Spoilt for choice...

Last day the office canteen boy asked me, "Sir, when are you going to Kerala next?"

"Next week maybe, or the week after that."

"Will you bring banana chips for me?"

"No"

He was offended, though I told it in a light vein. If I say yes, and even if I never brought him the chips, he would have been happy. My telling no was unexpected and he was upset. But he also had to think that he gave me a choice. It was a yes or no question that he asked and logically he do not have any right to be upset when my answer is negative. He was supposed to be prepared for that. Because there was  50% chance for a negative answer.

So the moral of the story is that, never ever give a choice to anyone when you want only one outcome as an answer.

Speaking about choices, I wanted to write a post on them from long time back. But this incident last day prompted me to start it.

I started browsing through channels in TV last day and was flicking the remote for an hour or so without watching a program for even a minute fully. I see a movie playing and feel that on the other channel I thought I saw a better one, but by the time I reach that channel, advertisements had started. Then again I continue surfing.. Same thing happen when I am in the library. A long array of books and I keep moving from one rack to another, from one genre to another, takes a book at first and then browse some more. Put it back and grab another one... Making a choice is tough. especially for these small  things like watching a movie or choosing where to eat. Is it all the perils of modern technology? Bombarding our simple every day life with so many choices? 

Last day I watched this ad for iphone telling that if you do not have an iphone, you don't have one. (Of course I never bought an iphone, but after watching the ad, now I am sure I don't have one.) They say you can choose form 30000 applications!!!! 30000... What were they thinking?!!! Just to chose one or two from them will be like searching a  needle in Sahara desert. In my phone I have four applications, Opera Mini, Snaptu, Newshunt and Kakuro (a fine game that can give some good exercise to brain). Except for the first and the last one, I opens them only once in a blue moon... I cannot imagine what I will do after downloading 30000 applications... Same thing about that 5 TB hard disk my good friend boasts about. 5 TB is a lot of space. If I fill it with movies, I will not be even able to watch it all in my life time, especially being in my current job. 

So the world is hell bend on spoiling us with choices. Remember the good old days of Doordarshan? We used to wait for a week to watch a Malayalam movie, Rangoli or Chitrhaar! Once in DD national they started this top 10 song show called Ek Se Badhkar Ek. We were quite impressed by the show because all the popular songs were shown on a single episode. The hitch came during the second episode. My parents did not like it. They were asking what fun is there in watching the same 10 songs consecutively for two weeks. And next year we bought cable. Now around 5 channels played the same songs every half hour. And worst part is that we got used to it. 

You know what I am longing for now? A world that is not so complicated, giving us infinite choices for every options that we have. For important options, it is good, a better job, a better study course, I don't mind a lot of options for these things. But for trivial needs do we require these much? Call me demented. I don't mind. I want only one TV channel that shows one quality program at a time. A library that issues one book selected randomly without telling me to choose from 50 titles of fluorescent colored jackets written by Danielle Steel. A movie theater with a single screen. An election  candidate list with just two contestants to select from..  

The snack for nights...!

Unagi Pie... A snack for nights!

That was written on the dark red box kept on the top of the cupboard. Unagi...? It is not the first time that I am hearing the word. In that ancient episode of Friends, Ross tries to impress the girls demonstrating a Japanese martial art technique called Unagi. Later they find out he is bluffing and actually Unagi is a Japanese delicacy made of fish, much like Sushi.

Last week, we had a group of Japanese delegates visiting our firm, who had gifted some cookies that we all shared among ourselves. I googled and found Unagi is a fresh water eel found in Japan, which they use in  cooking a wide variety of  delicacies, from Pizza to pie... We have some pure vegetarians in our place, and if they knew that they have eaten fish, even unknowingly, it may prove a bit embarrassing for them. If they have seen the pics of live Unagi that I have googled, even non vegetarians will have a bit discomfort.

Unagi: Live and uncut!

When I confronted the person who distributed the 'cookies' and explained him of my discovery, he replied with a mischievous smile that he had felt something fishy while eating it. I left the matter there. My sincere condolences to all those unsuspecting vegans in my work place who had a taste of this wonderful cookie. (BTW I was not able to find out why did they advertise it as a snack for nights...)

MST3K: Showcasing the worst.

Have you ever had to sit through a movie that goes down way below watchable tag? Something for which awful is an understatement? I am not talking about duds like Drona or Sanctum... what I mean are things that are much, much worse. Movies in which not even one scene, one shot or one dialog makes sense. Worst lot of actors, bad direction and pathetic in every department.  I had watched a Tamil movie some years back with one of my friend, something called Veerasami. It was a one man show, directed, written, acted, edited, composed and God knows what else by veteran Tamil actor T Rajendar, or T R as he is popular. The three hour movie is such an experiance, we were laughing our hearts out, scene by scene. There were only few scenes when we did not laugh and that were the comedy scenes. But after the movie, we felt very light hearted. It seemed a worthy effort.

I relived this experiance recently when I watched an episode of MST3K on youtube. MST3K or Mystery Science Theatre 3000, is a very popular comedy TV series of 90s which made fun of B grade sci fi and horror movies. Many movies from 50's to 90's that would have been fallen to oblivion got a new lease of life through this series. Most of the movies featured are regulars in the worst movie lists. The format is like this: A poor janitor is tricked and send to outer space by two evil scientists, (in later episodes it is an evil woman who does this.) as a plan to dominate the world. In a space ship, he is made to watch the worst movies ever made. The plan is to unleash the worst movie that makes him insane to the mankind and make them zombies. To escape from getting insane, the janitor Joel, (Mike in later episodes) makes some robots which can converse with him. All this story is told in the title song.  In each episode Joel and robots are made to watch one bad movie. After the title song and a funny introduction, the movie is started. Below the screen Joel and robot are visible as silhouettes. While the movie is being played, they makes a funny running commentry on the movie.     

The episode that I watched featured this movie called Hobgoblins, touted as one of the worst movies ever made in history. The creatures are puppet like aliens ("palm sized big foot" in Mike's words!) who can cause anyone's wildest fantasies come true, but the hitch is that the fantasies turns disastrous killing the person. The creatures hiding in a film vault of an abandoned studio, is released by the new security guard. They follows him and get to his friends, who incidentally are the most weird people on earth. Lots of things happens, which makes the plight of audience no less bad. But the running commentry of Mike and Bots keeps you glued..!

There is a scene where an army returned guy gives the security guard a lesson on combat with garden shovels! The fight goes on and on and Mike quips, " Wow, I think I can watch this thing forever."

Check these scenes out for a sample of what's ahead if you feel like watching it:

Stranded: A Mobile Game

Stranded is a mobile game which I downloaded last day. It is a long time since I have played any game, except Sudoku, that too once in a while. The plot of the game is similar to the television series Lost, I suppose, but I have never watched the series. Any way the game starts with a dream sequence from which the gamer wakes up to find himself and three others stranded in a remote island after a wreck. More people joins them with a possibility of a betrayer among them. Weapons and drugs get missing. They have to survive by fishing, hunting, farming and trading their produce with the aborigin tribals. And they have to uncover a horrible secret uncovered in the island before it is too late and island eats them all.

My favourite part is hunting where lot of birds, wild boars, snakes are to be killed. We can cook the meat and other vegetables that we farm... Trading is the strategy to win the game...A good time pass game...

Ultimate foodie show

I have been watching this show aired in NDTV Good times from some time now. If you see the channel you will be knowing that they give much priority to cooking and food related shows. Like Italian Khana, Breaking bread with and In high spirits....

But this show Highway on my plate is my favourite.. The show is hosted by Rocky and Mayur, two awesome foodies who lives to have food... The theme of the show is highway food through out India. These two guys travels on the highways sampling food from road side dhabas and any food joints they can find. And they gives us reviews and advises regarding where to get good food while travelling and the local delicacies available in remote parts of the country.

What makes HOMP special is the raw enthusiasm shown by the hosts in giving us the best. Rocky is a non veg food expert and Mayur is a pure veggie. And what you get is a combo that is special and funny. It often reminds the times when I went out on highway with friends and what all we used to do on our way.

And not to mention the hilarious food quote that they gives at the end of the show... So if you are a foodie, likes experimentations with new things, watch the show ... bring your plate too....

Your free sample:

Sensex for Dummies

Last sunday I watched this movie called Saas Bahu & Sensex. Interesting name? Directed by Shona Urvashi and produced by Warner Bros. it is a comedy about the most unlikely investors in Indian stock market. The soap watching, gossiping, nagging, kitty ladies in a colony gets interested in stock trading... and what follows is hilarious....

It is the kind of movie that draws people only in multiplexes and many people watches after it is aired in a cable channel- which will happen soon, and certified a flop in the first week of release. But the movie addresses a very important question arising every investor's mind in a bullish market- to keep or to sell. And the answer given is simple and the most accurate... When price is less buy, buy after studying the potential of the company.... always invest with a long term goal...

And at this time of turmoil in the market, this movie may put some sense in worried investor's minds. Because the falls are not here to stay, there will be a rise, stay sensible and reap the benefits....

PN: Watching Farroq Sheikh after a long hiatus is refreshing, after all, these days where do we see such natural comedians.... all overacting buffoonery...

Malgudi...

Just finished reading Malgudi Days by R K Narayan.....

As Expected... too good, too simple, just like that old teleserial, directed by Shankar Nag.

Malgudi is an imaginary world created by R K Narayan. But you can find the inhabitants of Malgudi in any part of the world.... The people, their characters are so like our own world, in which we live in, that we feel one with them. The stories are very simple, some slightly tragic, but never exaggerated mostly humorous but never slapstick.... Narayan never tries to emotionally blackmail the readers by too colorful emotions. He shows the protagonists as they are, gives space for us to be one with them and identify them. He never takes parts or justifies, he just chronicles the life as a historian- yes that is what he is, Historian of Malgudi.....