Da Vinci Code encrypted:
A supposedly great performance by Tom hangs and Audrey Tautou in which, as Ron Howard the director put it, the two are absolutely involved in the characters and could not have been better cast. A superb story (I am on the fence as far as whether it is true) which has survived controversies that it ran into for interpretations of the symbolism left behind by a master artist, and which introduced me to Dan Brown's writings. Alas, this is not to be seen by the Indian public sooner, because the government thinks it is too controversial a topic and some Indian Christians are already up with their guns and all.
The movie has been shown in Italy, around where a lot of the story is based. It would be just for people to think that their religious symbolisms and plausible evidences have been misinterpreted to show that a lot of Christian religious history, from the first AD has been all wrong. But has the Christian world, outside India, not taken it with an open mind? Is this what differenciates the 'modern us' from them, an open-mindedness about everything, especially culture and religion? Why does Indian Christian community have to feel threatened by the movie? If the damage had to be done, it already would have been, simply because the 'teaching' of the book has reached the people in the book that was released a couple of years ago. Since it is an English movie, which is at the least thought-provoking, one can be guess that people who go to a theatre to watch it will not take things on face value.
Evidence or the lack of it can hardly shake thousands of years of faith in people. The recent trends in Indian society might suggest that, say Hindu, youth are not religiously inclined in the sense that they are not knowledgeable of the rites and rituals of the Hindu ceremonies. But does that mean they stop believing in Lord Ganesha citing lack of proof, or stop believing in Lord Hanuman questioning evidence of his being?
Indian Christian community has been probably the most open-minded group of people in India in several ways. Looking at the intelligent and smart Indian Christian friends I have, I am of the opinion that their faith will not budge even an inch, by the revelations encrypted by Da Vinci years ago or propagated by Dan Brown and others recently. So, what is bothering the people who are protesting against it? The masses will not see the movie in all probability, and the educated man will not fall for it. Orthodox families may not even watch the movie even if labeling it as sacrilegious.
Then why the unnecessary publicity which will only give mileage to the promoters of the movie? And what is dearer will be in more demand. So, be ready to see pirated discs flood the market; another demon to be killed. In today's connected world, people will even pay and watch an movie online (download/streaming/whatever). So, how far will the protesters go to curtail the screening of this movie anyway?
On an equally significant dimension of this issue is that the choice of watching movies is being taken away from the people. This has been an issue from times immemorial. Movies that are usually R rated are reduced to the level of G by the time they are released in India. Why does a movie like 'Water' by Deepa Mehta not allowed to be shot and screened in India? Is it because it reflects the conservative perceptions of many who think this is not how India should be portrayed? Why should a set of middle aged if not old conservative people decide what the country should see? Given they ought to be on the panel for several good reasons, can the representation of liberals not be increased in the panel.Especially, when it comes to foreign movies avid movie watchers are at an utter disadvantage. Why are songs like 'Sarkhailo Khatiya, 'Kaantaa Lagaa', and many others recently, passed while scenes which depict contextually relevant nudity in foreign movies clipped. In my opinion such racy songs leave the same kind of impression a nude scene does. At least people cannot hum tunes of scenes that censor board clip.
In a democracy, there ought to be public debates before any decision that affects a good number of people directly is taken by the government . Let there be an equal number of conservative and liberal experts in an televised discussion and let them clear out their apprehensions in public. Let there be an 'ombudsman' who can preside over these discussions and make official observations. We may start becoming a mature developing society rather than being 'headmastered' by a censor board and conservative factions.
2006-05-17
2006-05-15
The World is Flat by Thomas L Friedman
I just finished reading this book on globalisation (phase 3.0 as Friedman names what is happening now) that I picked up about two weeks ago, after its new and expanded paperback version was released. The book is striking, not because it has made any predictions or cracked theories but because it has described what has happened in recent history, in an unbiased,lucid and interesting way.
Notwithstanding the fact that I am a novice to the subject of macroeconomics and the forces that shape the business world, I found the book to be extremely informative, relevant and revealing of the concept of globalization and what happened to bring this around. Friedman has made this a narrative in first person and explained the whole idea through many stories and discussions with business leaders, interspersed with the insights and interpretations of a world class multiple-Pulitzer-prize winning journalist.
'While I was studying at college' and when Friedman says ' while he was sleeping' many levellers came up that made the ground for developing countries flatter in which to play. He then goes on the explain the way several countries, India and China primarily, have adopted new technologies and economic policies to make leaps in the global trade race.
Being in the IT industry myself, I am able to relate to a lot of what Friedman has said about how the industry has been able to work, what with the abundance of English speaking skilled youth and the obvious time zone advantage of India. In the process of reading this, I could draw parallel to the theory of Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell. There had to be in place several of the right things before China and especially India could take advantage of this and attempt to tip the scales. Anyway, that is not anywhere the main point of the book, but my own little observation.
In an unbiased way, Friedman has also churned various aspects related to outsourcing (as I am able to appreciate now, it can only be called 'right-sourcing' in today's world), and explain how outsourcing can be beneficial to the Americans, despite their natural and understandable dissent.
Based on facts again, Friedman has also tried to make his case for how religious and ideological politics have worked to the disadvantage of several nations (like Pakistan, Arabian states and many sub-Saharan states) and why if they refuse to change, there can only be more disparity these societies will feel from the other economies and societies that have opened themselves up.
It is worth reading how Friedman has tried to depict the impact of right kind of parenting on the future course of globalisation especially for the Americans. It may give us Indians a wee bit to be proud of the way our culture and society pressures push us to pursue the best of educational options.And now suddenly it seems OK that , even if only in this context, we went through it and are going through it. Well, this can also be argued against, but that will not be here.
This is an unputdownnable book, and a must read for anyone interested in the recent history of the world.
I just finished reading this book on globalisation (phase 3.0 as Friedman names what is happening now) that I picked up about two weeks ago, after its new and expanded paperback version was released. The book is striking, not because it has made any predictions or cracked theories but because it has described what has happened in recent history, in an unbiased,lucid and interesting way.
Notwithstanding the fact that I am a novice to the subject of macroeconomics and the forces that shape the business world, I found the book to be extremely informative, relevant and revealing of the concept of globalization and what happened to bring this around. Friedman has made this a narrative in first person and explained the whole idea through many stories and discussions with business leaders, interspersed with the insights and interpretations of a world class multiple-Pulitzer-prize winning journalist.
'While I was studying at college' and when Friedman says ' while he was sleeping' many levellers came up that made the ground for developing countries flatter in which to play. He then goes on the explain the way several countries, India and China primarily, have adopted new technologies and economic policies to make leaps in the global trade race.
Being in the IT industry myself, I am able to relate to a lot of what Friedman has said about how the industry has been able to work, what with the abundance of English speaking skilled youth and the obvious time zone advantage of India. In the process of reading this, I could draw parallel to the theory of Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell. There had to be in place several of the right things before China and especially India could take advantage of this and attempt to tip the scales. Anyway, that is not anywhere the main point of the book, but my own little observation.
In an unbiased way, Friedman has also churned various aspects related to outsourcing (as I am able to appreciate now, it can only be called 'right-sourcing' in today's world), and explain how outsourcing can be beneficial to the Americans, despite their natural and understandable dissent.
Based on facts again, Friedman has also tried to make his case for how religious and ideological politics have worked to the disadvantage of several nations (like Pakistan, Arabian states and many sub-Saharan states) and why if they refuse to change, there can only be more disparity these societies will feel from the other economies and societies that have opened themselves up.
It is worth reading how Friedman has tried to depict the impact of right kind of parenting on the future course of globalisation especially for the Americans. It may give us Indians a wee bit to be proud of the way our culture and society pressures push us to pursue the best of educational options.And now suddenly it seems OK that , even if only in this context, we went through it and are going through it. Well, this can also be argued against, but that will not be here.
This is an unputdownnable book, and a must read for anyone interested in the recent history of the world.
2006-05-08
Red hot chilly:
Radio Mirchi (RM), a welcome entrant to Bangalore's music-starved skies was featured in TOI today. The article, tucked away in page 3 of the main paper, basically said that within 1 week of official launch, the radio station had a listnership of 33% compared to the locally bred Radio City (RC) at 21%. The results were gathered from a 240-sample cartrack survey which involved asking drivers of cars at traffic lights about the station they were listening to at the time. The survey was conducted by IMRB and sponsored by...Radio Mirchi! Isn't that 'sakkath haat magaa' ?!? So, much for the article.
Anyway, there can be several reasons for this rise is popularity. One, the station itself is new (locally) and there is definitely going to be a sampling stage, where people are try to check out the 'hot'ness (sic) claimed by the station. You cannot base your survey on the data collected in this period only. Secondly, the station also comes well timed in mid-summer when people are always looking for something new to cool them down; a hot channel included. But there are some things that set RM away from RC that we're are used to listening through awfully dragging urban driving and traffic jams.One, it has a very local touch. A lot of RJ-ing is in Kannada, a move welcomed by locals who have to crave to listen to Kannada on a Hinglish radio channel that has been RC. Also, Kannada was introduced on mostly because of some demands made in RCs infancy. The quality of 'sound' (a less significant factor) on RM was superior I found with the same settings on the equaliser of my car radio. The mix of songs is also pretty nice, but one misses English songs on RM.
But I guess that is where RM stops on the favor scale. RC is way mature when it comes to concepts built around RJs that have become more familiar to Bangaloreans than their own neighbours. Sunaina, Darius, Rohit J and Barker and others have adapted well to the local tastes. Not only has RC well tuned their program schedule to match the vagaries of a Bangalore day, it also has introduced programs to give fillip to the local talent, which can be found in abundance. Compare the night time program schedules- RC has an all-international rollout after 9 in the evening as against an-all-Hindi-oldies broadcast on RM. Personally, I am not into the latter after a long day and a dinner.
RM has immature RJs, as they seem to have, taken the term 'youth' literally by
inducting green RJs who talk like they are talking only to school and college kids and also people with low wit. RM's RJ script seems to be a bit immaturish - what with the 3-hour-long tele-call-in themes on 'ways to kill mosquitoes', 'ways to talk your way out when busted copying at an exam' etc. That their fetish on mosquitoes only invited stupid responses is a an ode to RMs imagination.(I did not switch on 93.3 that evening).Long way to go before people of Bangalore are convinced that RM is' all about 'More Dhak Dhak, Less Bak Bak' (their toungue-in-cheek claim).
RCs till my preferred channel though I'd rather not end up with two similar channels. It may take sometime before genre-specific channels come up. Right now they cannot be sustained (unless paid, like Worldspace), especially since the local demand is greater for regional (read Kannada and Hindi) and Indy-pop-bhangra-etc Bollywood-type music.
Nevertheless, the need for more FM channels and more competition among Bangalore's two main channels is 'sakkath haat' right now.
Radio Mirchi (RM), a welcome entrant to Bangalore's music-starved skies was featured in TOI today. The article, tucked away in page 3 of the main paper, basically said that within 1 week of official launch, the radio station had a listnership of 33% compared to the locally bred Radio City (RC) at 21%. The results were gathered from a 240-sample cartrack survey which involved asking drivers of cars at traffic lights about the station they were listening to at the time. The survey was conducted by IMRB and sponsored by...Radio Mirchi! Isn't that 'sakkath haat magaa' ?!? So, much for the article.
Anyway, there can be several reasons for this rise is popularity. One, the station itself is new (locally) and there is definitely going to be a sampling stage, where people are try to check out the 'hot'ness (sic) claimed by the station. You cannot base your survey on the data collected in this period only. Secondly, the station also comes well timed in mid-summer when people are always looking for something new to cool them down; a hot channel included. But there are some things that set RM away from RC that we're are used to listening through awfully dragging urban driving and traffic jams.One, it has a very local touch. A lot of RJ-ing is in Kannada, a move welcomed by locals who have to crave to listen to Kannada on a Hinglish radio channel that has been RC. Also, Kannada was introduced on mostly because of some demands made in RCs infancy. The quality of 'sound' (a less significant factor) on RM was superior I found with the same settings on the equaliser of my car radio. The mix of songs is also pretty nice, but one misses English songs on RM.
But I guess that is where RM stops on the favor scale. RC is way mature when it comes to concepts built around RJs that have become more familiar to Bangaloreans than their own neighbours. Sunaina, Darius, Rohit J and Barker and others have adapted well to the local tastes. Not only has RC well tuned their program schedule to match the vagaries of a Bangalore day, it also has introduced programs to give fillip to the local talent, which can be found in abundance. Compare the night time program schedules- RC has an all-international rollout after 9 in the evening as against an-all-Hindi-oldies broadcast on RM. Personally, I am not into the latter after a long day and a dinner.
RM has immature RJs, as they seem to have, taken the term 'youth' literally by
inducting green RJs who talk like they are talking only to school and college kids and also people with low wit. RM's RJ script seems to be a bit immaturish - what with the 3-hour-long tele-call-in themes on 'ways to kill mosquitoes', 'ways to talk your way out when busted copying at an exam' etc. That their fetish on mosquitoes only invited stupid responses is a an ode to RMs imagination.(I did not switch on 93.3 that evening).Long way to go before people of Bangalore are convinced that RM is' all about 'More Dhak Dhak, Less Bak Bak' (their toungue-in-cheek claim).
RCs till my preferred channel though I'd rather not end up with two similar channels. It may take sometime before genre-specific channels come up. Right now they cannot be sustained (unless paid, like Worldspace), especially since the local demand is greater for regional (read Kannada and Hindi) and Indy-pop-bhangra-etc Bollywood-type music.
Nevertheless, the need for more FM channels and more competition among Bangalore's two main channels is 'sakkath haat' right now.
2006-05-02
Birthday Woes...me two?
Having your 'Official date of birth' different from your birthday is not funny at all. In my case it happens to be a little more than a week before my actual birthday.
To me, it really does not matter, unitl on an unexpected day I get a flood of 'Customer relationship' emails generated by a batch email-program happily wishing you a great year ahead. As if the fact that I am wished on a wrong date is not enough,in my case, it is further more aggravating to know that I am a victim of my own doing in the face of impersonalisation that CRM process entails. I am legally bound to give the record-date all the time. People in my team, with sincere intentions, have been calling me up or stopping by to wish me. Some of them are on the birthday committee that collects funds from people to use it for cake-cuttings etc on people's big days. They usually set-up reminders on our company's birthday database and are reminded of the ones today when they open their mailboxes in the morning.They have no other way of knowing it, unless they ask me. And I have been only keeping a calm ' it is not my birthday today'. I have also been dodging the question that naturally follows- 'When is it, then?'. I only say it is a mess up in the records, not willing to retell the mix-up in hospital records that happened eons ago, which made me 8 days older than I a really am.
Having 2 birthdays to relate to has some disfavours to it. For one it takes away the charm . You are reminded twice over that you are nearing the inevitable, twice over that you are but an insignificant speck inthe macrocosm and twice over that you are far from where you wanted to be- because birthday is usually a time when you do the bench marking of your current state of being with where you had at one time wished you would be at this time. The other time this happens in the New Year, when the whole world is thinking about it with you. And if you have two 'birthdays', you are bound to do this three times a year. The additional distraction this causes has a negative impact on your productivity. In this year's case, today is also the first working day of the week. Then there is another small disappointment that I will have to wait another 8 days to wear the new shirt I have bought for my birthday (a small family tradition that one has to wear something new on ones birthday and I have not strictly followed it when away from home), in mounting anticipation of the annual d-day.
Funny though, two birthdays do not come with two sets of gifts!
Having your 'Official date of birth' different from your birthday is not funny at all. In my case it happens to be a little more than a week before my actual birthday.
To me, it really does not matter, unitl on an unexpected day I get a flood of 'Customer relationship' emails generated by a batch email-program happily wishing you a great year ahead. As if the fact that I am wished on a wrong date is not enough,in my case, it is further more aggravating to know that I am a victim of my own doing in the face of impersonalisation that CRM process entails. I am legally bound to give the record-date all the time. People in my team, with sincere intentions, have been calling me up or stopping by to wish me. Some of them are on the birthday committee that collects funds from people to use it for cake-cuttings etc on people's big days. They usually set-up reminders on our company's birthday database and are reminded of the ones today when they open their mailboxes in the morning.They have no other way of knowing it, unless they ask me. And I have been only keeping a calm ' it is not my birthday today'. I have also been dodging the question that naturally follows- 'When is it, then?'. I only say it is a mess up in the records, not willing to retell the mix-up in hospital records that happened eons ago, which made me 8 days older than I a really am.
Having 2 birthdays to relate to has some disfavours to it. For one it takes away the charm . You are reminded twice over that you are nearing the inevitable, twice over that you are but an insignificant speck inthe macrocosm and twice over that you are far from where you wanted to be- because birthday is usually a time when you do the bench marking of your current state of being with where you had at one time wished you would be at this time. The other time this happens in the New Year, when the whole world is thinking about it with you. And if you have two 'birthdays', you are bound to do this three times a year. The additional distraction this causes has a negative impact on your productivity. In this year's case, today is also the first working day of the week. Then there is another small disappointment that I will have to wait another 8 days to wear the new shirt I have bought for my birthday (a small family tradition that one has to wear something new on ones birthday and I have not strictly followed it when away from home), in mounting anticipation of the annual d-day.
Funny though, two birthdays do not come with two sets of gifts!
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