For reasons good or bad, Jade Goody is a celebrated reality star who walked the walk and talked the talk and now she is dying the death. Phew!

Like most of us Indians, I did not know Jade Goody until Shilpa Shetty became as star in UK. Luckily, I was in the UK, when this whole episode of Celebrity Big Brother was being telecasted. Shilpa Shetty, a celebrity in her own right, wasn’t bagging any lucrative projects for her survival in Bollywood when Celebrity Big Brother happened to her. She was one of the wild card entries along with Jermaine Jackson, Jade Goody, Danielle Lloyd, Jack Tweed et al.

In the weeks that followed, Jade and Shilpa were at each other – one showing the nasty side of her character and the other, character of tolerance, patience and humility. The show took a nasty turn when Jade snubbed Shilpa with remarks that were soon made out to be racial. What followed was a spate of controversies with Jade becoming increasingly unpopular amongst British tabloids and the public in general.  On the contrary, Shilpa Shetty became more of a household name in the UK.

While Jade Goody lost most of her commercial contracts, Shilpa went on to gather many more. Rubbing salt to the wounds, Shilpa was portrayed as the symbol of resilience, tolerance and mental strength while Jade Goody was set as an example of overdose of fame and familiarity gone awry.

Well, that was my impression until a year ago

Now, with Jade counting her days on this planet and fighting every minute to see more of this world , she has suddenly become an inspiration to many. One who lived life to the fullest extent, in the limited time that she is blessed on this earth. She is hardly 27 years old and in the last five years she probably has lived more than anyone imagine

She has brought a new definition to Reality TV. For all you know, she probably might be called the Queen of Reality too.

Jade Goody who was a dental nurse from Bermondsey in London before the Big Brother craze struck her and she came into the spotlight in the 2002 season of Big Brother. Although she stood at 4th place in that place, Jade went on to become one of the most successful reality TV stars doing several Reality TV shows, shooting many fitness DVDs, launching her own Perfume line called “Sshhhh…Jade”…which was once the third best selling perfume after Kylie Minogue and Victoria Beckham and so on.

Jade Goody has apparently appeared in 4 seasons of Big Brother – Big Brother, Celebrity Big Brother, Big Brother Panto and the very desi version a.k.a Big Boss, albeit for a short period until she flew back to London following the news of her cervical cancer.

With every passing day, she is moving closer to death and even in these hours of extreme difficulty and privacy, she wanted the camera clicking. Her marriage to Jack Tweed post her chemotherapy sessions, will probably be remembered for a long time as one of the most celebrated marriages in recent years. Her final days are being recorded by Living TV which is expected to rake in millions of pounds for telecasting her death, part of which would go to Jade’s two kids. If that’s not all, there is this OK! magazine which ran a Tribute Week in memory of Jade from 1981-2009 even before her death.

All this, apparently, with the permission of Jade who even in her last days wants to be the Queen who lived and breathed Reality TV. Replacing her stature as the undisputed Queen of Reality TV will be a humongous task for the next in line. Sounds like the death of reality, for some time !

What say you ?

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Popularity: 14%

I happened to be at my uncle’s place this weekend. The collector of “antiques” that he is, I happened to chance on an old telephone – the classic heavy black one with numbers and a dial to actually dial out a number!

My 18 month old is obsessed with phones. He waits for me to get back from work, just to climb on to me and pull out my mobile from my pocket when I return home every evening. The joy on his face when he finds it is worth several millions and I’ve stopped worrying about what may happen to let him have his few moment of joy. He’s press a few buttons, make a few unsolicited calls and ask me to take a few pictures – all of which I oblige to.

Considering my son’s passion for phones, I called him over and showed him this phone that we discovered. I was hoping he would entertain us again! Guess what happened? He came by, walked around the phone that was placed on the floor – I think looking at it from different directions, thought for a few seconds and ran away saying phone “illa” – in my native language, which means, this is not a phone!!!! Any amounts of coercion or attempt to draw him to the phone were in vain. I’m so glad Alexander Graham Bell isn’t around to see my little boy say his creation is not in existence!

The world has changed and changed rapidly! Things that used to be in vogue are fast changing their guise.

Looking back at the days when I was growing up, I recall my dad’s favorite – a faver leuba time piece. This needed to be wound every day using a key and would go off with a bell to serve as our morning alarm every day. I still vividly remember how upset my dad was when the clock went past it’s useful life and couldn’t be fixed by one of the local watch repair shops.

The other classic was the old tape recorder – with cassettes and large buttons, I grew up listening to my favorite music, and having to walk up to reverse sides every 30 – 45 minutes, depending on the type of cassette. The other big thing was the transistor. This was a huge box which served its primary purse of being a radio, in addition to being a paperweight on most tables at home. I’d spend hours trying to tune it with its manual dial to even listen to the cricket commentary that made every single ball as eventful as a six. I’d get so annoyed if my little sister changed the direction by a fraction.

If this was indoors, outdoors was so much fun! I was challenged to put the scooter on it’s stand – this was the Lambretta, the heavyweight scooter, which helped the modern day man get his muscle. For the more luxurious, there was the Ambassador, which today my son refuses to acknowledge as a car. The look of disgust on his face when I attempt to convince him that the Ambassador is indeed a car is something I’d rather not live with!

In school, the 286 PC was a big hit – with it’s display in fluorescent green, the PC lab was making waves. The introduction of the 386 with the color monitor triggered a rush for the last seats in class – the boys would fight to sit in the last bench and would start to remove their shoes in a bid to fling their all and run to the PC lab to lay their hands on this darling with color screens. They’d even test a few of our athletic skills along the way! The 5 & ¼ inch floppy drives was a prized possession and so to was the box that held some 10 of these!!

As I look back at my life, I realize how much change I’ve seen. The alarm clock has been digitized, in most cases bummed along with the mobile, the phones get smaller and sleeker – from the touch screens to the storm, this space hasn’t seen the last of it’s innovation as yet. Cassettes are largely obsolete with the advent of CDs as the DVDs and Blue Rays give both of these a run for their money. The radio in it’s smallest form is integrated with the phone, most homes don’t have one, though they are a feature in every modern car. You’d search your whole car to realize that it comes built into the music system! I don’t know when the last time I saw a scooter was, forget the lamby.

Thanks to the government, the Ambassador’s still run – but I don’t know for how long. The PC space is changing at a pace that I can’t even write about. I’d sound silly discussing PC specs here knowing fully well that the latest would be up even before this article hits the net, the memory cards and drives have truly made floppies obsolete! Some change this!!

For the antique collector – it’s catch 22. Do I get all of these and hope to make a fortune someday by claiming to have “antiques”, or do I just acknowledge the fact that this is all junk in this ever changing world? I believe in the latter and am off to clearing my house, much to the displeasure of my parents!

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Popularity: 13%

Today we live a stressful life and movies have become an integral part of our entertainment. I remember few years back I could watch a movie for Rs 30 which was quite under budget. No one really bothered about watching a pirated cassette and none made noise about pirated movies.

But these days people are willing to buy pirated movies than watching the movie in a theater. There are several reasons for that . I was thinking what should be done to reduce video piracy. Here are some of my thoughts.

1) Reduction in Actor Remuneration

How can a hero charge Rs.16 to 20 crores per film? If the cost of production comes down people can afford watching the movie in theaters. I see top bollywood heroes and heroines preaching against piracy. If 50% of the money I paid for watching for a movie goes into paying to lead actors, what right do they have to talk about piracy? . If they charge less production cost would come down and so would be the piracy.

If producers have right to earn Rs.250 crores by making a movie like Ghajini, actors have right to charge more than Rs.15 crores per movie, multiplexes have the right to charge me Rs 150 for each ticket, Rs 60 for a pop corn and 50 for a coke, every spectator will have right to buy a pirated DVD for Rs 30 on a pavement. Folks reduce your profits and reduce the piracy.

2) Improvement in Movies’ Quality

I made the mistake of watching couple of movies by watching the amazing trailers that were played in the break time. Trailers were superb but when I went for the movie it was as stupid as it could be. Why should I spend 1000 rupees for a family on a movie and get stranded with stupid movies, which was not even worth 10 rupees. So come out with good movies instead of coming with silly remakes.

3) Understanding Market Conditions

When market is not ready to pay more, cheap products find place. It is the producer’s job to deliver his product at the right price. Since the prices are exorbitantly high for movies, piracy has seen flourishing. The very fact that a person buys a pirated DVD for Rs.30 to 50, is a clear indication of the acceptable price range for the masses.

When a DVD player costs only Rs 3500, why should a DVD cost Rs. 500+. The cost of a blank CDs and DVDs has reduced considerably but there is not much reduction in the original CDs and DVDs. Producers and Distribution companies should reduce the cost of CD/DVD thereby encouraging people to buy originals.

If an original good quality DVD did not cost more than Rs 50 then there would be no piracy. If the production house distributes its content close to the prices of pirated ones, piracy will have to take a dip. Moserbaer’s initiatives in the right direction is worth emulating. Instead of selling 10 DVDs for 500 each, sell 1000 DVDs for Rs 50 each and you will make the same profit. This network of pirates cannot be wiped out in a few months’ time as it has become their reliable source of income and there is a need to convert them into legitimate distribution centers of entertainment products

4) Availability Of Original DVDs

Production houses should release original DVD to the market as soon as the movies are withdrawn from theaters. The window between theatrical release and the home video release is too wide a gap for people to wait and watch them at home. People don’t have patience to wait for a good movie and they would rush to the pirated dvd vendor or will download a copy from the net. So release your DVD as soon as the movies are taken off the theaters.

I hope the movie makers realize this soon and come up with ground breaking strategies that would help everyone – the movie makers, the audience and the middlemen.

Anyone listening ?

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