot start my Sunday without them. A few years later DD Metro was abruptly shut down and we were left with DD National only. Some of the shows were Re-telecast on DD National and another channel, DD News was introduced. Indian television has seen two eras, a Doordarshan Era and a Post Doordarshan Era. The Post Doordarshan Era is of less significance to me as I was in my early teens when the cable connection at my dwelling was dropped. I grew up watching Tarang in the afternoons when my Mom was asleep. Three movies a week on Friday-Saturday-Sunday with Bioscope showing a movie in parts on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday being the icing on the cake. Those myriad letters

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read on Bioscope made me wonder how in this Post Doordarshan Era, there are so many spectators who not only watch but have the time and interest to send so many letters one after the other. I personally felt, watching Doordarshan, (when everyone else was watching Roadies and Splitsvilla on MTV) was an obligation for me. It was probably a better option compared to watching James Bond movies over and over again. Fauji, a TV series on Indian Army was aired in the year 1988 with the lead role played by Shahrukh Khan. His television début was Dil Darya and he also had recurring roles on Circus, Umeed and a few more. Doordarshan has launched many a leading actor, but now it is on a downward spiral. Doordarshan has lost its charm in the pursuit of meeting industry benchmarks set by the likes of Sony, Starplus and ZeeTV. Once in a blue moon, I pamper my eyes with Dish TV and Tata Sky transmissions at my friend’s place, but all I just do is keep switching channels until I get bored, pick up a paper and start writing. 80’s and 90’s was the time when a single channel educated, informed and entertained with its Sunday spree. I just couldn’t afford to miss my weekend feast. What I had seen in my childhood was certainly a class apart. The erstwhile gamut of Fauji, Buniyaad, Nukkad, Ye Jo Hai Zindagi, Shrimaan Shrimati, Dekh Bhai Dekh, Udaan, Aarohan and my favourite cartoons Talespin and Duck Tales that accounted for my daily bread and butter of entertainment are now history. It’s almost 5-6 years from the time I had started preparing for IITJEE; I have lost touch with DD’s programmes and telefilms. At times I go through some of the old videos of Malgudi Days andTimba Roocha (a series portraying a friendly ghost and the moral stories he narrates), uploaded on Youtube. No one

can forget the quintessential Indian song “Mile Sur Mera Tumhara” that was aired first on Doordarshan. I have a valuable collection of old DD TV series (Bharat ek Khoj, Udaan, Dekh Bhai Dekh, Vikram Aur Betaal and my next one about to arrive, Alif Laila) that I have been collecting for the past 2 years. I reminisce watching Aarohan, starring Pallavi Joshi, her struggle through Naval Training and Udaan featuring Kavita Chaudhary as an IPS officer which made me take up NCC in college. Byomkesh Bakshi and Tehkikaat were some intelligent detective series with unpredictable plots and solutions. Till date whenever I read Sherlock Holmes, I can think of only Rajit Kapoor in his boots with K.K.Raina in the guise of Dr.Watson. I got my passion of reading psychology books and silently reading people’s gestures from Sam D’Sylva (Vijay Anand). A recent Advertisement of Aamir Khan’s new production ‘Satyamev Jayate’ (another TV series that was on DD) has renewed my interest in Television. I am so looking forward to watch it. I wish this new serial brings back the lost dignity of DD.

Agle Janam Mohe TV na Deejo

Abhyudaya Shrivastava

t is said that “time and tide wait for none” but in the world of Hindi TV soap operas, time not only waits for commercial breaks, it often repeats itself over and over again so that the leading ladies can get the slap right, that too in slow motion through multiple angles. These serials have been the butt of jokes since time immemorial, yet their clan continues to enjoy vast popularity mostly among bored housewives. I have never been unfortunate and *cough* imbecile *cough* enough to follow a TV soap religiously but that doesn’t mean I was spared the torture. Flipping through channels, during days of extreme emotional distress, I’d try to commit suicide by lingering on a channel airing “Agle Janam Lado Na Aana Iss Paraye Ghar Pardes” type opera. Somehow I survived to tell you the horrifying tales:

The Repetition

These serials treat us like morons. Take this scenario - an overdressed bride narrates an incident to a vamp

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wearing garish make-up. Now, an elderly lady comes, and asks what’s going on. To that, the vamp again goes about explaining the same lines bit by bit. Enter the tired paternal figure who happens to be curious too. Now it’s the elderly lady (Baa/ Dadi/ Kaki)’s turn to repeat the same dialogues line by line! It’s an intellectual onslaught on the audience’s sensibilities but somehow, the housewives not only watch it, they watch it with their pupils dilated. It’s as though they learn just that little bit more about the incident with each repetition. This to them is what “Inception” is to people who know better.

Recording Response

Every time something momentous happens on the show, the camera zooms to take everyone’s reactions. You can count the pimples on the face of the protagonist, watch the nose hair of the fatherly figure wiggle as he flares his nostrils, watch the botox enhanced vamp quiver with fear and basically the

let the good times roll | may 2012 micro-expressions of every member of the annoyingly large family. Even the disinterested servant and the neighbour who has nothing to do with the scene get a 5 second zoom each. It’s like the director wants every actor to earn every paisa. One dialogue and then 5 minutes of recording everyone’s reaction; that’s how the serial moves to complete 500 episodes. They’re just warming up at this point. Try and get Google to tell you how many episodes Swabhimaan lasted.

Dialogues

The lines written may catch you off guard and make you puke if you’ve got even a semblance of intellect. With plots like those, I guess, you need dramatic

Cheap Tactics

The episode mostly ends with an appalled or stunned face upon seeing someone who just entered the room. The viewer is at the edge of his seat waiting for this moment because the whole week, the channel has been building up for this moment! But no, you have to wait another day. Not so easy – unravelling these mysteries. Next episode of course is going to re-run the 5 minute sequence building up the mystery again and then end with the surprise character being some random actor with no relevance to the story line. A 3-4 minutes long exchange would ensue with no fruitful result and then the air starts building for next such “moment”. Imagine this*Build-up* *Enter surprise character* (Our character is all wideeyed and stunned) *One long commercial break later* Our character- Arey dadaji aap? Dadaji (surprise character)Haan bahu, tum kuch pareshan nazar aa rahi ho? Our character - Ji kuchh nahi... aap yahan kaise? Dadaji - Main bas yunhi, nikal raha tha toh socha milta chalun... mujhe aise kyun lag raha hai ki tum kuchh pareshan ho.. Our character - Ji woh baat ye hai ke....

dialogue but that is no excuse to resurrect the ghost of 1980s’ Bollywood. “Mujhe toh pehle se hi shaq tha...” “Karamjali, kulta...” “Kahan mu kaala kara ke aayi hai”, “Main tumhare bachche ki ma ban ne wali hoon”, “Kuchh aisa karo ki saanp bhi mar jaye aur lathi bhi na toote.”, “Ab nahi sahaa jaata”, “Bitiya toh paraya dhan hoti hai...” “Aaj tumne mujhe bata hi diya ki meri aukat kya hai..” “Tang aa gayi hoon roz roz ki khichkhich se” etc etc... Talk about cliché. [Nb: For someone who doesn’t watch Hindi TV shows because they make him puke the writer sure does know a lot of lines!]

*Script goes into a coma* There have also been entire half-hour episodes where all we get to see is one female walk out of the kitchen towards the couch in the living room. Even the serials other than family dramas are cliched and repetitive. Don’t believe me? Watch CID, Aahat or any other serial that has run for more than 3 years tonight. If you survive, we shall talk tomorrow. Adios!

Everybody lies

Harsh Joshi Anil Mohan

n the year 2004 came about a show that changed everything; absolutely every single thing about television and I won’t bother typing the name of the show, for I am a procrastinator extraordinaire, much following the footsteps of House, M.D. Damn, I typed it! Well, let it be. I am certainly not going to press backspace just to validate my statements. Now, before I begin my ramblings about House, first let me just go ahead and thank Fox for many a wonderful shows including Fringe, Bones and Glee! And did I mention Bones? Yes I did. How does a person attempt to write about the Gods that be, leave alone fathom the depth of them, how does one start to know the extent of their mystique? I don’t know and perhaps if I knew the way to do that I could have written more about House but the

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fact remains that I don’t and so I won’t. For those who belong to Housedom, and who revel in every eloquently worded backslap, every tongue in cheek reference to the idiosyncrasies of the brilliant-yetquirky co-actors(& characters), every moment of selfloathing and heady defence of personal ideals, well there is nothing much to say for them except that they are on the journey of a lifetime(A journey which sadly; ended May 21, 2012). And for those who haven’t yet tasted and ravished the sweet-sour saga that is House, I can only think of three words: Get on Board! In an interview Stephen Fry(For those ignorant of this genius Google/YouTube Search abofal) said that Hugh Laurie does what is most difficult. He convinces us that he is, in fact, intelligent. The way I see it, that is a huge understatement and House’s brilliance on screen not only convinces but mesmerizes and enthrals and

let the good times roll | may 2012 enchants and I could write a truckload of adjectives but it wouldn’t do justice to his performance. It is simply put, epic. What makes it great is not a mind boggling plot like that of 24, nor the gooey-dooey stuff that the writers of F.R.I.E.N.D.S had for us; it is the idea that a misanthrope could be so snugly and irrevocably put into a situation of social importance, that he could be indispensable to a bunch of people and to medical professionals at that is the greatest kick you can get. So if you consider yourself to be antagonistic to everybody or just don’t get along that well, House is the show for you.

I do not claim that I have absolutely all the know about of House M.D but I do think that I know enough to write about the beloved (or otherwise) Dr. Gregory House. I have come across people who say that they dislike House and I didn’t care enough to enquire why but honestly, no one in their right mind can hate House and even though he gives every reason to hate him. He challenges your ideals and morals, to put it mildly he ‘downplays’ the sensibilities of the common man and the occasional woman, subjecting to ridicule their

hopes and aspirations and driving their patience and virtue to the edge. All of this while slithering into their thought processes and arriving to their conclusions before they themselves do, employing methods of deduction only he is privy to. If you love Sherlock Holmes, you gotta love House. House is God; the God of television. The reasons behind House’s epic-ness are numerous but the principle one other than the quirky and outlandish persona of the protagonist is the antagonist itself -- The Diseases. As Anil Mohan second year student of MBBS at KMC Manipal writes:

House MD is a medical drama, the plot of which revolves around Dr. Gregory House a self-obsessed, snobby diagnostic physician with great skill and his team of doctors, experts themselves, and how they come across and tackle cases with the most atypical presentations. I started watching the series in my first year of college, when a few friends of mine, who had already become avid fans of the series, recommended it to me. The pilot blew my mind away. What garnered my interest

was how even the most subtle of symptoms, which would have easily been overlooked are taken into account and a decisive diagnosis is made, which by itself is confirmed , at times by using the most unorthodox forms of investigations. Even the cases that are depicted in each episode are so abstract and unique, that they are probably seen only in books and medical journals and rarely ever seen in actual practice. What’s brilliant is that even though these cases are so weird, there’s no bullshit in the show. There have been actual reported cases of most of the diseases or anomalies depicted(A notable exception being the Giovannini Mirror Syndrome S04E05). The show also manages to involve certain aspects on the personal lives of the team, keeping the show interesting even for the people not familiar with all the technical medical jargon. Although the shows keeps the equilibrium between the personal lives of the characters and the world of medicine, some aspects of the show seem unrealistic. As I mentioned before, almost all the episodes depict cases that are pretty rare, and might probably be only seen a few times by a doctor in his entire career. Also, the risqué manner of House, and his modes of acquiring information from his patients would

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“Humanity is overrated” probably land a doctor with a lawsuit, or even worse, in prison(Obviously Anil is yet to see Season 8). Nevertheless, House M.D. manages to hold balance overall, and keeps it interesting and pretty addictive to watch. Each season seems to outdo the previous with unexpected twists in the plot. Its a shame that they are cancelling the show after the current, final season. Overall House M.D. is a very captivating show and is recommended, from my part, medical student or not. As you are reading this the days of House are over, it’s series finale has aired and I am yet to watch it...the whole 8th season that is. But if your run of Boards and Entrance Exams and CCEs and quizzes and end-Sems and projects and seminars is finally over or is even a bit further down the line and if you’ve missed out on watching House, I suggest that you take a break - from everything - get House and watch it. I’m gonna do it.. soon!

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Mahabharata

Ameya Lonkar Subrahmanian Namboodiri

Present day

am sitting in my house alone, in front of the television channel surfing and I find nothing worth watching. I am sure everyone around here, there, everywhere knows what I am talking about.

Boredom prevails and my mind begins to wander and travels to my childhood days. The setting is a Sunday morning somewhere in the 90’s. The living room is overrun with people, people that are hastily removing their footwear at the door as they would at a shrine. They are all in a hurry, to

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get the best possible spot of course. After all it is important that they catch every bit of action that will unfold and hear every single word that is dropped. Everyone eagerly awaits the end of the commercial playing on screen. They are all waiting for the stentorian voice of Mahendra Kapoor to fill the room with the words - Mahabharat, Mahabharat. And soon the sonorous voice fills the room and announces the beginning of the epic saga. Every soul in the room is listening with rapt attention. A feeling of bravado is gushing through everyone’s veins as Mahendra Kapoor’s voice booms throughout the air and I am no exception. It is due to this man’s thundering voice

let the good times roll | may 2012 that the following verses from the sacred Gita are well known and so easily recognized.

यदा यदा ही धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्भवति भारत, अभ्युथानम् अधर्मस्य तदात्मानं सृजाम्यहम् | परित्राणाय साधुनाम विनाशाय च: दुष्कृताम, धर्मं संस्थापनार्थाय सम्भावामी युगे युगे || And for the less acquainted, these words loosely translate as below:

Whenever there is decline of Dharma (righteousness), and rise of Adharma (unrighteousness); To protect the virtuous, to destroy the wicked and to re-establish Dharma, I manifest myself, through the ages. After the introductory track plays, the next is the eternal and unchanging “Samay”. Barely paying attention to the actual content that is being delivered, the delivery impresses me to such an extent. It is authoritative and deep, commanding the audience to obeisance. Starting now, to the completion of the telecast forty minutes hence, every chore in the household comes to a standstill as men and women alike sit in front of television set to witness one of the greatest events in history. The ‘Mahabharat’ was, is and always will be a story of how good triumphs over evil, the fable depicting victory of light over darkness. It did not hold so much meaning for me back then, I was just happy to see the super powered arrows flying about. Shot with the intent to kill, they wreaked of vengeance. I don’t remember a lot more than the arrows, save for a few characters that were essential for the story. I clearly remember the crooked ‘Shakuni Mama’ and his various schemes to aid the ‘Kauravas’. I remember the serenity and calmness in Krishna’s voice as he guided ‘Arjun’ through the various battles fought on and off the war field. I am sure most of the nation’s Sunday mornings were spent watching this timeless classic. Apart from the actual lessons learnt, which weren’t a lot in my case, memory recalls the way this show brought together so many people. Right through generations, caste, creed, gender, it did not matter. The show spoke about qualities which are of utmost importance in

one’s life; it taught us to live by our words, to respect our elders and teachers. The most important lesson was about faith. To have faith on our guide or as they called it our ‘Saarthi’. As we all sat, the important part was the bond forged across the generations. The elders got the opportunity to instruct without instructing, the lessons meant for a healthy life and we got an opportunity to bond with our parents, elders. Everyone watched, in unison, as our culture unfolded before our very eyes. Each new story taught a valuable lesson. And today, in 2012, I wonder if there will be any other television show that could possibly create the same sort of atmosphere. Or for that matter, teach forgotten values or provide an exposure to Indian culture like this singular epic did. And I also don’t know if it was the show or the fact that we were simply more sociable back then. How many today, actually know who their neighbors are? Will we ever get together like we did in the days gone by? I do not have answers to this, nor do I expect any from you. But time, for one, will certainly tell. Woh samay hai, woh hi batayega

Satyamev Jayate Shaonli Nath

Chicken soup for the sudden socially conscious soul? Even as Aamir Khan’s novel TV Show becomes the new rage, questions arise over it’s authenticity, it’s impact and mostly over its intentions. Even as Aamir Khan is being hailed as messiah, comparisions are being made about the show’s similarity with the Oprah Winfrew Show. Even as the show undoubtedly increases awareness about social issues, skeptics question whether it will really change anything. Shaonli Nath splits herself into two to try and present both sides of the picture.

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VIEW

n 1990 Amartya Sen first spoke about the missing girls of South Asia. It took 22 years and countless dead girls for the nation to gain a firm cognizance of this problem challenging the country’s fundamental morals and demographics. Medical malpractice, dowry, child abuses are much discussed clichés in our social circles. But it takes more than mere demonstrations, slogans and elite activism to make an impact. It requires careful research crafted into effective communication to strike the right chords. And that is what Satyamev Jayate has precisely done. Pundits questioning the treatment of subject in the show are missing that SMJ isn’t meant for Oxford read sociologists but for the common man. The common man will not understand a 90 minute thesis on a social problem, but a comprehensive treatment in a methodological manner will just drive the point home. The simple objective approach of the show is lucidly appealing: Problem Statement, examples, causes, statistical figures, short term effects, long term effects, possible solutions, examples of solutions. In first observation the straight format might seem stale, but the accompanying clarity of such a simple format is the catalyst for reaching out to the intended audience: more than 1 crore hits on Youtube and 10 lakh fans on Facebook, the audience without internet or 3G that was reached can’t be calculated on basis of select sample space. The Indian television medium has turned into a disgusting quagmire of ill-scripted family dramas with opulent havelis and garishly dressed women and perverse reality shows which feed on TRPs generated by scripted shocks. TV shows like ‘Balika Vadhu’ and ‘Na Aana Iss Des Lado’ started with crisp social themes but in due course of time and TRPs, lost the creative battle to shoddy story lines and unscrupulous cliffhangers. In the midst of such chaotic mediocrity,

“Pundits questioning the treatment of subject in the show are missing that SMJ isn’t meant for Oxford read sociologists but for the common man.”

when a fresh show that honestly unfolds complex social issues in front of its viewers runs into such acerbic criticism, it is not only disturbing, but rather shows the cynical compulsion to deride we Indians cumulatively suffer from. Aamir Khan is no stranger to social causes. Fanaa was banned in Gujarat for his stance on the Narmada river. Rang de Basanti, Taree Zameen Par, Peepli Live; Aamir Khan’s films have become a subtle social crusade in themselves, a rare phenomenon in a league of actors living in bail after killing endangered animals and pavement dwellers in the same vein. Aamir using his star personality to spearhead a mission requires appreciation, and not mind- numbing scrutiny in the name of freedom of expression. Laughingly enough, SMJ has been linked with Aamir’s future presidential interests. A man who rejected film awards at the peak of his career deserves more credibility than being considered a semi- megalomaniac. Cynics find it objectionable that Aamir charges 3 crores per episode, but they don’t seem to remember the 150 crore which Amitabh Bachchan has gathered over 3 seasons of KBC and the 3 crore per episode quote of Salman Khan for Dus Ka Dam. If money indeed mattered to him, Aamir could have easily hosted a reality show. He didn’t have to spend 2 years of his life on this project. Commercial benefit doesn’t translate into a lack of purpose. Yes, everyone is entitled to have an opinion: The Indian Oprah, staged phony drama, paid studio audience, glycerine tears, accusations can be many. But at the end of the day, SMJ challenges the status quo: of run of the mill shows, of having accepted our social evils as clichés, of the deep rooted “Chalta Hai”. People sat up and noticed. A bill got passed immediately and medical licenses got cancelled, genuine examples of pro-active results of the show. If the painfully rendered ‘Ori Chidaiyya’ could make 10 families contemplating feticide turn back on their decisions, we should deem this show a success. For heaven’s sake, let us not shoot the messenger this time folks!

COUNTERVIEW

unday is supposed to be the day of indolence, of quiet lazy reflections, and old MGM movies. But sometime back incessant visual and TV teasers forced millions of inquisitive Indians to check out this new show on Star Plus (or any of the many channels). You sit sharp at 11 am, la old Mahabharata days, just as how its creator visualized. Yawn! I am forced to go through a 90 minutes stifling sordid melodrama of scripted tears, heavy predictable discussions and a solution at the end. Yes! A magic solution, jadu ki chhadi for all the problems that have baffled activists and governments for years. Doordarshan style sets, teary eyed audience and a control freak of a host who resembles that confident internet meme guy striking a pose in suit. Bi*** please. Journalism and activism is serious business. Social issues don’t have utopian solutions but rather they are challenges that need decades of dedicated efforts to be eradicated. The primary problem of this show starts with its ohtoo-neat structure sprinkled with flakes of cheesy Bollywood moments. How a group of 35 year olds in Haryana have remained unmarried because there are no girls remaining around! How a mother-in-law pushed the cradle of the baby girl down the stairs to be followed by close-ups of horrified audience. The host proceeds to envisage a society like that of movie Mrityudand where women are commodities, and gender violence is the precedent of the day; too many tropes, too many artificial emotive interjections. And the worst of it all is that when one would expect such clichéd drama to be wholly and originally Indian, the show’s execution style has been copied component by component from Oprah Winfrey’s show.

more harm than good. Use of terms like “murder in the womb” raises serious concerns in context of woman’s right to choose. Rather than strictly condemning sex-selective abortions, the episode ends up giving abortions a heinous color in 90 minutes. In a country where women are fighting for their rights over their wombs, this can be counterproductive and dangerous. With such generalizations, we are moving towards a situation where a woman who validly wants to abort because of medical or otherwise reasons will be prevented from doing so if the fetus is a girl. Such abrupt generalizations strangulate the rights of woman over her body. The show’s manipulative presentation and populist agendas fails to be diagnostic and ends up merely scraping the surface of the issues with messiah like dialogues and one-dimensional quick fix solutions. So far, Aamir has taken up typically popular issues, with no possible confusion or arguments over the right or wrong. Going forward can Aamir take up controversial yet critical subjects: Same Gothra marriage, Dowry laws misuse, Quota system, Kashmir, Maoists? It will be interesting to see so.

“The show’s manipulative presentation and populist agendas fails to be diagnostic and ends up merely scraping the surface of the issues with messiah like dialogues and one-dimensional quick fix solutions.”

A minute analysis of the show’s content throws up criminal mistakes. Did Aamir Khan think of the possibility of future sex offenders and traffickers in Haryana possibly using his arguments as their defense? Tomorrow a rapist from a Haryana village can possibly quote that the lack of women made his libido go for a frenzy and hence he committed the crime. The lack of proper sociological introspection of the communicated message beforehand can do let the good times roll | may 2012

The financial transactions surrounding this show raise suspicions on its holierthan-thou projections. Rupert Murdoch owned Star group is telecasting the show, prime sponsors are shelling out 10 to 16 crores, a ten second advertisement spot causes 10 lakhs and Mr. Khan charges 3 crores for each episode. All this for feeding the mass population with sanctimonious preaching, almost like chicken soup for the sudden socially conscious soul! These 13 guilt trips led by Aamir Khan might make our Sunday afternoon discussions more informative, and discussing our individual social responsibility might be the next cool thing since X-Box 360. But it will take more than social crusades on an idiot box to bring in a real change. Aamir has perhaps already moved on to his next project since. What are we doing? Sirf Dil pe lagne se baat nahi banegi. Dimaag bhi lagaana padega.

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dual

Arpita Nandi

ooking good. Check. Packed the kids’ lunch boxes after having supervised their bath and breakfast. Check. Made badam milk for the in-laws. Check. Getting that fat paycheque this evening. Check. That’s the ideal Indian woman of today for you. She’s the ultimate blend of tradition and modernity, juggling work and home with perfect dexterity. Be it ironing the creases out of her ever-so-busy husband’s blazer, to checking if mom-in-law has had her medicines, to helping the kids with the homework- multitasking seems to be such an integral part of her identity,

She’s the ‘ardhangini’ – one of the two halves of a home. Man is the other. In every aspect. And it’s about time he lived up to that wedding vow! you’d hardly call it a skill anymore- it’s just something she was born with. As we go on and on today about women’s lib, and how she’s stepped out of the purdah, we seem to have completely overlooked the fact that she has probably had to jump from the frying pan into the fire, as she has begun living an almost dual life. A lot has been said of how today’s Indian woman looks at her male counterpart in the eyes –she is as well-qualified, educationally as well as professionally, as him. Today’s urban Indian woman has stormed into, and conquered territories that were previously ruled by men- and how! Yet, amidst all this fanfare, the little fact that has probably been lost upon by us, is that though she shares office space with her man, he does not seem to be willing to share her responsibilities at home. And so, what we have today is a breed of exhausted “superwomen.” Society uses that term to spur her to slog harder, fulfilling its own selfish desires; while the superwoman herself loves the tag- it’s an ‘honor’ that has been bestowed upon her, and she tries hard to

fill the bottomless pit of expectations they have from her- not living up to which seems like sacrilege, thus making her feel guilty. Remember Radhika Jha from ‘One Night in a Call Center’? The modern Indian woman is so pressurized; sometimes it looks like stepping out of the confines of her home was probably her worst mistake. Today, not only is she expected to study and earn as much as men, but also to cook, clean and feed the familytraditional wifely duties. Her husband feels no guilt while helping himself to half her salary to pay for his gaming CDs, but finds it derogatory to his ‘image’ if he helped her with her chores. At the end of the day, drained of the last ounce of energy in her body, when she tries to relax, she is often accused of not taking enough care of herself- contributing to her shabby appearance, for traditionally, ‘looks maketh a woman’! Worse, after the herculean jobs of the day are done to perfection, she still has to be that demure, quiet woman, flashes of whom we’ve grown up seen in our mothers. She can’t afford to be irritated, despite the hard work taking a toll on her, for who has ever heard a good Indian woman shout, or seen her being irritable? She’s second probably only to Jesus Christ when it came to patience and forgiveness. She’s sweet-natured by default, and has never been known to raise her voice. The very qualities that men use to assert their ‘masculinity’ sound the death knell of a woman’s ‘perfection’. But what can she be, if not shabby and irritated, dear guardians of society? As she tries hard to strike that perfect balance in her dual life, a little appreciation is the least she deserves. If we take her for granted and make it look like letting her stand on her own two feet is something she owed society one for, we’re way too wrong! We’re not doing her favor by giving her the independence that she deserves, and her right to a good life. She’s the ‘ardhangini’ – one of the two halves of a home. Man is the other. In every aspect. And it’s about time he lived up to that wedding vow!

Smoke Screen Harsh Joshi

As I sat there and waited patiently Cigarette in hand and lost in melancholy She sat by my side deploring, her anger visible to me Hoping perhaps; from this habit of mine, to be free I stared back pondering, trying to understand her Trying ever so hard as I did so; to placate her. She parted her lips; rosy as they were Words stuck in between, waiting to unfurl I couldn’t understand for the life of me Why couldn’t she just let my smokes be! It is not as if I were addicted yet “I have just started, you know”, I said. She wouldn’t listen, but kept quiet I failed to see the reason for her to fret “I won’t keep this up”, I said hoping to converse I knew that instant though, I couldn’t have done worse She jumped at the opportunity; that of making me quit She kept at me and I couldn’t then quietly sit. “Promise!” She cried, “Promise that to me!” Said I, “I cannot! At least not yet; can’t you see!” She crumbled back into her layers; their depth unseen I kept on thinking, “It was my mistake; I was too mean”

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I tried pursuasion; some words mellow, others gruff Remembering all the promised last puffs. I remembered all those half hearted promises I had made Promises left incomplete; their memories starting to fade It was Autumn, leaves strewn around us as I now recall They had turned yellow and brown and had begun to fall I thought of things that I could say; so she could by swayed I fell terribly short; I was lost and all my hope unmade I cleared my throat loudly, so she could hear She was on the edge of cracking, I fear I couldn’t think, my judgement clouded and dense And I realise now how it all makes sense I reconsidered quitting and putting a time to it But I was foolish; thinking I could quit. ‘I’ll help you’ she said, reading my mind Puzzled I asked, “Are my thoughts so easy to find?” “Yes”, she replied a smile warming up her face All her anger and turmoil vanished leaving no trace We got up, and strode together out of the park My last ever cigarette lit; still glowing in the dark.

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Before I Broke My Palette Prateek Nayak

I was never good at drawing, All I did was paint, indeed colors spoke louder than lines. Lines were bold and dark, strokes did out-spark, But low I felt cause not so bold were my steps. Choosing colors was a decision too wise, I had a color for every emotion inside. Memories of line still haunted my brush, What is the shades made color fade ? But I carried... Colorful, beautiful were the words that graced them. Its time the world too applaud them. I showcased my colors, my paints. Oh yes ! They applauded in the same, but words do faint. Sooner, I realized not many like all the colors. Infectious are thoughts and biased became my shots.

The Divide Rohan Chakrabarty

I see people like you walking down to me, Handing me things I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t yearn for, Saying things I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t savour of Yyet I sit idle, necessity makes me do so. I look upon the street, thick with crowd People like you, a melodrama of colors An epitome of hierarchy, both rich and poor. I wonder, do I belong here at all? Amidst pangs of hunger and search for shelter, Intimidate self, for make believe self-exuberance I ponder, I know that I have no future here, And among the daily chores as an anarchical being. Do you have one?

I chose colors but with perceptions, Thoughts overpowered emotions. As biased as I was ever, choice became a thought process forever. Started loosing the colors,the trust they had over my brush. And so I started loosing my touch. Lines haunted, brush bore the face black painted. Colors provided a dirty picture, messed up it all felt. No more beautiful were the paints, in horror I threw the palette over paine. The broken palette and the ill paints always make me say... I was never good at drawing or imitating things. All I did was paint and make things colorful, before i broke my palette ! Before i broke my palette....

Reasons to hate indian traffic Abhay Gupta

oes Traffic irritate you as much as it irritates me? What, it doesn’t? Either you have the tolerance of a Zen guru or I must really really hate traffic. True story. When you live in a city like Mumbai where the roads are narrow and driver’s licenses are available to 18 year olds like Polio drops are to little kids, you tend to realize how much you hate Indian drivers and their penchant for driving like your mother on a good day. Now I’ve started to notice recurring patterns (I have a lot of time to think about these things, in be-tween moving my car up an inch an hour) and I’ve decided that, one fine day, I will trick these crappy drivers into signing a ‘petition’ on my specially prepared Death Note (watch or read the manga if you haven’t. For ONCE, the Japanese have made something good and not weird). I will now briefly categorize a list of things you will encounter on the road along with why they so royally suck.

RICKSHAWS Rickshaw swarms, amongst many things, are the reasons I hate rickshaw drivers. Happens to me every time I’m driving back home in the middle of the afternoon. Devouring every square inch of road-space available to them and putting you in the frustrating position of “Should I bulldoze through? SHOULD I?” The annoying and most commonly known fact about auto rickshaws is that they’re the most reckless jagoffs on the street. This stems from the fact that their vehicles are small, easily manoeuvrable and as cheap as the compliments I dole out so freely. It also stems from the fact that rickshaw drivers are impatient, rash and in all probability, not breast-fed as children. Honestly, driving with high concentrations of alcohol in your blood isn’t nearly as bad as driving with high concentrations of idiocy in your blood, and rickshaw drivers regularly drive like they’re drunk on idiocy. I weep for days when there are rickshaw strikes because I tell myself that this is the end of rickshaws altogether and they keep coming back the very next day! It just hurts me in so many deep and irreparable ways!

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PEDESTRIANS Well, I can’t fully blame pedestrians for willingly offering themselves as sacrificial road-kill. I mean, there are so many areas where the line between pavement and road are completely blurred. Here’s the thing though. Even on streets with a clearly defined separation between walking space and driving space, pedestrians don’t seem to give a flying hoot if they’ve promoted themselves to a needless extra red light. Some of them will halt you with an open-palm as they cross your path. Some of them will halt you with an open-palm as they let a large group of people cross your path. Some of them will even stand there in the middle of your path just for the fun of making your life miserable. And it might just be me and my impressively terrible luck, but they always seem to do this when the bloody traffic light is green. I mean, come on. Seriously? You couldn’t find the time to cross when every impeding car was at a standstill? My favourite part is when they choose to randomly celebrate in the middle of the street every couple of weeks. It’s always some festival, or some wedding or some other pointless reason to clog up traffic. It’s always the same dress-code, the same music. And the music will make you head-bang. Is it metal? No! It’ll just you make you bang your head against your steering wheel and make me come up with ridiculous jokes like this.

TWO-WHEELERS Is it just me or is the annual death toll for twowheelers just not high enough? I really hate having to handle two-wheelers with kid-gloves and then instantly having to tolerate their verbal abuse as they narrowly avoid murdering themselves against my car. Don’t get me wrong, two-wheelers are awesome. They’re cheap, durable and have excellent mileage and are much easier to park. But then there is that widely increased risk of injury, death or douchebaggery. I’m going to emphasize that last part as the most serious risk that no two-wheeler should take lightly. Now, if you’re half-way good at handling yourself on a twowheeler, you’ll never take these risks lightly. If you’re like practically the rest of the two-wheeler population,

let the good times roll | may 2012

you’ll consider yourself an immortal stud of the street, free to ride as you please. I have once laughed for a full minute when I saw a motorcyclist fall over after stupidly attempting to slice through traffic. He didn’t die, of course, otherwise I would’ve laughed for two. And note: cyclists are not excused from two-wheeler douchebaggery. They’re probably worse, given the fact that they really shouldn’t even be on the road and the fact that they can crumple and die with even greater ease. And, hilariously enough, they take these risks even less seriously. Hurray!

ALL VEHICLES BIGGER THAN YOURS Time to take a sip of my coffee laced with 100% pure hypocrisy. Just the way I like it. See, it’s easy to wail on two-wheelers until you realize that they simple suffer Smaller-Vehicle Syndrome. As a smaller vehicle, you naturally tend to want to move through traffic faster and more efficiently than bulkier more spaceconsuming vehicles. Two-wheelers fall under the same frustration (not saying they’re fully justified for being total douchebags. Just that they’re, at least partially justified for being total douchebags). Now to partially understand some of their tribulations recall every instance you get blocked off by a bus or a truck or a car that’s approximately the size of the former

two. It can be pretty damn frustrating, right? They just don’t budge and they treat your vehicle like it’s completely invisible. And dammit, bigger vehicles can be such hogs when it comes to space distribution, aside from the fact that they don’t even have the courtesy of driving faster than you. Buses, for some strange reason, always want to ram you into a divider. I’ve always made a constant mental reminder to never drive alongside a bus unless I have a quick and easy opportunity to overtake it. Linger on for too long and you’re playing a losing game of Road Rash with them. As for bigger cars, understand that they’re probably also more expensive than yours which means they’re forced to drive that much safer, even if it comes at the cost of making your life miserable. In short, there’s nothing to love about driving down anywhere when it’s not a rickshaw strike (god bless those days. Every single one of them) or when it’s not at an unearthly hour. From what I hear, it won’t be long before jetpacks and flying vehicular transport becomes a glorious reality! Of course, our traffic will most certainly blot out the sun and the resultant chaos (and there will be plenty of it) will result in a lot of crashed vehicles raining down along with paan-spit dropping on our heads like pigeon-shit. On the bright side, we could use the shade.

let the good times roll | may 2012

Sagarika Chakraborty Interview

Team LTGTR

SAGARIKA CHAKRABORTY is an upcoming writer who’s just published her first book, a collection of short stories called A Calendar Too Crowded. We talk to her at length about her life, writing and the social problems she addresses in her debut book. Q. It’s a pleasure to be interviewing you. We already know a little about you but for the benefit of the readers please tell us something about Sagarika the person?

research to fiction and hoped to strike chords with similar minded people.

A. Thanks, I can proudly say and the pleasure is mutual – I am indeed elated to be a part of this conversation.

Q. How did you come up with the concept for the book? What prompted you to write a book on this particular topic and portray it in such a specific way?

The “About Me” part of any form has always boggled my mind. There’s no fixed answer you see which I can provide. I am a true Gemini with two distinct sides (we are not double faced!) and thus when you think you have known me enough I bring on the other side. No! I do not take any pride in being mysterious for I am open about the fact that I am a lawyer, a public policy researcher, a management graduate, a writer, a thinker and enthusiast in all that life can offer.

Q. You studied law, then moved into management and did rather well in both fields. What got you into writing? Is this a sudden move or have you been consciously working towards becoming a writer? A. I am one of those people who do not believe that anything in life can happen by chance – thus to all those who say that I smile and say “stop hiding the conscious efforts!” I have been bitten by the love for literature even before I was born I think. Blame it on my mother’s book devouring and story writing habits, thus it wasn’t a shock when she discovered that I loved spinning tales too! I always wanted to be a lawyer ever since I was 12 and my alma mater gave me the best exposure ever. From moot court competitions to policy research presentations at UNESCO forum I have always been involved in the public policy domain. My B school gave me the glimpse of another world about making a difference. In between I decided to convert my policy

Now onto the book.

Ans. I was clear in my head that I wanted to write about social issues and women in particular. My work of fiction need not be one of those easy reads or make the reader wonder if it is the author speaking. Instead it should represent the voice of hundreds and which the reader can easily associate with. However while writing a few stories I noticed that all of the stories almost can be attributed to a particular celebratory day on the calendar and thus I decided on the calendar type theme – each chapter is a month an d the stories in their revolve around the celebratory days of the calendar.

Q. You’ve hinted that there’s an urgent need to look beyond just statistics and numbers to record progress or the improvement in living conditions for women. How do you suggest that we go about doing that? How else can we measure “improvement” now such a wide spread scale? Ans. I do not believe that numbers are the sole and only scale of measurement. Gauging social reactions instead are my way of measuring progress in a lot many cases. Thus, despite numbers showing that there are indeed more rapists being punished in this decade than ever before, to me the society hasn’t progressed if the first question we ask after knowing about a rape is “What was the girl wearing?”

Q. Would you call your book a part of the feminist movement? Ans. No, instead I would call it to be part of humanist movement. Isn’t the basic of all human rights a call out to survive and let others survive with equal rights and

dignity sans the fact that they belong to a different gender?

Q Among the issues you’ve raised through your stories, which one is the closest to you? Ans. I would chose the issue of female foeticide and adoption – both extremely close to my heart and life.

Q. Speaking of the oppression of women, what are your views on how to reduce instances of Dowry? Also what are your thoughts on the misuse of Section 498A of the IPC. Ans. Till the time every woman raises her son to respect the womankind in general I think the root of the problem cannot be put away. In more than half of the cases it is the in-laws who demand dowry whereas parents should be the flag bearer of a dignified marital life. The outlook that “she should suffer because I did too as a daughter-inlaw” is the worst reason ever. On the flip side my story under the month of November, A double edged sword talks about the misuse of Section 498A while no doubt highlighting the plight of women who are tortured for dowry. Thus the story shows two families one where the girl tries her best to have a happy marital life but then perishes in an “accident” and the groom’s family even after her death blames her for dragging them to court. On the other hand the other side is exposed where the boy tries his best along with his mother to keep the newly wedded wife happy, but then gives into her whims of moving out in order to prevent harassment litigation. Guess, the recent suicide in the country of a man unable to take the plight of litigation by his beloved shows that there is a dark side to the law.

Q. Do you find any smaller scale anti-feminism or male hierarchy happening in less extreme situations like colleges from normal middle-class families or those pretentious teenagers who club weekly? Ans. Not really – I think the issues that require our attention affect each class as gravely as the other despite of its social standing. Thus, you would find a high flying corporate giving a talk on the need of a properly aligned male female ratio and then rushing home to attend a prayer hoping that he begets a son this time after 3 daughters. Or you would find a girl in a pub who rushes back home after changing into her demure clothes after party to meet a prospective husband who expects her to bring in dowry and not step out and work.

Q. Would you condone hitting a woman back if she hit you first and, in this hypothetical scenario, you’re a guy. Ans. Every reaction demands an equal and opposite reaction – yes however violence cannot be matched. I would prefer a stern talk, however if he raises his hand after she does I think I’ll raise and eyebrow and ask “Who started this in the first place?” When we are talking about gender equality we should also keep in mind that we should not condone the (physically) stronger sex for such acts which are reactions!

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“...to me the society hasn’t progressed if the first question we ask after knowing about a rape is “What was the girl wearing?” Finally if we could have a little bit of your experiences as a writer…

Q. How many attempts did it take for you to get your first book published? How hard was it? Ans. It took numerous attempts at first to get the MS in place. The early rejections served as an eye opener thus when I ultimately approached Niyogi Books I was hardened and more mature. It was difficult but I had the self belief to not give up.

Q. What inspires you to write? Ans. Life and the people around us. I pick up my inspiration from everyday stories that I see around me. Life is the greatest teacher and my stories are nothing but an ode to those lessons.

Q. If you’re stuck in a rut of writing short stories, poems and articles and you really want to write a full- scale book or novel, how’d you go about doing it? Ans. I think I would at first test my maturity. For a long time now I have been writing stuff that usually fits in 10-20 pages. However for a novel the consistency has to spread around the entire book and the reader should not yawn in the middle. Thus, I would wait to grow as a writer before I test those waters.

Q. Ashwin Sanghi who released your book, first published his book, The Rozbal Line under the pseudonym Shawn Haigins. If you were to adopt a pseudonym what would it be? Ans. I think I would surprise my readers by showing them my non activist side which only my close group of friends have seen. Thus, I would take up the pseudonym of Drama Queen and do curtsey to a small group of people who would hoot in agreement!

Q. What’s your poison - cigarettes, coffee or weed? Ans. I resent getting into addiction – be it habits, things or people. I want to be able to switch off a particular thing when needed, thus stay clear of most things. However, a good cup of freshly brewed coffee whose aroma fills up the house does make my mornings. In fact the smell of coffee from my machine early morning puts on the first smile on my face!

‘another coffee and another thought

Subrahmanian Namboodiri

nother coffee without the essential cigarette but, I think it’s a good thing since I do plan to quit. And going by the state of my lungs, it isn’t too soon. Anyway, I am not writing this to rant about how I miss cigarettes with my coffee. This article is more about the thoughts and train of thoughts that could run through your mind when you are enjoying either one of those. And today, as I sip on my iced latte, I remember a very peculiar behavior that presented itself to me the other day. I was buried in the various layers of my lunch when a colleague at work said something about how he found the Titanic repugnant. I am not sure what triggered it; me thinks it was after a promotion about the 3D version that aired in the cafeteria.

The setting changes and it is now another day, and the both of us along with a female colleague are enjoying a morning tea, or, in my case; coffee. The Titanic’s background score begins playing on the television set in the café and to my utter amazement, our buddy begins raving about the finer points of the movie when asked if he would watch the new version. To this eager-eyed girl, he continues to say that he loves the way Leonardo Dicaprio sliding off the plank to his death in the dark abyss was shot. It was romantic and so very ‘poetic’ apparently. And that is not all; he was surprised by my exclamatory expression and the subsequent remark, about our earlier conversation, and he brushed it aside claiming it never happened. I was genuinely perplexed.

So I said that it wasn’t that bad but it isn’t something I’d watch either. He added that the music by Celine Dion was another piece of absolute trash that would appeal only to a lesser being. I was far too distracted by the club sandwich that was on my plate and did not pursue the matter.

I queried about this, rather servile change on a different, unrelated occasion. His nonchalant reply was something about appealing to the emotionally weak side of women like ‘that’, as I understood it. The definition of ‘that’ I will leave for another time. For now, we shall look at this extraordinary reversal. That he was lying to the poor sap was apparent, but the reason does not readily reveal itself. He wasn’t hitting

Now, this is a guy that is happily dating a girl, who he also loves, which is something to remember. let the good times roll | may 2012

let the good times roll | may 2012 on her since he himself has talked about how satisfied he is with his current partner, so what could possibly explain this bizarre behaviour? A twisted form of sycophancy perhaps, could it be? Now, this guy, is, what you could call an ‘office jock’. Popularity points to him as an example and he is, to my knowledge, a genuinely nice guy. I, I admit, am far from the popular kind and love to be by myself and maybe with a friend or two. I don’t suck at socializing but I rarely ever want to. I also am what most would call ‘obnoxious’ though I myself, would disagree. So my point is; I don’t get it. I don’t. And I am not an outraged feminist batting for the persecution of this ‘lying rascal’. I am just curious. And, another thing; do you always have to please women. Can you not be honest while still maintaining whatever relationship it is? Do they have to be praised and complemented in their beliefs and thoughts for you to have credence? I think any relationship that requires ass kissing for survival is bound for a violent (hopefully) demise. You aren’t going to be able to keep that up for long. There will be an end to it and when it comes crashing down, you’re the one to blame. You should have started with honesty. Best policy I tell you, I know that from experience. It is however, human nature, to conform. To abide and to please the one opposite, male or female, or the majority, is a demand by society itself. To gain acceptance, you have to be a suck up! You say something against norms or something against what a society calls sacred, you will be ostracized and called

a deviant. Another Rushdie you will be. You may be right, you maybe thinking out loud, but it doesn’t matter. Literature that is nothing short of brilliant has been shunned in the favor of a few religious brigands, who probably haven’t even read the book. Artists, good, mediocre, and even the great ones, have all had to face this ridiculous brand of opinion. I am no connoisseur so I can rarely ever tell one painting from another, but I know that every citizen has every right to express as the other. The intention is often not to hurt, but to bring to light, and yet, you will be given a kick up your backside and told to piss the hell off. I won’t bother with the list, I’m sure any one of you can Google it, but genuine artists/activists/authors that have raised genuine issues have paid the price. But this is a serious situation, and if one goes by an article written by a certain someone, this social evil has been inherited by our generation too. This kind of conformation cannot be condoned, and it disheartens me when I see a peer talk of it as a joke. This is serious, the idea is to adapt and evolve, not regress into the Stone Age. Tangents, the places they take me. I should be a philosopher don’t you think. Anyway, it was just a passing thought. You should think about it too. And you should smoke too. Those rising plumes of smoke are such a pleasure, sigh. These torturous days just get worse. How I yearn for the kiss of the paper bound cotton that leads my poison.

let the good times roll | may 2012