MTV Roadies 5.0

MTV Roadies 5.0 concluded 2 weeks ago, with Ashutosh Koushik becoming the 5th Roadie…

This season of Roadies began in Goa with 13 aspirants from across the country. Getting selected in Roadies auditions, after handling the torture done by Raghu Ram and Nikhil Chinapa in itself is a big deal… Hence, these contestants (names are in alphabetical order) of MTV Roadies 5.0 deserve to have their names on my blog:

• Ankita
• Ankita (Simran)
• Anmol
• Ashutosh
• Ayaz
• Nihal
• Prabhjot
• Shambhavi
• Snehashish
• Sonel
• Varun
• Vibhor
• Vikrant

I’ve following last 3 season of Roadies i.e. Season 3, 4 & 5 and thought that I know the format/rules of the show pretty well since reality shows generally don’t change their rules frequently… But as far as MTV Roadies is concerned, I feel proud in saying that “I was wrong.” You guys might be thinking that why I’m feeling proud? The answer is simple, this is one of my favorite TV shows and I enjoyed the current season as much as I enjoyed the earlier ones, as everything was unpredictable…

The 1st episode saw two of the participants being voted out… To watch the “Vote-outs” is the real fun in the Roadies… The Pressure, the Action, the Drama all are part of this reality show… Each episode was different from the previous one in some or the other manner… In the 5th season, the best part was the International exposure but what I really didn’t liked was more emphasis on personal decision’s rather than some activity…

Unlike my expectations, the final episode was not that great; especially at the last when Sonel chose the winner of Roadies 5... Atleast the winner shouldn’t be decided that way, Nihal did a better competition than that…

Anyways, I’m eagerly waiting for the next season of MTV Roadies…

IPL: May the best team win !!!

Today is the IPL finals and I’m to D.Y Patil stadium to watch the match…

But the important question is, whom should I support in today’s match???

Actually in the first season of IPL, I’ve already supported 4 teams out of 8... From the beginning, I was cheering and supporting for Kolkata Knight Riders. Once they were out from the race of semis I started supporting Mumbai Indians, don’t forget Mumbai is my Karmabhumi… After this, it was the turn of Delhi Daredevils but unfortunately they too lost in the semis… Yesterday, in the 2nd semi-final, I supported Kings XI Punjab and my track record continued too; they too lost in the semis…

Now while writing this post, I’ve decided that today I’ll not support any particular team in today’s match and only enjoy the game with my gang…

And I’m praying that the match should be rocking, exciting and May the best team win !!!

Happy Birthday Mummy !!!

A Very Happy Birthday to you Mummy...

If you would not having been with me, with all your love & support; I wouldn't have been to do anything in my life... Thanks for everything...

Indian News Channels: Quantity over Quality

Who says Indian news broadcast channels are not mature as their International counterparts? Even Indian channels know how to do their business, how to increase their TRP’s and also how to woo the advertisers, etc. These Indian news channels are not only earning the bread and butter for their owners; but also attaining their break-even points much faster than it was in the past…

But if we talk in terms of the content or the social responsibilities, then I definitely agree that Indian news channels are not as mature as their International counterparts. In fact, the word “mature” isn’t made for Indian news channel.

Actually there are 2 types of news channel in India: First is the Hindi News Channel and Second is the English News Channel. I’ve considered both Hindi and English News Channels as different categories since the quality of the content differ…

Let’s suppose you want to know the news and switch on some Hindi News Channel: No points in guessing what you actually get to see, something which most of us actually don’t consider a news item like “swarg ki seedhiyan (Steps to Heaven)” or “Aishwarya Rai Bachchan ne rakha vrat (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan does fasting on the occasion of Hindu festival)”, etc. Let me also some of the headlines from various of these channels, “Dada pade Sachin bhaari (Sachin’s team defeats Saourav’s Team) ” , “Train ke neeche ke baad bhi Kutta jeevit bacha (Dog is still alive even after coming under the moving Train)”, etc… None of the Hindi news channel shows, a single news regarding more important news like measures which should be used to curb inflation, US Presidential elections, Global warming, etc…

Hindi news channel are also following a pattern these days; when I say “pattern”, I meant to make a point that all these channels show similar news which had a good TRP’s in the past. Like when the incident of Prince falling in a boring well happened, it was something which most of the people saw for the first time , hence everyone was curious about the child; and now after every few weeks we see one more child falling in such wells… If some channels show a program featuring a story related to Ramayan or Mahabharta, then all the other news channels will soon show some related story… I don’t know which and when, one of the news channel started showing the program like “Vaardat” or “Aaj Aapka Din (How your day will be today)” but now we can find such programs on every Hindi News Channel. And how can I forget mentioning about the programs which showcases the items of the Laughter Champions and also about the various reality shows like Indian Idol, Voice of India, etc. And also how can I forget mentioning about Khalli – The WWE Fighter, he is the favorite news item for many of these Hindi News Channels…

The English News Channels here are not better but definitely show better quality programs than their Hindi counterparts… They too some masala news but those are mostly related to Bollywood or Cricket… But the best part is that they try to cover most of the important news too…

People might be interested in knowing about Abh-Ash wedding but are they also interested in knowing whether Aishwarya is observing a fats or not? People wanted to know about the status of children falling in boring-wells but for how long, are we really interested in viewing the Live Telecast from the venue? I agree that IPL (Indian Premier League) has become a big thing in the world of cricket and also lot of moolah is involved in it but has it become bigger than news like inflation, caste reservations, economy, etc which are of national interests?

I agree that these news channels are also showing such programs and stories since people watch it but I still believe that if any channel is considering a “News Channel” then please show some relevant news or else start promoting yourself as a “Page3 Channel” or some “Lifestyle Channel.”

Sometimes I really feel that Doordarshan’s National News is still the best in the country since in its half-an-hour duration it tries to cover the maximum news across the globe and from all the fields…

Why can’t these Indian news channels think of programs like which is actually for the betterment of the country and its people...

Tashan

Tashan: another hyped movie from Yashraj Films was released on last Friday.

Just to inform my readers, due to some differences between the distributors and the exhibitors, this movie was only released in single screen theatres across Mumbai and not in the multiplexes…

Tashan, like many other movies, was not upto the expectations of the audiences; primarily due to its storyline. On the technical front, it’s a decent effort but lack of a good story and direction will definitely disappoint the audiences. I will not disclose the story here, since I always believe that Movie reviews are not meant to tell the story of the movie…

The acting of all the 4 leading actors is ok types… Anil Kapoor’s character is of a don but somewhat similar to the character of Javed Jaffrey of Salaam Namaste fame; where he tries to speak English on every occasion… Initially we laughed at his dialogues but as the film progressed it was a bit irritating too… Also it was unbelievable for me, that a modern day don will use a water canon or a fire pipe to defeat his enemies… Overall, Anil hadn’t been used to fullest of his abilities…

Saif Ali Khan does an average job, nothing extraordinary in his acting too…

Kareena Kapoor is looking gorgeous in her zero-size figure… And she looks extremely sexy in the parrot-green colored bikini, which she wore in one of the scenes; definitely it’s a treat for all the men watching the movie… She does a decent job but don’t compare this one with her performance in Jab We Met…

Akshay Kumar is as usual brilliant in this movie too… His comic timing, facial expressions and dialogue delivery are awesome. He is one actor to look for, in Tashan… Almost all the audiences present in the theatre clapped at his entry…

The music is average type but definitely not what is actually expected out of a Yashraj movie… Few of its songs have picked up slowly… Like all the Yashraj movies, the song-dance sequences and exotic locales are worth watching… Cinematography and background score are good. The film makers tried to make this as an action flick and were also a bit successful in doing that except for the final action sequence, which, in the present day scenario, seems to be more of a comedy rather than an action sequence…

Overall Tashan was a one-time watch movie and not that bad as most of the critics have rated it… According to me, only 2 things which may bring audience to the theatres are the hype associated with the movie and Akshay Kumar’s mind-blowing performance… And no doubt, that this time Yashraj made a big mistake by not releasing this movie in the multiplexes, since it would have brought more audiences to the theatres and hence lesser amount of loss to them…

The director of the movie, Vijay Krishna Acharya will have to think something better next time, in order to woo the critics as well as the audiences… If, I’ve to rate this movie, I’ll give 2.5 on a scale of 5 (1.5 for the movie and an additional 1 point for Akshay’s performance)…

Qualified Politicians required...

Blogathon today’s topic “How do we change the focus of politics from caste/religion to grassroot issues?” is both provocative and controversial…

If you ask my opinion to the question mentioned above, my answer is very simple: there is no way to change the focus of our politicians, till they are ready to change themselves, their focus and way of thinking…

I might be sounding as a pessimist, although I’m not; but according to me, changing politics and the politicians is a difficult thing, especially in a country like India.

Recently, I was reading somewhere that according to the World Bank data, the condition of Primary Education is even worse than most of the African countries. Arjun Singh, Hon. HRD Minister, who should address the issues of primary education, etc in the country. But he had done nothing except for creating caste differences amongst the people by introducing the quota for OBC’s… I don’t know, why he can’t understand that if the children have proper education (both primary & secondary), most of them won’t require any sort of Quotas for getting into any college of higher education.

Although the conditions of these Politicians or Netas, as we call them in India are not good but then too we may try changing their focus from the caste and religion based issues (actually their vote bank politics since decades) to some other important ones… Few things which we may try doing are:-

· The most important thing for any citizen in India is to exercise our Voting Rights. Whenever election happens in our country, we always find that voting percentage in most of the constituencies is not more than 50%; this simply means that atleast 50% percent of us don’t vote. By voting, we may choose the right candidate, who may actually do something concrete for us.

· We should strictly avoid listening to and voting for Political Parties and Leaders who encourage or are involved in caste based or religion based politics. If we, the people of this country ignore them, then they will have to think on alternate issues for continuing their presence in politics…

· We must also introduce some guidelines to become a Politician such as minimum educational qualificatio background check, etc.

· According to me, more & more young and qualified people should be encouraged to come into politics. Young people will definitely think over issues related to our country and our people and not just about caste or religion vote banks. I also think a retirement age for them is also necessary, may not be 60 but it should be there. If our Constitution also allows young politician then why is it necessary for a person to have grey hairs before becoming a politician?

Why don’t these Politicians don’t understand that the most important need of the common people are proper education for their children, adequate healthcare facilities for their families at cheap rates, good infrastructure in the country, low inflation, food and items of daily usage at low rates etc and not the admission for some of the backward class people in some prestigious institutes…

It’s high time that we all should become more responsible towards our country and discourages these types of politicians, who have the history of taking advantage of common people on the basis of caste or religion… We are proud to be living in a Democratic country and let’s behave like that…

How can we improve the traffic condition in our city?

How can we improve the traffic condition in our city? It’s actually a million dollar question for the residents as well as the commuters in Mumbai…

Lets first discuss the situation of traffic in Mumbai, the Financial & Entertainment Capital of the country and also the city of dreams for many, including me… The traffic condition here in Mumbai is really pathetic and is getting worsened by every crossing day. Imagine the time one requires, to travel from Borivali to Bandra or Chembur to Goregaon and that too, if he/she is traveling in the peak hours then it will be like an added advantage disadvantage… State / Local Government may be trying to resole these problems, but having said that I would like to mention that till the time these solutions are in place, by then the condition will deteriorate more badly…

Lets analyze, why the traffic conditions are deteriorating, primarily because of our growing economy; as the economy grows, the citizens will become more rich thus buying more and more cars and two-wheelers… As the population of Mumbai is increasing, the government has to increase the number of buses, since BEST buses are one of the most used and preferred way of transport throughout the city and also the number of taxis and auto-rickshaws are increasing day by day, hence increasing the chaos in the city…

I lived in NCR for more than 4 years before moving to Mumbai; if we compare the traffic conditions of both these cities then NCR is far ahead in terms of having better traffic conditions than Mumbai… The conditions there are better, not because the people there have less number of vehicles or the people traveling from the buses are less… So what’s the reason behind the better conditions, the reason is simple: the government had managed the traffic good and also they had taken the necessary steps on time…

According to me, what exactly is needed in Mumbai to improve the traffic conditions are as follows:-

Ÿ Infrastructure is really the need of the hour… More flyovers, skywalks, dedicated bus lanes, Metro rail system, better local train systems, etc. I agree that government had already sanctioned 50 skywalks to be built in the city including in Thane and Kalyan, also the work for 2 Metro routes had already started but Mumbai doesn’t only need 2 Metro routes and 50 skywalks but lot more than that… Why can’t we think of building the Metro network across the city including the suburbs like Thane, Navi Mumbai, etc? If Delhi Metro is taking their routes to NOIDA and Ghaziabad, why can’t we replicate such a system in our city?

Ÿ The second step needed is better and timely execution of the ongoing projects. Projects should not cross their allotted deadlines. Project delays also cause lot of chaos and even till the time they keep going they worsen the traffic condition of the area. If people working in the private companies can match their deadlines, why can’t people working in these government project?

Ÿ More public-private partnerships are required in developing the necessary infrastructure. Private / Corporate involvement is necessary since those are the people, who know how to execute any project in a better way and in less time too.

More such steps could be taken, which may actually prove effective in improving the traffic condition of our beloved city - Mumbai.

IPL: Cricket ka Karmayudh

Yesterday was the day, when the IPL (Indian Premier League) finally started…

Since long time, I’ve been reading, hearing and watching lot of news and gossips related to this “IPL: Cricket ka Karmayudh”… A lot had been said and written about the big moolah involved in this… From the very first day, people had been questioning the Twenty20 format of the game and also its effect on the original format of the game, that is, Test Matches… Even some analyst, commentators and ex-players have also commented that Indian players were not able to perform up to the mark because of the hype and commitments of up-coming IPL…

Personally speaking, somehow I’m very optimistic towards this IPL thing; although I don’t have the same views and regards for its counterpart ICL (Indian Cricket League, owned & started by Essel Group). My reasons for this optimism may differ from others; but everyone has its own reason to believe in something, so am I…

Few reasons, why I’m optimist and looking forward towards this tournament are:-

· Twenty20 is a shorter format of the game which will easily get over in 3 hours, so more & more people will be interested in watching this game, without affecting their busy schedules. The entertainment factor involved in these games may bring more people closer to the game.

· The IPL had started the Club format in Cricket, on the similar lines of English Premier League; which in turn will be a good thing for promoting and developing the domestic as well as the international cricket. This will make our game of cricket, Global.

· In IPL, it’s necessary for a team to have 7 Indian players and 4 foreign players; hence this is extremely beneficial to our domestic players who weren’t able to find a place in the Indian Team. Even the ex-players, who are no longer part of the Indian team, will find a place in the IPL teams like Sunil Joshi, etc.

· The players will get to learn about the cross country cultures and also will get an opportunity to learn from seniors Icon players.

· Last but not the least, the much talked-about moolah which is involved in IPL will definitely make the cricketers richer and may also prove beneficial for the game of cricket in our country, in terms of infrastructure, coaching standards, etc.

Even the normal citizen of India will be benefited since they will be able to see the live matches at very cheap rates; as the owners of some of these teams like Shah Rukh Khan are selling the tickets of Eden Gardens, Kolkata at prices as low as Rs. 100/-, cause they are looking at quantity rather than quality.

One important point which I missed is that IPL is also beneficial to Indian Actors and Actresses, since they get hefty amount of money (more than what they usually get for doing 1 movie) and that too, just for dancing in 1-2 videos like Hrithik Roshan, who featured in the music video of Mumbai Indians Team. While in some cases, they just have to attend their Team’s (the team which hired him/her) matches or their press conferences like Akshay Kumar for his association with the Delhi Daredevils Team…

I would like to Congratulate the BCCI, IPL Committee and especially Mr. Lalit Modi for planning and organizing such a fantastic tournament, which will make the whole nation crazy in days to come…

I also liked the video “Cricket ka Karmayudh” which came on Television… Even the other advertisements made for IPL are good but the best one is the one which says “Manu-Ranjan ka baap kab aayega?”

Although I missed the fabulous opening ceremony of the tournament and also the Innings of my favorite team of IPL - Kolkata Knight Riders but then too I’m looking forward to watch an exciting tournament for next 44 days of my life…

In yesterday’s match, I liked the placard of one of the spectator saying, “I‘m here to watch the girls dancing. And not for Cricket”. Thoughts like these show that the traditional game of cricket, a game which is a Religion in the country like ours, is changing… And changing may be for its betterment…

My favorite team had already won their match and what about your team ???

Blogathon India

(click on image for official site)

Blogathon means a combination of Blog and Marathon, where bloggers across India will blog throughout the week (starting Sunday 20^th April) on the given topics.

The topics for Blogathon India are:-

Infrastructure: Sunday, 20th April 2008
How can we improve the traffic condition in our city?

Politics: Monday, 21st April 2008
How do we change the focus of politics from caste/religion to grassroot issues?

Entertainment: Tuesday, 22nd April 2008
Does Bollywood overshadow regional cinema in India?

Media: Wednesday, 23rd April 2008
Why are Indian news broadcast channels not as mature as their International counterparts?

Gender: Thursday, 24th April 2008
What are the challenges that society faces in accepting the concept of alternate sexuality? How can we address them?

Sport: Friday, 25th April 2008
Are ‘media’ and ‘commercial interests’ in cricket the only reason that are killing other sports in India?

To participate in Blogathon India, all we have to do is choose the topic/s we’re going to blog about, do it on that particular day & then add these Technorati tags to our posts blogathonindia, blogathonindia1

So get, set and start blogging in Blogathon India !!!

Trip to Shirdi & Shani Shinganapur...

On Friday 9^th February, I went to Shirdi and Shani Shinganapur…

Trip to Shirdi was special to me for 3 reasons: Firstly, I’ve never been to Shirdi. Secondly, since our last Trip to Lonavala I’ve not been to anywhere outside Mumbai, so I was sort of bore with my daily routine and definitely needed a break… Lastly and most importantly, it was the first trip with my team members…

One day suddenly, Hemant and Nishant came up with the idea of going to Shirdi… Few of us agreed to go with them. So, we decided to invite all our team members (both present & ex team members) and I sent the mail invitation to all of them, for our Trip to Shirdi but finally only eight of us (Hemant, Nishant, Pankaj, Pavan, Sumant, Siddhant, Vikas and me) opted for coming on this memorable trip…

On Friday midnight, we left Mumbai and the journey began with fultoo masti & fun… The special attraction of the night was Sumant and his stories of Mumbai, Gujarat, etc… Those stories kept us awake almost the whole night and along with laughter, it brought stomach ache too…

Next morning, one of the most difficult tasks for us was to wake up Sumant… At one point, we decided to let him sleep till the time we comeback from the temple. It wouldn’t be fair if I don’t mention Siddhant’s words here “Yeh sahi hai:- khaya, piya, pakaya aur ab so raha hai… (He is great, he ate, drank, talked and now he is sleeping…)”

Anyways finally he woke up and we did the Darshan (prayers) in the Shirdi Temple… I also liked the museum inside the temple which showcases the photos, portraits of the Sai Baba and various things used by Him…

Later on our way to Shani Shinganapur, we enjoyed the fresh Ganne ka Juice (Sugarcane’s Juice)… It was something which I was witnessing for the first time in my life, that is, Ganne ka Juice taken out by a Kohlu ka Baail (An Ox tied to a lever which is generally used for taking out juices and oils).

For visiting Shani Shinganapur temple, there is a custom that all the male devotees have to first bathe and then wear only a dhoti in order to do the Puja (offering prayers) there, as women are not allowed to do Puja there…

Initially I was a bit uneasy with the idea of wearing only a dhoti but it felt superb after trying something different and that too a dhoti … Actually Siddhant helped me in wearing it in the typical style hence it was looking better…

Later we went to Trimbakeshwar Temple, Nasik; we reached there approximately after 10 minutes of closing time of the temple. Hence we weren’t lucky enough to visit that temple; so only options available to us were to click photographs and do shopping outside the market and we took the advantage of both these options…

On our way back to Mumbai, we halted at Sanskriti Resort for dinner; the setting there was of a typical Marathi Village… We all chose to eat their specialty, the Marathi Thali… The food was delicious and also it tastes yummy, when you are actually eating something for the first time in the day…

Finally we reached back Mumbai around 4 a.m. in the morning…

Before concluding this post, I would also like to mention about few people without whom this trip wouldn’t have been such wonderful: Vikas Bhai who was the trip manager and also took care of the finance department, Pavan for his funny one liner’s, Pankaj who didn’t sleep for more than 1 hour on the whole trip which took approximately 30 hours… And also others who made this trip a memorable one for me…

The Poha Party

The Poha Party - it wasn’t the usual party which we people generally have but it was something different...

Friday 22^nd February, 2008, Ankur sent a formal mail inviting all of us to his place for this party … What I really liked in that mail was its subject line, which said “1 saal puraana vaada kal poora karna hai…” Actually last year, he promised us that soon we’ll get a chance to eat poha cooked by him...

Next day, almost all the invitees, who were expected there, reached on time… Although the party delayed by 1 hour since the dish wasn’t ready but it was definitely worth waiting…

At last, the delicious poha was ready to eat and we enjoyed it a lot… Everyone asked Ankur to cook poha atleast once in a week…
But guys, party wasn’t over yet, Ankur had one more dish in-store for us – Halwa.

After eating the poha, he immediately started cooking Suji / Rava ka Halwa for us, in which Bhavana too helped him out but then too all the credit goes only to Ankur. The halwa too was very delicious…

The people who enjoyed these delicious dishes on a Saturday evening were Ankit, Bhavana, Mayank, Mohit, Niraj, Sakshi and me. And now after viewing the pics, guys don’t be jealous of us…


PS: All my female readers, if you want to learn “how to cook Poha”, then please contact Ankur and I’m sure he’ll mail his poha.txt file to all of you...