Slow and steady?

Today is my first blog post from my iPad 2 and I am attempting to put aside my frustrations of the numerous "don't know" things that still remain irritating without a manual reference to guide one, and plunge into this new world of mobility connectivity with a determined desire to plug in! Samera and Malavika are my two guardian angles of the cyber world and both eves with a tree full of apples that they know exactly what to do with....so the half bitten one is no big deal to tackle!

I was in Bombay for a meeting (and am at the airport right now where hopefully the flight will not leave without me!) and had the wonderful opportunity of being taken around the current NGMA exhibition by Mortimer Chaterjee who brought alive this amazingly well curated show titled Homi Bhabha and Modern Indian Art:The collection of TATA institute of fundamental research. This is a MUST see for anyone who needs an education in the presentation of a well crafted show and who delights in the bracketing of a selected factor of interest, to examine.

As I sit in the bus and tap on the touch screen of this little magic slate I am willing to concede that my earlier irritation is slowly going to be replaced with an acceptance that the potential of this portable communicator holds the ability to seduce me

The IFad .....

I should have realised that the big hype of the IPad was something to be slightly cautious about before acquiring it. The great apple product comes with very little information and at every twist and turn one is obliged to go on line to apple forums to search for other bakra's who are in a similar tight spot! No user manual comes with it and if you are an owner of a Windows PC you are automatically in the second class citizen circuit regarding usability access.

Why the various iStore outlets cannot become mini centralised hubs that offer you the service of "equipping" you with the numerous downloads necessary to actually use the device, beats me. I am obliged to get a credit card (something I politically resisted so far) only because I will then be "allowed" to register at the hallowed iTunes Store!

My real reason to acquire this gadget was because I saw it as offering me a portable light weight "office"- for quick access to the Internet for referencing, for emailing and for blogging. Well please note that the hype of 3G also needs to be slightly tempered down. It is NOT available at all places and nobody informs you that it has the potential of being VERY expensive with its maximum offers not really exceeding 5GB download limit! So baby unless you are with deep pockets to run up high bills, I seriously suggest potential iPad buyers to engage in an in depth fact finding mission. The "boys" at my iStore are very sweet and I really endorse their efficiency of service.....but unfortunately they are not sufficiently clued up either.

So before I register for the great baptism at the iTunes Store I am choosing to "register" my utter dissatisfaction for this gadget. "Simple" should translate to user friendly and efficient. A simple manual rather than always having to go online to long demo lectures that waste time is a logical option that should have been considered. But then I forgot that the gadgets target audience is using it as an entertainment play toy. Silly me to take the iPad so seriously!!!!!

What's up doc?!

What a difference a day makes! The words of this old song certainly ring true. Didi is in, Amma is in and Auntyji is beginning to host tea parties hopefully not ala Sarah Palin istyle please!!! As for Kanimozhi, poor soul, it may well be the sparse jail diet for a while. Anyway with the memories that politician's have, she may yet be tomorrows calendar girl for the Congress, rosy lips and all!

I am not a great "didi" supporter yet I cannot help thinking that almost anything will be better than the old fuddy-duddy Babu culture of West Bengal. I had the experience of traveling to Bhutan in 2006 and flew out from the Calcutta International airport. Oh my Lord....what an experience. It was literally like being in a time warp. No computers were in sight. The reason given was that then people would be without jobs!!!! So all the international passengers were given hand written boarding passes!!!! Let us also hope that Ms. Banerjee with all the painting she is doing recently, becomes more "cultured" and stops screeching like an imported macaw from South America.

Karan Thappar must be fretting and wondering how to make up to Ammaji. Many moons ago when he harangued the fat lady because she wouldn't sing to his tune, and had instead brought her "script" to read out answers from ( like the good convent educated girl that she is); he in all his Doon school wisdom decided to give her a lesson in tongue lashings in the traditions of whipping/caning learnt in those elite corridors of public school boyhood years! She pouted and left, he grimaced and stayed on....

Anyway in the dark corridors of politics all types of exchanges can happen including kissing and making up with your sworn enemy, so maybe Colgate smile Ammaji will come with her cape in place and give wonder woman interview to suitable K boy; and simpering Simi will trill in the corner beseeching Ammaji to come and hold hands with her and twitter in soft focus together.

Rahul boy will end up proposing to Mayawati. This will bring peace to the nation. She will bring with her as her dowry the state of chaos and Utter Pradesh. Dressed in a Barbie doll pink gown designed by Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen Mayawati will promise in her marriage vows to "obey" the king in waiting of the Congress.

As 2 and 3G scams fade away , new epic dramas will pop up. Amar Singh and Digvijay Singh will audition for the lead villains whilst Shiela auntie will look the other way as the kids on her block play truant. The batting line up for parliamentarians will be headed by has been cricketers and Shatrugun Sinha will retire to Sikkim to help his buddy Danny boy with managing his brewery. Jaya B. will continue to "be" the suffering tragic heroine that she is and Jaya Prada will keep all bullock-carts off her Christmas shopping forever!

But as always another day is yet to dawn. And as we doze off momentarily, who knows what will slip out from under the coverlets the next morning as breaking news that make wake up caffeine quickies look like tepid water in comparison!