Love is in the air :)

Sometimes, as I am riding the bus to work and trying to decipher the cryptic clues in Dan Brown's gripping novel, my thoughts stray away.. My stomach does a somersault.. My heart skips a beat.. And I smile almost instantly, or maybe blush.. :D I still cant believe it.. :) My life will change in less than 3 months.. I guess it has not sunken in yet.. I think it is better that way.. Else I would start imagining all the changes that come along with it and freak out.. I am still a little nervous though.. I think I am bound to be.. Its a big step in my life.. Many things will change.. But I am also looking forward to all this eagerly.. Because I am so thrilled to have the person I love the most share this whole journey with me.. Its gonna be a roller-coaster for sure.. But I know its going to be fun.. And I am going to enjoy it.. With a shy smile and and a small prayer, I await the day when he will hold my hand and I shall instantly feel that I could not have asked for anyone better :)

Indian media.. gone overboard..

Indian media has come a long way.. I remember the times we watched Mahabharata and Chitrahaar and Rangoli on Doordarshan.. Bliss! Then came cable television and with it came a 1000 channels right to your living room.. Zee Network had like 20-30 channels of itself.. Same with Sony and Star.. Pretty soon, they all had launched their own 24x7 news channels too.. To be honest, I dont think there is something news-worthy happening around the world every minute.. So then what do you report? For one, they report the same news again and again and again.. Then, all the celebrity marriages (remember the Abhi-Ash wedding), celebrity break-ups, and much much more.. Then came the K-serials (Thanks to Balaji, and others soon followed suit).. Aaaaaah.. Heaven for the housewives.. Hell for husbands and teenagers.. Typical saas -bahu jhamelas were blown out of proportion.. Protagonists had to marry atleast thrice to become powerful.. Over the top costumes and jewelery were the key (I am sure you remember Ramola Sikand's bindis).. I hear new brides had a lot of trouble pleasing their mothers-in-law given the high precedent set by Tulsi Virani and Parvati Agarwal.. Oh by the way, forgot to mention, dint people who were 70 years of age have jet-black hair??!?! And Baa went on to live till she was.. what 120 or 200??

Then came "Reality" television.. Inspired by the West, but taken to a new extreme by the TV channels.. When I was growing up and got to know that WWE was scripted and staged, I was shocked.. I could not believe it.. I questioned my cousins and uncles.. How is that possible?? They were all lying.. Hmmmm.. but sadly, they were not.. Thats when I realized that nothing on TV can be real.. Thats why they call it "reel" you know.. Talent-shows flooded the TV channels.. Those were bearable.. primarily coz they were not defying people's basic common sense.. Big Boss, MTV Roadies etc., kept playing with people's emotions and pushing them over the edge.. And then came "Rakhi ka Swayamwar".. Crossed all boundaries and left all other shows behind.. I think no other person could have done that fake act better than the Drama Queen herself.. Ms. Sawant blushed and fluttered her eye-lashes like she was in some fairy-tale romance.. Choosing your life-partner on TV is not a new concept.. US TV shows like "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette" have been going on for a few years now.. But the drama which Rakhi and the whole "cast" of the show put up was beyond comparison.. I remember seeing a 5 minute clip of the show on a news website (I still regret doing that :P).. I was rolling on the floor laughing for the next 15 minutes.. She was dancing with the prospective grooms who were 5-8 years younger than her, and had nowhere close to the riches she had from all her skin-show.. The families and neighbors (read, the whole village) came out with pooja ki thalis to welcome Rakhi to their gaaon.. She sang stupid filmy songs with them.. And the same parents who might have stopped their young kids from watching her gyrating to the tunes of sleazy item-numbers in body-hugging/no clothes, were singing her praises about how much she had achieved in her career.. But still it was "reality".. And then she chose the NRI.. Expected?!?! I think so.. And now it seems there is trouble in "paradise".. She cant believe that the guy is a rich dude in Canada but is living in a rented apartment in Mumbai and eats vada-pav as his meal on some days.. Aaaaah heart-break!!! How cruel can life be?!? Seems like there is another show coming up where celebrity couples will have to raise kids.. Have empathy bellies to experience pregnancy.. then attempt raising an infant, a toddler, a teenager an so on.. Seriously?!?!?! "Sach ka Saamna" is another show crossing all limits.. Celebrities confessing to sleeping with people other than their spouses, women saying that they feel superior to their husbands coz they earn more, etc etc., is bound to break a few marriages and destroy families.. Arre lekin TRP ke liye sab chalta hai.. hai na? :)

No one knows when all this will stop.. will it ever stop? Who knows.. We can just wait and watch..i mean watch something else on TV.. I was actually wondering wouldn't it be super cool if we had a reality show with politicians and if they would get voted out of the show, they would be shot dead! What do you guys think?