What catches the eye

I travel by bus across the city to reach my work place, which is almost 22 km away from home. While most of this journery time is occupied with catching up with sleep, I almost never miss the latest amul ad on its regular billboard on JC Nagar near the palace ground/fun world entrance.

To those (few) who do not know about these Amul ads... they are usually based on some current affairs or issues of public interest and wittily deliver a message. clever, innovative, sarcastic, funny, punny ... you'll find them all....

This is one their latest ads...

Volcanic ash from Iceland leads to closure of European airspace disrupting flights world-wide - April'10

I was wondering if i could find their older ads.. I had particularly liked the one BT brinjal to be very innovative and funny... (let bhaingan be byegones... hahahaa)... so as usual i googled it and Lo!

Debate over the safety of Bt Brinjal continues with mixed views from scientists farmers and environment activists - Feb'10 

Also i found the official amul website that has these ads under the title amul hits. and they ALL their billboard ads from 1976!! wow.. i didnt know this was such an old thing... 

Here are some of my favourites from the older stock....  I was so tempted to post almost every ad heheheheh

(disclaimer: all images and caption from the ads are taken from the offial site..

check it out... there are loads!! )

and here's the fun part... when u look at the old ads, u get a feel of  these times... 

samll events and controversies that had happened in these time but weren't big enough to put in our history books.and you know about so many things you didnt know, even if they were quite big and controversial... (Rambling 1)

When helmets were made compulsory in Mumbai

Fashionable raincoats hit the market (1980) 

I liked the following one 'cos just the other day my parents were reminiscing about how hold-alls have gone out of fashion. Earlier, anyone traveling by train would have to carry their entire bedding with them as all seats on trains were wooden. cushions were provided on special fee and that too only in the first class compartment.

 

Indian Railways introduces cushioned chairs in first class compartment (1979)

Oh here's another one... when multi-storey buildings and apartment complexes became increasingly popular in big cities, the postmasters job of delivering letter door-to-door delivery system became too tedious... which is when the ground floor common- mailbox system was introduced. 

The new mailbox scheme proposed to be introduced meant to east the postman's woes of trudging up and down the stairs

Some of these ads even have follow ups :D This is about a major controversy in 1982 that gathered a lot of public attention

 

Virgin test for Indian women at the airport in London.

 Amul pacifies the protesters for the hoarding captioned "Indian virgin needs no urgin" which was put up earlier.

Here's one.. Politics...

 On Laloo's refusal to vacate chief minister's seat

 

 When Laloo's wide was elected cheif minister

Hehe... its funny they way they use current affairs to advertise their products :D This is when every important Cong leader wanted to be party president :D

( i love how they make "pokes" at the government in their "oh-so casual" manner... hehehe) This is when Pakistan infiltrated across LOC into Indian Territory (Sealed like the national border.... Easy to open packs!! hahaha...)

they also have regularly cast sport - related ads ... mostly cricket...(have u seent the latest one(s) on IPL hehehe)  although you'll fnd tennis and chess (and now golf) too

Controversy over the newly formed Kochi team for Indian Premier League 4 - April'10

Here is an old one... :D  Sunil Gavskar's century against West Indies in Delhi... followed by another century in successive match)

 

There's festivals and cultural events , music and concert related ads ... and of course ... bollywood and other hit films and serials... The (then) popular serials (Ramayan , Mahabharat). You'll even find Bold and the Beautiful , Kyinki Saans Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi and Kaun Banega Crorepati among others.

Even cashing in on latest trends ( ZooZoo and Facebook )

Here's some of my other favorites... Enjoy! and check out the website...

 Ms. Benazir Bhutto back to a domestic lifestyle after losing the elections 

A/N : (To the uninitiated : Pak shastra means Culinary arts and Pak Shala means kitchen )

 The rapid change of prime ministers in the country in the general elections in the 1990's

Amul reflects on the growing popularity of Shiv Sena in Mumabi 

 On battle for supremacy in UP politics 

 Cloud Seeding experiment results in rain (1983)

See ya later!!
(A repeated disclaimer: I do not own this pics and captions. None of these ideas and thoughts are mine. I am only reposting them from www.amul.com No copyright infringement in intended)

***************************************************************************


Rambling 1 :


You read these ads and you you read about the events behind them.. you get a feel of the era... I always have wondered how the country was when my parents were younger, when they were of my age... Of course, parents will tell you about different events... but they always feel more like anecdotes. You can read them in books and see pics on the net..  but when you see these ads... a light hearted take on these events... somehow these events become more real and relatable... I react to the old ads and old events the way I do know after seeing these new ads... and get a feel of exactly how ticklish the country's funny bone was then. (somehow ... kids of a particular generation always tend to think that they are very humourous, clever, witty and most "cool", when compared to older generations, which are often dismissed as  were serious, somber and boring... and to think so is very natural... look at where we get most of our info from... the books and news reports... always so drabby)

To top

End of rambling session

Bangalore "Foams" After Rain

Its the last day of march, and as promised the April-showers that bring much relief to heat stricken bangaloreans are here, a day earlier...

And after the rain last night, rain water has collected up all over the city (Gosh its the first rain, and the drains are already choked???? what will happen when the monsoon arrives...? shudder... double shudder). With all the rain forming little lakes all along the road (and some even in the middle of the road.. hehehehe) a peculiar foam has suddenly appeared  over all the rain water which has collected up on the road, all over the city. Its bizzare... the entire city (well most of it, that I saw when I traveled across city to get to work) has this soap-sud layer on the streets. These were bubbly, but not the kind there are caused cos of wheels driving though water (they disappear quickly). These bubbles are persistent (cos the rain stopped long back, more than 3 hours earlier), and these bubbles are not very "airy" either. they are small and tiny, and look like the someones tried real hard to foam up hard water. (i don't have any pics to show ...)

Initially, I was a bit wonder struck. It kinda looked novel and the streets looked kinda pretty (all street road in dull white, unseen)  but as the kms increased, it got uglier, and even puzzling to the point of annoying and irritation. I don't know what this foamy thing in Bangalore is, but its getting on my nerves (especially when there is talk of compulsory rain water harvesting in all homes (which is a good thing)).

From some googling and some general sense I gather this :

Foams are often seen on pools and lakes. Most of the times, this happens because of existence of surface active agents (surfactants) in water (natural and synthetic) which reduce the surface tension of water. Foam, created in air, enters water through turbulences in streams or waves. Foaming is also observed on trees when it rains. I read that its because of the stem flow collects impurities over the barks and other surfaces and mixes with atmospheric nitrogen, sulfur or potassium. These, act as condensation nuclei, reduce the surface tension of water and cause a foamy production on the bark or foot of trees. I also know that foams are a common on rainwater puddles, especially when there is a detergent spill or oil-coolant spill. Foaming due to detergents is, after all, not problem unheard of.

What surprises me bout this is

1. It suddenly shows up : Its never happened before. I don't think i have seen such large scale foaming event before. Most foams are seen near edges of lakes and water bodies, or near the source of the pollutant.

2. Its so widespread: Initially i thought it was a truck spill or something and didn't think much. after traveling for more than 3 kms away from the current rain water streams, to parallel streams, the foam persisted. it was everywhere. I mean, it couldn't have been a spillage, the foam was too wide spread for it.

3. A friend of mine at office suggested its cause of natural detergents in some seeds like रीठा (Reetha, soap nut tree). But soap nut trees are not very widespread in Bangalore. and unless there was a forest of soap nuts,  I don't think a soap-sud type layer of this size could be worked up.

I just saw this article posted nearly 3 years back. it talks bout the same problem in Michigan, US. although no solution has been posted. there are a lot of similarities. common line of though (as i read this article, i thought to myself... " Hey!! i thought the same thing!!" ... not very relevant,  but sometime what instinct guides us to is perhaps more important ). It during the spring time. it happened after the first rainfall event(s).not due to any spillage. it was wide spread. Maybe it was something in the air. Some kind of pollution sign. maybe it had something to do with the seasonal pollen (although am pretty sure flora and fauna of Bangalore and Detroit are quite different). (also, I don't think it has anything to do with volcanic ash... :) )

Intriguing. Any clues? if anyone knows.. tell me!

(this post does not have any rambling... phew!) 

Hello World !

Pehla Post : Kya? Kab? Kyon? Kahan? Kaise? Kisne?

(श्री गणेश) : Right. Here We Go.

(Where): blogger.com

(Why) : So I have no clue why I am doing this; (well i do... but that seems to be the only way I could start writing :P )except that I need a place to ramble bout things, and am too lazy to write (and maintain) a diary (he he .. not that writing a blog is going to be easy.. or maintain), and that my friends are kinda tired of me writing them really huge long (and repetitive) mails and letters.

(When) : Officially, am supposed to be on "blogger" since... September.. i think (??) ... oh,, and i had a blog that i didn't know existed .. he he

(How) : All I know is recently I tried to sign up on blogger and realized I already have account (which, I remembered later, I had signed up to 'follow' my other friends.. (yeah i know "duh" ) .. )
and had a blog too (with a ridiculous name... not that this one's remotely good.... no really.. i don't get it when it comes to blog names.... * ...(Rambling 1 ...)) AND a blog (which I remembered much later) that I had created when I was experimenting with names. It had a name that was too lame even for me to accept, and so now I have settled for the less lamer 'kpm1111'...

(What) : I really don't know what (and how )I will be 'rambling' here about... but you can expect this blog to cover the following topics :
1. Funny stuff and anecdotes from home and office
2. My favourite entertainment - music, movies, TV (I don't really go to theaters and watch movies so am not that up to date. Same in case of music and TV. ill just rite stuff about things i like, or stuff i would like to recommend. CAUTION: this may also include Korean dramas and movies as am a big fan. Most people around me don't get it and tease me for it (Rambling 2...) .
3. Clever stuff that I find when am reading, my favorite books, Art and stuffs
4. Issues that (I think) are worth commenting on , Life in general
5. Well... anything else I feel like rambling on (he he)

(Who) : My profiles kinda incomplete (non existent actually) at this time, but I think i will update it soon enough.
But anyone reading this probably knows me.... so....



NOTE: '*' this is me rambling and going off tangent in the middle of a conversation. If you know me, you probably know I do this a lot. For the purpose of this blog and the sanity of the reader, I shall ramble separately, under different headings :D .
back to top



***************************************************************************************

Rambling Session #1

Rambling 1 :

Blog names:

I don't get it when it comes to blog names...
some people (no, lots of people) I know have such beautiful and poetic blog names (in the likes of whispers of the wind, rants on the roads, unheard voices, screaming silences, flowers of my mind, blooming springs, Of tangents and hyperboles, mango mood :P blah blah..(Note: many of these may not be blogs and may not know people who write them. I am just quoting the kinds of names blogs TEND to have.) no.. Now, I too want a really pretty/ clever name for my blog and I . Perhaps am not just imaginative enough but EVERY, EVERY name that I tried was taken. Even clever stuff like k-rants, a-musing and all kinds of names with all kinds of hyphens and apostrophes were taken. Man! am so unoriginal....
You have to pity me cos' my own name, and all (sensible) combinations formed by adding all letters and symbols before and after it were ALSO taken. So in frustration, I entered my usual ( and lazy) login name and viola its available and in that joy of seen green text that approves the name of my blog, i just clicked it... and here I am. With the most unusual and boring and lazy and pedestrian name like kpm1111.

(Hehehe... even the title of my blog seems so lame. God would have to make me an incarnation of दुर्गा माँ and provide me with 'n' number of hands to count the number of blogs that have titles with the words "rant" and "ramble" in them.)

ANYWAY.... (sigh) "whats in a name"... Lets get on with it.. जो काम करने आए हो, वह तो करो... नाम की क्या पड़ी हैं ....
I am here to ramble and thats exactly what I am gonna do. Ramble.
(On the lines of "Don't judge a book by its cover" am gonna say "don't judge a blog by its URL".... (how much do you want to bet that someone somewhere was cleverer and faster than me and has already quoted this)...... sigh...)

so lets get back to where I was....

back to top

Rambling 2:
Korean Dramas :

but then, i find them very different from what I've been watching on TV (with the exception of some good and different stuff like "बालिका वधु" (which i used to watch until recently, it kinda got repetitive. But kudos to that show, it was the first of it kind - what i call social drama (too many shows of similar genre were launched soon after बालिका वधु, न आना इस देस लड़ो and अगले जनम मोहे बिटिया ही कीजो... but the writers I think couldn't refrain from entering into the family drama genre after a few months of running...), and the recently launched YRF-SONY TV section... (Rambling 2.5...) (FINALLY big production companies are taking an interest in TV ॥ esp after Bollywood so many 'not so good' years in the recent times , and after big Bollywood stars became more 'accessible' to the TV-watching-junta via reality show and quiz show..... )
P.s. There was an article in last week's magazine section of the Sunday newspaper , times I guess, saying similar things. Man... do I ever write anything first?

I think I'll talk about my Korea obsession in a separate blog. Am afraid it may get lost in my ramblings. It deserves an independent post.. but i just had to mention it now :D
back to top

Rambling 2.5
(rambling within a rambling..???)

The YRF- Sony (Yash Raj Films -Sony) thing kinda reminds of the 9 gold channel (a one hour (??) slot in DD Metro years back that brought higher-quality-production dramas on Doordarshan. In the past 2 years or so... Some shows on NDTV- Imagine and Colors, and Sony too seemed ज़रा हटके). I watched a few of these YRF shows on last Sunday (Rishta.com (welcome "trendy dramas" and POWDER (kinda reminds me of "Sea-Hawks", not because it deals with substance smuggling, but the feel in general.. the action-thriller genre, is not one of my favorites, but I am liking this. Also reminds me of the old "उड़ान" on DD)) and I am liking it. It brings a fresh wave of production and direction style in Indian TV.
1. I don't know technical terms. But the direction and screenplay seem more real life like and because they are from a better production house, the acting and cinematography seem more of the 'movie' standard (not that many movies are good, I just mean they seem to have a better quality).
2. I don't know how long these dramas will run, but I kinda miss the old DD format of fixed number of episodes in a drama (11 or 12 or 16 or whatever). These dramas were usually completely shot prior to airing, which is why i think they seemed more complete and contained. But i don't think thats will be the case here.
I hope these new dramas have a fixed number of episodes so that their possible successes may not tempt producers to order extensions to their length and thus mar the story and the quality.
3. They get right to the point. Ever so often, on many serials, we have to wait for a week (No.. make that 2) to get to the actual storyline of the drama. Much time is wasted on the character introductions and their 'pitiful lives'... and then after the initial storyline.. all serials enter into the "plotting" and "make-heroines-life-miserable" stage. Sigh!
4. I really don't have very high hopes as the more you expect, the more disappointed you are.Besides, its just 2 weeks into the show...
I do wish they would have 2 hours airing time; one hours seems to less to keep me hooked (anything more than that would be too much...).

back to top

End of Rambling Session #1

***************************************************************************************

Waah. I never realized this would run so long. So... I guess I do have quite a bit too say which justifies a blog... (???).., more, perhaps in posts later to come..

Until then..

ALSO: Am not very patient with proper punctuation. Though I shall try to be correct whenever I remember to. :D...