when will we ever learn o when will we ever learn :(

another bleak black day for the child rights activists who doggedly pursued duncan grant n company to a lower court conviction, extradition n imprisonment...only to find the high court acquitting them. makes me angry makes me sad makes me despondent. how do we ever allow notorious previously-charged pedophiles to get away...even as their native country awaits their arrival to start child-abuse hearings against them.
what will we tell the kids who stuck to their statements?...how do we encourage so many more to speak up in future? by the time the appeal to the supreme court gets thru, those vile ol men will be laughing their asses off at us...twenty years later, we still hark back to freddy peats...sheila tai where are you??

he's out! n let's make sure he stays there

so at last the madman has been red-carded! kps gill should be tied to his bed post n not be allowed anywhere near women's derrieres n astroturf. of course, the sheer lunacy of dissolving the entire ihf leaves me befuddled...it's like disbanding the bcci coz of bhindra...cheechee! but of course they'll never do that. such cash rich milch cows should only be fattened further.

anyways, now that the worst is behind us, can we get on with some real good hockey?! 80years on we need to start from scratch again...

DO NOT FLY GO AIR

...just back from delhi after a harrowing flight on go air. you call before you leave home, "it's on time sir"...you check in, "it's on time sir". you're waiting in the the departure lounge that resembles a railway stn, no announcement. 15mins after the flight was supposed to take off, there's an announcement that the flight is going to be 30min late. 1hr later the crowd's getting restive...still no announcement. 30mins later we gherao 2 young walkie-talkie totting go-air ground staff. they plead ignorance innocence whatever...we're getting angrier...

turns out that the flight has come in from bombay n that a connecting flight to jammu has been cancelled, so the passengers on board are refusing to deplane!! duty manager is on board trying to coax the passengers to get off. meanwhile, no announcements, no senior "responsible" staff. we start go-air hai hai! the cisf comes by, the airport manager comes by...protests get more vociferous. go-air are sorry! but no offer for refreshments, still no announcement, no offer to put us on other available flights, no refund..but they are sorry!

the commandos are called in n the passengers de-plane n we board the aircraft 2 hours after the scheduled time of departure. on board too they are sorry. but they won't provide us with a complimentary snack or drink. they won't even provide you with a complaint form or passenger feedback form! utterly disdainful disrespectful dispicable behaviour!!

so, the long n short of it - pay that 2/300 extra fly indigo, spice, jetlite, deccan, etc BUT DO NOT FLY GO AIR!

sankraman studios!

aaarrrggghh! sankraman studios (where balaji n all those k soaps are manufactured)...aawwful dumpyard masquerading as a studio. illegal (it is located within the reserved forestlands of aarey) n ill-maintained
piss pools from overflowing loos!
the sound proofing!
the world's my garbage dump!
i don't know why producers pay for facilities like this. makes me so angry!...the only good thing, is that it is a 5min bike ride away from home ;)

the worst film list!

...something new i'm on to - instead of valliantly battling bombay's insane traffic, i walk into the nearest cinema hall/multiplex n settle into a film! sucker that i am, this evening walked into the gorgeous art-deco liberty at marine lines for "bow barracks forever"...as usual, i'm anxious to get a seat plonk in the middle of the hall, the guy behind the window bellows, "arrey kahin bhi baith jao!"

all of six people in this 1000 seater!!...and i soon learnt why!...attrocious, if ever there was a film worse than this. hamming for acting, awful music, stereotypical representation, badly written dialogue repeated o so often (in case you didn't get it the first time) you want to cry, a camera so reluctant to move, a wafer thin plot...grrrr i could go on...

and captive audience that i was, stayed on till the very end!... and yes, you guessed it - nothing really happened!...

so which was your worst film?...let's compile a list!

whyyyy??!

why is it that some tapes digitise without a chuu? why do some tapes develop drop outs n timecode breaks when they were fine until yesterday? why does my old pc with premiere not protest as much as my new souped up macbook with fcp? why is it sooo hot n muggy? why do i ask the most ridiculous questions at the most inappropriate times? why do i adjust my frame so much n check focus so often? why do i....

how to shake mtnl up

...for the last few weeks, i've been having a torrid time with my otherwise makkhan mtnl broadband connection. the adsl light just wouldn't stay steady. i'd call the helpline 1504 be on hold forever, they'd check that all is well from their side n pass the buck on to the exchange. but at the exchange, no one would pick up the phone or worse, they'd pick up, bark into it n slam it down mid-complaint. now that really gets my goat...

this went on for almost everyday for over 10days. today, i had had enough. i pulled out my camera, stuck a tape in, turned it on n walked right in into the "broadband saheb's office", but of course he's not there. got staff trying variously to explain to me where saab might have gone. naashta, chai, baahar...meanwhile, two others with the same complaint join me...

saab aa gaya, said someone..n in we trooped, my camera still rolling. sticking the lens into saab's face, i ask. "mr raghavan pls explain to me why my broadband connection is not working"..
err , have a seat...are you recording this? (sheepishly)
-yes, i'm fed up.(angrily)
but let me see what the problem is...
-your staff knows about this problem for 10days now.
o let me see. SAWANT!...inka number lena aur check karke batao (eyeing the camera)

my tirade didn't stop...iptv...privatisation..no planning...no capacity...don't...can't...i told him i wasn't going to leave till it is fixed. n sat put in his office while he tried to placate me, urging me to turn it off, offering me chai, ordering more staff on the job!...

i do turn it off eventually n then he says, pls understand i have joined here only 2 weeks ago. i am actually a refrigeration engineer, by training!!!!!!!!! pathetic... he goes on to tell me what a mess mtnl is in, no staff, not trained, how the guy before him neglected this department...after chai, i have not one, but two engineers dispatched with me home to fix the problem. haan, aur extra router bhi leyke jaanaa. why not, i muttered under my breath...it is 1.30pm now! prime lunch time!!

anyways, as it turned out there was a problem with the router... that changed..here i am!! beaming ear to ear!! but come to think about it..not very different from the mess the rest of the city is in - our roads, these malls...sighhhh