Who? Me??

If I have to go by the entertainment shows on TV these days, then I think the society is slowly going to the dogs. So many of them, and all of them are just so wrong … they involve celebrities, big and small that people worship. That people want to emulate, that people look up to … and all of them so fucked up in the head.

Sadly my wife watches all of these brain-dead shows. (Sigh!!) Sitting at home can kill those grey cells. So one of the shows currently involves one small time celeb emotionally harassing a German girl who happens to be one more small time actress. The guy has gone on a pseudo-satyagraha until the girl doesn’t say that she loves him!! The nation which laid the foundations of non-violence and proving your point by sheer will power is now stooping to these tactics? And, the media is broadcasting this?? And people are lapping it up???

Then you have MTV and other youth channels who bring together idle and adrenaline charged youngsters to come together and scheme against each other. Are we as Indians really that idle and shallow that we derive entertainment out of watching all this?

- a sad and dejected Indian

Was going to my office today, when I saw this hilarious typo on a laundry service’s van.

There have been sci-fi movies and there have been sci-fi movies; But none like this one. In any sci-fi movie, you expect the human civilization to be so ultra advanced and modern, that it is set to baffle the viewer of today. It’s always shone as a rosy picture that technology being at a zenith with everyone striving to do more. Well maybe I went overboard with the striving bit, but I am sure you get the picture, right?

Idiocracy is different in this regards, it paints the real picture and drives home a point, that if the world continues as it is currently, then this scenario might just come out to be true. Especially in the developed countries (I wonder why they call them developed countries?) – See the major nations for a change, all of them have skilled labor problems. People do not have an incentive to do more … to become what they could have aspired for. What countries like India now need to do is learn from this and ensure that our people do not make the same follies.

Don’t worry, if you do not wish to think over this so much, then just watch the movie and laugh it out. Worth a watch, better still if you can think.

On my way home from work, I was having this conversation with a colleague. He made an interesting point, the change in our thinking if we were to legalize corruption. The concept is simple – Declare your black money, pay a nominal amount to the government and you get to keep it for yourself.

I am not thinking through this completely here, but would require your help as well. But here are some points which came to my mind -

• The IT department has to be more thorough and catch all defaulters; that’s a tough task but that is the only way the corrupt people will be encouraged to come forward with their black money
• People will be encouraged to be corrupt, since there is a legitimate way to declare that income!!
• Government gets an inner cut on each bribe it’s official takes!! A kind of a plough back system!!

What do you think?

Addendum -

Seems this is a crazy hair brained idea as any. Read the comments to know more!!

The Indian Media Revolution has brought forth this host of reality shows on different television channels. Life is stranger and more interesting than fiction. MTV Roadies is just one more of these shows … my wife watches it regularly. In fact, so regularly that even I have started watching that damn show.

For people who already know about the show, the first show was a big hit with the youth … bikers especially. Somehow the attitude expressed by the show has transmogrified into something else now.

What I see nowadays on the show can be summarized in one word – immaturity. I didn’t realize that teens can be so stupid and immature. The participants scheme, plot, make idiotic plans … think that they are oh!so powerful and determined to prove themselves. But for what for Chris sakes? They only end up proving idiots of themselves. I sometimes feel sad for the first Roadie, Ranvijay that he has to put up with this.

Then again, I haven’t seen the first season.

Was going through the Dilbert archives when I came across this two strips. Real example of what happens when management makes uninformed decisions about technology where they are clueless. Seems familiar to you too?

I am not that big an American Pie fan, although I have seen more than my fair share of american teen comedy movies. Quite a lot of them, watching those movies I sometimes realize that the average IQ of an american must be really low. I do not mean to be condescending or even orthodox for that matter. They are rated 5.0 and 5.4 respectively. Watch only if you have time and/or grey cells to kill.

When you see a mail lying in your inbox having multiple people in the CC and in the To, the first urge is to hit the Reply-All button. Make your presence felt in the email conversation. The urge increases exponentially with power distance (also see Geert Hofstede) in that organization. The minions have to prove to their bosses that they exist, and they can contribute for the bosses benefit.

You will see this become excruciatingly apparent on public holidays, company-wide announcements, successful projects, etc. The reason I am posting this today is because I know that my inbox is going to get inundated with Happy Independence Days tomorrow. Despite repeated requests, this does not change, so I say, let the spam spew forth.

Only in a city like Hyderabad do you see such idiosyncrasies. Our office timings were 9am to 6.30pm, which worked out for everyone (although I found them a tad too early!!). But ever since I have started waking up at 6.30, it has become much easier.

Nonetheless, today when I walked into office … I found that the AC was not working; which was very fortunate considering the fever I was running. After half an hour or so, the enter lights, connectivity, etc went. zook, kaput, gone … silence. The office does come to a stand still, especially the tech department. The newly installed UPS took the brunt of all the machines and the servers … phew!

Upon further questioning, we found that this is now going to be a daily occurence with the AP electricity board. The area is going to face extensive power shedding and daily from 8am to 11am, the lights will be cut. Great!!! Awesome!! As a joke, I asked our admin that maybe we should reschedule our office timings to suit the AP board.

11am, the management decides to reschedule the office timings … 10.30am to office it is!! What am I going to do in the mornings now?!?