Did you vote??

                So it’s the big day today! The general elections for the 15^th Lok Sabha start today. Only once every five years do we get this chance. Only once every five years do we get to exercise this right. Only once every five years are we called forth to complete this duty. So, have you voted yet? If you have, congratulations. 

If you haven’t, well you still have the whole day left in front of you but maybe you should not wait that long should you? After all, if you shun away from this duty, you lose the right to complain for the next five years. For the next five years, you have no right to complain about the apathy of the government to your problems. For the next five years, you have no right to call yourself a part of the Indian Democracy just because you did not take part in the most important part of this Democracy and failed to cast your vote. For the next five years, you are a guest in the Indian Democracy and you may have just overstayed your welcome. You might want to reconsider your decision while there's still some time left.

The Election Commission of India finally got something right!!!! Think about it. With this minor change in the procedure this year, you stand getting the Finger for the next five years if you fail to cast your vote today. . . .

Reality Shows. How real are they?

Ok so my dear Laksh, here goes your essay! Reality TV serials. Well the first thing that we remember when we talk about reality TV shows is the question as to how real they are. What started off as a sincere attempt to include real characters in the shows has been marred by rising demands for more TRP, increasingly flaring tempers and contestants challenging the very format of the shows. We have also witnessed a dramatic shift in the way these shows are handled. The base line is, one wonders what’s so real about reality shows these days!! Be it the idiosyncrasies on Big Brother or the constant bickering on Splitsvilla. Be it the contestants challenging the judges’ decisions on Sa Re Ga Ma Pa or the worthless quality of Indian Idol. Where is the reality?

                There’s one good thing in it for the movie producers though! The gargantuan number of reality shows being aired means there is no dearth of an episode in which the stars of a new movie cannot become guest judges and rather than judging the contestants, go on chattering about the movie and create free publicity about the film. Interestingly though, such movies hardly tend to make a mark on the box office!!

                Another uniting factor in these reality shows is how soon they divert from the main topic. A dance show, for example, will take only a couple of episodes to start showing the way the dancers rehearse and how they take the rehearsals seriously and what not. Do they really think that we will fall for that? And why is every show always about the trials and tribulations of the contestants? Why can’t there be happy times for them as well? How come they express their ugliest emotions only when they are on camera? How come the cameramen always manage to get the perfect shot each and every time? How does he manage to get so many different types of shots of the same precise moment so that you get zoom in, zoom out, right pan, left pan, sepia tones, black & white effects and God knows how many effects in those same moments? Are these effects stage managed?

                It really baffles me when the judges start fighting amongst themselves. This is one aspect of reality shows that I have never really been able to grasp. Why is there a consistent difference of opinion among the judges regarding the performances? Why is it that these differences are always shown on TV? I fail to understand why they are not edited out. Has TRP become so dependant on controversies? Why don’t you people try to get some quality in the shows just for a change? Why don’t you get rid of the controversies just for a change? Why don’t you try to make just one clean, pure episode just for the sake of the brains of the viewers?

                One more thing. What is this affinity that you have for viewer votes? Don’t you have confidence on your own judges? If that’s the case, why don’t you change them? Don’t you have confidence on your own choice of judges and participants? Why do you run a show where you yourself are confused? Just to get people involved, you introduce such rotten concepts. It’s your show isn’t it? Introducing such polls gives the participants a golden chance to purchase dozens of SIM cards themselves and put in thousands of votes for themselves! What’s the use of keeping the polls in that case? The number of votes as such does not represent the number of viewers and you know that. Why are you kidding yourselves? Why do you think that shouting the fallacy at the top of your voices has the potential to make it a reality?

                All this puts a question mark on the credibility of these shows. You say they are reality shows. Ask yourself this one question: Are you sure? Are you certain that these shows are real? Are you certain that’s the level of your creativity? If yes, do you really think you are in the right place? Frankly speaking, I am not so sure. That may be one of the many reasons why I don’t care for any of these reality shows. You check your own premises.

Cricket meets Terrorism.

Don’t we have enough problems to deal with already??? That was my reaction at 11AM today when I turned on the news channels and got the news that the Sri Lankan team had been attacked. The fact that the Indian team was supposed to be there originally and the Sri Lankan team was a last minute replacement is enough to chill the bones. The team bus of Sri Lanka which was taking the team to the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore was ambushed by 12 terrorists who fired nearly 40-50 bullets at the bus injuring 6 players. They also attacked the Umpires’ car injuring one of the umpires. The reply: all 12 managed to escape unhurt. Though 6-8 policemen laid down their life, not even a single terrorist could be apprehended, let alone shot down. They came, they shot, they conquered and they moved on. All the Lahore police top brass could manage was to praise the Lahore police for preventing any player from being killed. Well sirs that was not your efficiency!! That was the inefficiency of the terrorists who forgot to pull the pin of the grenade they threw under the bus. Had they succeeded, the whole bus would have been blasted to smithereens. The terrorists have again showed that nothing is impossible for them and their actions are only subject to their own whims and fancies alone. An intelligence report prompted a change of route taken by the cavalcade from the hotel to the stadium but even that failed to deter the terrorists. This just goes on to indicate how deep their information sources are placed and how fast they can alter their plans for a successful strike. As far as this match was concerned, the terrorists clean bowled the Lahore police. To put it in other words, on the basis of the intelligence report, the Lahore police tried a Googly but the terrorists hit them for a six! (Ironically, exactly 6 Lankan players were injured).

It now remains to be seen what action is taken in this regard. ICC is already mulling the possibility of blacklisting Pakistan. It is obvious that there may not be any further tours by any team to that country. What remains to be seen is what action is taken against the terrorists. Are they left alone like their countless brothers or are they going to be hunted down? What can India do in this regard? For quite some time now, the attitude of Pakistan in the Mumbai terror has come under severe criticism. Now, do we continue to deride them for their statements or do we finally take matters into our own hands? Do we wait for the “very efficient” Pakistan to counter the threat or do we step up ourselves and eliminate them once and for all? Do we still wait for US to take on the Big Brother role once again or do we take up that role ourselves? Pakistan acts as a buffer for us against the Afghans they say. I say, why doesn’t the international community eliminate them as well? Why don’t we finally have peace in the region that has been plagiarized for decades by the same old problem? Why do we still want to allow weeds to grow in our garden? Please, for God’s sake, wake up to the reality. Diplomacy got us this far. Give direct action a chance now. Its now or never…

There come the elections

Frankly Speaking… This blog has been my anger venting point from the day I started this. For the last few posts, this blog has taken a sharp anti-terror turn and has not touched any new subject. This entry is an attempt to broaden the base of this blog and also to focus on some of the other important and relevant topics at the moment.

Elections; the one thing that has been incorporated into our democracy which is still, by far, under our control. What we think, what we hope, what we detest, all our feelings find only one vent and that is in the form of elections because what we do in that enclosed box is only our own prerogative. Time and again, Indians have proved to the politicians that they are not to take anything for granted. Its that time again my friends! In April this year, we get to give out our verdict on the government. Our mandate. It is important now to realize what exactly we are going to do. It is after five years that we get to exercise this right and it is upto us where we take our nation. It is upto us to individually judge all the relevant aspects before we vote. But having said that, perhaps the most important thing is not for WHOM we vote but DO we vote. The voting percentages in our general elections have been so agonizingly low in the past elections that the politicians have started taking the public for granted. Let us not make the same mistake this time. Let us exercise this fundamental duty that the constitution entrusts us. We can enjoy the fundamental rights fully only when we learn to do our fundamental duties. Whichever party or coalition emerges out as the winner, let it be the voice of full India. Let it not be just the mandate of a part of India. Its decision time. Make no mistakes now. Hard times are ahead us. We need to do whatever we can. All the political parties have started their campaigning. We need to start our brains. It’s the only way we can have a voice in the way the country is run. Let us not forget the reality. We don’t get to do this daily. We get to do this only twice in a DECADE. Miss out on this and you forfeit the right to complain against the government because the moment you complain about the government, someone’s going to ask you if you voted. That someone is not a great man just because he voted. He remains the ordinary. YOU then become the sub-ordinary. This time, let us take up the voting percentage to 100%. Let’s give out our verdict fully. Let’s nor be bogged down by anything, and I mean ANYTHING at all. For once, let us take control. Let us vote.