Ten From Twenty15

As we approach the end of the year 2015 A.D., it is time to look back at some of the news/gossip/events and non-events to remember the year gone by.

1. The Question of the Year

There were other critical questions: Who was driving the car? Where was Rahul Gandhi? 

But the biggest question was: Why did Katappa kill Bahubali? It might only have been a movie, but its cliff-hanger ending raised this pertinent question. There are many theories abounding on this (Quora). To find out, we will have to wait for the sequel to come out next year. (MovieNotes)

2. Picture of the Year - Two Contenders 

The Shocking One: Little Aylan Kurdi’s body lying on the Syrian shore which finally shook up the world to the growing immigrant crisis.

And the Happy One – An old lady watching the red carpet procession of the Boston premiere of "Black Mass" while all around  her are busy taking pictures.

With apologies to Kipling: "If you can enjoy the moment, while people all around are taking selfies… you are a human”

3. Multi-lateral Contest of the Year

There is civil unrest in Syria against the current ruler Assad. But rebels have formed two groups, one of which is the Islamic State or Daesh. US supports the rebels fighting Assad, but not IS. Russia enters the arena to fight IS but supports Assad. Turkey while fighting IS ends up shooting down a Russian fighter plane. Newly rehabilitated Iran joins the fight against IS but does not like the Saudis. While we figure out who is fighting whom and what stake they have, it’s the Syrian populace which is bearing the brunt of this war.

4. Attire of the Year 

Beating down heavy competition from a monogrammed pin-striped suit was a wedding dress. Only thing no one was quite sure what its colour was? Was it Black and Blue, or Was it White and Gold? Opinions were divided, battle-lines were drawn (Yours truly was in the White & Gold camp). Till finally it was declared that like beauty, even colour lies in the eyes of the beholder, with the rods and cones of the eyes creating all the difference in what we think we are seeing.

5. The Family Tree Conundrum – Indrani Mukherjea

One fine day, media wakes up to the news that one of their own is involved in murdering her sister. Only the victim wasn’t her sister but her daughter. And with every passing day came in new information concerning previous husbands and children. It was one entangled family tree with new branches sprouting every day. That a murder had been committed was almost fogged up by this obsessive media coverage is another matter.

6. Device of the Year – Ahmed’s Clock

While Apple and Samsung came up with their own watches, it was a simple home-made alarm clock which landed a teenager in big trouble. 14 year old Ahmed Mohammed was arrested for bringing his self-made alarm clock to school because his teachers thought it was a bomb. 

7. India – the nation of bans & controversies

The year started with a ban on the AIB Roast. Then the ban on MSG – Messenger of God. After the Censor Board, joining the banning act were the various departments of the Central & State Governments – they banned beef, non-vegetarian food (except fish), porn (later unbanned), alcohol. Some termed it as rising intolerance, a curb on freedom of expression, some returned awards. Some of the bans were found to be rumors, others had apparently been in place for years. But most of the controversies were just political stunts aimed at polarizing vote banks in the light of the assembly elections. 

8. Twitter - The Universal Complaint Channel 

If you have a grouse and want to raise a complaint, just put it on Twitter (with proper hashtags and marked to the right handles). Whether it was people needing help from government agencies (foreign ministry and railways were quite efficient in this regard) or Sachin Tendulkar getting his baggage misplaced by British Airways or yours truly unable to get a mobile signal, Twitter was the channel to air the complaint. Your complaint will get an immediate response, sometimes to hilarious consequences. 

9. Dialogue of the Year

Prime Minister David Cameron bellowing – “Acche din aayenge, zaroor aayenge”

10. Meme of the Year

It was a battle between Sasha Chhetri (a.k.a. the Airtel 4G girl) and the mischievous tiny yellow pill shaped creatures. The competition was intense but the minions have managed to have the last laugh.

Some notable omissions from the list

• The Serial Killer of the Year: Vyapam Scam
• Around the World in 80 Days contest - Modi vs Kenyatta, its a close contest
• Farewell Tribute: Paul Walker in Furious 7 & Tribute to Jonah Lomu by his teammates.

That was 2015, amidst all the doom and gloom filled with its own little happy moments. We head into 2016 where amongst other things, we will get to learn why Katappa killed Bahubali and praying that the acche din come fast. 

Wishing all readers a very Happy 2016.

BookMarks #8: World War II in Photographs

Title: World War II in Photographs

Author: Richard Holmes

Genre: Non-Fiction, History, Photographs

Published: 2000

It is often said that a picture speaks a thousand words. This book is a compilation of the major incidents of the Second World War through the photographs taken during the war. The book is divided into seven chapters with each chapter representing one year of the war from 1939 to 1945. The chapters begin with a short depiction of the key events of the year which is then followed by a series of photographs from those events.

The photographs depict a vast range of subjects. Some depict bravery like shots of men fighting in the battlefields with different kinds of weaponry at their disposal and Men and women trying to protect their homes from the attackers. Others depict the backstage actors, who are sitting far removed from the battle-fields while directing the operations - the various leaders across the world trying to get a grip on the situation including some candid behind the scenes shots. Some depict victory and triumph and surrender.And finally there are the ones showing the price we pay for war depicting the devastation caused by the war. The photographs are from all over the world giving an idea of how widespread the fighting was going on.

Some of the pictures provide news, others propaganda material. Some of the photographs are posed, many are unposed taking directly in the very theater of war, quite a few at great risk to the photographers themselves. Makes me wonder abouth the bravery of the photographers. We celebrate the soldiers’ bravery? But what of the people who tell their tales.

Previously on BookMarks - The Jungle Book

Ten from Twenty14

Fast approaching the end of the Year Twenty14 A.D. And as with every ending its is a time to recollect. So here is list of ten random happenings/events/non-events etc. to remember the year gone by.

1. Mystery of the Year - MH370

In today's world it is inconceivable that a plane full of passengers can simply disappear from the face of the Earth. Its been over 9 months but still no trace at all of the plane. This situation of not knowing is possibly the worst any one can go through. It was a terrible year for Malaysia based airlines with MH17 being shot down in Ukraine and AirAsia QZ8501 crashing in Indonesia, 

2. Villain of the Year

There was heavy competition in this category. Boko Haram kidnapping girls in Nigeria, Islamic State releasing one dastardly "execution" video after another, Pakistani Taliban massacring a school full of students in Peshawar, or "rebels" shooting down a passenger plane in Ukraine.  Wonder which God condones these acts. And giving competition to these "humans" was nature with the Ebola virus building its own killing trail.

3. Event of the Year - India's General Elections

It was a long drawn process with voting taking place over weeks in multiple phases after months of preparations. And finally it ended with India having a new government. It introduced all sorts of new terminology in the political lexicon - Aam Aadmi, Modi wave, Namonia, Jupiter's escape velocity, tards, bhakts, youth, empowerment and what not. In the end all we can say that it was all "क्रांतिकारी , बहुत ही क्रन्तिकारी "

4. Picture of the Year - Oscar Selfie

It was a slightly odd moment. Some of the most photographed people on the planet photographing themselves live on global television. The result a "selfie" craze across the world. Selfie becomes a bona fide word, cellphones added enhanced selfie taking technology and retailers selling selfie-stick. One picture can take the world by storm.

The picture known as the Ellen selfie although its been taken by Bradley Cooper

5. Who is He?

Indian social media was scandalized as Maria Sharapova claimed ignorance about a certain Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. How could she not know about him? India outraged. Yet a couple of months later when Kailash Satyarthi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, all of us had to resort to Google to learn about him and his work. When we haven't heard of the real greats amidst our own people, why should be expect any better from a foreigner 

6. The Interview

Arnab Goswami interviewed Rahul Gandhi in the biggest TV event of the year. Millions of viewers tuned in to see Arnab asking questions and Rahul giving answers while trying to figure out what, if any, was the connection between the questions and the answers. 

Competition in this category from the Hollywood movie which made Kim Jong Un very angry leading to North Korean hackers unleashing cyber hell on Sony Pictures, thus doing lots of free publicity for a mediocre movie.

7. Sporting Result of the Year - 7-1

Neymar was kneed out of the World Cup with a terrible tackle. Brazil became the sentimental favorites with everyone expecting them to win it for Neymar. Only the Germans weren't told about it. as they hammered Brazil 7-1 to knock them out of their own home World Cup. The darkest day in Brazilian football  history.

8. League of Sports

The success of the IPL gave a template for all Indian sports to build their own Premier Leagues. So we now have a Cricket Premier League, Badminton League, Football Super League, Tennis League, Hockey League and to top them all two rival Kabaddi Leagues. Of all the leagues it was the Pro-Kabaddi league which provided the biggest boost to the sport bringing the obscure sport into the limelight.

9. Kolaveri Di Award for Viral Activity of the Year

There were multiple versions of Pharell Williams' Happy with each city, town, college, company, team lip syncing to Happy and creating their own version. Then there were lots of videos of people taking the ice bucket challenge. And finally there were Indian celebrities posing with a broom as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan launched by the PM

10.  Rajnikanth of the Year

The sanskari purush Sri Alok Nath Ji. One fine January day, he started trending on Twitter for no reason with lots of sanskari jokes and memes. Other celebs also trended on occasion but none like him. The almost forgotten actor was back in the limelight appearing in multiple ads. Best Joke - "Once Alok Nath ji took a bus. The conductor refused to take fare from such a sanskari person. In return Alok Nath ji gave him his ashirwaad. That conductor became Rajnikant"

So these were some random tid-bits to rember Twenty14 by.

Wishing all readers a very Happy New Year 2015.

P.S. List for Twenty13

9/11: Where Was I?

Today is September 11, 2011. exactly a decade after probably the single biggest and most spectacular terrorist attack which humankind has seen. Co-ordinated hijacking of 4 civilian airlines itself would have been a big thing  but to use those planes filled with civilians as weapons was an unprecedented attack on humanity. Today being the 10th Anniversary, millions of articles will be published. Hence I will not be going into any details of the attacks.  This post is about my 9/11 memories and its aftermath.

9/11 Day

I was a fresher in engineering college, having joined in July. In fact I wasn't even aware of the attacks till some time. After dinner the daily "Bakar"session was on. In this group one fellow came excitedly saying that there have been terrorist attacks in the US. This was a shocking news. Then he added that the WTC had been hit by planes and some more planes had been hijacked. The hostel TV wasn't working. Personal internet connections were still unheard of. Mobile phones still charged for incoming calls, so no one around had them. One person went to the campus STD booth  and called his home and got the news confirmation. Someone else mentioned that there was a working TV set in another hostel. So we proceeded towards that, a bit apprehensive though. After all the ragging period hadn't been over as yet. But needn't have worried about that as the news was much more interesting than a bunch of "murgas" (as we freshers were referred to as). Watched TV for some time and got to know of the scale of destruction caused. Went back with the mind numbed at the scenes witnessed on TV. Sleep was fitful. The next day papers carried all the grim news. 

Aftermath of 9/11

The hostel TV was repaired on an immediate basis. And the news channels were watched with great interest. 9/11, Osama bin Laden, WTC, Anthrax, You are with us or against us, Global war on terror... these were some of the terms added to the "bakar" sessions. Newspapers had reading material and sales of weeklies like India Today & Outlook had dramatically increased in the hostel.

10 years to the day of the deadliest terror attack on humanity. And this is what I remember from those days. The attacks may have taken in a land far away. I did not know any of the people who lost their lives in 9/11 nor did I know anyone who was around the place on that day. But something inside me certainly felt the attack. 

Obama & Nobel

Sometime during the afternoon today got the news that Mr. Barack Obama, President of the Untied States has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. My first reaction was that this must be some kind of hoax or prank. The news had come on the igoogle news feed. Immediately checked up various news sites ibnlive, timesofindia, bbc etc. Everywhere on the top with the breaking news ticker on was the same headline, Obama gets Nobel Peace Prize. Soon disbelief changed to amazement. I mean for all his qualifications and achievements till date what exactly has Mr. Obama done to deserve the Nobel Peace prize?

By becoming the first non-white President of the United States he has achieved something really big. He is a pretty educated and qualified man, no doubts about that. And an extremely good orator. His administration has provided the stimulus package to boost the recession affected economy, a national health bill which met quite some resistance, a policy for disarmament (with an Iran-Israel conflict likely, am not too sure if that is working), policy on climate change. All of these things have one common recurring theme. They are still policies. The world has not been disarmed of the nuclear weapons, there is no agreement on climate, economy is still down though showing signs of coming up. So giving a Nobel peace prize at the current juncture seems to me like an award in advance. Nothing concrete has happened as yet for this award to mean anything. I agree with most commentators that this is an award too soon.

P.S. The cut-off date for the nominations was February 1st. Mr. Obama was sworn in January last week. So Mr. Obama must be a superhuman to have done all these within 10 days of coming to office.

P.P.S. A nice comment - Obama gets Nobel Peace Prize three hours after he bombs the moon

The day History is made

Very rare are the days that one can claim to have said that history has been made. There have been events which have over the course of time proven to be of historic significance. But to call some thing as historic while it unfolds is a rare occasion. Well, with what little experience I have gathered about the world in general, I can safely say that Barack Hussein Obama's victory in the US presidential elections definetely comes into that category.
Well, on first look, at the surface it would seem an improbable victory. Obama's victory seems to have been written in the Hollywood studios rather than in any real life. Obama is of African-American descent. He is the son of a Kenyan goat herder who came to US on a scholarship. His middle name is Hussein (which also led to rumors of him being a Muslim). He is a first time senator with no foreign policy experience and was a virtual unknown even a couple of years back. Against him was John McCain, a respected war veteran and former prisoner of war, who had been in the Senate for years. Still it was Obama who emerged victorios by a comfortable margin.
The reasons for this victory has already been analysed the world over by political pundits. Most of them agree that McCain lost as a result of Bush's policies. And Obama won riding on the wave of a promise of change. Whether the change takes place or not, only time will tell.
However, the election results do justify one thing, i.e. the Great American Dream still lives on. An African-American president in a country which was racially divided not too many decades ago is a great event in its history. Race may not have been a issue any longer but the final frontier still remained to be covered.
And now we have to see what the future holds. Obama's presidency starts at a very tricky time. The world is in the grips of a big economic slowdown if not a recession. Also there are the various issues like Iraq, Iran, Korea and terrorism which have to be taken care of. The election of Obama has been greeted by enthusiasm across the world. Only time will tell whether he will live upto his promise of change.
But today certainly history has been made.