Monday, October 31, 2005

CHILLY !!!!!!!

Lt.Col.Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore is officially the first famous personality whom I’ve ever had a crush on. When he had won the silver medal in the Olympics, I was proud of him, but not really obsessed….However, when I had the most esteemed opportunity to escort him and assist him during the Miss India pageant….I was in complete awe of him….Yupp, his wife was with him as well, but that didn’t stop me from falling in love with him….although I must mention that she’s an amazing lady as well.

In my mind, he is The Perfect Guy !!! Such a perfect gentleman !!! And inspite of his success and his wonderful personality, he is very down-to-earth and has a child-like innocence, which is sooooooooooo endearing. I still have his autograph and I’m gonna frame it and it’s gonna go up on my wall for sure. My experience with him at the Miss India pageant is something I’ll never forget and it will be etched in my mind forever. Even in the recent Coco Cola ad, he exudes such brilliance (I’m not very happy about him endorsing an MNC product like Coke, but that’s another issue)…. I hope Lt.Col.Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore reads this, so that he knows how much I respect him and admire him. I couldn’t praise him much at the pageant coz my senior has specifically instructed me not to get all awkward and star struck…Sigh. (Btw, I love addressing him by his whole name because I think it sounds really cool and dignified)

Anyway, I think that army men and sportspersons like him deserve more attention and admiration from us rather than having people drool over filmstars or hot babes in remixed videos…..Urrrghhh….it makes me sick sometimes why people can’t appreciate true heroes like him, rather than going all gaga over people with 6 layers of make-up who shake a leg in bollywood, which btw is the most direct route into people’s hearts.

I’m not undermining the noble contributions of several filmstars who truly deserve the attention that they get. However I believe, that the true heroes of the nation who actually work to bring glory to our country should be appreciated for their efforts more often. Lt.Col.Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore is a classic example. Also, I think cricketers are literally worshipped in India…and it should be the same for other sportspersons as well.

That said, I’m all in support of the new faces on India’s sports scene – icons like Narain Karthikeyan, Sania Mirza, Anju Bobby George and the likes of them.

Hmmmm….I’m not much of a sports fanatic, but my interactions with Lt.Col.Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore has definitely made me one.

PS : For those who don't know....Lt.Col.Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore is affectionately known as "Chilly".....I wonder if some ketchup company will now ask him to endorse their brand.

Saturday, October 29, 2005

Perfection ???

Hmm….Perfection….now that’s something I’m obsessed with. Seriously, it’s one of the biggest flaws in me… I expect too much out of everything done by myself or anyone else….I’m even particular about the exact number of tomatoes and garlic cloves that my mom puts in my gravy !!!

However, I’ve come to realize one thing. Imperfection is beautiful….Imperfection is attractive….Imperfection is fascinating

We often say “Nature is so beautiful, it’s just perfect”….The truth is …. Nature has several imperfections…..Nature is perfect to us only because she has so many imperfections. A perfectly symmetrical leaf would probably seem unattractive when compared with one that’s not. Maybe it's because imperfection is abstract. Maybe because it gives us the freedom to decide what it means to us. Maybe because it gives us a chance to be more imaginative and less mundane.

Even when there is an archaeological find….the idols or figurines that are intact after excavation are no doubt interesting….but the ones that are imperfect and incomplete are far more intriguing….And why you may wonder ??? Because there’s an incomplete part of it that masks the stories behind it. It gives us the chance to go back in time and make up our own stories and cook up the possibilities…It gives us a chance to weave the untold tales that are hidden away by it’s imperfections.

Even if we look at the people we are surrounded by, it is their imperfections that make them more endearing. Just yesterday I was telling a friend of mine (name withheld on request…hehhehee)…that…there is no Mr. Perfect….It is the Mr. Slightly Imperfects who are much more lovable.

As I was typing this out on my pc…my mom just pointed out to me that Perfection is infact part of imperfection. This is how : “ Imperfect = I’mPerfect ” …Ok ok.. so I was dumb enough to not notice that early on. But there is so much truth in that statement…. Imperfections are what make things or people seem perfect for us. If everyone were perfect, we’d all be the same people. There would be no diversity and no scope for creativity. Even in my advertising lectures, we learn how to expand our creativity by exploiting the imperfections in society or the imperfections in human psychology.
It makes us believe that perfection or imperfection is nothing but holding up a mirror to our own thoughts or beliefs. For me, Imperfections are just Perfect !!!

Saturday, October 22, 2005

Huff Puff Cough...

Had my Bull fights today....I teamed up with Shruti and we were up against Unnati and Anish. Now... Bull fights happen to be one of the best literary events in our college. It's one of the most intense debating competitions.....

Our topic was "Smoking in films should be justified" and we were against the topic.... After what turned out to be one of the most balanced debates....I was satisfied with our performance even though...well...we lost by 2 points...( Booooo Hoooooooo !!!!!)

Now here's my real opinion on the subject :

I do believe everything I said about the youth being influenced by their favourite filmstars.... However I also feel that the Government's move to ban smoking in films is a bit extreme. It does hamper creativity.......One may not realise it, but the amount of dramatic appeal that is created by an actor smoking a cigarette is much better than any other prop or add on.

What I'm sad about is that, no popular movie has ever directly shown the harmful health effects of smoking....All they show is a person coughing a little after he has taken a puff....What's that supposed to mean ??? In a way it suggests that by smoking you wont get lung cancer or emphysema or anything....You'll just cough for a while and then you'd look cool for the rest of your life.

Also, I came across these really good examples of how the film makers aren't being responsible enough.....

In the movie "Village of the Damned"....Kirstie Alley who plays a doctor is puffing throughout the movie....And in the movie " Backdraft"....the fireman is shown smoking in all parts of the movie.......Doctors and firemen smoking !??!?!?! What were the filmmakers thinking ?!?!?!?! These are people who should in fact be totally against smoking....What kind of example are they setting in front of their viewers... Young children and teenagers who lack the objectivity to make the right choices may easily be influenced by such images....

Well, I'm glad Shahrukh Khan supports the ban, but gosh, in real life, he's a chimney !!!!! When I was at the MMRDA grounds during the Filmfare Awards this year, I was right in front of his vanity van and I never saw him without his cigarette...I wonder how Gauri tolerates him.

I'm irritated with these tobacco companies who come up with different guerilla ideas to promote their products. Every year these tobacco companies lose 800,000 of their loyal customers in India because all these 800,000 customer die of smoking....And that's exactly why these tobacco companies manipulate their way into movies and advertise their cigarettes just to compensate for the loss of those customers who died...
Also, it doesn't make sense to put the label " Smoking is Injurious to Health" on a cigarette packet.....They should instead put the label " Smoking Kills" because smoking really does kill.....It's a form of slow death, so one never really understands the long term consequences of being a chain smoker...... What frustates me the most is that even educated people who KNOW that cigarettes can kill, still smoke away to glory !!!!

The goverment has double standards ...... On one hand it bans smoking in films and on the other hand, they refuse to ban production of tobacco because of the revenues that they bring...... Why can't those 35,000 crores of rupees instead be used to produce herbs and medicinal plants which have a huge demand in the international market????...If this is done, the government won't even have to spend huge amounts on reducing the number of smokers... I dont think the government is justified in widening their cash coffers while thousands of people suffer.

Also, It's my most humble request to filmmakers to start taking some responsibility....Please stop glamorization and normalization of smoking in films...

We really have to decide what's more imporant... Creative freedom or a healthy community ?!?!?!? And the government needs to ask itself what's more important ??? Huge revenues or a healthy and qualitative population ???

As Shruti earlier mentioned....If the right choices aren't made, the big bad wolf (tobacco) will huff and puff and burn our world down.

Monday, October 03, 2005

Exam Blues

Sorry guys.... No more posts atleast for the next 2 weeks. I'm in the middle of my First term exams and my sleep-cycle is completely out of order. This morning when I came home after writing my Economics paper, I officially hadn't slept for 23 hours....and now as i type this, I have just woken up from a deep slumber of 11 hours. (Yaaaaawn)... I have to get back to my books now. I can't believe that my life's just about books and coffee...Until next time