COUPLEHOOD - PAUL REISER

I have just finished reading the book 'Couplehood' by Paul Reiser. He's famous for the series 'Mad About You' and has authored another book called 'Babyhood'. Couplehood is a hilarious book about a typical couple living in the US. It entertains and pokes satires at the nuances of the modern life, much on the lines of 'The Bridget Jones' Diary'.

The book starts on page no. 147 - i.e., page no.1 is labelled as 147 and it goes on. This is because the author wants his readers to be able to say they are on page 154 although they've just read 7 pages. The satires start here..

This is how the protagonist feels when he looks into the mirror early in the morning.

"That's not what I was hoping for. I could have sworn I was better looking than that. I must be thinking of someone else."

And then there are two pages on the enjoyment of sitting. For instance, rather than moving to dislodge the remote control he's almost definitely sitting on, he'll just deal with the discomfort. He goes on to say, "...now if you understand how affection for sitting, multiply that a couple of times and you can imagine my enthusiasm for lying down." Another satire. There are several more on the ubiquitous "How are you?", friends meeting over for coffee, having kids and so on.

Towards the end, the book gets funnier and there are several jokes which make you laugh aloud. If you are looking for something very light to read at bed time, grab this one!

If the Titanic was made in India

1) There would be 10 times as many people on the ship
2) There would be a song with Kate Winslet in a white saree and of course singing in the rain
3) The movie would be called "Pyar Kiya To Marna Kya"
4) Hero and Heroine would float in cold water for days and still survive, but the villian would die in the first dip
5) The iceberg would be sent by the heroine's father to teach the hero a lesson
6) None of the women would float due to heavy designer sarees. And last but not least
7) Half of the rescue boats would be reserved for SC/ST/OBC !!

CHANGE WITH CHANGE

I can't resist writing more about Mallik. The way he moulded and adapted himself to the new changes is amazing. He must be one of the few writers who predicted rightly the plight of the weekly magazines, the circulation of which stated declining rapidly after the emergence of IT. With IT infrastructure comparable to that in developed countries in place in all the major metros of India, the few previleged ardent fans of literature now use internet to read their favourite novels. For the others to whom these magazines just meant a way of killing time, there are a plethora of 'sas - bahu' and 'pinni' soaps on the TV.

There has also been a considerable shift in the reading habits in general. Not only have we started reading less, but we now read more of english publications now. It is very apparent - be it koti in Hyderabad or priya/chandinichowk in Delhi - the english books are everywhere. The readership of online newspapers and magazines is growing at a rapid pace - they are for free and offer flexibility of location. Today, I read Eenadu only on net. Mallik must have seen this coming. He became the editor of teluguone.com, a typical website with a mix of free and paid services. It has a library of few novels, weekly and daily serials and columns, paid movie and TV services, forums and mail options and has latest DVDs on sale. It is doing well, although it lacks the popularity of the likes of andhravilas. A great idea and a timely shift.

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REDISCOVERING MALLIK

This is the first month of the third trimester, which means I have nothing to do after the classes. The serial quizzes are yet to begin and I am on my voyage of discovering new ways of TP (time pass, in our lingo). That is when I suddenly stumbled upon a Mallik's cartoon in ABBACHAAAA (If you orkut and if you are a gult, chances are that you know this community). Lots of googling and an hour later, I end up with lots of cartoons and updates on Mallik.

On the Republic Day of 2006, the first holiday of the trimester, I miss the parade on TV and discover a treasure trove of cartoons and a site called www.teluguone.com. Mallik was one of my favourites since childhood, back in the times when real paper magazines like andhrabhoomi used to pay a visit to my home. He is probably one of the best telugu cartoonists ever, in the league of Sridhar and Ragati Pandari. He used to write serials and even scripted and directed a film called Parugo Parugu. That was the last I heard of him - that the film left him with huge financial loss. Later the magazines disappeared and so did Mallik.

Now, after more than a decade, I wonder what he is upto. Just a single word googling, I think. But it doesn't turn out to be that easy a task. Thanks to all the googling expertise my MBA course bestowed me with, I finally end up with a single photo in google images, which would give a clue to the life of Mallik in 2006. I find him at photo album of TAMA, Toronto and a couple of webpages later, I confirm its the same Mallik I am looking for.

I don't know where he is now, but must have settled in USA or Canada, with his second wife. He now runs a website called www.teluguone.com, which features some of the Mallik's specials like 'Navvithe Navrthnalu' along with some daily serials, including the one by Suryadevara Rammohan Rao. Time to read some of that stuff now..... and here are some cartoons for you!

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Mr. ZOOSSII

If you haven't heard the name of Mr. R.M. Joshi till now, then you are in the dark, folks! He's the author of the best selling book on International Marketing on amazon.com and ebay as is demonstrated in his class. His class, because he also happens to be our professor.

Mr. Zoossii is not very fond of Ms. Bazzaz although he has a soft corner for girls in general. He is usually generous and gives a 'BRACK' in all his classes. He is an expert in the international 'STRETAAGGGIES' and asks you to turn to 'PAAGGE' no. 453 in his book. A very colourful person, its a lay man's guess, you just have to look at his slides. Added colour to a whole trimester!