Cyber Chat
(Published in "Studio Systems" July-August
Issue)
By now the readers of this column know about my passion
for the Internet. Therefore it is with some trepidation that I write that my
recent experience with it has been far from satisfactory. I recently opened
an Internet banking account and was quite impressed with their enthusiastic
response. After all the passwords had arrived by courier etc., I had the account
going within a few days and logged on to their site only to discover that at
times some of their pages do not open and I get an error message. This can get
very frustrating especially when you are in the middle of a transaction as you
are uncertain about the process. I complained to their help desk and immediately
got replies from their staff who were courteous and prompt. After a phone call
from their technical head, they seem to have managed to lick that problem as
I haven't experienced that again! Encouraged my this I finally decided to pay
some bills through the account. My Internet hours disappear fast and one day
I received a mail from my ISP to say I was low on hours and need to renew. Using
the Internet banking account, I renewed with VSNL and saw the money disappear
from my account. They told me that it would take at least 2-3 days before the
renewal would take place and I would receive an email from VSNL confirming the
payment and renewal. After five days of waiting I got panicky and after getting
another mail from VSNL about my low hours, I emailed them informing them of
my renewal. What followed was a barrage of emails to the bank and VSNL and it
took all of seven days to finally have the account renewed! This is truly a
mockery of the Internet and it has been done by the very custodians of the technology.
Even more depressing was my experience with an ISP(Internet
Service Provider). Wanting to try an alternative to VSNL and enticed by the
attractive ads and schemes dished out by the various new ISPs in the market,
I approached one of their franchisee for a connection. The man that appeared
at the door was so rude and arrogant that I was aghast! He obviously was in
a hurry and would not entertain any enquiries, saying that everything was written
very clearly in the instructions(English). I can assure you that it was not
and if the aim of the ISP was to confuse and intimidate the consumer, they sure
succeeded! If they can do it to me, I can't imagine the plight of the masses
as they grapple with this new technology, especially the non-English speaking
ones. Instead of welcoming this huge market in their fold they will only succeed
in pushing them further away. Finally, after trying for many hours, I managed
to register the service online and that too by not using their software but
through VSNL! Truly a sorry commentary on the state of our ISPs. I hope that
we are just experiencing the growing pangs and that things will be honky dory
soon.
Madan Mohan remembered
July 14th 2000 was the 25th death anniversary of one
of India's finest musicians, the great Madan Mohan. A military man who thankfully
forsake his military career to give us some of the greatest film music that
we have had the honour to hear. To observe this occasion, the Madan Mohan family
invited a select gathering to view an excellent half hour film that his son,
Sanjeev Kohli, made on Madanji after which a five CD/cassette pack of all his
great songs was released by Lata Mangeshkar and Yash Chopra. Interspersed with
rare recordings of Madanji singing and observations by music stalwarts like
Lata Mangeshkar, his favourite singer, Zakir Hussein, Begum Akthar etc. the
recordings are an excellent tribute to what is one of India's foremost film
composers. The function itself was an excellent evening graced by almost all
the leading musical luminaries in India, from the classical to pop. The entire
Mangeshkar family including Asha Bhosle, Ghazal stars like Jagjit Singh, Classical
masters like Shivkumar Sharma were all present to pay their respects to this
great artiste. To be in one room with so much talent was an incredible experience
and it was truly an emotional occasion for all us to participate in this tribute
to the great maestro. May his soul rest in peace.
AES Seminars
Attended the AES seminar on Acoustics and Indian Instruments
by Prof. Bhide and was very impressed by the professor who is obviously a highly
learned professional and a musician to boot!. Mr Sood later informed me that
his daughter is the famous Indian Classical Music artiste Ashwini Bhide. The
combination of the arts and sciences in human beings is indeed intriguing and
special and history has proved that some of the greatest scientists have also
been good artistes. Our Dr Ramanna, the Atomic energy genius, is an example
of this rare combination. I believe that the creative urge in these individuals
make them reach heights that differentiate them from the common.
The second seminar was on Surround Sound, the sensational
sound revolution that has engulfed the film industry and which has made a quantum
leap in the quality of sound in Cinema. Organised by Onkyo, the home audio hardware
company of Japanese origin, the AES members were exposed to an excellent demonstration
of the development of 5:1 and 7:1 Surround Sound and the various formats available
in the home theatre arena. The features of Dolby Digital, DTS and THX surround
were discussed and demonstrated and music on Surround was heard with the unplugged
live version of 'Hotel California" by the Eagles as the demo. Truly an exhilarating
experience! Surround has indeed taken the Motion Picture Industry to a new level
of excellence and because of this, Cinema will continue to be paramount in the
audio visual experience. Just imagine all the special effects of "The Matrix"
without the accompanying sound and you will know what I mean! However, it's
relevance in the Music scene has still to be determined as that kind of separation
can be distracting for the ultimate musical experience. I'm sure the creativity
of the artistes and engineers will realise the potential of this potent technology
and soon we should be having our very own Indian artistes mixed in Surround
Sound.
Both the AES seminars saw large attendance, definitely
the biggest gatherings that I had ever seen at AES functions which speaks well
for this budding society. I hope AES grows in this fashion and one day India
can have its very own AES convention. This will see even greater interaction
between International and Indian Sound Engineers and hasten the process of India's
progress to the centre stage of the Entertainment Industry of the World.
World Citizens
I recently read about the merger of two American Airlines
in the papers. United, (the no 1 airline in the world) and US Airways( the no
10) were going to merge to form one giant airline and the CEOs of both the airlines
were Indians! Not only are we acknowledged as leaders in the Information Technology
Industry, our Managerial excellence has also been recognised and the Indian
dollar millionaires are multiplying. Today, Indians are proving themselves to
be world leaders and with Lara Dutta winning the Miss Universe crown, we have
the beauty market cornered too! Yet, inspite of this beauty and brains, why
is our country in such a sorry state? The answer is not too far to find as the
cure can only lie with us. The integrity crises that has engulfed this country
has strangulated its growth and has delayed our rise to the potential we possess.
The recent cricket match fixing scam has further emphasised the point that the
blame does not lie only with the political leaders of our country. Of course,
there is no doubt that they have shown us the way but there is no need for us
to follow them blindly!
More power to the patriots who have uncovered this scam
and why am I not surprised that there is a dot com company behind the exposure.
The net generation does have unconventional means but it has the ability to
force the situation, go against the tide and hopefully stem the rot. The traditional
safeguards like the print and television media have failed to uncover the truth
and thus stronger and tougher measures were required. Maybe, after all, there
is a light at the end of the tunnel!
Nandu Bhende
homesite :http://nandu_bhende.tripod.com
