Mediocre Perspectives

I got myself a smartphone only a few months ago. Though I found it difficult to cope up with an intelligent device, I got along with it as everybody does. The device has made it too easy for me access the internet. Before that, I needed to boot my grunting system every time even if I had to spend only a few minutes on cyberspace. This rocket access has made me cultivate a new habit – adding items to my ‘wish-list’. Being a voracious reader, I have always remained curious to read every book I come across. With my smartphone in my hand, I am able to add all the titles I come across to my wish-list which are mentioned as good reads. I have not read or purchased even a minuscule number of books on my wish-list and I know dead sure that either purchasing all or accessing all of them in a library is impossible, let alone reading them. But having the books or goods you want on your wish-list creates a unique kind of satisfaction similar to the one you get when you window-shop. It do...

It is been a very long time since I have watched live cricket. It is partly because I have cultivated aversion towards Television and mostly due to lack of opportunity. But I could not force myself to watch the game without the ‘mute’ button being active. I don’t remember the last time when the commentary was so annoying. One of the important rules for commentary in any sport is ‘not to insult the viewer by narrating what he can already see’. Book cover designer Chip Kidd in a TED talk spoke about one of the important lessons which he learnt as a beginner, “ Either quote the word ‘Apple’ on the cover or print a fleshy picture of the fruit, but don’t do both”. I watched it only for a few minutes. I do not who were voicing from the commentary box, but I certainly found it manufactured noise intended to disrupt me happily watching the game. They were more focused on coming up with more adjectives and innovative scenarios to describe what I was seeing. Let me throw an example. Jadeja...

Yesterday, when I opened my Facebook page, it showed me a photo on my timeline saying that it has been three years since that photo has been posted. It had a few likes and one comment. A thought struck me that I have never got any of my photographs printed in the last five years. Things were way different in my childhood. I believe we still have that old black camera in our house. I don’t remember the company but it is the old black camera which makes a ‘click’ noise when you press that bindi-shaped red button on top. Back then, clicking a photograph was an event in itself. I remember seeing my mother open a small white cylinder box in which lay a snake curled black film. She used to insert it inside the camera and say that it has only 31 clicks and hence should use it rarely. Photo Courtesy: Storebukkebruse The camera was used very sparingly. We used to take photographs on our birthdays in newly bought dresses, when relatives visited our homes and when we occasiona...

Today morning, I was greeted with a laudable decision by the honourable Madras High Court when I went through the newspaper. The High court has ‘stayed’ the order which imposed the dress code for those who entered temples. The dress code issue has been of debate recently when a single judge ordered temple visitors to stick to specific attire mentioned in his judgement. The honourable High Court stating that beauty and obscenity are in the eyes of the beholder and not in one's dressing has stayed this order. The issue has not been completely resolved as January 18 th has been scheduled for hearing appeals from those who support the dress code order. In the larger context, the relevance of dress code has been of debate in many circles of the society. The most prominent parallel to the recent issue was when dress code was imposed for college students. To evaluate the relevance of dress code, one need to understand the reason why people in different locations dress the way they ...

‘Standing in one place in one position’ is a challenge encountered by many of us in childhood. In the school assembly, I remember our physical training sir, hovering around chattering children with a long black-whip-rope tied to his whistle to restore order when there is dodgy disorderliness to stand stiffly in one position. If positioning ourselves was a challenge in childhood, it became a problem when we grew up as adults. Our security guard and watchmen are bound by their duty to stay in a single place throughout their lonely lives. We find them guarding almost every building we come across from buzzing corporate houses, exuberant five-star hotels, tall apartments to mediocre hostels and frequently visited ATM machines. Standing guard to a place is no easy business. It could be mobile-phone engaging or island lonely depending upon the place they secure. Photo Courtesy: Surya Teja Surya Teja At the entrance of a star hotel which I used to cross every day, the watchmen d...

Public transport is an indispensable part of everyone’s lives. Though a considerable number of people commute in trains as part of their daily routine, the number of people who rely on buses is huge in India. For routine commuters, reaching the bus stop on time, getting themselves a proper ‘seat’, adjusting to claustrophobic conditions is part and parcel of their lives. We get angry when the buses are not on time when overloaded, breaks and down and for umpteen reasons. But there are men and women who take up the role of drivers and conductors who have so much to complain about but carry on with this service. Every driver and conductor I have met have a unique style of doing his work. Every conductor uses his own methodology of carrying himself around. Though there are commonalities like the way they stand to the arrangement of rupee notes in their fists, each has a unique way of doing everything the other way. Some might never use the whistle using only their mouth; some hav...