Category Archives: Life’s Like That

Street Light – a different reality show

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This is going to be a no-frills post. I am not able to find any fancy words. I am deeply touched, moved…

We tune in to watch reality shows once in a while for relaxation during dinner time. We do have a few favorites in this genre. Many a times they come up with more tragedy in terms of elimination, or a depressed candidate due to a failed performance or a brutally mutilated song we love.

Here comes a new reality show. A real path breaker. Not the kind of path breaker introduced by “Rakhi ka swayamvar”.  This is the reality show of the 17 street singers around us. Yes, those people, as thin as skeleton, blind, crippled, who sing around us in Railway stations and bus stands. Those people, whom we ignore and sometimes laugh at for their mediocre rendition. The specialty of the show does not end there. There will be no elimination rounds for the show. Instead, the sponsor of the program will build houses for all the 17 participants!!

“hmm.. Novel Marketing Tactics!!” That was my first thought when I heard about the program  in Indiavision channel. Yet, I was curious to search for the timing, for a glimpse of the program due to the novelty of concept.

Today, I stumbled upon the videos in Internet.  I would like to share those videos with all my friends across the world. See this one :

If your eyes become wet after watching this video, its not the program’s fault. Its because you are still human…

For the benefit of the non-malayalees reading this post, let me introduce a few contestants along with the links to their performances.

Saraswati

She used to share stages with  eminent musicians like Dr. KJ Yesudas in her early life. A Ganabhooshanam (degree in music) graduate, she says that she finds no difference between singing on street, or on a stage. For her, music is all that matters.

Listen to Saraswathi’s Alaippayuthe…

Suku, Kunjaava, Hamsa

This is a rare story of friendship.

Suku has a 16 year old daughter, who is handicapped. While, changing rented houses often, Suku  is helpless with his daughter. Kunjaava, is Suku’s friend. Though Kunjaava himself is very poor and blind, he has come to sing in this show, for a house for Suku !! Kunjaava’s wife and two children also accompany them. Suku is a support for many blind singers in the street, like Kunjaava. He plays Tabla while they sing.

Watch Kunjaava’s song here.

Watch Hamsa’s song here.

Pushpa & Rajesh
Pushpa’s mother tongue is Kannada. She was born and brought up in Kerala, and speaks excellent Malayalam. Pushpa and Rajesh met each other while singing in train, fell in love with each other and got married. On asking how she came to know about the show, she answered – “One day, I was singing in a train, and the director of this show, Sudheer Sir saw me and talked to me. A few days later, Sudheer Sir came to our  rented house and saw the home and circumstances. He told me about this show, but I didn’t believe at first. I never expected I will get a stage like this, to sing”

Listen to Pushpa’s “Ovvoru Pookkalume”…
Listen to Rajesh’s song here…

Subhash

Subhash came for the show for a shelter to protect them from the sun during summer and rain during monsoon.

Watch Subhash’s song here.

In the Judge’s comments, music director Jassie Gift pointed out, “This is not a song. This is a voice the society should hear and be an eye-opener to them”

See the other performaces :

1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7m-TDjiU6aQ – Ravi

2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDIohd59R30 – Chaman Lal and Family

Another speciality I have noticed in the show is, the judges (rather celebrity guests) or the anchor are not downgrading the term “street singing”. Instead, they are considering it as a job, a platform for delivering the artistic skills of the singer. It was kind of amusing.

In Kerala alone, if we take 5 mainstream entertainment channels, there are atleast 20 reality shows going on. Senior singer, Junior singer, dancer, dance troupe, genius, show for moms, cookery contests, adventure contests, competition for colleges and what not.. If all the 5 channels host one reality show like this, and participate 17 contestants,  5 *  17 = 85 people are going to get houses in an year!! And, all the saregama’s going on for many seasons, imagine a “street light” show running in every channel for 4 seasons. 85 * 4 = 340 houses in 4 years…!! Now, multiply this number with the number of Indian States and the number of all the regional and national channels who host reality shows. What a beautiful dream!! :-)

All reality shows are imitations from the west, or from another channel in the same region. Hope the imitations happen for good.  Let the above number multiply and multiply, for a prosperous country of our own.

“Little drops of water, Little grains of sand

Make the mighty ocean, And the beauteous land

Little deeds of kindness, Little words of love,

Make our earth an Eden, Like the heaven above”
- Mrs. J. A. Carney

PS: Another report about the show – Click here to read.

Close Encounters…

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18 years ago

I stepped into the red, cold floor. There it was, the black, slithering and shiny creature. The next thing I remember was a loud cry from my insides.

It is no Harry Potter scene I conceived.  Red oxide was very common during those days for flooring.

The place is my home, a real serene village. I was the proud member of a nuclear-joint family set up, where the nuclear families and  houses  of my father and his siblings shared the same compound. The best thing was, nobody thought of a compound wall then.

The place was rich with greenery, with trees and shrubs along with many dark and not-so-dark  creatures sharing the space with grasses and weeds in harmony. Nobody had complaints till  summer arrived. During summer, the soil will be shoveled to improve the water retaining capacity (preventing capillary rise, said my science teacher in school), thus removing weeds and grasses, to be regrown again in the next Monsoon. Along with many advantages, those are the days when the reptiles and many other creatures lose their comfort in the grass.  They sought ways to keep their body cool, and one resort was our bathroom. Back in those days, we had  bathroom outside the house.

Our hero was one such brilliant snake, seeking some cold in that red oxide floor, till the “villainess” enters the scene. All she had to do was a loud scream, and people came running from all the nearby house (my father, cousins etc etc). Needless to say,  the rest place was changed to the deathbed in minutes.

Today

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Is it going to be late ever?

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I know it has been long since I put down anything here. Writer’s block, for me was a head brimming with topics, and not enough time to jot them down. There were so many things to write about, including the visit to the US capital. I might write about it later. Anyway, something had to happen to knock me out of the block – My birthday. It used to come and go without any issues, till I crossed the border of a quarter century :-) Now each time when it comes, it sends this warning signal, “You are growing old dear”. The warning implies that you have wasted your 27 years without any significant achievements. Do you have more time? Who knows!!

To be frank, it was not my birthday which made me think about it. It was this lady,  much-discussed-about, these days. Susan Boyle, who cleared the audition round of a British reality show, “Britain’s got talent”.  Ofcourse, reality shows are not too real these days, and tend to be reel shows,  and we can forget about the judges reaction and the crowd. Still, the reactions are obvious, when she declares that her ambition is to become a singer like Elaine Page, who is probably  only 13 years older to her. The questions  are also obvious, “Where have you been? What were you doing till now?”.

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When in Rome, do as the Romans do…

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“For God’s sake, can we watch another program?” I tried to count the number of times we watched that dance before. Yea, my 10 fingers got over even before I finished  one month’s count. Its Allu Raja in his yellow pants, dancing for some Telugu movie. I was watching it because my room mate did. She is a hard core fan of all  cinematic dancers, especially Allu Raja’s.

I don’t mind if I sound like a boring personality, when I say that I have a distaste for most of the cinematic dances – especially the so called erotic dances cooked exclusively in bollywood and Kollywood, and slowly propagating to other state “woods”. I detest the monotonous steps which fits any beats and whose differences only the choreographers know. I have only a few favorites among cinematic dances, like Kuch Kuch Hota Hain, Devdas etc. I like happening songs to watch more than item numbers.

Still, at times I stumble upon some dance programs, mostly reality shows, while browsing TV channels. The horror dawns in when the participants are kids, and they come up with all the hip thrusting, chest heaving movements (Sorry, my vocabulary doesn’t have any milder words for that and I hate talking like this :-().

Recently, I chanced to notice a reality show  quite accidentally. The program  named “Super Talent”  looked like a different flavor  and the judges are celebrities I respect a lot. We were enjoying the range of talents from magicians-cum-dancers to pianists to mimicry artists. Then stepped in this small kid, Shalabha, in glittering costumes and started the power-packed dance “Aisa jadoo daala re”, originally done by Lara Dutta.

She, really is a talent to let out such energy and power at this age. But…. See it for yourself.

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Nasra, You better be what I want you to be!!

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Situation 1 : Failed expectations

You are not coming home? You are the only daughter of us, who is nearer (5 hours and 2 trains + 2 buses are there, still) .. Why don’t you just try to turn up when you are needed?
- Mom over phone

How many times I have to tell you to get these things done? Why are you not listening to me?

- Someone else..

You know I don’t like this habit of yours. Then still why do you do it and make me angry?

- Yet another person..

Situation 2: Expectations Met

It is true that you were at home when I wanted to you to be. But when are you coming again? It was only 3 days you were here. What did you do with your rest of the holidays?

- Mom again

Its true that you did this one, not a big deal, still it was good.. but what about running around the flat early in the morning and all the rest of the things I told you?

- Someone else..

Yea, it is true that you gave it up. Not a big deal, when you know I don’t like it..

- Yet another person..

Being loved is always a bliss.. All the above dialogs are coated with love, which I have never denied in my life, and also admitted that they are what make me live..

We need oxygen to breathe and hence to sustain life.. Is it irony that the same Oxygen can  burn you with a small spark??

Even the Suicide notes have changed..

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Was doing some serious “googling”, as part of work when I came across this interesting article. I dedicate this post of mine to Sojish , who is always an advocate of better communication and the effective use of presentation slides during any seminar.

The news goes like this :

PORTLAND, OR—Project manager Ron Butler left behind a 48-slide PowerPoint presentation explaining his tragic decision to commit suicide, coworkers reported Tuesday.

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Life is Like That..

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He came to our kitchen door one evening. “Kadungan” is a Harijan (that’s what Gandhiji taught us to call them) and is the remnant of a feudal era where they were supposed to work under a Feudal Lord, in his paddy fields or house. Now that, Feudalism has been flown to air in Kerala, their young generation has chosen to seek work independently – a very few have chosen to brave the path of higher education and better jobs in spite of all the hardships.

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