TV serials. I know, I know.. Don't throw up yet. Let me finish. I still am at pains to understand how they call it 'mega'? It means big, bigger than the usual. Not looooooonnngggg. And the serials seem to be intent on setting world records. An actress who was portraying the role of a pregnant lady, did so for two whole years. It is the elephant which has a pregnancy duration of over two years. Never thought a human would be able to replicate that feat. More than these ridiculous portrayals, its the depiction of women that is worrying. The women characters are either markedly saintly or markedly evil. Have the directors of the serials ever heard of reality? Why don't they take a leaf from the book of western soaps? Once a serials is aired, the response of the audience is gathered and if it is negative, it is immediately scrapped. Here they prolong our agony. Will somebody teach them the meaning of hara-kiri and so end our misery? We await a saviour.

Dance or Dunce??

Where has quality gone? All art forms require dedication and practice. But most people do not realize this. Especially those who claim to "dance". The fact that dance and them are complete strangers would be discernible to even a person suffering from glaucoma. Yet they seem to take a perverse pleasure in torturing us with their "dance" and seek feedback (read appreciation). Sometimes a performance is so bad, you look up at the sky and say "why me?". Then you realize that the person is waiting for "feedback". You pity yourself and begin an elaborate lie about energy and expression hoping you are sounding coherent. You have to lie. If you speak the truth and criticize, you could be called discouraging. Dance requires a certain grace and something spiritual. Many of us lack that, yet we want to try our luck for an impromptu dance.

Added to the trouble is the fact that the judges usually lack knowledge about dance themselves. And when the blind lead the blind, they both will fall into a ditch. And splash ditchwater on us.

Winners Vs Losers

Winners or whiners? It is thus that the world categorizes us. Winners or Losers. We all love winners. Mostly it is thumbs down for the loser. Winners are treated as gods. Our world today is a winning crazed world. As the captain in The Caine Mutiny says, "In my ship, extraordinary performances are standard, standard performances are sub-standard and sub-standard performances will be punished." Why this crazed emphasis on winning? Most of us are good at one thing. Its acceptable to be not so good at other things. But while we cry for acceptance even when we fail, we are not so charitable when others fail. We even take a sadistic pleasure when others fumble and slip. We are reluctant to lend a helping hand, afraid that someone may call us weak. We are quick to criticize, pounce on their failure. Many young people are afraid to take a risk because they are so afraid of losing. They are so afraid of criticism. We are turning our society into a society of losers.

It is often said that sport is not about winning or losing, but taking part. But is it really that way? Our athletes take performance enhancing drugs, indulge in dirty tactics, everything to win. Magnanimous winners and gracious losers belong to the prehistoric age. It is with these thoughts that you sit to watch Little Miss Sunshine, a delightful movie about a delightful bunch of losers who strive hard to win. But it is with their loss they learn the important lessons of life. It is so with our lives. It is our losses that teach us more than our victories ever can. Stallone's Rocky is also significant in this regard. Rocky is the loser in the movie, but it is he who wins the audience's appreciation not Apollo, the winner. It is common knowledge that most of the high profile winners actually lose out on a lot of other things. How many young achievers end up committing suicide is any body's guess. The relentless pressure to perform and sustain that performance, to be consistent, takes a toll on their mental stamina and they feel trapped. They see no way out and end their lives in desperation.

I prefer to be a loser and stay happy and sane, than be a winner and end up in an asylum.

The Problem with God

God exists. There is in circulation so much "proof" that God doesn't exist. I am not going to offer any proof. I just want to explain the importance of God in human life. However much science can explain the mysteries of the Universe with its equations, there still remains inexplicable gaps. But that's not what this blog is about. Man needs to work for a higher purpose to feel that satisfaction in his life. Can Science offer that satisfaction? It is a constantly evolving world as far as science is concerned. A scientist cannot stop to smell the roses. If he does so, he will find himself overtaken by any one of his contemporaries. He is forced to keep on working. What satisfaction does he get after a lifetime of work? A Nobel Prize at most. And to be frank, a Nobel Prize winner in Physics or Chemistry does not get the same attention that a Prize winner in the fields of Literature or Peace. How much ever science promotes logic, it is art that draws more crowds and response, leaving science to cry hoarse over the unfairness of it.

It is not the concept of God that is at fault, but the people who profess to follow it. "God" never ordered the mass killings that take place daily in His name. Most people do not realize that religion was made for Man and not Man for religion. Most people place religion above humanity and humanness. Humanity is the soul of religion. Without it religion is a corpse. Most people worship the corpse, not the soul. And thats the problem with God. The problem lies not with Him. But with us.

On the 123..

The Nuke deal is a small step toward energy security. As analysts have pointed out, India's energy security lies in eliminating transmission losses, increasing power generation capacity, and thrust in research and in our indigenous FBRs. At a time when the detractors of the deal (read the Left) are crying hoarse over the 'sellout' to the US, China has embarked on an ambitious project of establishing at least 39 reactors by 2050. And Pakistan is knocking at the doors of Capitol Hill demanding that it be given a deal on the same terms as India's 123. Surely Pakistan will not want a treaty that is bad?! Also, Pakistan and China are secretly trying to scuttle the deal. One wonders if the Left leaders have received instructions from Beijing. A B Bardhan has reportedly said that the US was trying to drive a wedge between India and China. Can someone please inform him that it is China which is illegally occupying about 120000 sqkms of Indian territory. Also, the two-facedness of the Left is clearly evident in Tamil Nadu.

When Minister of State for Railways, Mr. Velu, proposed to split the Palghat Division of the Southern Railways, tremendous opposition rose from the Leftist government in Thiruvananthapuram. No surprises there. But when all political parties in Tamil Nadu joined to protest, the Left was conspicuous by its absence. What is more, they even requested that there be no protests.

The nuke deal is a very sensitive one. As analysts have pointed out, it will accelerate India's nuclear programme. And the deal is a worked out compromise, not an outright compromise. Our negotiating team did a tremendous job. Kudos to them. Also this is not the last business we are going to have with the US. There are more deals in the offing. Let them not think that we are incapable of sinking our differences for a common good.

Of rice and pizzas..

Why do people pay more attention to newcomers in their life? Why do they ignore old contacts? Is it so that they are after greener pastures? In their favour, it must be said that newer contacts offer new opportunities. But should they forget old contacts and friends? A friend reports that her friend paid more attention to his crush than her, even though he did not receive more than a cursory glance from the concerned party. On questioning, he gave the following example of rice and pizzas. "Rice is our staple diet. We eat it daily. So when we see a new dish, say a pizza, we immediately taste it to see how it tastes like. But rice remains our main course." This argument obviously did not cut ice with the Rice. This argument smacks of opportunism. He is merely trying to pacify the rice. While I am not against friends tasting new pizzas, I would like them to give rice its due share of importance too. But many a time people lose so much in pursuit of elusive pizzas, that by the time they give up and return, they find that the rice has moved away. Is this worth the wild goose chase? This is one question that certainly merits a lot of thinking. Please excuse me, I have to talk to my rice...

The Self-publicity Bug

Self-publicity seems to be creeping into every part of the system today. Celebrities, especially, jaded ones, whose better times are behind them, seem to crave the limelight. Be it a wedding or a funeral, the couple's relatives or the bereaved family seem to think their love for the couple or the departed respectively, is not completed till they have defaced a few walls with posters eulogizing the couple or the departed soul. Why this mania for publicity? And new politicians and leaders of organizations that are going to vanish from the face of this earth the next day, ask their followers to spend all their energy erecting cutouts or pasting posters. Money that could be well spent on alleviating the distress of at least a few of the millions of poverty stricken Indians is poured down the drain of self-publicity. And the titles they give themselves are sickening. One leader of an organization has been called 'volcano'. Going by his girth, that looks like he is going to explode, one can say he has been aptly named or nicknamed.

We can at least accept these publicity seekers among politicians and wannabe politicians. But what about the antics of the common public bitten by the publicity bug. They invite big leaders for weddings and hold up the entire proceedings till the grate.. er.. sorry, great leader arrives. It is utter nonsense of course. A wedding demands the presence of the families of the couple, their friends, the registering authority or the religious leader . What is the need for these fools to create a ruckus about it. Likewise a funeral ceremony is going to end in a graveyard, why the need for posters and cutouts? Is the dead person going to wake up, look around and appreciate all the paraphernalia? The people who do this are not doing it out of love for the departed, but for self-glorification.