Sunday, April 29, 2012

Dirty Pictures!

 Some years back a VHS cassette player was a rare thing. A video camera was rarer. Not many people had them. I remember we would rent a player and a color TV together with a couple  of Bollywood hits . Then the whole family would sit up with eyes glued to the screen all night in a "moivethon" and watch one movie after another. All of them  had to be returned to the local video shop next morning.  You had to keep your fingers crossed as sometimes the electric power failed . Actually power failed a lot of times but the video shop guy also knew about it and he would let us keep the equipment for  an extra couple of hours next day till we finished the videos.

This flexibility was only for the regular Indian family drama stuff. English movies were rented under stricter regulations. You rented it and you ran the risks. Power or no power you had to return them on time or you paid for another day. Off course they had the reputation of being more open and explicit and we watched them only with our buddies not with our parents.  It was an era of strict censorship. There were no foreign TV channels and import of video material could be controlled to a large extent. Officially there was no X rated stuff available but trusted regulars could rent those adult movies which the Video shop guy would not even admit to possessing to us youngsters. In fact we could get  seriously told off if we asked about  them. This individual practically controlled what we could view; for how long and at what price!

Times have changed and bulky VHS equipment is no more. Slicker CD and DVD has replaced them. Camera's have become digital, smarter, smaller  and very common. It is amazing how capable even tiny little camera's in cellphones have become.  To his utter dismay Abhishek Manu SInghvi found this recently. His driver's cellphone reportedly left  in his court chambers on recording mode shot a 14 minute video that can only be described  under court  orders as "forged, concocted, morphed and fabricated"; "of no public interest", and  " allegedly pertaining to Singhvi and a noted woman lawyer of the Delhi High Court." Singhvi was so moved by the "fake" video that he could not allow anyone to see it.  So being the lawyer he is; he immediately moved the court that put a gag order on describing the contents, publishing it in anyway or broadcasting it on TV.

One down side of getting older is that you tend to live more and more in the past.  Sadly for him this is not 1975 but 2012. No one can control  the flow of information completely. Not even totalitarian regimes like communist China have managed to stem it.  Surprisingly he forgot  about the existence of another  technical advance that is very common today- the all pervasive internet. This video has got uploaded on You tube and  then has a dedicated Facebook page . Several other bit torrent links that various individuals have made available online; ensure that the video can be seen by anyone who wants to. All one has to do is type 'Singhvi video' on Google search bar and punch 'enter.'  Just like that! Even the word on the street is that it is not "fake"; or "morphed". Anyway this homemade dirty picture has put paid to Singhvi's immediate political career as the governments official spokesperson and  this is likely to dog him forever. Just goes to prove that If you are stupid enough to indulge in intimate office romance , do not be a ridiculous idiot to record it. Secondly if you employ a driver , treat him like a human being . And if at all you are on a terribly weak wicket and guilty as sin; you will have to cut a deal to survive. Do it soon enough, man! A lawyer should  know this much!


Speaking of weak wickets I do not understand who has advised Sachin  to accept Congress nomination to  the upper house even while he is still an active  member of team India. A recent joke surmises it all:  So Sachin visits Sonia and Sonia says," Sachin , congratulations on completing a century of centuries". "Thanks Madam"' says Sachin; "and  may I congratulate you on completing a century of scams'!!!! Alas It is a joke only and Sachin never said it. In cricketing term he has  moved and committed to the shot even before the ball has left the bowlers hand. His head is not still and he has taken his eyes off the ball.  Very 'unsachin' like and   all bad news !