I would like to profusely thank Ms.****** for taking on the role of our moral custodian, filing a PIL and dragging the judiciary to ban all my favourite movie channels. Thanks to her efforts I am left with watching music channels (since I am not much interested in sports or news) with all its "non adult" content.
Music videos have the morally upright and clean content which is fit for children to watch along with their parents. After all watching sexy bombshells competing to do raunchier dance numbers with their clothes getting skimpier day by day seems to be much better than watching movies like Mrs. Doubtfire or A Beautiful Mind. A few beautiful kissing scenes between couples, where the script demands, in movies are definitely more vulgar than these item numbers where skin show is to such an extent that little is left for imagination.
As far as the shows like Desperate Housewives and Sex and the City are concerned then the broadcasters take care to screen them after 10. Shouldn't that be way past the bed time of school kids? Why only target these shows? As if the story lines of our so called "rooted in indian culture" saas-bahu serials are any better. There is blatant adultery, sleeping around, extra marital affairs and seduction in almost every show. The costumes have necklines deeper than the Mariana Trench showing ample skin (I dare not use the word "cleaveage" lest they should censor it).
Do they really think that kids get their dose of porn from Television? All I can say is I pity them for their ignorance. Anyways the good news is that I've been offered a position at a startup firm called Vistaar and in all probability I'll be joining from September, 1. Hopefully this would leave me with very less time to while away in front of the Idiot Box.
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
"Held at Ransom..."
This is exactly what it looks like. The police have confiscated the decoders from the cable operators and they in retaliation have blackened out all the channels. Where does that leave us consumers? We always get the short end of the stick in such situations. Almost everyone pays the annual subscription (in advance), so the cable operators are least bothered even if they don't provide the service for a few days. The police have made the cable operators the scapegoats to avoid the wrath of the judiciary. And the judiciary in its attempt to deliver justice had passed an order with no detailed instructions and specifications. The end result of all this is that its been snowing (at least on the television sets) in Mumbai from the past few days.
All this has thrust us back to the days when Doordarshan was the only channel available. What the judiciary seems to have overlooked is the fact that all television sets come with a remote or an alternate mechanism to change channels. God has been generous enough to bless mankind with the ability to make decisions and choose what is good and bad. If the lady who filed the public interest litigation is unable to control what her children watch then thats a problem she has to solve on her own (or other parents in such situations). Blackening out the entire entertainment channels is clearly not the answer.
What we watch on TV is our own concious decision. If a channel is screening adult films, then we do have the option of changing the channel (when else would an option of more than 100 channels come in handy) or switching it off. Nobody is forcing you to view such films or channels. Plus whatever happens is in the closed confines of one's house so why should anyone else be bothered about what goes on. The fact that such films are being screened clearly indicates that there is a demand from the viewers. Why infringe on their freedom just to hide your inability to deal with such reality?
All this has thrust us back to the days when Doordarshan was the only channel available. What the judiciary seems to have overlooked is the fact that all television sets come with a remote or an alternate mechanism to change channels. God has been generous enough to bless mankind with the ability to make decisions and choose what is good and bad. If the lady who filed the public interest litigation is unable to control what her children watch then thats a problem she has to solve on her own (or other parents in such situations). Blackening out the entire entertainment channels is clearly not the answer.
What we watch on TV is our own concious decision. If a channel is screening adult films, then we do have the option of changing the channel (when else would an option of more than 100 channels come in handy) or switching it off. Nobody is forcing you to view such films or channels. Plus whatever happens is in the closed confines of one's house so why should anyone else be bothered about what goes on. The fact that such films are being screened clearly indicates that there is a demand from the viewers. Why infringe on their freedom just to hide your inability to deal with such reality?
Thursday, August 17, 2006
"Freedom means..."
"Freedom means the liberty to pee anywhere I wish." This is exactly what I heard a young chap blurt out on stage at a youth meet some time back. I don't know whether it was his irreverence or total ignorance that made him state this but I am sure if our freedom fighters heard this they would turn over in their graves. Do we really take our freedom and security for granted? Our jawans bear the extreme conditions and put their lives on the line everyday for ensuring our way of life and is this how we repay them, by being totally selfish without even a hint of gratitude.
Over the period of time the meaning of freedom has undergone a lot of change. There was once a time when freedom was more than an ideology. The entire nation was united and ready to die for it. But today it means a politician can siphon off hundreds of crores of the tax payers money in scams and still enjoy z category security (which ironically the same tax payers pay for). Unfortunately the law never catches up with them and they die their natural deaths only to be buried with full national honours. The money sadly is never recovered.
We must never forget that along with freedom comes responsibilities. Exercising one's freedom shouldn't include denying someone else's. The best part about freedom is that I am able to put this in front of you all with no fear. Jai Hind.
Over the period of time the meaning of freedom has undergone a lot of change. There was once a time when freedom was more than an ideology. The entire nation was united and ready to die for it. But today it means a politician can siphon off hundreds of crores of the tax payers money in scams and still enjoy z category security (which ironically the same tax payers pay for). Unfortunately the law never catches up with them and they die their natural deaths only to be buried with full national honours. The money sadly is never recovered.
We must never forget that along with freedom comes responsibilities. Exercising one's freedom shouldn't include denying someone else's. The best part about freedom is that I am able to put this in front of you all with no fear. Jai Hind.
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
"Customer Service"
This is a condensed version of my week gone by (including the misery)...
Friday: I've got the first call from amdocs' recruitment agency and they need me to mail them my marks breakup (very urgent). I get disconnected from the net the second time in the night and the only way to get back online is to restart my PC (yeah this is a peculiar problem with a broadband net connection only I seem to be facing). Since its already 2 am, I sms the friend with whom I was chatting about the situation and doze off.
Saturday: I try to get online but no luck. I call up my service provider only to be greeted with a constantly ringing phone or a busy tone. This continues throughout the day. Still no luck.
Sunday: Its friendship day today. I get up in the morning with an upset stomach. As the day progresses I develop a 101 degree fever. With all the energy sapped out I still make one last ditch attempt to get online, no luck.
Monday: The rain gods have been generous and the trend seems to continue today also. I finally manage to get through on the telephone with my net provider. When I tell the lady that my connection has been down from saturday she yells at me for not calling them before. I am assured an engineer will come by and she takes down my address and telephone number. Its evening now, still no sign of the engineer nor is my connection up. I call her up again, this time she informs me about how they can't get hold of a key to a terrace to check a switch in the network and assures me that the work will be done by tomorrow morning. Again she notes down my details.
Tuesday: There seems to be a break in the incessant rains. I decide to college to complete some formalities. Later we go to a restaurant nearby to celebrate a friend's b'day. The rains have started again, I decide its wiser to head back home and jump into a bus. I reach home with a hope of getting online. No luck. Exasperated I revive my analog modem which had been in exile from the past 3 years. Installation was a breeze, everything was working except for the fact that it was taking forever to load a page and then there were the frequent disconnections to deal with. I give up. There is no use calling my net provider coz their working hours are from 11 to 7 (can you believe that...phew)
Wednesday: I am pissed off. I call them up and this time my tone means business. I am greeted by a male voice (a happy relief from those stupid females who don't seem to know a thing and keep jotting down my details) and he can't seem to believe what I am telling him. He too promises to send an engineer by. I tell him I've heard this lots of time and no one comes by. He assures me there will be someone here in an hour. To my utter disbelief there was indeed an engineer (not one but two) at my doorstep within the stipulated time. He told me that the switch in my building needs to be replaced and that the connection should be up by evening. Its 5 and still no luck. I call up again, they tell me they've replaced the faulty device. Well I tell them the connection is still down. I am promised service within half an hour and surprisingly it happens. After a lot of running up and down, they manage to get it working. I send them off with a thanks.
For the first time is 3 years have I been provided with prompt service from my service provider. Usually the network has no problems (the customer support sucks) but then when it does develop a snag, it takes forever to rectify it. I still remember once I had to wait for over a month (that too during the vacations) when all they had to do was replace a switch in the neighbouring building (they didn't realise this because inspite of the promises the engineers never came).
So this prompt service comes as a welcome relief and a surprise. I hope they could and would read this to understand how much trouble it caused me and how much I appreciate what they did today. I hope they keep up the good work.
Friday: I've got the first call from amdocs' recruitment agency and they need me to mail them my marks breakup (very urgent). I get disconnected from the net the second time in the night and the only way to get back online is to restart my PC (yeah this is a peculiar problem with a broadband net connection only I seem to be facing). Since its already 2 am, I sms the friend with whom I was chatting about the situation and doze off.
Saturday: I try to get online but no luck. I call up my service provider only to be greeted with a constantly ringing phone or a busy tone. This continues throughout the day. Still no luck.
Sunday: Its friendship day today. I get up in the morning with an upset stomach. As the day progresses I develop a 101 degree fever. With all the energy sapped out I still make one last ditch attempt to get online, no luck.
Monday: The rain gods have been generous and the trend seems to continue today also. I finally manage to get through on the telephone with my net provider. When I tell the lady that my connection has been down from saturday she yells at me for not calling them before. I am assured an engineer will come by and she takes down my address and telephone number. Its evening now, still no sign of the engineer nor is my connection up. I call her up again, this time she informs me about how they can't get hold of a key to a terrace to check a switch in the network and assures me that the work will be done by tomorrow morning. Again she notes down my details.
Tuesday: There seems to be a break in the incessant rains. I decide to college to complete some formalities. Later we go to a restaurant nearby to celebrate a friend's b'day. The rains have started again, I decide its wiser to head back home and jump into a bus. I reach home with a hope of getting online. No luck. Exasperated I revive my analog modem which had been in exile from the past 3 years. Installation was a breeze, everything was working except for the fact that it was taking forever to load a page and then there were the frequent disconnections to deal with. I give up. There is no use calling my net provider coz their working hours are from 11 to 7 (can you believe that...phew)
Wednesday: I am pissed off. I call them up and this time my tone means business. I am greeted by a male voice (a happy relief from those stupid females who don't seem to know a thing and keep jotting down my details) and he can't seem to believe what I am telling him. He too promises to send an engineer by. I tell him I've heard this lots of time and no one comes by. He assures me there will be someone here in an hour. To my utter disbelief there was indeed an engineer (not one but two) at my doorstep within the stipulated time. He told me that the switch in my building needs to be replaced and that the connection should be up by evening. Its 5 and still no luck. I call up again, they tell me they've replaced the faulty device. Well I tell them the connection is still down. I am promised service within half an hour and surprisingly it happens. After a lot of running up and down, they manage to get it working. I send them off with a thanks.
For the first time is 3 years have I been provided with prompt service from my service provider. Usually the network has no problems (the customer support sucks) but then when it does develop a snag, it takes forever to rectify it. I still remember once I had to wait for over a month (that too during the vacations) when all they had to do was replace a switch in the neighbouring building (they didn't realise this because inspite of the promises the engineers never came).
So this prompt service comes as a welcome relief and a surprise. I hope they could and would read this to understand how much trouble it caused me and how much I appreciate what they did today. I hope they keep up the good work.
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