Rolling Camera

The world is moving at a great pace
With America having now a coloured face
With global giants shutting shops
My brethren around the world are many out of jobs

In the times of such deep recession and crises
And with OPEC countries cutting oil production leading to hike in prices
Zimbabwe struggling to fight inflation
As for a few thousand dollars today, one could buy out the entire nation

Why is the world facing situations like these?
With people tense, angry and obese
Looking for solutions that aren’t there
Or may be we just stopped looking as we don’t care

We, the citizens of the world, need to introspect
And obey the rules of nature and show respect
By trying to play intelligent games with natures’ resources
We unleashed the wrath of nature’s forces

I think there is still time and hope
To save the world from going down the slope
By thinking that we are all in it together
By living in peace without bothering one another

Lets all enjoy this beautiful world
Made of platinum, gold and emerald
Let’s do something that will take us miles ahead
As a civilization, to be pondered over long after we are dead.

They say that one works all one’s life to get famous, only to wear dark glasses to avoid getting noticed. So true.

I think the story of Fashion is set on the right background, the background of middle class India, where people want to live like the rich and powerful thinking that money is the solution to all their problems. Hence, they flock for all the reality shows and every opportunity that might make them famous.

But, most of them are not aware that how much pain and how much work goes behind looking good 24X7. And most of these people crumble under the pressure that success carries with it. And a Madhur Bhandarkar makes a Fashion on their life stories.

That’s the story of fashion, backed by some fabulous performances by the leading actors. And somewhere at some point in the movie you will feel that you have also passed through the same indecisiveness in your life. Or have seen someone close to you go through it. That’s what touches the most and makes the story so real.

It’s also a story of triumph against all odds. Of getting up and running every time you fall.

But I love the end the most. It ends with the thought that we are never told the price we need to pay for our dreams. So true. As today most Indians are living their dreams to suddenly realize the baggage that comes with their dreams is not what they had foreseen and are forced to live with that weight on their shoulders, even as they smile to the outside world flaunting their success.

And then the nagging pain within starts that takes you to places where you have never been before and makes you go through hell. A hell that only few can recover from.
That’s fashion for you guys. Please watch it. It’s success from a different point of view.

I love celebrations in India and like them grand. Be it the Durga Puja or the Navratri or the mega weddings. I just love opulence.

Opulence makes me feel good about the time. It makes me feel that the air around is positive hence people are spending without a worry.

It also has a very deeper meaning for me. It is percolation of wealth, or the process of job creation and employment that the opulence brings with it.

This is the time when the poor gets a chance to sell his hand made work without competing with the machine produced. And earn to get his daughter married. Or buy new clothes for the village panchayat darbar. Also it is the time when the generations old forgotten traditions and crafts are given a chance to survive and compete for attention.

The more the opulence, the better it is for the economy. So, three cheers to celebrations!!!

When the indian media went ballistic screaming on top of their voices that India is shining, the young boys continued to work at the tea stall or beg on the streets to feed themselves and family.

A lot of children are draining their childhood and becoming adults very early or rather before time.

Just as a premature baby is dangerous, a premature man is dangerous too. A man has to travel through each and every stage of life and a man without childhood is a very dangerous man.

So when I see the children begging or working in the sun instead of playing or attending school, I wonder the future of the country and our future generations and the frustration that these children would be bottling up within them.

The frustration that will grow with them exponentially making them lethal. As the society kills their childhood with hatred and oblivion, someday they will kill the society's fabric. Bit by bit.

The more you hate them the more it will come back to you with more potence. We are not helping them to learn to be a part of the society and tomorrow when they turn against the society we will suffer. Suffer the bombs they will make and the murders they will commit. and the 9/11s they will create. It will be our fault all the while for not guiding them from the beginning.

The seeds of hatred would have bloomed in their fertile imagination and turn devilish, which will be sowed by our very hands now.

They say prevention is better than cure. We are not even thinking cure when we should begin with prevention. Let us start somewhere. with someone.

I hope that there are some people who are selflessly trying to do something good for these cursed little creatures else our cumulative hatred towards them may pollute our lives and society forever

I have grown up hearing that food, shelter and clothes are the basics that a man needs to survive. And all of these need money. And making money needs opportunity to make money. And that opportunity comes with jobs. In short, employment is empowerment.

No matter how spiritual we get and how indifferent we are to the concept, money is the nucleus of the human civilization.

West Bengal has been through some tough times post independence. It went through a phase where industries moved out of the state leaving the state helpless. The residents had to move out in search of employment and livelihood.

Tata was to change that. With the Nano project, he was trying to revive the state to its earlier glory. The Nano is actually a macro step for Calcutta to show the world that they are good enough as anyone else. And why not? they have skilled people, they have the infrastructure and the only thing missing was the political will that the current chief minister was willing to garner.

But alas! sometimes your best isn't good enough. The efforts made by the state for Nano bummeranged leaving it back to the days of darkness and despair.

Still there is time....

for the state to get tough and hold on to the project or the end of Nano could mean the beginning of a long dark spell for industries in Bengal and for the culturally inclined Bengalis.

Lets hope they are able to avert the tragedy...

Teasers were a bad word for Indian advertising for some years. And the notorious Digen Verma campaign had a minor role to play. But of late the advertisers have regained their trust in the teasers and I saw two teasers of late one talking about KILB and Irfan Khan’s Smile and One on “this is Canadian not from Bombay”

For a change I felt good. And I heard a lot of people talking to each other in my office wondering who could have done these ads and what could these be for!

So I think the teasers are back with a bang and they are here to stay…Come on people …TEASE ME! I am all ears.

Obesity is becoming a concern across the world as food is being considered as medicine to kill stress, overwork and self abuse.

Americans have mastered this art with a huge population of obese. And though there are drastic steps and measures to tackle this problem, can we think of a placebo diet?

A diet that tastes yum, just like the mac burger and finger chips.
A drink that tastes as yum as coke
Yet is not absorbed by the body at all and is thrown out.

I think this would be the ultimate form of pampering self for the foodies like me. Provided the side effects are kept minimum.
Any Einstein listening?

Anil Dhirubhai Ambani is a man who can sniff out opportunities and can make money out of them. And I have a feeling he has sniffed something big again…

Two days back there was an announcement that Ambani jr. is interested in picking up esselworld, the theme park in Mumbai, and convert it into a entertainment zone. This will be then replicated in other cities as well…

The very next day there is a release from the tourism department that India needs to develop entertainment zones that will have casinos and other entertainment that will attract the rich Indians and foreigners

Putting two and two together, I think Mr. Ambani is aiming for esselworld to make the first entertainment zone with backing from the government. And mint a few billions…wow!

Like a sinking person suddenly woken from stupor, the Indian tourism ministry and Indian government seem to have woken up to the importance of tourism. India has deprived itself, through lack of conscious efforts, to make billions out of tourism unlike other tourism majors. And today it gets less than one percent of world tourist traffic.

So the Tourism ministry has a rescue plan. Create a mini Vegas in India to attract foreigners and affluent Indians. But isn’t that a very feeble attempt?
We need to think of other ways to promote tourism. Like promote how India is a great destination for Medical Tourism. That one in twenty docs in US is of Indian origins and hence Americans can trust their Indian counterparts.

Are we tom tomming about our education systems like the IIT and IIMs?
Are we telling people that we can offer them the experience of Switzerland and Africa in the same country?

Are we taking care of basic infrastructure like hotel rooms to accommodate tourists?
Are we encouraging and educating people about the prospects of tourism in India. Are we telling people how it will impact our GDP and help us fight inflation and bring down the fiscal deficit?

Are we seeing the big picture?
I guess not…Shocking!

In India, everyone’s on a gathering spree…grab whatever you can, how much ever you can and wherever you can. Somewhere everyone has suddenly understood the importance of flocking together and getting a better bargaining power.

That’s why you find bollywood stars flocking over cricket. Cricketers are flocking over television commercials. Music directors are flocking over talent contests and common men flocking over their favorite contestants to vote their winner. Government servants flocking over pay commission. Castes are flocking for rights. Parties are flocking for muscle. Corporates are flocking for tax savings. And common man is flocking to get rid of troubles through vote.

But, the flocking is Choking the country…I guess nobody really cares for that