Aravali Destruction!

This is something personal this Saturday morning, so excuse me this, but I figured since so many journalists and mediapersons read this blog, it might just be a good idea to put something like this up here.

There have been a lot of reports in the papers about the destruction of the Aravali range and how mining should be banned and houses razed. Now I hear the guy who has been ruining the hills through mining claims that thousands of jobs will be lost. Yes, that would be tragic, but imagine the number of lives that can be improved if this insanity stops. Kant Enclave homeowners say that they are being persecuted for no fault of theirs (and the guy who developed it is a big Congress dude - his son hangs with Rahul and Robert).

At what cost? Of course, no reporter had the brains to put two and two together and do the rather simple thing I'm doing below - the picture is a screen grab from Google Earth. This is the hills southwest of Dhauj village and the village in the picture is called Sirohi. The destruction is immense. You can see it for yourself at these co-ordinates.

Spread the word, or the duststorms will get worse, and the winters warmer!

When we're talking of songs...

I love this track from Tezaab, I was a kid so I didn't care so much for Madhuri Dixit's booty shake in Ek Do Teen, but this track was really, really nice.

Arun Verma we need you...

Listen, say what you will about Anil Kapoor in Slumdog Millionaire, for me AK will always be about Mr. India, and to an extent Tezaab, though I did have a soft spot for Ram Lakhan also. I don't pretend to be an obnoxious snob who hates Hindi movies, I just do not most contemporary Hindi movies unless they have Shah Rukh Khan whose movies I watch thanks to inbred loyalty to support people who've made it big from my school as well as the fact that I really liked the TV series Fauji when I was a kid.
Back to Mr India, last year or 2007, I don't quite remember when when I met Shekhar Kapur at a hotel lobby puffing away on a smoke, I made it a point to thank him for making the movie. Amazing when you see the talentless prats who produce, act in and make movies in Bollywood nowadays that sometimes something decent can still come out. But they are too few and far between - instead we see incredibly stupid Kill Bill rip-off's being pranced about as dance numbers. maybe there are some nice movies on their way, if they can get this man to like their music, maybe there is hope for Bollywood yet, though I was hoping that RS' mid-life crisis would be caused by a cranky man rather than Bollywood music.
Anyway, thanks to The Comic Project - there is now a comic book form of Mr India (see in Picasa). And you know what? At this point of time, surrounded by inept murderers as politicians, corrupt defenders, armymen who plot against their countrymen and all, maybe India needs Arun Verma to come back. We have our Mugambo state - Pakistan - though neither Geelani or Zardari or Kayani would do Amrish Puri's Mugambo any justice. Anyway, this is my afternoon rant, I'm bored of cars, electronics, planes and random tycoons. I need a drink. Enjoy the Mugambo video below ('Zahil Hindustaniyon apne history, apne itihaas se kuch nahin seekha' Heh, prescient!) and what was your favourite Bollywood movie of the late eighties?

Mr. India - Mogambo Khush hua
Uploaded by turbanhead

EDIT: Talking about Ponytail Chaudhari who gave a long speech at the Star Screen Awards for something or the other (IIPM ads in the Express now?) - just see this. Classic!

Awards and journalists

P. Sainath, a journalist who has led a one-man crusade against the bias of Indian media coverage towards the celebration of money, success and excess, said this some time ago.“Journalism should not be judged by government and journalists should not accept awards from governments they are covering or writing about."
I wonder if the bunch of journalists (a friend posed a question recently, what would you call a collective of journalists - I think the terms 'gaggle' and 'irritation' come to mind) who have collected Padma Vibhushan's, Padma Bhushan's and Padma Shri's would refuse them. Nope, if the Indian Express' coverage on the fraudulent award given to a Kashmiri exporter is anything to go by, not quite likely. Did I mention that Shekhar snagged a Padma Bhushan this year?

On talking about a certain Padma Shri winner - check out this brilliant post!

And should NDTV sue NDTV? (via Retributions)

OK, I really have to get to work now.

Online Advice

When the owners first send a mail asking employees to think about every phone call, yes every phone call, then attack floaters that their organisation has hired given the guidance from the top (guess where from?) over the years. Then in a more recent mail attacks the organisation for being lazy and sleeping on the job. This is not a good sign!

But now their 'celebrity' correspondent attacks people on the internet as having malafide intentions instead of engaging with them. I believe that a 4500 member group on Facebook is not malafide, rather it is symptomatic of a crisis. The best way of dealing with this is engaging with users. The Naval Chief drags up an old controversy and the only journalist to come to your defence is an old friend and the paper which prints your column but several others keep quiet - does the establishment concur or is the defence of the journalist not seen as worth it. 

I really don't know about the veracity of the allegations, I was in college during the Kargil War and really didn't bother watching every waking minute of it on telly. But we lost a lot of soldiers in that war and their memory, above all else must never be forgotten nor must Musharraf's treachery, remembering Kargil for this is stupid. 

But why are there so few defenders, why did Admiral Mehta have so many people back him? And there were people supporting him, you got that sense at dinners and parties. Have so many bridges been burnt over the years and do so many people have it in for her? Or is it the failure to recognise that there is a problem. And there is a way to deal with this problem, and not go about it in a ham handed way.

Let me think of some answers here.

Firstly, most blogs are not sensational or have thousands of readers. Many of them are small, personal and opinionated. However, if several thousand people all over the world have a negative opinion about you, something that can be gauged from a variety of sources such as Technorati, deal with it. The beauty of the internet is that it is democratic, it can give someone completely useless fifteen minutes of fame, it can also bring down somebody. I will agree that there is a lot of slanderous stuff online, like the stuff about me having sex in an ATM (I wish!). And yes, there are bloggers who will spread such unsubstantiated bunkum more and might cite Wikipedia as a source (the perils of trusting Wikipedia, then again journalists across India do, I mainly read Wikipedia for WW2 stories like this cool one). When the number of such bloggers is low, you can hopefully ignore it, but when a large number of the online population starts grumbling - take notice - and engage. You engage with readers and viewers - no wait, that is just Delhi dinner parties. 

But back to my point, the internet and especially Google Search is becoming rather integral to all our lives. Many of us do ego-search. Now when something like this happens, there is a lot of cross-linking across blogs. Now, if you have the Google toolbar on Firefox or IE (PS: anyone know how to see PR on Chrome?) you see a little green bar, that represents pagerank, which is calculated by a complex algorithm, that includes these links and the term. More links like this and your Google search results are doomed - well as you can see - they're not very good right now. Shit, I really didn't know they were that bad. Damn, I'd be pissed off if things were this bad too. 

Regulation is not the answer, because you can never shut up all your critics online, because you'll have critics everywhere. You'll have your supporters too. But many critics can be won over if you bother to engage. They're not like the Pakistani government mired in decades of thinking of India as the enemy. They're desis, like all desis they have strong and often misguided and misinformed opinions, I mean we still vote criminals in huge numbers into Parliament. That is not the point, as an opinionmaker, your job is to not only shape opinions but also to an extent be shaped by opinions. The latter part isn't happening.

Oh, and the next time you say 'Regulate the Internet' - don't expect online support for the 'Please do not regulate TV Channels' plea that you guys will put out. Listen, recognise the internet as the future of media distribution, engage with it, participate in it and not just with 'zombie fans', and hey... maybe next time, the shit won't hit the fan. This is not meant as an ill-itentioned post. I don't want to get at anybody nor do I have any malafide intentions towards anybody, but this sort of whacked out response bothers me.

I love controversy, don't I?

I am not posting in support of anybody or even in support of 'blogging' in general, but sometimes some stuff can be deliciously good fun. Such as an organisation mired in losses (Rs 120 crore last quarter) that plays videos from the internet probably violating copyright and lays off lots of young kids protecting their most reviled asset. Incidentally, I have the 'dummy copy' of the new RPG magazine called 'Open' edited by Sandipan Deb (not 'Talk' since the RNI didn't give that registration) and I will quote a blurb from Page 28 of this dummy magazine sent out to several advertisers and media buyers (PS: It is a very nice looking magazine, I won't pass judgement on its commercial viability but it looks nice and the photography is surprisingly good). The blurb goes...
"I loathe close-ups of dead bodies, I loathe reporters asking survivors 'how do you feel'" - Barkha Dutt, Journalist.
Don't sue me, it won't be worth it!
This is a cache of the offensive post! (Abhishek has a copy of the 'offensive' post here)
And the apology tendered!
Amit Agarwal steps in!
As does DesiPundit
And Smoke Signals
I really think that when Wikipedia puts in adjectives in a profile, well, thatb proves that the site is shoddy, but how NDTV manages to constantly manage to piss off its core audience amazes me. Times are tough for everyone, and whern your losses are mounting pissing off viewers is not a smart move. Honest! The Mediaah! incident happened too long ago when the community was far too small, but Ponytail C still pays somewhat of a price for taking people on, it would be a shame if NDTV manages to shoot itself slap-bang in the ass on this matter.
But I'll keep filling you guys in on it. Dang, if January 2009 has been such a bomb of a month online in India, what about the coming eleven months. I can't wait!

Slumdog

People have asked me what I feel about the movie and honestly I can't quite understand what all the fuss is about. Nothing wrong with the movie, in fact, two friends of mine worked on the crew and when it was being made, I kept on hearing that it was 'going to be awesome'. Frankly, it is nice and I will not be an attention whore like Ponytail C and say 'It Sucks', because it doesn't. Does it glamorize poverty, erm, well, for God's sake, please remember where we live. No matter how nice the roads ever become, there is a shitload of abject poverty all around us - so this is a bit better than the madcap materialism of some Bollywood productions. But, for me, danny Boyle will always be the guy who made 'Trainspotting'. That is a cult movie for a reason, because it was. And if you think 'Slumdog' glamorizes anything, watch 'Trainspotting' - Jamal is not a Renton, no wonder there were no acting nominations. I liked Slumdog, I even liked Anil Kapoor's acceptance speech at the SAG awards, but as a friend of mine told me over drinks a few days ago - Slumdog may not win too many awards because of Milk - that movie was made to win awards. The only thing that really irritated me is why they took so long to release the movie here, Oscar screeners are all over the torrent sites and this 'Made for India' bullcrap is bunkum, because if it were it would have been released here long ago.
But, really if you want to watch another nice story, watch The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Again and again...

HT launched their all-new bloggers today. That said, only one post is any fun, but what fun! Previous posts on the issue - the start of the matter, my crappy analysis, someone else wades in feeling indignant about something and there will be peace, no wait, that blood, right?

And this is a nice afaqs piece on the adverts for equity model being followed. Surprisingly, HT Media also announced in their last quarterly results that they'll be doing exactly the same thing.

EDIT: Afaqs link corrected

Erm.. like what?

Firstly I read this. Times and NDTV? Interesting. It is no secret that Times is hurting, the group is still in the Black despite being burnt on long-term newsprint contracts but they're making money. At least the print side is, television is a different kettle of fish. But a tie-up might make sense for both sides. NDTV has no experience of making money. None whatsoever. Times knows how to make money, but their experience of TV is well, the less the said the better. So Times+NDTV in Delhi. Maybe. But then again, NDTV is hedging, they've tied up with The Hindu in Chennai, though with a freeze on capex this year, that channel may not see the light of day.
Also, there was this very interesting graphic in Mint (PDF) recently and that puts what P. Sainath (who in reference to later in this post, refused a gong) says in context. Sainath accused mainstream media of ignoring agrarian India and well, looking at 2008 coverage that is horribly true (though, The Hindu was also measured). However, I suspect that 'International Affairs' includes all news of Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka and lets be honest our neighbours have been newsy this year and I'm sure that 95 per cent of the coverage was from these three countries, four per cent on Obama and one per cent on the rest of the world. 'National Security and Defence', I presume would include all terror blasts and 2008 had one hell of a lot of them. Yup, go down the chain and you see that 'Public Policy & Governance', 'Education' and 'Science & Tech' is way down the list. As the column accompanying the graphic says, this should be a wake-up call to Editors, there can be substantial improvements in coverage.
A little birdie tells me in reference to a 'pompous ass' mention in a Sunday column that someone is very upset that he didn't get a gong. Journalists close to the government always get gongs and god forbid that the BJP come back to power later this year and all chances of any gongs or Parliamentary posts might go away. But to abuse a senior bureaucrat Hmm, corrigendum or not, that was intended, but then again MKN still has his job. That said, it is good to know that the Sangh leadership is finally managing to talk up against the extortionists that are the rabblerousers and rioters across the country.
The BJP's 'Digital Cell' is trying hard to project Advani as youthful, through his 'website', and in the process is sending a lot of money to Mountain View but incidents like Mangalore do not help, demographics and voter profiles are changing and until the Sangh can get a grip of its loony wing and get kids into the fold, things are not going to change. India needs a credible right-of-centre party and increasingly, it seems to be the Congress which after ditching the Commies has started treading ever so slightly to the right.

Funniest thing I've read in a while

The headline has nothing to do with the fact that while many of the papers went overboard protesting Batla House, they are (with two exceptions - ToI and Mail Today) quiet about the rather scammy way that Mayawati Police dispose of people. I don't know about you, but the lack of news about Bihar is good news and the increasingly dysfunctional state of Uttar Pradesh is a tad worrying. Anyway, that isn't the point of this post. This hilarious letter that was published in The Telegraph in London. As it isn't copyright, I'll print it below, and makes me thank my stars I never touch Indian food on an international flight, but this food must have been catered by a desi company, I wonder which one?
--------------------------
Dear Mr Branson
REF: Mumbai to Heathrow 7th December 2008
I love the Virgin brand, I really do which is why I continue to use it despite a series of unfortunate incidents over the last few years. This latest incident takes the biscuit.
Ironically, by the end of the flight I would have gladly paid over a thousand rupees for a single biscuit following the culinary journey of hell I was subjected to at thehands of your corporation.
Look at this Richard. Just look at it: [see image 1, above].
I imagine the same questions are racing through your brilliant mind as were racing through mine on that fateful day. What is this? Why have I been given it? What have I done to deserve this? And, which one is the starter, which one is the desert?
You don’t get to a position like yours Richard with anything less than a generous sprinkling of observational power so I KNOW you will have spotted the tomato next to the two yellow shafts of sponge on the left. Yes, it’s next to the sponge shaft without the green paste. That’s got to be the clue hasn’t it. No sane person would serve a desert with a tomato would they. Well answer me this Richard, what sort of animal would serve a desert with peas in: [see image 2, above].
I know it looks like a baaji but it’s in custard Richard, custard. It must be the pudding. Well you’ll be fascinated to hear that it wasn't custard. It was a sour gel with a clear oil on top. It’s only redeeming feature was that it managed to be so alien to my palette that it took away the taste of the curry emanating from our miscellaneous central cuboid of beige matter. Perhaps the meal on the left might be the desert after all.
Anyway, this is all irrelevant at the moment. I was raised strictly but neatly by my parents and if they knew I had started desert before the main course, a sponge shaft would be the least of my worries. So lets peel back the tin-foil on the main dish and see what’s on offer.
I’ll try and explain how this felt. Imagine being a twelve year old boy Richard. Now imagine it’s Christmas morning and you’re sat their with your final present to open. It’s a big one, and you know what it is. It’s that Goodmans stereo you picked out the catalogue and wrote to Santa about.
Only you open the present and it’s not in there. It’s your hamster Richard. It’s your hamster in the box and it’s not breathing. That’s how I felt when I peeled back the foil and saw this: [see image 3, above].
Now I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking it’s more of that Baaji custard. I admit I thought the same too, but no. It’s mustard Richard. MUSTARD. More mustard than any man could consume in a month. On the left we have a piece of broccoli and some peppers in a brown glue-like oil and on the right the chef had prepared some mashed potato. The potato masher had obviously broken and so it was decided the next best thing would be to pass the potatoes through the digestive tract of a bird.
Once it was regurgitated it was clearly then blended and mixed with a bit of mustard. Everybody likes a bit of mustard Richard.
By now I was actually starting to feel a little hypoglycaemic. I needed a sugar hit. Luckily there was a small cookie provided. It had caught my eye earlier due to it’s baffling presentation: [see image 4, above].
It appears to be in an evidence bag from the scene of a crime. A CRIME AGAINST BLOODY COOKING. Either that or some sort of back-street underground cookie, purchased off a gun-toting maniac high on his own supply of yeast. You certainly wouldn’t want to be caught carrying one of these through customs. Imagine biting into a piece of brass Richard. That would be softer on the teeth than the specimen above.
I was exhausted. All I wanted to do was relax but obviously I had to sit with that mess in front of me for half an hour. I swear the sponge shafts moved at one point.
Once cleared, I decided to relax with a bit of your world-famous onboard entertainment. I switched it on: [see image 5, above].
I apologise for the quality of the photo, it’s just it was incredibly hard to capture Boris Johnson’s face through the flickering white lines running up and down the screen. Perhaps it would be better on another channel: [see image 6, above].
Is that Ray Liotta? A question I found myself asking over and over again throughout the gruelling half-hour I attempted to watch the film like this. After that I switched off. I’d had enough. I was the hungriest I’d been in my adult life and I had a splitting headache from squinting at a crackling screen.
My only option was to simply stare at the seat in front and wait for either food, or sleep. Neither came for an incredibly long time. But when it did it surpassed my wildest expectations: [see image 7, above].
Yes! It’s another crime-scene cookie. Only this time you dunk it in the white stuff.
Richard…. What is that white stuff? It looked like it was going to be yoghurt. It finally dawned on me what it was after staring at it. It was a mixture between the Baaji custard and the Mustard sauce. It reminded me of my first week at university. I had overheard that you could make a drink by mixing vodka and refreshers. I lied to my new friends and told them I’d done it loads of times. When I attempted to make the drink in a big bowl it formed a cheese Richard, a cheese. That cheese looked a lot like your baaji-mustard.
So that was that Richard. I didn’t eat a bloody thing. My only question is: How can you live like this? I can’t imagine what dinner round your house is like, it must be like something out of a nature documentary.
As I said at the start I love your brand, I really do. It’s just a shame such a simple thing could bring it crashing to it’s knees and begging for sustenance.
Yours Sincererly
XXXX