Others might be having several reasons, some obvious and some not so obvious, to glue to TV sets for watching Bigg Boss. I developed interest in this show for 2 reasons. To begin with, there was nothing worth watching other than the same old dance reality shows or soap operas, which I avoid like a plague. But once I started watching it, I never failed to miss even a single episode (except our vacation where our policy is not watch to TV at all..don’t we, after all, go on vacation to clear up clutters in our lives, minds…). Second reason is difficult to admit because I never ever liked Shilpa Shetty but her stint with UK Big Boss gave this show a new lease of life and popularity.
So what it is that keeps me hooked? Is it celebrities? Oh! Please, give me a break…they are “NO” celebrities…they are neither nobodies nor celebrities…they are just “somebodies”, about whom we don’t bother to think. And if, frankly speaking, they were not kept in such unique conditions of being away from everyone in a camera-infested house with no life-supporting system such as TV, music, books, mobile, watch, we would not have given them a second glance.
So, is it watching personal lives of people…like what duo doing or not doing under the cover? Or is it squats or cuss words? Nah! Has anyone thought of it as a good case study of behavioral/social science? Perhaps yes or no. In fact, this is the very FOUNDATION of this show. Imagine yourself living among complete strangers where you can’t do anything (reading, watching, sleeping during the day…) but are forced to socialize with others. Forced because all life supporting systems have been snatched away and you are left with nothing to do…what will you do whole day??? What???
So, here begins the game. Keep a prize money and the tag of a winner…and empower insiders to throw out the person of their disliking and also, add the fact that they need to be TRP grabber. Voila! It’s a catch 22 situation now.
Socialize they must and manipulate behavior, situations and what not? So, you have an assortment of different behaviors, some loud, some shrewd, some confused, some quiet. To me, there’s nothing called "neutral"..it’s more of a choice that you want to exhibit yourself as neutral though you know very well which groups exist and choose not show your approval/denial for any of them. Groups are also bound to happen even if one does not chose to. So, if a group is formed comprising few members, it naturally forces the remaining members to stand against it. So counteracting force is formed, which may comprise all the remaining memebers or only some of them. There are bound to have people who would not like to get associated with any of groups…but this strategy also fails in longer run. Once the initial euphoria of settling scores with each other dies down and the groups start looking for strategizing little more, these people come under scanner…and they pay for that..being “neutral’. And then, they train their guns against those whom they consider potential threat whether internal or external because after all only one has to win, so the group that served their purpose also has to go away…So, this happens with realiginig of people in groups or dismantling of groups or division of groups in more smaller chunks…hmm, interesting and intriguing…and if twists and turns are given such as letting a person be out of the game for a while in a way so that he can see what all others are doing, thinking and saying without letting others know about it; and then sending him back to that house now…this makes the game all the more interesting…so you see, there’s more to this program than what usually meets the eye. This is my reason..what’s yours’?
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Friday, September 26, 2008
Strawberries never tasted so good…
Standing beneath an enormous chandelier around a huge round table surrounded by near and dear ones joining in the chorus of “Happy Birthday To You” while a little princess in a beautiful Victorian-style, maroon gown and a crystal-studded crown cuts the cake with help from mamma and papa around…this is how I envisaged celebrating my baby’s very first birthday…
There are plans and then there’s destiny...my husband’s involvement in a crucial project did not allow us getting a long vacation and we had to cancel our plans to celebrate the occasion with everyone back in Delhi. Sudden change in plans in the eleventh hour left little scope for everyone to arrange travel plans to Mumbai. Disappointed I was to the core and my face could not lie signaling to my spouse the pangs of my anger and frustration. A quick damage control exercise was carried out with his announcement, “Pack your bags, we will go somewhere”.
Gloom withered away to an extent but traces of skepticism loomed large. After all, neighbor hill stations of Mumbai are notorious for being as overcrowded as the city itself. We settled for Panchgani and Mahabaleswar, thinking we never explored it before and journey through the most scenic Pune express highway would be a bonus.
Brows little relaxed as the car hit the highway and the weather turned cloudy, the mood turned little upbeat as we passed through several tunnels and the clouds engulfed the windscreen. All worries, complaints melted away when we touched the boundaries of Panchgani. oh! What a wonderful sight of Sahyadri range of hills kissed by clouds, oozing numerous waterfalls running down the zig zag fields (it rained incessantly throughout our stay). Only thing missing was our woolens, though arrangements were in place for our little princess; we never thought we would need to wrap ourselves in sweaters and scarves just 5 hours journey away.
Surprise package from the resort we checked in in terms of discounts for at least 2 week days (barring weekend) and the complimentary spa treatments they showered on us healed our travel woes (if any). A walk in the nearby strawberry farms (it was claimed that it’s done only in that place in India at such a large scale because of suitable climate conditions) took my breath away. Do I need to count then how many scoops and scoops of strawberries with cream we all gulped? Strawberries were here, there, everywhere…syrups, squash, ice creams, desserts…the list was endless. The place is full of “points” to stop by, enjoy scenery, snacks and tea and unwind yourself and we did precisely that…explored unheard and unseen of destinations there.
The big day came and the princess was showered with gifts – our prayers, toys, dresses, jewelry and of course, of our lots and lots of love J. The day began with a must visit to temple of lord Ganesha – we consider her to be his blessing followed by a sumptuous breakfast…a little rest, playing games by the pool side, video shoot followed by a late hearty meal. Now was the time to look after some arrangements and preparations…talks with hotel staff. Few discussions later a small nap and a massage therapy rejuvenated us for evening celebrations. I supervised all decorations and decked the area myself. Balloons, color strips, teddy bears, birthday caps, roses, and birthday cake in centre…princess made a grand entry in her maroon, Victorian dress and a crystal studded crown. She was beaming with joy and spreading the fragrance of her innocence all around. People around and the hotel staff joined in the chorus “Happy Birthday To You”, claps and whistles…Navya could make out it’s her very very special day…we headed towards discotheque where DJ welcomed us to the disc floor with “Birthday song” and then belting out popular chartbusters beginning with Pappy can’t dance… (Navya’s fav song). It was time to have a cosy candle light dinner now– just mummy, papa and their princess, so quiet and serene, so heavenly. As usual Navya was spoilt for choices (chef cooked everything possible for a just a year old special guest) and we dug into other delicacies.
Princess tuned one…she was now sleeping beautifully wrapped in a quilt as the clock struck 12 at night.
Sitting next to window wrapped in my shawl, holding a steaming cup of freshly-brewed coffee I looked tenderly at father and the little princess sleeping blissfully…I turned my head and looked out of the window and watched heavy rains drenching every corner of manicured and pedicured lawn below surrounded by the hills all the side…rarely visible due to dark clouds…
I was thanking God for making his own arrangements and not letting us stick to our original plan…so unique, far from madding crowd, a walk in the clouds through strawberry farms…true, strawberries never tasted so good...
There are plans and then there’s destiny...my husband’s involvement in a crucial project did not allow us getting a long vacation and we had to cancel our plans to celebrate the occasion with everyone back in Delhi. Sudden change in plans in the eleventh hour left little scope for everyone to arrange travel plans to Mumbai. Disappointed I was to the core and my face could not lie signaling to my spouse the pangs of my anger and frustration. A quick damage control exercise was carried out with his announcement, “Pack your bags, we will go somewhere”.
Gloom withered away to an extent but traces of skepticism loomed large. After all, neighbor hill stations of Mumbai are notorious for being as overcrowded as the city itself. We settled for Panchgani and Mahabaleswar, thinking we never explored it before and journey through the most scenic Pune express highway would be a bonus.
Brows little relaxed as the car hit the highway and the weather turned cloudy, the mood turned little upbeat as we passed through several tunnels and the clouds engulfed the windscreen. All worries, complaints melted away when we touched the boundaries of Panchgani. oh! What a wonderful sight of Sahyadri range of hills kissed by clouds, oozing numerous waterfalls running down the zig zag fields (it rained incessantly throughout our stay). Only thing missing was our woolens, though arrangements were in place for our little princess; we never thought we would need to wrap ourselves in sweaters and scarves just 5 hours journey away.
Surprise package from the resort we checked in in terms of discounts for at least 2 week days (barring weekend) and the complimentary spa treatments they showered on us healed our travel woes (if any). A walk in the nearby strawberry farms (it was claimed that it’s done only in that place in India at such a large scale because of suitable climate conditions) took my breath away. Do I need to count then how many scoops and scoops of strawberries with cream we all gulped? Strawberries were here, there, everywhere…syrups, squash, ice creams, desserts…the list was endless. The place is full of “points” to stop by, enjoy scenery, snacks and tea and unwind yourself and we did precisely that…explored unheard and unseen of destinations there.
The big day came and the princess was showered with gifts – our prayers, toys, dresses, jewelry and of course, of our lots and lots of love J. The day began with a must visit to temple of lord Ganesha – we consider her to be his blessing followed by a sumptuous breakfast…a little rest, playing games by the pool side, video shoot followed by a late hearty meal. Now was the time to look after some arrangements and preparations…talks with hotel staff. Few discussions later a small nap and a massage therapy rejuvenated us for evening celebrations. I supervised all decorations and decked the area myself. Balloons, color strips, teddy bears, birthday caps, roses, and birthday cake in centre…princess made a grand entry in her maroon, Victorian dress and a crystal studded crown. She was beaming with joy and spreading the fragrance of her innocence all around. People around and the hotel staff joined in the chorus “Happy Birthday To You”, claps and whistles…Navya could make out it’s her very very special day…we headed towards discotheque where DJ welcomed us to the disc floor with “Birthday song” and then belting out popular chartbusters beginning with Pappy can’t dance… (Navya’s fav song). It was time to have a cosy candle light dinner now– just mummy, papa and their princess, so quiet and serene, so heavenly. As usual Navya was spoilt for choices (chef cooked everything possible for a just a year old special guest) and we dug into other delicacies.
Princess tuned one…she was now sleeping beautifully wrapped in a quilt as the clock struck 12 at night.
Sitting next to window wrapped in my shawl, holding a steaming cup of freshly-brewed coffee I looked tenderly at father and the little princess sleeping blissfully…I turned my head and looked out of the window and watched heavy rains drenching every corner of manicured and pedicured lawn below surrounded by the hills all the side…rarely visible due to dark clouds…
I was thanking God for making his own arrangements and not letting us stick to our original plan…so unique, far from madding crowd, a walk in the clouds through strawberry farms…true, strawberries never tasted so good...
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