The Final Frontier

William Shatner a.k.a Capt. James T Kirk was inducted into the Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame in December '06. Star Trek will always remain one of my fondest TV series & even modern mind boggling special effects driven movies do not appeal to me as much as the hit TV show from the 60's. In India, it used to be aired in the late 90's after which it was pulled off.

The camaraderie between Kirk & Spock will always be memorable for any true blue trekkie. Not to mention the plots & sub plots that ventured into varied philosophies of science & human civilization, posing some insightful questions to the audience.

The cultural impact of Star Trek has been immense & has led to an entire subculture. For the first time in 25 years, the show is in a state where no star trek film or series is in production or development following the cancellation of Enterprise.

Boldly go here, where no man has gone before.

The web of politics

David Cameron, who's leading the Conservative Party in Britain has a blog. Cameron has apparently revived a certain emotion the Conservatives had lost: optimism.

Imagine if our politicos would also start blogging.. all members of the parliament straddling in with their Thinkpads & indulging in some live blogging during a parliament session.
System crash will have an entirely new meaning!

Lets be friends!

My blog find of the day..
This can be added to the numerous similar mail forwards floating over the web.

Indian Ocean in Concert

Went to IIM Bangalore's annual cul-fest 'UNMAAD'..Getting tickets was not a big problem.. contrary to what I had in mind. By the time we reached, we were starving & I had a strange urge to sit & eat at the same table with future business magnates & CEO's.. call me shallow!

After eating some bad bread-omelette & maggi with capsicum (yuckk!), we landed up at the open ground where the concert had already started.

The opening act was Indian Ocean. It was my first tryst with the band.. I had only heard 'Kandisa' & that too I had heard it..not listened. Rahul Ram, the bassist & one of the vocalists kept chatting up the crowd inbetween the songs & was funny at times ("..the lyrics were written by so-&-so.. dilli ka purana haraami hai!")

Wikipedia's entry about the band goes like this - "Indo-rock fusion with jazz-spiced rhythms that integrates shlokas, sufism, environmentalism, mythology and revolution."

It might seem that its just attaching too many labels but I gotta tell ya, these guys really play all the stuff mentioned above.. & more!

Susmit Sen, the bands guitarist whom I had met in Delhi at a party aeons ago has his own distinct style & is a self taught guy. The band as a whole seem to be inspired by too many genres & structure their sound in a way that it becomes difficult for the audience to label them into either Jazz/Rock/Sufi rock or any of the conventional genres..I would say Indian Ocean is a prime example of a quintessential 'fusion' band with each member of the band with different styles coming together harmoniously producing some some free music with fused minds.

Second act was Ali Azmat of Junoon.. the less said the better. We left after a couple of songs. Even 'Sayonee' was a pathetic effort. A lot like an average joe college band doing a Junoon cover. It seemed as if Mr Ali ran into his band members on the way to the IIM-B campus & begged them to play with him.

All in all, not a bad night... except for some whackos trying to jump the barricade that divided the Rs 299/- people from the Rs 99/- people..Its a class divide I tell you.

Changing the world.. one keystroke at a time!

Silicon valley has given us a lot of 'dorms to riches' tales of daring & enterprising young guns starting their own ventures & shunning promising careers..

What drives these people to go that extra mile taking huge risks & laughing at the face of unsurmountable difficulties? I guess the simple explanation is that these people knew that they had a million dollar idea that was innovative, had a viable business model & they couldn't wait to get down to it & get their hands dirty.

The Google duo started their super search machine while pursuing their PhD's in Stanford.

Super rich Bill & spaceman Paul had dropped out of Harvard to start their closed source empire.

Michael Dell started one of the biggest PC companies out of his dorm room.

There are hundreds of such examples floating in the media today but I gues it all starts with a vision. Most technology start ups do not have profit as the sole ambition although it becomes a side effect & the some of them go on to make millionaires out of its employees. The motivating factor for these techies is a chance to change the world so to speak..

The impact of Google, eBay, Amazon, Youtube, MySpace has been phenomenal & has brought about a sea change in consumer behaviour. They have radically altered business models of conventional media platforms like broadcast television & blockbuster film studios.

It really must feel great to become a CEO at 19.

Any idea what was the first item sold on eBay? Me neither.

Ambitions & crystallized double sulphates

When I was 12, most kids my age had pretty much the same kind of ambitions..All of us wanted to become fighter pilots ['Top Gun' had been released] or scientists [astronomer, in my case].

Of course nobody told us that becoming a scientist required years of intense study before any kind of fruitful work is produced or discoveries are made & eventually would make us socially dysfunctional + flat broke, & that staring too long at the night sky can give you quite a painful cramp in the neck.

But we were kids, all of us had our dream jobs & playing with electric motors & kitchen spices in moms kitchen made us feel as if we were born to do be the next Edison. We grew alum in a bowl for crying out loud! Couldn't cut any frogs though.

How I miss those joyful days..

Delhi Times

College is over.I am back at home. Away from the sweltering summer of Bhubaneswar to the humid,sweaty,slimy summer of Delhi.But I'm loving it..'cause its my favourite city.
10 things that makes it worth living in the national capital..

1. Absolutely extreme weather conditions...You are either frozen in the bone chilling, frost bite inducing frigid winters or the hot & humid summers when you feel as if you are just a few centigrades away from spontaneous combustion.

2. Dirty slang spewing Bus drivers...Did these people go to some special school where they were taught the most obscene curses & slang so that they could vent their frustrations on their fellow man?

3. 2 hour traffic jams...You can actually get a lot of work done during this time if you are well organised & have 25 million kilograms of patience. (You should be an expert in avoiding a neural haemorrhage in the process)

4. All the Beauiful Girls & Ladies & Aunties...no i'm not a perv!

5. Obnoxiously Affluent junta who derive pleasure by filthy display of wealth...& believe me, there are scores of them.

6. Dirty Politics & even Dirtier Politicians..& the whore also known as Mainstream Media.

7. Page 3 Parties..aka Get togethers for the Rich, middle aged Socialites, Publicity hungry blokes & Gay people from the Fashion industry.

8. Awe inspiring Monuments & sites of architectural magnificence which are dying...in structure & in spirit.

9. Beggars on traffic signals..& boy do they have their own standards. Give them a rupee & the killer look that they give you..travails of living in an inflated economy.

10. Last but certainly not the least..The Youth Of Delhi..Be it Late night parties, Weekend getaways, Academic exellence or Social & Political activism..WE can handle anything & everything all at once..So don't you dare mess with us dude.

The Book Of Rock:Verse 24: "Floyd is God"

The most Fantabulous & intruiging interpretation of one of my favourite albums..
& I thought I was an expert on Floyd!

For The Prehistoric Couch potatoes

Satellites are these big time chunks of metal, electric circuits & on-board computers & they go round & round around the planet in orbits of various eccentricities. They offer various kinds of services ranging from telecommunications to remote sensing & what not..
But why am I all of a sudden talking about satellites in this post?!
Its because to me the most enthralling application of these big chunks of metal is how they can beam hundreds of channels into our idiot boxes & help couch potatoes like me in attaining digital nirvana.
But this is not even about that. Then what the hell is it about??
Well its about how life used to be for millions of Indians before cable TV, before satellite TV invaded our homes & made certain very important decisions of our lives like what time will I have to leave from work to catch that prime time broadcast of Miss Universe or the latest sting operation about the bollywood starlet in very compromising circumstances.

A long time back in a television galaxy far far away, the Indian television broadcasting system gave us DOORDARSHAN, the grand daddy of Indian Television.
As long as I can remember I have always been a TV addict. But before becoming a neurotic channel surfer with an unquenchable appetite for 24 hour music channels & American sitcoms, I used to look forward to my Sundays with a gleeful excitement of a 10 year old (which I was!) for the next episode of MAHABHARAT or JUNGLE BOOK, which came later.
Never can I forget the restless anticipation with which I used to wait to see the drama between the Pandavas & Kauravas unfold in front of our eyes, or the battles fought in Kurukshetra, being mesmerized by the special effects (one arrow being converted into hundreds) which can be best described as prehistoric by todays standards nor can I miss enough, the adventures of Mowgli & the rest of the JUNGLE BOOK gang.
The title song of the cartoon series was also quite a rage in my school at that time. I guess same was the case all over the country.
Apart from serials of epic proportions & jungle adventures there used to be some very meaningful & socially relevant serials & programmes. HUMLOG, which is believed to be India’s first soap, was the story of an archetypal Indian middle class family dealing with issues of everyday life. It was supported by an impressive cast who became icons for the Great Indian Middle Class & people could identify with each & every character in some way or the other.
Always being an ardent Sci-Fi fan, I also enjoyed the inter-galactic adventures in SPACE CITY SIGMA which a lot of people won’t remember. If it was STAR TREK for my elder brother when he was young, it was SCS for me. No comparisons made, I feel it was a pretty decent effort at bringing a science fiction series on screen. Although I’m a STAR TREK fanatic, SCS will always remain in my mind as my first Sci-Fi series.

My parents would always wait for Sundays to get their share of latest ‘filmy’ music in CHITRAHAR.
The entire week used to be spent in wait of the weekend for the weekend movie which most often than not turned out to be a Mithun Chakraborty pikchur.
The Badshah of Bollywood, SRK started his career in Doordarshan with a serial called FAUJI which I used to follow with a fervent zeal imagining myself in his uniform running around the house with my toy sub-machine gun.
Another SRK starrer, CIRCUS followed the lives of people working in a circus & was hugely popular owing to a fine cast none of whom can be seen today on screen.

The most intelligent, knowledge rich feature that Doordarshan gave us was SURABHI hosted by the inimitable Siddharth Kak & Renuka Shahne. The kind of fan following witnessed by this programme was unmatched & beyond compare. What I liked the most about the programme were the thoroughly researched features & the cultural backdrop of the whole programme. Not to forget the weekly quiz which also led to the introduction of the competition postcard.
Being an ardent fan of the mystery & suspense genre, I was also a very very big fan of BYOMKESH BAKSHI & POIROT (based on Agatha Christie’s character).
I enjoyed both the serials equally as both of them kept me at the edge of my seat & my grey cells working. The only difference was in the setting of the two equally captivating serials. Both David Suchet (POIROT) & Rajit Kapur (BYOMKESH) gave performances which thoroughly intrigued the viewers & I cannot picture the two playing any other character besides these two. The title tracks of the two serials will also be etched into my brain forever.


Apart from the serials & programmes, who can forget the awesome time fillers like the national integration song ‘MILE SUR MERA TUMHARA’ written by Piyush Pandey & first aired in 1987 commemorating 40 years of Indian independence.


And finally, on every 26th January, all of us still sit in front of the TV, switch onto DD1 & watch the Republic Day parade with our families & wait for the colourful tableaus of our native states.
While trying to remember any more programs or features that I used to enjoy, I evoke fond memories of the lost glory of doordarshan & also thank the people who thought up the concept of satellite television & gave me 75 channels of pure bliss. Couch potatoes of the world…UNITE.

Keep Talking..

The most human instinct of all I feel is the urge to communicate with other fellow beings.
In 5th or 6th grade I had learnt that thousands of years back, people used to use sign language to make the other person understand what he’s trying to convey.
The evolution of language seems to be a fascinating process. From ancient latin, greek, Sanskrit & Victorian English to today’s sms lingo, the mode of expression may have changed but the passage of time hasn’t had any effect on the human impulse to communicate.
I personally find it a stimulating experience to share my thoughts & viewpoints with my friends & people who would be willing to hear me out.
Nothing beats a night out chatting with the guys in my dorm room over a bottle of vodka or telling that somebody special how much you missed her while she was away.
A lot depends on the kind of company you have. I personally feel blessed to have the most wonderful set of friends. Our topics usually include girls, career, politics, life in general ,girls, why so & so prof. is such a moron, what’s that smell? ..I think you get the picture!
Having conversations on diverse topics is always a rewarding experience for me. I have also understood that to have an open mind is paramount for anybody who has a rational temperament.
I have learnt that intellectual arrogance can be the death bed of your own creative intellect. I have learnt that we can always learn something new from every creature with a thinking brain. All that’s required is a little humility.
The thrill that I feel when I get to chat with somebody on subjects & issues that are close to my heart is indescribable & I’m sure there are a lot of people who feel the same way because reaching out is the most natural human instinct.

The most obvious mode of communication is verbal i.e to talk. But then, there are different layers to human psychology. History books will tell us that there have been artists & poets who weren’t exactly good communicators, people who were confined to their own worlds but

have mesmerized people the world over though their works of art & literature. Some people reach out through their creative expression rather than through spoken words.

The last century witnessed an explosion of knowledge which has resulted in rapid technological advancement in all walks of life. Life in general has become so very data-driven that it poses a challenge to all of us how to communicate & assimilate all this knowledge.

E-mail revolutionized the way people write letters to each other. Apart from being incredibly cost effective (its free people!!), it is very accessible with more & more computers breaking the digital divide.
Instant messaging, short messaging service are gifts of technology which have pervaded the lives of millions of people who want to communicate & communicate in ways that are both economically viable & to which there is a certain amount of technical coolness attached to it.

But I guess you can never beat the actual act of talking with your college buddies about why the 60’s were the golden era for Rock music or why that hottie in your college never smiled back at you!

"For millions of years, mankind lived just like the animals.
Then something happened which unleashed
the power of our imagination.
We learned to talk."

- Pink Floyd