Sachin and his (im)possible makeover

‘Is Sachin Tendulkar undergoing a makeover?’ I asked myself. But then I dumped this question outright and realised that Sachin is definitely not a person who needs/has to undergo image makeover. He has a larger-beyond-life persona and things like makeover are only for attention-deficient glam dolls, Sachin stands at a pedestal beyond comparison and explanation.



My reason for such a question is this advt -

Just spotted this advertisement of a popular brand of cameras that Sachin Tendulkar endorses. Noticed that Sachin’s hair have been morphed - our Master Blaster is known for his eccentric curls and this advt. features him in straight hair. For once I thought that this could be Sachin’s attempt at make-over, but this could well be a photoshop job. No offence but I like Sachin with curls, with his trademark sincere look and down-to-earth attitude.

Big Boss 4 – Seema brings back old memories

Big Boss 4 comes to an end today. Not that I watched it every day or I will miss the drama there, in fact I'm happy that it’s over and here's hoping it may be replaced by some meaningful/entertaining show. I don’t detest this show, but didn’t find it entertaining enough. I only watched its handpicked episodes and that too for the sake of just one person - Seema Parihar. Sounds unbelievable, but it’s true.

She was certainly the most non-glamorous characters in the BB house and possibly the only one who didn’t have any big recollections to flaunt there. Throughout her stay there, she seemed like the only one who didn’t utter swear words. That seems like too much of a big deal for a person who has seen a rather rough side of life, when compared to other contestants who seemed city bred and so-called well cultured.

I had spoken to her way back in 2006 when I was working with HT and was doing a story for cinema section. The story was about real people telling their own stories through films. Seema had then just finished shooting for her biopic - Wounded directed by Krishna Mishra. You can read it here - http://www.hindustantimes.com/Real-heroes-take-to-reels/Article1-107951.aspx

My conversation with her was very short but it was a very frank account of her life. She told me she didn’t need glycerine to act in her film because a mere recollection of her past life and incidents make her cry. She told me she is very uncomfortable settling in big city life. Now, it seems she has become more comfortable with people and the ways city life. Saw her jiving to Munni Badnam and whatever numbers. Good luck to her, hope she remains as rooted to her sensibility as she seemed.

Eleven resolutions for 2011

Even though making resolutions may sound obsolete in this age, I still feel it’s a good practise because its puts you in a thinking mode about your personal goals. Even if you achieve just half of them, you would be able to change your life by some miles. 

So here go my 11 resolutions for the year 2011 – 

1.       - Get rid of driver’s phobia and not think that everybody on the road is about to hit me when I’m at the wheel

2.       - Get back to reading, even if I can finish just one book in three months

3.       - To stop watching stupid Bollywood flicks and instead spend this time and money on buying books

4.       - Get into fab zone, a possible U-turn from the flab zone where I’m currently headed

5.       - Remember imp birthdays even if I have to get a tattoo to put all the dates

6.       - Stop thinking about office when I’m at home

7.       - Not obsess about rules and regulations everywhere, especially when I’m in Noida

8.       - Just chill at times

9.       - Take short trips back home more regularly

10.   - Learn pottery painting

11.   - Last, but the most IMPORTANT – get a punching bag to my divert anger

Living in the age of Reality TV

Got a mail last week. The subject line was as provoking as its message, it read - ‘Stuck With Wrong Parents’. It is a promo for a show being aired on UTV Bindaas where the lifestyles of youngsters are pitted against the older generation. Saw its promos on TV as well where youngsters are yelling and screaming for possible ‘interference’ and ‘intrusion’ in their lives and later the shouting turns into name calling. 

Of course, it looks like great ‘masala’ and a sure shot formula to gather enough eye-balls for the show but a sad pointer to the fact that TV producers will go to any length to win more audience. Also, a stark reminder of how gullible our generation is (me included). 

Gone are the days when people wouldn’t give out their secrets for anything. Remember the age old saying – maine use zubaan di hai (I have made a promise) and people would go to any extent to keep up their promises and reputations. People wouldn’t hang around with folks who had tainted reputations.  No one would dare to start any controversial topic, leave alone become a centre pint of any uncomfortable conversations. 

Now, things are different. Our generation is more than happy to be a part of controversies. ‘Gossip’ is the buzz word everywhere, and the gossip mongers are as happy as their subjects.  We are dying to be part of shows like ‘Big Boss’, where every bit of lives, every moment of our day will be on display. We don’t mind losing our cool in public, retorting or responding to any claims or allegations heaped on us, even if it is coming from a dead fly. Patience, calm, grace, dignity are words found in the dictionary only. Otherwise in practical life we are all willing to give up everything for five seconds of fame, some Lakhs of Rupees or some recall value even if its comes for all wrong reasons. And this is where the clever producers win. They whip up shows where our meanest instincts are on display and they get more TRPs for bringing out the worst in us. Thanks to this new trends we have no bodies turn into instant celebrities, look at the likes of Rakhi Sawant, Raja Chaudhary, Dolly Bindra.

As for the UTV show ‘Stuck With Wrong Parents’, I would say Shravan Kumar must be turning in his grave after hearing about this shows. 

PS: Shravan Kumar is the mythical character who carried his aged, blind parents everywhere to fulfil their last wishes.  

Technology: Boon or Bane?

Technology has made communication much easier for us. We easily connect to people through phone, chat, text, web-conferencing, mailing etc. At the same time, technology gives us the flexibility to ignore people with whom we want to maintain a distance. Like we can choose not to answer a call from a pesky relative or ignore e-mails sent by random strangers. So is technology really helping people stay connected or is it helping them create manageable distances?

Just wondering if technology is helping us grow in actual terms.

Salman and the social media strategy

So its social media all the way. From Shashi Tharoor to your neighbour almost everybody is on Facebook, Twitter and making the best use of it.

For now its Salman Khan who is making the best use of social media tools. There may be rumours of Salman Khan quitting Twitter et all but his fondness for Web2.0 suggests otherwise.

Yesterday his team uploaded an ‘clarification/apology’ video on Youtube to make his stance clear on the Mumbai attack remarks. The user salmankhanclarifies (on Youtube) has already received 33,910 views with close to 569 comments.

Link - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmHREC5Sg3Y&feature=topvideos

Then Facebook is hosting a ‘like’ link called ‘10-reasons-why-dabangg-rocks’.Trust me, There wasn’t even one or may be half a reason why one should watch this film. I don’t hate Salman Khan, but I didn’t like the film.

And of course the web is full of hundreds of film review, blog posts, opinion polls, posters, photo-galleries for Salman, official fan clubs and scores of fan posts.

Thumbs up for his social media strategy.

The other side of Delhi

When I started with new job, I thought it would be about new work assignments, new boss and new colleagues. And well there's just an addition here - I got a taste of a different culture as well, a 'mini Delhi' living within Delhi.

My new job takes me to a distant corner of Delhi, actually the border of national capital - Badarpur Border. This place is a meeting point of three states - Delhi, Uttar Pradesh (bordering to Noida) and Haryana (touching base with Faridabad).

When I say 'border', I don't mean a barbed wire cutting out geographical boundaries, it’s a highway that connects three different states. This highway hosts the corporate offices and warehouses of many MNCs including Sony, Nissan, Porsche, BMW. And this is what makes the place unique.

This location makes that place a melting pot of many cultures. The crowd here comes from two distinct worlds:
First, the white collar workers working in swanky offices, donning best formals and branded gear; and second the local crowd most of whom come from nearby villages and work in the factories/warehouses.
The cultural backgrounds here are as different as their attires, mannerisms and aspirations. When I move around with my female colleagues for ice-cream breaks, the crowd around giggles carelessly, making remarks about formal attires and dressing. So, it’s like either you move around in your vehicles or give in to the jeers of local crowd. This is when I miss moving around carelessly in CP, Saket or Sector 18, Noida. All these places are the hub of new-India where professionals usually gang up at cafes, ice-cream parlours, coffee houses and eating joints and nobody would even wink at you skirts or slim-fitting jeans. But this is not the case of 'Border'. Barely 20 kms from CP, this place hosts the conservative Indian sensibilities.

If you take a bus towards CP or south-Delhi, you'll find college students, working professionals who will happily accommodate you and won’t even turn around to notice what you are wearing.

This is not the case with 'Border'. If you are travelling towards Border in a bus, you’ll almost be doomed. The crowd includes the 'ammajis', 'taujis' and 'bhaiyas' from the north-Indian Jatland. They'll stare at you even if you are in simple formal, stare at your laptops bags and check you out throughout your journey. Many don’t just seem to understand hell why is a girl travelling in bus at 8 am or 7.30 in the night. May be this is the real India which begins from Delhi borders and extends all over the country.

May be this is where we actually live beyond our swanky offices and posh eating joints. The sooner, we realise the better it is.