Of Cats and printed words

If you are bored by the same kind of sci-fi novels you have been reading for all your life, do read these books, to get an idea about rebels in sci-fi.
1) River of Gods - Ian McDonald
2)Schrodinger's Cat - Robert Wilson
While holding these books in my hands, all time I wondered why am I reading this Six hundread pages Seven-star crap. Both of these books are sci-fi, but not of your usual kind. River of Gods has the scene of some future Bharat. It is a pungent concoction (never mind my lingo) of hindu politics + action + spiritualism + hi-fi gadgets (there is a gun which kills you soul). No, I cannot describe the plot. It's impossible to guess where the script is leading, and also what was it like, just two leafs before. But some chapters are just mind gripping. No doubt, you will like the coverpage which has pictures of Hindu gods, rather incongruous with the content inside.
I thought even R of G was a sobre attempt, when I read Schrodinger's Cat. Some chapters are full with Pidgin english. Literary Hell..short but exact description of the book. It is actually a trilogy, each 'logy' is the same story happening in 3 parallel universes (for those who haven't heard about the concept of parallel universes concept - Everything that can happen does happen, only in different 'parallel 'universes). The author (with all and due respect) seems to be on Absinth for months before churning out this stellar work. As per Wikipedia the author's credo is to get people into a state of general agnosticism, which is evident from his book.

Prabhavalkar Overdose

Sagle 7 Bokya Saatbande + Anudini.
Kay sahi lihito ha manus!
I recall one marathi movie in which he plays a timid young professor who curses his father-in-law with "TU LYABANT UBHYANVAYI AVYAYA!"
:)))

Aired Music

What do you prefer listening to --your own playlist from your mp3-player or --the radio?
Well, I love radio. First of all I don't have to create a playlist there. (I'm too choosy when I create one,it takes me 15-20 minutes overall.). If you don't like a song ,NP!,change the station. Here in Goa 4 stations play all time (FM rainbow,Radio Indigo,Big FM, and Radio Mirchi) Each one has its speciality. Indigo will play English only. I like their 'Time Tunnel'. FM rainbow is good. They play Hindi- marathi- konkani- english all type of songs.
Radio Mirchi has a catchy 'Radio Mirchi' tune. Wherever they open up,they come up with some new RM tune. Big FM sucks a little bit. I wonder from where did they find that gaudy name- BIG FM. They have some competitions all of which have a thing in common-the name will start with 'BIG'. Big Goyenkar , Big Maa(this was lolest. listeners were asked too send a poem about their mother, NO, Big Maa! The poem should contain 'Big Maa' all over..I had never seen such an example of marketing + Maa, except that 'Sehwaag Ki Maa' ad.)This reminds me of Bhajji ki maa(Don't take me wrong. I'm not cursing him) During the recent Bhajji-Symonds Episode these newspaper reporters flocked towards his home and took his mother's interview. How the hell is she supposed to know more about the situation? But no- they will go on repeatedly showing her interview with that repulsive RED strip at the bottom of the screen 'Mera beta Bekasur Hai- Bhajji Ki Maa Ka kehna'.

Oh where was I....Hm..Radio stations in Goa. Another thing I like about radio is the Rjs. My favourite pair is RJ Narendra and Fakruddin['Hasto ke Ghar Baste'- Rainbow] Some others include Malvika Dhawan from Radio Indigo.
When I was a kid I used to listen BBC. I still remember the Big Ben tune they played. Interestingly, we could hear a Pakistani station also! They always talked about deteriorating situation in India, Indian soldiers torturing common people, and sing songs about their leader, Mr Mush. Then there were Chinese stations. I don't know if that was real Chinese or some random noise but it was funny. We kids used to sit in front of the radio and imitate that sound. chan chan ching munh pikachi chuvano!
I had read some sci-fi book in which aliens contact earthlings through radio. I was quite amused and for some days listened to random frequencies on radio, thinking that I will hear something unearthly. But alas! No luck.
One thing I like about the radio is its connectivity. Even when you may be sitting anywhere on Earth, you are most likely to be able to listen at least one radio station. You feel connected to the world though you are alone.

Art, Death

We humans are amazing beings. Here is a photo that shocked many people in 1993.It won the coveted Pulitzer prize.
The place was Sudan,an area affected by great famine. The picture shows a starving girl child crawling towards the food center while a vulture is waiting to see its prey die. Lots of questions sprang up in my mind when I saw the photo.
Is this on earth? What were that girl's sins, so that God put her in that situation. Is God their only for the healthy and wealthy and not for the needy? And what kind of animals are we taking photographs of such scenes?
We all feel bad for a moment or two for for the unfortunate ones. What else can we do? What else do we do? Why should we do anything at-all about this. Is it my job? Is it my fault? It has been long we stopped listening to our conscience. But that is the way we are. We have evolved from monkeys,but not in all ways.

PS: I learn that the photographer committed suicide some months after taking this shot which gave him a lot of fame. To read more about the photographer,his name Kevin Carter, see http://www.thisisyesterday.com/ints/KCarter.html