Ever wondered why European and American Countries are cleaner/tidier/neater than India? Is it because cleanliness is groomed to them from the childhood and its it their blood or they use simple common sense? We(Indians) tend to learn every thing from foreign countries, but eventually missed out the most obvious and essential stuffs like sanitation and cleanliness.
Last Friday i was traveling back home from my office. It was late and traffic was unusually high at 10pm. Was patiently waiting for the traffic to clear near Vadapalani signal. I was near a tempo van. Whatever idea ran into the tempo driver is still opaque..he opened the door, and started spitting on the road. As i was near him, my foot was also not spared! I gave him a wtf-look and he gave me a i-am-an-ass-look and asked apologies. Probably he mistook my leg looked to a wash-basin ;).
Even though his intention was not to spit on me, he didn't even realize he should not spit on the road. Like vivek says, its very true that, "In our country we should not kiss in public, but can piss anywhere!".
While driving back home, with a stinking leg, was questioning myself why the Indians don't prefer a cleaner way of living and why most of the places in India is dirty and filthy...the first thing came to my mind was the illiterate and economically unlucky lots.
Most of them either open up biriyani/food stalls and wash the plates and throw the waste in the streets or encroach the platform. Couple of years back, when i was traveling in a PTC bus, i had a brawl with a passenger who was coolly smoking his beedi. I did not want to complain to the conductor like a baby, so i handled him myself....though he did not stop smoking afterwards:). I could realize now that cleanliness and sanitation is not brooded with us.
Thinking deeper, its not only illiterate people who turn streets in to garbage pits, every single citizen plays some part or the other. We drink tea from tea shop and throw the cups in the street corners, buy things and throw the trash/plastics on the road, take our pets out for a walk and make them use the road as their toilets, cleaning vehicles on the road, use the road as garage to store things while constructing a house etc.
Government does their part by not providing enough public toilets, not cleaning and maintaining the roads properly, not enforcing proper/stricter sanitation rules, allowing buses with pathetic condition to pollute and ruin the roads, allowing garbage trucks to be driven with a open top(so that they can spread garbage), unmaintained drainages, uncleared slums etc.
As a result of these, we get dustier, bumpier and dirtier roads. I am really not sure whether this condition will ever change. We are really getting degraded each year. Few years back, i still remember chennai with somewhat cleaner roads. Today, one can not stand or drive near a bus, because someone will spit on you certainly. We will keep wondering(for years) how foreign countries are spic and span, while not knowing that its in the hands of we people!
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Cannibal Holocaust(1980): Review
This is one of the sickest film i have ever seen. After seeing the controversies surrounding this particular movie(ex. getting banned in 50 odd countries and director Ruggero Deodato getting arrested etc.), i thought of giving it a go. Even though the movies title mentions about cannibals, the movie is more or less like an animal-snuff film! *This film is surely not for any light hearted persons*
The movie started with a basic statuary warning stating that the movie contains unedited gruesome clippings. The movie is about a missing crew of ambitious documentary film makers, who set their foot in dangerous Amazon jungle to make a documentary about the cannibal tribes living there. A highly reputed professor is sent to recover the missing crew.
With the help of a local guide(who himself looks like a dressed barbarian) and his assistant, they start their search. The first 15 minutes went off without any bloodshed or killing. Then came first killing scene in which the assistant kills a Coatimundi for their lunch. He gives its stomach parts for a local tribe fellow(kaatu vaasi), who gets caught in the earlier scene, to eat(which he relishes eating raw).
After tracing 2 tribes, they finally found the Cannibal tribes who are locally referred to as Tree people(as they lived in trees). The introduction scene of tree people itself was gruesome. They were shown catching a cave woman(from a tree) for their dinner.
The crew attends their ritual meeting where the tribe leader chants something for sometime which the professor records. After sometime he plays the chanting to the tribe after which they are invited for the dinner(yep! the lady they caught earlier). The professor was offered the liver(or kidney or whatever...it looked sick) which he had to eat(else he will be their side-dish). Finally they were able to recover the camera used by the documentary film crew along with their skulls.
Rest of the film deals with video recorded by the film crew which reveals their crueler intentions. The footage contains killing of a turtle, snake, monkey, spider and a pig. Warn you, these are real killings of animals filmed. I found really hard to watch the turtle killing scene. It was the goriest of the all(even now i feel like vomiting if i think about this scene).
In the video, the documentary crew members are shown terrorizing the local tribes, raping a local tribe girl and burning their houses. They finally meet the Tree people(who are like the head tribe of the jungle). The Tree people show them the final highway to hell. They are surrounded, beaten to death and finally torn apart and eaten by the Cannibal tribe.
I did not enjoy even a single minute of the movie(i now hope i never had watched this film). The only thing i enjoyed in this film is a background score that comes once in a while. I regret seeing this movie basically because of the animal killing scenes. I feel the essence of the movie would not have degraded even a single bit even without these animal killing scenes. They could have atleast faked those scenes! Shame on director Ruggero Deodatos part on killing helpless animals for the sake of trying to add power to the storyline(which he ultimately failed).
Finally, this movie is not worth a watch. There are better movies and better things to do for one and a half hour rather watching this sick film. Many consider this movie as a classic(the director himself considers this as his best film). I could directly relate this movie as sick. Miss this one for your own good!!
The movie started with a basic statuary warning stating that the movie contains unedited gruesome clippings. The movie is about a missing crew of ambitious documentary film makers, who set their foot in dangerous Amazon jungle to make a documentary about the cannibal tribes living there. A highly reputed professor is sent to recover the missing crew.
With the help of a local guide(who himself looks like a dressed barbarian) and his assistant, they start their search. The first 15 minutes went off without any bloodshed or killing. Then came first killing scene in which the assistant kills a Coatimundi for their lunch. He gives its stomach parts for a local tribe fellow(kaatu vaasi), who gets caught in the earlier scene, to eat(which he relishes eating raw).
After tracing 2 tribes, they finally found the Cannibal tribes who are locally referred to as Tree people(as they lived in trees). The introduction scene of tree people itself was gruesome. They were shown catching a cave woman(from a tree) for their dinner.
The crew attends their ritual meeting where the tribe leader chants something for sometime which the professor records. After sometime he plays the chanting to the tribe after which they are invited for the dinner(yep! the lady they caught earlier). The professor was offered the liver(or kidney or whatever...it looked sick) which he had to eat(else he will be their side-dish). Finally they were able to recover the camera used by the documentary film crew along with their skulls.
Rest of the film deals with video recorded by the film crew which reveals their crueler intentions. The footage contains killing of a turtle, snake, monkey, spider and a pig. Warn you, these are real killings of animals filmed. I found really hard to watch the turtle killing scene. It was the goriest of the all(even now i feel like vomiting if i think about this scene).
In the video, the documentary crew members are shown terrorizing the local tribes, raping a local tribe girl and burning their houses. They finally meet the Tree people(who are like the head tribe of the jungle). The Tree people show them the final highway to hell. They are surrounded, beaten to death and finally torn apart and eaten by the Cannibal tribe.
I did not enjoy even a single minute of the movie(i now hope i never had watched this film). The only thing i enjoyed in this film is a background score that comes once in a while. I regret seeing this movie basically because of the animal killing scenes. I feel the essence of the movie would not have degraded even a single bit even without these animal killing scenes. They could have atleast faked those scenes! Shame on director Ruggero Deodatos part on killing helpless animals for the sake of trying to add power to the storyline(which he ultimately failed).
Finally, this movie is not worth a watch. There are better movies and better things to do for one and a half hour rather watching this sick film. Many consider this movie as a classic(the director himself considers this as his best film). I could directly relate this movie as sick. Miss this one for your own good!!
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Mobile purchase
I had to get one mobile for my mom. I was asked to do it 3 months back. Due to few obvious reasons(one of which is, me being lazy) it was slightly delayed and i finally got one yesterday. As this is my first mobile purchase, i didn't have any idea on what are the criteria to look for.
Me and my brother discussed for few minutes and finally decided on a model(Nokia 2630). Now the problem is, where to get it. There are 4 mobile shops near my office(Subiksha, Nokia Priority, UniverCell and Mobile Store). I was not in a mood to go to all the four shops and decide on the cheapest one. I was advised not to purchase in Priority as it was the costliest of the lot. The very name Subiksha itself did not attract me (and off-course their mobile shop doest have good reviews eaither).
So the choices were rounded-off to UniverCell and Mobile Store. I had been to Mobile store 2 days back to see their quote for this mobile. Before going to UniverCell, i checked their website for their price. Their price was 150 bucks lesser than what mobile store quoted. So i thought UniverCell would be the right place to get it.
After visiting UniverCell, i regretted the decision of getting a mobile here. The price what they have quoted in their website and what the sales person said differed by 250 bucks! When i asked about it, he said its only for online purchase(which was never stated in their website)!! After saying this, the sales person stared packing the mobile to where it belonged and gave me a if-you-want-get-it-or-walk-off look. So i chose to walk off. I am really taken by surprise to see the crowd UniverCell is getting with this kind of service.
Since i badly needed this mobile to be bought, my next stop was in Mobile Store where i had a totally different experience. Their sales people were friendlier than the one in UniverCell. Even though they didn't reduce the price, i was totally satisfied with their service.
Bottom line is, purchasing a mobile is a 10 minutes job, so no point being lazy :) and never choose UniverCell for getting a mobile even if you are in a remote place with UniverCell being the only store for getting mobiles.
Me and my brother discussed for few minutes and finally decided on a model(Nokia 2630). Now the problem is, where to get it. There are 4 mobile shops near my office(Subiksha, Nokia Priority, UniverCell and Mobile Store). I was not in a mood to go to all the four shops and decide on the cheapest one. I was advised not to purchase in Priority as it was the costliest of the lot. The very name Subiksha itself did not attract me (and off-course their mobile shop doest have good reviews eaither).
So the choices were rounded-off to UniverCell and Mobile Store. I had been to Mobile store 2 days back to see their quote for this mobile. Before going to UniverCell, i checked their website for their price. Their price was 150 bucks lesser than what mobile store quoted. So i thought UniverCell would be the right place to get it.
After visiting UniverCell, i regretted the decision of getting a mobile here. The price what they have quoted in their website and what the sales person said differed by 250 bucks! When i asked about it, he said its only for online purchase(which was never stated in their website)!! After saying this, the sales person stared packing the mobile to where it belonged and gave me a if-you-want-get-it-or-walk-off look. So i chose to walk off. I am really taken by surprise to see the crowd UniverCell is getting with this kind of service.
Since i badly needed this mobile to be bought, my next stop was in Mobile Store where i had a totally different experience. Their sales people were friendlier than the one in UniverCell. Even though they didn't reduce the price, i was totally satisfied with their service.
Bottom line is, purchasing a mobile is a 10 minutes job, so no point being lazy :) and never choose UniverCell for getting a mobile even if you are in a remote place with UniverCell being the only store for getting mobiles.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Tatasky: pros and cons
We have been using Tatasky DTH in our house for past few months. I would say, Tatasky is not complete value for money. Listed are its pros and cons
I would start with pros,
1. Topnotch video and audio quality on most(yeah! not all) of the channels.
2. 24 hrs signal reception(apart from the time your house doesn't have power)
3. Good customer support.
4. On-screen alerts for renewal and new channel additions.
5. Easy payment options. One can easily renew through online.
6. Mobile SMS alerts.
Here are the list of irritating issues,
1. One has to use two remotes. One that comes with the TV for controlling the TV and the other for changing the channels.
2. It always shows the boring Help video on a cold boot.
3. Video quality for few channels are pathetic. Ex: HBO. The quality of HBO sucks big time.
4. Its a bit expensive. One has to burn 350 bucks a month for 30 odd good channels(i am not including all the other crap channels).
5. No reception on heavy rainy days(not so common in chennai)
6. Change of channel combination for packages done without user control(but with intimation). They remove or add channels as they like.
7. Don't have many attractive packages. One has to go for the 300 bucks or 350 bucks package for good channel list.
8. Language option is not available for most of the channels(might be the channels restriction)
I was really impressed by their support. While renewing my account, i thought i should let them know about the HBO reception issue. So i logged a complaint with my phone number in the feedback form on their site. To my surprise, the very next day, i got a call from one of their support person. Even though the issues is not solved till date, its really a feel good factor when you come to know your complaints are being listened to.
The only reason, i think, why Tatasky is able to survive with is highly priced packages is the lack of competition. If more competition spawns in this market, we can expect more attractive channel packages from all the players.
I would start with pros,
1. Topnotch video and audio quality on most(yeah! not all) of the channels.
2. 24 hrs signal reception(apart from the time your house doesn't have power)
3. Good customer support.
4. On-screen alerts for renewal and new channel additions.
5. Easy payment options. One can easily renew through online.
6. Mobile SMS alerts.
Here are the list of irritating issues,
1. One has to use two remotes. One that comes with the TV for controlling the TV and the other for changing the channels.
2. It always shows the boring Help video on a cold boot.
3. Video quality for few channels are pathetic. Ex: HBO. The quality of HBO sucks big time.
4. Its a bit expensive. One has to burn 350 bucks a month for 30 odd good channels(i am not including all the other crap channels).
5. No reception on heavy rainy days(not so common in chennai)
6. Change of channel combination for packages done without user control(but with intimation). They remove or add channels as they like.
7. Don't have many attractive packages. One has to go for the 300 bucks or 350 bucks package for good channel list.
8. Language option is not available for most of the channels(might be the channels restriction)
I was really impressed by their support. While renewing my account, i thought i should let them know about the HBO reception issue. So i logged a complaint with my phone number in the feedback form on their site. To my surprise, the very next day, i got a call from one of their support person. Even though the issues is not solved till date, its really a feel good factor when you come to know your complaints are being listened to.
The only reason, i think, why Tatasky is able to survive with is highly priced packages is the lack of competition. If more competition spawns in this market, we can expect more attractive channel packages from all the players.
Chase: Being a cop for 10 mins...
Two days back, i was driving past Saidapet towards Velachery to my office. There used to be police checking (mostly for Helmets defaulters) near the concord stopping every Thursdays.
I was driving behind a Sumo. When we were about the cross the cops, the police asked the Sumo to stop. Apparently, the Sumo driver had different intentions and flew past the cop. As i was the very next person to the Sumo, he asked me to stop too. This time not for any checking, but for chasing the Sumo :).
I was asked to follow and overtake the Sumo. After a chase of about 2kms, we overtook and caught the Sumo. Thanks to the city traffic and the PTC bus ahead the Sumo. All the way through the chase, the police was constantly alerting the cops next signal through his radio (like in the movies ;)) about the Sumo.
One thing i learnt from this experience is, if a traffic police plans to nail you down, there is no running away. Its always better to stop and answer the cops rather get caught running away and paying a hefty penalty!
I was driving behind a Sumo. When we were about the cross the cops, the police asked the Sumo to stop. Apparently, the Sumo driver had different intentions and flew past the cop. As i was the very next person to the Sumo, he asked me to stop too. This time not for any checking, but for chasing the Sumo :).
I was asked to follow and overtake the Sumo. After a chase of about 2kms, we overtook and caught the Sumo. Thanks to the city traffic and the PTC bus ahead the Sumo. All the way through the chase, the police was constantly alerting the cops next signal through his radio (like in the movies ;)) about the Sumo.
One thing i learnt from this experience is, if a traffic police plans to nail you down, there is no running away. Its always better to stop and answer the cops rather get caught running away and paying a hefty penalty!
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