While I consider most of Indian national media to be absolute crap, and Hindi television media to be the worst afflicted, there are some channels and shows which do stand out.
First, I am a big fan of the Lok Sabha TV. The first time I came across the channel was when I was surfing through cable, and I came across a show, if i remember correctly, on Indian aviation. Now that is something which really interests me, and I stopped to watch the show. I realized that the panel they have is not the usual suspects, the one 'expert' for all fields. They were actually men of position, and everyone on the set - the anchor, the guests - were very mature in their discussion. I was aware that such a channel had been launched recently, but this was the first time I had a chance to see it.
I've watched it a lot more, and I've always found maturity, objectivity, and absolutely no scope for sensationalism and tabloidism. They have a mix of lot of good things actually.
And then, another day, I was watching Sahara Samay, just another of those moments when I stopped at the channel while surfing, and again I thought that this was very good journalism, and I was actually surprised that there was no juicy non-news that other channels paraded as news, and again, there was no sensationalism.
The point is that there is a columnist in The Indian Express, Shailja Bajpayee, and she actually mentioned the exact two channels in her column for their quality. So I am not the only one who notices these things then.
That being said, I am glad that in this age of loud and tasteless television, there are actually television channels that you can watch without being hurried.
Finally, I feel that some channels need to change their names. Star News is not a news channel. They are a tabloid, through and through. They should get rid of the pretenses. The same with India TV. Most of the 'news' they have is juicy tabloid stuff. Its a pity that a quality Hindi journalist such as Rajat Sharma has to spend time there. Also, when Star Gold first started, they focused on quality movies that were actually gold, but today I find that most of their movies are movies that are unheard of, and very new. Also, the channels that aren't Indian, such as Travel & Living and Discovery, have much better shows on India than all the Indian channels! Surely some domestic television executive will get a hint.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
churnings
Wow, i havent posted anything on my blog in 2 weeks. That is sad, and considering I am the only one who actually reads this thing, I owe an apology to myself!
Quite a few things happened the past two weeks. The thing is politics is that there are so many different events that occur, and with the media's half-assed and biased coverage, its very hard to judge what was important and what wasnt.
For example, Prakash Karat said that BJP was enemy number one, and that they were building a third front. You know, many might think this is important news. The fact is that this news is very worthy of ending up under a pile of dung. Firstly, the commies have always hated the BJP. I mean would I be a small person, or a rabid Hindu fundamentalist to say that the commies hate the BJP because the former makes no bones about how much they hate Hinduism, and naturally, BJP is the political face of that, apparently.
As for the third front, some spoofs on some media channel was right to point out that its only a threat to the Congress government, because the commies know that the Congress is a very spineless government, that is given to bending over backwards to minority vote banks, and enemies of the state. Quite a serious allegation huh? If you concentrate hard enough, you can almost see the froth coming out of my rabid Hindu mouth.
I think the one thing that seems to be affecting me is now ineffective India is in dealing with our neighbors. They all are inconsequential states on the global stage, are dependent on Indian support and yet they all seem to be ready to pick fights with us without any fear at all. I mean, look at Nepal, and damn us, we can't keep the only Hindu nation in the world on our side!
Secularism is such a convenient word. The Commies are out wooing the minority votebanks because they need to win after many people are beginning to see through their treachery. Yet their number one priority is to fight the BJP so that there is a secular government. What is secularism? Its nothing, its just a political word thats been raped so many times that its unrecognizable now. The congress is afraid to try traitors and enemies of the country in court because they are afraid they will anger the minorities. Apparently the minorities in the country side with our enemies. I am not saying it, but those who have sense should be able to see through the government's actions and their mindset.
The stock market crashed today, and some stocks are cheaper by more than 60 percent. You know, i would have loved to buy them, because given our young and fickle market, I am sure they will grow again. But the unfortunate news is that I have no money. Ahh, the pain. I mean, heres a stock which was 2000 bucks for example, and its down to 500, and even if it gets to 1000, its still a 100% profit for me! And that's why i am so sad that i have no money to do this.
India won the Perth test, and ideally, the series should have been tied at 1-1 and the Sydney test a draw. Aussies are poor losers. People justify it by saying that they are not used to losing, and so dont know the feeling. Ah, its hard to come across stinkier crap than this.
I really hope we win the next test. Man, I am such a fan on Jumbo bhai. The man is sophistication personified, and a freakin mountain of a personality.
Sania's in all sorts of controversies. I suppose the fundamentalists just can't digest the fact that a single, young Muslim woman is doing so good, who is so modern and so progressive. I am sure it gets their beards in knots they didn't know existed. I didn't really pay much attention to Sania before, but I must say, I am with her all the way on this. Which leads me to ponder that I think its only a recent phenomena that fundamentalists of all kinds are ruling our country, and the only reason why this is, is because our political parties are only too happy to cheer along in the hope of getting their votes. I really hope the middle class wakes up.
And the media's tendency to hype 'news' and sensationalize every juicy non-news is just sad, its just sad. And in my mind, whats even sadder is that so many people lap this stew up. This decade has seen a death of ideas, a death of free speech in our country. And all the money in the world can't replace a person's right to justice and a life of dignity.
Quite a few things happened the past two weeks. The thing is politics is that there are so many different events that occur, and with the media's half-assed and biased coverage, its very hard to judge what was important and what wasnt.
For example, Prakash Karat said that BJP was enemy number one, and that they were building a third front. You know, many might think this is important news. The fact is that this news is very worthy of ending up under a pile of dung. Firstly, the commies have always hated the BJP. I mean would I be a small person, or a rabid Hindu fundamentalist to say that the commies hate the BJP because the former makes no bones about how much they hate Hinduism, and naturally, BJP is the political face of that, apparently.
As for the third front, some spoofs on some media channel was right to point out that its only a threat to the Congress government, because the commies know that the Congress is a very spineless government, that is given to bending over backwards to minority vote banks, and enemies of the state. Quite a serious allegation huh? If you concentrate hard enough, you can almost see the froth coming out of my rabid Hindu mouth.
I think the one thing that seems to be affecting me is now ineffective India is in dealing with our neighbors. They all are inconsequential states on the global stage, are dependent on Indian support and yet they all seem to be ready to pick fights with us without any fear at all. I mean, look at Nepal, and damn us, we can't keep the only Hindu nation in the world on our side!
Secularism is such a convenient word. The Commies are out wooing the minority votebanks because they need to win after many people are beginning to see through their treachery. Yet their number one priority is to fight the BJP so that there is a secular government. What is secularism? Its nothing, its just a political word thats been raped so many times that its unrecognizable now. The congress is afraid to try traitors and enemies of the country in court because they are afraid they will anger the minorities. Apparently the minorities in the country side with our enemies. I am not saying it, but those who have sense should be able to see through the government's actions and their mindset.
The stock market crashed today, and some stocks are cheaper by more than 60 percent. You know, i would have loved to buy them, because given our young and fickle market, I am sure they will grow again. But the unfortunate news is that I have no money. Ahh, the pain. I mean, heres a stock which was 2000 bucks for example, and its down to 500, and even if it gets to 1000, its still a 100% profit for me! And that's why i am so sad that i have no money to do this.
India won the Perth test, and ideally, the series should have been tied at 1-1 and the Sydney test a draw. Aussies are poor losers. People justify it by saying that they are not used to losing, and so dont know the feeling. Ah, its hard to come across stinkier crap than this.
I really hope we win the next test. Man, I am such a fan on Jumbo bhai. The man is sophistication personified, and a freakin mountain of a personality.
Sania's in all sorts of controversies. I suppose the fundamentalists just can't digest the fact that a single, young Muslim woman is doing so good, who is so modern and so progressive. I am sure it gets their beards in knots they didn't know existed. I didn't really pay much attention to Sania before, but I must say, I am with her all the way on this. Which leads me to ponder that I think its only a recent phenomena that fundamentalists of all kinds are ruling our country, and the only reason why this is, is because our political parties are only too happy to cheer along in the hope of getting their votes. I really hope the middle class wakes up.
And the media's tendency to hype 'news' and sensationalize every juicy non-news is just sad, its just sad. And in my mind, whats even sadder is that so many people lap this stew up. This decade has seen a death of ideas, a death of free speech in our country. And all the money in the world can't replace a person's right to justice and a life of dignity.
Saturday, January 05, 2008
Delhi Metro
I got to ride the Delhi Metro last week. I am so happy for that shitty city that it finally has something world class, and even more importantly, treats it as such. What surprised me most was the relative decency which most people showed at the stations and in the trains. For one, I saw nobody littering. No graffiti, which in Indian context stands for some cheapskate etching his and/or his girlfriend's name on the glass. The Delhi Metro has just crossed 5 years of operations, and its still going great guns. In fact, they plan to add a lot more routes before the Commonwealth games in 2010.
There are some things that are still missing though when it comes to Metro etiquette. For one, and the most important was leaving the seats for women, the aged and the disabled. Sure, some women might actually prefer to be treated without any special considerations in this women's lib world, but I did see a lot of inconsideration for the aged in the metro trains. The second thing I noticed was that when there is a crowd, people lose their patience. They still havent learnt to let the inside passengers out before letting themselves in. They just rush into the thing without even noticing that some people are trying to get out. But hopefully that will change too, with time. 5 years are too little to change a society's psyche and its lifestyle.
I just wanted to post this nice map of the metro, with its tentative 2010 spread. Picked it up from the skyscrapercity.com forum, and its made by a fellow forumer. Thanks bud!
There are some things that are still missing though when it comes to Metro etiquette. For one, and the most important was leaving the seats for women, the aged and the disabled. Sure, some women might actually prefer to be treated without any special considerations in this women's lib world, but I did see a lot of inconsideration for the aged in the metro trains. The second thing I noticed was that when there is a crowd, people lose their patience. They still havent learnt to let the inside passengers out before letting themselves in. They just rush into the thing without even noticing that some people are trying to get out. But hopefully that will change too, with time. 5 years are too little to change a society's psyche and its lifestyle.
I just wanted to post this nice map of the metro, with its tentative 2010 spread. Picked it up from the skyscrapercity.com forum, and its made by a fellow forumer. Thanks bud!
happy new year
Happy New Year, world.
Oil's going strong at a hundred bucks a barrel, and the government is finally considering if its okay to raise the oil prices now. The oil companies have already taken a hit of thousands of crores of rupees and are under the threat of going belly up, but hey, the common man must not suffer. The government is planning to issue oil bonds to the oil companies for taking such a heavy hit, but these bonds will not cover their losses, and are only adding to the government's own fiscal deficit. Their unwillingness to raise prices is very dangerous.
I am watching the PHL on tv, and while I love the games, its really unfortunate that even after 4 seasons, the IHF does not seem to be doing anything to make it grow further. I do it a favor by calling it a season. While it is called a league, it is run exactly like a tournament. It lasts only 4 weeks, and thats just not enough time for it to settle down into the people's psyche. People need to be exposed to an idea or an activity for way longer than a month for any hope of it making a lasting impression on their minds. I mean, the next season is 11 months away, and all the fun and excitement of this season will probably be forgotten by all.
Bollywood has clouded everything else in the national media today. Hindi media seems to be stuck in a rut of substandard, tabloid-style journalism which they can't, or don't want to, get out of. Its just painful to see them spend hours following a Bollywood actor or spend their primetime news on what transpired between which warring actors. They have taken an additional liking to delving into other people's personal lives. I think there is a huge difference between something immoral and something that is somebody's private matter. The Hindi media makes no distinction. I hope this new year will show them the light and bring them back.
Oil's going strong at a hundred bucks a barrel, and the government is finally considering if its okay to raise the oil prices now. The oil companies have already taken a hit of thousands of crores of rupees and are under the threat of going belly up, but hey, the common man must not suffer. The government is planning to issue oil bonds to the oil companies for taking such a heavy hit, but these bonds will not cover their losses, and are only adding to the government's own fiscal deficit. Their unwillingness to raise prices is very dangerous.
I am watching the PHL on tv, and while I love the games, its really unfortunate that even after 4 seasons, the IHF does not seem to be doing anything to make it grow further. I do it a favor by calling it a season. While it is called a league, it is run exactly like a tournament. It lasts only 4 weeks, and thats just not enough time for it to settle down into the people's psyche. People need to be exposed to an idea or an activity for way longer than a month for any hope of it making a lasting impression on their minds. I mean, the next season is 11 months away, and all the fun and excitement of this season will probably be forgotten by all.
Bollywood has clouded everything else in the national media today. Hindi media seems to be stuck in a rut of substandard, tabloid-style journalism which they can't, or don't want to, get out of. Its just painful to see them spend hours following a Bollywood actor or spend their primetime news on what transpired between which warring actors. They have taken an additional liking to delving into other people's personal lives. I think there is a huge difference between something immoral and something that is somebody's private matter. The Hindi media makes no distinction. I hope this new year will show them the light and bring them back.
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