Coco, my little furry companion, decided to indulge in a little vanity. Standing across the mirror, she stared intently at her adorable self. After two minutes of constant gazing - she started to bark menacingly at her own reflection. I reckon she suspected it to be another one of her kin. After a short interval of relentless barking, she turned around and ran desperately. She didn't approach the mirror again ever since.
Its true, my darling Coco.. sometime our own self is too scary to be faced.

Personally, I think its truly corny that singing talent from around the country has to face a jury consisting of people like Anu Malik (with more reputation for western music rip-offs than for his talent), Alisha Chinoy (the one-song wonder with Kajra Re), Udit Narayan (an exceptional vocalist but too soft to really be a judge) and Javed Akhtar (who is a lyricist and has little to do with sur, taal or voice modulation).
Its alright if they're looking at Indian Idol as a platform for modelling, acting skills or even if just to say hullo world - but its completely unacceptable if they even remotely want to use that to show off their vocal talents. Firstly, I don't 'idolize' Abhijeet Sawant - the first Indian Idol and don't know anyone who remembers even a single song from his album that hence launched. The same signs off for people like Amit Sana or even Prajakta Shukla.
Wasn't it apparent with shows like Channel [V] Popstars, that these stars are a couple of night's wonders before disappearing behind dark clouds forever? And still people continue to humiliate themselves in front of incompetent judges, sms for their favorite singers and even pray they win.
And if it weren't enough, now each channel plans to launch their own talent hunt. So we have the bandwagon with Indian Idol, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa and Voice of India - and God knows how many to follow.
We're a country brimming with vocal talent - its a fact. But we need platforms better and less commercial than the likes of what have come along. And at least the awardees need to get somewhere in life rather than depending on the publicity to pull their gears towards success.

I'm just content as a bathroom singer...

Love them, or loathe them - you simply got to see them.
Especially after the relentless commentary on every National News Channel and endless debates on the importance of it all.
Of course, one questions the dignity of the celebrities, who spend most of their lives in front of the camera to suddenly demand such extreme privacy. Reason could be either the love for private gatherings, or the big cheque Hello Magazine has in store for the exclusive rights to the pictures.
Hello Magazine could do that with Liz Hurley's wedding - because frankly, we didn't care. But they didn't think they could get away with the Bachchans, could they? After all, this is India. Where examination papers are leaked, confidential documents are leaked - and yes the Bachchan family wedding album is leaked. And they thought, they had the better of us, eh?

Here's a list of good resources to go and quench your curious thirst:

Abhishek outdoing Aishwarya with excess Jewels at the ceremony.
The guests at the wedding - NowRunning.com
Pictures of Abhishek and Aishwarya at the Balaji Temple
A whole blog dedicated to the newly married couple


See it all in one go...

If that doesn't satisfy your senses - google it up!

I think the Bachchans have good humor blessing the wedding tonight with the latest development on the Jhanvi Kapoor allegations.
The woman can't speak to save her life - lest defend her claims or even prove the same. Also known as Naina Rizvi, or even perhaps Haya Rizvi - she seems to have a case of schizophrenia or maybe even some sort of a multiple personality disorder.
Claiming continually that she's been married to Abhishek, at least in terms of him having put sindoor in her hair towards the same and that they've had numerous dates at Greenfields locked inside his black car, she seems to have the base cleared, but the details highly distorted. She cannot come up with his e-mail id, phone number or even any of his personal details to prove her closeness or at least acquaintance.
Negating the fact that she's been married before, has a 10 year old son and even that she belongs to Srinagar - she seems to convince no one but herself, with the press making a mockery of her. Cutting her wrist is just one of another filmi twists to grace a day like today. But the credit goes to her completely - she could overshadow the media coverage of Aishwarya's bridal jewellery and Abhishek's sherwani for tonight!

If nothing else, she won't be going back empty handed - she has more than 3 hours of press coverage and a lot of publicity to her credit. No one's forgetting this cheap stunt for some time to come...

Hubby woke me up suddenly at night with excited squeals. On realizing, he's still asleep, I figured it must be something to do with his dream. One squeal followed by yet another, he got me by the time my curiosity reached its peak wondering what the dream is about.
I shook him back to reality - and he said sorry. I guess he knew he was bringing his dream to life, at least from his point of view. "What were you dreaming about?", I inquired curiously.

"I was fighting with a sword, in a battle".

I don't know if I woke him up before he won it or not - but the bad guys in the dreams for sure would've ran away just by listening to those squeals!

Chancing upon NDTV Profit this morning, I saw a special feature on MTNL's latest offering (to get back at the telecom mega-giants really) - the IPTV.
Apparently, its a service backed by fibre optics providing television, internet and telephony - all in the same line. It offers exciting features like time-view T.V. which is the ultimate answer to perhaps a VCR. As the claims go, the MTNL server is capable of recording over a million hours of telecast - meaning a whole 30 days store of perhaps the 100 channels they currently have. So one can go back to any date in the past month and see any programme from any timeslot they chose, eliminating the need for VCR's or even to stay back home to watch your favorite show.
The Video on Demand service seems sparkling gold as well. As the interview revealed, watching a movie on the VoD will be as cheap as Rs.5 compared to the Rs.30 the DTH service usually charges.
The price for this amazing service will range from Rs.160 - Rs.950 - which is great, because usually the internet service alone costs more than that - leave aside the telephone and the DTH/Cable service.
The only downside to this right now, perhaps, is that this service is limited to cities where MTNL has its reach - meaning primarily Delhi and Mumbai. I wonder how Zee and Tata are going to retaliate to that!

Whats the story with 'Shaguns' anyway? As tradition goes, when someone throws a party (at least when its formal enough) - everyone gives them crisp new currency notes wrapped casually in glistening envelopes - sealed with a delicate string.
Is it a way of saying we're practical enough to understand everyone's taste is different, or that we're not bothered enough to actually buy a present?
I was faced with such a situation recently. My friend threw a formal party in celebration of the birth of her baby boy (I wonder if it would've occured, had it been a girl) - and I was faced with the choice of the good old Shagun or perhaps an exciting gift. After all, the market for unique goods for children is wider than teenagers, adults and aged people combined.
However, over a discussion with other invited guests, I realized its best to go with the flow and seek the assistance of the 'practical' money gift.
After all, its not about the way I think - its more about what the recepient considers worthy. And money finds its worth one way or the other, at least that brings solace to my confused mind...

Remember those Love Is... comic strip? A cute way to symbolize what love is. Me and my hubby found a new way to define love - the latest addition to our family - our Lhasa Apso puppy lovingly named 'Coco'.
Coco is an adorable pup almost 2 months now and can really be a handful. She craves for attention and loves to get a nice rub on her head. Besides munching on carpet slippers, her passions include (but are not limited to), pulling grass with her barely developed teeth, leaping out of her bed from an impossible angle and barking in the wee hours of the morning wishing for someone to play with her.
Acquiring her was an adventure in itself. We were passing-by a pet shop which had a great selection of birds. We decided to take a quick stop to admire them, when I casually inquired the Pet Shop owner about the dog breeds he carried. One thing led to another, and we were inquiring about town for someone who carried a Lhasa Apso.
And so, the very next day, we got our adorable little pup - in beautiful shades of white and beige. Besides waking up at nights and taking her to the garden every hour to prevent any leaks inside, its truly something we both enjoy. Of course, our conversations include a lot of 'what Coco did today' and what we need to do as more responsible owners - but it makes everything falls in place at the same time.
So while love may be a billion roses or proposing on one knee - for us love is a Lhasa Apso named Coco.