When the TV lies inert....

Long forgotten books pile on the table. On Sunday afternoon the whole family is gathered in the drawing room, some perched on the sofa, one on the easy chair. One sprawls on the floor.

Someone asks for tea and nobody is willing to get up from their cosy throne and make for the kitchen. When the woman of the house brings the steaming glasses on a plate, they all pick it up and sip like animals at a watering hole, not looking up for an instant....

Without a cable connection, the TV is a harmless box, it rests on its pedestal, like any other showpiece. Then somebody raises a head from behind a mammoth book and says,"Say, when are we getting the cable connection?"

The spell is broken.

Celebrating the Indian film soundtrack: Song link of the week: Ghajini

Harris Jayaraj at work

By a hazardous estimation, a hundred new songs are being composed in the Indian film soundtrack world every day.
Most of them are for films in Hindi,Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada, the languages in which most of the films are made every year. Most of the films are trash, but for the ironically beautiful music.

Even though you might not understand the lyrics; the songs stand alone. Truly, there is nothing as infinite, as far-reaching as music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wm8UyF-ZLtQ
(ALLOW THE VIDEO TO LOAD FULLY TO ENJOY THE SONG WITHOUT ANY INTERRUPTION)

Here is a link to the 2005 Tamil soundtrack of Ghajini, the film is being remade in Hindi starring Aamir Khan. The music for the Hindi version is by AR Rahman though.
Harris Jayaraj scored the music for the Tamil version.

ESCAPING TV: Work yourself to sleep theory

Work yourself to death all day, let the sweat flow, let your mind drag itself ploughing through; let creativity get the whip on the back, be your own slave all day; that by evening you are crawling to bed.


There...you see the result!

SURRENDER TO TV: INDIA _ PAKISTAN DELHI TEST MATCH : SHIFTING SCALES DUE TO BLUNDEROUS CRICKET

THE TURNING POINT: Ganguly gets Misbah caught in the deep on the third day of the test match ( November 25) that led to restricting Pakistan to 248 in the second innings; India were set 203 to win on a pitch that had no demons in it for a determined batsman

The first test match ended today morning with India acquiring the remaining 32 runs for the loss of Saurav Ganguly; won by five wickets.
I finally succumbed to TV as the second day and the third day showcased enthralling cricket. But a match that must have gone down the wire, was marred by lacklustre fielding and bowling by both sides. More noticeably, Pakistan had no fire in their bowling except for Shoiab Akhtar.
On the third day, Pak batsmen just gave their wickets away, trying to slog sixes like one-day cricket..
Where are the bowlers like Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis who set up such exciting contests...?


Tendulkar and Akhtar share a water bottle after India won the first test on a cold November morning (November 26)


Akhtar engaged in a humorous duel with Tendulkar


Indian captain Anil Kumble poses with his man of the match award for his captainship and bowling


Indian team members applaud as Sachin hits the winning runs on Monday morning (November 26), India required only 30 odd runs before the start of the fourth day's play, with six wickets in hand

PHOTO COURTESY: CRICINFO and AL-JAZEERA

TV WAR: FIGHT BACK: THE COMPLETE PEANUTS : THE ART OF CHARLES M SCHULZ

On an idle afternoon, I bought myself the first volume of the enjoyable and endearing comic strip Peanuts by Charles M Schulz, titled - The Complete Peanuts(1950-1952). The publishers claim to have collected every Peanuts comic strip ever made.

Lovingly designed, the volume is a great companion for lazy, back from work evenings, alternative to being a zombie before the TV.

The special thing about the first volume is that it takes us to where it all began.
Charlie Brown looks different, Snoopy is an unnamed dog and the other characters make their first appearance.
You can also notice where Bill Waterson got his inspiration for Calvin and Hobbes; one thing noticeable is that the early Charlie Brown drawings have similarities to Calvin.


The 1957-1958 volume of the collection

BAN THE TV

This collage is the result of what television has done to my life.