On Celebrity Weddings

there are some things that i have never been able to understand. and one of them is the media’s obsession with celebrity weddings. some weeks back, news media and magazines were abuzz with photos and stories about chelsea clinton’s wedding – with complete details from the designer of her wedding gown to the types of flowers that were used to decorate the place.

and this is news. really?

the trend is taken to even greater heights in india. in early september – when i was in madras for a week – the very famous tamil actor rajinikanth’s daughter, soundarya, got married – in what can only be described as a open-to-the-world type public event. in all the weddings i have attended in india, you always have the videographer and a light-man hovering over the couple with a gigantic camera and flood-light, drenching the couple in heat waves and making it look like the shooting for a b-grade movie. add in a hundred more such cameras and video-guys and press photographers, and you get the idea of just how public the wedding was.

not only were snippets from the wedding flashed on tv, but there was also an analysis by two newscasters (i don’t know how credibly i can use that word anymore) on the couple, how they met (was it love or arranged?), the guy (he is apparently a “well behaved boy” according to testimonies from select guests) and of course, rajinikanth (he was a gracious host and a great father of the bride).

but seriously, why the obsession? you can’t even gossip about either of them unless you know them, right? and if you did know them, you would be at the wedding – making it unnecessary to watch the tv in the first place. at first, i was surprised by all the attention, which was why i even watched the coverage for a full 10 minutes. and in some ways that was a good thing – almost everyone i met seemed to be commenting about it for the next couple of days, and i didn’t feel left out :p  

in some ways, this is like turning the notion of how celebrities don’t have enough private space on its head. in other words, you know the paparazzi want the fodder, so you just throw cartloads of it at them!

oh well, to each one his own.

5 Things To Do In Madras

i’m going to go down to Madras. but for just a week. (yes, i know its been changed to Chennai oh-so-long-ago, but its always madras to me – and it always will be bombay, bangalore and calcutta as well. so there.) and i have a list of things i plan to do while i am there. if you a resident madrasi/indian, these may come across as strange/childish/perplexing, but do bear in mind these come from a person who left india well over 10 years ago – and finds going back almost like an adventure.

– call the corner grocery store (that takes 5 mins to reach – by foot) and order a Cheetos Masala and a Coke and – get this – ask the guy to deliver it to my house! 🙂 which he does at no extra charge!! 🙂 🙂

– eat street-side food – specifically from the cart that has the top of the pani-puri’s pani pot open. this is just sheer cheek – i want to see if im still indian enough to stomach it without falling sick..

– try and bargain with the vegetable seller. (my mum would have probably tell the guy to humour me with the promise of paying him the balance later, but still.)

– cross a regular indian street without help – i might chicken out when i see the onset of traffic, but i will try at least once.

– try and convince someone to lend me a two-wheeler and see what it feels like to ride one. (yes, i haven’t ever ridden on one ever. excellent transportation options in singapore can rid you of some life pleasures.)