Yesterday was son Ronnie's last exam. Phew! When there's an exam it's we parents who are more tense and edgy. He started the exams with a bad eye infection, starting with the left eye, it gradually spread to the right and his eyes were like swollen pinkish tomatoes. Really, I got so scared, I took a day off to take him to the doc who assured me it's a usual thing. But it took its own time subsiding, leaving me a blubbering mass wondering if my only offspring, the carrier of my legacy will become blind because I was careless. Yeah, you think such stuff when you are angry, upset, depressed. Yes, I was depressed with all the worrying.
Now his exams are over, he wanted to go for a movie. He asked me for Rs 500. Rs 500 is too much money for a movie! "Papa, you are living in another age, grow up," his eyes seemed to say. Yes, those days I remember returning from Sterling because I had only Rs 3 with me and didn't have 30 paise, as the ticket was priced at Rs 3.30. The reviewer had written a glowing review and I very much wanted to see the movie. I literally had tears in my eyes when I had to return disappointed, but what could I do? Beg for 30 paise? Where's Rs 3.30 and today's Rs 270 for a seat in the multiplex?! Entertainment has become expensive, glitzy, and only a few can afford its guilty pleasures. Rs 5, a princely sum those days, used to cover a movie, two samosas and taxi fare to and from Eros/Regal/Metro to V.T. I prefer watching HBO and Star Movies, these days.
A movie addict that I am, recently I saw Apollo 13 on HBO, or was it Star Movies, I don't remember. Some good acting by Tom Hanks and others made this movie so life-like and scary. The thought of astronauts orbiting earth, unable to break from their paths, helplessly cooped in the narrow confines of the spacecraft, without friends or familiar things around them was disturbing, not to say the least. I don't want to be an astraonaut, ever... scared the shit out of me. But it's worth a watch because that was the Apollo mission that put paid to manned flights to the moon. So, those among you who have bought expensive property on the moon (Yes, some smart fart has started selling them!) will have to hold on for a little more.
Among other things...
Writer, director and blogger Shekhar Kapur (He of "Elizabeth" and "Masoom" fame) in his article "India as the world's leading 'Influence economy'?", an article which Hindustan Times commissioned him to write, writes:
"Shall I pretend to be an ‘economist’ and put some figures to it - make predictions? India in the 21st century will be centre of the world’s New Media economy. Its vast technological resources, the suppressed desire of its people to freely interact with the world combined with it’s youth demographics will drive New Media revenues almost equal to the whole of India’s current GDP. That’s about one trillion dollars of annual revenue (yes, I did say a trillion) either generated in India or provoked world wide by Indians. That includes all Film, TV, Music, Social Networking sites, Youtube and its new variations, Video Games etc, and on any delivery system – be it computers, TV screens, cell phones or any other new technology that enables people to communicate with each other." Read more here.
I say: "Wow! I see it already happening!"
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