At around 1439, Johannes Gutenberg invented the movable type and changed the world. Print media was born. Newspapers came into being. They motivated people. They exposed secrets and cover-ups. They overthrew governments. They united people. They gained independence for countries. They kept people informed. Educated them. Motivated them. They told awesome stories and events from around the world. They sold because of quality content. All were happy. Then more newspapers came. Then competition began. Then money became the goal. Newspapers became business. Profit making business. Newspapers had to sell. Not quality. Quality got replaced by cleavage. Cleavage sold. Sold to the young minds. The future of this country is run by the young minds inspired by the cleavage of women glorified by Deccan Chronicle. People no longer buy pornographic magazines. They buy the likes of Deccan Chronicle and the daily supplement in the Times of India. Hustler and Debonair are no longer profitable. They now have to compete with the Times of India and Deccan chronicle priced much lower and serving millions of people more than Hustler and Debonair can possibly reach.
Which porn newspaper do you subscribe to?
However, on the other hand, one simply has to look at the fact that Akshay Kumar is the highest tax-paying actor in the country. This clearly establishes that cheesy movies have a big market.
I was at the cinemas the other day and came across this Kannada movie film poster. The name of the movie is Junglee and in a certain way the characters tend to be true to the name of the film. As long as movies like these are made and people are there to watch it, the chances for quality movies to make money are far off (except for the occasional hits). And there is only so much filmmakers can make films without the reward of money.
Note in this poster, shades on the eyes of the fake Shahrukh Khan and another pair hanging on the T-Shirt. Why are Indian film makers obsessed with making dumb-ass cheesy movies with standard formula of romance and dance around trees and costumes no one wears in reality? To top it off, the poster says all about the quality of the movie.
And then I found another movie poster.
This is as slutty (Is that the right word? I am out of words) as movie posters get. An item of clothing 3 mm thick separates romance from cunnilingus in this poster. Why don't they just bare it all and avoid the hypocrisy?
Now check this other poster.
A movie starring an Indian Pirate and a bald vulture as a side-kick. Once upon a time, Indian rippers had some dignity. The rip off was very subtle. One would be hard pressed to identify copied content. But not anymore. With Indian film makers losing skin and trying to capitalize on the popularity of Hollywood flicks, super-obvious Indian rip-offs are all the rage now. I don't know Telugu (or is it Kannada?), but I suspect this movie is called Pirate of the Andra Pradesh (or is it Karnataka?)
And finally here is a poster that is the product of the average of all the other non-plagiarized Indian movie posters.
When nothing is left to be copied or when enough copying has been done, this is the standard template for most Indian films - Hero, Heroine, Eye blinding clothing and a white jacket in hot weather. Where are all the creative people in this country?
If any movie poster designer is reading this page, do take a look at the 100 best movie posters of all time
P.S: My phone camera has become slutty having taken these pictures!
- Location:India, New Delhi
- Mood:
bitchy - Music:Right in two - Tool
Image source: http://www.blogcadre.com/files/images/su
So I was thinking, seriously, if I wanted to be a vigilante fighting evil, how would I go about it? This would be an herculean effort for someone like me who spends 18 of 24 hours a day in front of the computer. At 5'9" and 70 kgs with a pot belly, there are a lot of questions that need to be answered when attempting to indulge in such radical behavior. Off the hat, I need to figure:
1) Do I model myself after known super-heroes or do I create a new avatar?
Since I am making all this effort in real life, I might as well take some credit for it by creating a new brand of Vigilantism. This could help me financially in terms of merchandise, comic books, movie rights and such (too much to ask?).
2) What costume will I wear - underwear over pants or pants over underwear?
Tight fighting spandex that will make my belly and genitals stand out is not an option. However, I do need something that will help create an identity besides being comfortable for all the action. A logo that stands out is an absolute must (or is it?).
3) Where can I get the costume made?
This will be a good opportunity to learn fashion designing. Practically speaking, walking around in plain clothes would be easy to morph in and out of my vigilante personality but this would kill my disguise if spotted and also remove the opportunity to spread message by nature of my visual identity.
4) How will I get my message across to the public?
Graffiti is not practical, nor are focused beams with bat (replace with any other logo I come up with) cut-out masks. Cannot make direct contact with media, I fear cops being able to track me down. Anonymous emails also seem to be traceable (Help me out geeks!) these days. Publishing pamphlets is also not practical, I could be turned in for a reward by the publisher. Home printed messages randomly thrown around in the city might not be effective in communicating the message besides adding to the existing garbage and cows on the roads.
5) How can I evade the cops?
This is a tough one. The Indian law enforcement is very vulnerable to bribery and I will need to build good contacts to weasel my way out of the situation if I am caught. This is not practical. Besides, most of the thugs have good rapport with the cops. I don't think I can financially disturb the relationship between cops and the thugs. Needs more thinking.
6) What weapons can I gain access to and how I will I beat up professional thugs?
I have no illusions about my physical skills. With no formal training with weapons and a body that can at best push a heavy table, this is going to be one of the toughest challenges in becoming a vigilante. Either I go get myself trained physically and with weapons or I rely on brains and chemicals to put down the enemy (Perhaps the writers of Christopher Crocodile could help me with this). At present I own some steel-handle kitchen knives in 3 sizes and a 100$ Japanese sword made in San Francisco that looks real but is functionally untested.
7) What will be my mode of transport?
This will be essential for fast getaways. I don't have the expertise to custom design street-illegal vehicles. I would love to hack and use one of those tanks the Indian army has put for display in various road junctions in Bangalore. But that is just a fantasy. I could use my 2 wheeler, but then I will have to remove the number plates. However, my bike is just not cut out for fast escapes on bad roads besides being not armored to withstand bullets.
8) How do I select my targets?
All said and done, whom am I fighting against? At the frontlines of the Indian society are the auto-drivers (3 wheeled cabs in India) who make life miserable by refusing to use government specificied fares for travel, demanding double-fare or simply refusing to come to destination of the passenger's choice. Then there are corrupt cops and other government officials. Politicians mostly being disguised thugs are important targets but they might be hard to gain access to (what with me reading the news item that the government spends Rs. 250 crores every year in VIP security. Most politicians turn out to be VIPs in front of the mirror). This question will need serious thinking and good strategies. Choosing targets needs careful planning and escape strategies.
9) What are the ethical boundaries in becoming a vigilante?
While wanting to bring about change via violence, I would like to think of myself as a peaceful man. I don't want to kill or injure anyone permanently but no guarantees can be made when deciding to indulge in such dangerous methods as vigilantism. Pepper spray with a message would be ideal but I doubt if it can motivate people to change.
10) What is my motivation?
A) Watchmen. B) All the corruption and bureaucracy, greed for power and money and the feeling of even a common man is this country about being able to get away with wrong doing (I feel this too, else why would I decide to become a vigilante?) needs cleansing. The question is: Can I clean this society? Vigilantism is an option I am looking into.
This is just the beginning. So many more details to be thought about and plans put into place before the belly gets any bigger. Suggestions and questions are welcome.
http://www.pluggd.in/2008/07/micros
To quote from the article:
#2 Our Aversion toward extremism
We, as a society enshrine moderation. No one likes to take a firm stand and people feel offended when you advocate your belief passionately. I feel this uneasiness every time I advocate the merit of Wikipedia and ask people to contribute to it. Folks around us expect us to dilute every assertion with “It depends” and avoid confrontation. But confrontation and friction is required for excellence.
We need to teach ourself that confrontation is not insubordination. Single minded obsessive focus on one thing is a must for creating something which is out of the world. But sadly no one I know wants to work with a leader who is extremely obsessed about his work .
Brilliant read.
I have refrained from reading Indian authors because a few attempts at reading them gave me a feeling that the books are based on emotions of people and not on research which is the case with most american and british fiction writers.
And then, I picked up The Enchantress of Florence by Salman Rushdie.
I was running out of money to by a hard bound copy of the book. But the book looked so beautiful that I wanted it real bad. But imagine my excitement when it turned out that there was no unbounded version of the book.
And then, after reading a few pages, I figured, the inside of the book is as beautiful as the outside. Words so beautifully express content and make one fall in love with the language of Rushdie. I have not finished the book yet. But from what I have read, I have figured that the research and the story don't matter in this book. The language itself is so beautiful that it deserves a read. Beautiful usage of words.
A special mention would be the paragraph where Rushdie explains why Akbar is the Great King of Kings. In less than a page, with beautiful words, Rushdie convinces you that Akbar was indeed a great King. Would I have ever cared otherwise?
I am impressed.
- Mood:
good
Believing in something that is as unfounded as religion and god is so rampant because people are way too lazy to put in the effort to find out the reason why the world exists as it does. On the other hand, religion just gives an explanation to everything in a plate for people to digest. And since many seem to be digesting it easily, a lot more are motivated to do the same. On the other hand, doing science to figure out why things behave the way they do is a more complex task which not all can do and consequently science takes a second place to religion in society in terms of followers. But little do people realize that the conveniences in their lives are not served by religion but by science. The utter lack of respect for that source of comfort and knowledge and the profound respect for something as irrational as religion and god is highly disturbing and contrary to the human ability to accept reason. Perhaps, accepting reason is like common sense, not so common. But one can take relief in knowing that as generations pass, people see the truth and a day will come when rational thinking and science drive man's growth exponentially uninhibited by the dogmas of religion and god.
"There is no reason to assume that the universe has the slightest interest in intelligence—or even in life. Both may be random accidental by-products of its operations like the beautiful patterns on a butterfly's wings. The insect would fly just as well without them."
—The Lost Worlds of 2001, 1972 - Arthur C. Clarke
"The greatest tragedy in mankind's entire history may be the hijacking of morality by religion."
—"Credo," Greetings, Carbon-Based Bipeds! Collected Essays, 1934-1998, 1999 - Arthur C. Clarke
"Once you start doubting, just like you are supposed to doubt, you ask me if the science is true. You say no, we don't know what is true, we are trying to find out, and everything is possibly wrong.
Start out understanding religion by saying everything is possibly wrong. Let us see. As soon as you do that, you start sliding down an edge, which is hard to recover from and so on. With the scientific view, or my father's view, that we should look to see what is true, and what maybe and what may not be true, once you start doubting, which I think to me is a very fundamental part of my soul, to doubt and to ask, and when you doubt and ask it gets a little harder to believe.
You see, one thing is, I can live without knowing and uncertainity and not knowing. I think its much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers which might be wrong. I have approximate answers and possible beliefs and different degrees of certainity about different things, but I am not absolutely sure of anything and there are many things I don't know about, such as whether it means anything to ask why we are here, and what that question might mean. I might think about it a little bit and if I can't figure it out, then I go onto something else, but I don't have to know an answer, I don't feel frightened by not knowing things, by being lost in a mysteriour universe without having any purpose, which is the way it really is so far as I can tell. It doesn't frighten me." - Richard Feynman
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