She opted out of the safe confines of only a homemaker’s role.
She entered the rough and tumble of the professional world.
She had to work twice as hard as her male friends,
To look half as good, according to them.
Hopefully, many years later when we meet,
She will smile and say,
I have risen very well in this world of yours.
I have risen equally well as a mother and a wife.
That’s what makes me different from you and them.
It’s interesting to see how times have changed over the years, from post cards to e-cards, letters to e-mails, and so on. Similarly, one cannot help but note the drift from television to internet; the aspect of internet i am referring to here, is YouTube, and the like. The internet’s overwhelming ability to engage users is quite extraordinary.
On this note, I thought I’d pen down my thoughts on this shift. i.e. a comparison between Television and YouTube. This can be regarded as more of a ‘pros and cons’ analysis of both parties.
Let’s start with television.
When TV was introduced, it was a terrific breakthrough. It became the most powerful mass media tool of its time, as it captured not only the visual senses, but also the auditory senses. In fact, it was the marriage of these two senses to deliver a message that made this medium so captivating. Clearly TV stood more powerful when compared to radio and newspapers. This medium also permeated pretty quick, and soon, with globalization and all other advancements in terms of satellites, it became possible for a person sitting in Chennai to watch what was happening in New York Time Square, live – as and when it happened. Soon, TV became a primary obsession among many households. If we look at our country, we can see how we are glued to TV for news, debates, dramas, sitcoms, cricket, cricket, and oh, did i mention…Cricket!
At a certain point, it was hard to imagine a more inclusive medium to engage households. But it has happened, thanks to the world wide web.
The internet has created a host of amazing things, from e-mails to instant messaging to social networks to video chats. However, the aspect i am concentrating on here would be YouTube.
Now, we all know that Google has redefined the way we use the internet. Similarly, when three employees of PayPal introduced YouTube to the world, they not only changed the way we use the internet, but they indirectly changed how we’re going to use TV, in some way. Today, i personally cannot imagine life without YouTube. What TV brought to the table, YouTube doubled that, and also made the table bigger!
With YouTube, not only can you watch whatever you search for, instead of waiting for your favourite show to air on TV, but you can create your own channel, record your video and share it with the world! You have the privilege to stop watching at anytime, and jump to something completely random, thus giving you the power to select the information that you want. It’s amazing to see how the whole world now can watch the video of a street performer in New York playing a beautiful song on his guitar, or a talented dance group from a university in New Delhi, or a crazy bunch of idiots fooling around trying to jump off railings and what not. Could you ever imagine you’d run into something like that…ever?!
This, my friends, is the power of the YouTube. The participative element gives this medium such an uplift. It is amazing to see how something goes viral nowadays. A million hits. 100,000 likes… 50,000 shares… Yes, this is what we’ve been hearing nowadays, and it’s all good, trust me.
As i come to the end of this article, i have one pending thought to pen down… If YouTube was unimaginable ten years before its inception, i wonder what will hit us ten years from NOW!
“This earthly heaven is enough for me…”
I know it’s a little late to do a review on this one, but since David Gilmour’s music is undoubtedly timeless, I guess I can be excused.
With his trademark guitar tone and his naturally aged voice that articulates his wisdom, David Gilmour seems to keep the soul of Pink Floyd alive in every song that he composes, and the tracks on On an Island are no exceptions.
The opening piece, named ‘Castellorizon’ sets a very deep, dark, psychedelic mood with samples of sound flying about until it reaches a peak where Gilmour’s guitar enters with a scream. Beautiful. This track leads into the title track, ‘On an Island’, which is an absolute classic. The calmness in David’s voice, backed by the melody and the guitar solos, gives this track an epic feel that runs throughout. The song is richly layered in backing vocals, and is an awesome piece of work.
Gilmour then digs deeper into serenity with ‘The Blue’, which is a very slow-paced mellow tune that relies on sustained notes to carry it through. The album then enters ‘Take a Breath’, where Gilmour unleashes a more rock-style distorted guitar sound. This track has a sense of assertiveness thus making it heavier than the other tracks.
After this, Gilmour breaks into a saxophone solo backed by strings, in a song named ‘Red Sky at Night’. I suppose the track title alone would tell you what to expect from this one. Magical.
David then brings things back up with ‘This Heaven’, which has a bluesy touch combined with strings that create a very unique musical experience. The track ends off jam-style with an improvised solo fading out.
The next track, ‘Then I Close My Eyes’, brings serenity back. Gilmour plays a host of instruments here. It is interesting to see how he uses different elements in the right proportion to create a meaningful unified sound.
This is followed by the last two tracks of the album, ‘A Pocket Full of Stones’ and ‘Where We Start’ which ease into a mellow mood again.
Overall, the album is a pleasant journey, beautifully laid out with with a set of songs that really make you feel like you’re on an island. 🙂
As an implusive decision, we planned to be part of a trek organised by the Bangalore Mounteneering Club. So, we headed off on a night trek to Kaballadurga which is situated some 70 kms from Bangalore on Kanakapura road.
Overall, the trek was moderately difficult. We spent the the whole night under the barren sky cuddled in sleeping bags, and thankfully, Bangalore’s climate was kind to us, else we would have frozen as we had not taken enough warm clothing due to our impulsive decision :).
We reached the base at the stroke of midnight. From there, it took us two hrs to reach the top. where we camped for the night. The next morning, after sunrise, we started descending the hill.
It was definitely a nice short and sweet experience!
This past week, my family and i visited Vedanthangal. It is one of the oldest water bird sanctuaries in the country. It is a one and half hour journey from Chennai.
It is a good spot to witness some amazing birds!
Here are some snaps i took at Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu, this past week.
The pictures are an attempt to capture the placid, pure, foggy atmosphere that Kodai has at this time of the year.
Skies were beautiful both at dawn and at dusk, and clouds beautifully glazed the peaks as temperatures dropped down.
Sleek, slim, black and smooth. Introducing the recently launched Sony Xperia Miro, from the latest range of Sony Smartphones.
The phone is primarily black in colour, with optional bottom panel colour changes, as seen in the picture.
Equipped with the latest Android operating system – Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0.4, this smartphone provides a good, smooth flowing user interface. Also, the Google Play Store enables the user to downlaod the coolest free apps around. Ah, thank god for Android. 🙂
Priced at about Rs.13,000, the Miro is a very good mid-segment smartphone. In terms of music, it is powered with the Sony Walkman player. For visuals, the 3.5 inch TFT display is more than decent.
Another good feature i can point out is the power saver option, which when chosen, switches off additional functions in order to prevent the battery from draining.
Coming to the camera, the Miro has a decent 5 megapixel camera that has a better performance outdoors than indoors. The video sensor is pretty decent for recording too. And another cool feature is the front camera, which enables easy video chat for skype and gtalk, etc. provided your service provider gives you decent mobile internet coverage.
Overall, the Xperia Miro is definitely worth its money, and serves, well, atleast my purpose! 🙂
The last time i remember watching an Aamir Khan film at the theaters, that DID NOT receive a standing ovation at end credits…… i was just 11 years old!!
It was the unforgettable “Mela” that ruined the new millennium for our entire generation. (Aah those traumatic memories)
Of course , Taalash wasnt that bad, rather it wasnt bad at all. But if you are used to the Raju Hirani/Om prakash mehra/Farhan akthar and Ashutosh brand of cinema and suddenly fed a sour dose of Vikram Bhatt, you are bound to be dissapointed.
The fact that Sahil Rizwan (http://mumbaiboss.com/tag/the-vigil-idiot/) shyed away from making a stick figure out of the star cast says how ordinary the film was.
Although a wannabe intricate plot line with a cliched climax turned out half as clever as the trailers portrayed the film to be, the muscle and panache of Aamir Khan made an ordinary film very watchable. He still can do it 🙂
Add to it the tailor made roles for Kareena and Rani who both pull it off with aplomb and vigour. Although they have had their share of the bizzare and the demented quite recently (Heroine & Aiyaa) , these performances would give them some leverage until they pick their next “what was i thinking??” film.
Menawhile, Reema and Zoya are fast becoming this unstoppable force in B’town since ZNMD and Talaash. Whether this film acts as a deterrent to their brand of cinema (Climax) or elevates them to higher grounds (other than the climax) lies in how long you decide to sit through this film.
But if 1 thing needs to be cherished from this insanely talented star cast, it would be Nawazzuddin Siddique. Someone who shall longer be an unknown in Hindi cinema.
So there it is: watch it, if you are bored of the “Leave your brains behind” kinda cinema – yes, im talking to you guys — Ajay Devgan,Rohit Shetty,Akshay Kumar. But by the end of the film, you just may just regret that your brain had tagged along.
Cheers!
Life is a lot simpler when the rule book is simple . The one to top the list of many such simple people is the broad curve – the SMILE . The very gesture thats most expected yet least delivered . Some genius said – “Smile – It costs nothing”. So true . Day in and day out we come across a lot of people. Only a few of them are remembered or registered into our minds for the things they contribute.