• Copy, right?

    A while ago, the literary world was in uproar over a certain Kavya. Of course, the same world had put her on a pedestal a few months before that, but it all ended up with the somewhat catty “How Kavya got Dissed…”… her crime was that she had copied lines, okay , paragraphs from other books. well, copied would be a harsh word, she was inspired, or in her own words (pun unintended),had internalised too much of what she read and liked…
    I have just finished the last book of Ashok Banker’s Ramayana series, and although i didnt like it in parts, i enjoyed reading it on the whole.. he has been successful (IMHO) in recreating the saga,and most importantly, made it sound real.. of course i always believe our myths were reality a long time back, but then i have been a sucker for mythology, and had even suffered arun govil and deepika gladly.. 🙂
    Now that we have dealt with the boring prologue, lets deal with my issue. The Ramayana series is not an original piece of work, not if you go by plot, or characters, which to me are important components of any literary work.. but hey, no one is raising any issues with it. is it because the ramayana and mahabharata have already been written by various authors throughout history? and is it because, there is no one to authoritatively speak on behalf of valmiki or veda vyasa and claim these works to be the most obvious examples of copyright infringement?
    Maybe, the difference is that, what Kavya did can be classified as plagiarism, and this cannot be because due credit has been given? But do you think Kavya could even have begun her book if she said that her work was an inspired version of works that had been written earlier? By that logic,aren’t we assuming that M/s Valmiki and Veda Vyasa wouldnt have had a problem with recent authors getting inspired by their works and writing their own versions? And maybe, just maybe, a long time later, in KBC 15, it could happen that someone could lose a lot of money by answering ‘Ashok Banker’ to ‘Who wrote the Ramayana?’

    until next time, who determines the right to copy?
    PS: Having said all that, Mr.Banker’s series is a must read, for those who know the Ramayana, as well as those don’t, for its a story well retold.

  • Bollywood Capers

    After this, i guess the most aptly titled movie would be this. (I See You, starring Arjun Rampal). Never before would the producers of a movie been more aware of the consequences of their venture. After the movie, the brave souls who tried to sit through the movie ended up exactly where the makers had anticipated – ICU.
    Someone even made a movie (with him as hero) based on his ability to act, again aptly titled Asambhav !!
    At least after Don, he should have realised that there is a reason why his parents, in their infinite wisdom, had named him Arjun Rampal. Stick to the bloody ramp !!
    until next time, still reeling?

  • Eye of the Beholder

    Me: D is going to the eye doctor today
    Alec Smart: Hmm, i can see why. But you’ve been married for almost 4 years now. Isnt it a bit of a late reaction?
    until next time, eye for an eye, i say 😉

  • Options

    Not the kind thats given in KBC, more of the kind thats given in mobile handsets and computers.. Both of the above, at the time of purchase, are loaded with a set of features that the manufacturer feels, are enough for the model to give its user a good experience… But of course, the user doent exist in a static world. he sees other people around him with models that are loaded with features, perhaps the same model with better downloaded stuff. and so, even though his model might be giving him a good experience, he tries to better it by downloading stuff and installing more features.. some of these do help him get a better experience, but some of these end up spoiling the set or the comp totally..maybe, the manufacturers have seen all this happen before, and therefore they have a little option given in between all the features, that says Default Options… and all is back to the way it was before…
    Perhaps we live life the same way we use the devices too, unfortunately, the manufacturer in this case doent believe in resetting to the default options… however, it is possible that he has left enough features for the user to get back to default options..

    until next time, no locking the options….

  • Random Excerpts from Very Interesting Experiences this Week

    Soap Opera
    Can i get one Cinthol soap please – no, since the powers that be have decided that to be totally cleansed, i need not one, not two, not three, but four cinthols – ‘not to be sold separately’.. haha, other soaps? go on, all for one, one for all, thats how it goes…
    ****
    Dhoom
    Went to GK Vale to get D’s photo taken, and since there wasnt a ‘ek lo ek muft lo’ offer, i sat and watched someone play a motor racing game on an xbox console there.. and i have to hand it to the Bangalore Police.. as soon as the guy crossed the speed limit, two cops came in…. nah, just coincidence, come on, its Bangalore police we are talking about remember?
    ****
    Masala-e-ishq
    (careful, spoilers ahead)
    eh? yeah, i meant salaam-e-ishq, watch out for-
    the relay- first john abraham runs, then anil kapoor runs, followed by john abraham again (he incidentally prefers to run between towns) and then akshaye khanna.. the only thing that stops running once in a while is govinda’s taxi..
    the brits being beat at their own game – after sue in RDB, stephanie tries to massacre hindi by speaking hindi in her british accent… but our very own salman saves the day and beats her to it by speaking hindi in a US accent…
    Tear jerker- As the rhyme goes, Johnny Johnny, yes papa…. kiss the girls and make them cry.. yup, Thats what John Abraham does, makes poor Vidya Balan cry and then drinks her tears.. Poor Vidya Balan desperately needs hits and it shows, as she gets hit on by John, and then Akshay’s car.. she didnt want to take chances and tried to get hit on a train, and unfortunately succeeds, thereby losing her mammaries (sorry sorry, but i suddenly remembered a dilli friend who used to pronounce it that way)…:)
    spoilers? yeah these were only the things that spoiled the movie, else all okay 😉

    until next time, wanna tear me apart? 😀