Who watches Sun TV?

We have had Sun TV at home for the past two years. This was the only Tamil channel available overseas. I wanted to hear some Tamil spoken when I got home. So we got it. But, I rarely ever watched it except for some good movies on it. Why? Because it has got the worst program line-up ever in the history of television.

There are serials, mindless game shows, cloying "reality" dance shows, movies, movies and more movies. They debuted "Adaverallam Aada varalaam" recently. The preview shows this guy who injures himself on the dance floor. Prithviraj (aka Babloo) is begging the show's judges to let him be taken to the hospital. Huh?! The injured guy comes up with a really stupid line like, "All warriors want to fall on the battlefield. I'd rather die on stage than go to the hospital." Second huh?!!!!!!! Okay, drama queen, if you want to die on-stage, that's your problem. But we don't want to see it.  Of course, its all coached "reality TV" lines. Still, who comes up with such crap at Sun TV?

Then there are the ubiquitous "game shows". First is "Rani Maharani" hosted by Mamathy Chari. It is an insult to the intelligence of the women of TN. They show a piece of some movie star's face and the contestants are supposed to find out who that is. Really, grow up, people. Is this all our women are capable of?! Can they not come up with any other decent idea? And they reward such mindlessness with cash. Next, is "Deal a No Deal a". This is another over-sensationalized, sentimentalized show. Contestants with mentally ill children, autistic children, relatives who need a life-saving surgery are showcased. They tell their story on-stage and then gamble for "life or death". And recently, they advertised that people who watch "Vettaikaran" will be given some special prize on that show. We all know "Vettaikaran" sucks big time but you don't have to show your desperation in such blatant ways! The host guy is rather annoying as well. This was all the gripe I had about the show until yesterday until S said,

"TN state government is sponsoring illegal gambling on the show.."

"huh? Don't we have gambling laws?"

"Nope. They even eliminated all the lottery ticket stuff sometime back."

"Oh..but this is not gambling."

"Why not? You're not required to answer anything or demonstrate any skill. All you have to do is pick a box. That's gambling."

Okay, that was a revelation to me. Is this really true? I don't know what the gambling laws etc..are in TN. So, if one of you out there, can enlighten me, that'd be great.

We got Jaya TV a month or so back. After that, I rarely tune into Sun TV. Jaya has a much more decent line-up than Sun. Of course, it also has its own propaganda machine. But some of the shows on Jaya are truly watchable.

I'd like to know how Sun gets its TRP and what population watches this in India.

the one about restrooms

It makes me uncomfortable when people talk across cubicles in restrooms. I don't know if men do this as well. I know some women at my office who are "restroom buddies". They enter the restrooms chatting away about something and continue their conversations from the stalls as they do their business. No matter that they might not even be in adjacent stalls! For someone caught in the crossfire of this talk, it is totally awkward. Can't they wait until after they've left the restrooms to talk?

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Indian restaurants in the US continue the glorious Indian tradition of having dirty restrooms. The restaurant will be all posh looking with low lights, soft music and tasteful wall decor. But the restrooms will be stinky, dirty and out of supplies. Why this neglect?!?!?! What in our culture promotes this restroom abuse? I really can't imagine. If anyone has any answers, I'd love to hear them..

Is Likeability Such a Big Deal?

I landed on to this blog after a colleague had criticised it on hers. I ended up reading some of her other posts including the "Making Yourself More Likable at Work" one. Being easy to work with and having a good attitude does help a person's career. But putting likeability ahead of hard work? I have a problem with that.



If a person smiles ear to ear, runs personal errands for colleagues but doesn't get any work done in the office, would that merit a promotion? Even if it did, I don't think the person would be ready for it. Besides, once you get into the subjective "likeability" game, I think a person stands to lose self-respect after some point. A lot of things in this world are earned -- slowly, surely and with experience. And going through those ups and downs makes a person more mature, capable and worthy. Taking shortcuts by being "likeable" seems juvenile!



Even in the social domain, I think likeability is over-rated. I know people who are quite artificial in their efforts to be considered "sweet" or "likeable". And no matter what they try, I know that I don't like them because of their efforts to be too caring/sweet/likeable! If a person is honest, interesting, friendly and straight-forward, people will naturally gravitate toward them. There's too many complications in this world already. People don't need another complex, emotionally mixed-up, confusing personality in their lives -- whether at work or outside of it!

Honey, I am so nasty!

There are some personalities that I know, in the blog world and outside of it, that own up unabashedly to their personal faults. "Faults" is quite a subjective term and one man's poison is always another man's food. I think it shows character to own up to one's shortcomings and it is good. To a certain extent. But when "owning" up to it often turns into a grand flaunt of "Oh, I am so bad and I am going to shout from rooftops that I am an insufferable *****!" it does, err..become a bit annoying. Is there something as an overdose of character?!

What sharply bought it into focus was watching Kajol in "Coffee with Karan". Yes, yes, I am referring to that famous episode with Shahrukh, Kajol and Rani. The show was an eye-opener to the chauvinist in me in terms of how brainy some movie stars actually are. All three seemed quite witty and down-to-earth. And we had Kajol mentioning in every other line, "Oh, I don't like 99 of the 100 people I meet. I am hard to get along with. I am quite a wild person. blah blah blah.." The first time she said it, I thought it was cute. The second time, I appreciated her honesty. But the nth time she chirped that line parrot-like, it soured on me. Come on, Kajol, you're not such a big humbug after all and have you considered the possibility that none might give a darn about whether you're hard to get along with or not? And perhaps, that's not such a glorious attribute that you proclaim it on national TV?!

And 10-year-old kids gush, "Oh, Kajol is sooooo coooooooool na?!" And like kids picked up smoking in the 80s emulating then-heroes, today's kids are going to emulate being "nasty" or "rude".

Err..I think tomorrow, we are going to hear "cool" things like these from our kids:

"Oh, you know, I have a temper and I usually just bonk the first person I see with an iron poker."
"I am a chain-smoker and I smoke umpteen cigarettes a day. I don't care that my son sees me everyday and that he may follow my example. But I am uber-cool, na?"
"Oh, I am such a nasty person that I throw hot water on anyone else's face if they disagree with me."

See what I mean?:)

Pink Paranoia..

What is it with girls in the US and Pink?!! The obsession with pink ranges from watches to clothes to handbags to sandals to even cell phone covers (yes, you better believe it!). I got on the Medical Center bus the other day and suddenly a cell phone starts screaming somewhere. A perfectly sane looking woman dived into her handbag and lo! came up with a cellphone in a glory of pink!!! It had this flashy pink color and to top it all, was covered with glittering stars (a la Barbie)..I have to tell you, it really was an affront to all my aesthetic values. If I were the owner of the phone, I would've tied an anchor to it and thrown it into the Atlantic and disowned that phone. And I was strolling through the stationery aisle in Walmart and something weird caught my attention..I stop to see what it is that is so distinct...and there it is! A binder (for god's sake) in a bawdy pink with all sorts of flowers on top of it!!!!!
And the worst thing is handbags. How can otherwise-sane women carry handbags in bright pink, that too in a shiny material that I think would be more suited to Las Vegas showgirls ??!!!?
If the color is so tastelessly used in all sorts of godawful ways, it is no wonder men hate pink!!! And guys, don't associate pink with all girls. As far as I know, we girls in India never had any sort of partiality of pink..in fact, many of us ran far from that color..so I don't know if it is some kind of an American thing or what!
And I learnt a new slogan last week, "Pink is for girls and Blue is for boys"??!!?? Really?!

The Spice of Life....

Have you ever talked with anyone who has had a grouch bug? The conversation goes something like this: you mention a name and immediately the "grouchy" person finds a fault with the person.
You: "She invited me for dinner..."
Grouch: "She sucks as a homemaker. She never changes her drapery."
You: "Y gave me a lift to the mall. I had some shopping to do."
Grouch: "Y probably expects you to give him a lift in your car for the next whole week and pick up his kids from school."
You: "Isn't she a nice person to work with?"
Grouch: "Oh, that's because you presented her that nice Dinner Set for her birthday."
You: "He helps people out a lot. Nice guy."
Grouch: "He is such a neat freak!"

No matter what you say, Mr. Grouch will come up with a way of spoiling it. These people seem to be infected with some kind of victimitis virus and view life like a barter system: something always has to be given if you receive something. And they have an uncanny eye for finding faults with people!! And most importantly, they never forget bad things about others. And usually, the issues that they talk of are trivial and meaningless...(so what if X flosses twice a day??!!! who cares?)

I've met quite a few people like this( some of them are quite close to me) and believe me, it is amusing. Maybe I am being naive, but I simply cannot view everyone around me as out to get me or believe that everyone has ulterior motives. Of course, we all do somethings expecting something in return but that is something restricted to some people and certain phases of our life..certainly not in everyday life. (If there's someone out there who does it in everyday life, all I can say is "Get a Life!")

So, we all have our little quirks, eccentricities and faults. So what? I think that is the Spice of Life. If everyone were like me, I am sure I'd be bored with life. Sure, sometimes, we'll find people who are hard to get along with, boring people, annoying people, staid people, arrogant people,people who wish ill for us, people who harm us and people who downright stink. But meeting all these varieties and dealing with them and learning to share life with them is what makes life interesting!!!!


Perhaps the grouches of our world should learn to enjoy the colors that different people bring to life just like different spices bring aroma to food...and forgive, forget and give people a second chance!!!!