Like most people, I find myself disgusted at the happenings of the past few days. Disgusted at the perpetrators and the system that can do little to prevent them.

Strangely, I feel an equal amount of disgust for the stupidity and opportunism of the mediapeople themselves. From Barkha Dutt of NDTV, who was trying to make her best to get tortured people to cry on television by asking those waiting for news of their loved ones "Can you tell us what is going through your mind .... How are you feeling ...." and rhetorical questions like these. I am just disgusted. Can opportunism get more naked than that? How can she wake up everyday and show her face on television to a world who sees her for what she is!!!

I feel disgust for the media, which spent its effort trying to count the number of gunshots and explosions, all reported with barely concealed glee. I feel disgust at their oh so stupid and brazen coverage of reporting which doors commandos were using to enter the hotel, not for a moment stopping to think that this might be inimical to the operation itself.

Lastly, I cringed when these self proclaimed media gurus got the Director of NSG Ops on the TV, and after a few questions, actually asked him how many commandos he was deploying and on which floor they were going to be posted.

I have difficulty remembering when this event full of grief was converted into a voyeristic episode of BigBrother or BiggBoss by these mediapeople.

If this is not opportunism clothed with stupidity, I dont know what is. Today, images of death and destruction, including images of those killed in the line of duty are being set to music by these media channels in a desparate attempt to keep viewers hooked. If this is not opportunism, I don't know what is.

Its all disgusting... the terrorists, the politicians, Barkha Dutt and other mediapeople .... all vultures in a feeding frenzy.

I have to say Amitabh Bachan seemed to keep his head ... on his blog, he says he refused to appear on TV despite repeated attempts to get him to speak on channels. He too was disgusted by the opportunism and berates these vultures.

Reality is the leading cause of stress amongst those in touch with it.
- Jane Wagner


.....brilliant!!

Economics and rhetoric

I'm hooked to the business channels these days... like everyone else, I am mulling fresh long positions or well timed puts.

More recently two sets of mediabytes caught my attention. One, the FM simply telling industry to cut prices, much to the chagrin of low margin producers like two wheeler manufacturers, drawing a very blunt reaction from Rahul Bajaj who simply said "what kind of margins does he think we have" ..... the FM clothed the advice in his rather imitable way .... fake, low, laboured baritone, and an added bit of academic golddust thrown in "this is the classical reaction" said he. This one struck me for its pointlessness, and I can see why some sections of industry were so annoyed with the condescension. The duty of the Gov is to recognise that there is complexity in industry and not relfect on their Harvard glories of a past era, leave alone throw simplistic "classical" phrases to a group looking for depth in thinking.

Then, today on a panel of real estate developers DLF, Parsvanath, Raheja, etc. when confronted with the crisis, they simply refuse to cut prices. The anchor threw last years' profit margins at them.... staggering ... all of them between 40-55%. Can you believe that? These guys have margins at 40-55%. No wonder common guys, even common IT guys cannot afford homes. And these guys simply say that they do not want to cut prices... they'd rather have interest rates at 7% they say, in a double digit inflationary environment. It is no wonder that real estate developers are among the most unpopular vendors in this country.

Picking up the pieces

Why does the Captain at a popular and expensive restaurant in Bangalore drop a handful of spoons and forks ..... then pick them up .... look left and right before he commits the cardinal crime in the world of expensive hospitality... he places them with the other clean ones...... he looked left and right, but his instincts did not prompt him to look behind him, where I am seated, and have seen all that he has done .... I could not have missed it... he asked the person sitting opposite me to raise their foot so he could pick up one of the forks which had ricocheted there.

He does not have to wash them himself, so why does he cut that corner?

Well, I'm a caring person, so I am not one to call for his head, but it sure was a disgusting act which needed reporting, which I did. Apologies follow, which are pointless, because its not what I'm looking for. I tell the Manager that its not a problem with that particular Capt, but clearly with the restaurant which has at some level allowed it, but my reasoning falls on deaf ears. All I hear is "sorry sorry sorry" from Captain, then the Manager and then the Senior Manager.

Its hard to see so much turmoil on the perpetrators visage. I'm far from vindictive and actually quite sensitive to this sort of tension and misery, so before I leave, I call for the Captain and assure the harried man that I do not intend to pursue the matter .... its not worth him losing his job, even if it meant that I or someone else ate from a grubby cutlery after paying an overpriced bill. I do not need to know employment uncertainty first hand to know that its hard to go to sleep with something like that hanging over your head. His peace is precious and must prevail. I also have the Managers assure me that he would not be fried or fired.

That said, I've lost my appetite for that restaurant and have lost respect for the BJN chain. This is my second bad experience at these fine hotels where the food is always good if not great, but the service leaves a lot to be desired.

Watched the hindi flick "Fashion" this evening. Guess my opinion of Bollywood remains largely unchanged, and if anything, the large scale mediocrity of Bollywood effort is simply reinforced (I guess Rock On was something of an exception after all). I have no idea why it takes 3 and a half hours to tell this Fashion story that you could have guessed if you knew what the movie was about.

That said, hold you breath... there is one bright spot..... yes, even I admit that there is one brilliant bit. The scene where Kangana Ranaut, the cocaine filled supermodel heavily under the influence of drugs and alcohol transforms from a giddy inebriated shadow of a person into the supermodel that she needs to be as she walks out to open a show .... the only bit about the movie that was subtle yet brilliant. The scene intends to show how supermodels are able to turn it on, when required ... but it goes far beyond that. For one, it demonstrates that Kangana Ranaut is a helluvan actress, and two .... the scene is simply such an outlier in the movie in terms of quality that it was probably not the Directors' idea. It had to be someone elses :)

I can't say the scene makes the movie worthwhile .....so don't waste your time and money. However, if you have already watched the movie and find the scene on youtube, let me know.

Excellent read

Peter Roebuck has always been one of my favourite cricket writers and this is why .... he has an almost expert ability to understand cultural backgrounds and their translations to performances on the cricket field.


http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/current/story/377000.html

BODY OF LIES


Watched this yesterday. Interesting movie, and while several parts deviate from logic or reality, the fabric holds in its desire to communicate the sound of feet on the ground in the middle east. In a very large sense, it reinforces the haplessness of invading forces fighting enemies who use entirely different playing fields ... technology Vs old-world intelligence, radar Vs handwritten notes etc.

Some action scenes are quite outstanding, the most memorable one being the gunfight at the abandoned desert house where evidence is in the process of being destroyed. You almost want to wipe the mud from your face when it ends, much like the ambush scene in Saving Private Ryan.

Dicaprio is good without being spectacular, while Russell Crowe is effortless and convincing. Well, that said, after watching Dicaprio in The Departed, it would have to be a monumental performance if he were to surpass himself.

As an aside, after eons, G catches me on chat and asks how I was.
"Like I always say, I remember having been better :-)" said I.

Memory is such a wonderful thing, always distorting the present and the future stripping away objectivity at all times with tints in lenses that seem to fade very slowly indeed.

Au revoir.

pulse pulse pulse...