Cashless Carnival

I know .. I mentioned sometime ago that I would not write again about Big brother or Shilpa Shetty, but I could not resist it after reading Mahesh Bhatt’s comment.

The last time when the Goody-Shetty verbal ding-dong happened, Mr. Bhatt remarked

“Shilpa Shetty has paid the price for trying to desperately seek the approval of the West”

and today, when she has won the show, he says

“It’s like a child winning an essay competition”

What’s his problem? What is the point he is trying to make? I agree with him when he says that the entire thing has been blown out of proportion and media must calm down the hype and focus on larger issues at hand, but why slam Ms. Shetty for all this?

And, talking of blowing things out of proportion, I will not be surprised if a few blokes go to the airport with garlands to welcome Ms. Shetty when she lands in Mumbai.

Last Thursday, Ford reported a $12.7 billion loss for 2006, the biggest loss the car maker has reported ever.

Ford has plans to close 16 factories in North America and cut 45,000 jobs.

Today, Ford (in India) has ended the endorsement deal it had with Abhishek Bachchan to promote the Fiesta.

It is quite obvious that things are not very bright at the Ford camp at the moment. Will this elephant be able to dance again? Somehow, my intuition says this car maker will eventually get acquired by one of the Japanese majors, Honda or Toyota. What do you think?

A boy who was scared by a barking dog shouted so hard that hundreds of chicken [400+] trampled each other to death. How bizarre!

A court ruled the boy’s screaming was “the only unexpected abnormal sound” and that 443 chickens trampled each other to death in fear.

The boy’s father was ordered to pay 1,800 yuan ($230) in compensation to the owner of the chickens.

I presume the same would have happened if the chicks were made to listen to Usha Uthup or Himesh Reshammiya?

News and Image Origin: CNN-IBN

The Big Brother seems to have become a Big Bother, the UK Parliament, the Indian Parliament everyone seems to be talking about it .. The Bigg Boss seems to be headed for a Biggg Toss with Rakhi Sawant being sandbagged by the other jail birds (if I can call them so ..)

But, as all this happens, The Big Brother has added a million more viewers overnight after the controversy broke out.

The Indian Express appropriately points out that there was absolutely no need for concerted national outrage over this ..

“…the TV programme in question is designed to bring out the worst in participants. It can be race, it can be class, it can be gender, it can be any marker, real or perceived..,”

Absolutely !! Yesterday’s episode of Bigg Boss was the biggest testimony to this.

“If racism is a fact in many interactions in British society, prejudice is a quotidian reality of Indian social life”.

Very true .. It is only when you are on the receiving side, it hurts the most.

“You may be hard-pressed to recall any of Shilpa Shetty’s films, but today her name is on everybody’s lips… “

Ahem! I won’t be surprised to see producers signing her for their movies once she is back to India to encash on all the popularity she has gained out of this episode.

Ash and Abhi are out of the headlines now, thanks to the Shilpa episode. The last I saw CNN-IBN’s Rajdeep Sardesai talk so seriously about some topic was when that Rakhi Sawant - Mika Singh kissing episode happened.

At the end of it all, I am glad to know that I am not the only one who thinks of these shows as a big fake. CNN-IBN discusses about it in detail here.

I found this cartoon on the Indian Express portal. How very true? IndiASHining.

Every news portal is just talking about the blockbuster engagement and the forthcoming wedding .. What will the bride be wearing?, What did Bachhan Sr. have to say about the event, Where will the wedding be held?, Will she continue to work after the wedding..

A few headlines which I have seen since morning :

Abhishek proposed, Ash expected: Amitabh
Will Ash-Abhi live next to Salman?
Rs 2 Lakh benarasi “Lehenga” for Ash
It was sudden.. but this is 21st century
To work or not will be Aishwarya’s call
A Jaipur wedding for Ash-Abhishek?

Is this such a big event that every news portal has to just talk about it? Aren’t we a celebrity starved society?