When the world comes shattering down.

They say that the crash is going to happen in 2012.
But for some its going to happen tomorrow midnight.
And those few are the music lovers who have their faithful World Space satellite radio at home.
Like somebody said “Indians need food, water, clothing and music to live”
But unfortunately the music is going to be yanked off by World Space as it is coming to an abrupt halt at the stroke of midnight.

So what do I do with this rectangular box which I had switched on and off for the last four years. In fact it was mostly on and hardly off. I was surprised that my wife did not object to it being on even when we were sleeping at night (of course at a very low volume)
As for World Space, I think this is another classic example of huge companies who squander away money with no thought of the consequences. Like some one commented “what is the justification of spending a whooping 5 crores of Indian rupees on A R Rehman by asking him to lend his voice for the promotion of the satellite radio. You people got nice money without doing any serious job, without taking any responsibilities, enjoyed life in posh hotels with good food for each birthday, anniversary, for team entertainment, roamed in the flight all over the world for no reason, given good increment for your favorites, spent life in the office for chatting, browsing, downloading, viewing and played enough internal politics. Your wrong management had a Supervisor Worker ratio of 4 : 1, and did not allow subordinate to do work properly, All these years you made enough without any pain. Nobody to check, ask, supervise, you have cheated Indian Subscribers and also those who served. And now when the chair is yanked off your butts you cry foul play”
I heard that they have filed for Bankruptcy in the USA. Wonder what will happen to the 4.5 lakhs of subscribers in India.

So I think I will pack the rectangular box and keep it on the loft. Maybe some kind soul (like the Ambanis or Tatas or even A R Rehman) will take up this sick unit and continue the service.
After all what is life without music. And when we say music I mean real good music. Not the ones belted out from the local FM stations where it is more of gibberish (and jabber) and hardly any music.

That’s the reason I listen to my favorite ipod while I travel to work ( two hrs both ways) The recent inclusion in my ipod are five cds of Binaca Geet mala (one CD lasts one hour) .
Ameen Sayani’s narration keeps you going as he unravels the yesteryear singers and actors and how life was tough then.
Like the hero who came from Lahore in 1947 (during partition) to work as a hero in Bombay. After a lot of rejection he finally got his first job as a villain (for a salary of Rs 500/- for the whole film)
His name was Pran.

That is Ameen above. He talks about himself too where he started with jingles for Ovaltine !!
More such jingles followed which instilled in him the confidence to ask for payment. Says he “I hesitantly asked the producer, ‘how much would I be paid for that’? The producer shot back, ‘No money, but you would be given a tin of Ovaltine every week…’” And I believe the health that I have today is because of Ovaltine, which is not sold anymore…” laughs Sayani, who is now 78.
There are more insights into the old Hindi film world and it’s a real entertainment for the ones who love old Hindi songs.



Another inclusion in my ipod are 3 CDs from the Album Stars on 45.
A gem of a collection with songs like Tie a Yellow ribbon round the old oak tree, Papa Love Mambo, Paper roses, Que Sera Sera, Beautiful Sunday, Rose Garden, Yellow River, Knock three times, Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da, Rain drops keep falling on my head. . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 songs in all.