Rearview-My Roadies Journey-Review.

Book- Rearview- My Roadies Journey.
Publisher- Rupa Publications.
Pages- 312.
Author- Raghu Ram.
Genre- Autobiography.

From the Jacket-

What is going on in the contestants mind? Does he admire me, respect me and hate me? Fear me? May be all of the above. I don’t understand it. I don’t understand the Roadies form that has F-k you Raghu, written all over it, I don’t understand the poster that was held up this year during the Chandigarh auditions that read, Baap toh baap hota hai. Raghu Rox, I see equal parts respect, equal parts loathing. Equal parts Raghu, equal parts the bully. There is a man tall, bald, muscular, intimidating who manages to induce terror and awe in all those who dare walk into his interrogation room. There was once a boy scrawny, weak, easily intimidated, voice unbroken at fifteen, who was bullied consistently through his childhood. This is the story of how that boy became the man he is today: part-time singer, song-writer and jammer, full-time producer, camera man and editor. Sherlock Holmes and Batman worshipper, staunch atheist with an innate fear of water and heights. This is the autobiography of the rudest man on Indian television. Raghu Ram, the original Roadie, split wide open.


Review-

If you have teens in your house or if you yourself are teen them you must have observed this Bald, spectacled man screaming on TV. Every weekend he used to come up with the most bizarre tasks and twists. He was or perhaps is the most hated mentor ever on Television. What is the reality behind his rude behavior? Is He like this in his real life too? Does he scream at his Crew and family members too?

The most hated face of Indian Television is now up with his autobiographical journey. Raghu Ram’s Rearview- My Roadies Journey. He is a lyricist, been a Cameraman and has acted as the Executive Producer at the Youth Channel of India—MTV. He’s been everything, an artist at MTV can dream off.

Roadies have been the longest Reality Series on Indian Television but as a viewer your Journey of Roadies is incomplete without this book.
Book starts with a scene where the voluptuous crowd is cheering Raghu! Raghu! And this bald, daring man seems to have a euphoric journey back to the timeline when he was just an Intern at TV18 and now the Executive Producer. He remembers how he worked weeks in that editing room. He remembers every night he spent editing those raw reels of an episode of MTV Bakra.

This book takes you on the journey of Roadies which started somewhere in 1998, when Raghu ram was just an intern at Tv18. The journey tells you about the Ups and Downs Raghu go through at Tv18 and how he gets rejected in an Interview at MTV when he returns later for a job.

The book explains Raghu, Roadies Raghu and Funny Raghu. From a thin, unfit child to the most hated personality on TV has taken almost everything from him his friends, family and his own self.

He regrets what he does at Auditions every year but he can’t help, it’s the contestants who are asking for it.

This book tells you about everything you need to do in order to build your dream from scratch; take no Shit from others and how to be the one you always wanted to be.

The tender and the sensitive narration of Raghu excites a reader makes him get goose bumps and leverages with raw experience. The task trial scenes are raw and real like Roadies and Raghu.

At the end, the book leaves you bit exhausted, disappointed because Roadies will never be the same and inspired to do things on your own terms.

Cover-

Cover of the book always helps a reader to choose a better book by providing a glance into the story even without turning the pages. The black cover with Raghu’s intimidating face portraying a scary look is just the way He and His story is. Given the book is an autobiography, the cover presents the exact essence of the story.

 Quality-

 Rupa is one of the leading publishing houses in the country. It’s the same publishing house which publishes the novels of Chetan Bhagat. They have always been keen and dedicated to quality service. Not disappointing this time too, they have maintained the proper quality of paper, editing and the formatting of the book.

Ratings-

You can rate Fictions but not somebody’s life. This book is an autobiography so No ratings.

The Change!

This post was written for Half Baked Beans' Blog...

you can my others posts too at www.halfbakedvoices.blogspot.in

It was 2004, when Congress came to power once again, sidelining the strong and courageous government of NDA, led by Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

The country subconsciously knew, Atal Ji ka time ho gya hai and at that moment they hardly saw Advani Ji as the next PM; hence Congress was voted to power. Congress emerged as a strong party in 2004 general elections under the shade of UPA-I. The big names like Pranab Mukherjee, P. Chidambaram and Manmohan Singh did added loads of power to the parliament. The first half of the first financial year was good and productive, India did felt Incredible! With Lalu Prasad Yadav making railway achieve the required impediment, the stations were found cleaner and safer.

But, nothing lasts forever and Promises of Politicians are neither even meant to last. Things started turning clumsy, messy, irrational and finally futile. The government tasted failure at almost every front and the economy bared the ill effects of the wrong practices. Sudden increase in the number of Scams and the inflation in the price of LPG and other petroleum products did made the whole country squirm. The prices were rolling like the reel of a camera set to 32X speed.

People started questioning, protesting. The government did experience a setback when news like “Reliance Ke saath Alliance” hit the TV screen. By this time, people of India had decided and were ready to vote Congress out of power.

2009, general elections were held and astonishingly Congress (UPA-II) was voted to power with full majority.

There was a conflict between the different classes of People.

Well, that’s history now and the only logical explanation available for the astonishing result is Law of Attraction, while trying to vote congress out of power, the general public was constantly attracting Congress into their life again and again, as a result UPA-II formed a central government and changed India forever.

World’s biggest democracy experienced denial to speech, Short Messaging Service (SMS) was limited to 5 SMS per day during the August-September 2012. Later in December 2012, the capital city faced Closed Metro Routes, when they tried to reach India Gate to protest silently and draw candle march for the girl whose rape and murder case made its way to the Forbes List.

Not only this, there’s more; GDP went below 5%; India got banned from Olympics, Pakistan kept sending dead bodies of our soldiers and America kept coaxing our government for the amendments in foreign exchange policy(FDI is the price America drew from our Amputated and Spineless Government).

But by this time, the Aam Admi had woken up; actually the alarming situation was making sound and the Junta was feeling the intensity of vibrations. People slowly and gradually realized it was not the government who was wrong; it was their choice which was wrong.

Meanwhile, the bench of Supreme Court was seen super active; taking toll over almost every move of the incompetent government.

On the other hand an IAS was busy cleaning the roads of Delhi with a Jhadu (Broom) in his hand and a Chaiwala was busy motivating the youth of the Country.

With the Chaiwala and IAS getting popular on social network among the youth, it was the Shehjada who won the title of Epitome of Trolls.

#Present…

The tenure of UPA-II is coming to end; the AAP has already won 28 seats and is ready to play the role of responsible opposition. BJP has already beaten Congress by 4-0 in general state elections throughout the country.

Amidst all this, there’s a question which scares equally as much as it relieves.

Is it truly a new morning or just the wearing effect of the party Congress had over these 9 long years?

JAI HIND!!!

An Average Indian Reader...

This post was Written for Half Baked Beans' Blog. You can read my other posts too at https://halfbakedvoices.blogspot.in

Long forgotten are the days when people in India read books because they were classic or listed on the HT bestseller list for more than 4 or 5 weeks; now they read books because either a relative or the colleague next door has written it.

I remember, on our first official date, my Ex questioned about my area of interest and I replied with, “I prefer books over anything and everything” instantly she made a comeback with, “have you read this extremely witty novel ‘Oops! I fell in Love!’ by Harsh Snehanshu”; conspicuously she disclosed her deepest feeling coveted carefully under the name of the book but to my own surprise I ended up reading the name of books she has read.—An Average Indian Reader she was.

Who is an Average Indian Reader???

A person who flits between books by J K Rowling and Jack Trout, on a wheeler stall at a railway station and ends up buying a “Bollywood on Paper” novel by Chetan Bhagat or by Dimpled Durjoy.

Or

An engineering graduate who started his reading career with a novel, his friend referred to him saying, “Padh bhai! apni hi kahani hai!”. The engineer definitely got fascinated with the extreme simplicity of language and enamored by the pursuit of similar life book served with.

Few days down the time line the engineer who once had innocuous attitude towards everything related to books is now found visiting bookstores like Crossword and ends up buying all the books based on college romance, mostly by engineers.

This engineer, slowly and gradually starts growing with time into an avid reader with a taste. He spends all his days reading, partially blushing and partially getting sexually aroused.

Then one bad day when it’s raining outside; a slanderous comment from a random guy in class makes him stagger, “I don’t read Indian authors, because all they write is Crap”.

He feels hypothetical and makes an erratic decision of shifting from Chetan Bhagat to Dan Brown or Paulo Coelho. Choosing Dan Brown or Paulo Coelho has got no primal research behind them; they are just the names on HT bestseller list other than Bhagat and Durjoy.

With time this enthusiastic and lucid engineer has turned into a reader; who is now on a journey of literature where he will be dismayed thinking about the time and money he wasted on Indian writers; he will get to experience the real feel of reading-between-the-lines and he will be pleasured reading books from the West and the Middle East and with this an avid reader will rise and an Average Indian reader will die.

In the contemporary India, reading is a journey, where a person gets excited by the Metro reads; discovers more with the books from Middle East and finally ends up drinking numerous cups of coffee in a bookstore while reading an exquisite tale of romance or magic coveted in a beautiful jacket either by P.G Wood House or by Ray BradBury.

God Is Definitely Not A Baba...

It was yesterday when I was in train travelling back to my college. The journey was comfortable with a book in my hand. I was busy reading ‘Connect the Dots’ a collection of 20 short stories based on Entrepreneurship by the Authoress Rashmi Bansal. Intrigued with the title, I was lost in the stories of Entrepreneurs, who were dictating their journey to the Authoress with Extra Intricacy.

With little perplexed expression the old man sitting on the berth in front interrogated “Padhne ka Shauq hai kya??”. Registering a sense of citation in his voice for me, I replied with a ‘yes’ and a big Smile on my face.

He seemed full of glee on finding a Bookaholic like him on a train journey. In his own languor, he was talking about his all time favorite Reads, gradually his voice was inching towards criticism and the next moment he was busy criticizing the famous book “Meluha Ke Mritunjay” (Immortals of Meluha) by the Banker turned Author—Amish Tripathi.
His criticism was not merely a criticism based on literati imperfection or the weak story line, instead he was frustrated with the way the Author portrayed Lord Shiva as a common man who fought for his tribe and became Lord Shiva.

The next slanderous comment he made was ‘God will not Pardon him’.

Well! The point here is neither the old man nor the book, the epicenter of this earth quake is God.

The general definition of God is:- Someone who is almighty, Someone who created this extravagant world with his great Artisanal capability.

But the Definition widely Believed is:-
God is that elected personality with hazardous power, who will destroy you if you and your views are diluted or tending to move away from his/her path of Illumination.

We have stepped on Moon and now are aiming for Mars, Scientists and Physicists like Stephen Hawkings have declared it innumerable times that God is nothing more than an extreme source of energy.
Author of books like The Secret and The Magic have taught humanity ‘How to use this extreme energy and be the one this world will admire and look for Inspiration’.

But still country like India and people like Indians(We) are busy believing that God is a coin, If you are lucky then during Toss he will show up as Heads and will award you with Diamonds, If unlucky i.e if you are a man who talks against God then he will doom you with his snobby style.

‘What is God???’ is surely not the question; the question actually is ‘Why we fear God???’

To my Understanding--that I have developed after reading numerous Books and watching innumerable Movies, the answer to this question is the teachings, being a bit more specific the Wrong teachings.
Priests or the religion evangelists who have breached hard punishments of God in our mind make us skeptical about our life and deeds.

These priests and the fathers are not the one who have either met or seen God. They are true hypocrites, who make you spend for their luxury in the name of God.

God is something Grandeur and he/she don’t meet Cheats like Baba who sit on a comfy sofa and say “Chutni k sath Samose khaya karo, ‘kripa’ banegi’.

God is someone who gets down from his Mercedes and helps the poor child from the dirty slum with food and other needful things.

God is that every simple man who makes Endeavour for the fulfillment of basics needs of human.

God is that ‘Shiva’ who fought numerous battles for his tribe and became the Immortal of Meluha.

This Article was also published in Half Baked Bean's Blog...

Read it here-  https://www.halfbakedvoices.blogspot.in

Relatives...

A marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman.
Contrary- Marriage is an event, where the connected ones are summoned from the different corners of the world to celebrate the union of two souls and in India union of two families.

Relatives- Those with whom you have blood relations.
Contrary- A set of vague people only available, either when you are Excelling or when you are all Drawn.

Relatives play a very influencing role in our lives. If you have a good set of relatives then you will grow into a smiling man and if you have an intruder set of relative who keeps interfering, then you will grow into a man with skeptical personality, you will reckon danger and fear before every new Endeavour you make.
But, at the end everything pays off.

Relatives are the one who makes ceremonies like Marriages and Birthdays scintillating and memorable.

It’s the quality of relatives that defines the quality of memory you are gonna make.

Marriage- The mere moment in a person’s life where he finds his maternal and paternal family on the same side, taking charge over someone else.
Basically, in India there are two kinds of relatives

·         Supporting

·         Mocking

The bua from Meerut, who keeps fighting with the Uncle from Delhi on “Ki hum to sirf Branded kapde kharidte h”.

The lectern Massi who keeps commenting on the career options chosen by various kids in family with a verdict at the end – No MBA, No Future.

The pot-bellied Mama commonly known as Manager Mama because of his negotiating and managing skills. He is everyone’s favourite because he is Jovial with a Sense-of-Humor (read Trolling Capability). You will always find him on Phone discussing the rates and the Extra-Concession they are gonna provide.

A woman of excellence with grandeur persona. She resembles those dadis from Ekta kapoor’s daily soap with white silken hair, brown face with a wrinkled smile. She is the Respected Dadi of the family, a woman of utmost importance. No ceremony, No ceremony will leap forward without her virtuous guidance.

And then there’s a set of bright and brilliant cousins.

The coolest generation on board with cooler gadgets. Pinky from Delhi, always busy on phone with her BFF discussing her Chooridar.

Rahul, the nerdy engineer from IIT-Powai, the imperial institution discussing career growth and politics with the mama from USA.

The photographer lad with his new 18-300 mm lens is busy capturing the beautiful smile of Bride and wistful smile of little babies.

And then there’s a cool Author like me, who keeps mum and observes everyone around. At times you can see him surrounded by girls, sharing his exciting experiences – He is living his Life…;)

That’s a complete and a happy Family.

On the eve of Marriage, each one of them will dress exquisitely and will make endeavours to make the marriage memorable for the Bride and her better-half.

They will dance like maniacs on the tune of ‘ Mere yaar ki shaddi h’ and on the tune of ‘Emotional Atyachar’. They will joke sensibly near the ceremonial stage trying to be best with the wits without hurting the sentiments of the New Relatives.

They are relatives, connected to you via Blood, you don’t meet and befriend them like you do with your acquaintances instead they are a gift, you earn them with your Birth.

Respect them and keep them close because they are the ones who will make your Marriage Exquisite and memorable.

Birthday...

If you are insistent about a change; You are undergoing the change metaphorically.

21^st century-

Everyone of us wants to be mentioned as-

“There goes XYZ, the great---------!!!”.

The great-------, What???

The great Singer, Actor, Dancer, Lawyer, Engineer or the great Doctor.

Being great the ultimate destination of life(actually the End), and finding that one thing(noun) which will make you Great and Famous is the Journey and in simple words the purpose of Life.

Being good at something and being interested in something.

You may not be interested with things you are good at and it will result being Futile; but being Interested even though you are not good at, will act as fuel and will propel into the direction of excellence.

Every Book you read/ Every Class you attend/ Every Picture you click is a Small part in a Large plan and a small advancement towards Epitome.

At the end-

It’s merely a moment when Vague(You) will turn into Vivid(Famous You).

#####

One Year-   It’s the Birthday of Three-

Maa- The very reason I started Blogging on 2^nd June and not on 1^st June, a year back.

College Diary- The place where am employed. My blog pays me with Opportunity(From Half Baked Beans to My Orange Slate) and Praises and with….. ;)

Sonal- The day she found my blog, to her it was like a revival of a lost friend. She has read  all the posts more than twice and currently is my Favourite reader.
                                                        Happy Birthday Girl.

Thank You all for reading, Commenting and Being there.

                                                         Happy Birthday Maa…J

Published In college's News Paper...

2nd Runner-Up is all I managed to be...

                                         

Girls and Promiscuity...

Reading ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ a bok by E L James or say it as an Essay on Erotica, inspires me write to about promiscuity these days.

University Mall, 3^rd Floor, 3p.m…

A floor assigned to Gadgets and Jewellery Shops; gadgets for the snobby people and jewellery for the beautiful people.

A floor full of euphemism—thing people hesitate talking about. You can encounter boys and girls or rather Couples hanging in each other’s arm; at times boys elbowing their girls; at times girls squeezing their guys, everyone trying to get IN somehow, while ever girl acting reluctant—When I say acting I mean Acting. Gone are the days when girls were innocent and boys philandering, today Girls are from Mars boys are from Venus, they meet on earth to acquire each other’s trait.

Some are still innocent and are still in love they are yet not affected with the Debauchery of Love and Lust. Some are there just for a talking spree, under the shade of Mall. They are the same people who don’t like PDA (Public Display of Affection.) and they are the same who will book a room and Unhook each other with the Love in eyes and Lust in hands.

Boys are not the only one responsible for Physical Intimacy, at times girls are more aspiring than inspiring.

Other day a couple known to me went to a room just for some Romance, which under the coaxing circumstances from girls side led to S.E.X.

The change Girl went through was tantamount to the change Boy experienced ‘Just A Differentiated Skin’ , so, where’s the Difference???

That night the boy updated his status-

I Just had Sex and now I know Why girls are called HOT.

Same night his girlfriend updated her status-

I had Sex and now I know Why my Boyfriend is referred as COOL(Thanda).

#####

Gone are the days when girls used to fantasize about Sex, now they are out and they are asking for it and there’s nothing wrong in it.
The development of such feelings; disrespects the trauma of Heart Break and eliminates the fathomable chance of Suicide.

Loss of Skin and Virgin tag is inevitable in today’s world of Vastly changing technology and aggressively changing Relationships.


P.s- Thank you all for reading the 50th post...:D