Just Joe

Joke of the week: Mammootty (film star and chairman of the Kairali TV channel) said that CPI (M) has no control over the Kairali channel and it is not promoted by the party. I remember the party members distributing the notices in our area to become the share holders of the channel. A party member told me that it was compulsory for every member to take at least one share (worth Rs.100) and Mr. Mammootty is saying that it did not happen??? Just watch the news based programs in Kairali and you would see who the mentors of the channel are.

The CPI (M) of Kerala is the biggest “corporate” political party in India. How else could they start a 50-crore TV channel? Now the “Kairali” channel is starting a second channel ‘completely meant for entertainment’. Although the party is in the anti-coke movement saying the company is misusing the water in that domain (I admire the other leaders of this movement like Medha Patkar), they are going to begin a water theme park. Yes!!!

It is clear that the party leaders have understood that they would have to accept the corporate money to grow the channel, party and all other businesses like water theme park. Then they need to cover themselves from the media. So now they say that Kairali channel has no relation with CPI (M) and it’s a “people’s channel”.

These tricks won’t work anymore my dear comrades! Just look back at the golden old days of Communism in Kerala and also teach your fellow party members about that. And do something good for the state.

A communist leader recently visited China was praising their express highways and their achievements in the corporate IT sector (recently shown in the news channel India Vision) while there is a strong opposition going on by the CPM against the express highway and the Smart City (IT park) plans in Kerala. Do they know there is an anti-CPM email campaign going on in between the young techies from Kerala? Do they know the young generation is not with them anymore?

I remember a friend of mine who is working in Bangalore talked about the Smart City very enthusiastically. He thought he could then shift to Kerala and be with his family. Then heard the news that the company might move to Hyderabad and he was deeply disappointed.

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I watched two more Sydney Pollack movies. The Electric Horseman (Robert Redford, Jane Fonda) and Absence of Malice (Paul Newman, Sally Field). Both were good. But I didn’t like the ending of the second movie.

There was Willie Nelson (one of my fav country singers) in The Electric Horseman and the movie has some very nice songs by him. Also it’s a lovely story. Absence of Malice shows how the media can spoil a person and his life.

Another movie I watched this week is Raising Helen. It was nice, has a good message on how to handle the children and family life.

I met some new friends this week and it was nice meeting them. Came to know about them through a Yahoo group and it was wonderful meeting them for real.

Work is so damn hectic and some things are messy. Real messy. Hope to get over it within this week itself. Feeling too sleepy, but can’t sleep.

Hope you all are doing well.

I was thinking that politics is a part of our life, while we are not being a part of the politics. The last Sunday, August 14th, I experienced this. I was going to watch a movie with a friend of mine in the evening. It was raining, so we thought of picking up the bus. On the half way, the bus stopped and everyone had to get down there. The reason was a political rally organized by a left party going on in the town, so the buses were not allowed inside the town limits. So we had to walk about 1 KM to reach the theatre.

Well, I’m not writing this down because 1 KM is a very long distance to walk. I like walking and walked about 55 KMs to the neighboring district. So the reason I am putting this here is not about walking 1 KM or being late to watch the movie. The reason is how it affects the public life and the politicians don’t give a damn for troubling the people. Same is the case with bandh and hartal which is now celebrated as national holidays!

After we finished watching the movie another meeting was there. This time by Congress party. I wonder what change they are going to make by conducting these huge rallies and yatras by wasting a hell lot of money. I heard that these rallies and yatras are good for a living these days. If I go to attend a rally or meeting I will get Rs. 150 and a full bottle of brandy. Cool!!! A very practical way of eliminating un-employment in Kerala. Hail politics, hail democracy!!!

After the rain
Originally uploaded by jocalling.

I was walking through the garden in the palace of Sakthan Thampuran. Then suddenly the climate changed and it started raining. I took this pic when the rain stopped after a while.

First of all Happy Independence day guys/gals…

I do have some ‘sweet’ memories of the Independence Day from my childhood days. To me, Independence Day was the only day in the year when we get a lot of candies and toffees. It wasn’t given by someone in the family. My brothers would go to collect the sweets from the nearby schools. In every school, they give sweets to children and some bakeries also give free candies. So they would run to their own school first, collect the candies from there and go to the next school and collect from there and to the next… like that. After all schools are covered, my bros would come and share the sweets with every other child in the family. So I just can’t forget waiting for the August 15th to come so that I could have some sweets.

At first, I thought I wouldn’t post this here. But I thought, why not? It is not so bad to look back at the dark, old days. It always helps to remember where I came from and where I am headed to.

I asked my Amma how she felt on the Aug 15th in 1947. She was just a 10 year old girl. She said she knew that the country was invaded by the British and there was freedom fight going on in the country. Her family was of farmers and it didn’t make any change in their lives. They would go to start working in their paddy fields from morning to the evening. She said somebody told the country at last gained the freedom and she was happy to know it. Although the independence didn’t make any change in their life, they were happy to know that their country got freedom from the British.

I salute each and every freedom fighter that worked hard and suffered hard to bring freedom for India. Today’s song is dedicated to those brave souls…

Taking a break from audio blogging for the next week, but will be posting usual stuff. I will take care of all the song requests in the next weekend.

Song: Sunayna Sunayna
Movie: SUNAYANA
Singer: YESUDAS

Nithya, here is your song.

Song: Gori Tera Gaon Bada Pyara
Movie: CHITCHOR
Singer: YESUDAS

Song: Mana Ho Tum Behad Hasi
Movie Name: TOOTE KHILOUNE
Singer: YESUDAS

Hola all!

Let me know what you think of this song. An old Hindi song by K. J. Yesudas. Actually, this one is a duet. I had to sing it alone.

Song: Jaaneman jaaneman tere do nayan
Movie: CHHOTI SI BAAT
Singer(s): YESUDAS, ASHA BHONSLE

On another note, Don had a very bad experience from Google and its really weird. Just go through his post and its very bad that a company such as Google doesn’t have a customer support office to provide appropriate answers.

The Palace of Sakthan Thampuran
Originally uploaded by jocalling.

This is an old palace in Thrissur. Used to be a college of Chinmaya Mission of Swami Chinmayananda for a long time. Then the archeological department took over and modified the palace. It’s open for public today. His Highness Rama Varma (also known as Sakthan Thampuran) built this palace. The town planning of Thrissur was done by this king. I went there today in the evening and took some pics.

Today’s song: Aye Ajnabee
Movie: Dil Se
Music: A. R. Rahman
Singer: Udit Narayan

Thank you all for your kind words and suggestions. This week, I’m going to post some old Hindi songs of K. J. Yesudas.