Facts n Fiction

Television has become a craze with sobbing soaps, thrilling news, and enticing reality shows. Atleast one family member or the entire family is obsessed with some of the other kind of program. I seriously don’t understand the logic behind the programs like ‘Jhalak Dikhla Ja’ or ‘Nach Baliye’ . I mean what is being proved or is it an attempt to find the best dancers in the actors or cricketers. I still would not mind programs like ‘Indian Idol’ or ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa’ or ‘Boogie Woogie’ as they try to search for some talent. But ‘Jhalak Dikhla Ja’ and ‘Nach Baliye’ are a pure waste of time. You must have also noticed that there is not a single program on TV that doesn’t make you SMS for something either to guess the winner or vote for some poll or your views on some news issue. Yes SMS must indeed be a big revenue generator for these programs. However, we unfortunately fail to understand this and blindly keep sending messages to these programs. We are paying the cable bill and also indire

Over 3000 dengue cases already reported in India and the number is rising. Delhi has been hit badly with dengue and there are cases of death also. Dengue can be fatal as it may result in sharp fall of the blood platelets and there is no anti-viral available for it. The primary reason for dengue is female ‘Aedes Aegypti’ mosquito. Dengue is different than malaria (caused by ‘Anopheles’ mosquito) though some of the symptoms may be the same. Dengue can also be confused largely with influenza, typhoid fever, meningitis, viral hepatitis. Chekungunya is another threat that is soon rising in states of southern India and more than 50 people have already lost their lives in Kerala. The reason for chekungunya is again same as dengue - ‘Aedes Aegypti’ . These diseases, dengue and chekungunya are spreading rapidly across the city claiming lives of many. The main reason for the widespread of this disease is stagnant water that is available in plenty in India. Even the premier hospital like AIIMS

Nagesh Kukunoor has given a consistent performance and has again proved his brilliance with movie making. His latest presentation of a real life incident - ‘Dor’ is testimony to the fact that Kukunoor can handle any subject with sense and maturity. Dor narrates a story of two women who supposedly could have been rivals turn good friends. Ayesha Takia’s husband accidently killed by Gul Panag’s husband. Gul’s husband can only escape the death punishment only if Ayesha signs a pardon letter (this is as per the rule in Middle East). The story well handles the emotional turmoil of the two women, one who has lost her husband and the other who thinks she can save her husband from the death sentence. The story revolves around how these two women from diverse traditions, culture and mental state of mind start enjoying each other’s company become fast friends. The story does not handle the ‘whys’ & ‘hows’ of the murder. However, it shows the repurcusions of that incident on the two female pr

My sister and I were browsing the Internet, reading through some sites, reading news and doing some comparative analysis on flat panel televisions. We came across this survey on one site ( www.moneycontrol.com ), which asked users to select their choice of Indian movie released this year that should enter the Oscars. The choices were: Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna Krrish Omkara Rang De Basanti Lage Raho Munnabhai Without any hesitation, I clicked on the 5th option and submitted my opinion. I felt there was nothing much to think about it and the choice was obvious. My sister, however, asked me why I had to hurry so much with the option. She wasn’t defying my choice but wanted to know why I selected Lage Raho Munnabhai . Here is what I told her. I don’t think I need to explain why I would not vote for Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna (KANK) and Krrish . People in the west have seen enough of such superheroes flying and there is nothing new that we are trying to show them through our creative skills or tec

The Indian railway minister, Mr. Lalu Prasad Yadav was at the IIM-A (Indian Institute of Management – Ahmedabad) yesterday (18-09-2006) to enlighten the students there on how he brought Indian railways into profit. The turnaround goes to the IIMs as a classic case study of getting an institution into soaring profits after its long run into deficits. Laluji delivered a 3 hour lecture on what were his objectives and plan of action in planning the work around for Indian railways. The students enjoyed the lecture and felt that it truly was an inspiring and learning experience. Moreover, it was a two way communication with students throwing some specific questions and Laluji handling them very judiciously (& diplomatically in few cases). Added to the learning episode was his distinct style of humor and flavor of Bihari accent that made the lecture all the more interesting. At the end of it both the students as well as the professors at IIM-A were content and convinced that Lalu’s modus

Business is common sense used to make money

I know it’s a little late to write something about ‘Lage Raho Munnabhai’ . But it was only yesterday that I could manage getting tickets for this movie, that too for a late night show. I went with a mindset that this movie would be a continuation of ‘Munnabhai MBBS’ with Munna solving people’s grievances with Circuit’s help. However, I saw a vast difference between ‘Lage Raho Munnabhai’ and ‘Munnabhai MBBS’ . I would surely not call ‘Lage Raho Munnabhai’ a sequel to ‘Munnabhai MBBS’ . Though the story revolves around the idea of helping people and being compassionate, the plot and narration is laid in a completely different style. In ‘Munnabhai MBBS’ , the hero uses his own wit to handle issues. While in ‘Lage Raho Munnabhai’ , he uses ideologies of a third person, Mahatma Gandhi. And the formula works! The concept, scenes, screenplay are excellent and deserve full marks. Thoughh there might be some minor flaws but I choose to ignore them as I would rather concentrate on the wonderf