Well Slumdog has won and lots has been said, across different media, even the web, but on different places.
Just thought would write one post summarizing all that thicket of conversation.
Guess there are a couple of recurring themes seen.
One major current, where we Indians want to feel good about the movie and its Oscar march, just because it is about our country and fellow country men won.
Jai Ho morphing to Jai Hind.
Then there is this other current, again coming from national identification, but here instead of pride there is disgust/remorse/criticism whatever one might call it. Picturing of slums in our country, in a movie made by Brits, well one can be sure it would evoke a 'patriotic' reaction.
Jai Hind, therefore no Jai Ho.
Now, where do my allegiances lie, anticipating the thought in your head, dear reader.
Well, neither. And here would like to say, sort of tongue in cheek, how can a movie, any movie for that matter, be of national importance.
Meaning, how can people in either of the positions above, whether celebratory or critical, attach so much national significance to 'a' movie? And now when times are recessionary, with a possible economic depression looming, surely there are other matters to be more concerned about. End of the day, it is a movie,and to my mind would make for a better world if all its merit, significance and talk about it remained in realm of art*.
Attaching elements of polity ,society and nationality into what is primarily a product for 'entertainment' is going too far.
Jai Hind and Jai Ho have an incidental similarity where the first word comprising the whole phrase, is the same.
'Slumdog Millionare' is just a romantic, rags to riches movie,'incidentally' set in Mumbai backwaters.
Let's keep it that way.
*Do see some semblance of this is being said now, especially in context of 'Slums' Oscar victory for best picture, where some other popular movies lost out.
In movie, Last Samurai, Tom Cruise, after having been captured, has his first meeting with Samurai King. In this encounter, a few words are exchanged, like their individual names, but nothing of significance. However a certain tension between between captor and captive, between two warriors of different motivations, seems to ease. A simple exchange of words breaks through barriers of culture and context, connecting two humans. "It has been a good conversation", concludes Samurai king, smiling
Showing posts with label Watching TV. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Watching TV. Show all posts
Aha, an Oscar
So the country is abuzz with Slumdog millionaire winning a clutch of Oscars, and in that set are those won by Rehman and Resul Pookutty, both 'bona fide' Indians. Hence where ever you look, whatever channel you flip, this is THE News.
Even on Google News Top Stories widget see an item related to the PM congratulating Slumdog team. All good; surely a matter of great honour and pride winning an Oscar.
Congratulations to all people involved. And also considering that Little Pinky also won, looks like India is a flavour of this Oscar season.
Now whatever might have been the merits of Slumdog as a movie or not, all the same
Jai Ho, or maybe Jai Hind:)
Even on Google News Top Stories widget see an item related to the PM congratulating Slumdog team. All good; surely a matter of great honour and pride winning an Oscar.
Congratulations to all people involved. And also considering that Little Pinky also won, looks like India is a flavour of this Oscar season.
Now whatever might have been the merits of Slumdog as a movie or not, all the same
Jai Ho, or maybe Jai Hind:)
Finding Nemesis of the iPhone
Oks so looks like every one is (correction) was waiting for the iPhone.
Looks like every one thinks N96 is going to be the answer to Apple from Nokia.
Guess everyone as in everyone, even Nokia for it ran on eve of iPhone's launch, a similar advertising campaign(front pages of national English dailies), announcing N96. Ads had elements similar to iPhone ads(links for booking and all, emblazoned across the page, though placed at bottom).
Guess everyone as in everyone, even my Mom; she talked of how N96 might be better than iPhone, and cheaper.
Looks like now the hunt for iPhone's killer is taking hold of some peoples imigination akin to how a recent double murder mystery in Delhi suburb took root.
And even in this case, that of finding nemesis of the iPhone, think we are looking in wrong direction. Guess it is difficult to think clearly, given so much emotional investment in brands and hype.
But anyways, without spending any more time digressing, let me boldly introduce you to the real iPhone 'killer' if you will.
Yup it is from Nokia and its already launched, yes you can go and buy, now!
Okie okie, after having read this post, which also doubles up as a user(mine) review of Nokia E71. There, i said it. That is the name of a phone, as sleek and nice to look at than any other phone, Nokia that is.
E71 is a successsor to E62,E61(i), but not a big bulky(E62) or a big bulky but rounded(E61) square.But a dis-similar curved at the sides rectangle, very similar to current iPhone 2G.
Looks like that is how products in this category are going. If you have seen picture of the Blackberry Bold, then also very easy to imagine E71 as it is almost alike, for Blackberry Bold too has a full QWERTY keyboard. So overall the layout of the screen and keyboard comes out to be the same.
So if how the phone looks is very or as important, thing is E71 would not let you down one bit. Moment you take it out from its case(bundled along) friends,family, colleagues eyes would light up; they would want to hold it; whether u allow it or not, is entirely up to u. But here is the thing, even if you do, you needn't worry; this one inherits Nokia's ruggedness, so unlike the iPhone all fiddling is not going to leave any prints; not any that can not be wiped off using a kerchief.
Now i can tell you that it has 3 mega pixel camera, with video recording support and flash.
That it has a hot swappable memory card with 2GB card bundled.
That it has a built in IMAP client that one can have email configured in a snap.
That it has GPS and Nokia maps, which immediately identified the lane and by lanes of my Delhi suburban neighborhood, along with telling me all things of interest nearby.
Whew, am a little out of breath, given the above and also seeing all the hype and hoopla surrounding the iPhone launch with suspense being over. So how about another post, with nothing but a just a feature by feature comparison.
And yes, one thing and that is in case you want to go buy it now, Nokia E71 is 20K or so(+-Rs500) with a 2GB card coming along with case, stereo phones in standard pacakaging. iPhone is a sure 50% more.
I know, i know, a full QWERTY sleek smart phone for under 20K from Nokia. You just want to go buy. Just do it, as famous tag line says, just remember E71.
That is the real iPhone killer, not any other.
Looks like every one thinks N96 is going to be the answer to Apple from Nokia.
Guess everyone as in everyone, even Nokia for it ran on eve of iPhone's launch, a similar advertising campaign(front pages of national English dailies), announcing N96. Ads had elements similar to iPhone ads(links for booking and all, emblazoned across the page, though placed at bottom).
Guess everyone as in everyone, even my Mom; she talked of how N96 might be better than iPhone, and cheaper.
Looks like now the hunt for iPhone's killer is taking hold of some peoples imigination akin to how a recent double murder mystery in Delhi suburb took root.
And even in this case, that of finding nemesis of the iPhone, think we are looking in wrong direction. Guess it is difficult to think clearly, given so much emotional investment in brands and hype.
But anyways, without spending any more time digressing, let me boldly introduce you to the real iPhone 'killer' if you will.
Yup it is from Nokia and its already launched, yes you can go and buy, now!
Okie okie, after having read this post, which also doubles up as a user(mine) review of Nokia E71. There, i said it. That is the name of a phone, as sleek and nice to look at than any other phone, Nokia that is.
E71 is a successsor to E62,E61(i), but not a big bulky(E62) or a big bulky but rounded(E61) square.But a dis-similar curved at the sides rectangle, very similar to current iPhone 2G.
Looks like that is how products in this category are going. If you have seen picture of the Blackberry Bold, then also very easy to imagine E71 as it is almost alike, for Blackberry Bold too has a full QWERTY keyboard. So overall the layout of the screen and keyboard comes out to be the same.
So if how the phone looks is very or as important, thing is E71 would not let you down one bit. Moment you take it out from its case(bundled along) friends,family, colleagues eyes would light up; they would want to hold it; whether u allow it or not, is entirely up to u. But here is the thing, even if you do, you needn't worry; this one inherits Nokia's ruggedness, so unlike the iPhone all fiddling is not going to leave any prints; not any that can not be wiped off using a kerchief.
Now i can tell you that it has 3 mega pixel camera, with video recording support and flash.
That it has a hot swappable memory card with 2GB card bundled.
That it has a built in IMAP client that one can have email configured in a snap.
That it has GPS and Nokia maps, which immediately identified the lane and by lanes of my Delhi suburban neighborhood, along with telling me all things of interest nearby.
Whew, am a little out of breath, given the above and also seeing all the hype and hoopla surrounding the iPhone launch with suspense being over. So how about another post, with nothing but a just a feature by feature comparison.
And yes, one thing and that is in case you want to go buy it now, Nokia E71 is 20K or so(+-Rs500) with a 2GB card coming along with case, stereo phones in standard pacakaging. iPhone is a sure 50% more.
I know, i know, a full QWERTY sleek smart phone for under 20K from Nokia. You just want to go buy. Just do it, as famous tag line says, just remember E71.
That is the real iPhone killer, not any other.
Tags:
Gadget Dhyan,
Morning Paper,
Watching TV
Double Delight
So indeed it is turning out to be a momentous day for us at the Olympics.
2008/2008 would come to mean birth of two champions.
Two men digging deep to find courage and victory.
Maybe after this, 8 would come to mean a whole lot of positive things, other than fate and catastrophe.
Am not aware of reasons for 8 being considered so auspicious in China but guess it makes total
sense. Come to think of it, maybe 8 means both, like another (Chinese)proverb, times of great crisis are times of great opportunity.
Surely before the games started, it was a great crisis for our national sport.
For the very first time in history, we were not in contention for a hockey medal, having failed to qualify for this edition of the games.
And now look at the headlines; almost every where it is being touted as our best Olympics till date.
Crisis has really given way to great opportunity translated in to even greater achievement;
We have our first ever individual gold, and guess highest medal tally.
Wow, once again what an Olympics it is turning out to be for us a nation.
Great crisis in our national game, greater opportunity in many other sports.
2008/2008 would come to mean birth of two champions.
Two men digging deep to find courage and victory.
Maybe after this, 8 would come to mean a whole lot of positive things, other than fate and catastrophe.
Am not aware of reasons for 8 being considered so auspicious in China but guess it makes total
sense. Come to think of it, maybe 8 means both, like another (Chinese)proverb, times of great crisis are times of great opportunity.
Surely before the games started, it was a great crisis for our national sport.
For the very first time in history, we were not in contention for a hockey medal, having failed to qualify for this edition of the games.
And now look at the headlines; almost every where it is being touted as our best Olympics till date.
Crisis has really given way to great opportunity translated in to even greater achievement;
We have our first ever individual gold, and guess highest medal tally.
Wow, once again what an Olympics it is turning out to be for us a nation.
Great crisis in our national game, greater opportunity in many other sports.
Tags:
In India,
New New,
Watching TV,
World of Sport
Small first step
So windows decides to restart as am about to start writing this post; augurs well i suppose:)
Have been thinking of doing this for sometime now, and guess no better day than today to start; comes once in so many years, they tell me, date like today, 20/08/2008.
Untrue i suppose, for half the world uses a different convention;
Anyways, away with trivialities; this is going to be my first post, and like so many firsts in life, supposed to be special, significant, having a unique stamp and signature.
Write about Singh is King, a thought surfaces; only have not seen the movie so don't know what can i say.Guess above title has so much currency these days, being bandied about in media so much; from TV news channels to fm, that it has become background score to my thought process.
So much for modern marketing; leveraging a significant political event for promotion and 'brand recall'. Art follows life, one might say, or is it supposed to be the other way, life following art?
Any which ways, it is all mixed up, and to prevent another one at this post level, lets change track, look at other topics.
Rains with the dilapidated state they leave Delhi roads and traffic in, playing havoc with office times comes to mind. Drive everyday to work,and thus have a first hand experience of how chaotic and desperate the situation becomes. Guess enough pain handling while commuting that no point recreating it here.
Write about 'Bachana Aye Hasseno' and how it just might redeem YashRaj studios sagging fortunes; or 'Tare Zameen Par' latest movie that we saw on vcd, and how amazing it was; or about Heroes and Lost, two TV series that have become my favourites.
Write about cricket, and Indian teams way ward ways; or the upcoming champions trophy and IPL 2; fact that latter starts just a day after former ends and how that is again going to throw up player fatigue stories.
How about Olympics are turning out to be a dance of the eights, where not only did they start on a date with three eights and an individual winning 8 gold medals. Or how lucky it has been for India, producing our first individual gold,bringing cheers to entire nation.
Looks like a fitting anticlimax to all those TV reports of doom, gloom and catastrophy the date
08/08/08 was supposed to bring.
How about Web 2.0 and architecting a dot com in .NET, writing about issues faced and problems encountered; about how they are different from 'normal' web but enterprise applications; about how to have a plastic architecture and design allowing for quick delivery of user desired features and enhancements.
How about two back to back eclipses in the month and flurry of calls from friends enquiring about possible effects.
How before even writing my first blog post, have become somewhat of an expert on what this medium is about and what it promises. Or how day begins with reading blog posts at techcrunch.com and gigaom.com.
Guess all of this and more is what this blog is going to be about, and to paraphrase an oft quoted proverb, journey of thousand miles begins with a small step.
So this post, a small first step in a journey spanning many a topic, bridging ideas and minds.
One small voice, trying to make sense of the current cultural cacophony.
An attempt at finding deeper meaning to this time and age than just a juxtaposition of numbers used to denote it.
Hopefully the journey is a joyous one and arriving is as much fun as getting there.
Have been thinking of doing this for sometime now, and guess no better day than today to start; comes once in so many years, they tell me, date like today, 20/08/2008.
Untrue i suppose, for half the world uses a different convention;
Anyways, away with trivialities; this is going to be my first post, and like so many firsts in life, supposed to be special, significant, having a unique stamp and signature.
Write about Singh is King, a thought surfaces; only have not seen the movie so don't know what can i say.Guess above title has so much currency these days, being bandied about in media so much; from TV news channels to fm, that it has become background score to my thought process.
So much for modern marketing; leveraging a significant political event for promotion and 'brand recall'. Art follows life, one might say, or is it supposed to be the other way, life following art?
Any which ways, it is all mixed up, and to prevent another one at this post level, lets change track, look at other topics.
Rains with the dilapidated state they leave Delhi roads and traffic in, playing havoc with office times comes to mind. Drive everyday to work,and thus have a first hand experience of how chaotic and desperate the situation becomes. Guess enough pain handling while commuting that no point recreating it here.
Write about 'Bachana Aye Hasseno' and how it just might redeem YashRaj studios sagging fortunes; or 'Tare Zameen Par' latest movie that we saw on vcd, and how amazing it was; or about Heroes and Lost, two TV series that have become my favourites.
Write about cricket, and Indian teams way ward ways; or the upcoming champions trophy and IPL 2; fact that latter starts just a day after former ends and how that is again going to throw up player fatigue stories.
How about Olympics are turning out to be a dance of the eights, where not only did they start on a date with three eights and an individual winning 8 gold medals. Or how lucky it has been for India, producing our first individual gold,bringing cheers to entire nation.
Looks like a fitting anticlimax to all those TV reports of doom, gloom and catastrophy the date
08/08/08 was supposed to bring.
How about Web 2.0 and architecting a dot com in .NET, writing about issues faced and problems encountered; about how they are different from 'normal' web but enterprise applications; about how to have a plastic architecture and design allowing for quick delivery of user desired features and enhancements.
How about two back to back eclipses in the month and flurry of calls from friends enquiring about possible effects.
How before even writing my first blog post, have become somewhat of an expert on what this medium is about and what it promises. Or how day begins with reading blog posts at techcrunch.com and gigaom.com.
Guess all of this and more is what this blog is going to be about, and to paraphrase an oft quoted proverb, journey of thousand miles begins with a small step.
So this post, a small first step in a journey spanning many a topic, bridging ideas and minds.
One small voice, trying to make sense of the current cultural cacophony.
An attempt at finding deeper meaning to this time and age than just a juxtaposition of numbers used to denote it.
Hopefully the journey is a joyous one and arriving is as much fun as getting there.
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