Do you vote ...

... I don't! And I am not talking about the voting that's an integral part of a democracy but of the one associated with contests on television that have left the telecom company bosses grinning from ear to ear. Almost every television channel in the Indian living room has a contest / show that asks the viewers to vote for their favourite contestant. There are also lakhs of people who vote for their favourite contestants.

I watch / enjoy many of these reality shows and would prefer them over the regular, run of the mill rona dhona on television. But somehow I cannot get myself involved with them to an extent that I vote for the contestants. I also fail to understand the people who do. I have my reasons for staying out of this show of solidarity - first of all, the votes cost too much. All messages and calls made to such shows cost a lot more than the message or call that we make on an average. Secondly, how do I know that the results are not rigged by the channel to please a section of the audience and thus better their TRP ratings? Also, this might be an excellent money making venture but I think that by selecting the winner on the basis of public votes its not neccessary that we get the most talented artist. What we get in most cases is the most popular artist with something that's best described by a term being used by everyone - X factor. There have been instances wherein the participant has survivied elimination solely on the basis of the votes recieved from his native place! At times, the participant adjudged as the best by the jury on the show has not been accepted by the masses.

I think that for winning such shows, talent is not the only thing that you need in your arsenal. Marketing is also very important. Though I must add here that just the latter is just going to help you survive the initial rounds. You need a certain amount of talent to actually bag all that there is at stake, which I must add is a LOT. Another thing that is very important is the ability to connect with the audiences, as ultimately they are the ones that decide your fate.

But my main question here is who votes? And why? Some of the contestants recieve lakhs of votes, so this surely means that there are a lot of enthusiasts out there who are willing to spend their time and money on someone who they don't know personally. Could this be a way of them patronizing artisits? Or is it just the glamour that they are attracted towards?? Or worse, is it just a regular trend that they want to be a part of??? Or is it bus aise hi ... ?????

Thank you Ma'm

Yesterday, one of my favourite teachers, Mrs. Meera Janardhanan (a.k.a Janna to her students) retired from St. Joseph’s Boys’ High School after devoting 35 years of her life to teaching. I had the honour of having her as my math’s teacher for three consecutive years in school.

During the lectures, she was always like a typical math’s teacher – strict, sported a no nonsense attitude, stick in hand and ready to catch students who were gracing the class with just their physical presence! She had a penchant for giving impositions and firmly believed that giving remarks in the student’s school diary (to be signed by the parent) was the best way of keeping the parent abreast with the student’s progress in class. She was one of the few teachers that could control the students in our division.

But, looking back, I think that our respect for her was not due to the fear for the stick or a way of escaping the impositions, it’s the teacher in her that we respected. The number of ex students that turned up for her farewell function in school is ample proof that josephites across generations have respected her knowledge of the subject and her teaching skills. There were 1986 pass outs that had turned up to express their gratitude towards their teacher at her farewell.

I had the rare distinction (it’s a distinction now!) of getting the first remark from her in my batch. The remark read ‘Protractor not brought’. To make it worse, I had to write it in my diary myself, as I was the row monitor. But, this one incident ensured that I never fell short of instruments during the geometry class. Even if I had not brought it along, I ensured that I borrowed it from someone in the other division just before she entered the class. Another typical thing about her related to me was the way she pronounced my name in a distinctly south Indian accent. ‘Aish, on the board’ is what she’d say to signal that I had to step to the blackboard for solving a particular math question.

I may have probably never expressed my gratitude to her, but today I would like to put on record that Mrs. Meera Janardhanan has played a major role in shaping my personality during the years I spent in school. Thank you ma’m. May God bless you and your family with good health and prosperity!!