Trip to Dakshina Chitra

The journalism department had its very first trip ever since it’s been around in MCC. Hurray! Well…jokes apart, the three batches of journalism students went for a daylong trip to Dakshina Chitra and The Crocodile bank on the 16th of August.
Being the typical evening college students that we are, we’re accustomed to waking up late and coming to college by around 1 in the afternoon. I think it was one of the rare times in the year that some of us actually empathized with the morning college students because we actually woke up at six in the morning and dragged ourselves to college to catch the bus for the day’s trip. Then again, some of us stuck to our principles and enjoyed a lie-in.
So after collecting the money, counting the money, picking up the fallen banknotes and counting the number of people who did make it for the trip, we all got into the bus and made ourselves comfortable and soon, we were off on our way to Dakshina Chitra. The place can best be described as a heritage village and it’s basically an attempt to tell us city bred boys and girls how people in South India lived ‘in those times’. But yes, it’s been a very successful attempt at that. It’s a major tourist attraction especially for people from abroad, especially since it comes close to their visions of India as a land of snakes and tigers, what with all the special attractions in the place like the palmist and the tarot card reader. But that’s not what this place is about. The people at Dakshina Chitra have recreated the kinds of houses that people lived in to every last detail including the toilet bowls that people used back then. Think exhibition of houses…that’s what this place is. There are Brahmin houses, Syrian Christian houses, Kannada houses, houses from Andhra Pradesh and what not. What’s really amazing is the amount of common sense behind the shape and structure of the houses. Certainly, there were no engineering colleges then. Forget electricity! But people built houses according to that. Step inside the Brahmin house, and you’d never feel the need for an air conditioner or a ceiling fan. I guess the most technologically advanced place in Dakshina Chitra is the restaurant. By the way, it serves really good food, even if it is only a vegetarian fare.
Incidentally, it was Kerala week in Dakshina Chitra. So, before lunch, we had the opportunity to watch the performance of a dance form called Velakali, which is native to Kerala. It was a really good performance, though it was just four bare-chested men walking up and down while swinging their arms in circular motions, while holding a shield and a sword in each hand. This was followed by a solo performance of Kerala’s martial art, Kalari Payattu. This man handled a sword, which could be rolled up like a whip, which goes to say that the weapon is swift, and sharp (he actually cut a few leaves from a branch above him!). The scariest part of his performance was when he lost control of his sword, trying to check if we were insured for life.
Next was our visit to the Crocodile Bank, which is a bit further away from Dakshina Chitra. The place was an utter riot, right from the word go. We bought our tickets and went to see the crocs, which were lazing in their enclosures. Some of us were very expressive when we saw the crocs (some of the girls were squirming in their insides and making noises that sounded like different versions of the word ‘YUCK’!). We then went to visit Mr. Jaws. Yeah I know it sounds like a really sick joke, but the Croc Bank couldn’t think of anything better! I’m talking about the saltwater crocodile there and we were told that he’s a vicious croc, which can actually jump out of the water when it’s irritated. At a staggering 16 feet and 575 kilos, he was quite disappointing. He just showed his head out of the water; maybe to let off some steam because he was really irritated at the number of people ogling at him. This leads us to a very interesting tangent. What if the crocodiles could talk? What if they actually enjoyed the company of humans? What if they gossiped about the kind of people that visited them? What if they had conversations that went something like, “Hey Rocky! I saw this really stupid guy who tried to call me when I was sleeping…” It’s quite a scary thought!
The Croc Bank has an interesting activity-they allow people to hold live crocodiles and snakes. Don't freak out! They’re just baby snakes and crocodiles. A couple of students let the snake on their necks and hands and also held the baby crocodile and posed for photographs. One of my lecturers told me that having a snake drape itself around your body is one of the most pleasurable experiences that one can ever have. I saw the scaly, slimy, rubbery thing slithering around my friend’s neck. Pleasure???
The last reptiles we saw there were the snakes. They’re all housed in the ‘snake haven’ in the Crocodile Bank. It’s a really dark exhibit and there are dim lights only in the snake’s enclosures. As usual, a few girls went “ooh”, “look at that snake!” and “oh my god!” One of my friends took advantage of this situation and quite literally, pulled her friend’s leg. The expression on her face-priceless!

Performance at Bishop Heber Hall, Madras Christian College

The Great Indian Wedding

This whole Ash-Abishek affair has gone too long, so much that its reached a point of irritation. Thank God they got married soon. Seems it was quite a private affair, with a guest list of about 150 people, with the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Anil Ambani attending the wedding. Yes, it was quite a grand wedding...what with mehendi for Aishwarya Rai brought from Rajasthan, the who's who on the guest list, festivities going on till 3 AM in the morning...yes its all very fine.
It seems the whole affair had all the makings of a perfect bollywood movie. The affair, hyped by Indian media as “the wedding of the century,” was filled with the melodrama so beloved in Bollywood, India's flamboyant Hindi film industry: secrecy, dance routines and even a suicidal fan who claimed to be the groom's jilted lover. The whole thing actually looks very funny if one were to take a step back and look at it from an outsider's point of view. Aren't they also the same ordinary mortals that we are? I wonder of Aishwarya Rai's hands would have developed a permanent rash if she did not have flown in mehendi from Rajasthan. Some people just don't know what to do with their money!
But then again, its not their fault that the wedding was so hyped up. Blame the media for sensationalizing this marriage. I mean...its just another marriage isn't it? I'm not saying that it should not be reported(thats what the media should do...I should know..I study journalism!), but why take it to wholly different level of celebrating it more than the Bachhans and the Rais themselves?? Why don't they just stop with reporting it?

Hmm...I wonder what the media might say if they get divorced...that would be fun!

Dumb Bush

Well..the title says it all!

Green tinted sixties mind - Mr.Big

Another favorite song...from mr.Big. Its got an awesome intro.

Closer to the heart - Rush

One of my favorite songs from Rush. This video contains clips from three decades-the 70's, the 80's and the 90's. Awesome video!

Chimp scratch and sniff!

Classic video! Gave me hours of laughter!

Fools rush in...

Well...its been quite some time since I sat down to write a blog entry. Maybe I was just waiting for the right moment and the right topic to write on. Call it writer's block, but I've been busy with these things called exams. Hehe! Anyway, thats besides the point. Read on.

Its Akshaya Trithiya time again and everybody is rushing to pre-book their gold, advance-book their gold, pre-order gold and what not...Its crazy how many terms these gold stores are coming up with. Every advertisement on the local TV channels is about Akshaya Trithiya. Stuff like "Rush to pre-book your gold today!", "Hurry! Offer limited till stocks last!" and "Attractive discounts on gold bookings!" is quite a common sight on TV these days. One advertisement even goes like, "Buy gold today, and you may be on the next flight to Singapore!" Hmm...I'm pretty sure a flight ticket to Singapore is going to be less expensive than buying gold! On the bright side, you see famous actresses in these advertisements dressed in all their golden glory. Its hilarious to see people groaning under the weight of so much gold! Makes me remember that old Sprite ad...where Lisa Ray was apparently bathing in Sprite...cameraman in the ad says "some people do anything for money!"

But I wonder what all the big hue and cry is about. According to popular belief, if a person buys gold, even one gram of it, on Akshaya Trithiya, he or she would be extremely prosperous for the entire year. I don't understand how people can get richer by spending on gold. I wonder if anyone has taken a step back to try and find out what this auspicious day actually signifies. I asked my grandmother about it. Being the self-proclaimed expert on South Indian rituals and festivals that she is, she said that she had never heard about it in her days. She said, "If this festival was so big, I would have definitely known about it. But nothing of this sort happened when I was younger." Right now, on the day of Akshaya Trithiya, one can see hordes of people on Usman Road in T.Nagar(the gold destination of Chennai), standing in long queues outside the several jewelry shops right from 5 in the morning. Usually, this is the kind of behavior one would notice on the day of the release of a Harry Potter book, but this kicks everything else into orbit, including the worst New York rush hour. And the people crowding up there are not all rich people. Chennai can't even have that many rich citizens. We are talking about our own maid-servants and cooks. One of my grandmother's sisters said that her servants wanted her to buy them some gold on Akshaya Trithiya. And the cook in our house was in such a hurry for the day to arrive, that she thought that it happened the previous week itself.

Traditionally, the day of Akshaya Trithiya is supposed to be the birthday of the Hindu sage Parashurama, the sixth avatar (incarnation) of the God Vishnu. And if you did'nt know that, its an auspicious day and is believed to be a very good day to purchase something or start a new venture. I seriously don't know where the gold link came in. Blame it on the media. Even wikipedia says so. Sheesh!

Band practice blues!

Why is managing a band so difficult? Why is it so tough for five guys to come together and practice for a show? Why the hell does it have to happen to me???!!! Let me tell you what's been happening over the past few days. But before all that, let me introduce you to the band.

Sharath-Lead vocals

Arindam-Drums

Tomojit-Bass

Danny-Keyboards

Me-Lead guitar

Sharath is a total elvis freak and lives in the fifties. He refuses to budge. He also has a natural tendency to turn up two hours late for every practice session. And is EXTREMELY touchy if someone passes a comment about his hair(psst...it keeps falling!) There's more about our wannabe elvis but i'll keep that for later!

Tomojit is either drunk, sleeping or sick. That pretty much sums him up! He is possibly Sharath's worst enemy...there's not a moment where Tomojit doesn't pass comments about him.

Arindam is usually with his girlfriend or sleeping in his room. He is famous for his one-liners. He believes that "life is just a condensed dream"(he actually comes up with such words of wisdom!).

Danny has the longest hair in the band...atleast Sharath has someone to look up to!!

Ok...enough of intros...

Let me tell you what's been happening since the band started.

We formed on December 2nd and we had our first show on December 8th at the Unwind center in Adyar. At that point of time, Danny wasnt part of the band.

A few days later, I got a call from a guy called Vedanth. He asked our band to play at a pub on the 21st of January. So we roped in Danny and everybody was excited coz we were gettin paid on our second show..which is something great! So immediately after the Christmas holidays, we started practice. This is where the fun starts.

Getting the guys together was one thing. Deciding the playlist was the worst part. We had to fifteen songs and everybody wanted to do different songs. Since we were a classic rock band, most of the songs that we decided were not essentially classic rock. So after a whole lot of quarrelling, we came to a conclusion.

Next came our exams. With about three weeks left for practice, our exams took a whole week.

After our exams, Tomojit had to go to Bangalore. Well...his trip was cancelled but it still had us all pissed off.

Then, Danny was down with malaria. That got us even more worried. Of all the days in a year, the mosquito decided to bite him now...with five days left for practice!!! Sheesh!!!

The very next day, Tomojit decided to go to Pondicherry. He promised to be back the next morning for practice. Well...he got drunk and woke up at six...THE NEXT EVENING!!!

Now, we have three days left for practice and we have to practice 15 songs!!!! But its ok now i guess...we've finished most of the songs...with all that we've been through!

Its been quite harrowing...and most of the balance from my cellphone has gone just by calling the guys just to find out where they are. Anyway...things are happening now and hopefully, we'll give a good show. And now i've gotta go to sleep!

Sister Act!

Well...yesterday was new year's day and we had two very distinguished visitors at our house-my grandmother's two sisters! They called up in the morning and said that they would be coming to spend some time with us. They were at home by about 11.00 AM and as usual, my mom and grandmom were making small talk and stuff like that while I was away in my room, playing my guitar. I finished playing and I went to meet them. We were in the living room and I found an empty chair and sat down. Then followed the usual "hey you've grown so much! what are you doing now? where are you studying?"...and then they went back to what they were very seriously discussing about-tamil mega serials! I thought to myself, "Sheesh!! Even now???????" And being the only person in the whole room to not watch serials was not exactly pleasant. I was grossly outnumbered! And one of my gran's sisters was from the USA. I was surprised, no, shocked to find out that even in the USA, people follow tamil serials as a part of their life! My aunts in Sacramento and Houston have even gone to the extent of making international calls to find out about what they missed in the latest episode of Selvi(a serial which finally, and thankfully ended recently) . And I've also heard that there are people who are fanatic enough to record these serials on a videotape. Sheesh!

After the serial discussion session , it was time for lunch(fried rice and chicken curry!), during which my grandmothers resolved to talking about their childhood days. I guess they all had a good time reminiscing. My grandmother hasn't stopped talking about it since the time they set foot outside the house! She even spoke about it at dinner tonight! I think I've heard her saying that she had a good time atleast a hundred times now(and i'm not exaggerating!). The trip down memory lane continued even till after lunch and I think they were talking abt it till three! Guess they did not notice time flying! Anyway, I can't really write anymore now...will be back later!

Star Wars vs. Harry Potter!

Well, it’s a new year and a lot of things have happened in the last 365 days…good, bad and ugly! Yeah I’m an 18 year old and I should be out having a ball, but well, due to certain circumstances, I am not forced, rather have no choice but to sit at home, watch Star Wars and send New Year wishes to friends and family. It’s now 1.09 AM, January 1st, 2007 and I am writing this because I really can’t sleep!
Well, I mentioned before that I was watching Star Wars. To go into a bit more detail, I was watching episode 3 of the Star Wars saga, titled, The Revenge Of the Sith. A thought occured to me when i was watching the movie...i could draw parallels between star wars and harry potter! Strange huh? I thought it was rather amusing if one could actually come out with a story that combines these two extremes. Hmm, J.K.Rowling would commit suicide at such an idea, but George Lucas might actually like it!
The basic story is the same and it’s still the same old good-always-triumphs-over-evil moral. But people who know both these stories in detail will agree with me. Now, I will be making references to both these stories and if you think it’s a bit weird, you really shouldn’t be reading this! Of course, it’s not an exact match, but hey! Nobody’s perfect!
Let’s start where Rowling left off. At the end of the sixth book, Harry knows that there was a prophecy made about him saying that he was the chosen one. He was chosen to defeat the Dark Lord. In the Star Wars movie, Samuel Jackson, one of the Jedi masters, said that there was a prophecy which said that Anakin Skywalker would defeat the Sith (which is the clan that uses the dark side of the Force). All the wizards and witches use wands. The Jedis use light sabers. Of course, the Jedis have to actually fight physically, but as I said before, there’s no exact match for everything. Harry is the son of parents who died to save him from Voldemort. Anakin Skywalker’s wife, whatever her name was, died in childbirth. Both the babies would later go on to become heroes, Harry and Luke Skywalker. Obi-Wan Kenobi was Luke’s Jedi master and trained him to become a Jedi knight. Albus Dumbledore trained Harry to take on Voldemort. Both men are old and have white beards when they train their apprentices and strangely, yet coincidentally, both men are killed by the bad guys. Darth Vader kills Obi-Wan. Snape kills Dumbledore. Again, both deaths are very uneventful. They merely let the bad guys kill them. Neither of them put up a fight.
Now, let’s see the rise of Voldemort and Darth Vader. Voldemort was actually Tom Riddle, a successful and handsome young man who had all that he needed. Yet, he chose to go over to the dark side and chased immortality. In the process, he underwent a lot of mental, emotional and even physical transformations. In the same way, Anakin Skywalker was a good young lad, who was tempted by the dark side to save his wife (or cheat death, which is what Voldemort tried). He went over to the dark side and he too, went through a lot of changes. In the third movie, we saw him stranded and helpless. He had lost his legs in his fight with Obi-Wan and his clothes had caught fire. He sustained severe burns. He was reduced to nothing more than just another existence in the universe. A few moments later, we saw him resurface as Darth Vader. He was more of a machine than a man and he had escaped a sure death. Both had achieved a crude type of immortality.
Now I’m not going to bore you with anymore of my theories on the subject. My imaginative stroke has just ended. However, I do intend to bring out a story that combines these two extremely different stories. Just imagine…fight sabers and Darth Volder! May the Force be with me! And you too! Happy New Year!

Soaps...or sobs??

When the clock strikes seven in the evening, it triggers a chain reaction across households in the city. Women all over Chennai, abandon whatever they were doing, and reach for the TV remote control. Its time for the Tamil soap operas on Sun TV!! Starting at seven in the evening, they go on till eleven in the night, with the exception of the half hour of news from eight to eight thirty. It has become a way of life for people now.
Soap operas or “soaps” are called so, because when they were first started, they were sponsored by soap companies. The name stuck, and in due course, it became a television genre by itself. These soaps are normally stories which have very intricate storylines, which usually involve a large joint family and the problems the family suffers. It beats me. How can a family only have problems?? Can good things never happen to a family? It’s always the scheming woman who tries to break up the family because she is in love with her sister’s husband, or pre-marital affairs, murder, evil business tycoons...the works! All this is tightly packed into one neat little package, called a mega -serial. But what beats me more is how people can actually sit down and watch seven mega-serials in one day! I just don’t get how people like to watch women bawling away, testing the capacity of their tear glands! Maybe they should be called sob operas! But wait, there’s more. The average mega-serial runs for more than 400 episodes. And with each episode ending on a cliffhanger, it keeps people coming back for more crying sessions.
Most serials on TV (read Tamil soaps) are female-centric. Not only are women the target audience, but the stories normally revolve around one or two women. The woman plays the protagonist in these serials. While one of them is the evil, scheming daughter-in-law (since they are both in the same family), the other is the good girl, who is portrayed as the traditional, holy and pious girl who is made of sugar, spice and everything nice and has every other good virtue one can think of. This is why women like to watch these serials so much. And these serials can do strange things to people. Women get so involved in these stories and sometimes think that they are part of the scene itself. I have seen women talking to the characters in the serial. Imagine, you walk in home and you find someone talking to the TV set! But wait, it gets better. If they miss a show, there’s no end of cribbing and they make it a point to find out what happened to the girl who ran away with her boyfriend. I’ve heard people saying, “What happened to Selvi?”, “What did Padmini do to Ravi?” or “That horrible man deserved to go to prison! But he got away scot-free!”
Now, soaps are ok, since they have loads of entertainment value and are interesting to watch. But I still don’t know why these soaps have to show only tears, and no laughter. I don’t get it. I, for one, would rather watch Tom and Jerry!