The Psychology of TV Shows

a) The massive success of Soap operas .. Apparently before the advent of home entertainment, most housewives (and in the office , the gents too) spent a good part of their time gossipping or just switching tidbits of juicy info about the neighbours, colleagues etc.. This as we would all agree, though might not be called entertainment.. does enhance the flavour of the day for us! When houses disappeared and became flats and neighbours became strangers, this massive gap is to have been fulfilled by the Soap operas. It gives us the pleasure of peeping into somebody else's household affairs and comment on it! Hence the huge open female audience and closet male audience for the soap operas!

b) Kaun Banega Crorepati - The ability to sit at home and shout out amongst family and friends that you know the answer and could have been the winner of such a big jackpot -with no stakes involved - seems to what make the audience tick!

c) Now, there is a very popular show in Tamil called 'Neeya Naana'.. the biggest strength here is that the moderator doggedly pursues a positivity throughout the show.. even while he handles two every emotional opposing groups of people - he ensures that possessiveness communicated is moderated by him to reflect love, anger to passion, doggedness to commitment etc . He also ensures that the final conclusion is decidedly from a positive perspective. To give the feeling to the audience at the end of heated discussions that all is still well with the world and this is the best place and culture to be in and send them to bed with that thought , I think, is the true competence and beauty of this show!

Of days gone by..

It is the end of the JFM quarter..
The funds for the next quarter would have come..
The Marketing plan and the new launches media plan needs to be ready..
Promotional plan needs to be briefed to sales..
Back end of offer fulfillment need to be in place..
Brand plan needs to be given a go ahead by AP..
The Olympic plan needs to be fine tuned..
JFM quarter eval deck needs to be sent..

Hope my successor remembers all of the above..

Oh Crap..
Another Chapathi burnt!

Breach

Do not compel me to speak
No questions pls
I value my space
Do not judge me
Nor comment
Just let me be
I do not owe an explanation

What?
Yes. Love me without the above.
Try.

Identity!

I have heard some intellectuals discuss on and on about what defines Indianness.. and how to classify the various religious, regional, linguistic, patrilineal, matrilineal permutations that pervade this peninsula! But the world over, I think there are very simple formulae that easiy define the typical Indian ( .. and mind you I represent the best such Indian of them all! )

a) Somebody you dont know is working on his laptop and you peer most un-self-consciously into his work.. and even give suggestions/comments!

b) Two people are snogging/smooching in a public place and yours is the only set of eyes that is trying hard to avoid the same but ends up gaping at the spectacle with mouth slightly ajar!

c) Somebody says 'hi' to you and you move with a 'license to kill' with questions like 'so, where do you work?, how many children?, where do you live?, nice tie - where did you buy it?' etc etc..

d) Be it a museum or a fort.. you dont recruit a guide of your own.. but slightly inch closer to wherever a recruited guide is giving his lecture to a group..and listen in surreptitiously!

e) Take packed food wherever you go and gather around in a group in a park, open the home-cooked spicy food and dig in with relief, but guitily refuse to look at the eyes of the foreigners who are curiously looking at you as if to say..' whats wrong with our food man!'

f) Plan weekly trips to particular temples, not just to worship but more importantly for the free Indian food that these temples give out that spares you the weekend cooking!

g) Land up in any place with luggage and make a big show of lugging all the luggage 'All by yourself'! .. with no porters or coolies to help!


But jokes apart.. I have been abroad about 10 years back too and the difference between then and now is mind blowing! There is a new confidence in being an Indian, no desperate need to 'fit in'.., no desire to please. The attitude is bold and the style distinct.

I guess there is no better time as this to be an Indian! Even vis-a-vis the foreigners.. the stereotyping has changed a lot from just ' the patels owning motels'..to 'Information Technology Geeks' (though I am not sure if that is an improvement ;)..


The most obvious signs of these cultural stereotypes can be observed in the most subtle environments.. especially when you go shopping.. My Marks and Spencer acquaintance says.. 'Earlier with Indians, we always focussed on the discounted and the bulk purchase ware.. but now-a-days things have changed.. it is they who pick up the most expensive and exclusive desinger wears.. and they know exactly what they want and that is some Indian customisation to such wares..so we are equally if not more prepared for any Indian customer vs an European'

But what has also changed is the wonderful ' Wow.. are you too from Bangalore? How long have you been here..' enquiries with a spark in the eye! Nowadays every 3rd face you see on the street in any country is Indian! So..Familiarity seems to have bred contempt! Not even a 'hi' or a 'hello' if you meet a fellow Indian.. everybody just looks through you!

And even worse is the distaste of the second or third generation Indian to mix with the 'fresh off the boat' ones.. its almost like they dont want to be mistaken for new ones while they are actually citizens of the land! Yeah.. that trend is sad to acknowledge..

Anyways.. with no statistics to support my claims.. most of the above are personal observations.. so.. feel free to protest, disagree and disprove! May be my views are subject to change after all!

Celebration..!

Silent Snowflakes..
A clear beam of sunshine..
The common music that you and I grew up with in our seperate worlds..
Familiar food boiling at the kitchen..
Eyes locked on a particular verse..
A soft smile that transforms into a giggle..

Here's to life .. like this..

Forever and beyond!

Manathil Urudhi Vendum... (A resolute mind I seek..)

To be objective, even when I or my country or my loved ones are involved..
To be able to generously love..even while hurting myself.. for they did so once..
To be able to forgive..and smile and move on..
To be able to give another culture, as much leeway for its evolutionary mistakes as I do for mine..
To be able to acknowledege that yes.. the other is being a better person.. and I can learn from them.. howmuchever I want to believe otherwise..
To think of the way forward.. though Guru Dutt-sque self-pity is so romantically enticing..
To be kind to myself.. knowing fully well I have screwed up.. badly...
To stand up for what is wrong.. but with as much wisdom as courage..
To take calculated risks and not give into the surge of emotion that smacks of 'heroism'..
To be able to start over.. from the context that as long as life beats.. nothing is ever completely over..
To be able to give my body the respect, the care and the difficult discipline of exercise it deserves..
To seek to understand especially when it is so, that it is deliciously sweet to dislike and condemn..
To seek to encourage when it seems so self-righteous to say..' dont bother'...
To remain silent and empathetic when i can easilys say ' I told you so..'
To let go and love from a distance of nowhere and nothing inbetween..

Manadhil urudhi vendum..

To want a little more..

Oh! Lets want a little more..

A little more of love and peace..

A little more of wanting to give..

A little more tolerance for the 'Special' (Not 'abormal' but always 'special' if u please..)

Lets want more colour in people and around..

Lets want more thoughts and more smiles..

Lets want more of the earth and the moon..

Lets want to live a little more of life every day..

They say if one person wants something with all his heart

The entire universe conspires to give it to him..

Lets want and want and want so much..

That all the Universe and the powers that be ...

Are compelled to give it to to us!

Heres to Life and more!

Watching me while I decide!

Saw Dil, Dosti etc..The protagonist is as rational as they come.. he merely perceives himself as an audience in the play of life.. an audience who also watches himself! Evaluating... smiling.. lauding.. chiding.. though not too seriously..I guess these are the people that ' Succeed' in terms of wealth, position, power etc.. The completely rational ones with no emotional vulnerabilities.. or atleast very minimal vulnerabilities.. as for me, I have always been emotional about every decision i have made.. no regrets.. but yes.. having a healthy mix of the rational and emotional does seem 'appealing.. so, let me see.. be it the 'Commerce group' decision in 10th std despite the whole world advising otherwise, giving up XLRI, choosing a life partner, choosing and later relinquishing the best friend.. hmmm... everything has been heavy on the emotional side!

So I have now decided to watch myself decide atleast once in a while.. that ways I know if i am taking a emotional or rational call.. this should be interesting.. whats more intriguing than getting to know yourself better! All the best to me!

So.. this is London...

The first thing I noticed is that this city is one with moods of its own.. much like me.. suddenly it is warm and bright and lo and behold there is a gust of wind that will well nigh blow you off.. of course the next thing I noticed is the Teens.. man.. i never thought a day will come when the most feared section of society would be its Teen kids! I land off the flight on to the road and I see a bunch of Teen kids creating a ruckus on the road.. one with a bright silver viking hat to boot! Being the ever curious Indian I peek a little and got shouted at ' Hey Lady.. Dont you stare!'.. What a welcome to the city! And here I am , in the city for just 2 weeks now and all I read in the newspapers is Teen crimes..hmmm.. wonder what 'Freakonomics' has to say about this!! Am sure a study of the statistics would reveal something very interesting about the generation that went by - that resulted in these teens! And given that guns are banned, it is knives that rule the roost.. In a 'Metro' column a teenage kid shares her angst..' Dont stereotype us.. we turn to such stuff because you guys dont offer us anything better to do!' initially i was flabber gasted but when I forced myself to lookat it from her point of view.. hmmm.. may be at her age it is but natural that she cant think beyond this.. atleast she is recognising the problem..anyways.. yet to see the Tube or Madame Tussads.. given that we are going to be here for a while now.. hubby dearest is in no hurry to explore ..no harm done.. i am enjoying the onset of spring.. with the chirping of the birds and green leaves peeping out of hitherto twiggy trees...