Post holidaying







...in the surprisingly spectacular & oh-so-peaceful Phoenix, Arizona, and post a fantastic stopover in the stunning, dramatic & quite literally breath-taking Las Vegas, I now write this editorial today from sunny California, whilst lounging at a beachfront in Los Angeles, sipping margaritas & thoroughly enjoying my summer vacation. Yes, there has been a shocker or two of earthquakes we’ve experienced here in the past few days but that’s all part of the game.

Talking of games, I didn’t follow much of the IPL tournament but from what I’ve heard, it did get quite exciting. Tough luck for Shah Rukh’s Knight Riders, I heard they pretty much disappeared into oblivion. Maybe he should have stuck around like Preity & Shilpa & at least cheered his team on. The KKR did play some good matches I heard, but it seems luck favoured their opponents each time. Preity & Shilpa’s teams too struggled from what I hear. Other than that, I’ve heard that some remarkable discoveries have been made as far as our local Indian talent is concerned – some great batsmen & bowlers - Good for us, considering the T-20 World Cup is less than a month away!

The other excitement I missed was May 16th… It was good to hear that which ever political party won, won & came back with a respectable majority. The thought of the circus that we all were expecting (post election results) was indeed quite frightening. It was so good to not have to hear stories about the usual “horse-trading” or MPs hiding away in some remote resorts. I guess the Congress & their allies proved to be the “better man” – now let’s all just hope for five fine years of political stability, progress & peace. And, lest
I forget, hearty congratulations to our good friend
Sh. Shatrughan Sinha, on his election victory from Patna.

Other than that, I’m still on holiday, quite out of touch with the world & all that’s happening in it, especially Indian television. The few Indian news channels available here are so dreadful, the “news” is just some old Bollywood capsules played over & over again. Not only is that dull & dreary, it’s extremely bothersome and it makes India and Indians look awful, like we’re a land of fools. I wish the channels would improve programming & broadcast current affairs, as in recent information & reports.

Also, before I sign-off & return to my strawberry margarita… I just have to enlighten you with my two bits from Hollywood. We were invited by some very cool & well connected friends to this uber-chic nightclub in Los Angeles, a buzzing hangout of the city’s rich & very famous. We were invited for a private dinner, which was held in the private dining area of the club and lo & behold! Guess who comes and sits down right next to me? Leonardo DiCaprio!!! Obviously, I couldn’t resist starting up a conversation. Pretending to be very nonchalant & unaffected by him, I even invited him to come visit us here in India, which of course he politely accepted and said he would love to… For whatever that’s worth, it’s made my trip totally worth it!

On that very happy note, adios and see you all very soon. Until then… happy holidays to you too & happy reading!





ANU RANJAN
anu@indiantelevisionacademy.com