• Good news – I reached airport on time for my 6:30am flight
• Bad news – They kept us waiting on the runway for over an hour
• Good news – We finally took off
• Bad news – We reached an hour late. I missed my connection.
• Good news – I “almost” missed my connection. They were delayed also due to fueling.
• More Good news – didn’t have to wait 7 hours at Charlotte for the next flight. reached Austin just an hour late.
• Ultimate Bad news – My checked in baggage didn’t make it. Sigh!
• Ultimate Good news – Screw all that. I am in Austin. API Hackday. Yayy! Bring it on!

1. Switching to Spotify Premium for my everyday music doze (Finally some might say)
2. Trying out Bowtie – to control Spotify through keyboard shortcuts
3. Flipboard for iPhone is now my primary consumption app for news etc.

So far, all three are working out great. We’ll see how long we stick together!

Me: Here’s my contract. Sign it and we’ll begin.

Them: We don’t need a contract. You can trust me.

Me: Oh, I do trust you. But if you get hit by a bus tomorrow, then I’ll need legal documentation to collect from the company.

Them: I won’t get hit by a bus.

Me: It could be a slip in the shower. That’s the number one kille…

Them: I don’t sign contracts!

Me: How did you get phone service or office space or equipment?

Them: I could hire an art student to do this with no contract and for less money!

Me: Then why did you contact me?

Via Smashing Magazine

Since the days of Jessica Lal and Manu Sharma, the Indian media has come a long way. Often crossing the lines of what would be considered reporting/provocation for pure gossip/TRP ratings at the cost of some poor soul/s.

Some Instances -

• Story-1 (NDTV, Sify) - David Beckham/Shah Rukh Khan detained at US airport for search/questioning. It was reported by NDTV a few days ago that Soccer star David Beckham was detained at a US airport and that he was pissed and fuming. So I did a search on Google news for “David Beckham” and it wasn’t surprising to discover that the only other site reporting something about incident was yet another Indian site Sify. I looked at BBC’s website hoping I might find something at least on the UK news website. Nada..zilch..nothing..not CNN, MSNBC..no where. It just wasn’t news for them. So what does that mean, you ask – It means that the Indian media is so negative and so hungry for news that they create news out of their derailed mucous filled brains. David Beckham, Shahrukh Khan or who ever else you want to put the name of here, being detained at the airports for search as part of a routine security process is not NEWS. Please take note of that you fuckin morons. Stop pulling news out of your sagging asses. It’s simply not done. Stop. Now.
• Story-2 (NDTV) - Minister of Parliament Shahnawaz Hussain was denied US visa. He was to attend a UN meeting in US - The sentiments here are the same. It’s not the big story you are looking for. There’s no need to perform a detailed post mortem on this and get emotional and sentimental. FYI, USCIS cannot and does not deny a visa without giving a written explanation. It’s usually just a matter of catering to some more requirements and explanations. People are denied visas everyday. So please stop reporting which minister was denied visa and whoz dog was allowed. We don’t need to know unless it’s the Prime Minister or the President. What gives all Indian ministers the right to visit the US anyway, don’t care the reason? It’s not a right from last I heard. Period.
• Story-3 (NDTV, IBNLive) A young “Kashmiri” cricketer was arrested on suspicions of carrying explosives. he was later released for lack of evidence. The story went on for couple of days (it’s still on I think) All this while, the media very responsibly chose to call the cricketer a “kashmiri” cricketer. He’s of course not “a young cricketer” nor “a cricketer” nor an “Indian”. He is a “kashmiri cricketer”. The likes of Barkha Dutt would argue that this is a better and catchy and sellable story. I wouldn’t argue with the professionals from the business. They have of course graduated from the school of lost souls and idiotic reasonings.

I don’t really care if the cricketer was guilty or it was part of a set up like Dutt seems to argue. I don’t give a fuck to what the real deal was. What I have a problem with in this case is the “way” you report it. It should have been reported as a “young cricketer was arrested in Karnataka”. That’s it. Please keep the details to yourself. Sleep with them. Save them for your autobiography. The public does not need to know that he is a “kashmiri”. Would you have reported it much the same way if the cricketer happened to be a Bengali? I can’t imagine a tweet from Dutt saying ” A young bengali cricketer was arrested on suspicion of carrying explosives.” Why the special treatment to the Kashmiris? And then you throw this tweet in the mix. That’s what they call marketing folks. Create a provocative story, create a conversation and then raise your TRP’s for the fucking tonight show

The arrest of any soul on incorrect grounds is unwarranted – leave alone a “kashmiri”. You put the twist on the story by making it a “kashmiri” plight. And then you complain why some elements lash out with terror. The media gives them a reason to. You call that responsible reporting? How is that bit of news important? How does that help the society? How does that help India as nation?

You want to blame the cops for the screw up? Good. I am right there with you. You want to blame the politicians. Sure why not. But how about taking some of the blame yourself for giving the people of kashmir even a slight reason to think that there are some people out there to get them!

It’s good that you have learnt to tweet. It’s a tough job..really. Coming up with 140 characters to catch people’s attention. Now you just need some common sense, restraint and a sane mind. Can’t be that hard can it?

And finally… Amitabh: That’s Freedom, Peace, that’s Nirvana in a nutshell!

The most fascinating part about the blog are the nick names he uses to refer to KKR members. It took me a little while to read the first post, since I was trying to figure out the nick names to make sense of the blog. I finally have. Here’s a list of the nick names I have been able to comprehend so far -In alphabetical Order of nick names

UPDATES:

Teams:

Friends & strangers argued with me and reiterated the point that I should appreciate Cinema. It’s however a little hard to look at how good the camera work is when the image of your country is getting maligned in pretty much every frame.One of the critics actually said that I am jealous of all the recognition and the awards it’s been getting. I am still confused on that particular critique. Why the f**k would I be jealous of a movie winning awards? Unless I am jealous that it wasn’t me who won the “unreal” Million Dollars in the movie!

Anyways, so this post is dedicated as a slap back to all those ignorant moronic Indians who loved Slumdog Millionaire, couldn’t stop raving about it and thought that SM would do no harm to India’s image in the world.

This is what I saw on the cover of “The New Yorker” magazine at the checkout counter at Barnes & Nobles Bookstore. The headline goes “Slums but no Millionaires” and it goes on to tell the story of a night spent in Mumbai where the writer saw nothing but slums!
That’s all she saw in Mumbai..wow! Fabulous, f***ing fantastic, I say!

Thank you Slumdog Millionaire for giving this awesome reward. Hope the cast & crew would appreciate our role and give the Indian slums a thank you speech at the Oscars.

“Mission Accomplished” – says Danny Boyle

To be honest, I didn’t have too many expectations from the film even though the whole world was gushing about a film made by an American director with a boy from the Indian slums as the protagonist. The basic premise of the film however sounded interesting. A slum boy from Mumbai wins the “Who wants to be a millionaire” show by using all the real life experiences he has gone through. Brilliant idea I thought.

So I said to myself “It’s a film about India with a bloody good concept and it’s creating sensation all over the world…what the hell..I should watch it” – BLUNDER!

After watching the film, I see where Mr.Amitabh Bachchan was coming from and I totally relate to his sentiments.

Let me explain.While I loved the concept of the movie, I did not appreciate the way India has been portrayed. Now before you soulless people begin your rants with – “But it’s all true, no lies” and some more crap along the same lines”, let me assure you I have spent 22 years of my life in India and I know it’s the truth and nothing but the truth. But that’s not the point. We must ask ourselves, do we really want the world to see India this way? Is this what the world should picture us as? What are we achieving in doing this?

Every country in the world has flaws, the same way as you and I do. But that’s not what we want to show to the world. The world audience is an outsider as far as the Indian cinema is concerned and will always be. I abhor showing India in a bad light to the outside world and picking up awards along the way. Shameful I say on part of the Indians involved with the film…including one Mr. Anil Kapoor and Irfan Khan, who have both lost a little bit of respect in my eyes.

Not that I am a big supporter of all the questionable things that happen in India. I do not like it either and would want it changed, but does that mean I start supporting the glamorization of the imperfections? No, I would rather bring forth the positives about India while actively keep working on the negatives.

The negatives or the so called “real India” is what the world seems to be interested in. Show them the slums and they take it as real India. This is what is entertainment for them. Showing them the cosmopolitan India making rapid progress and competing with them in literally every field is not what they want to shell out their 10 bucks for. It’s just too boring. They want to see the “Real India”!

Let me take an analogy, it’s the same as an outsider making a film on one of your family members. It shows only the truth about him/her, nothing but the truth. But it shows all the mucky details about your family. This movie is now shown on world stage. The whole world is laughing and mocking at your family member and remember they are laughing at you too!

What do you do now? You have two choices – You either appreciate the film and say “Well it’s true and I love the movie for it’s entertainment. So what if they showed a little bit of truth about my father, he’s an idiot anyway” or stand up and say “WTF…I don’t care if it’s true or not…I don’t like you f***ing morons bad mouth my family (or country in this case)”
Bad example? Maybe, but hopefully you get the point.

I don’t like the fact that an outsider is poking fingers and making money at the expense of showing the flaws of India and calling it “Real India”. It seems that the film was made with just that intention. You can’t blame the audience. They have every reason to believe what they are seeing, cause of the Indian crew involved with the film. Disgusting is all I can say on part of the Indians involved with this film.

More than anything else, I did not like the fact that it was made by a non-Indian who knows nothing about India, leave alone living in India. Unfortunately that is the precise reason, it’s getting the grand recognition at the world stage. I guess, I would have felt better had it been churned out of the Indian film industry, cause then it would be one of us passing a judgement vis-a-vis an outsider having the audacity to do so.

I think it’s getting all the recognition at the cost of the world audience imagining and picturing this as the real India. How many people do you think would be encouraged to visit India after watching this film? Not too many! Not something to celebrate and gush about after all..is it?

So ladies and gentleman, next time some body says – “Ohh you are from the dirty country full of filth, corruption & torture“, don’t be surprised..you know where it’s coming from!

I am not an extremist. I don’t think the movie should be banned. I don’t think there should be protests against the film. Every body has the right to have their say in a democracy. All I hope for however is some more morality and sanity on part of the Indian actors in picking the foreign films they get involved with. Is that too much to ask?

related: MacBreak: Minimize distractions on your Mac (via 43folders)