Kuch bhi Bud Bud.....

Dukhi mann Mere sunn mera kehna.......
Jahaan nahin chaina. wahaan nahin rehna.....

Kishore Kumar croons his way to glory. Perfect song ya, totally apt! Wish i could follow his advice. bloody, I would run away...NOW...RUN RUN RUN..SCOOOOOOOOOOT! Kya zhindagi hain.: : : Soooo many projects! Shesssssssssssh! But the twist is I like doing them..: then if u ask what's the problem.....overdose ho gayela hain idhar! Zindagi ka poora vaat mera.......One more week I survive, WOW! that would be one helluva thing, no! I am in a super cribaholic mood.....CRIB CRIB CRIB CRIB.....BLAH BLAH BLAH.....CRIB CRIB CRIB.......!!!!!

I have this subject called public opinion. Boy oh Boy! Wish human beings were born with no head at all. Koi opinion hi nahi hota na! Sadoo......every damn dimwit (including urs truly) has a goddamn opinion about every second thing in this world. Ok.opinion hain jaane do na, kya pharak padhta hain........NOOOOOOOOO!, We are world samaritans na.......MAP PUBLIC OPINION!!!!!! Bloody hell........I have to read about every chotu thing happening..Dhanonjay case, Godhra, INDIA-PAKISTAN, INDO-CHINA RLEATIONS.[am jhaaaapped in this topic, no notes :( ] Vietnam war......U NAME IT WE HAVE IT! Now we will have Iraq war also, all coz of Stupid Dubya. he should be pushed down from the Himalayas.nahi best from the niagara falls....USA se paas hain......kutte ki maut he deserves......HUHUHUH!!!!!!!

But you knowwat, I like reading about such stuff. Indo-pak relations, Indo-china relations, Bangladesh war and all stuff like that, lekin I hate it when we have to do it for the exam......****sigh**** Neways, ............wowow......I feel so relieved.....I had to throw it out of my system...tee hee hee.......

My house is full of newspapers now. Hindi, Marathi, Gujarathi, tamil....u name it, i have it! For doing an asisgnment on Indian regional journalism. Funny it is, I had urdu paper also.....Such a beautiful language Urdu is, pity i can't read it, I though the font looks like hen's shit (loosely translated from tamil, kozhi pea :P) My table resembles raddiwala ka shop. all type of papers I have. Today it so happened that, I bought, 6 papers........hindi, marathi and english. The bookstall walah looks at me weirdly and asks me.....itna saara paper chahiye kya? I was like," Haanji, chahiye.....kyun?" He gave a quizzical look and gave me the papers. Sometimes it seems I am buying something from wholesale market. "ek navbharat dena, ek Saamna dena..and it goes on....." Then I went and caught my train. As usual Train bole toh supakk neendh....so I dosed off. Suddenly one lady taps my shoulder and I woke up suddenly. Now Now Now, the one thing I HATEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE is when someone wakes me up from my sleep, especially when I am in the train. Stupids, they would wake me up for all flimsiest reasons....once a lady woke me from my deep slumber and asked me time kya ho gaya hain? I was so irritated.......I burst out," Akkal nahi tumko? Dikhta nahi so rahi hoon? time ke lioye uthaaneka kya?" She stood there chup chaap. IDIOTS! Haan, back to the story.....She wakes me up and then she asks me my newspapers!! ****Ding Dong**** I had forgotten to keep my newspapers inside my bag. So there I was....apne compartment ki newspaper vendor distributing papers. One lady actually asked me," Ek Saamna dena" I was like grrrr...."Saamna khatam ho gaya...aage jao! :P" Thus all my papers made a compartment darshan before they finally landed on my hands. Ufff......my sleep gone by now :( :(

Ummmm......Something offtrack.....One professor of mine is leaving Mumbai for Pune permanently. He moved out because he wanted his chotu daughter (all of 1 yr old) to grow in a small town, have a slow paced life. I dunno how, but I somehow seemed to agree with his take. Mind you, I lovee Mumbai, but i dunno, his decision seemed perfect, it made sense....Well, dunno, i'm happy for him :D Also , I like Pune :D :D

Chalo now, lemme get back to work.....seeya soon, dont ask me when coz I myself dunno! Tadah!

p.s.: have u ever tried walking on the road with a copy of a ummmmm....... Navakal in ur hand? I did and boy, it was funny....people's reactions..BUHAHAHAHA! :P Anyways, me off!

PPS: Shonu's Budday today.........ppl, go and wish her! :D :D *Hugs* girl, have a great day......! All da best to you........:D :D

PPPS : ok....Saamna is Shiv Sena's mouth piece aka newspaper in Mumbai.
Navakal is also a Marathi newspaper. Ummmm....kinda downmarket with zilch news content. once they carried a news report...L K Advani dided :| :| (Am not kidding :P )

Ponderings!!!!

Hmmmm......living in Mumbai can be weird in many ways. Different people fascinate me and Mumbai is a perfect place to meet different different kind of people. One of the main motivation for me to become a journo is to meet new people. Mumbai is a huge metropolis....no, megapolis actually. As lakku rightly pointed out it has loads of clusters, various places which are self sufficient townships in every way. As in every place will have loads of schools, colleges (for various streams), hospitals, shopping malls etc. U really need not travel as such for basic ameneties like this. But well. For work and for sometimes eductaion too, one has to travel in Mumbai and travel lots! I too travel a lot. In this process I get to meet various people and DIFFERENT people. DIFFERENT would be an understatement. Its so funny, the kind of people changes with every area u know. I don't want to generalise as one would be able to meet different kind of people too; but majority of people would be typical types. Its like every area has its own identity. If area A would be filmy area, area B would be totally gujju and area C would be totally south indian. Economically also it would vary. Thinking, aspirations, everything varies. Whats more, dressing sense of college students also vary. Some areas Ekta kapoor will be GOD whereas in others she would be poo-poohed. I know people for whom rave parties are like the most happening thing but I also know people who don't know where their next meal is gonan come from.I hope you guys are getting the drift. I still maintain that exceptions prevail and one really can't always generalise. So since I travel quite a lot within the city, I encounter people of all types. Shocking different in every aspect from one another. Its a nice experince but I kinda experince it every few hours : Its not always funny because it drains you emotionally sometimes. I don't know how exactly to explain to you guys, but I think one can't experience it unless one stays in Mumbai. Its like I don't want a change every few hours. Some stability, some continuity needed please!!!!!!!!!!!! But this is one endearing aspect of Mumbai. I know I'm sounding totally contradictory but well......I'm like that only ;)

On a different note.......Malu called me up today, such a cutie pie. WOTTA LOVELY SURPRISE.....:D *HUGS* babes! Was lovely talking to ya. She had her fair share of fun by not revealing her name and all......majja she had at my expense! :P :P (by the way, see another new post down)

Musings
When I have nothing better to do, I sometimes bloghop. Its funny when I see people describing their state of mind so accurately. I mean even I have my weird mood days, but I don't think I would be able to write so eloquently about it. I might write to myself about it though (never can blog it) but I dont think so I would be able to write it so beautifully, the clarity of thought is just so amazing. I hate to admit but I am all *ENVIOUS*

Anyways, I have to narrate this funny incident. Well I was having my dinner with my television set swicthed on. Some random number from Khakhee was being played on Star plus I guess. It was a total Dhinchak number with beats and all. Amma was somewhere in the room when suddenly she broke into a little jig. It was "I-am-dancing-when-nobody's-looking-at-me" jig. The best thing about a family is the level of comfort one experinces. The comfort zone one gets is unbelievable. We may all have our differences with the family itself, but still, the most awkward things is chalta hain. As in even if you let out a burp, its ok when you are at home. Its like family only na! Ok.back to the story, I saw Amma doing some weird dance step, but I kept quiet. I wanted her to enjoy her moment. On the hindsight I would have had royal fun pulling her leg, but even if i pull her leg, it doesn't make any difference. My Amma doesn't even listen to me, making me a fulltu popat : So i just kept quiet. But what was most freaky was when I saw the TV screen sometime later, I saw Akshay Kumar doing the same step : I can vouch for the fact that Amma wasn't watching the tv while doing her lil' cute jig....hehehehehee! That was really funny, that was when I started laughing........Amma had this quizzical expression on her face..........hahahahahahahahahaa....so funny, didn't even bother to explain! My amma sure is cute......*grin*

I just don't get it!
Well...guys, read this! The article talks about how majority of the homosexual athletes don't come out in open about their sexuality. Either they remain permamnently in closet or reveal only to a certain few. What I don't understand is, what's the big deal about a person's sexuality! Hullo! The person may be a gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, transsexual (they are a subject of debate) or whatever! How does it matter, as long as they are performing! Even if they don't perform, they would be sacked, simple! The athletes get qualified for the olympics on the basis of their performance in the pre-event qualifiers and not b'coz of their sexuality. So why is such a big deal made! It's such a personal matter, why the unncessary probing! It seriously seems so petty to me.

When I was volunteering at the world social forum, I happened to attend a talk by the gay rights activist Ashok row Kavi. A group of people majority of them homosexuals were having a discussion. There were few youngsters too. One of them for the first time ever came out in open about his sexuality. It was sweet, he became very emotional and struggled with words. We all applauded. Homosexuals in India go through a real rough time in their quest to get accepted by the mainstream society. But, i don't understand why someone's sexuality should be an issue or a point of debate at the workfront. Do the heterosexuals face the same thing...No, they don't have any pressures in order to declare their sexuality. Just b'coz the homosexuals are in a minority and justb'coz they are different, doesn't mean that they need to come out in open about stuff which are just not necessary and totally unrelated professionally. God, gimme a break please!!!!!! Y can't people just live and let live! *sigh*

The Meeting Part-2
Well... After shopping, we went back to our hotel rooms and I went to sleep very early that night. I really didn't get a chance to clear my doubts about Tibet with Appa at all. The next day we went sight seeing all over Manali. I went to some apple orchards. I was particularly delighted about the fact that the apple trees over there were just almost my height, approximately 4.5 feet. That was really interesting for me. But well, the saddest thing was that there were no apples. The trees didn't have leaves at all because it was winter then. I could only sigh and imagine how wonderful it would have been had I come during summer. Delecious apples plucked directly from the trees.......awesome na!

In the evening the whole group again went shopping. I have to confess something, I hated shopping way back then. :........yea, yea, yea, even I sigh in disbelief sometimes. How can I, Shobha of all people in the world.....HATE SHOPPING! Shesssssssssh! I am ashamed of myself :P :P I only liked shopping if something was brought for me. I was least bothered about the woollens my mom/pop were buying and other electronic goods. Duhhhh! B O R I N G! We went to a shop which resembled like a super market. Our whole group dispersed. It had everything, woollens to electronic stuff to cosmetics. Initially I accompanied Appa/amma in their shopping sojourn but later I became so bored that I left them, joined my group of friends and started enjoying myself. Suddenly my eyes fell on this most gorgeous pair of earrings I had ever seen. It was very pretty. I immediately went to the shop and asked a lady sitting there about the price of the earrings. "150 ruppes dear. U like it?" I replied in affirmative and kept staring at the earrings. "Wait, I will show you more of those." she retorted and kept in front of me a big box which contained loads of such pretty earrings. I was busy checking the earrings when suddenly i noticed that this lady was wearing a completely different outfit. It was different. I can't really describe it now but it sort of resembled the outfits the tibetan women had worn. Oh yea, she had chinky eyes too. Somehow we stuck up a conversation. there weren't many customers to her cubicle that time, so we continued talking. Gradually I came to know that she had come to India from Tibet when she was barely 7-8. Yet she had vivid memories of her childhood in Tibet. She talked about her house, the garden, courtyard etc. She often spoke in chaste Hindi but our talks were interspersed with smattering of English too.

Then I sudden;ly asked her, "Why do u people keep coming from Tibet to India? You don't like living there?" Hearing my question, she burst intpo a mild laughter. I did not understand why she behaved like that. She then told me that," Dear, tibet used to be a free country until China had invaded Tibet. So we were forced to flee the country and come to india." While telling me this, she burst into tears. I was shocked. I did not know how to react. I just muttered a feeble sorry and apologised to her profusely. "Aunty I did not mean to hurt you, I am so sorry. Please don';t cry." I couldn't say naything more. I was completely comfused, disturbed on seeing her cry like this. She composed herself and then consoled me by saying, "Oh no dear, don't worry. it is not because of you. its all out fate.". But aunty why did you cry? You don't like living in India? You have lived here for so many years." To this she replied," Oh well...I love India. India has been very kind to us. it has given us a home, has given us an opportunity to earn our living here. We couldn't have asked for more. But then..... I snapped, But what aunty?" "but....I belong to tibet. Tibet is my homeland. I have always wanted to go back, to my home, to my Tibet." I just stood there mum." We live in India at present earn our living here. We have been assimilated with the India society, but it doesn't change the fact that we are refugees. We are not one among you." I didn't agree with ehat she said. "Absolutely not, You are one among us, you are just like any other Indian citizen." "So sweet of you dear, but the fact is that we are not and one has to accept it. Our roots are in Tibet That difference will always exist."

Then suddenly she began all enthusiastic. " Do you know what my dream is? I ant to die in Tibet. I still dream of living in my ancestral house. I still hope that one day Tibet would be free." "me too aunty." Thatw as all I could mumble. IAt that point of time I just thought how lucky I was to belong to a free country like India. I was lost in thoughts when she said, "You know Shobha, India has been so good to us. She has given us home, shelter, food, so many things. Why doesn't Indian government help us to in our endeavour to be free then?" i just looked at her. i did not have any naswers to her question. I was ignorant, completely. But I could see the sadness in her eyes. Sigh!

Shobha.......I heard somone calling me. that was Amma. "Where were you? We were searchign for you all over." she screamed at me. Amma, I was here talkign to aunty. they bothe xchanged pleasantries but we were in a hurry and had to rush. I just waved a quick good bye and left. That was our first and last meeting.

From that day onwards I have deep empathy for the Tibetan struggle for independence. I hope Tibet gets liberated one day. But well, realistically, I don't think that's going to happen. But well you never know.....life is full of surprises :D

Aha! What a coincidence :D This is real good news. :D :D

The meeting---Part 1
I was in my 6th grade, I was around 11 years old. We had to been to Himachal Pradesh for a trip. Himachal Pradesh is so lovely........one of the most beautiful places I have been to till now. I don't mind going there again. We were 4-5 families altogether for the trip to Himachal. Abhi....Himachal Bole toh, Kullu Manali nahi gaye toh Doob Maro! seriously!! :P Anyways.we were at Kullu. The first time I set foot at Kullu, I felt different. I mean the whole ambience of the place is so different than Mumbai (obviosuly it would be different but well as a kid it hit me right on my face) It was cold (I went to kullu on the month of November) But I liked it. Another thing which caught my attention was the large amount of "chinky eyed " people. now I know its a stupid way to address them, but well..I din't know any other way. (People please suggest, I would incorporate it :) ) I had never seen so many chinky eyed people at one place. I was very intrigued.

I have to mention the crazy things I did during this trip. I was fascianted by people, countries, different relegions, cultures etc. right from a very ypoung age. These trips provided me an opportunity to meet like so many different people. There were tons of tourists who had come from various countries. Well, I was very curious about all everything "NEW" I saw. Therefore I used to stop and talk to any random foreigner and ask them From where they came from, which country and How they liking India and all. It freaks me now as to how I could just go to any random strangeer and ask questions. Boy! I was totally uninhibited and bold! :D I met some really nice people likewise. They were only too interested in telling me what they liked, info about their country and all. It was very cute! So in kullu, when we went shopping, I witnessed like huge numners of Chinky- eyed people (I thought that they were from north-east)
There are loads of them In kullu, Manali, Dharamshala etc. Since we went to Kullu during the winters, the lanes and roads of Kullu were filled with people selling woollens. It wa sa ubiquitous scene. I went to this particular lady who was selling really lovely sweaters. She also had cute friendship bands (yea and this was way before Kuch Kuch hota hain released.) Every second person over there int he street was busy knitting sweaters and other stuff. I went to this particular stall which had an old lady knitting and her daughter selling the stuff. They were really very beautiful and pretty. They showed me several of their stuff sweaters, shawls, socks, gloaves etc. etc. Out of sheer curiosity I began talking to them. I asked them," Do u belong to Kullu only or do u come here during winters for business?" THey looked at me and said, " No, beta, we are tibetans But we have been staying here right from our childhood." Now I was stumped, where is Tibet???? I smiled and went back to Appa who was busy haggling something in anotjher shop. Appa is very good with geography and keenly takes interest in current affairs and stuff. I asked him, "Appa, Where is Tibet? Is it in India?" That was not a proper time to ask questions and dispell my doubts as he was busy making purchases and answering in a busy stret really didn't make sense. Amma was also shopping. So i kept quiet. We proceeded to another lane where again we encountered like several shops. I met another girl whow as busy knitting. She was knitting a friendship band. I was quite curious coz at that time I hardly knew wht these bands meant. I asked her,"yeh kya hain? (what is this?) She replied," Isko friendhsip band bolte hain. Isko aap apne friend ke haath mein baand sakte ho." (This is called a friendship band and you can tie this on ur friend's wrist.) They were indeed very pretty. I keenly began to watch the way she knitted so fast and came out with such pretty stuff. After a point of time I began talking to her too. She was very sweet. I asked her u r also a tibetan? She looked at me surprised," Yea, even I am from Tibet. Where are u from?" I replied that I am from Mumbai. I didn't have any clue about Tibet or anything. I asked her what relegion do u follow? Christianity? She repleid with biiiiiiiiiig NOOOOOO! "We practise Buddhism.", she said. I aske dher whom do you regard as your god. She said Dalai Lama! Now I was totally confused. She said she pratrcised Buddhism and god is Dalai Lama. I bid her good bye and again joined our group........(To be continued)

Hats of to you!

Tibetan Review August 2004

The old amala rephrased her question "I mean are you Amdo, or Khampa orToepa?" Lobsang gave the same defiant answer again. In a brash tone hesaid "Tibet". One amala mumbled condescendingly - "obviously the boy doesn't know his parentage, his native land."

This incident happened at a restaurant in McLeod Ganj, where my friendLobsang, a school drop-out works there as waiter. He was trying to bepolite to this gang of old amalas while serving them tea, when he was asked: "What is your native land?"

Most Tibetan youngsters would perhaps give the same answer as Lobsang did.Some are oblivious to their parental roots. Many know, but do not like toidentify themselves with any of the clans. Tibetan youngsters don't wantto carry the extra baggage of their regional and sectarian identities,which, more than anything else, has become a divisive tool to many of the petty politicians in the community.

Tibetan youngsters are choosing to steer clear from such typecasting. This is the new generation emerging with its own sense of identity. They have seen such categorization resulting in communal fundamentalism.The challenge is to know ones own parental and cultural roots, and yet notfall into the trap of clanish groupism, which has stifled Tibetan parliamentarian politics.

This is the fine balance I believe our youngsters must maintain to take the community forward into positive development. Through this we will achieve that wonderful democratic visionthat exiles are struggling for.

Right from the beginning of our exile life, His Holiness the Dalai Lama placed great importance on the healthy growth of the Tibetan children.Tibet's youth who are receiving both traditional and modern education willgreatly influence future Tibet. Today, there are over one hundred Tibetan schools in exile.The children of exile are the hope for free Tibet.

His Holiness has aspecial word for this 'Sontsa'. Sontsa is not the unborn seed, it's not the assumed potential; it is the sapling, it is already fertile andgrowing, and yet it is young. There is promise of a bright future inSontsa.

As a kid growing up in school, the Elders gave us the most wonderful dream- a dream called "Free Tibet", a country of our own, the country our elders lost to the Chinese and we have to quickly grow up and reclaim.There was so much patriotism in our education, whether it was about the national flag, our leader His Holiness, or study of Tibetan history andpolitics.Today we are grown up and ready to fight for that dream, but the rules have changed. There is no longer that freedom to fight for. The goal posthas moved, and we are left with no role to play. Now we can't even do aprotest rally; elders charge us of disloyalty with the Exile Government's request to keep calm.There is no glory in battling for a compromise, nor does the compromise look hopeful. Anyway, even if it was granted, would the youngsters keep silent and be satisfied with that autonomy?

Quite often I get to work with Tibetan college students in cities all overIndia. Tibetan students in these cities have been forming studentassociations through which they collectively campaign for Tibet. These arebeing run from the funds they begged from Tibetan camps during theirsummer and winter vacations. These associations double up as welfare organizations taking care of students in times of emergencies like sickness or accidents.

Last year I was in Mangalore, the seaside-city in south India. About 300Tibetan youngsters study there. During the four-day Tibet festival, acurious Indian student asked one Tibetan youth, both about the same age:"How does Tibet look like?"The Tibetan student stopped in the middle of his speech and began thinking. He was perhaps recollecting images of Tibet he had seen in films and photographs.

Most Tibetans born and brought up in exile have never seen Tibet, even the hundreds who escaped at a young age haven't seen muchof their homeland other than the village they fled. Their Tibet is created by their imagination, their education, stories theyheard from elders and tourists and what they inherited in their blood. There is no citizenship to claim; the Dalai Lama is their passport. They are born refugee.

Yes, like the younger generation of any community we too have our own share of problems with language, traditional customs, and yes, we have loads of attitude. And yet deep down there we are Tibetan. Every mention of Tibet and the Dalai Lama in a newspaper, TV, radio pulls the strings in us. It's something very personal. Tibetans strayed to foreign countries with or without papers tell me of this heartstring. It's just magical. This, I believe, is Tibetanness, and I know this is there in all Tibetans.

At the end of the day, we also want a home to return to, a small place tocall our own, somewhere where we belong. It's too difficult imaginingthere will be a free Tibet and postponing our dream called "Home," and yetthe struggle must go on. Often I am asked how should the Tibetans channelize their emotional power into real works to free Tibet.

Today, with the youngsters receiving aworld class education, equipped with global language and technologyskills, we can put up a strong fight. Today's youngsters are not bound bycustomary loyalties. They are patriotic, but educated and informed. If only we can do away with the inhibition where - in the name of faith -we place the whole job of freeing Tibet on the shoulders of one man: His Holiness the Dalai lama.

We are the kind to share responsibility while simultaneously receiving guidance from the Buddha.We do have a younger group who have excelled in their field of socialservice, leadership, art and literature, and have set examples. Norsangruns the most popular Tibetan website, www.phayul.com single-handedly, LobsangTsering runs Kunphen; his drugs de-addiction centre in Dharamsala has helped more than 120 patients, Rapsel has been campaigning for vegetarianism; traveling Tibetan camps across India, Techung and Tsering Gyurme in music, Tenzin Dorjee in photography, Karma Sichoe in thangka painting, Lhadon Tethong in youth leadership, she's also the president ofworld-wide Students for a Free Tibet, and not so young Dolma Gyari andKarma Yeshi in the Tibetan parliament.

I salute these and many others who work silently with commitment and yearsof dedicated work for Tibet. This article pays tribute to that power ofyouth, to this new generation of Tibetans in exile which is now slowlycoming of age, and making 'Sontsa' - the dream of His Holiness - come true, a promise of new Tibet.

Tenzin Tsundue

Well....not many of you would be knowing Tenzin Tsundue. All I can say is, he's one remarkable personality I have met in my life. A revolutionary, he fights for the Tibetan cause. I had the priviledge of meeting him once. Well all about that in the next 2-3 posts. I promise you the next post would be soon.

I did not post all these days b'coz, I dunno, I just didn't feel like it. In a way, its good I took a break. Surprsingly I did not miss it. its weird, it really is weird. But well, after fair share of threats and stuff from people, I decided to post today. Please read it fully people, this is something which is really close to my heart. I willt alk about my personal experiences later. :)

and yes....yesterday was my Bhai's birthday :D :D

CRAZY TIME

Ever since I am in my final year specialising in journalism, it has been tremendous amount of fun. I love everybit of our lectures one of the main reson being they are so interactive. Also the projects are damn cool. I will narrate some of the funniest experiences I have had.

We had a guest lecturer who came and gave us a lecture on Investigative reporting. She also gave us an assignment wherein we were supposed to hunt for an investigative story (very small scale) urs truly was totally lost. i couldn't figure out anything at all. Finally I decided upon an idea. (Bigtime cliched, but well, doesn't matter) One is not supposed to sell cigarettes within 100 metres of an educational institution. But well, as usual the laws are flouted merrily. There is a paanwala shop near my college who sells ciggies on a sly. I planned to go and buy a packet of cigarettes and I had to ask for a bill too, otherwise no proof! Ok..people, I don't smoke. Never ever gone near a pan beedi shop in my whole damn life. So I went to this shop tagging a friend alongside me. I asked for a packet of ciggies and he slowly turned back, opened his black plastic bag wherein he had hid his ciggies and gave me a packet. I asked him for a bill saying that "Acoounts karna hain Bhaiyya, bill chahiye!" {Wot crap, what account, what bull shit! } and that man gave me a bill immediately. I was like YO! MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

Now I wanted to try again. So I went to another shop. I asked for a pack of ciggies again. I asked the guy for a bill and he didn't have a bill. He said he will write it down in a piece of paper and give it to me. I readily agreed. But well.... only wrote the price and he gave. I asked him,"Bhaiyya, dukaan ka naam nahi likhoge?" He was like, "Dukaan ka nam bhi chahiye kya?" hmmmmmmm. He bent down and suddenly he got up and he began glancing at our I-cards which as per our college rules we always have to tie it around our neck like a kutte ka ptha! Huh! He asked me how old I am, I said was as 19. Convinced he gave us the bill. Then he says," Mereko bahut tension hota hain Cigarettes bechte samay! " I was like," tension hoita hain toh bechta kyun hain re!" Wanted to scream at him but well, my work over and I fled. Since my prof wanted only a chotu story, I just went and tried my luck at 2 shops around my college. If she would have asked us to work on it full-on then maybe I might have covered majority of colleges in Mumbai. I as so excited....heehhee! investigative thingy is fun...total fun! :D :D :D

Now me at home:
My Appa is busy reading newspaper. I wanted to do some keeda (mast). So I went up to him and I saw him deeply engrossed in the newspaper. I started with all seriousness...
Appa, See what I brought today!!! Saying this I flung my ciggy packet on his newspaper. And I proceeded. "Appa, I have decided to start smoking. I am being very honest with you and I am telling you beforehand." Appa's face became numb. He didn't know what to do. Oh shesssssh! Watta Kodak moment! HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAA! I couldn't control it any more. I blurted out, "Appa, I'm joking. It is for a project." Appa still couldn't understand what kind of college project was it which required me to buy cigarette packets! HAHAHAAHHAHAA! I explained him the entire idea and burst out laughing. heheheheheheeee! So much fun! Poor sweet dad of mine! awwwwwww! heheheheheeee! ;)

We have this subject called niche magazine and journalism. So what is a niche magazine? A niche magazine is a speciality type magazine which only caters to a specific interest (photography), relegion, particular profession etc. etc. So my professor one day brought whole load of niche magazines in our class. It had nice magazines I have never even heard the names of. Asian timber, Asian Dentist, Dhanvaarta bazaar patrika, Competition success review, GK Today etc. etc. and some really weird weird ones too. We were asked to pick up any of the two magazines and pass it on to our immediate neighbour. And then we were supposed to have a glance at them and we were given some 15-odd minutes to read them. Sudden;ly one of friends started laughing loudly. Since urs is a very small class (only 13 students) we get distractd very easily. The whole class turned to her and burst out laughing. She had a copy of debonair. Oh yea...U read it right ppl.........The porn magazine! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Well porn has a niche of its own own (Do I need to add that? :P) I mean porn magazines are considered niche magazines and our professor was planning to have like a discussion on them too. We are a class of 11 girls and 2 guys and in that particular class only one guy as present. So we girls really didn't bother to flip the pages with great interest (Well, I know for the fact that there are no lesbians in my class :P) We started flipping through the agony aunt column. AHHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHHA! It was some March 1986 issue. The agony aunt columns were hilarious to say the least. Sample one of these, it had the class into splits.

I am a a 30 yr old man. I am happily married to my wife who is very beautiful, smart and slim. But I have this fascination for old, mature and obese women. Whenever I make love to my wife, I always imagine old, mature, obese women. Is there anything wrong in me? and y doo I think they way I think?

Oh shesssssssssssssh! It was just too much.....People burst out laughing .Total ruckus in my tiny classroom. Our professor finally interrupted and we had to proceed to another magazine. But it was so much fun! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! :p:p

TRIVIA: India's first porn magazine was in Hindi. It was called MASTRAM (LOLOLOLOLOL), was started in the 1950s. :P

Bowling for Columbine

I recently watched Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine. So many thoughts stormed in my tiny head after watching the documentary. Bowling for Columbine talks about USA's gun culture and subsequently reflects on the fear psychosis which has gripped the nation. I thought it was a well made documentary. More on it later...

Bowling for Columbine starts with the basic premise of Columbine school bombings. For those unaware about the shootout at the high school in Columbine, here it goes....

On April 20, 1999, in the small, suburban town of Littleton, Colorado, two high-school seniors, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, enacted an all-out assault on Columbine High School during the middle of the school day which resulted into the killing of 12 students and a teacher. Later they shot themselves. Read more.... This incident shocked the nation and also the world coz never in the wildest dreams did anyone think that children in a school would be a target of gunmen who were children themselves.

Ok....The documentary starts with the Columbine school shootout. Moore delves into the issue in detail. He shows how everybody in Littleton possessed guns apparently for self defense and how arms were so easily accessible. Some of the scenes are heart wrenching. For example, he shows the scenes where the school librarian calls up a TV Show crying out in anguish narrating the shootouts and screaming for help. The juxtaposition of such scenes is remarkable. But I was disappointed that Moore does not go deep into the psyche of the 2 accused viz. Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris. He speaks to some of their classmates who describe them as "WEIRDOES, INTROVERTS" etc.. But the fact is that both of them maintained personal diaries. It has not been explored at all. One could have got a fabulous insight of the minds of the teens who committed such a heinous crime. Moreover even their families feature nowhere in picture.

I thought Moore wasn't objective at all throughout the whole movie but well, he took a stand at least. The scene where the then president Clinton announces about the bombings in Kosovo with such a firm demeanour and his change of tone as he hears about the Columbine school shootout is amazingly put. I mean it was an awesome display of the hypocrisy. Their attitude of Hamara khoon khoon, doosron ka khoon paani....is so aptly shown. I loved Moore for that. I like the way he fearlessly takes stands.

Moore showed how the USA society is such an insecure society. Media also was responsible to a large extent. He showed how media plays an important role in cashing in on the inherent fear of the American public. It was interesting to note when Moore says that during a particular year (I don't remember now)how the crime rate in USA actually fell but well media thought totally otherwise and if one were to go by the USA media, USA was the unsafest place in the whole world. Moore showed how TV news cameraman waited for an encounter, a police chase everyday at a particular place but well weren't bothered about the rising pollution in LA coz of which even the HOLLYWOOD banner wasn't visible at all. It simply wasn't of any news material. He also talks about the shows like COPS etc and the generalisation In the USA media where every criminal was a black man.

In order to show something was really wrong with the USA society Moore goes to Canada to show how safe a society it is inspite of an easy access of arms and ammunition. There are more guns per household in Canada than in the United States, yet the death toll, even when adjusted to consider the unequal populations, is much lower. He shows as to how Canadians don't keep their doors closed at all and how safe they still feel. To emphasises this point Moore barges into people's houses to show how the doors arenÂ’t closed at all. But how do I believe him? It could have easily been pre arranged before the shoot. There's an obvious loophole.

He also delves into the issue of a 6yr-old killing his classmate. It was a horrific piece of news. But well, we don't get to know what happens to the boy at all. Its really weird coz both the times, the perpetrators of the shootouts have not been covered at all. I mean there is always a question mark hanging in there. It is shown that immediately after the shootout Charles Heston, the chairperson of National Rifles Association (NRA) has a public meeting in Littleton asserting the fundamental right to own a gun to safeguard our lives thereby completely ignoring the protests of the local public and the media. Michael Moore grills Charles Heston in an interview in the movie so much so that Heston walks out mid way even without answering the questions. The interview was a tad dramatic and I felt Moore did go overboard. Moore condemns the role of NRA throughout but it is really ironic that he also is a very member of NRA.

This documentary touches upon several issues. Columbine school shootout, Gun culture in America, fear psychosis, Role of American media, Canadian society, National rifles Association, Okhlahoma Bombings, Role of USA in the bombings of other countries etc. etc. But well the audience doesnÂ’t get lost and well....the point is well conveyed. This documentary makes more sense now especially in wake of the stringent and may I add stooped security measures adopted by the USA government. This is just one of the articles which reflect the growing paranoia. I like it when Brazil openly challenges USA and starts finger printing USA citizens visiting the country. TIT FOR TAT. Really cool! I sometimes just wonder what all measures should India resort to especially after being the victim of several terrorists' attacks. But well different rules apply to USA and the rest of the world, don't they?

People who haven't yet seen the documentary, do see it. Makes a very good viewing despite the loopholes. I am now desperately waiting for Fahrenheit 9/11 to release in India.

QUESTION MARK

It was just a simple discussion in my class. But well it turned out to be something else. Something that disheartened me completely. I am sad...period.

It was a discussion my prof initiated about MEDIANET. Well for all who are wondering what medianet is all about, lemme brief u guys a bit. MEDIANET is a creation of Times of India. It is an arrangement by which anybody can pay a fixed sum of money to get artciles published and having their picture on their front page. (Height of vanity, aint it!) This report will explain it all.

Medianet was an open secret atleast among the journalistic fraternity. But well, Mid-day kind of bought it out in open.

Mid Day has since found out that a front page photograph in Bombay Times is priced at Rs 1,254 per square cm. This means a 240 sq cm photograph on the front page in Mumbai costs Rs 3,00,960. The rate gets progressively lower with more insertions. The straight Q/A feature, also on the front page of the Bombay Times, is also up for sale. The 160-sq-cm article is on the lower part of the page and called the anchor in journalistic parlance. So if you want to be interviewed for that section, be ready to shell out Rs 1,91,520.

So all u junta reading Bombay Times, Pune Times, Ahmedabad times, Bangalore times etc. well whole load of articles are paid for and that's y they are in the newspaper. Well no other reason. Pure commerce......! Keep an eye on the front page photos. If u happen to find a small ENCIRCLED "M", then that picture is paid for being featured in the Bombay Times.

There are many things to this which i feel strongly about.

1) Journalism involves reportage of facts. Unbiased reporting......if I can add. newspapers in india cannot be regarded as totally unbiased or totally non-prejudiced, they more or less adhere to that. The presence of an article in a newspaper fulfills the basic duty of journalism. informing people. The basic work of a journalist is to report, collect facts and present it to the public. Well s/he is paid for doing that. His/her views wud definitely come into picture, Journos are human beings after all.

But when a newspaper demand money for publishing an article................its sick. I mean it is not journalism. It wud be something else. TOI publishes paid articles as if it is it's own article with the journalist's name (byline) too. Well u then just fooling people, arent u! if thr is a restaurant serving fukol food and u praise it sky high just coz the restaurant pays u like an awesome sum of money, pray tell me U JUST PLAIN FOOLIJNG THE GUILLIBLE PUBLIC. Ok.....this is a very frivolous example. but I am giving this example b'coz BT is known to be an entertainment and lifestyle newspaper. So the example given was something related to newspaper. Another example which i can give is, imagine a product pays to get itself featured and the newspaper agrees to it. the product might be bad, but since the newspaper is endorsing it...(mind u not an ad, its an article, thus credibility factor increases, many people might definitely buy it. There is a clear distinction between advertisements and editorial. Please for god's sake don't try to mix it up which is precisely what TOI is doing. These kind of paid articles are now referred to by a new term, "EDVETORIALS"
I used to think newspapers have like the sole authority and the POWER towrite influence people, public opinion. But well......suhc initiatives only make a huge, big joke of what journalism stands for. I know newspapers have to make money. But well, what we see now is a total mockery of well..... ETHICS ......HAHAHAHAHA....of journalism. and well the saddest fact of my life is..........TOI has the maximum circulation amongst the English reading dailies.

What happned in my class was which was shocking for me atleast was that majority of them didn't object to medianet. While some thought it was an excellent marketing strategy, others thought its, just Bombay times and not Times of India. Well....marketing gimmick..well i thought I was attending a journalism lecture. Huh! Ok...u start with bombay times........then u go to the main TOI too. Greed knows no boundaries........

It is reported that TOi earned like an 20 odd crore in the last yr. What a price to pay just to earn 20 crores when u otherwise earn like so much more than that! U just get bitched about everywhr, loose ur reputation u've earned for so long.......well...really sad!

What real saddened me was that some of them actually defended medianet saying that who cares....Its stoopid entertainment news anyways. So what if it is entertainment......the rot has begun and if it is not stemmed, it sure is bound to spread. And when u have the future journalists not flinching their eyebrows at this development,it is really really sad. It's just that nobody gives a damn. if this is what the future journalists are gonna be, its a sad prospect to even imagine. I don't think that they have imagined what dangers Medianet holds. i am sure it is not gonna stay within the limits of BombayTimes. it sure would extend it to themain supplement too. Well, any tom, dick or harry would be able to put forth anything they wanna see published just by paying money.

To be a journalist has been my highschool dream. I am kinda idealistic (it doesnt help at all) and have big dreams and hopes of doing good work. I would hate to compromise on journalistic ethics. It frightens me to think what the journo world holds in store for me in wake of developments like this. Will an idealistic me ever find a footing? I know, reality is often different. So many things change. But well, I wudnt prefer to compromise on ethics, atleast. It is a scary proposition for me. I am all confused and jittery. *Sigh*

P.S. any journos reading this, please comment!!!!