EUPHORIC INDIA

Good times are back!

I don't recall India being so happy and content as it is now. The events over the past few days have certainly made it so. First, the great fall of the greenback. The US dollar continued its downward spiral and Indian businesses are booming. The BSE sensex shot up from 16000 to 17000 points in no time, thanks to frenzied buying of shares. And why won't they? Indian investors see this as a prime time to strike gold.

And then the religious fervor. Ganesh Chaturti was celebrated, and I needn't say anything more. "Ganapati Bappa Morya" was the cry echoed from Ambala to Trivandrum, and the festive atmosphere with huge Ganesh idols being immersed in waters all over, is quite a spectacle to behold. And when Ganesh Chaturti gets over, it means another biggie, the NAVARATRI, is not far behind. Navaratri is the biggest continuous festive occasion in India, with Dusshara, Durga Pooja, Ram Navami etc. all come to transform the whole country into a frenzy of celebrations. Its time to feel euphoric.

And then, of course... Dhoni's brave team. When it comes to sports, what more pleasure can an Indian fan have when it beats arch rivals Pakistan, in a game of cricket (cricket... need I say more?), and that too in the finals of a world cup? As we all know, the streets of India erupted into a massive partying spree after the close victory. Throughout the tournament, the players showed intensity, passion and also a mood for partying and enthusiasm... and it spilled over into the Indian junta as well. The reception received by Team India when it came to Bombay is itself a testimony to that fact. I have never seen anything quite like that happening in India, when sportsmen were received like all conquering heroes!

Fairly recently, India also won the Asian men's hockey championship in Madras. CHAK DE INDIA seems to have revitalized Indian sports!

THe monsoons are a great time in India in any case... The sweltering heat of the summer has been replaced by a cool refreshing moist climate: the whole country is fresh and spirited after a mighty spell of rains. Kharif crops are predicted to show a great output this season following the rains, another good news for the crores of agricultural families in India. India is truly shining!

The happiness levels of the average Indian is definitely boosted this season due to the aforementioned reasons, and also many other factors... Like I said earlier, good times are here again.

FEAR FACTOR

I was just watching the brilliantly made movie THE GRUDGE (all alone, and in the night with a thundering sound system), and I wondered what causes fear. Horror movies have come a long way. From the sickle weilding PSYCHO to the latest Japanese-inspired horror flicks (like THE RING), horror movies have experimented with the gruesome and grotesque, the palest faces, blood/gore and snuff kind of movies, zombies, audio effects, chilling story line, the supernatural, aliens, religious- good and evil, and what not.

What are the chances that you would get frightened with those themes? I mean, people say THE GRUDGE is very scary. Some 30 years back, people were giving away "rewards" for watching movies like EXORCIST alone in the night in a movie theater. Movies like BEETLEJUICE, THE FLY were "horrifying" when it was released. But times have changed since then and today some movies only make us flinch from all the blood and gore- but are we REALLY SCARED? Possibly. Possibly not. People have different acceptance levels of fear- or in other words, different people are scared of different things.

Here's a list of things of what actually gives us fear!

1. Horrifying faces

2. Blood and gore

3. Eerie sounds

4. Mystery, magic and supernatural occurances

5. Devil/ghost and related fear

6. Surprise element combined with (1-5) above

In many cases, fear is instilled by a surprise element- that is not to say that other things don't scare you. But since fear is subjective, it is difficult to exactly comprehend what scares us. Some people will be shitting bricks when they are "caught" doing something they are not supposed to do... some people will lose a year's growth when they are confronted by horrifying elements (like 1-6 above); while some other will not sleep if it is completely dark. So, being subjective horror and fear is difficult to judge, but general consensus is that 1-6 are good reasons for fear.

Fear could be just with regards to something- like the number 13, for instance. Some people are fearful of rollercoasters- fear of heights? or drops? Fear of the sky falling on your head tomorrow? Just google for "phobias" and you will find a list of them- some of them utterly incredible.

So, the reason for fear could never be objectively quantified- so in a sense, we could say fear is the only thing we should be afraid of!