A Tribute To F.R.I.E.N.D.S

In 1994 a sitcom called F.R.I.E.N.D.S was premiered on the US TV screens and it instantly became a phenomenon. For 10 years, everyone laughed with the group of six individuals. But not only laughed but sometimes also cried with them (the one episode I think I nearly cried was the episode in season 3 when Ross and Rachel break up). You could always see in them a reflection of your own group or your reflection in one of the six characters.

F.R.I.E.N.D.S is based on six friends living in New York. It tells the story of the ups and downs of their lives, both personal and professional. Let’s do a character sketch of the six friends:

1) Rachel Green (played by Jennifer Anniston): Rachel is the little spoilt, little bitchy girl of the group. She leaves a man on the altar and comes to the city and starts her life afresh. From working as a waitress at Central Perk to working as fashion consultant with Ralph Lauren, she comes a long way in 10 years.

2) Monica Gellar (played by Courteney Cox Arquette): Monica is the most organized person you will ever meet. She has a cleaning fetish. She’s a Chef and loves it. She’s the den mother of the group. She loves to be the host of the group. Makes excellent thanksgiving dinner and is extremely competitive.

3) Phoebe Buffay (played by Lisa Kudrow): Phoebe is most outlandish character of the show. She’s quirky, and strange in a good sense of way. She knows how to play a guitar and has given out some really good tracks like “smelly cats”. She has had a hard life as her mother had committed suicide when she was a kid. She works as a masseur.

4) Joey Tribbiani (played by Matt Le Blanc): Joey is an actor of Italian origin. He’s really a mediocre actor but he is the ladies man. He can take down any woman he wants to. He is a bit dumb and takes his own sweet time to reach to the conclusion. The line “How You Doing?” maybe the pick up line of the century.

5) Chandler Bing (played by Matthew Perry): He is my favorite character. The most sarcastic of all. The king of sarcasm, if you may. He is the joker of the group. He is really unlucky in love and can’t stand silence. He finally finds love in Monica. His sarcasm becomes more subtle towards the later seasons. But if you want to see him in full flow, catch the first few seasons. Could he BE more sarcastic?

6) Ross Gellar (played by David Schwimmer): Ross is the nerd of the group. The dinosaur guy as Joey calls him. His first wife turns lesbian and divorces him. He is in love with Rachel since 9th grade and finally gets her by the time he is 26-27. But the thing is he finally gets the girl. He has the annoying habit of correcting everyone’s English.

Now there’s always something in the characters to which you can relate to. For me it’s Chandler. He is sarcastic, and let me tell you I am also pretty sarcastic. But he cares for his friends no matter what. He has this bad habit of cracking a joke at the most inappropriate moment just like me.

Anyway people who have seen F.R.I.E.N.D.S will always love it, and those who haven’t seen it till now, I would suggest them to start watching it. I assure you that you will love it.

Now all of you must be wondering that why I am suddenly paying tribute to a show that ended in 2004? The simple answer to that will be we need some laughs in the current times when we still are recovering from the terrorist attacks that shook the whole country. When 9/11 happened, the TRP of F.R.I.E.N.D.S went through the roof. People of US wanted something to laugh at and forget their worries for that half an hour. And F.R.I.E.N.D.S provided them with that.

Looking at the current landscape of Indian television serials I don’t think there’s any good comedy series. It’s really slapstick humor in which Indian comedy prides itself specially TV comedy.

So I would suggest whenever you want a laugh, watch F.R.I.E.N.D.S. At least for half an hour you will laugh and forget your worries or escape the depressing times we all are living in.

I would like to take this opportunity to salute all the brave people who lost their lives in Mumbai terror attacks. May their souls rest in peace.

Terrorists Attacks on Mumbai

Last night i was watching India beat England, when i started flipping through channels and Times Now was flashing something about a gangwar in colaba outside Leopolds' and it spreading till VT. Now I have spend my weekends of last 4 years in Napean Sea Road, and Leopolds' is one of the hang out places for me.

And suddenly it was not a gang war but a full fledged terrorist attack. Now Mumbai is not alien to terrorist attacks, but you associate bomb blasts with terrorist attacks, not terrorists firing indiscrimately outside Leolpolds' or outside and inside VT.

The Terrorists entered Taj, The Oberoi Hotel and The Trident Hotel and thus began a siege. But if you have to see the daring of these terrorists they hijacked a police van and fired on media and policemen outside Metro Cinemas. That's again where I go for movies. The terrorists also sieged Nariman house in Colaba.

The Mumbai ATS chief, Hemant Karkare leading his men from the front died in his line of duty. So did 13 of mumbai police officers. People may hate Mumbai police but it's the policemen who stand out in the time of crisis. The NSG was called in. And nearly 24 hrs later, The Taj has been sweeped clean by the army and the NSG. The Terrorists are still holed in Nariman House and I have no idea about Oberai hotel.

For me personally, this is 9/11 for India. The terrorists not only coming in Mumbai, spraying bullets all around and creating a hostage like situation. Not only that but also damaging one of the most beautiful buildings of Mumbai, The Taj's old building.

Now the question arises, how much more can the common man like me can take? How much more can India take as a country? Why does the state machinary always fail in case of a crisis? Where are the politicians? Why haven't they politicised it till now? Are we really a soft state? Will anyone learn any lesson from the last 24 hrs?

India has had its problem with Terrorism for quite some time now. But it's the same old story every time. The Terrorist attack gets its 15 minutes of fame in media and before we know it the media is back covering the latest Rakhi Sawant outburst, who's saying what behind the other's back in Bigg Boss. Everyone forgets about the attacks and life goes back to normal. No hue and cry is made for people who loose their lives in such mindless acts of violence. Will anyone look after Mr. Karkare's family in 6 months? The frank answer to this is "NO". The News channels or so they call themselves will be busy showing UFOs abducting cows and other bullshit mindless news. Is it news? Is this how media should act?

After every terror strike, politicians will come and give sound bytes. The Prime Minister will condemn the terror strike, The Chief Minister will do the same. The Opposition Leader will try to gather some brownie points and a whole new political battle will be fought. Sorry Mr. Prime Minister but I don't want you condemning the terror strikes, but I want you to take stern action. Please do something concrete and stop just condemning the attacks.

If this was happening in the US, do you think the US govt would just be condemning the attacks? Why can't we like the US in tackling terror? We aspire to be a 1st world country but how is it possible if things like this happens so frequently? US has tough terror laws and noone complains about them because they know its for their own good. When will India have such laws? I think "never". We are a proud democracy after all, arn't we? We don't need such laws because it's against human rights. After all let fellow country men die, what we care is that we cling to power or snatch power from the govt, isn't it our beloved Member of Parliaments? If, God forbid, during the terror attack on parliament one of the members of parliament would have been killed, would there be no strict anti-terror law till now?

In the end, it is the common man who suffers the burnt of these terror strikes. Not the politicians. It is the brave men like Mr. Karkare die for the safety of the common man, not the politicians. So what exactly do the politicians do? They try to use every terror strike to further their propoganda, whether it's trying to stay in power or try to come in power.

The city of Mumbai will bounce back from this terror attack. It always does. But for Godsake, please learn some lessons from this terror strike.

Be careful everyone.