Sunny Days

I met Sunny Leone yesterday and was totally floored by her grace and poise. We build so much impression of those we don’t know that it comes as a great relief when you are wrong. I expect someone fake, dumb and airy she came across as pleasant, well read and very intelligent. In the small time I met her and questioned her about her adult movies, she replied that she did what she did and it was not wrong in her eyes…no regret and no apology just because she made it big in Bollywood now. I was charmed on my part when she praised the city, and the way she handled herself when a mob of photographers almost fell on her…by simply saying… “Bhaiyya coffee gir jaayegi…” and making them retreat. Sunny days ahead.

I have been regularly irregular on this space because I didn’t feel like writing. Even thought I would delete my blog but something made me stop and get back. The past two months have been confusing and bewildering for various reasons and I am simply glad to be here. I have grown a year old and am hoping that wisdom will not be amiss this time.

Simply dont like the changes done to this website. Is there any way we can get the old, user friendly format back?

So many things in my head

This entire month has been a whirl of activity for me. It’s been an absolutely crazy time, of which I’m really grateful as it helps me focus only on the important things, I crib that I don’t get enough sleep. While my sister thinks I crib about everything under the sun, I take great joy in it. Wanted to write about many many things but will not stretch what can be said in a few words to an entire blog…
 - Watched and loved Vicky Donor. From the dadi to Delhi, it was a great movie. Wish the ending was twenty minutes shorter though. Snow White and Seven Dwarfs was just about okay. Julia Roberts was wicked but felt that something was missing throughout the movie.
- The mangoes are what I’m really looking forward to…had some yesterday but let’s just say they were really really sour.
 - Its been more than 3 months that I’ve thrown the Television out and am so surprised that it makes no difference. Life without the idiot box is so much more sharper…reading more, focusing more on things on hand. To think that it took me an year of dilly dallying to do that…
 - Work has been really haphazard of late. Sitting idle for weeks and getting done crazy amount of work in two day’s time. It’s been hectic but what I’m really looking forward to is a one month break from mid- May. No writing. Yes.
 - Is having a massive crush on someone who is going out with someone okay? Just cant help it though, just like I can’t help hoping that we will miraculously end up together!
 - Read Sandra Brown’s Lethal and really enjoyed it. As a rule I stay away from thrillers but sheer boredom compelled me to read this one and it was quite interesting.
- Finally got a raise at work…finally!

Imagine a life entirely different from the one you lead. What would it be?

Had to write an essay for the above question for Na, I know they are a tad similar but am posting them here as I don't remember the last time I managed to only just cross the word limit (here it was 250 words)...

An artist:
As someone always interested in the creative arts, the life of an artist, a creator and destroyer is something which has always intrigued me. The creative miasma of paints, thoughts which is a combination of imagery and sheer skill to bring to life images and instances which have been birthed in the labyrinths of one’s imagination is something which has always excited me. From a childhood which had many summers spent with brushes, paints and chart paper as friends; sketching and drawing as constant companions, the effortless transition to adulthood immersed in an art, wide and compassionate has been enriching and elevating.

My life and work as an artist has enriched me in numerous way. The challenge everyday to do something new, the effective outpouring of my energies which results in giving shape to a stray thought and the capture of a long struggle in the final strokes of a painting which brings it to life. The colors which individually look proud and unrelenting but work just as well when combined, the strokes, clear and independent but conveying the weight of an entire thought and the effective disbursement of energy and expertise resulting in raw ideas turning to creative outlets.

Taking cues and inspiration from the Nature around me, the people who shaped me and the experiences which transformed me, the life of an artist is one full of challenges and initiatives. What attracts me to the art of painting is the melange of opportunities it offers. A stroke here and a color there would change the entire way your work is viewed which makes the process of creation exciting. With each day bringing with it a fresh perspective and newer pursuits, it’s no one that every dawn brings a smile to my visage.

A book jacket illustrator:

An avid book reader since childhood who used to be lost in the many details of a novel, the life I lead today is perhaps a natural symmetric progression of my first love of reading: that of a book jacket illustrator. The old adage, “Do not judge a book by its cover”, never holds ground for me for what’s on the cover is only a prelude of what’s to come.

The art of giving someone else's work a face and an identity, the preface to a story and a calling card to the words ingrained in it is filled with enormous opportunities which excite me.

My life revolves around the minutiae and the symbolic, and to decide how best can a story be represented by one image. Something arresting but not overtly so, catchy but not trivial and finally accurate yet mysterious. The soul of the words written conveyed in a simple and effective manner. My work involves reading a book and providing it a single door of communication which will allow people to visualize the magic of what’s inside.

The subterfuge of colors and the solidity of narration are the two main ingredients of my work. My work poses numerous challenges and questions each day, while bringing with it the responsibility of providing a premise to someone else’s labor of love. To visualize a written word and interpret it in a delicate manner and convey thoughts, anecdotes and experiences is an immensely satisfying quest bringing out the best in me.

With something new to look forward from every new book, it brings out facets of my personality in unexpected ways. As every passing day brings with it something unique, it is little wonder that I consider my vocation an extension of myself and not merely a job.

TV Turn off

As someone who has sworn off TV, on a boring Sunday while I was flicking through the channels I was unfortunate enough to catch a two minute travesty which made me glad that I dumped the idiot box. The telecast was that of Nita and Mukesh Ambani’s “private” party for Sachin Tendulkar. Now how the private celebration was aired on National Television is anyone’s guess…but what was remarkable was the inane sycophancy involved. Priyanka Chopra tripping over herself while gushing about Nita and Salman going on and on senselessly…why does glamor and wealth always make us bend backwards? An inherent “class” legacy left by the British is still around and makes it presence felt at such nauseating events. That Sachin was sticking to it was a disappointment but guess even Gods like their adulation…

Riots in Hyderabad and just when we though we got rid of Telangana, we have a new headache, that of a far more dangerous communal riots. With curfew in place its business against for leaders and more worries for us common citizens. With the state the city is, it’s a wonder people are still coming here. Bad roads, terrible governance and a new disturbance every month…Brand Hyderabad.

Was at the fantastic Park Hyatt for a media lunch and was flabbergasted by the Gothic grandeur of indulgence…what was funnier was one of the owners (Rajya Sabha MP Subbirami Reddy) insisting people to check out the “lights” imported from Czechoslovakia. Yes sir, well worth the rumored 400 crores you invested!

From the archives

This was written in Dec, 2008, one of my first articles after I started writing. Was cleaning my drives and made me think of my first writing job....

There was a time when a serial on Doordarshan meant the penultimate glory. Family functions were postponed, meal timings were arranged in such a manner that no one missed any minuscule portion of a serial and television became the nation’s favorite pastime which was both addictive and alluring. From the charming Chitrahaar to the humility personified Hum Log, these reel life entities transcended their boundaries and loomed larger than life. The actors were real and wholesome entertaining was given the pride of place. Buniyaad, Fauji, Shanti, Swabhimaan, Dekh Bhai Dekh and Shriman Shrimati were only some of the serials with which people could identify with, chatter about them at impromptu places and relate to them as if they were an extension of their own life. They moved people with their piquant narration, had them in splits over innocuous humor and moved them with the compulsive play of human emotions. It was truly the golden era of Indian Television.

With the advent of cable television Zee took the reigns from DD becoming its legitimate heir, although it did not do such a holistic job, it did manage an enviable task-that of presenting to people the power of change. Serials like Tara, Banegi Apni Baat and Rishtey not only were path breaking but were also hugely successful in breaking stereotypes. They did not limit themselves to pose questions but also demanded answers. Breaking away from the moulds of propriety and chauvinism they played an instrumental role in the coming of age of Indian Television. With an assorted and assiduous range of soaps like Sailaab, Teacher, Campus and Hip Hip Hurray they succeeded in not only retaining viewers but also in attracting new ones. It was a path breaking era and one that explored hitherto virgin territories with finesse.

Circa 2000, entered Ekta kapoor with a magic wand and with her brought a change which would strip Indian Television of its simplicity and naivety. With Star Plus as home ground, she revolutionized television with her unprecedented success and a blitzkrieg to rival that of films. Garish saris and grotesque facial expressions became the order of the day and men became the weaker sex of the small screen. Kyonki, Kahani, Kahin Kissi Roz, Kahin To Hoga brought in TRP’s and money at an unparalleled rate. While the heroines became saintly and god like, vamps became meaner and more menacing. Idealistic Bahus were virgins, voluble and virtuous, capable of enduring inhuman agonies and anguish with a silly smile. It was a phase when Indian television changed forever.

Currently we are in the fourth stage where an alarming 63 channels jostle for attention, Real life Drama, expletives and abuses are all a part of an actor’s ensemble. There is no clear victor and the poor viewer is bereft of choices. Innovation is dead and formula is in. There is no clear winner today, everyone loses! The best entertainment is provided by 24/7 news channels!

Festival Frenzy

As a child I was overtly religious, and I guess to make up for it I never bothered much with either religion or prayer while growing up. Indeed, of late its been fairly extreme in the other direction however one ritual which has been followed is that of Shivratri. I know not if it is out of the memory of someone who introduced me to the ritual observing the day or merely something I do as I’ve always done it, the festival dedicated to the Blue throated God has always been something special. This year was no different and though I had a harrowing first part of the day because of some trivial rubbish, it has actually been an enormously cleansing day, simple, subdued and subtle. Festivals are supposed to be punctuations in the passage of time and life, but they should be so by choice rather than custom or belief. A day when you acknowledge the power of the one above you and abide by it as a testament to your own beliefs rather than others, in a short festivals are celebrations of ourselves and definitely not about deities and even less about token tributes. It’s all about us, as always and that was the fact I enjoy most about Shivratri, its all about me and I revel in that.

Having no TV around (the current one zonked off weeks back and I am determined not to get it repaired) is doing wonders to me and my reading. Finished off many pending books, including Wilbur Smith who gave his latest book when I interviewed him months back and which has been staring at me insolently for quite some time. It also keeps me more tuned in with my work and myself, how many times do I switch on and switch off the Idiot box even when I knew that nothing worthwhile was on! Trying to take a newspaper break but am wondering if that’s stretching things too far…

An agonizing two days and excruciating waits of almost 4 hours on two consecutive days meant that I interviewed Barkha Dutt and Nargis Fakhri. Not a fan of either, the former was all business like and brisk. The latter was surprisingly warm, even postponing her lunch when she saw me waiting and speaking without any airs. Maybe its got to do with her western upbringing but she seemed nice without being condescending and she SO tall, by far the tallest person in that sad and otherwise listless crowd, not to mention, the best looking belle of the ballroom.

After a while

It has been a while I updated a blog and unlike the previous times, I felt no pressure or guilt to write in this space. It's been a laid back January. I didn't work much and even wrote my least articles in two and half years. I didn't read many books and was actually doing nothing but sitting and staring into space... This month though has forced me to be more active and am giving in and going out full throttle again. What is it about a break that rejunevates you so much... Is it the belief that you are going back to your space very soon, is it the fact that you feel that you've earned rest and at what point does it blur the distinction between a break and being plain lazy?

We are doing a food issue this month and I have been eating like a mad hatter day in and day out. My new found chubby cheeks agree and everywhere I go people arent hesitating to point out the face that I look "really" healthy nowadays. Not that I mind a bit of love handles but it sure is a new experience and I'm gradually getting used to it.

This past week, I have discovered the joys of sitcoms again and " The Big Bang Theory" has kept me hooked, I don't know why because except or Penny and Leonard everyone else irritates the hell out of me. Though I mut admit that it has cleverly used every trick in town to its own advantage. And I actually know a person like Sheldon Cooper...he even looks the same....god save us.

Watched the Adjustment Bureau and loved the movie...love which beats fate and does it convincingly!