Things about situation comedy

With a few notable exceptions, I never used to follow serials before. But recently I found out some things about these serials which make them popular. There is something in these serials which make you follow them. This is probably the reason why I check Project-Free-TV to see if somebody posted How I Met Your Mother‘s links or not. It all started when I saw Friends for the first time. That was the most amazing sitcom I ever saw, and when I compared it with the serials which I used to hate, I found a great difference. These are some of the points that make situation comedies (sitcoms) famous –

The hangout place – In HIMYM, there is this bar called MacLaren's where the group meets almost every day and discusses their routines which often take a hideous turn. In Friends, it used to be Central Perk, the place where these guys had fun.

Characters with unique and bizarre characteristics – This is the essence of sitcoms. Each character has some weird traits, often to make things little more interesting. Friends has a great combo of such characters which made them a real success, HIMYM is not that great as Friends, but not bad either.

Sarcasm – I am a great fan of sarcastic people and believe that sarcasm should be considered as one of the most important things that human needs in order to survive. Chandler Bing is my favorite character in Friends and Barney Stinson in HIMYM. If given a chance, I would definitely like to meet those script writers who compose their dialogues. This job is really tough and needs a high level of creativity. So to make a sitcom famous, there has to be a sarcastic person who himself need not be a great character, but someone who knows how to hit the bull’s eye.

Differences – When I saw some episodes of Scrubs, I didn’t like them much, maybe because all of these characters belong to same hospital and there is nothing new in their lives. I mean there are some good moments but I never felt like laughing my heart out anytime, which was often the case with Friends. If the serial has few characters that go to totally different work places, then there are higher chances of getting variety of experiences, which adds a lot of masala in the plot.

Bindings and Breakups are important – The show must go on. Nobody feels too bad when someone breaks up, nobody feels too good either when someone gets into relationship. In fact, more the ups and downs in a character’s life more are the chances to create funny situations. In a comedy serial, you don’t expect a relationship graph as a straight line with slope 1. This might not be true about the serials I used to like before 6 years, but now I know that ups and downs are part of life, I take them very lightly and appreciate the comic sense behind it.

Making sure that addendums are taken out from time to time – Addendums here mean the characters which are important for an episode or two. You don’t really care what the hell happened to them when they are done with those episodes. This is difficult to achieve each time, some people might like the addendum and they may feel like he / she should be a part of group, but no. If you compare this point with usual soap serials, for them following this point is next to impossible. Their life can’t just go without complications, there has to be an infinitely long chain of family relations, with at least one extra marital affair between every possible pair. Indian soap operas might rule their world for the height of pathetic creations and series of nonsense incidents. There are some serials where the main character just do not die, it’s like he / she is immortal, time never ages them, even if it, the character is so strong by will that it can survive for almost ten generations. Anyways, I can write a separate post on my take on soap operas, don’t want to eat up space here.

Showing the facts – I like this point very much. Sitcoms are very good at showing what they want to show. There is no ideology which they follow, no guidelines as such. They do not give out any social / non-social message which are similar to self help books. There is absolutely no problem when rest of characters make fun of the lead character and he / she does not always win. The main idea is the lead actor is so common that he / she could be one of us, one of the common people. The belief that he /she is amongst the aam janata creates a very positive impression on audience and hence these serials win.

Thoughts @ new year eve

This new year has a really dull start. I was alone for last 5 days in my room since my room mates went to visit their relatives / friends. I was not hoping to have such a spoiled start after arriving in US, you know, generally US seems to be a fun place but after coming here, there were very few fun moments. I am not complaining about the life here but honestly, I was hoping to see a lot fun here, but India seems to be far better place. Last year I remember spending 31st with lots of friends in a boisterous way but this time it was dead cold. We used to have so much fun, ate at almost every place on JM road, checked out girls and then had a very long walk on quite roads at night ! I seem to miss everything here. It's freezing cold ( -12 degrees ) and I am enjoying the new year eve with rice and flower chi bhaji ! I could have gone to my friends, but doing that would have ended in the same way, I bet.

To add to this boredom, I was having cough and cold for last 4-5 days and slept for like 18 hours per day ( really wanted to do this after exams but certainly not this way ). Laptop and internet connection is the sole savior here, thanks to those streaming sites without which life could be hell. I am sleeping at about 3-4 AM and waking up at around 3 PM. Funny thing is in around 2 hours the sun starts setting off and it feels like night again. A cold weather, a heated room and a warm bed - it's so tempting to sleep. Some of my friends suggested to go to downtown and have some fun, but the problem is I don't drink or smoke so there is nothing much left for me to do in pubs. Plus, I am so good at dance that people might stop dancing after seeing few of my ganapati dance steps :-D Since I don't want to spoil their holidays, I don't go to pubs ( what a reasoning !). After doing a lot of thinking ( unfortunately, this is THE THING you do when you have nothing else to do ) I came to the conclusion that this is happening because of the place where I am living. Binghamton is really dull, maybe an ideal place for retired people who want to spend their last days in absolute serenity. I am too much used to crowded places and people and this quietness is killing me. If I were in a city like NYC, life could be much better. Sometimes I wonder how could these people celebrate their only festival in such way. There are so few people, maybe families coming and seeing each others once in a year or so. Younger ones go to pubs and discs and oldies go to churches, I believe this is what I've observed.

I am seeing this as part and parcel of my decision - being here in US. Maybe there is something in my plate worth waiting for. When you experience these days, you really know the value of people, relatives, friends. You don't feel their importance when they are with you, but only when you are alone like me. Each new year has taught me lots of things, this year comes with its own teachings and I won't forget it in rest of my life.

Enough of boring stuff , wish you all a rocking new year !!!

India - the land of eunuchs

For those who don't know the meaning of eunuch, let me clear - it means following

• A castrated man employed as a harem attendant or as a functionary in certain Asian courts.
• A man or boy whose testes are nonfunctioning or have been removed.
• An ineffectual, powerless, or unmasculine man.

I, being an Indian fit in that definition. Because there is nothing that I can do to save my country from those bastards who did the heinous act in Mumbai. I am feeling like a hijada or chakka since I don't have any control on thing happening in Mumbai. I can see news and feel extremely agitated by looking at dead bodies, I can curse politicians and the corrupted system once again, I can blame a certain group or religion for it at the same time I can point out the flaws of India's homeland security system, I can badmouth the so called “intelligence” agencies in India, I can suggest prime minister of India to launch a fierce war against Pakistan, I can tell him to surge in the military forces in Pak Occupied Kashmir, I can dream of driving a fighter aircraft bombing all over the terrorist hotspots. I can think of starting POTA once again. But in reality, nothing will happen. You know why, because we all are eunuchs. We can only see them coming with weapons in hands, starting carnage all over the place. This is fact, and they have proved it one more time!

Today news channels are filled up with "live coverage" of how terrorist could kick our asses and tomorrow they will cover special condolence / condemnation programs. Nothing will change; Mumbai will start its routine once again like nothing has happened. People will blame others, go home, sleep and start another day. Some pundits will argue that "this is life! Shit happens and it happens every other day!” Several people like me will waste yet another important page on internet by writing this useless post and nothing else. The government being the most powerful entity on Earth will promise that they will find out the brains behind it and start up a new team to investigate the matter (which might find out the real culprits). Bollywood will produce one more masala movie showing how powerful a just another stupid common man could be. Those who have lost their family members were the ones, who will remember this day for rest of their lives.

Great job India! The world salutes you for your cowardliness and inability to act on any terrorist attack! It salutes you for being consistent and successful target of terrorism ... There is no other country in this world which is as eunuch as you....

Keep it up! Let people die and let the evil win.....Hats off....

Celebration !

Birthdays are always special occasions. And they become even more special when you celebrate them outside your home country. You meet some people just before arriving to a new place and get mixed up so easily that you never feel like staying with some strangers. That's the magic of friendship , I must say. My room mates celebrated my 25th birthday with such an enthusiasm that I almost forgot I am doing it away from home. Last time it was like a very quite kind of thing, with some of my best friends and yesterday it was with my new mates here in US.

Early in the morning ( FYI it was 10 in the morning, but that's still too early for me ! if you don't think it's true, ask each of my room mate how do we get ourselves going for algorithm's classes ) I got a call from Aai , so my day started with the best wishes of the loveliest person in my life. You know, we generally don't appreciate these phones and internet , maybe because they are overused and commonplace things now, but when someone calls you from thousands of miles, I still get a great feeling while talking to them. So after a long gtalk conversion of 1 hour ( I must write a testimonial for Google now ) and followed by a call from Aaba, I lazily started getting ready for routine.

After some greeting calls , at night we had a small get together with friends around and had fun ! Here is how I looked,

pardon me for the close up smile, but can't help, - with tooth wide open is my style ( people suggested to take bath and wear new clothes but didn't agree since I don't want to loose the original and non formal touch ... aah ! you are right, that was just a sincere attempt to hide my old lazy habits ) and I know, I am having a really bad haircut, but if you see - 12 $ is much worth considering than the time frame for which you look really messy ( due to the hair cut ), the catch here is people think of you as a person who is so busy in his assignments and projects that he doesn't care to take a look at mirror . I really look terrific without my glasses, you know when I saw this picture, I felt proud of my decision of wearing the glasses all the time, otherwise people here get frightened easily and could call 911 anytime they see me around :-D

comments , suggestions on new hair cut, on new resolutions ...
anyone ?

A budding coffee maker ...

Until I got the on campus job, there was nothing that I could do except studying. And looking at my past record of being such a great student (:-D) , it was very difficult to pass time. Also, I was thinking of those who spend their precious time in reading my blog, you see - I am consistently searching for something presentable. Fortunately I got a job in on campus coffee shops called Gourmet Beans and Jazzman's Cafe. From the beginning I was open for all kind of on campus jobs including serving in dining halls to monitoring / assisting in public computer laboratory. And as it is I am not having money to spend (after working for two years, you should not ask your parents for money - is my thinking), the job was like a golden opportunity for me, and fortunately I grabbed it, and you people got a new topic to read!

So as it went, I was given a form which I was supposed to fill and then wait for the SSN to arrive, SSN here carries a lot of importance just like the ration card / driving license / PUC (in case you are nabbed by a mama ) in India. I was on the payroll after around 3 days of my application. On my first day, I met a guy called Steve - my manager to discuss my schedule. Steve happens to be a strict professional but an approachable person also. The first day at cafe house was kind of hectic for a new recruit like me. But people here are very generous and kind, my colleague Dorothy (DoT ! her pen name - the exclamation mark is a part of her name, FYI) and few other helped me a lot. There are these 10-15 different types of drinks and remembering how to prepare each is not a easy task for a beginner. I now know the life of a drink maker and cashier, when you work for a software company you feel like you are the only one who is highly stressed, but after seeing people working in dining halls and coffee shops, believe me - It's nothing different! In fact, a software developer's job should be considered less hectic than this, I must say. My roommates are working in few dining halls and I could see how exhausted they look when they come back home after work.

Anyways, forget the stress. Being a drink maker is a good thing for me, I can now make almost all coffee drinks that you people can see in CCD's and Barista's. Every good thing comes with its own counterpart, you can't see pretty chicks while making drinks - that's really bad :( I am trying to achieve both objectives though - I am thinking of devising a new work plan (remember Ford's assembly line principle?), where everyone gets ample time to check out the crowd :-). Cashier's job here is really easy, even a kid who has one working finger and some basic ability to count things and remember the names of beverages can survive. The counting machines are really sophisticated; with touch screen monitors, you just have to select drinks and charge by cards or cash.

Most important thing and a per month account for that sake -
Deductions -
House Rent - $275 + Grocery - $80 since I eat a lot + some more expenses which are rare in my case.
Earnings -
7 $ per hour - 16 hours per week - 64 hours per month = $448
Looks like I am saving some amount Uncle Sam …

Update - Recently I learned that there is going to be a tax deduction :-( which will be reimbursed in the next year.