Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Ro(w)dies

The current season of Mtv Roadies makes me feel sick to my stomach. I used to actually like the first few seasons. They were really about survival of the fittest. Tasks were interesting and challenging. Elimination of a roadie did not throw up a huge controversy. Now the show is just filled with manipulation and back-stabbing. Each participant plots against every other participant.
Maybe its all made up, but the entire 'Roadies' generation is filled with foul-mouthed, arrogant and dis-respectful bunch of youngsters who think its cool to use swear words.

In the earlier seasons we had Mr.I'm-too-cool Raghu throwing off attitude, and now there are two of them! Two bald, bespectacled men sitting and passing judjement on people. These men sit on their high horses and call people hypocrites and other such awful names. Hosting/conducting a reality show is one thing; inviting youngsters to audition and participate in a TV show just to humiliate them in front of millions of people is downright rotten!

Last night's episode had this innocent babe from Haryana who had quite a tough time answering the anchors' questions. Raghu and Rajiv were throwing accusations at her, calling her all sorts of names and making her feel bad about who she is! I do not understand why anyone would go through so much torture and humiliation just to get on a TV show. Granted, you get noticed and receive a huge cash award; but it’s not worth demeaning oneself in this manner. Ex-roadie Ashutosh alias Ashu's key to popularity was his notorious behaviour on the show. It even got him an entry into 'Big Boss'(another piece of trash).

In my opinion the perfect reality show is 'The Amazing Race' on AXN. Its a test of strength, wits & intelligence. Shows like Roadies and Big Boss must be banned for the mere idiocy and vulgarity of their content.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

India under siege

With the current spate of terror attacks in the country, leaving the house and getting back safe seems to be a blessing. The attacks on the Taj and Oberoi Hotels as well as the rest of Mumbai has saddened me to a great extent. Over a 100 dead, 187 injured and still counting! These stats dont seem wake up the authorities to the growing threat surrounding this country. Every time a attack of this magnitude takes place, politicians begin playing the blame game. The opposition starts questioning the party in power and try to manipulate people into voting for them in the next election. With the elections coming up, I'm sure BJP is going to cry itself hoarse pointing fingers at Congress for the terror attacks.Why dont both the parties (rather everyone involved) unite and try to solve the issue instead of gaining political mileage out of it??

When is all this gonna end? Didnt the authorities get whiff of this on their radar? Such an organized crime wouldnt have gone unnoticed. Is our security system so bad that there have been more than 10 such incidents in 2008? Unless the government or the requisite authorities take stringent action, this is will continue. I wrote a similar post in Jan 2007. Sadly, nothing has changed.

Monday, September 08, 2008

4th September 2008

I ran from one hospital to another, begging for an ambulance, while my grandfather lay unconscious at home.
That fateful morning, when I was just stepping out for work, my grandpa called out to me and said that he was feeling weak and was going to faint. My mom & I made him sit down and gave him a glass of water. A few minutes later he collapsed.
Shocked and completely unaware of what to do next, I frantically called up my aunt and told her that grandpa has fainted.

I ran out to get a doctor living next door; however, she wasnt in. At once I took out my bike and rushed to the nearby hospital. When I said that I needed an ambulance, pat came the reply, "Madam, the driver is not available. We’ll dispatch one in half an hour". I was furious! I yelled back saying "An ambulance is meant for emergencies and this is indeed an emergency"!

However, they refused to comply. I was given the number of another hospital in the area. When I called that number, I was re-directed to another place. This went on for a few mins, during which I realised that I need to personally fetch it from somewhere. I rushed to the second hospital, where I had a row with the security there about parking my bike in the car parking zone. The guy made me remove my bike and park it elsewhere!
On enquiring about an ambulance, I was asked to wait. Ten precious minutes later, a doctor arrived on the scene and began enquiring about my Grandpa's medical history! Finally, with an ambulance & a doctor in tow, we began our journey back home. We had lost almost 20-25 mins.

As I entered my house, I saw the doctor next door attending to my Grandpa.
I saw the grief-stricken faces of my mom, aunt and cousin and realised that it was all over. The doctor whom I had brought tried to revive him but to no avail.
I wonder if the hospital(s) had reacted on time and dispatched an emergency vehicle, my Grandpa would have survived.
At 85, he was a little weak and had lived a full life. He had had a massive attack. I guess it wouldn’t have been possible.
But, if it had been a young and relatively healthy man/woman in his place, those precious 20-25 mins could have been crucial.

Such disregard & disrespect for medical emergencies is found only in this country.
The Indian Medical Association should make note of the fact that there are no ambulances available when there is the dire need for one.
Hospitals like the ones I went to should not be allowed to function in such a relaxed and haphazard manner.
We paid dearly because of the inefficiency shown by the hospital staff. I hope and pray for a better system to be put in place so that this does not happen to another poor soul.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

I've lost the will to write!

Working for an IT company has made me a robot. I go to work at 9, sit at the computer all day, come back home at 10 or so, eat, check my email and finally hit the sack at 11.30. Weekends are no different. If I don’t go to work, I sleep, watch TV or go out with friends. My hobbies such as reading or even blogging (which is what I’m doing right now), have been cast away due to either lack of energy or even interest (to a certain extent).
As a teenager, I mostly read pulp fiction, though mom constantly urged me to read more of Paul Theroux, P.G. Woodhouse, Bill Bryson and others. Nowadays, I find it hard to concentrate even on a little piece of written matter for more than 15 minutes. Is it my job that has made me this way or have I just lost interest? As software engineers, we have been molded to solve problems by writing programs and documenting them in the worst possible manner. We are taught to copy and paste code in just the right places that we do not bother to read what's in it.
Has this made my attention span so short that I’m already planning to give up finishing this??
Whenever I get some time off, I feel like doing something that doesn’t exercise my mind too much. Watching the idiot box and sleeping don’t require much thinking; although they are brain – numbing activities.
I've lost the will to write! Help!

Tuesday, February 12, 2008