Boring awards ceremonies

British comedians are simply brilliant. They simply are. The British have a very rich tradition when it comes to comedy, especially stand up. From the inimitable and charming Ronnie Corbett to the brutally insensitive, but hilarious, Jimmy Carr, the people in the Isles have it all. However somehow, British comedy hasn't really crossed over to the US with much success. Popular British TV shows have somehow failed miserably to capture the attention of the Americans. Top Gear being the biggest example. The most popular automobile show on the planet, which is outstandingly hilarious throughout, has somehow not been popular in the US and the producers had to come up with a whole new show just for the American viewers.

Quite surprising then that someone like Ricky Gervais has managed to leave the entire television audience, not just in the US, but across the globe, screaming for more. There was a time when awards ceremonies were all about being politically correct and gently steering away from controversies. In came Ricky, and changed the course of things. No longer was anything, and I mean anything, considered holy. The snobs in Hollywood got a taste of the political incorrectness to the point where it actually resulted in an increase of TV ratings. The Golden Globes overnight became the Ricky Gervais show. And his repeated appearances as the host only consolidated that.

Anyone remember the Academy Awards? Yeah, apparently it's the biggest awards show on the planet. Did I just hear you say 'lame'? Well, I couldnt agree with you more! Over the years, the Oscars have turned out to be nothing more than disappointing. As for me, I do look forward to the Oscars, but only to check the winners' and nominees' list. And I believe I have spoken for a lot of people. I realise that it's preposterous (well, to some at least) to let Ricky host the Academy Awards, but seriously, after the drop in ratings, it doesn't seem such a bad idea after all.

India to have it's first proper Digital Music Store in Flyte

India has been a silent bystander in the digital era. 

Apple, which neglected India for a very long time, finally launched the iPhone at ridiculous prices, clearly sending out a message that Indian customers didn't matter to them and that the launch was a mere act of paying lip service to the cries of potential users across the country. Such was the sloppiness of the iPhone launch, that the much hyped iTunes Music Store, considered to be an important part of the Apple experience was completely blacked out for Indian users. Why users in this country continue to patronise a company so brutally careless and callous about the user experience (there being no official Apple Stores in this country, being another example of the indifference of Apple towards Indian customers) is beyond me.

Apple however is not the only offender when it comes to neglecting users. Amazon, one of the largest online retailers, is definitely not the holy cow. However since none of Amazon's services are officially available in India and there being no local Amazon India store (Junglee.com is a laughable attempt at creating an online marketplace, my own experience with Junglee.com has been an absolute nightmare), one can forgive them for not caring about Indian customers.

What this means is that Indians, are currently having no all inclusive online music store in the country. Not one, zero, zilch, naught!

Of course, one might argue about the presence of one hungama.com, about which I have my own reservations (humgama.com sells 128kbps MP3 files for Re. 1/song. Which year is this? 2001?). In short, after desperately trying to buy digital music, my experience has been horrendous. No wonder then,  that Indians, even the ones who can afford to pay for music and more importantly who want to pay for music, are forced to resort to blatant piracy.

Flipkart which has obviously done quite a lot (well, if there is a online market revolution in India happening at present, Flipkart can take the entire credit for it) in terms of making online purchases extremely smooth, is all set to launch Flyte, it's own digital music store. One can only hope that Flipkart addresses the issues Indian users have complained about regarding the current batch of (laughable) music stores such as hungama.com.

Thoughts on 1984

It's difficult to summarise one's thoughts about a book like 1984. It has influenced generations and has been interpreted by each differently. There have been scores of novels and movies (and even video games, remember Half Life?) which have drawn inspiration directly or indirectly from it.

At the outset, it must be said that this dystopian novel is a fantastic read. Even when you ignore the philosophy of it all, simply as a novel this is pretty amazing. Of course, once one delves deeper, there is a thoroughly intriguing and might I add, highly thought provoking, take on modern societies and power regimes and where they're headed. One may not agree with every conclusion the author comes up with but few can dispute the relevance of the book even to this day (the picture of the North Korean defector with a copy of 1984 in the streets of South Korea, "Nothing to Envy" by Barbara Demick, immediately comes to mind). Rulers, regimes and governments have since time immemorial been ruthless against the proletariat. And what's extremely uncomfortable and perplexing is the fact that even to this day, around the world, the exploitation of the poorest of the poor is continuing. Somehow we are still stuck with the medieval notions of the higher, middle and lower classes, in one form or the other. And therefore, much to my personal dismay, Orwell's books, especially Animal Farm and 1984 continue to be relevant rather than simply being important works of literature.