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Showing posts with label Media Mania. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Media Mania. Show all posts
This is what we were up to this Saturday. Like, share, comment, subscribe, etc. etc.
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On India's 68th Independence Day, we asked a few Indians, what independence meant to them. Find out what they had to say!
Had been pondering over this for quite some time now. Guess it just had to happen. Hoping for the best!
#Spoiler Alert: This is only if you've watched Gravity, the latest space thriller that has taken the world by storm. For those who haven't, please go do yourselves a favour and watch it. NOW!
I would have missed watching Gravity like most other flicks, had it not been for a good friend* who egged me on to watch the trailer. One look, and I knew I had to catch it, first day, first show. I did. And boy! What a wise decision it was!
With Alfonso Cuarón, Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, all coming together, the result was expected to be sensational. And though the world is going gaga over the concept, the technical innovations and the beautiful background score, I connected with the movie on a very emotional level. Especially after multiple interactions with a very creative bunch of friends who study mass media. Cuarón's references to life, rebirth and the underlying visual symbols that he's used to represent the same are simply mind numbing.
Note: The following observations are not mine. I have collected bits of trivia from various sources online and otherwise.
-The human gestation period is nine months long and is divided into three trimesters. The movie is 90 minutes long and features three major locations- the ISS, the Russian space station and the Chinese one.
-The explosion and the resulting debris represent the conception of a baby, with the Russian anti-satellite missile symbolising the sperm and the satellite itself being the egg. A little difficult to interpret, I know. But don't judge me!
-Sandra Bullock's character, Dr. Ryan Stone is shown to be dormant and laid back as long as she is referred to by her last name. However, the moment Clooney's character, Matt Kowalski starts addressing her by her first name, she gains a certain level of confidence in herself which pushes her to get over her past and do something more meaningful with her life.
-The foetus-like position that Dr. Stone is shown to be in, during one of the scenes, resembles an actual foetus, second trimester onward.
-There are references to abortion when Dr. Stone decides to give up and turn off the oxygen. At this time, it is her own belief (in the form of a self-conscience-inspired hallucination of Kowalski) in herself which helps her overcome the pessimism and chart her way back to life.
-On touchdown, water, earth, air, fire and wind are the first elements that Dr. Stone comes into contact with. Exactly the same elements that are believed to be responsible for the genesis and sustenance of all life.
-Though Bullock's character is shown to be atheistic, the first words that she mumbles are, "Thank you!" This could be a reference to her renewed belief in a higher power. Her first few steps resemble those that a baby takes when it first begins to walk.
Though there are some other spiritual connotations as well, who would've imagined that a movie about a disaster in outer space could have so many hidden messages? Hollywood and its sheer brilliance never cease to amaze me.
*Thank you, Tania! ;)
I would have missed watching Gravity like most other flicks, had it not been for a good friend* who egged me on to watch the trailer. One look, and I knew I had to catch it, first day, first show. I did. And boy! What a wise decision it was!
With Alfonso Cuarón, Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, all coming together, the result was expected to be sensational. And though the world is going gaga over the concept, the technical innovations and the beautiful background score, I connected with the movie on a very emotional level. Especially after multiple interactions with a very creative bunch of friends who study mass media. Cuarón's references to life, rebirth and the underlying visual symbols that he's used to represent the same are simply mind numbing.
Note: The following observations are not mine. I have collected bits of trivia from various sources online and otherwise.
-The human gestation period is nine months long and is divided into three trimesters. The movie is 90 minutes long and features three major locations- the ISS, the Russian space station and the Chinese one.
-The explosion and the resulting debris represent the conception of a baby, with the Russian anti-satellite missile symbolising the sperm and the satellite itself being the egg. A little difficult to interpret, I know. But don't judge me!
-Sandra Bullock's character, Dr. Ryan Stone is shown to be dormant and laid back as long as she is referred to by her last name. However, the moment Clooney's character, Matt Kowalski starts addressing her by her first name, she gains a certain level of confidence in herself which pushes her to get over her past and do something more meaningful with her life.
-The foetus-like position that Dr. Stone is shown to be in, during one of the scenes, resembles an actual foetus, second trimester onward.
-There are references to abortion when Dr. Stone decides to give up and turn off the oxygen. At this time, it is her own belief (in the form of a self-conscience-inspired hallucination of Kowalski) in herself which helps her overcome the pessimism and chart her way back to life.
-On touchdown, water, earth, air, fire and wind are the first elements that Dr. Stone comes into contact with. Exactly the same elements that are believed to be responsible for the genesis and sustenance of all life.
-Though Bullock's character is shown to be atheistic, the first words that she mumbles are, "Thank you!" This could be a reference to her renewed belief in a higher power. Her first few steps resemble those that a baby takes when it first begins to walk.
Though there are some other spiritual connotations as well, who would've imagined that a movie about a disaster in outer space could have so many hidden messages? Hollywood and its sheer brilliance never cease to amaze me.
*Thank you, Tania! ;)
The media was abuzz last week with news of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by a certain Mr. Kamlesh Vaswani in the Honorable Supreme Court, asking for a blanket ban on freely available pornographic content. This basically means that if the SC passes a verdict in its favour, watching porn in India will become a criminal offence. Even though the premise behind the litigant's concern is based on shaky ground and I personally do not endorse it, the fact that I share my surname with him, has invited considerable ridicule from friends. I apologize to all those whose sentiments have been hurt. To compensate for this, here are some quick tips on using proxy settings on your browser, just in case!
I've always been an information junkie. News, trivia, senseless water cooler banter- useless bits of information that I can easily do without- end up grabbing most of my attention. More than white papers, novels and hardcore pieces of serious writing. So much so that pulling off an all-nighter jumping from one link to another online, is not unusual. And owing to my increased obsession with Twitter, this is becoming quite a habit. Plus, with the addition of Quora and Coursera on the list of sites to visit before I hit the sack, there is a colossal amount of information that I'm exposed to.
Last night, more than seven million people, including myself, witnessed online, an unbelievable, death-defying, adrenaline fueled, record breaking free fall from the edge of space, by a man called Felix Baumgartner. This man rose to a height of more than 1.2 lakh feet above the surface of Earth to jump unassisted at a speed in excess of Mach 1.
This week saw Baba Ramdev turning from one kind of babagiri to another. I personally feel that he should stick to his forte- teaching people pranayam, and not try and politicize his approach towards Samaj Nirmaan. Wonder what's going on his head. Nadal and Federer are going to be head to head one more time and I currently saw Shahrukh Khan promoting his movie Ra.One on NDTV's Greenathon. Salmaan Khan's Ready released this week to a grand opening.
I'm compelled to write a post about this famous south Indian movie as Star Plus keeps running it almost every weekend. Rajnikanth's heroics mixed with all the elements of a blockbuster do make good for a lazy Sunday afternoon, the unbelievable twists and turns notwithstanding. In other news, Chennai Super Kings won IPL 4 and for the Bangalore Royal Challengers, it was a case of हाथ को आया, मूह न लगा! Barcelona also beat ManU to bag the title of Europe's champions for the third time in five years..
One of the most inspiring movies of the year has been ‘The Social Network’. Not only did the makers laugh all the way to the bank, but it also made Mark Zuckerberg a household name in most parts of the world. But what did we, as TSEC engineers learn from it? Is Facebook the new Orkut or is Twitter the future of social networking? Read on to find out.
Though Apple recently launched the iPad2, my father bought me a Samsung Galaxy Tab. The choice was mine. The money was his. Sindhis we are. So finding the best possible deal runs in our blood. It's been a little over three weeks since we bought it and boy, must I say that it's proved very lucky. Yes, it has!
India won the world cup, Anna Hazare launched the Jan Lokpal Bill, I found myself a goal to chase and connected with a whole lot of (new and old) friends. I'm not a geek, but the least I could do was know about the picture clarity. So here is an example of a picture shot by the new baby:
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This article is the property of Popular4Peanuts
Content by Sumit Gerela
Edited by Ashish Dilip Vaswani
Everything changes but the beauty remains, Apple obeys this law to its core..
Apple aficionados, this one is for you...
Content by Sumit Gerela
Edited by Ashish Dilip Vaswani
Apple aficionados, this one is for you...
This Sunday, in the midst of my usual channel switching session, I happened to catch a glimpse of Mandira Bedi doling out some advice to the Men in Blue for their upcoming WC campaign and I didn't think twice before tweeting about my displeasure. Never in my wildest dreams had I imagined what was about to transpire in the next few minutes. The following tweetexchange gave me a chance to interact with one of my oldest childhood crushes. Thank you Twitter!
The rupee has finally got its very own symbol and is touted to have joined the so called 'elite' club of currencies like the dollar, the pound and the yen by the media. So much so that sites claiming to have designed the rupee font in ASCII code are getting record hits. The rupee font made by Foradian Technologies was downloaded more than 10,000 in the first hour of release. Makes me wonder why everyone's suddenly going gaga over the entire issue.
Okay. Your currency's got a new symbol. So?
Does it buy you more sabzi at the sabziwala?
And you've also promised the inclusion of the symbol on the next batch of made-in-China keyboards. Big deal! Some over ambitious patriots have gone on to declare that the rupee will now replace the dollar on the keyboard. I'd love to see that happen!
On a more serious note, I don't understand the hue and cry over introducing a symbol that's merely a rip off of the euro and the pound. In times of rising inflation, shouldn't we be looking at giving a makeover to the economy than the currency symbol?
‘Zaalim Saas ka atyaachar - dekhiye kuch hee palon mein’ blared the over-expressive female on Aaj Tak, as I flipped channels on a boring Sunday afternoon. It’s difficult to digest how news channels today stoop to unimaginable levels to pass off Rakhi Sawant’s swayamwar as ‘Breaking News’ and infringe on people’s privacy in the name of sting operations.
I am not a news person. Watching the daily news bulletin on TV every night was a habit my father had inculcated in me as a school kid. But with the advent of the internet and 24/7 online connectivity, the charm of watching the sari-clad news reader dole out the biggest headlines of the day was replaced by visiting various news and blog sites that offered custom made news and updates as we liked them to be. Soon, reading The Times of India from end to end was also given up for the spicier and saucier Mumbai Mirror, with zingy columns that offered more masala and gossip than news.
There are many reasons for my declining interest in the news. In the early 90s, when ‘Breaking News’ and ‘Live Feed’ were words that we heard once in a blue moon, NDTV was the only private news company that had to relay its pre-recorded bulletins on Star News. The alternating Hindi and English bulletins were a treat to watch, with the stalwarts of journalism displaying their professional best. The likes of Pranoy Roy, Barkha Dutt, Arnab Goswami and Rajdeep Sardesai infused an enigmatic fervor to news presentation that’s hard to find in the dozens of news manufacturing factories today.
With the advent of dedicated monolingual news channels specializing in local, global or business news in the late 90s, the fight for viewership and TRPs overtook the passion and zest for responsible journalism. Coming to think of recent times, full page advertisements on the front page of India’s leading dailies is nothing but a money-making proposition. I don’t know which other international papers allow such horrendous hijacking of the front page to big advertising brands, but for a common man like me, the front page of a newspaper is supposed to give me the highlights of what’s happening the world over and not be a mere publicity campaign of the latest movie that’s nearing release.
Newspapers today are churning out news at production line speeds. It’s hard to forget the scene from Page 3 where Boman Irani, the editor of a newspaper asks his colleagues to ‘create’ new celebrities and issues if they’re running short of news to cover. On TV, the latest drama of a Mumbai girl being harassed for dowry is still fresh in my mind. Though the girl and her family did manage to get justice in the end, there sure were better ways of handling a sensitive issue such as this one, rather than repeatedly playing hidden camera footage for days on end. In more than a handful of crucial cases, the media is quick to pronounce a verdict, often jumping the gun in the process.
But the picture is not as grim as it may seem. In the swarm of mass-news making channels, there are still a handful of reputed names that have managed to keep the spirit of true journalism alive. NDTV’s Nidhi Razdan is one such face that I’ve been in awe of ever since I was a kid. Her subtle handling of the biggest names in politics on Left, Right and Centre and the crisp coverage of global affairs that she brings to news presentation is a treat to watch. NDTV has managed to strike a good balance of news and infotainment with an array of shows like Gadget Guru where the suave Rajiv Makhni unravels the latest technological marvels. Times Now has also managed to carve out a niche for itself inspite of being a late entrant in the field of TV news.
At times, the media continues to play the intended watchdog role too. The Jessica Lal case, the Nithari killings and more recently, DGP Rathore’s conviction in the Ruchika Girhotra case, are instances of where the media took the lead in righting the wrong. The Right to Information Act has empowered the common man to be counted as one of the participants in scripting the formation of a new, aware and well informed India. The growing impact of Public Interest Litigations is proof of this. Successful print campaigns such as Lead India and Teach India have proved that if channelized in the right direction, the media can continue to play its formative role in society.
Armed with a little more sense of responsibility, the Indian media is sure to propel India’s growth even further and fuel its claim to be one of the global superpowers. Until then, I’ll make do with watching reruns of laughter and dance shows on news channels and catch up with micronews on Twitter!
I am not a news person. Watching the daily news bulletin on TV every night was a habit my father had inculcated in me as a school kid. But with the advent of the internet and 24/7 online connectivity, the charm of watching the sari-clad news reader dole out the biggest headlines of the day was replaced by visiting various news and blog sites that offered custom made news and updates as we liked them to be. Soon, reading The Times of India from end to end was also given up for the spicier and saucier Mumbai Mirror, with zingy columns that offered more masala and gossip than news.
There are many reasons for my declining interest in the news. In the early 90s, when ‘Breaking News’ and ‘Live Feed’ were words that we heard once in a blue moon, NDTV was the only private news company that had to relay its pre-recorded bulletins on Star News. The alternating Hindi and English bulletins were a treat to watch, with the stalwarts of journalism displaying their professional best. The likes of Pranoy Roy, Barkha Dutt, Arnab Goswami and Rajdeep Sardesai infused an enigmatic fervor to news presentation that’s hard to find in the dozens of news manufacturing factories today.
With the advent of dedicated monolingual news channels specializing in local, global or business news in the late 90s, the fight for viewership and TRPs overtook the passion and zest for responsible journalism. Coming to think of recent times, full page advertisements on the front page of India’s leading dailies is nothing but a money-making proposition. I don’t know which other international papers allow such horrendous hijacking of the front page to big advertising brands, but for a common man like me, the front page of a newspaper is supposed to give me the highlights of what’s happening the world over and not be a mere publicity campaign of the latest movie that’s nearing release.
Newspapers today are churning out news at production line speeds. It’s hard to forget the scene from Page 3 where Boman Irani, the editor of a newspaper asks his colleagues to ‘create’ new celebrities and issues if they’re running short of news to cover. On TV, the latest drama of a Mumbai girl being harassed for dowry is still fresh in my mind. Though the girl and her family did manage to get justice in the end, there sure were better ways of handling a sensitive issue such as this one, rather than repeatedly playing hidden camera footage for days on end. In more than a handful of crucial cases, the media is quick to pronounce a verdict, often jumping the gun in the process.
But the picture is not as grim as it may seem. In the swarm of mass-news making channels, there are still a handful of reputed names that have managed to keep the spirit of true journalism alive. NDTV’s Nidhi Razdan is one such face that I’ve been in awe of ever since I was a kid. Her subtle handling of the biggest names in politics on Left, Right and Centre and the crisp coverage of global affairs that she brings to news presentation is a treat to watch. NDTV has managed to strike a good balance of news and infotainment with an array of shows like Gadget Guru where the suave Rajiv Makhni unravels the latest technological marvels. Times Now has also managed to carve out a niche for itself inspite of being a late entrant in the field of TV news.
At times, the media continues to play the intended watchdog role too. The Jessica Lal case, the Nithari killings and more recently, DGP Rathore’s conviction in the Ruchika Girhotra case, are instances of where the media took the lead in righting the wrong. The Right to Information Act has empowered the common man to be counted as one of the participants in scripting the formation of a new, aware and well informed India. The growing impact of Public Interest Litigations is proof of this. Successful print campaigns such as Lead India and Teach India have proved that if channelized in the right direction, the media can continue to play its formative role in society.
Armed with a little more sense of responsibility, the Indian media is sure to propel India’s growth even further and fuel its claim to be one of the global superpowers. Until then, I’ll make do with watching reruns of laughter and dance shows on news channels and catch up with micronews on Twitter!
The final report of investigations into Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s ‘assassination bid’ made for a really amusing read this morning. For those of you who’re not in the know, here’s a quick recapitulation. The end of last week saw a strange nation-wide drama unfold itself in front of millions of eyeballs looking for some off-beat prime time entertainment. No, it wasn’t a new sex scandal featuring a tinsel town starlet, nor was it a twist to the ever elongating saga of ex-IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi’s debauch tactics. What caught the media’s attention this time round, was a misfired bullet after one of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s public meetings (aka satsangs). What was interesting to see, was that even till after a couple of days of the ‘incident’, Sri Sri (can someone please tell me why this gentleman needs two Sris prefixed to his name?) continued to appear on most news channels explaining to saas-bahu-drama-deprived aunties and IPL hungry uncles how he escaped a bid to his life by ‘a whisker’.
Before I even begin debating, let me first inform you (if you don’t already know) that Guruji (that’s how Sri Sri’s addressed by his followers) was leaving in his vehicle after the satsang, when all he heard was a loud thud. Now, though this thud happened be a bullet gone astray, what is interesting to know is that, it was shot so far away from the Guru that it was evident right from the start that the actual target being him was highly unlikely. This can be corroborated by the fact that Guruji was actually informed of the thud being one that of bullet almost an hour after the incident. Even if what the Guru claimed hitherto were to be true, and the attack been a real threat to his life, what I can’t digest is the unnecessary limelight that was garnered over a man who already has a strong enough public relations mechanism to keep cash registers ringing in Ashrams around the world. (A 6-day basic course in ‘The Art Of Living’ could cost as much as Rs. 2000). Call me a cynic if you want to, but it’s strange to see a spiritual guru who’s under the shock of having escaped an ‘attempt to his life’, give live interviews to masala-hungry news channels back to back. At one point last Monday, there were as many as four channels showing LIVE footage of Swamiji’s reply to the attacker!
Now the twist in the tale came this morning, when newspapers carried reports of what had actually ‘conspired’. The owner of a farm located close to the Ashram was fed up with the nuisance of stray dogs who had mauled his sheep. The only problem is that the farm owner chose a really bizarre way to put an end to this menace. He used his licensed revolver to shoot three rounds at these dogs, one of which incidentally landed in the Ashram! Now that Guruji has been made aware of this, he wants Karan Johar to make a movie on the incident titled, ‘I Am Swamy, But I Am Innocent’!
Serious questions need to be asked here- Why was such a hue and cry made about a bullet being fired ‘specifically’ at Sri Sri when it missed him by yards? With the exception of a few reports on the actual victim who was injured, (a deveotee of Ravi Shankar) why wasn’t anybody interested in getting his side of the story? Why was the media giving so much attention to an incident without gathering enough information about the real sequence of events?
It’s really nice that our country has so many spiritual gurus to lead our way in our quest for eternal peace and enlightenment- what’s with channels like Aastha, Sanskar and Jagran giving birth to new godmen every other day. And though all gurus can’t be typecast as being ‘unholy’, I personally have serious doubts over the authenticity of most, if not all of them. The recently unearthed scandals of Swami Nithyananda and Asaram Bapu are cases in point. There are acres of land all over India, and even abroad, dedicated to ashrams, yagnashalas and gurukuls. Most gurus have enough clout amongst the netalog as well. What is even more amusing is that most hi-fi gurus spend their time serving their firang devotees abroad under the pretext of global ‘uddhar’.
I don’t have a problem with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar per se. In fact, I felt hugely satisfied after attending an Art Of Living YES+ (stands for Youth Empowerment and Skills) workshop last year. The Sudarshan Kriya which is the USP of any Art Of Living (AOL) course does have scientifically proven health benefits. And the gyaan that you get on a course is, in every way, aimed at helping you strike a chord with your inner self. But that’s that. The tactics that die-hard AOL followers use to get you on the course are really annoying. If you have friends involved with the Art Of Living Foundation, may be you know what I mean. Most participants on my course agreed that they were either coerced or sweet talked into attending it by AOL friends. Same was the case for me. I understand that any kind of event does need a fair bit of publicity, but sometimes it just crosses the tipping point. The director of WAYE (World Alliance of Youth Empowerment) which introduced YES+, Khurshed Batliwala (I am in awe of his persona!) himself asks participants to try and find as many people to register for the course and persist till they give in. He does mean it in a very funny sort of a way and does so for the eventual upliftment of society, but I fail to understand why people should be ‘forced’ into joining a beautiful course like this in the first place. If the course does have the benefits that it claims to have, (which I also believe) people will register for it themselves, you don’t need the AOL brigade to go scouting for participants, catch them by the neck and then smilingly ask them to deep breathe their way out of it. I doubt if any one thing, person or incident could teach anyone the ‘Art Of Living’. It’s the daily struggles with ourselves and the world around us and worthwhile experiences over the years, that teach us small but meaningful lessons, which ultimately help us to ace this mammoth of a test called Life.
As for last week’s bullet firing drama, all I can say is that maybe Guruji’s ardent bhakts advised him to cash in on some media attention and make hay while the sun was still shining. With Guruji’s security now being beefed up a few notches higher than before, it is the taxpayer who will pay dearly to protect a public figure- who preaches the ‘Art Of Living’ to the world, from fellow Living Beings!
