Month: March 2007

Before 2006, the date April 16th was like any other day for Tina and I. Neither of us had any memories (bitter or sweet) to remember it by. But on last April 16th, we made one of the smartest decisions of our lives — we got engaged!

Actually why wait till next month to celebrate? Today, i.e. 15th March is the 11-month anniversary of our engagement! So do we party and drink ourselves silly? No because since our return from our trip up North, Tina and I have become “rounder” than ever before so we’ll be at home and having some dal and vegetables. Maybe, just maybe we might go out for ice cream.

The lie I am about to report here is being telecast day in and day out by IBN Live since its inception, so please do not shrug it off as a one-time human error.

The BREAKFAST WITH INDIA program is preceded by a short promo displaying a glimpse at the IBN Live office from the outside. The voice over for this sequence says “From its studios in Delhi, blah blah blah.” But there is a lie hidden in the voice-over. The IBN Live studios are in NOIDA, and not in Delhi; NOIDA is adjacent to Delhi, but it is not a part of Delhi, its in a different state altogether. Even their website states that they are based out of NOIDA. Continue reading “IBN LIve or IBN Lie?”

The Indian TV industry is growing at a break-neck speed. Out of these 150 or so channels over 50% are dedicated to news, or that is what they like to call it. The likes of Aaj Tak, Zee News, CNBC Awaaz, and even the stalwarts such as NDTV and CNN IBN .loose their focus and devote over 75% of their on-air time to covert something that is hardly news, the Nair-Hurley wedlock.

Who are these two people anyways? I don’t know and neither do 90% of the TV audience. Continue reading “Is that News we see on TV”

am not a religious person so I don’t feel sad when Islamic fundamentalists attack and kill Hindus, Christians or for that matter, people from any other religion. I don’t agree with the popular mindset that Muslims are against all other religions, and are doing everything to wipe out the rest of us. On the other hand I wonder why a majority of the troublesome countries around the world are Islamic. Iran, Iraq, Palestine, Pakistan, Indonesia, Afghanistan, Syria, and my own India (in some states at least); the list is endless. I am sure there is something in the Quran that encourages its followers to take up arms and create unrest in their own and neighboring countries. Why?

Last I watched a BBC documentary about a teenage girl from Iran, Atefah Sahaaleh, who on 15 August, 2004 was hanged in a public square in the city of Neka. But a newspaper accused her of adultery and described her as 22 years old. But she was not married – and she was just 16. Even her birth certificate which ironically had been issued by the government stated her age as 16, but this had little consequence. The 51-year old man who had raped her was let off after being given 95 lashes. This is just another example of how people, especially women are treated in Iran. I have read about many such stories and have come to the conclusion that this is what happens in most Muslim countries. Sad, very sad.