Rules for today..an ongoing list

1. Honesty is NOT the best policy
2. Anything can happen in life
3. No fights are worth it in the end nothing and no one is right or wrong. It does not matter.
4. The best prophet of the future is the past (all right, this one's borrowed but makes sense!)
5. Men are from Mars, women are from Venus (a simple book title, but a fundamental truth)-we differ fundamentally, and that is likely to cause many a fight/disagreement
6. Everything happens for a reason, and for the best. Always.
7. We are similar, yet different. And not in an apparent way, differences will emerge eventually.

nasty news bytes

Is it just me or are news channels getting more and more grisly by the day? On the occasion of Mahashivratri, yesterday, news channels capture a Sadhu being trampled by an elephant. Not only was the whole incident captured live, it was replayed ad nauseam all through yesterday. Its enough to kill whatever little festive joy one feels. In the clip we can see cops standing by and other people too. And obviously there's one more idiot shooting the whole thing on camera.

We are slowly losing whatever little humanity we have in us, for the sake of a sensational news story to sicken us as we sit down for dinner. All for some ratings on TV? Has human life really lost its worth? On a more practical level, is this the image we want to project to the rest of the world? Doesn't the world have enough stereotypes about India already? Do we need more images of sadhus and elephants? And not very favorable images at that.

At a time when India and Indians are making news, the latest mergers with the Tatas and the Sarins at the helm, being recent examples, why dont we devote more screen space to this stuff and related news? How are these mergers important for citizens like u and me? What do we stand to gain or lose? How about some sensible TV for once?

Indian TV today has a news channel dedicated to tarot card readers, and other assorted species of astrologers who predict everything from India's future in business, to the future of Ash and Abhishek post marriage. I wonder who their target audience are and whether they are the source of information or entertainment to anyone. I respect people who believe in astrology or other systems of fortune telling, but please keep that away from full time airing on primetime TV. I am not sure that there are a lot of us that relate to it or understand it. I would like to ask my fellow viewers whether fortune telling on TV really makes sense to them.

I urge NDTV and their tribe to do some much needed introspection, to really evaluate the quality of the programs they air, for the betterment of society in general.

My forecast for today..very appropriate

A gift you receive today will require that you call on your gracious manners (and a bit of acting skill). This generous present might not be quite your style, but maybe it'll help you expand your tastes. Give it the old college try for a while, and see if you can integrate it into your life. Above all, remember that it's the thought that counts. And you can help this person make better gift choices in the future by being more communicative about your likes, dislikes and interests.

I had typed this nice long post but the cybergods ate it all up. I guess what I wanted to say is reflected in the following lines penned by our President during his Republic Day address this year:

COURAGE TO GIVE

Courage to think different,

Courage to invent,

Courage to discover the impossible,

Courage to travel into an unexplored path,

Courage to share the knowledge

Courage to remove the pain

Courage to reach the unreached

Courage to combat the problems

And Succeed,

Are the unique qualities of the youth.

As a youth of my nation, I will work and work with courage to achieve success in all my missions.

Today's youth-a survey

The latest issue of the India Today has a survey on Indian youth (hey that's us!), their habits, preferences and lifestyles. The survey has some surprising findings: today's youth prefer to stay at home with family, spend time at work or with friends, over hitting a pub/disc for entertainment. Sporting the latest in technology, youth today seem all set to face their future head on.

That being said, what caught my attention was an interesting finding in this survey: youth today watch news channels rather than other entertainment channels. Which brings me to my problem. What passes off for 'news' today is a poor excuse for information. Aimed more at thrills and entertainment than actual news (come on, a lion attacking a bunch of hunters who had no business being in its territory in the first place, hardly qualifies as 'breaking news'!). So I am not sure what the youth these days are actually watching in the name of 'news'. Perhaps the survey should have been clearer on this point?

India Today, take note.

Global warming coming home?

Its raining in February out here..global warming here to stay?

I think so..its time we woke up and did something about it. To quote Mark Twain, "Everybody talks about the weather, but no one does anything about it."

Right says u, Mr.Twain! I'm sure the environmentalists would agree with Mark Twain's thoughts too!

Un-hibernating..

Back from a longish break, simply spent relaxing at home. I am back after a reminder from KP, when I suddenly discovered with shock that I hadn't blogged in sometime. Thanks for the reminder, KP! :)

Did the following things in the time that I was away:

1. Flew a kite
2. Cooked a meal (literally a meal, for the sake of those who wished to survive my cooking!)
3. Met family
4. Met friends
5. Visited former colleagues, professors

Things I am currently doing:

1. Watching a LOT of TV (someone please de-addict me!)
2. Reading a bit
3. Recovering from a frequent fever that has been bothering me for sometime now..

Will be updating my other Jukebox blog with my thoughts on what I have seen/read lately :D