Ring tone-d

The dawn of the year 2000 brought in an invention which revolutionized the whole way the world perceives communication - the mobile. Of course, it was known as an invention since long before, but with the new century, its popularity and reach amongst the masses gained momentum. With time, this invention slowly became necessity and now has become as equal as a ‘family member’ in almost all houses. It is like a tail following the owner leaving behind a trail in the form of a ‘ring tone’.

The tunes with which one uses to ‘reach’ his mobile became the ‘face’ of that particular person. Ring tones, the new identity of the person in a crowd evidently become an inevitable part of a person and his image in the society at large. Everyone thereby, wanted to make a mark in the public with his / her ‘voice’ of the ring tone. Slowly, this small invisible craze made such an impact in the day to day life that it has become a usual affair for the human being.

Changing ring tones, exchanging ring tones, setting unique ring tones is a trend of sorts amongst the youth and the mobile users in general. In addition, the money ensnarers ‘sell’ this invisible product in the market. It proves to be an interesting and an unsual marketing gimmick that a product not visible to the eyes is being marketed so extensively.

An interesting fact or a field of study is what drives a person to choose a particular ring tone. Has it to do with his psyche or with the mental condition? With the changing moods, one prefers to change his/her ring tones. Some like to keep it aloud, some keep unusual unheard songs as their uniqueness, some prefer to keep it on silent, perhaps like to keep a low profile in the crowd?

This indiscernible ‘item for consumption’ is up for grabs and has made such a presence felt in the market at large that now movies are coming up with tunes which can be promote along with the music. Several movies come up with these ‘forced’ tunes/hymns to target the aficionado.

I have these unusual experiences as far as these ringtones are concerned and have come across several ‘matchless’ choices as ringtones.

I have met people with really good taste in selecting a ring tone, which are really soothing to hear and also can stun you several times with the way it sounds. Some like to keep it as professional as possible and can be boring sometimes. Some like to have a really absurd choices for the music that I wonder how can someone keep ring tones like ‘pardesi pardesi’ (par-desi hoon???). Some people are bizarrely patriotic and their ‘patriotism’ in the form of ring tones suddenly springs up from no where , ‘Mere Desh ki Dharti’ and ‘Vande Mataram’ suddenly bounces up from nowhere and that too at some strange situations . Devotional people are the best of the lot. I attended one meeting, a professional meet and everyone was discussing an issue. Suddenly in the middle of a heated discussion, someone’s devotional trait jumped up and that too aloud.’ Tum hi ho mere swami’ and ‘ Jai mata’ ringtones abruptly changes the ambience into a devotional nature. But the ringtone ‘nature’ of one office boy in my workplace takes the cake for me. He possesses this uncanny knack of getting weirdest, wackiest and extremely unheard ( read useless) tracks as ring tones. I refer to those ones as ‘bang’ tones. ’tujhe pyar kaise' and some really unheard songs are part of his daily identity. Moreover, he boasts of these hit songs by keeping maximum volume, thus the whole office gets to know of his hard hitting presence.

Same ‘ring tone theory’ applies to the other facet the mobile carries i.e the text messages. The same funda of eerie message tones also make a mark of the person’s messagial identity. Ringtone like sound of a coin dropping, a click, a gun shot, a rising alarm are just some of the message tones that alerts the person of a message. Lot of ‘innovative’ message tones too has gained popularity in the general masses.

Ultimately, whatever tone a person’s carries, one thing is for sure – we all are inevitably ‘ring-toned’.

Happy and gay

The Delhi High Court’s verdict of de-criminalization of the homosexuality brought in a wave of innumerable discussions, viewpoints and a revolution of sorts. It was an anti-Indian verdict given by the law and not many abide to it. Promoting gayism, lesbianism in a culturally rich country like India comes like a shock to a large number of people.

In a way, the law is portraying that India is on a developable path and being progressive by accepting such alien issues. India has always followed a rich heritage and even with the tabooed issue of sexuality had Khajuraho and kamasutrian stands to fortify that the reproductive act of the nature should be between human species of opposite sex. Though, it is the sole choice of the individual to choose his sexual tendency. But just a peep into the future where we can envisage a young male adult coming and telling his parents that he has selected a boy for marriage would be ‘natural’? This reminds me of the Virgin mobile ad which addresses the same issue in a comical manner- the girl wants to go out with her boyfriend, but addresses the parents that she prefers company of girls rather than guys, and the father immediately lets her go with her boyfriend to save her from the unnatural behavior towards girls. Think hatke! as the punchline goes, but the court verdict has not just thought hatke…but in my opinion has thought of the Indian culture in a ‘hatke’ manner.

Introducing such aberrant sexual behavior in the name of democracy is not what will lead India to the path of ‘progression’. It will make India ‘just like any other country’ where..sab kuch chalta hai kind of attitude will be prevalent. This decision will bring in an attitude of no restriction, no limitations and no hold in the nascent stages of understanding one’s sexual behavior.

The positive dimension of this verdict is that it will help reduce rate of population in a miniscule proportion. With same sex marriages, same sex live in relationships such species when ‘plan’ to start a family will have to adopt a child, thus giving a ‘home’ for the orphan. Taking this situation further, one can imagine how such a child is brought up….what kind of strange influences will be imbibed in him/her in the early stages of life. My ‘mother’ / ‘father’ is of the same sex as opposed to other normal parents are astonishing values which will be absorbed by the innocent mind. One wonders what kind of sexual orientation such a child will respond to. His/her parents might give him/her the ‘forced freedom’ to choose his bed partner.

India has always looked towards the ‘west’ for clues for development. Practices like homosexuality have become an inevitable part of their culture. This unwelcome choice of de-criminalization of ‘loving’ same sex species in India is a ‘waste’ influence. While I am of the opinion that accepting this gayish attitude for a country like India will lead India to a rise in attitudinal confusion where India might loose its identity of a democracy with certain limitations. Where are all those so called moral police when India is celebrating such a revolutionary judgment? They can raise petty issues like girls going to pubs, celebrating certain days then why this radical verdict not being questioned?

No agitation means acceptance of the judgment and welcoming the change the country is never accustomed to. One can sense India in the recent future with the ‘implied’ meaning of the term Happy and gay

Michael Jackson - a 'History'

‘King of Pop’ died yesterday following a heart failure…announced a radio jockey over the radio on the morning of 26^th June 2009 while I was having my breakfast with the usual habit of listening to radio. The news shocked the hell of me as I couldn’t believe what I listened to. I couldn’t believe my ears, for the first time though, reconfirmed with my mother about the broadcast and whether the words from the mouth of radio jockey were the same as what fell on my ears. She confirmed it and I could imagine myself falling in the deep ocean of grief.

Michael Jackson….the idol for whom I had deep respect, love and admiration was no more. Leave apart his ‘antics’, but as a musician and a talent he was class apart. I grew up admiring and imitating the impeccable dance moves of one of the worlds best dancers and I am sure fans all over worldwide will miss the person, his music and the ‘human’ side of the phenomenon called Michael Jackson.

Michael Jackson has had a deep influence on the musical taste that got imbibed in me in my growing up years and could understand beats, rhythm listening to his music. I was exposed to this cult also branded as MJ. The dream to attend a MJ live concert was shattered the immediate moment as those unruly words hit me.

Today the whole day is spent in remembering the crazy things that I did remembering MJ…a dance show with a partner copying almost all the MJ dance movements, to the talks and debates about his music and fighting with people who used to bad mouth about him to getting large posters of the King and emulate his styles.

Being an ardent MJ fan, few words of grief and remembrance and prayers for his soul to lay in peace is how I can offer my share of condolences amongst the millions who would share the same feeling.

Lastly Michael Jackson proved to be a ‘Dangerous’ly ‘Invinsible’ ‘Thriller’ of a person who has left behind an immense ‘History’ written ‘Off the wall’ several times behind us to make us feel ‘Bad’….the King of Pop will live long in the hearts of fans

Michael Jackson – a ‘history’

City: past perfect or future tense-d?

We often dream. A dream of a bright future and an anticipation that the future will bring in all the things that we aspire for. Whether it is money, happiness, relations and security, we always look forward to the future. The cities are no less and somewhere each city dreams of its existence. We, the inhabitants of different cities can shape / de-shape a city into making a ‘city of dreams’ or a ‘city only in dreams’. The local authority constantly ‘fights’???? to create a ‘healthy’ future of the cities. But one must question whether these decision makers share the same dream as the common man?? Crores of money that is pumped in for the pretext of development of the cities find its several routes wither into the already wealthy pockets of these decision makers or into procrastinating things to make it work in the city. The denizen should be curious enough to question the authorities as to where does the money go.

One question that constantly pesters me is whether: The money is directed to make the cities of the past or cities of the future? Are we making a forward transgression or a reverse progression? The question then is: What is a city of the future, anyway?

Insofar as stimulus funds are available to repair failing bridges, dams, roads and vital infrastructure, that's where they should be invested.

To begin putting each city on the road to the future should be a on high priority. Which means building communities that are secure from energy supply disruptions and crippling energy prices. Laced with safe routes for people to walk and bicycle; able to provide a variety of mobility options so that everyone - including the young, old and disabled - has access to vital services.

Cities of the future condemn no neighborhood to be the dumping ground for waste, pollution or traffic; conserve vital resources such as water; prepare to withstand the anticipated impacts of climate change, including heat waves and extreme weather; protect and restore natural places so that kids of all ages have contact with nature; foster social interaction; and avoid urban sprawl, to name a few criteria.

If the benefits of building for the future are not clear, the urban leaders should think of it this way: If they plan to invest in buildings, transit systems, streets or infrastructure and those improvements are meant to last more than a decade, they are not building the city for themselves. They're building it for their children. The goal should be to create a community that remains competitive for generations to come as a wonderful place to live and do business.

The only anticipation is these urban leaders should have a vision that shouldn’t make the city as a brilliant example of ‘past perfect and future tense-d?’