Its common knowledge that foreigners are often looted in broad daylight when it comes to purchasing in India. Heck ! Even the GoI of India and the tourism dept charges a premium for foreigners when it comes to tourist destinations. When the Govt itself is looting unsuspecting foriegners, why shouldn't the local shopkeeper make a quick buck ?
Read this story about a couple of foreigners whose penchant for hot and spicey samosa, burnt a hole in their pockets..
Costly Samosa's
Tuesday, 18 November, 2008
Monday, 10 November, 2008
Force India confirm McLaren deal
In what could be a landmark event in Formula 1, CEO of Force India F1, Dr. Vijay Mallya has confirmed a 5-year deal with McLaren and its associated technical companies which will see the fledging outfit receive unprecedented amount of technical support from the Woking based squad.
The deal is within the framework of the current "Concorde Agreement" - which defines what a constructor is in Formula 1. This is a very vital point since it is widely expected that the definition of a constructor will be heavily debated in the coming weeks as Formula 1 broods over the idea of customer chassis. Indeed there might be a change in the rules to allow "non-constructor" players in the sport but all that is irrelevant to Force India because their deal complies with all the current regulations and rules of this agreement. That is quite a feat !
The silverstone based team will receive the entire engine-transmission along with KERS and a host of other parts - all directly from official McLaren suppliers. Basically, the Force India F1 car of 2009 will be running a replica of the 2009 McLaren's rear end ! This is a stunning boost for Force india. It will definitely be a big step forward in terms of performance.
Apart from this, there are various other business related deals also conlcuded which will see McLaren putting in their own resources into the upliftment of this team since they are considering it as a project of theirs too. Which is great ! So McLaren are likely to devote a core group of engineers and technical boffins for Force India who will work exclusively for this team and not be in conflict with McLaren's own racing programme.
McLaren will be giving wide ranging inputs to the team including driver suggestions but at the end of the day, Force India will decide for themselves as to what is the final decision on these issues - hence this is by no means a "Take-over" of Force India or a McLaren "Team-B" in the making. Its the start of an interesting new partnership and maybe other teams must take a cue from this and form partnerships with less well off teams. Its a good way to help the sport survive the financial crisis and help its long term future.
The deal is within the framework of the current "Concorde Agreement" - which defines what a constructor is in Formula 1. This is a very vital point since it is widely expected that the definition of a constructor will be heavily debated in the coming weeks as Formula 1 broods over the idea of customer chassis. Indeed there might be a change in the rules to allow "non-constructor" players in the sport but all that is irrelevant to Force India because their deal complies with all the current regulations and rules of this agreement. That is quite a feat !
The silverstone based team will receive the entire engine-transmission along with KERS and a host of other parts - all directly from official McLaren suppliers. Basically, the Force India F1 car of 2009 will be running a replica of the 2009 McLaren's rear end ! This is a stunning boost for Force india. It will definitely be a big step forward in terms of performance.
Apart from this, there are various other business related deals also conlcuded which will see McLaren putting in their own resources into the upliftment of this team since they are considering it as a project of theirs too. Which is great ! So McLaren are likely to devote a core group of engineers and technical boffins for Force India who will work exclusively for this team and not be in conflict with McLaren's own racing programme.
McLaren will be giving wide ranging inputs to the team including driver suggestions but at the end of the day, Force India will decide for themselves as to what is the final decision on these issues - hence this is by no means a "Take-over" of Force India or a McLaren "Team-B" in the making. Its the start of an interesting new partnership and maybe other teams must take a cue from this and form partnerships with less well off teams. Its a good way to help the sport survive the financial crisis and help its long term future.
Sunday, 9 November, 2008
When sonny asked for a "Sunny"
This saturday I attended a Sun Microsystems seminar in Ambedkar Bhavan. The auditorium is located quite close to our previous residence in Jayamahal extension area. Obviously I was feeling nostalgic as I waded through some old and fond memories from my childhood days.
I want to recount one particularly funny incident.The trigger for this memory was the sight of a service station next to Ambedkar Bhavan - it was formerly called "Lead Motors". They were an authorised service station for Kinetic-Honda nee Kinetic Motors now.
We had a Kinetic moped that we would get serviced there. It was one of the biggest service stations I had seen as a kid (I was no even in III standard back then! ) so I was hugely impressed by that place.
Flash back some 15 years ago - I was amused by anything that had an engine and wheels ( as is the case now :D ) and often collected pamphlets from various magazines,newspapers etc about different models of two-wheelers (I was not into 4wheelers much - as is the case now ! :D :D )
One day I saw an ad for a new scooterette called "Sunny" from bajaj. It was a very puny CVT vehicle - I think 50cc or so but looked really sweet in those days.I was blown away by the fact that even the shortest person whom I had seen was able to keep his feet on the ground comfortably when he sat on it, and that it looked really like a "toy" meant for children.
Now I hadn't ridden anything on two wheels till then - my riding skills were limited to a tricycle . So I cut out the ad from a newspaper - it was a blue Sunny with all the tech specs mentioned. I pasted it on my cupboard. Dad took notice of me keenness and mentioned casually to mum that I might ask him to buy it for me for my b'day or something. Little did he know that this would come back to bite him badly :)
I must have spent a couple of days ogling at this crude poster of mine before I decided that "I must have it". This was a momentous moment in my lifetime. For when I decided that I wanted to have something, I would definitely get it - my antics were so unbearable to my parents that they would give in well before I upped the ante on such occasions. So I was thinking that a couple of days of haranguer with a little chest beating would see me riding a Sunny around my neighbourhood :)
At the right time one evening when mum and dad were seeing some "ಕನ್ನಡ ಚಲನಚಿತ್ರ " on DD National. The timing was just right. During one of the ad breaks I calmly put forward a proposition that my parents should purchase a Sunny for me so that I can go to school daily all by myself and could also help brining groceries and other items for the house from the nearby "ಮಳಯಾಳಿ ಅಂಗಡಿ "(Greenland Stores). My mum burst out laughing but dad was so flabbergasted that he didn't utter a word.
Anyway things got more heated from there. Soon I had not eaten properly - rather I had not eaten any food without a good beating from mum - since this happened. Finally things came to a head three days later when I started to wail as if I had been bereaved and all the neighbours came around asking me what the matter was - ofc they were none too amused when they learnt the reasons behind my tantrums.
When dad learnt of all these things he said "Come , we will go buy your sunny" !!! I was over the moon. As we hailed an Auto dad said "JC Road" and asked him if he will come back for the return trip. I wondered why to which dad said that" you can't ride it back coz you don't know how to balance it so we will bring your Sunny in the auto !" Well I knew they could fit a cycle in the auto and the sunny was not much bigger so I nodded in approval.
I sniffed something was up when Dad started talking about all sorts of things like "license" for riding a vehicle - minimum age of 16 etc. I knew what was coming next and again started to sound my siren. Even the Auto driver was put off by my screaming :D The sweetener in the deal was that I could get a bicycle for now and buy a sunny when I get a special license a few years later :D and I agreed to it.
So we came home with my "sunny" which was a BSA-Champ - my first bicycle. I was so in love with the Sunny that I pasted that stupid poster on the rear of my bicycle as if it would transform it into a sunny. I would ride the cycle imagining that I was actually riding a Sunny. Two days later I had removed the sidewheels . On the very next day I had to miss school. I sat at home nursing some bad bruises on the elbow and knees. For once I was happy that I didn't get my Sunny.
But such outrageous demands wouldn't stop there. I was transfixed with automobiles. There was a time when I was a few years older that I demanded to be bought the new Rear-Engine(RE) version of the Bajaj Auto Rickshaw - in bright yellow colour - the goods carrier version. That is a story for another day.
I want to recount one particularly funny incident.The trigger for this memory was the sight of a service station next to Ambedkar Bhavan - it was formerly called "Lead Motors". They were an authorised service station for Kinetic-Honda nee Kinetic Motors now.
We had a Kinetic moped that we would get serviced there. It was one of the biggest service stations I had seen as a kid (I was no even in III standard back then! ) so I was hugely impressed by that place.
Flash back some 15 years ago - I was amused by anything that had an engine and wheels ( as is the case now :D ) and often collected pamphlets from various magazines,newspapers etc about different models of two-wheelers (I was not into 4wheelers much - as is the case now ! :D :D )
One day I saw an ad for a new scooterette called "Sunny" from bajaj. It was a very puny CVT vehicle - I think 50cc or so but looked really sweet in those days.I was blown away by the fact that even the shortest person whom I had seen was able to keep his feet on the ground comfortably when he sat on it, and that it looked really like a "toy" meant for children.
Now I hadn't ridden anything on two wheels till then - my riding skills were limited to a tricycle . So I cut out the ad from a newspaper - it was a blue Sunny with all the tech specs mentioned. I pasted it on my cupboard. Dad took notice of me keenness and mentioned casually to mum that I might ask him to buy it for me for my b'day or something. Little did he know that this would come back to bite him badly :)
I must have spent a couple of days ogling at this crude poster of mine before I decided that "I must have it". This was a momentous moment in my lifetime. For when I decided that I wanted to have something, I would definitely get it - my antics were so unbearable to my parents that they would give in well before I upped the ante on such occasions. So I was thinking that a couple of days of haranguer with a little chest beating would see me riding a Sunny around my neighbourhood :)
At the right time one evening when mum and dad were seeing some "ಕನ್ನಡ ಚಲನಚಿತ್ರ " on DD National. The timing was just right. During one of the ad breaks I calmly put forward a proposition that my parents should purchase a Sunny for me so that I can go to school daily all by myself and could also help brining groceries and other items for the house from the nearby "ಮಳಯಾಳಿ ಅಂಗಡಿ "(Greenland Stores). My mum burst out laughing but dad was so flabbergasted that he didn't utter a word.
Anyway things got more heated from there. Soon I had not eaten properly - rather I had not eaten any food without a good beating from mum - since this happened. Finally things came to a head three days later when I started to wail as if I had been bereaved and all the neighbours came around asking me what the matter was - ofc they were none too amused when they learnt the reasons behind my tantrums.
When dad learnt of all these things he said "Come , we will go buy your sunny" !!! I was over the moon. As we hailed an Auto dad said "JC Road" and asked him if he will come back for the return trip. I wondered why to which dad said that" you can't ride it back coz you don't know how to balance it so we will bring your Sunny in the auto !" Well I knew they could fit a cycle in the auto and the sunny was not much bigger so I nodded in approval.
I sniffed something was up when Dad started talking about all sorts of things like "license" for riding a vehicle - minimum age of 16 etc. I knew what was coming next and again started to sound my siren. Even the Auto driver was put off by my screaming :D The sweetener in the deal was that I could get a bicycle for now and buy a sunny when I get a special license a few years later :D and I agreed to it.
So we came home with my "sunny" which was a BSA-Champ - my first bicycle. I was so in love with the Sunny that I pasted that stupid poster on the rear of my bicycle as if it would transform it into a sunny. I would ride the cycle imagining that I was actually riding a Sunny. Two days later I had removed the sidewheels . On the very next day I had to miss school. I sat at home nursing some bad bruises on the elbow and knees. For once I was happy that I didn't get my Sunny.
But such outrageous demands wouldn't stop there. I was transfixed with automobiles. There was a time when I was a few years older that I demanded to be bought the new Rear-Engine(RE) version of the Bajaj Auto Rickshaw - in bright yellow colour - the goods carrier version. That is a story for another day.
Saturday, 8 November, 2008
Force India terminate their co-operation with Ferrari
Well Mallya is at it again. Not satisfied with the progress of the team - and justifiably so - he has decided to take a more hands on role at the team. One of the big decisions he has made is to go for a complete rear-end package - engine and drive train from McLaren Mercedes. This required them to annul the contract with Ferrari which runs to end of 2009 for supply of customer spec engines. Hence the announcement here.
Obviously this means that the team can make do with less specialists in that area so there might be some layoffs. But two men chose to leave well before the Force India Mclaren Mercedes package comes together - The technical Director and the man who has single handedly brought the peice of shit car from 2+ secs behind the field to a respectable Honda bashing form ... Mike Gascoyne. Gascoyne would obviously feel that he is no longer having enough influence with the McLaren deal in place I think. An enigmatic character , one wonders where he will end up for 2009.
Collin Kolles the dentist and team principal who has seen the team transform from Jordan F1 to MidLand F1 to Force India will also leave the team immediately with Mallya taking over more responsibilities. This is a good move. It shows the great instinct of Vijay Mallya. He has put billions of dollars into this project and he wont let it be frittered away. I think he will see to it that Force India is going to achieve its ambitions sooner rather than later.
And given that McLaren have had good reliability - even better than Ferrari - it bodes well for the future. Now if only they could start next year with a midfield car ..they will be on their way.
Obviously this means that the team can make do with less specialists in that area so there might be some layoffs. But two men chose to leave well before the Force India Mclaren Mercedes package comes together - The technical Director and the man who has single handedly brought the peice of shit car from 2+ secs behind the field to a respectable Honda bashing form ... Mike Gascoyne. Gascoyne would obviously feel that he is no longer having enough influence with the McLaren deal in place I think. An enigmatic character , one wonders where he will end up for 2009.
Collin Kolles the dentist and team principal who has seen the team transform from Jordan F1 to MidLand F1 to Force India will also leave the team immediately with Mallya taking over more responsibilities. This is a good move. It shows the great instinct of Vijay Mallya. He has put billions of dollars into this project and he wont let it be frittered away. I think he will see to it that Force India is going to achieve its ambitions sooner rather than later.
And given that McLaren have had good reliability - even better than Ferrari - it bodes well for the future. Now if only they could start next year with a midfield car ..they will be on their way.
Wednesday, 5 November, 2008
Change We Need - Barack Obama
As I type this on what is a very exciting morning in India, history is being made in the USA. Barack Hussein Obama became the first Afro-American President of the USA and it is widely hoped that he will bring the "change we need" as per his own campaign slogan.
Obamania has gripped the world in the last few months.The world has been polarized by Obama to the extent that a recent research by RD-India says that if the entire world was allowed to vote for the US President then Obama would trample all over John McCain. As it turned out, the americans did that themselves.
I am not an expert on the US elections and its candidates but from what little I know, I have come to the conclusion that the Obama victory will have equal doses of good and bad news for India and Indians.
Positives first - Obama is not going toe Bush's foreign policy of confrontational engagement with the supposedly "rogue" states. This should help improve the equations with countries like Iran which will have a knock on effect on Indo-US and Indo-Iran relations. Basically if the USA backs off a bit against Iran, things will be easier for us when we deal with bilateral issues with Iran.
Next, Obama is not going to allow Pakistan to loot the American taxpayers money. God knows how many trillions of dollars Bush has donated to the "Mush Charity" in the name of "aid for fighting terror". Remember that not all of this money has been accounted for properly. There is gross misappropriation and this was brought to the light of the US Senate recently. Mush obviously didn't tell Bush as to what he spent the pocket money on. But we know - everybody knows - that a large portion of it would have been swindled by corrupt entities and an equally large portion of that would have been used up to bolster Pakistani defences. This is being justified by the Pakistani's as being necessary to counter the Indian threat to Pakistans sovereignity. Yes its nothing but bollocks but only Bush would fall for that.
Obama has been making the right noises about making pakistan more accountable. After all where are the results of spending so much money ? A few dead tribals in remote mountains of NWFP ? Scores of innocent villagers killed by misguided American "Precision bombs" ? Well Bin Laden is doing pretty well holed up somewhere in these areas - enough to broadcast his intentions in mainstream international media regularly ! All the effort and aid put in by USA has come to nought - virtually...
Obama is open to the idea of going into pakistan/afghanistan with american troops if the need arises - which it has now in light of the totally insipid efforts from Pakistan to hunt down terrorists who have made that country their safe haven.Whether or not he will really do it is another matter but it at least steps up the pressure on the Pakistani Government to start walking the talk.
These moves also show a change in USA's foreign policy towards Pakistan vis a vis the foreign policy for India.I think it will be a pivotal moment when USA disengages Pakistan as just being a "close - ally in the fight against terror" and engages it as a "country that has to be more accountable in the fight against terror - ally or not ". And India only stands to gain from all this.
Whats the negative then ? Obama is not going to endear himself to the Outsourcing Industry. He is going to stop the tax breaks to Companies in the USA that are shifting jobs out of the country. Basically he wants to strangle the jobs moving out the country and ensure that Americans don't go jobless. This - from his PoV - is completely justfied - the American President is doing whats best for his country's people. He will also be giving perks for companies that stop outsourcing and start using local resources.But the biggest losers in this will be the Outsourcing Specialists the world over - more so in India because we have one of the biggest BPO/IPO infrastructures.
On the other hand John McCain was likely to pursue the same flawed foreign policy as George W Bush - potentially worsen the Iran situation - which will have a negative knock on effect on Indo-US and Indo - Iran relations. He might also have continued to feed Pakistan with trillions of dollars to help in the fight against terror - which is nothing but giving teeth to Pakistans Military to come up with devious designs against India. In general there wouldn't have been a pradigm shift in his policies compared to Bush's. However the advantage for India would have been that he is all for globalization and is not against outsourcing. No wonder the ITES sector in India would rather see McCain as the Prez rather than Obama.
Whichever way you look at it - there are positives and negatives this result. But then if we had to stick our neck out and make a call on who we would have really prefered as President of the USA - it would have been Obama anyway . Because,apart from his take on all the foreign policy issues, economic issues , Industry issues and other concerns , there is something mystique ( and I say "mystique" purposely ) about Obama as a President - an air of new possibilities , fresh hope, new ideas etc.
You associate Obama with "change", "revolution" and "fresh hope". There is an entirely different perception about the McCain camp. Its like comparing a freshly made piece of pie to a two day old refrigerated piece of Pizza. That is not just the comparison of the personalities themselves but its also a reflection of their campaigning, their ideas and outlook for the USA and the world at large. Thus Obama it had to be and finally he did prevail over McPain ..err... McCain. The only spoilsport in this could be Joseph(?) Biden his running - mate. People say he is not the kind to toe the line of his party or his president so how will Obama manage this volatile character remains to be seen...
Will Obama bring in the "Change we need" now ?
Obamania has gripped the world in the last few months.The world has been polarized by Obama to the extent that a recent research by RD-India says that if the entire world was allowed to vote for the US President then Obama would trample all over John McCain. As it turned out, the americans did that themselves.
I am not an expert on the US elections and its candidates but from what little I know, I have come to the conclusion that the Obama victory will have equal doses of good and bad news for India and Indians.
Positives first - Obama is not going toe Bush's foreign policy of confrontational engagement with the supposedly "rogue" states. This should help improve the equations with countries like Iran which will have a knock on effect on Indo-US and Indo-Iran relations. Basically if the USA backs off a bit against Iran, things will be easier for us when we deal with bilateral issues with Iran.
Next, Obama is not going to allow Pakistan to loot the American taxpayers money. God knows how many trillions of dollars Bush has donated to the "Mush Charity" in the name of "aid for fighting terror". Remember that not all of this money has been accounted for properly. There is gross misappropriation and this was brought to the light of the US Senate recently. Mush obviously didn't tell Bush as to what he spent the pocket money on. But we know - everybody knows - that a large portion of it would have been swindled by corrupt entities and an equally large portion of that would have been used up to bolster Pakistani defences. This is being justified by the Pakistani's as being necessary to counter the Indian threat to Pakistans sovereignity. Yes its nothing but bollocks but only Bush would fall for that.
Obama has been making the right noises about making pakistan more accountable. After all where are the results of spending so much money ? A few dead tribals in remote mountains of NWFP ? Scores of innocent villagers killed by misguided American "Precision bombs" ? Well Bin Laden is doing pretty well holed up somewhere in these areas - enough to broadcast his intentions in mainstream international media regularly ! All the effort and aid put in by USA has come to nought - virtually...
Obama is open to the idea of going into pakistan/afghanistan with american troops if the need arises - which it has now in light of the totally insipid efforts from Pakistan to hunt down terrorists who have made that country their safe haven.Whether or not he will really do it is another matter but it at least steps up the pressure on the Pakistani Government to start walking the talk.
These moves also show a change in USA's foreign policy towards Pakistan vis a vis the foreign policy for India.I think it will be a pivotal moment when USA disengages Pakistan as just being a "close - ally in the fight against terror" and engages it as a "country that has to be more accountable in the fight against terror - ally or not ". And India only stands to gain from all this.
Whats the negative then ? Obama is not going to endear himself to the Outsourcing Industry. He is going to stop the tax breaks to Companies in the USA that are shifting jobs out of the country. Basically he wants to strangle the jobs moving out the country and ensure that Americans don't go jobless. This - from his PoV - is completely justfied - the American President is doing whats best for his country's people. He will also be giving perks for companies that stop outsourcing and start using local resources.But the biggest losers in this will be the Outsourcing Specialists the world over - more so in India because we have one of the biggest BPO/IPO infrastructures.
On the other hand John McCain was likely to pursue the same flawed foreign policy as George W Bush - potentially worsen the Iran situation - which will have a negative knock on effect on Indo-US and Indo - Iran relations. He might also have continued to feed Pakistan with trillions of dollars to help in the fight against terror - which is nothing but giving teeth to Pakistans Military to come up with devious designs against India. In general there wouldn't have been a pradigm shift in his policies compared to Bush's. However the advantage for India would have been that he is all for globalization and is not against outsourcing. No wonder the ITES sector in India would rather see McCain as the Prez rather than Obama.
Whichever way you look at it - there are positives and negatives this result. But then if we had to stick our neck out and make a call on who we would have really prefered as President of the USA - it would have been Obama anyway . Because,apart from his take on all the foreign policy issues, economic issues , Industry issues and other concerns , there is something mystique ( and I say "mystique" purposely ) about Obama as a President - an air of new possibilities , fresh hope, new ideas etc.
You associate Obama with "change", "revolution" and "fresh hope". There is an entirely different perception about the McCain camp. Its like comparing a freshly made piece of pie to a two day old refrigerated piece of Pizza. That is not just the comparison of the personalities themselves but its also a reflection of their campaigning, their ideas and outlook for the USA and the world at large. Thus Obama it had to be and finally he did prevail over McPain ..err... McCain. The only spoilsport in this could be Joseph(?) Biden his running - mate. People say he is not the kind to toe the line of his party or his president so how will Obama manage this volatile character remains to be seen...
Will Obama bring in the "Change we need" now ?
Tuesday, 4 November, 2008
Adam shows his "True Colours"
Adam Gilchrist is going to publish his memoirs from his cricketing life called " True Colours : My Life". You dont have to be a genius to guess why the timing co-incides with the Australians tour of India.
There are some highly inflammatory remarks Adam makes about his peers. It has jolted the cricketing fraternity and the general public as well. Nobody expected the "walker" who fashioned his game on a unique set of professional ethics to lash out in this manner. Its almost like the career of Adam Gilchrist was nothing but a soap opera on TV where an actor was playing a role. Gilchrist - the man who put his integrity above ruthless competetiveness and cheap tricks was only a pseudo facade on a man who clearly had some serious issues with his cricketing brethren.
Adam was often heaped lavish praise for conducting himself in an admirable fashion - on and off the field - worth emulating . So the contents of his book are a total shock. Who could have imagined Gilchrist had such a vicious undercurrent of resentment in him ..and who could have guessed the timing in unleashing his tirade ?
It is probably very apt that the most explosive of his comments are those pertaining to the last Indian tour of Australia. The series saw much acrimony between the teams - the repercussions of which are still being felt. It left a bitter taste in the mouth and Gilchrist is only worsening the situation adding fuel to the fire.
First he revisted the Bhaji-Monkey incident, then he attacked Sachin Tendulkar and now its Murali.... all controversial topics. I seriously think that at this rate "Church" is risking damage to his "clean and decent" image and might tarnish his reputation irreversibly. As Bhajan said - he needs to get his head examined at the earliest.
There are some highly inflammatory remarks Adam makes about his peers. It has jolted the cricketing fraternity and the general public as well. Nobody expected the "walker" who fashioned his game on a unique set of professional ethics to lash out in this manner. Its almost like the career of Adam Gilchrist was nothing but a soap opera on TV where an actor was playing a role. Gilchrist - the man who put his integrity above ruthless competetiveness and cheap tricks was only a pseudo facade on a man who clearly had some serious issues with his cricketing brethren.
Adam was often heaped lavish praise for conducting himself in an admirable fashion - on and off the field - worth emulating . So the contents of his book are a total shock. Who could have imagined Gilchrist had such a vicious undercurrent of resentment in him ..and who could have guessed the timing in unleashing his tirade ?
It is probably very apt that the most explosive of his comments are those pertaining to the last Indian tour of Australia. The series saw much acrimony between the teams - the repercussions of which are still being felt. It left a bitter taste in the mouth and Gilchrist is only worsening the situation adding fuel to the fire.
First he revisted the Bhaji-Monkey incident, then he attacked Sachin Tendulkar and now its Murali.... all controversial topics. I seriously think that at this rate "Church" is risking damage to his "clean and decent" image and might tarnish his reputation irreversibly. As Bhajan said - he needs to get his head examined at the earliest.
Sunday, 2 November, 2008
KSRTC and their Enterntainment package
Another post related to the recent trip. This time the topic is in-journey entertainment.
On the way to shirdi, the conductor of our bus (Airavath volvo AC sleeper) plonked in "Sarkar RaJ". well ok its not everybody's cup of tea but something that you could watch to while away time.It was a 2-disc movie. At the end of disc 1 he decided to play a new movie - and the choice was "Duniya" - a Kannada movie that has supposedly won a State Award.
This was the worst part of the entire trip. The movie is horrible. Its abysmal. Its so bad that I dont have a word for it in my vocabulary. I don't understand who in their right frame of mind would agree to act in such a script. And I dont even want to imagine the reasons for which it was given a State Award. Granted - that the movie portrays our society as accurately as possible but the choice of actors, dialogue and the overall choreography - it was subpar. The language was unbearable. The scenes had no natural feel about them. It looked like every person in the movie was a budget selection because their acting skills were deplorable. Overall a very bad movie that I wouldn't recommend anybody to see. Sometimes you shouldn't go by the acclaim or lack of it that a movie has received.
To be honest, I was trying to sleep through the movie but the loud speaker right above my head was not allowing me to catch a nap. So I was drifting in and out of sleep because of the speaker yet I was not able to bear the torture of watching this convoluted brain-fart of a movie. Finally I gave in and decided to force myself to watch it - messaged a friend who said the ending to the movie was good. So with much anticipation I waited for the climax - which in fact turned out to be anticlimax. Another disappointment. Hopeless.
On the return trip, the movies were infinitely better than "Duniya" but the choice was perplexing. The first movie he showed us was " Giri Kanye" - Dr Raj - Jayamaala starrer - which started off with a boring song. After struggling through all the melodrama of this movie we got to see "Saajan" ..... pufff !!!! At this point I wanted to explode inside the bus - like one of those Iraqi road bombs that obliterate American military Convoys on the streets of Baghdad. But endure I did. This movie at least had a watchable story - a love triangle sort of a thing. It was nice to see a young Madhuri Dixit performing flawlessly. But its so damn old - I remember seeing it for the first time when I was in 4th Std... !!!
The climax had to be the third movie of the return trip ( its a 20 hours journey so we had lot of time). "Babruvaahana" ...ugh !!! I mean WTF ? ANOTHER Dr.Raj starrer and to ensure that you go mad - this is one movie where you have to deal with two Raj Kumars boring you to death - yes .. Dr Raj stars in a double-role in this movie.. but thankfully ...before the passengers were bored to death or suffered from other serious injuries .. the CD got stuck and no matter how much he tried to fix it, it wouldnt play any further. Thank God ! That was the last straw. Nobody wanted to see movies after that and we all tucked in for the night and got up when we reached b'lore the next morning.
Duniya - worse than Chinese torture - its like they shave your head and make hot hot water drip onto it from a container above ...every second hurts ... yuck !
On the way to shirdi, the conductor of our bus (Airavath volvo AC sleeper) plonked in "Sarkar RaJ". well ok its not everybody's cup of tea but something that you could watch to while away time.It was a 2-disc movie. At the end of disc 1 he decided to play a new movie - and the choice was "Duniya" - a Kannada movie that has supposedly won a State Award.
This was the worst part of the entire trip. The movie is horrible. Its abysmal. Its so bad that I dont have a word for it in my vocabulary. I don't understand who in their right frame of mind would agree to act in such a script. And I dont even want to imagine the reasons for which it was given a State Award. Granted - that the movie portrays our society as accurately as possible but the choice of actors, dialogue and the overall choreography - it was subpar. The language was unbearable. The scenes had no natural feel about them. It looked like every person in the movie was a budget selection because their acting skills were deplorable. Overall a very bad movie that I wouldn't recommend anybody to see. Sometimes you shouldn't go by the acclaim or lack of it that a movie has received.
To be honest, I was trying to sleep through the movie but the loud speaker right above my head was not allowing me to catch a nap. So I was drifting in and out of sleep because of the speaker yet I was not able to bear the torture of watching this convoluted brain-fart of a movie. Finally I gave in and decided to force myself to watch it - messaged a friend who said the ending to the movie was good. So with much anticipation I waited for the climax - which in fact turned out to be anticlimax. Another disappointment. Hopeless.
On the return trip, the movies were infinitely better than "Duniya" but the choice was perplexing. The first movie he showed us was " Giri Kanye" - Dr Raj - Jayamaala starrer - which started off with a boring song. After struggling through all the melodrama of this movie we got to see "Saajan" ..... pufff !!!! At this point I wanted to explode inside the bus - like one of those Iraqi road bombs that obliterate American military Convoys on the streets of Baghdad. But endure I did. This movie at least had a watchable story - a love triangle sort of a thing. It was nice to see a young Madhuri Dixit performing flawlessly. But its so damn old - I remember seeing it for the first time when I was in 4th Std... !!!
The climax had to be the third movie of the return trip ( its a 20 hours journey so we had lot of time). "Babruvaahana" ...ugh !!! I mean WTF ? ANOTHER Dr.Raj starrer and to ensure that you go mad - this is one movie where you have to deal with two Raj Kumars boring you to death - yes .. Dr Raj stars in a double-role in this movie.. but thankfully ...before the passengers were bored to death or suffered from other serious injuries .. the CD got stuck and no matter how much he tried to fix it, it wouldnt play any further. Thank God ! That was the last straw. Nobody wanted to see movies after that and we all tucked in for the night and got up when we reached b'lore the next morning.
Duniya - worse than Chinese torture - its like they shave your head and make hot hot water drip onto it from a container above ...every second hurts ... yuck !
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