The 'in' thing

• Fashion is as integrated and blended into the cup of social circumstances that any trivial fact also, gains a sporadic momentum to influence creators, appreciators, and shoppers at once.
• Young Fashion today is governed by functionality adding touch to the luxury par excellence value.
• Present season can witness some noticeable changes. With global economy tumbling down, the clothing styles have also sashayed to bare minimalism and simple straight lines. The preppy youth fashion moves away from the ubiquitous romanticism of last few seasons.
• Silhouettes are simple , straight cut, hemlines have decreased more, minis have become the next ‘it’ thing. The layering and buoyancy have been replaced with neat-tailored structured clothing. More innovative yet creative direction deepens its interest for round yet tapered shapes for comfort, using high performance fabrics.
• The color trends have also been averted to evergreen pastels, muted shades and neutrals and deliberate negligence of bold outlandish shades.
• It’s the reviving time, announcing the ethno- street transversalities, extra sueded softness or black-electric shine. Movement is the key concept, full of nostalgic and visionary élans.
• Classics are given a fresh spin with natural sophistication that flaunts sobriety and simplicity, with the re-vitalizing boost to the basics.
• The revival of old decades like 80’s, 70’s is clearly evident in power dressing suits, archaic inspiration, diligently combined with chaotic flow.
• The 3-d effect is all over the paradox with, precision as the key ‘mantra’
• The melodramatically exaggerated looks have been cut down to a personalized version with a space of one’s own. In a way this paves way for greater scope of creative innovation.

more

A chauvinist government for a chauvinist state by chauvinist people

“Bhai saheb, ye ladies seat hai, please chod denge?”, asked a frail exhausted woman to a stout man snoring on a seat reserved for ladies. The man ignored for a while, but could not stand her gaze for long. He said casually, “Ye interstate bus hai, isme ladies seat nahi hoti.” The lady pointed to the sticker with red text written on it and said, “Bhaiya, wahan likha hua hai.” “Likha hone se kya hota hai, aisa nahi hota hai. Utha sakte ho to utha do mujhe seat se, jao conductor ko pooch lo.” To inform all those people who do not know what a DTC bus conductor is like- He is a middle aged man with grey hair and white moustache, with a bunch of tickets and a money bag in hand. No one has ever seen him standing or walking. No matter how crowded a bus is, his favourite line is, “Bus itni khali hai, aaplog aage kyun nahi badhte?”. This is all a DTC conductor does. This is how a journey from Delhi to Gurgaon and Gurgaon to Delhi is most likely to be. I do not know what the Haryana Government has to say about the reservation of seats for ladies but the people really show how chauvinist they are and how chauvinist their state is turning into. Reservation of seats is not an issue (I am not talking of reservation of Lok Sabha seats. It’s a different matter altogether though I wonder people who don’t like to get up from their seats even for senior citizens, pregnant women, handicapped and women with child, how are they going to step down to give way to women politicians to take such important positions); women are not weak and they can travel for hours at a stretch standing in a bus but a woman standing in a crowd is more prone to misbehavior and teasing by fellow male passengers. Every five or ten minutes, a girl screams on a male passenger either for leaning on her or touching her.

Haryana has a sex ratio of 861 females per 1000 males, the lowest in India (according to 2001 census). While walking down from Udyog Vihar to the border, I often turn around and find I am the only girl walking on the road. I prefer taking a rickshaw even for small distance but often I find them either demanding more money or drunk (thanks to the liquor shops everywhere in Gurgaon just like small hanuman temples built in every nook and corner in small towns). Even in buses, half of the population is drunk and the bus stinks like a rotten gutter.

One unfortunate day, I waited for a DTC bus for more than an hour but in vain. I decided to cross the road and take a bus to the main bus stand. As the bus was moving along the innards of the city, away from the chaotic traffic deadlock at the IFFCO chowk, I could experience a city just like Delhi until I encountered some movie posters on the walls .It was an adult movie (may be an A+ grade movie) and I was taken aback at the insensibility of the people who dared to put up such kind of crap on public walls (in the same country where FTV was banned for 10 days for showing topless models). The posters had vulgar titles and explicit pictures.

A disclaimer- I do not mean to say that no reservations, high density of liquor shops and A grade movie posters are reasons for the low sex ratio of the state. Low sex ratio simply reveals the narrow mentality of people which is cemented by such policies and systems. It is like provoking a wild beast to the extent of madness. The abovementioned incidents are few observations that I made during my internship and project period while traveling from Delhi to Gurgaon.

References:

http://censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/India_at_glance/fsex.aspx
http://www.consumercomplaints.in/complaints/dtc-buses-c350643.html
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20090928/main7.htm

more

Sultry Days

A bit about the Author

Shobha De,the author of the book holds a personality that is typically 'politically incorrect'.Being critical and bitchy about everything is her genre.A well established journalist known for her magazine works in Stardust,Society and Celebrity and her explorations of the social life of celebs;Her TOI editorials also features her typical 'political incorrect' views over current happenings,events,people,situations or films and have been worth reading.

Review

Sultry days is a fiction written around a character Nisha who portrays sort of a no ambition girl;a character very much lost and confused.Nisha narrates the whole story which starts from her late college days ,when she is infatuated by GOD.The author has very falsely tried to generate some thrill by using 'God' as a character.God here is no one but just a 'I know it all' college dude.De has tried hard to portray Deb(God's real name) as hero of the plot,but has failed miserably ,in doing so.Throughout the book,the lack of flow,the lack of the poetic touch and the lack of anything to which a reader can connect is felt quite much.

The story progresses,with Nisha and Dev coming closer and struggling to find their spots in their respective lives.Nisha's workplace is an advertisement firm ,which the author has used as a plot to give a view of the ad-world.De talks about various people associated with Deb's workplace which is some art related work in a magazine.Both places have been described through a flurry of characters.A very distinct and rather call it dismal feature of the book is that in every ten pages you read,two new characters have been introduced which almost do nothing at all in the progress of the story.

The overall analysis of 'Sultry Days' suggest nothing at all sultry about it.

The cover photograph of an appealing model and the epilogue ,which is very much catchy can be sarcastically taken as positives out of the book.

Quoting from the epilogue "On a sultry rainy day,Nisha an impressionable teenager,meets GOD in college canteen ad falls in Love.......". There is not even one percent of the fiction inside of what the epilogue promises.

Mentioning the threats,if you choose this one for your weekend read,you ll neither be reading a good fiction nor it ll be causing any value addition to yourself.

Avoid reading it,if possible.

more

iPad: The Digital Stone

It has been a month to the launch of Apple's iPad, which was to much fanfare. Like every techie, I was excited about it and after a month I know what it is, actually. I find it a simple enabling platform. Those who have the iPhone or iPod Touch, know what it's like. Of course, the iPad's got a much larger screen, sleek and sexy looks, a faster processor, and even 3G, but in the end it's just a bigger iPod Touch.

The only difference is, iPod's ability to fit right into your pocket. Can you see yourself grabbing an iPad while you dash out your front door? Not me. It's big.

The big critical point about the iPad, is the fact that it can't multi-task. Like the iPod Touch and the iPhone, you can only run one application at any given time. It has a powerful CPU on the inside, but still the iPad is crippled because of its operating system, which happens to be the same operating system behind the iPhone. Fundamentally, if you already have a notebook and an iPhone, the iPad will have a difficult time finding a place in your daily routine. And if not, you will find it too closed to use. How? Will tell you.

But first Let's all say it together now: no multi-tasking? What the bleep?

Talking Candid now.

More than a tablet, the iPad is a console, in every sense of the word. The real money maker for Apple, is the App Store, iBook store, and iTunes store. The iPad will capture the audiences that the iPhone/iPod Touch wasn't, and then some. It'll also capture the core Apple audience too.

Coming to the closed thing. The iPad is a closed system. You can't do anything you want to it. Yes, you heard it right. Apps must be from the App Store. Like an SNES, or a PS3, software must be sanctioned. Plus, you can play only one game at a time, just like a console. It has no usb port, no cam, no slot card and neither can you e-ink. What the heck?

Truth be told, the software used is diappointing. Given that the iPad is a tablet, we can consider that it doesn't have a keyboard. But not to be able to let its owner run more than one app is a major disgust. The OS could have been so much more for the tablet. What the iPad should have shipped with, was OS X, with a tablet designed UI--not a tablet, with the iPhone OS.

No doubt, there are some instances where the iPad can deliver some unique uses. For many mainstream users who either just chat, email, or browse, the iPad may be OK. But for power users who love their software and want to get things done, there are alternatives at 23K.

So, iPad is a 3/10 product for me. For you, think, consider and decide yourself.

more

The 5th Dimension is a Tech Void

Hey Everybody.

I have been reading this blog from quite a time and now writing on this word space is a pleasant surprise. Who am I? You already know, thanks to Alok Kumar. So, I shall tell you about what the fifth dimension would be speculating around between all the learned speculators. Well, I am interested in posting some No-non-sense, on new and old technology that interests me. Hope to have a good time here.

Thanks for the welcome.

Mohi.

more

And now, adding the Fifth Dimension to Arbit Speculations...

Ladies, and Dudes. 


Presenting before you, the fifth contributor to our blog. Mohi Narayan.

This girl of words is a very active twitterati and facebooker. Is literally expressive on her wordpress blog http://charmcaester.wordpress.com/ and has a sharp eye to notice and document the finer details of life. The arbit speculations team hopes that she will be able to add some new colors of enthusiasm to our lazy old blog. :D

So, Mohi... Welcome to the clan of the arbit speculators. Rules, you know. People, you will get to know. All you have to do is to add the fifth dimension. And that takes nothing more than your words and thoughts arranged arbitrarily.

Over to you.

Alok K.
Feb 27, 2010

more

Karthik calling Karthik: An unofficial review.

Ummm. Well, I didn't watch movies on their release dates. But now I do, thanks to this girl.

So, Karthik calling Karthik was the movie that we went to see today in cannaught place of Delhi. I normally don't have much expectation from Deepika Padukone's acting skills, ( Who notices that anyways :P), but I admire Farhan a lot. He belongs o that genre of movie watchers who get irritated everytime some Sunny Deol uproots a handpump or some Shahrukh Khan commits suicide for a less interested Paro.

And yeah. KCK did not disappoint me. Its one of those movie which will be liked more by the boys than the girls. There were times when I was on the edge of my seat, amused by the perfect thrill of the plot, while she was literally yawning away the frames whispering into my ears that it had started to get boring.
Read the reviews in the newspapers, and you'll find that she holds the majority when she found it boring.

Any person who has been a loner in his life would be definitely connecting with Farhan's character in the movie. I, for one, can. I know how it feels like when you are all alone and the world is out to fuck with you.
Developing schizophrenia in that lonely condition is perfectly plausible and so is having multiple personality disorder. As a matter of fact, I had noticed it many times that when I was in the lonely phase of my life, I had got so much time at my hands that I used to look at every issue from different perspectives, many times arguing with myself about the nuances of the problems and their solutions. Now, MPD is just an exaggerated version of this multi-perspective analysing ability of a loner.

Technically, the movie is 100% correct, which is very rare in Bollywood, and hence, should be cherished. Deepika is dumb on the acting front as always, but man, she has looked so gorgeous in the movie that I literally could not keep my eyes off her throughout the show, though I had an equally cute girl, sitting right beside me. :)The music was awesome and so was the picturization and script.
Though repetitiveness might be the groan-word for many disappointed viewers, I actually feel that it actually added to the psychic character of the movie. It felt that I was watching a regularly occuring dream.

8/10 to movie all in all. The climax, definitely could have been better.

On an entirely different note, I appreciated the fact that we take it for granted that our own brain will never betray us. But I wonder what it would do if gets a little awry, towards myself.

What would I do if I got hellbent to destroy myself?
Sending abuses and insulting mails to my dear ones in the online world would be the first thing to be done by my comp savvy chunk of brain gone bad. Then I will delete my gmail and facebook accounts, post some pornography (with friends tagged in them) on my blog, change the PIN of my atm card to an arbit number, burn away all my academic certificates, delete all the pics and design projects from my laptop...

Or better, I can try corporal mortification. :P
Boy. I can bring havoc in Alok's life! Sounds cheesy but I wonder why we take it for granted that we will always be on our own side.
But we better be. Wassay?

Alok K.

more