'Kindling' Readers

Amazon has gone the Apple way with the launch of their innovative reading device, christened 'Kindle'. This was initially launched in 2007 and is currently supported only in the US.

I recently came across this and got pretty excited about the idea for some obvious reasons. Kindle effectively does away with the cons of reading from electronic devices, such as the commonplace computer monitor! Personally, I've always been against the idea of reading a complete book or novel off the computer screen. Kindle's closer-to-book feel, easy-to-carry size/weight and ergonomic design would definitely woo readers away from the traditional print. An expandable storage capacity of over 200 titles backed by wireless technology called 'Whispersync' (Carrier: Sprint) makes access to books, newspapers etc seamless. Add to this other features possible like: read-out-aloud, instant dictionary look-up, transfer of other documents to-fro computers etc. The pros & possibilities sure look endless.

Though critics have pointed out some cons with Kindle which also includes a pricey tag (about USD 359), this device is sure to undergo many more user-friendly changes that would usher in a wide range of options for convenient reading-on-the-go. This is yet another revolutionary concept that would hugely impact lives around the world in a positive manner.

The Economics of Elections!

For a moment if we ignore all the shady politics & power games associated with the Indian General Elections and view it purely from a macro-economic perspective, the timing of polls couldn't have been any better this time around! We can expect that the Lok Sabha polls would do their bit to ease the nerves frayed by this massive monster we've come to know as the 'economic recession'.

Here's how: The famous Keynesian economics advocates interventionist government policy, by which the government would use fiscal and monetary measures to mitigate the adverse effects of economic recessions, depressions & the like. The oft-quoted proverbial example is that of the Government employing people to dig a large hole and then paying them again to fill it up! In summary, this school of thought advocates massive public spending to distribute money to the people to bolster their buying capacity, which ultimately instills liquidity and cash-flow in the system, that in turn helps an economy to recover from the recession.

Now contrast this with our case at hand. With the country going to the polls, one cannot expect any new major investment action directly by the Government. However, this would be more than compensated by the pseudo-Governmental spend by the aspiring 'netas' who are sure to blow up wads of cash during the course of this election - by way of public campaigning, rallying party cadres, wooing the voting public with legal pompous shows & illegal cash-for-vote schemes (or scams!) etc. If we look at the possible beneficiaries, they would be: media (printed, digital & electronic), flower industry, unorganized logistics & travel industry, food & consumables, and the public at large! All this money would go into the pockets of the lower-middle & middle class segments that is sure to improve their spending power. With the possibility of thousands of crore rupees being spent this summer by the various contesting parties & candidates, this could go a long way towards improving liquidity & cash flow in the economy.

Thus, while it remains uncertain whether the elected party will ride the country out of this recession, the potentially huge expenses during the course of this election would definitely ease things with the economy!

Been AWOL from the blog!

I recently came across this word "awol" that interested me, because I'd have never guessed that this was a grammatically correct word. Yes, this is a proper English word which actually means 'Absent WithOut Leave'.

Through a quick research ably assisted by our very own Dr. Google, here is what I found out: This American word traces its origin back to the 1860s, during the times of the Civil War. The phrase 'absent without leave' was used to designate those who were gone for a relatively short time, as opposed to permanent deserters. In the Army of the Confederacy, such a soldier was punished by being draped with a sign bearing the initials "A.W.O.L." to signify his crime, that is, being absent without leave! Humorously contrived attributions of the letters in the subsequent World Wars included "A Wolf On the Loose" and "After Women Or Liquor"! (source: http://www.answers.com/).

Quite interesting, considering that a phrase was turned into an acronym, which eventually became an english word on its own. English, for sure is a funny & tolerant language!

Wii and me

Nintendo's Wii (pronounced like the English word 'we') gaming console is an absolutely revolutionary concept. Barely 2 years after its launch, it has already outdone its competitors Microsoft's Xbox and Sony's PlayStation (PS) who were ruling the roost until then. Nintendo has a long history in the gaming space (who can forget Super Mario Bros.!), and it has rightly reclaimed its long lost position.

While Xbox and PS stand out with their high-defintion graphics as the USP, Wii scores with its wireless motion sensor that gives a surrealistic first-person playing experience. The design of the Wii wireless remote allows users to control the game using physical gestures as well as traditional button presses. A tennis serve using the Wii remote launches the tennis ball off in the right direction at the correct angle; or a forward jab of the arm delivers a punch in the face of the opponent in the Boxing game. The only trade-off here is the above-average quality of video & graphics. But one can rest assured that the fun of a first-person gaming experience more than makes up for this shortcoming.

I picked up this console during my trip to the US last year. My clear favorite is "Wii-Play Tennis"; I also liked the BWii - 'Battalion Wars 2', an action-RTS (Real Time Strategy) hybrid, which offers some amazing game play. I am yet to try out the newly released 'Wii-Fit' add-on, which is the latest rage in the Wii arena - a good balance of yoga, fitness and gaming fun. I would strongly recommend this gaming console for people of all age groups, with just a little interest in gaming; this also brings about a perfect family gaming experience in the multiplayer mode.

Though Wii is yet to be launched in India, I've come across stores that sell imported pieces, predominatly from the UAE (though at a hefty premium - Rs.20,000+ in India vs $250 in the US, for just the console). A word of caution - there is a region-compatibility issue between the console and the game CDs, i.e. if you buy a Wii Console made for the US market, it would only support the game CDs made for the same geography, so CDs made for UAE/Europe wouldn't be compatabile.

Book - 'The 3 Mistakes of my Life'

I recently bought Chetan Bhagat's third book 'The 3 Mistakes of my life'. The author is already a sensation in the Indian readers circle with both his earlier books being well received; they are also in the process of being adapted into Bollywood movies. The book's blurb claims that he has become the 'biggest-selling English-language novelist in India's history'!

Chetan Bhagat is no literary genius. However, he has a very interesting and humorous writing style that instantly strikes a chord with the Indian masses. The plots revolve around general topics that evince interest in the urban readers - college life, call centres, cricket and the like. Rupa & Co, the publisher has tactically priced all the 3 books at Rs.95 making them easily affordable for the middle class target audience.

And now here’s my take on the books. I would rank them in the same order as their publishing:

• The first book 'Five Point Someone' was just magical and mindblowing - recreating the typical college backbencher's story in a very humorous way.
  
• The second book 'One night at the call centre' did retain some of the freshness and creative writing style of the author, though it had an unrealistic plot towards the end – what with the ‘divine’ intervention and movie-plot like settling-the-score with the corporate bosses.
  
• This final book 'The 3 mistakes of my life' has a more serious story and touches upon some of the core issues in today's society, wherein the author presents a contemporary view of cricket, business and politics. However, the book largely misses the trademark humorous writing which we’ve come to expect from the author. This is tantamount to casting Jim Carrey in a serious plot with a tragic ending!

Missing the characteristic punch, the book was largely a lackadaisical read. The book also has a very filmi plot, probably a side-effect of the author getting into mainstream Bollywood screenplay writing! Here’s hoping that Chetan Bhagat’s future books revolve around his characteristic style of writing and recreate the freshness and magic seen in his first book.

Dawn of a new Sport!

Amongst all achievements of George W Bush during his tenure as the US President, the most ‘impactful’ & unforgettable one would definitely be his contribution towards conception of a brand new sport– yes, the fine art of ‘shoe-throwing’!! I’d say the credit entirely goes to Bush as opposed to Muntadhar al-Zeidi, the Iraqi Journalist who can be conferred the distinction of being the first-ever participant!

It is hardly 2 months since its inception on 15 Dec 2008, and we’ve already had 2 more high profile games; the targets – Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and the Israeli Ambassador Benny Dagan (in Sweden). Unlike other high-profile sports that have a gestation period before they reach the shores of India, this one has already arrived here; and the target - Kerala’s CPM state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan (in Kerala)!

In an uncanny similarity, all the participant’s missiles have missed their respective targets. Apparently here are some ‘ground’ rules for this sport – a) participant must use something worn on the feet as a missile, (even a chappal would qualify), b) mouth a slogan for posterity, something that would ring-on even after the arrests are made. One must wait to see how this sport would evolve with time and how popular it would get. But the prospects sure look promising!

Slumdog Country ???

With the movie 'Slumdog Millionaire' sweeping the Golden Globe awards and picking up 10 Oscar nominations, I walked in to watch this movie with high levels of curiosity (& some amount of pride) . But how disgusting an experience it turned out to be! In summary: Here's a British studio dishing out a movie for the global audience on the sorry state of affairs in a country that has nothing but poverty, filth, violence and lawlessness - what better choice than India??

Unlike popular assumption, this is not a rags-to-riches story. And it is definitely not the struggle of a great dream born in the slums. The story is of a boy perpetually in search of his girl and how his destiny ultimately 'takes' him to her. Everything else just forms part of the backdrop - slums & the accompaniment, and the millionaire TV show. It is quite obvious that global stereotyped image of India being a country of beggars and snake-charmers has been conveniently used and extended.

The director goes the whole hog to paint a grim picture of the country and in the process nothing is left out - impoverished state of the slums, riots and man-slaughter, horrendous exploitation of children, prostitution, systematic duping of foreign tourists, youth as gangsters and excesses by policemen. One cannot deny the existence of these vices, but this is just one of the faces of the society. The movie conveniently ignores or fails to focus on the other progressive areas. Perhaps, it was seen as hazardous to the storyline, background and global perception?

In this backdrop, all the recognition & awards world-over would only serve to worsen this. It would not just popularize the movie, but also strongly reinforce this negative stereotype. Its time we realized the damage being done?