The day the past zoomed in on me

I get into the Zoom meet and see my buddies screaming over a lousy network. They are all there. A bit older, a bit pixelated, but alive, thriving and giggling as ever. Yes, a bunch of 40-year-olds behaved like teenagers.

My Middle in the Deccan Herald. Published on May 25, 2021.

Click here to read this piece on old friends, nostalgia and good times in the Deccan Herald.

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Shah Rukh Khan's marketing superpowers

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No...It's SRK with his Ra.One promotions. I am looking at the Ra.One promotions and I'm literally bedazzled. Is there anything that the King Khan has overlooked? mmmmm....nothing I can think of. From dancing with TV stars to visiting malls (he was swarmed by screaming fans in a mall at Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore), from Youtube to Google+, Shah Rukh has pulled all stops. I just see him anywhere and everywhere. What's more, Ra.One merchandise is selling like hot cakes, these days (even my son wants one!). Not to mention the Playstation video game which is really the brain child of a marketing genius (my son wants that, too). Amazing but just not enough to get me to the theatre. Atleast that's how I felt because of the Ra.One overload, till last sunday. But then came the showstopper. The real eyeball grabber - the super cool Ra.One comic book that came with my Sunday Times, last week. It was so appropriate. So in tune with the movie and ...

Not Quite Quiet.

I spend a day alone. In quiet reflection. But again, it’s not quite quiet. There’s me and my cesspool of emotions. Turbulent. Rocky. Choppy. Like a sea on tide. I’m trying to ride the swirling ebb and flow. Abysmal despair alternates reams of hope Like a lone oarsman caught amidst raging waters I glide and slide. Uneasily. Visions from the past; Stories wrapped in wreaths of pain That seemed long dead and gone, Rise above from deep inside. Like a tsunami Brutal and destructive. I let it take hold. I let the emotions flow. Wild. Feral. Untamed. Seeping through my very being. While I lay still. Very still. Waiting patiently. For the waters to reside. For calm to reign. For healing to begin.

Of thought leadership and Indian Media

Recently, the Supreme Court came down heavily on Television channels for using ‘hate and all such spicy things’ to increase their ratings especially during their prime-time debates. Terming hate speech a ‘poison’ affecting the social fabric of the country, the Supreme Court asked, “Where is our nation headed to if hate speech is what we are feeding on?” Mainstream channels still hold sway and the role of the anchor becomes critical. Media must have freedom of expression but should know where to draw the line, the apex court added. The Supreme Court’s rap for Indian Television media comes at the heel of several controversial and often polarizing discussions that prime-time debates usually delve upon. These vitriolic debates often reach heated heights when communally or socially inflammatory issues are discussed with an eclectic ‘panel of experts’ who most often out-shout each other. Media traditionally is called as the fourth estate, the fourth pillar of democracy that is the w...

Of words and vibes

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