Do you like my Balls?

Well what did you think seeing the topic of my blog, something raced through your mischievous mind. Did I get you wrong (hehehe)? Or did you think has this fellow gone crazy?

Just scroll down and tell me did you like my balls, huh don’t question me again.




[I had collected this barrel of four balls when I attended a French Open match at Roland Garros, Bois de Boulogne on the western edge of Paris back in 2005.]

Now wonder, how a ball can stir up creativity and that becomes a successful business plan. Pelon one day was watching a reality show where poor suckers were strapped into a giant inflatable ball and pushed down a hill. Intrigued, Pelon wanted to try it for himself, only to find that there was no place in North America where you could do that, although it's very popular in Australia, the UK and New Zealand, where it originated in the late '90s via a company called Zorb.

Since US didn’t have a market for this adventure, Pelon didn’t loose heart and continued with his efforts thorough research and analysis. Finally he bought all North American rights to the UK company SphereMania , a competitor of Zorb. And thus, Sphere USA was opened at the Mt. Brighton ski resort.

What is this sport about?
It is an adventure sport with a big inflatable difference. Housed inside a giant plastic ball, human beings accelerate down a hill at speeds of up to 30 mph .To an adventure freak, the blood-curdling scream and panic-stricken dissonance emanating from the rolling beast gives an additional kick to try it once.

Breathless and exhilarating, wasn’t it real fun? Read more here about the thrill ride inside the plastic ball.

Well that was in Videsh, (a phoren land) "America" now lets come to Swadesh "India". Here we too have people for whom science is magic. For them there is passion and excitement in its pursuit, sometimes to transform the lives of ordinary people but mostly just for the way it fires their innate curiosities. These unsung heroes using simple things are bringing closer to the people some of the puzzling questions of science in the most elementary way. One such person is Arvind Gupta, a distinguished alumnus of IIT Kanpur. He has authored many books on science experiments and these have sold over a million copies in a dozen Indian languages.

Few of his creations include, an aeroplane model created from an old Coke Can, Fevibond Acrobat made from used tubes of Fevicol, etc. Also he has mentioned how using bits of cycle valve tube (won’t cost you more than Rs.10) and matchsticks, children can make an array of two and three dimensional models and explore the world of structures. A standard torch battery, some enameled copper wire and some adhesive tape, all these are sufficient to make a simple but real functional DC motor for kids.

More about his creations here. Simple applications of basic science and physics,a goldmine of ideas.

Don’t you think a man like Arvind Gupta should be interviewed on all national channels and given wider coverage for the pioneering work that he is doing. Well I feel YES. But my impression doesn’t make a difference. This is because the present day media is busy covering the glitzy, glamoured and sensationalism tinged news apart from its regular reporting of politics, business, discussions, interviews, weather forecast, etc. Coverage of Wardrobe malfunction in a fashion week , Ash Abhishek marriage engagement , Mandira 'noodle strap' Bedi’s gimmicks , Mika and Rakhi Sawant kissing episode , etc to list a few can shot up the TRP ratings over night. So with all this beekar fulltu time pass ki showbazi, where do media have time for men like Arvind Gupta.

Today's audiences, unfortunately, live increasingly of borrowed emotions and more and more out of touch with their own humanity. It is for these tasteless and gullible automatons that the media makes crispy tales and serves them hot straight from the oven. It is at the mob and viewers feet more than anywhere else that blame for the debacle should be placed.

Kyonki idhaar Sensationalism beekta re...and media says Apna Sapna TRP Ratings Aur Money.

I know I started with balls and then digressed to media (well this is the fodder for my next blog,after having read tomes about the Ash Abhi engagement and Shilpa's Channel 4 incident) but take my words you need real balls of grit,guts and gumption to challenge and raise your voice in what you do. Else just sniff it off.

Till I get back on my views on media, Keep reading and remain connected.