Why Marina in Chennai is a fun way to exercise?

What’s the most fun way to exercise?

Marina Beach in Chennai is the world’s second-longest urban beach. It is located along the Bay of Bengal in Tamilnadu, India.

About 15000 to 20000 people visit the beach daily. It marks a prominent landmark in the south of India.

The beach is a star attraction during peak summer, especially in the months of April and May. A fun spot for family and children.

Children run around and splash in shallow water. Horsemen on the shore wait to take visitors around. On a ride and for a ride. They make quick money.

We often visit Marina for fun, as we live close by.

Balloon shooting is a good fun exercise.

The men who run the stall today are second generation shopkeepers. It’s a legacy that comes with a hundred balloons and three old well-oiled air rifle guns.

Many such stalls now form part of the landscape on the Marina.

Shooting balloons has become a popular fun exercise, especially after Gagan Narang of India won a bronze at the London Olympics in 2012.

Narang won the prize for the air-rifle event. His father said he saw the spark in his son first when he was just two. Narang, as we heard, ran around in Marina and burst balloons.

The stalls give you rifles ready and loaded. People just pay and shoot. Pay ₹200 (about $2 for a pack of 10 pellets) upfront and grab a gun. Keep firing, bang… bang!

You won’t get many shots right though. And the bonus is you get three free shots when you hit the balloon the shopkeeper points at.

There’s no stopping the fun exercise. It’s so addictive that people stay up late to break records.

But, all stories have got twists.

Some boys come real sharp. They come in a gang and start bursting balloons at the word ‘go’. They splash money.

The shopkeepers always see a profit. They make about ₹1000 ($10) a day. It’s a lot of money for them.

They would ask the boys to go Gung ho. And the boys make merry.

But the stalls have something up their sleeves, always. How to cut costs?

In the buzz of activities, the shopkeepers don’t load pellets when handing the rifle to people.

Boys won’t know they were just firing blank shots. The rifles go bang, bang, but the balloons just stay.

Isn’t that a lot of fun?

Reasons why balloon shooting in Marina must rank as the best fun exercise.

Come and join us. Let’s go give a shot at one of the stalls in Marina.

Anyone?

When did ‘Whats Up?’ become a WhatsApp since?

How has technology changed your job?

When we studied Mass Communication and Journalism in the late 80s, many of us wanted to work in print, on the radio or assist cinema directors.

The copywriter’s job didn’t pay very much. They gave us copies to write about ₹200 ($2) worth of di-pole television antennas. Disgusting!

Television hit India big in the mid 90s. A lot of us could find jobs in the news and entertainment television. The job paid us well.

We were just about halfway through mastering the analogue format of broadcasting and the digital world hit us blind.

4:3 (aspect ratio) gave way to 16:9. All in a blink. Star Group’s Channel V was a rage among the younger music-loving audience. People watched MTV-grind till late at home.

Tapes were gone and we carried large disks. Digitization was a jiffy. Edit at a low resolution and make the master copy in high-res. Multi-layering helped insert cut-away shots quickly. Broadcasting soon became 24/7.

Social media came like a deluge. That hit us big. We were threatened with job losses at Y2K. We sat clueless many times.

Machines have become smaller and one machine (Fire, Flint and Finalcut Pros) did it all. From scripting, sequencing, digitizing, editing, keying, GFX, sound-mixing, titles and mastering. All from the word GO!

The cameras have a lot of pixels to offer. Technicians shot many episodes on a given day.

Citizens journalism is the new kid in town. Thanks to an explosion called YouTube.

The tool for shooting a film sequence is now just a phone. A smartphone is your pocket broadcaster. All credit to technology.

Amateurish pan-shots. Bad cuts. Jump videos. Poor quality soundbites. No ‘rule of third’ in the composition. Long boring stories. Unethical content. No age-appropriate certificate.

And the greater casualty is the watershed at 9pm was gone. Anyone can watch anything, anytime.

YouTube has become the broadcaster’s market for cheap goods. Made in China.

The ‘cheaper a dozen’ market now has around 2.6 billion (about 250 crore) active users per month.

More than 114 million (about 12 crore) active channels.

People upload 2,500 new videos every minute and more than 150,000 videos are available on your phone every hour. There’s no stopping a video on YouTube.

The last time we heard about an assembly line of a product was when Henry Ford made cars.

Such is the scale of spoil in the mind of an avid video-watching kid.

Ryan Kaji is a nine-year-old boy from Texas. He has over 29 million subscribers on his YouTube channel, Ryan’s World. In 2020, Kaji earned nearly $30 (about ₹3 crores) million from his channel. All he does is review toys for kids.

We lost the race a long time ago, thanks to the arrival of technology. IMHO!

PS: Today I could sit and ask an AI (ChatGPT) to write a brief about how technology affected an editor’s or a news producer’s job in the television industry. But, why?

This is the only time I could give the AI some rest and do a job that’s genuinely mine. So I’ve chosen to write one myself.

Thanks for reading.

A Beloved Teacher.

Who was your most influential teacher? Why?

Late Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, the former president, a scientist, an erudite scholar and an excellent teacher.

He was born into a Muslim family who lived in a remote town called Rameswaram on Pamban Island. It is a popular pilgrimage centre located in the State of Tamil Nadu, South of India.

Dr. Kalam always said he was a teacher first and a president next. Such was his love for teaching. The nation remembers him as a great role model.

He was called the “People’s President” because he asked students in the country to dream of a strong, self-reliant India. And he tasked the teachers with preparing the young towards achieving the goal.

He emphasized the importance of students developing a scientific temper and encouraged them to think independently to find solutions.

Dr. Kalam returned to teaching, writing and public service after he served just one term as president. Humility was his character and personality.

He wrote a book titled India 2020 wherein he put out an action plan that he said would take India towards achieving a developed status by 2020. It’s now 2024 and the nation is achieving the objective thanks to Dr. Kalam’s vision.

In 1997, Kalam received India’s highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, for his contribution to scientific research and modernization of defence technology.

He died while delivering a lecture at the Indian Institute of Management in Shillong on 27 July 2015.

The nation remembers him not just as a scientist, scholar or the former president of India, but as a beloved teacher.

I’m kinda DIY, always.

Mr. Shah is a 61-year-old retired language professor. He lived in our building with his family for a long time.

Mr. Shah has a wife, a homemaker, and a school-going daughter. His two sons were away. The elder was working in the UAE and the younger was studying in Delhi. The Shahs were a happy family.

The year was 2017.

Mr. Shah, his wife and daughter were at home watching TV when I called at his house. I was on my routine weekly visit to see the residents. I was an office-bearer at our RWS (Residents Welfare Society) and I did a lot of volunteering.

Mr. Shah was a good conversationalist. People loved having a chat with him. We usually spoke about issues concerning our society. His input had always been considered valuable by the residents.

On the day I met him, we were having a nice conversation. As we went on, I found suddenly he was going off the subject frequently and was struggling for words. He spoke with a noticeable stutter in his speech. I could see he was sweating. I panicked.

When alerted, Mrs. Shah, came running. She had a good look at him and said he would be alright if he took a rest.

Back in my home, my mind was somehow fixated on what I had just witnessed at Mr. Shah’s house. Nothing was alright with Mr. Shah, I thought.

He reminded me of what we had seen in our own family years ago. My dad died of a stroke.

I rushed to his house again. I told his wife that we should take him to the hospital for a quick check on his health.

I saw Mr. Shah was resting in bed. He was bathed in sweat. We didn’t wait for an ambulance. I took them in my car to the hospital.

The duty doctor, after checking the pulse and the conditions shown on his body, said the professor had suffered a stroke.

He further told us to rush him to Malar Fortis at once.

God! That sounded so serious. Mrs. Shah had welled up in her eyes.

We took an ambulance and rushed to Malar Fortis. Dr. Nair, the General Physician, was on duty. He took Mr. Shah into the ICU, asking us to wait.

We waited (patiently) outside. God, he should be alright.

Dr. Nair came out, took Mrs. Shah aside and asked some personal questions pertaining to Shah’s health.

She was worried, but with a sobbing note in her voice she answered him. Her phone was ringing as her family kept dialing to find out how their father was doing.

She was stuck when Nair asked what exactly the time Mr. Shah had suffered stutter in his speech.

Tense situation all around as staff nurses at the ICU waited for Mrs. Shah to answer.

No answer.

Dr. Nair said it was important to know the exact time, as the patient was carrying a blood-clot in the vessels.

The clot should be killed with a jab before it reaches his brain. So much so that the patient could be brought out of danger. Tell us the time, as calculating how much it traveled would help us spot where the clot was traveling.

Mrs. Shah was in tears, sobbing. She looked at me.

I raked my brain. I vaguely recollected someone was calling me on my phone when I met Shahs. Gotcha!

I took my phone out and ran to Nair. Pulled open the call-history and told him: Sir, the time was 17:15. Roughly about that time, I saw Mr. Shah was struggling.

Brilliant!, said Dr. Nair. Thank God!

Dr. Nair quickly wrote a prescription. Handed it to me, ordering “get the jab immediately”.

At the pharmacy (attached to Malar Fortis) I jumped a long queue. Barged in. Told everyone to excuse us, as we were in an emergency. Everyone obliged. I thanked them.

The pharmacist gave me the jab and handed me a bill. What! A jab costing ₹34K! Where on Earth would I find the money?

I didn’t have enough and neither did Mrs Shah have any. What to do now?

She looked inside her bag and checked, but not so much. Use my credit card? Yes. I paid and rushed to Nair.

The doctor took the jab and disappeared inside the ICU. Surreal atmosphere at Malar Fortis.

Mrs. Shah looked at the giant clock kept in the lobby of the hospital and prayed.

About an hour was gone. The doctor came out and told us the patient was doing alright.

Thank god!

We were so thankful to the medical fraternity that our professor was back kicking and alive.

Mrs. Shah was happy dialing everyone to say the good news. Her sons and daughter were happy. They thanked everyone. I could hear her sons and daughter crying and sobbing while thanking me on the phone. I said thank the doctors and thank the almighty.

Back at home, our society called for a quick meeting to thank me for the timely help I extended to save professor Mr. Shah.

Celebration and congratulatory messages started pouring in. On the phone and on my WhatsApp. I was gobsmacked.

A joke that is doing rounds now in our society is; whenever you hear someone is in need of help or in an emergency, you should dial our in-house doctor, a kinda DIY. Period.

The whole of our street now knows my contact.

Proof, a DIY (Do it Yourself) act can take you really far.

A challenge for me and my nation alike!

What is the biggest challenge you will face in the next six months?

Allow me to rephrase the question: What is the biggest challenge I and my nation will face in the next six months?

Our nation, India, is gearing up for the general election between April and May 2024 to elect new members for 543 Lok Sabha seats in Parliament.

I shall be looking forward to a feverish campaign nationwide by political parties of all hues and colors.

This election is going to throw some huge surprises though, as the country is now divided between people who continue to call India a secular democratic country and those who seek to create a new nation which holds religion and faith supreme.

Who will win this time will create a new path for India. To achieve the objective, we as citizens face a huge challenge: which way should I take India forward?

The current government at the center, headed by PM Mr. Modi has been ruling the nation since 2014 and is rooting for a third term in a row. A hat-trick performance is what his party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is aiming at.

But the leaders of the opposition have come together and formed an alliance in the name of the I.N.D.I.A (INDI Alliance). They are more determined this time to stop the juggernaut of the ruling NDA.

While the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by the BJP is strong in the north of the country, the opposition alliance (INDIA), on the other hand, is putting up a better show in the South.

The next six months, therefore, is indeed a challenge for the political leaders and the citizens, alike. Each of us has a vote that’s going to seal the fate of a nation of 1.43 billion people.

Do join us and help in our prayers for a more vibrant and stronger India.

Isn’t that a challenge?

Nothing like a large glass of Magners on Ice.

What is your favorite drink?

We usually choose to drink according to how the climate behaves around us.

People in India usually drink a lot of coconut water, lemon & watermelon juice, buttermilk and lassi (a thick yogurt drink).

Come winter, they drink a lot of hot beverages, such as soup, tea, coffee and alcoholic beverages.

My favorite: ‘Magners on ice’ and Mojito for the summer. And Martell when the weather chills my bones during the winter.

Red Bull to kill sleep when I drive long on the motorways.

But make sure you carry a bottle of water when you commute by Tube. Always.

Akbar in India stays Single, why?

What is trending now in India?

Sita can’t live together with Akbar. ‘Save Sita’ is what VHP, the RW Hindu nationalists issued an alert in court.

They raised a complaint at the Kolkata court asking to restrain Sita, a 5-year-old lioness, from joining her old mate Akbar, who’s 7 now.

They were friends in Tripura Zoological park. And they are now shifted to Siluguri Safari Park in West Bengal for a purpose as noble as a project called ‘Lion Breeding in India’.

What’s the issue? Why shouldn’t the pair mate?

Sita, the name, is so popular among Hindus as she was the wife of Lord Rama according to Hindu mythology.

Akbar, as you know, was a Mogul emperor and ruled India in the 16th century. A ruthless ruler.

As the Hindus and Muslims continue to lock horns since Pakistan had separated from India post-Independence in 1948, this union is seen as a greater travesty.

People mostly belonging to the Hindu faith and belief are awaiting what the court is going to pronounce in the verdict.

Should the pair go ahead and procreate as the jungle law proposed, or should Sita not live in the midst of an Akbar who was once considered an anti-Hindu?

The King of the jungle stays single, till then. Poor chap!

‘Survival of the loneliest’ should have been the refrain of Darwinism, in India.

Break the Law. Help kids.

Have you ever unintentionally broken the law?

Yes.

Not just once but many times, I’m afraid.

While waiting to cross the road in busy traffic, I can see how desperate the school children wait to get across so that they reach school on time.

That’s when I think I shall quickly hop in, stick my hand out and stop vehicles on either side of the road. So much so that mom and kids get across to the other side.

Call it evil intentions?

This is India and nobody here cares to halt at the lights and allow pedestrians to use the zebra-crossing. No cops manning this junctions. Poor kids.

I don’t know if any law allows me to do that, but I do it quite often.

Call it unintentional. But it’s a huge help with all good intentions.

Kids thank me for the novel gesture and that makes my day. All days in a week.

Gone missing at 11. Back when 22. But cannot join parents, why?

A village far away in Uttar Pradesh, India.

A 11 year old boy was scolded by parents for playing marbles. He wasn’t studying. The boy was upset and ran away in a fit of anger.

Parents searched for him and gave up tired. But fate had a different story to tell.

He came back to village after about 10 year gap. Pure coincidence. He is now 22 and he claimed he was the son.

The parents are so happy to see him.

He is good at playing sarangi, an Indian traditional musical instrument. Many in the village gathered to see him.

The boy, an adult now said he joined a monastery. His guru told him to go out and collect alms.

When parents asked him to call quits to whatever he does and join them, he said he cannot. Parents asked why.

He said he should collect alms about ₹11 lakhs and give the collection to his guru or else he can’t be released.

Sounded like he carried a ransom on his head. Poor boy! Pity the parents. They cried. The whole village cried.

The boy’s dad was too upset and said he didn’t even have ₹11. What will he do for such a large sum?

Boy’s mom wanted her son, so badly.

How wasted a young man’s life in India!

The village looks forlorn and continues to wait for him.

Flying in India is too Expensive! Why?

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/woman-finds-bolt-in-sandwich-served-on-indigo-flight/articleshow/107674916.cms

Before clicking the link, find below a brief story about how a passenger felt after flying by Indigo airlines.

For the passenger Jyoti Rautela from Bangaluru, India, it’s a jolt. A Bolt from the Blue! How?

She traveled by Indigo flight on the 13 Feb 2024 from Bamgaluru to Chennai on Business Class. As the custom goes, the flight crew served them breakfast. A sandwich plus a packet of juice.

While her colleagues ate the sandwich, she kept it for the latter part of the day as she didn’t feel hungry.

After reaching the hotel, she thought she would take a bite. That’s when she realized she bit something hard. A tough nut inside a sandwich.

She was shocked. She quickly called the airlines and they promptly responded. Told her they were sorry to hear about the inconvenience and promised they would investigate.

Worse came when the customer service attached to the airline called and told her they couldn’t proceed any further on the complaint because the sandwich wasn’t eaten while the plane had been airborne.

Sad.

What if she had eaten the sandwich as the airlines said and put her life at risk of danger? Would the airlines have maintained ‘hands off’ like this?

This goes to prove that flying in India is too expensive, not just the spiralling cost of tickets, but because of biting a sandwich mid-air.