I've been going off on jaunts along the history-infested bylanes of Delhi with my flatmates. (It's been two years and the only places I've seen here is the Red Fort, Jantar Mantar and Chandni Chowk). Here's what we did last week:
National Rail Museum - it's places like these that really tell you what India could have been like in the 1930's or early 1900's. There's cutlery dating from 75 years back, sofas upholstered in the old style and even the commodes are revelation! There's also a fair bit of information on how the Indian rail network came to be. And of course, there are the trains. India's first steam engine, last steam engine, and personal coaches belonging to various Rajahs. All immaculately preserved - which in India means - lots of dust, cobwebs, rats, a few pepsi cans and some discarded chocolate wrappers.
The toy train was worth it too...
Great Indian Rock - okay this isn't exactly history, and it was more like the Great Indian Ruckus. Most of the bands were either trying to sound like Metallica, Obituary or Limp Bizkit in their own compostions or playing covers. The good bits were John Myung of Dream Theater fame playing his bass and the Norwegian band 'WE' with their heavy grinding groove and a frontman who spoke in heavily accented English.
Mughal Gardens - a part of the Rashtrapathi Bhavan, this garden is only open to the public in February and March every year. It was a fairly instructive experience. I actually got to see these actually look like - Damask Rose, Pansy, Daisy, Lily, and Lemon Grass. Found out that the very English sounding herb Basil is actually Tulsi and got to take home a Brahmi plant.
For this week, the plan is to visit Humayun's Tomb, Coronation Park and would you believe it, the Delhi Zoo. Let's see how long we can keep this up.
Thursday, February 24, 2005
Friday, February 18, 2005
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
Chow chow baat
Just like criminalenglish, I've been throwing my all into cooking (including the kitchen sink). But in my case, this new found affliction is just a month old. I've tried my hand at rasam (moderately successful), chapatis (modestly successful), rice and dal. And I've managed not to poison anyone so far.
My last off-day (Friday) saw me measure distances in Connaught Place the kunda way. From KG Marg to M block is just one bag of popcorn away. M block to A block takes one vanilla ice cream cup. McDonalds is just one Chocolate truffle pastry away. And munching on a small bag of french fries takes you all the way to the auto stand.
By a curious coincidence, today's the day I start jogging.
My last off-day (Friday) saw me measure distances in Connaught Place the kunda way. From KG Marg to M block is just one bag of popcorn away. M block to A block takes one vanilla ice cream cup. McDonalds is just one Chocolate truffle pastry away. And munching on a small bag of french fries takes you all the way to the auto stand.
By a curious coincidence, today's the day I start jogging.
Tuesday, February 01, 2005
'Owning' a breaking story
Senior journalists, who've covered just about everything, are often prone to having sudden flashbacks. Whenever that glazed look comes over their eyes, you can almost see that anecdote coming to life..
And in the course of such reminiscences, some of them talk about 'breaking stories'. Atleast twice in my short career, I've been waylaid by some boss who told me the importance of 'owning' a story. That is, you break it first, and then pull out all stops to ensure every aspect of that issue has been brought out. And of course, it has to be a story your rival channel/newspaper hasn't bothered to highlight.
Today we had a chance to to do something like that - Narain Karthikeyan announced that we would finally be getting to drive a Formula one car this season. A colleague of mine had figured out that something like this was happening and we had our coverage plan ready, right down to hourly breakdown through the day.
But the system had to cock up - an overhead broadcasting van wasn't at the press conference when Narain announced the news, BECAUSE someone higher-up had decided the story wasn't worth it. And of course we missed it, only to see our rival channel splash it all across their channel.
After 24 hours of preparing backgrounders, stings and a whole production/broadcast plan - we'd been pipped to the post.
I was of course furious - we'd been beaten at our own game. We'd missed the chequered flag, were last to breast the tape and so on. But I don't suppose our audiences noticed anything...
Isn't there supposed to be a lesson somewhere in all this?
And in the course of such reminiscences, some of them talk about 'breaking stories'. Atleast twice in my short career, I've been waylaid by some boss who told me the importance of 'owning' a story. That is, you break it first, and then pull out all stops to ensure every aspect of that issue has been brought out. And of course, it has to be a story your rival channel/newspaper hasn't bothered to highlight.
Today we had a chance to to do something like that - Narain Karthikeyan announced that we would finally be getting to drive a Formula one car this season. A colleague of mine had figured out that something like this was happening and we had our coverage plan ready, right down to hourly breakdown through the day.
But the system had to cock up - an overhead broadcasting van wasn't at the press conference when Narain announced the news, BECAUSE someone higher-up had decided the story wasn't worth it. And of course we missed it, only to see our rival channel splash it all across their channel.
After 24 hours of preparing backgrounders, stings and a whole production/broadcast plan - we'd been pipped to the post.
I was of course furious - we'd been beaten at our own game. We'd missed the chequered flag, were last to breast the tape and so on. But I don't suppose our audiences noticed anything...
Isn't there supposed to be a lesson somewhere in all this?
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
The Horror! The Horror!
In which I get to bellyache a bit...
Workday today was completely messed up. I made the rundown, (the order of news stories strategically placed that is linked to what goes on air) but forgot to fix the Headlines. This was thanks to the epic and very interesting Aus Open quarterfinal Lleyton Hewitt-David Nalbandian match. So that meant my colleagues had to scurry around at the last minute to repair the damage, while I was getting ready to go on air. (They very kindly didn't make noises when I was within earshot). Then, I chewed on a few sentences and spat them out the wrong way while anchoring. Then the teleprompter (that nice little machine that lets you read the news, while you appear clever and intelligent) packed up while I was on air. And since I hadn't bothered to check the scripts before, I had NO idea what the story was all about. That meant I tried to bluster my way through saying something like, "oh, we've lost the script, but don't worry we haven't lost the plot". That's quite cool, isn't it, but apparently I said without the right emphasis or expression on my face.
Finally, while closing the bulletin, I ended by asking them to watch out for a bulletin at 11:30 pm, when we'd changed the timings ourselves two weeks back. I did get a few sympathetic nods, but not many because all of the above was MY FAULT.
Am I losing it or what. I don't even know why this happened. Maybe it's just a temporary blip, but maybe it's more than that...
Watch this space.
Workday today was completely messed up. I made the rundown, (the order of news stories strategically placed that is linked to what goes on air) but forgot to fix the Headlines. This was thanks to the epic and very interesting Aus Open quarterfinal Lleyton Hewitt-David Nalbandian match. So that meant my colleagues had to scurry around at the last minute to repair the damage, while I was getting ready to go on air. (They very kindly didn't make noises when I was within earshot). Then, I chewed on a few sentences and spat them out the wrong way while anchoring. Then the teleprompter (that nice little machine that lets you read the news, while you appear clever and intelligent) packed up while I was on air. And since I hadn't bothered to check the scripts before, I had NO idea what the story was all about. That meant I tried to bluster my way through saying something like, "oh, we've lost the script, but don't worry we haven't lost the plot". That's quite cool, isn't it, but apparently I said without the right emphasis or expression on my face.
Finally, while closing the bulletin, I ended by asking them to watch out for a bulletin at 11:30 pm, when we'd changed the timings ourselves two weeks back. I did get a few sympathetic nods, but not many because all of the above was MY FAULT.
Am I losing it or what. I don't even know why this happened. Maybe it's just a temporary blip, but maybe it's more than that...
Watch this space.
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Bloggers beware!
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
Journalists
What we'd like to be:
journal'istic, adj. (from 'journal', qv)
Possessing the qualities journalists most profess to like. Bright and readable.
Racy, yet reliable. Altogether admirable.
What we actually are:
'Flashy, inclined to cut corners both in terms of work and of strict accuracy.
Lacking in substance. Totally unreliable'
John Simpson's book News From No Man's Land: Reporting the World is turning out to be a delightful read and a learning experience. More to follow...
journal'istic, adj. (from 'journal', qv)
Possessing the qualities journalists most profess to like. Bright and readable.
Racy, yet reliable. Altogether admirable.
What we actually are:
'Flashy, inclined to cut corners both in terms of work and of strict accuracy.
Lacking in substance. Totally unreliable'
John Simpson's book News From No Man's Land: Reporting the World is turning out to be a delightful read and a learning experience. More to follow...
Tuesday, January 04, 2005
The blogs I read
Soon it will be 1 year since I first started blogging. And I thought it would be appropriate if I spoke about my favourite places on the web. My daily regimen on the Net these days is - check mail, check blogs. And I've come to realise that the best writing in these blogs doesn't necessarily come from people who can spell words decently.
1. Criminalenglish - Live!
Well this blog belongs to JP, an old friend from Bangalore. He's probably the best wordsmith I personally know, and criminalenglish has loads of stuff on SF, Fantasy and of course random ramblings.
2. Belle de jour
Guardian.co.uk pointed me to this one - the writing's great. There's a book deal happening too, and belle seems to be back after a longish break.
3. Scorpy23
Okay this 23 year old DOESN'T write very well. But he sounds a bit like Adrian Mole. It helps that I know him personally too...
4. Psychosis
Psychosis is food for your id. But she's off blogging for now. And she's even deleted her blog because it got a little too controversial.
5. Karmic_Discord and Bellweather Cat
These are two different people on two different blogs. The only reason I clubbed them together is due to their fondness for verse. And my fondness for their musings.
6. Paperpuli
The frontman of Thermal and a Quarter (probably one of India's finest bands) occasionally talks about life and the photographs he takes.
7. Opinionator
Psychosis thinks Opinionator is the cleverest fella she knows. Also known as the Speculator and simply 'Milk' he expounds upon life, when he's not playing agent provocateur. What do you think?
8. Mothball and Just breathe...
These two once-upon a time classmates like to write about life and working in a 24 hour tv channel. One lives in Delhi and the other in Bangalore.
1. Criminalenglish - Live!
Well this blog belongs to JP, an old friend from Bangalore. He's probably the best wordsmith I personally know, and criminalenglish has loads of stuff on SF, Fantasy and of course random ramblings.
2. Belle de jour
Guardian.co.uk pointed me to this one - the writing's great. There's a book deal happening too, and belle seems to be back after a longish break.
3. Scorpy23
Okay this 23 year old DOESN'T write very well. But he sounds a bit like Adrian Mole. It helps that I know him personally too...
4. Psychosis
Psychosis is food for your id. But she's off blogging for now. And she's even deleted her blog because it got a little too controversial.
5. Karmic_Discord and Bellweather Cat
These are two different people on two different blogs. The only reason I clubbed them together is due to their fondness for verse. And my fondness for their musings.
6. Paperpuli
The frontman of Thermal and a Quarter (probably one of India's finest bands) occasionally talks about life and the photographs he takes.
7. Opinionator
Psychosis thinks Opinionator is the cleverest fella she knows. Also known as the Speculator and simply 'Milk' he expounds upon life, when he's not playing agent provocateur. What do you think?
8. Mothball and Just breathe...
These two once-upon a time classmates like to write about life and working in a 24 hour tv channel. One lives in Delhi and the other in Bangalore.
Sunday, December 26, 2004
HRV's Top 5
Like you're interested. But still...
TOP 5 FILMS
1. Kill Bill Vol. 2
Quentin Tarantino's follow-up is slower and heavier than Vol. 1, but it's a juicy bite all the same. 'The Cruel Tutelage of Pai-Mei' and 'Face to Face' had me squirming with pleasure. And Tarantino's liberal usage of Western (read cowboy) type
film score brought back memories.
The Official Site
2. Big Fish
Now my favourite fairy tale. And favourite moral story. Hansel and Gretel moves to second place.
The Review
3. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
The pulpiest pulp film I saw last year. Sheer mayhem. Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Kiera Knightly and Geoffrey Rush ooze character.
Many Reviews
4. The Incredibles
Takes the whole superhero comic genre another step...what if your superhero was forced to adopt his normal alter-ego as full-time persona and junks his superness? (Of course Bill in Kill Bill points out that Superman's alter-ego is Clark Kent, and his normal self has x-ray vision and all those wonderful stunts up his cape).
How does Pixar make an animation film?
5. Lost in Translation
Even I felt wonderfully middle-aged, out of place, balding and paunchy after this one! And Scarlett Johan Johansson is special.
The Scarelett Johansson site!
TOP 5 BOOKS
1. Dante Club - Matthew Pearl
Great tale of intrigue, with a peep into Boston in the 19th century plus insight into the Divine Comedy.
The Official Site
2. Education of a Wandering Man - Louis L'amour
A sort of autobiography. Only this one talks about the books L'amour read on his way
to becoming an author. Wonly for hard-core fans.
An Introduction
3. City of Djinns - William Darymple
Made me understand Delhi after staying here for almost two years. Now I think I even
love the place.
Buy it
4. Broken Music - Sting
Mesmerising prose from the master lyricist - Broken Music is also a great tale.
The Review
5. And Why Not? - Barry Norman
Film-critic Norman's glittering sarcasm on screen comes to life on paper along with real insights into famous movie personalities.
Norman's Top 100 films
TOP 5 SPORTING MOMENTS
1. Andre Agassi beats Andy Roddick - Cincinnati Masters
The 34 year old master with creaking bones vs protege with fresh legs and a thunderous serve. Agassi displayed complete control over Roddick, making him run from one end of the court to the other, even though A-Rod kept them comin'. Both displayed vintage stuff, and in the end experience won.
2. Portugal beat England - Euro 2004 Quarterfinal
6-5 on penalties; we were a sharply divided group and I kept shifting allegiances much to everyone's irritation.
3. Australia draw India in Sydney
Steve Waugh's last dance was a treat. And Anil Kumble bowling his heart out to win India the series was almost heart-breaking.
4. Pakistan beat India by 3 wickets in Birmingham
I was there. Watching cricket in England for the first time...the crowd was just fabulous.
5. Australia draw India in Chennai
This wasn't the first test I saw live, but this was where I really learnt to read the game properly. And interviewing Shane Warne was nice.
TOP 5 FILMS
1. Kill Bill Vol. 2
Quentin Tarantino's follow-up is slower and heavier than Vol. 1, but it's a juicy bite all the same. 'The Cruel Tutelage of Pai-Mei' and 'Face to Face' had me squirming with pleasure. And Tarantino's liberal usage of Western (read cowboy) type
film score brought back memories.
The Official Site
2. Big Fish
Now my favourite fairy tale. And favourite moral story. Hansel and Gretel moves to second place.
The Review
3. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
The pulpiest pulp film I saw last year. Sheer mayhem. Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Kiera Knightly and Geoffrey Rush ooze character.
Many Reviews
4. The Incredibles
Takes the whole superhero comic genre another step...what if your superhero was forced to adopt his normal alter-ego as full-time persona and junks his superness? (Of course Bill in Kill Bill points out that Superman's alter-ego is Clark Kent, and his normal self has x-ray vision and all those wonderful stunts up his cape).
How does Pixar make an animation film?
5. Lost in Translation
Even I felt wonderfully middle-aged, out of place, balding and paunchy after this one! And Scarlett Johan Johansson is special.
The Scarelett Johansson site!
TOP 5 BOOKS
1. Dante Club - Matthew Pearl
Great tale of intrigue, with a peep into Boston in the 19th century plus insight into the Divine Comedy.
The Official Site
2. Education of a Wandering Man - Louis L'amour
A sort of autobiography. Only this one talks about the books L'amour read on his way
to becoming an author. Wonly for hard-core fans.
An Introduction
3. City of Djinns - William Darymple
Made me understand Delhi after staying here for almost two years. Now I think I even
love the place.
Buy it
4. Broken Music - Sting
Mesmerising prose from the master lyricist - Broken Music is also a great tale.
The Review
5. And Why Not? - Barry Norman
Film-critic Norman's glittering sarcasm on screen comes to life on paper along with real insights into famous movie personalities.
Norman's Top 100 films
TOP 5 SPORTING MOMENTS
1. Andre Agassi beats Andy Roddick - Cincinnati Masters
The 34 year old master with creaking bones vs protege with fresh legs and a thunderous serve. Agassi displayed complete control over Roddick, making him run from one end of the court to the other, even though A-Rod kept them comin'. Both displayed vintage stuff, and in the end experience won.
2. Portugal beat England - Euro 2004 Quarterfinal
6-5 on penalties; we were a sharply divided group and I kept shifting allegiances much to everyone's irritation.
3. Australia draw India in Sydney
Steve Waugh's last dance was a treat. And Anil Kumble bowling his heart out to win India the series was almost heart-breaking.
4. Pakistan beat India by 3 wickets in Birmingham
I was there. Watching cricket in England for the first time...the crowd was just fabulous.
5. Australia draw India in Chennai
This wasn't the first test I saw live, but this was where I really learnt to read the game properly. And interviewing Shane Warne was nice.
Sunday, December 12, 2004
Mediaaaargh
M S Subbulakshmi passes away after about 80 years of utter devotion to Carnatic Music. To my disgust, not a single TV news channel plays out a proper obit. All of them are content with just a story announcing her demise, and another tracing her life chronologically. Being a TV professional, I know how much time that would have taken - not more than a couple of hours.
Where was the stuff talking about why MS is considered so great? Was it because she was the principal exponent of an art form, or because she redefined it? Was MS special because she took Carnatic music from the Brahminical domain to the masses? The answers to these questions could have been addressed in a story not longer than a minute and a half in duration. But no, we don’t care, even if some of our viewers do.
Forget journalism, MS was also an opportunity to wean traditional viewers onto our channel.
In the same session of channel surfing I came across Tom & Jerry. In an ad for a mosquito repellent. So now even they have fallen prey to commercialism, after Garfield and Mickey Mouse. Next we’ll even have Calvin fighting Hobbes for your friendly neighbourhood space toy, available for just Rs 99.
Where was the stuff talking about why MS is considered so great? Was it because she was the principal exponent of an art form, or because she redefined it? Was MS special because she took Carnatic music from the Brahminical domain to the masses? The answers to these questions could have been addressed in a story not longer than a minute and a half in duration. But no, we don’t care, even if some of our viewers do.
Forget journalism, MS was also an opportunity to wean traditional viewers onto our channel.
In the same session of channel surfing I came across Tom & Jerry. In an ad for a mosquito repellent. So now even they have fallen prey to commercialism, after Garfield and Mickey Mouse. Next we’ll even have Calvin fighting Hobbes for your friendly neighbourhood space toy, available for just Rs 99.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)