Knowledge is power

"USO is an unidentified submarine object that moves beneath the sea... But why are USOs moving through the water? What is their task? Maybe they have the same reason as the flying UFOs in the sky. Unfortunately we dont know their task..."
Christian Pfeiler (USOs - do they exist?)

"If we value the pursuit of knowledge, we must be free to follow wherever that search may lead us. The free mind is not a barking dog, to be tethered on a ten-foot chain."
Adlai E. Stevenson Jr. (1900 - 1965)

Senseless paragraphs...isn't it? The information in the first paragraph was obtained as a result of Google search for "USPS". Okay, I'll be fair...I made a typo.

Marconian gift

Radio, (ra-di-o) n. Transmission of programs for the public by radio broadcast.
a) An apparatus used to transmit radio signals; a transmitter.
b) An apparatus used to receive radio signals; a receiver.
c) A complex of equipment capable of transmitting and receiving radio signals.

Dictionary may explain radio as a complex of equipment but it is that primitive device which mothered all the CD players, MP3 players, ipods, nanos and so on and so forth. Though I was born in the era when TV ruled the earth, I still remember my childhood age where my day begins with radio and grows with radio (I can't say it ended with radio; blame me for watching all those evening TV programmes), and each and every senior whom I come across have a transistor close to their right ear listening to a film song or the one day commentary.

More than a entertainer it was rather a time piece for me. When I get up from my bed, it will be the regional news in Aakaashavanni by Saroj Narayan Swami, when I take bath it will be the b'day and anniversary wishes time in FM and when I leave to school it will be the songs parade in Vividhbarathi. Whoa! what a timekeeper. Such a fascinating device has it been, it thickened my technical bondage towards it when I was a inplant trainee in All India radio during my undergrad.

Nowadays I hardly hear radio. As everyone feels I also ceded myself to the MP3 and CD culture and lost the candied pleasure of listening to radio. While I write this I have a radio player running at the background playing songs from 80s and 90s making me guess what could the next song be. Hmm...I guess therefore here I am writing this!

Fiendish!

"...Sundaram than veetukkullae ponavudan ravikkai thaithukkondiruntha than thaayarai 'ammaalai yeanadi kaimpendatti endru vaithaai mundai' endru Ongi kaiyil vaithiruntha kambaal adithaan..."
- Kamalaabal Sarithiram a.k.a Aabathukidamana Abavaadham (B.R. Rajamayyar, 1896)

I could say nothing more than the word 'diabolic' when I read these lines from this century old novel. I am yet to complete reading this book. True that Tamil literature has millions of things to show me!

Burger, fries and coke

"What if a TV reporter is asked to be the chief minister of a state for one day" - a fairy tale premise that turned out to be a blockbuster with all commercial ingredients.

"What if a filmmaker is asked to eat only McD's food for thirty days" - a simple premise that turned out to be one of the best ever made documentary in the recent history.

I had no strong emotions for fast food joints until I had to say good bye to all my homemade dishes. The moment I entered into the grad life I fell a trap to these cheesy entrees delivered from the fast foods. Be it a pizza, burger, sandwich, and whatsoever, I had them frequently for lunch or dinner (I won't include breakfast since I have cereals to makeup my calories for the day). The simple yet inevitable reason being "too busy to cook".

Morgan Spurlock's "Super Size Me", is definitely not a movie worth watching on a Friday night with your partymates. It is one such films that deserves to be viewed with complete involvement. Yes! take my word with complete involvement. It's about you, your health and your life. A few days back I saw it with my friend. What just started as a timefilling documentary movie, slowly swallowed us and showed us where we are going. We did three things after the 100 minutes of runtime.

a) We checked our weight.
b) We calculated our BMI (Body Mass Index) and
c) We decided to drop our plan of ordering pizza and started cooking our dinner.

A haunting experience of the reality that creeps into our physique on a daily basis. In a way I can call this as a depressing movie. It depresses our spirits towards the tasty fast foods. Me being a veggie, one may think complaining too much is a little overboard. But if you are a meat lover, you got to see this man to know what you lost and what you gained.

If the above paragraphs were my immediate reaction to this flick, the following came up after sometime. Why we are not bold enough to make such hard hitting documentaries that reflect our life, society, issues and also attempts to provide a solution. Some dare to make such films that end up being telecasted as newsreels or TV movies. A few play a safe game adding glossy elements to their voice and at the end of the day it is only the makeover that is getting sold and not the face. While another few succeed in telling whtever they want to point out, but they fail in something that never brings the solution to see the light of the day. Its time guys!