thoughts

You might have heard that a teenager was affected with a paralytic attack after the judges reprimanded her in a so-called reality show. Its a very unfortunate incident and it highlights how the media is putting pressure on kids and youngsters to sell their primetime.

The tv channels are so bad these days that the reality show participants are rebuked when the participants don’t perform and go so low to create controversies like making judges cry or participants breakdown. Controversy always sells - as much as sex and skin. Another good example would be the high profile Big Brother show, which was going down in rating and then Shilpa Shetty - the alien participant among the English earned racial disrespect and then millions.

Its so blaring and hard to ignore in Indian media these days. How about the Aarushi murder mystery case that still hogs the news channels. It has taken more than 40 percent of the prime time, a study says. One channel has gone to such an extent that they recreated an apartment with the same setting as Dr. Talwar’s home to solve the puzzle. Does it mean that the channel stood upright morally and was socially responsible? I am skeptical.

I wonder when it will all come to an end! Its a chicken and egg problem - the media would claim that its because people watch that they show all this and people kvetch its forced on them. Either way, I guess the best channel now is the World Movies. More about it in next post.

India is nominating Shashi Tharoor for the UN Seceraty General post. A good choice, I am sure.

I like his writings and incidentally after reading many of his articles in The Hindu, I came to know about his background and his International repute.

While I do not really agree with all his view’s I certainly think that he is a thinker and especially his clarity and acute observations are noteworthy.

Lets wait and see if he gets selected for the UN Chief post. Looks slightly difficult given the clout of China in UN and the vengence and cunning political moves of Pakistan .

Quite a few of you away from Chennai want to know about it. Infact would like to virtually experience it.

Why don’t I write about it?

Yep, I started today. Right here: http://chennai.kaaninilam.com/

2004 was an interesting year. A quick look at the best and worst things that happened to me, I hope, might be interesting. These are encounters that I had in 2004 and not necessarily happened in 2004. Say, The Inimitable Jeeves was not written by Wodehouse in 2004, just that I read it last year – fortunate that I read it and unfortunate that I dint do that for so long.

Best Book (fiction) The Inimitable Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse

Best Book (non-fiction) Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki

Best Letdown (book) Count the chickens before you hatch (Arindham Choudary)

Best Magazine Business Today

Best Article The networked lifestyle in 2020 by Mohanbir Sawhney in Business Today

Best Investment (with profit) TCS IPO

Best Investment (without profit) Splendor+ (It dint get me any girlfriend though. Should I rather try BMW 2 seater? )

Best Conversation On chaos with Jagadheesh

Best Restaurant Dhaba Express

Best Coffee pub Java Green

Best food item That badam sprinkled with saffron in Taj Coromandel

Best Snack Cashew nut biscuit from McRennett

Best Drink (alcoholic) Screwdriver at The Residency

Best Drink (non-alcoholic) That fig shake in Fruit Shop at Greams Road

Best Movie (Indian) Nizhal Kuthu, bilingual (Tamil, Malayalam), directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan)

Best Movie (International) Hearts Elsewhere - Italian movie, directed by Pupi Avati

Best Song Sakkara Inikira Sakkara by A. R. Rehman in New

Kanaakaanum kaalangal by Yuvan Shankar Raja in 7/G Rainbow colony

Best Lyrics Yaakai thiri kaadal sudar – Vairamuthu (Aayudha Ezhuthu)

Best Actor/Actress Kamal Hassan in Virumandi

Best Compliment That I look smart in white T-shirt and blue jean from a girl (before you stretch your imagination, that girl is already engaged)

Best Curse That I will suffer when I get married (you don ’ t want to know who said that)

Best Learning (non-technical) Indian Stock Market (boy, I made and lost money, but learnt lessons thru experience)

Best Learning (technical) Distributed DOS attacks

Best Concert K. J. Yesudas ’ s concert in Indian Fine Arts society on December 25th.

Best Break Vedanthangal (despite not having a binocular to enjoy the birds)

Worst Disaster Tsunami in South Asia. (a speck of which I saw live in Mahabalipuram)

Best unexpected happening That I am bespectacled permanently

Next best unexpected happening When someone said that I look good in glasses

Best chillout place in Chennai Besant nagar beach

Best Escape From Tsunami in Mahabalipuram. (I might not be here writing this had I started 20 minutes earlier in which case I would have been standing right on the beach when it hit)

Best Photo Abhinav with Kannan (will post soon)

Best Perfume Escape for men from Calvin Klein

Best Dress White round neck T-shirt from Levis

Best Comedy When one of my friends was asked to take care of his sister ’ s dog sacrificing his vacation

Lets see what 2005 has in store for us!