So many people had extolled the 'Life of Pi' to me that it landed in my one-day-I-must-read-it list. And the long overdue One Day finally arrived this week.

Surprisingly, no one had mentioned how much talk about religion it contains (at least in the first quarter where I am) and the contempt he held agnostics in (which I happen to be).

Still, weathering the insults, I read on. Because, God apart, we have several common grounds:

There are always those who take it upon themselves to defend God, as if Ultimate Reality, as if the sustaining frame of existence, were something weak and helpless. These people walk by a widow deformed by leprosy begging for a few paise, walk by children dressed in rags living in the street, and they think, "Business as usual." But if they perceive a slight against God, it is a different story. Their faces go red, their chests heave mightily, the sputter angry words. The degree of their indignation is astonishing. Their resolve is frightening.

Life of Pi, Chapter 25. By Yann Martel

Of men and frogs and copyright infringement

Have you heard of the Frog Experiment?

The procedure involves putting a frog in a pan of water - with room for the frog to jump. Then, you put the water to boil. As temperature speedily rises, of course, the frog jumps out.

But, if the water temperature rises slowly, really slowly... the frog keeps sitting. In fact it doesn't budge way beyond the temperatures that it had sanely jumped out of earlier, and lo and behold, it actually lets itself get boiled to death!*

Naturally, as in most science experiments that involve non-humans, researchers wonder - would humans do the same? Fortunately, so far as I know, they haven't tried to boil a man alive yet since Hitler's days.

But as far as social life goes, this conjecture is readily answered - Yes. When changes are gradual, mankind takes them in its stride; we end up accepting situations that would have been unacceptable say, just a year ago, because they've been creeping steadily into our lives.

It's the reason why Indian news channels have become as crappy as they are today. Ten years ago, they would have been spit at had they run stories such as Murgi main maan ki aatma (Mom's spirit now in my cock, uh I mean, chicken) [Star News ran that by the way, though without this translation, coz they probably couldn't think of it.]

But after years of steadily declining news standards incorporating Page 3s, Lakme Fashion Weeks, what-Ashwarya-Rai-wore-to-Cannes-and-why-and-what-can-we-say-to-bitch-about-it, etc, anything goes, doesn't it?

The Frog Experiment also explains why there's so much sex and violence in TV today. I remember when I came home for holiday after 3 months of TV-less existence from XLRI. Me, the target market for [V] and a fan-just-3-months-ago was appalled at what I saw at my return. Had everyone always been so publicly naked? Or had I forgotten what I used to see? I wondered as my sister cheered along and my mom allowed it. I suppose I had missed the three-month prepping they'd been through.

********

But the reason I write today is because of a copyright news item that my friend Bajaj forwarded me.

It says:
The UK-based Performing Rights Society (PRS) has filed a £200,000 suit against a car repair chain named Kwik-Fit for copyright infringement because mechanics were regularly found to play their radios loud enough for others to overhear the music.

It seems playing music loud enough for other to overhear amounts to a public performance of music - which cannot be done without at £30,000 per year license!

The judge refused to dismiss the lawsuit as frivolous, and said evidence was adequate for a hearing.

In other words, if you live in UK, you had better think twice before playing a background score when guests come over for dinner. It is suable!

What's more, being the Melodrama queen I am, let me make this comparison:
Do you remember what made us aghast about the Taliban? Yes, the worst was perhaps the oppression of women, and in addition - they didn't let you dress up, see cinema, hear film music... In the name of religion, they simply clamped your life.

Now, in the name of copyright, it is an acceptable debate to do it to ourselves!!!???

If ultimately this claim is upheld I can imagine you would be installing sound-proof windows and drawing your curtains close so that the cops don't catch you. Think I'm joking? Well, let's just wait for five years!

You think this claim is too absurd to be finally upheld?

Technically, as PRS will insist in court, they're aren't screwing your life: you can pay for license and blare your radio all you want at your office, in your house, at the picnic, wherever! Just pay, and the choice is yours!

And what about the choice for people who don't have that kind of money to pay - why, who cares! After all, we already have pharma companies fighting to make money from AIDS drugs in Africa. They believe that a country's status as an AIDS-ridden and poverty-ridden nation is not sufficient to allow other companies to manufacture their drugs without copyright at a lower price!

How long before this demand seems reasonable?

And, what's next?


*A note before you weep for the frogs: The experiment may have never happened, suggests Wikipedia

Tera crime crime, mera crime mistake!

"We have 1,000 guys out in the field. People make mistakes, they do stupid things sometimes."

Erik D. Prince, chief executive of Blackwater USA, which is under scrutiny for shootings by its employees in Iraq.


I think US should just come up with an updated dictionary so that the world can understand it better.

Crime
An act in which an American/American building or the US dollar's value is hurt by a non-American

Defense
An act in which a non-American person/country/economy is hurt by an American

Mistake
An act in which a non-American is hurt by an American, repeatedly, and the the proof is available for the world to see.

Stupidity
An act which has allowed American 'defense' to be caught on tape or some other manner of proof

Dictatorship
A government (other than the Government of USA) that does not have America's best interests at heart. Actually, make that a government that does not support George Bush.

God
Someone who has no doubt of what's right and what's wrong and is always right. Someone who everyone should follow or they'll have hell to pay, and fire. In other words, George Bush. He says anything, anything , and it becomes gospel. Even something as bizarre as the war is a success and has been won, and as Fox News will tell you, it turns true! If that's not a miracle and proof of Godship, what is?

note: An American is a US citizen. Does not include those miserable South Americans whose relatives are constantly trying to sneak in and work for poor wages in USA.