geeks is back!! for good(??) while in canada, he worked for an American company, that manufactured in china, sold in Canada and was called Bombay! (truly global!!) the most popular cartoon in canada is SpongeBobSquarePants!! miss good ol' doordarshan days..Gaayab Aaya, Molu, Potli baba ki (don't laugh at indigeneous entertainment).

so celebrated Republic Day by covering a marathon!! at 7:30 in the morning!! it's criminal to make reporters work this early in the morning.

you know your office is shortstaffed, when the editor comes up with a rule saying, " People deciding to get married should give a 6 month notice" haha.

It's been an awesome three days at WSF...simply mindblowing to witness something of such a proportion..people from all over the world, gathering to reaffirm their committment towards a belief they are so strongly rooted in. it's simply amazing, how the NESCO grounds proved to be such a leveller..i have never imagined myself to be walking next to a 'certified intellectual' (Debashish Sen) and a dalit from somewhere in Tamil Nadu at the same time. this place gives you the space to be.
Where else would you find Prakash Karat trying to find his way all by himself through the crowd, peering into the map and trying to locate the hall he is going to lecture? it's best to hang out with your politics prof, names that you have heard in class and people whom you have only imagined suddenly pop out and it's like meeting characters out of your notes.
like i was saying, this place gives you your space, none would agree with me moer than patnaik who went berserk with the camera trying to shoot the sights and sounds of WSF, and ended up shooting people making out!! haha.
bumping into your editor is not the nicest thing to happen to you at WSF. " so i hope you have been working on your articles.."
Ram Reddy still looks dazed...but he has to be sweetest guy ever. Sidey is sidey, hasn't changed one bit, except for the grunge look.
and patnaik for all the complaining is still living with menon. so life comes a full circle.
at then end of three days, at least i have memorized the landmarks. sugarcane stall, media centre, solidarity tent, et al.
saddy was ok, old wine in a new bottle. we have been discussing alternative spaces since journalism school, remember patnaik with her emotional outburst at the colloquium. " We are entering the media at a depressing juncture, are there ay alternative spaces available for us?"
skipped Ram's lec, can't listen to anymore of The Great Indian Media Bazaar.
and for all those who thought this was one helluva jamboree, that's alright as long as you belive that "Another World is possible."

...And the Oscar goes to...

so my colleague decides to do a little bit of snooping around herself...suddenly finds herself face to face with the alleged "property scamster"...he catches her taking pics of the incriminating evidence...then asks her, " so..what kind of stories do you do..Good or Bad?
Pat comes the reply.." i write the truth."

so, as i see now, the whole debris story that i did, (hey i am really proud of this one)
is getting bigger than i thought. now the BSES guy keeps avoiding me, and according to my sources, has told the fishermen not to talk to me. some nerve.
Now, what can be more delightful than catching the BSES Vice President, Corporate Communications, lying, to your face? so i call him up on his cell phone (please note, he says, Please call me on my Reliance, and not Please call me on my cell) so yours truly calls him on his Reliance, and he pretends he cannot hear me, ( a good ploy by him considering that the Reliance Network sucks!) and then disconnects his phone. so i call him up after half an hour, and he kinda remembers the number and asks his kid to pick it up, now, the conversation.
Kid: Hello
Me: Hello, May I speak to Mr. Mohanty please? (in the most pseudo polite tone ever)
Kid: He is in a meeting. ( after some hushed conversation with Mr. Mohanty himself)
Me: Is it so? And he has handed his cell phone (oops! Reliance) to you?
Kid: Yes.
Me: May I know who i am speaking to to?
Kid: His Secretary (after discussing with daddy dearest of course)
Me: Of course, you know this may sound a little wierd, but I just called up his office, and got to know that no one has come to office as yet. ( at this point i am dying to laugh)
Kid: huh..uh...('time out please' i have to check with daddy) ..ok i will tell him to call you up, i will give him the message.
Me: Oh could you do that, and also please tell him that this is extremely urgent.
Kid: Ok
We hang up. it was better that i did, coz all that sugary sweet tone, was making me sick!
I swear, the kid'd planning to run away from home after the embarassment. Some VP Corporate Communications, he is!!. hmph!!

of course he doesent call up, and when i do in the evening, he pretend he cannot hear me again after saying something about meeting me next week.
(Like they say in mumbai, saala, tenshun mein aa gaya)

now compare this conversation that i had with him one day before the above mentioned incident when I called him up from office.
Moron: Hello
Me: Hello, Mr. Mohanty, How are you now?
Moron: I am ok now. was ill last week.
Me: So i hope we can meet to discuss the company's statement on the issue, because you insist that we meet.
Moron: Of course, Vibha, anything for you Vibha, After all I am paid to talk to journalists like you.
Me: so when do we meet?
Moron: why don't you give me a call in the evening, as i won't be able to tell you now.
Me: Alright. I hope you are able to make it this time.
Moron: Of course Vibha, anytime.
Me: alright then, i will confirm with you in the evening.

and of course, 'me' had become a 'moron' coz he switched off his cell phone in the evening.
time to show him the power of the press...have mailed him my queries..gonna kick some butt now. hahaha (evil laughter)

the ability to convince someone of your stand is something that i totally admire, sadly very few people i know have it..this johan norberg dude, (Author of In defence of Global Capitalism) (thanks to you- know- who) is amazing. articulate, simple, straighforward. but then again, globalisation is not just about higher salaries and free boundaries. the dynamics of globalisation work at lower levels than that. (remember the whole 'Fall of the WTC will increase global poverty' bit) to the extent that if we become completely "free" we will also be entitled to the fluctuations in the global market, which means that if America is suffering from a recession, we are boudn to suffer from it as well, coz we are all connected. besides, after a point, when an MNC becomes an important non state entity, it has the power of controling the political system as well. all very reminiscent of the British Raj eh!! also, all this mumbo jumbo about free and fair competition might sound noble, but hello, let's all remember that competition is fair when it's among equals. remember how you hated it when the school bully always beat you up coz he was bigger than you...(Find someone your size) and by the way, Next time you sip on a Coke coz they pay higher salaries to your people,(which again is relative and not absolute) remember, that they also suck up the ground water dry, (free of course!!) leaving your very people with no water to irrigate or drink.
by the way it's not like i am a leftist or something, i am just me, hoping for a fairer, free-er (if there is a word like that), happier world. we gave socialism a chance ..they screwed up ..(Nehruvian idea of socialism with their huge mammoth factories and industries as the symbols of Socialist strength), we gave capitalism a chance, they promised us welfare..they failed...so now whom do we look upto? well, what about socialism with a change, socialism with freedom, not the socialism that stifles you..New Age Socialism anyone??

so had the most happening new year. spent it in a rick, with deedee_gogo and shibbs. suddenly realised that it had turned 12 and we threw our hands up in the air and yelled "happy New Year"..some new year that was...

Wached Love Actually, funny flick, these brits should seriously consider having Hugh Grant replace tony blair. he actually stands up against bush in the film. haha.

it's back to work again. take some silly horse faced model to the newest restaurant and put words in his mouth to write about and then make him look good in the papers...what kind of life am i leading anyways..but the good news is, my bong co- reporter is back from her week long vacation.

this place is getting colder..brr..and i love every minute of it!!