Inspired by this, the basic premise suggested by author Samit Basu and another idea by Chittaranjan, here is a top 5 List of the Richest Hindi movie fictional characters, brought to you by Borbes magazine.
5. Y. Raichand
Net Worth: 50 billion
Living in a Scottish castle, commuting by helicopter, and having daily parties where hundreds of women dance in lock-step, the Raichands have always symbolized opulence, khandaani wealth and old world Indian values. Though they maintain their position in the list, primarily because of their investment in high-fructose corn syrup, sugar, heart-shaped balloons, pink cards and romance novels, it has been a stormy year with the next-in-line providing a record 17 flops (if we include his 3 identical copies on a mobile ad, it would be 51 flops), long-time confidante and business partner Kamar Singh defecting and the patriarch tweeting non-stop through it all without much of an “Idea” as to what’s going on.
4. Loin:
Net Worth: 100 billion.
Replacing Kunwarji who is now spending his Lamhe in jail after being caught by an “underage” sting operation, Loin jumps into our list at number 4 this year because of the appreciation of “Sona” in world markets following the credit crisis. Owner of Loin Enterprises, originally dealing in contraband gold bullion, he has been off the charts for quite a while. While Mr. Loin declined to be interviewed saying that “saara saher mujhe already jaanta hai” , Mr. Raabert, corporate communications, speaking exclusively to Borbes (full interview for registered users), gave us some vital insights into their corporate strategy.
We have traditionally been in the “Sona” (gold) and “Mona” (white East European girls) market with “Mona Ke Saath Sona” as a value-added service. Recently, with the scrapping of IPL nights, some of our traditional business areas have been adversely affected. Luckily though, the appreciation of gold has more than compensated for these losses. Our greatest money-earner though has been our recently introduced value-added service offerings in the mobile telephony market where we, without telling the subscriber of course, sign them onto “Get an Ajit joke every day”. I cannot tell you how many people love reading “Smart Boy” on their phones. Of course we have a service de-activation facility, people call in if they want to cancel and hear a recorded voice which says “Tawny isko mobile se immobile kardo, zindagi se unsubscribe automatic ho jayega” and once they hear that, all of them decide it’s not a bad idea to pay Re 1 a day.
3. Dr. Dang:
Net worth: 500 billion
Dr. Michael Dang, the education magnate and owner of Karma Enterprises, had a marvelous year. His self-help book “Thappar Ki Goonj: Don’t get mad, Get Even” sold more copies than the sum total of all Bibles and Agatha Christies sold. His network of management institutes (I3D: Indian Institute of International Dreamers) expanded powerfully,with the new “Super-accelerated MBA in a Day” and “Turbo-charged MBA in an Hour” programs becoming insanely popular. Talking to our reporter Dr. Dang said “MBA diya hai abh PhD bhi denge, aiye customer tere liye” and gave us a preview of his “PhD in a second” program (details available for registered members), which we have been told has had a massive advance response, with a future leader of a moribund Eastern state already singing up for the PhD. He also expressed his interest in moving into social gaming—-“Why kill people when you can kill their time?” was what he said at the end of the interview, while squirting a syringe full of tomato ketchup on his bald head.
2. Mogambo:
Net worth: 1000 billion.
Mogambo’s core business of selling missiles that look like dildos and dildos that look like missiles remains as strong as ever. Taking advantage of regional insecurities and the steadily growing indebtedness of deficit-ridden USA to the People’s Republic of Dongri-La and their leader Dong, Mogambo has been successful, principally through his agent Fu Manchu, in selling a large number of missiles and dildos to Dongri-La. What has been surprising though for industry-watchers has been his foray into lobbying, first brought into focus in the infamous Rodia tapes wherein prominent journalists were caught telling him how they had pushed his agenda surreptitiously in the media space to which the elusive billionaire’s voice was captured saying “Mogambo Khush Hua”.
1. Kancha Cheena:
Net worth: 500000 billion
His first real-estate deal was the small coastal village of Mandawa which he converted from a sleepy fishing colony to a pleasure resort. From these small and humble beginnings, Kancha Cheena has become one of the world’s richest men, with properties in Manhattan, London and of course Mumbai where he is reputed to own several “Adarsh” cooperatives. One of the very few investors in housing who was untouched by the collapse of the housing market (he recently bought Shakaal’s island lair at throwaway prices after it got re-possessed) Kancha Cheena has quadrupled his worth over the last few years on the shoulders of the Indian government’s SEZ policy.
“If you want to acquire land, the same techniques still work. Find the school-master and get him embroiled in a sex scandal”, he said, playing playfully with the bikini-strings of one of his “business associates” while we interviewed him, ” It would have worked for the car-plant but woh chief minister mujhe sirf Karl Marx ka Bangla translation dene ko raazi hua. So I did not accept. And see what happened.”. (read full interview in the premium section). When asked whether it was true that he owned an IPL team, he took a sip of martini and said quietly “I own the tournament. I own all the franchises. Except one. That one is cursed. Even I wont touch it. That and those Kochi uniforms.”
So what will the man with the golden finger touch next? “I think I own enough land to last me a lifetime. Now I have started owning air, essentially buying spectrum —1G, 2G, 3G, 4G…any ring-rong-ring that I can find through my new front company Rajakani.”
When asked if he has any personal projects in the pipeline, he said, stroking his mustache, “I have always wanted to murder the English language. So I am thinking of writing a book for the Indian market, popular fiction set in an engineering college….”
0. Ravi Verma
Net worth: Infinite.
Uske paas Ma hain.
The Greatbong Blog & Podcast 
First..woohoo
first yay now let me read
yaar thoda boring tha
Finally first 😀
First..now will read 🙂
😀
u left out Gabbar Singh uske saar pe 50000 ka naam hain
😛
Nicely written. Covers the gamut of richies of Bollywood. Nothing beats Ravi Verma though and he is even recession proof.
Even though I am guilty of doing the same, how do you find time to write this in middle of the day on a Monday???
“read full interview in the premium section”. ha ha!
You may have heard of drafts. Samit suggested in morning, written then.
Don’t be Silly …. Smart Boy !!! I wonder if the Billions are in paisa, peso, yen or Zimbabwean dollars.
Sadly, in real life, “Loin” Ajit (a.k.a Hamid Ali Khan) was abandoned in his old age by his son who copied his father’s mannerisms and voice in a shortlived, flop career.
Awesome post… Here’s an article in Reuters that might interest you
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/07/us-rich-fiction-characters-idUSTRE73578E20110407
Is this adjusted for inflation?
Also Ravi Verma’s additional assets (via his Maa) include a full song and dance enhanced laser surgery from Shirdi waale Sai baba 😛 and a beechde huey bhai relocation service (second one not doing well recently though)
Also, where is Shakaal? Shark Tank and private island with Rottweilers doesn’t come cheap
Jimmy, As I said Shakaal got re-possessed. Sharks and crocodiles have all become extinct and with the end of the Cold War, Blofeld-wannabes have been on a downswing.
Blofeld went down the chimney (and so did Shakaal’s assets).
Om Sai Sri Prabhupada. For someone who drank krishnamrita, what is the use of wealth.
Which Blofeld? Cricket commentator Henry Blofeld of the “Earrings” fame?
I wonder how much Bhaktawar was worth? Also, Prem Nath would be worth something from Sir Judah, various Kabila Sardars, Chengez Khan,Seth Dharamdas (Dharmatma) and Raja Bahadur of many kingdoms…
Though I think your top 5 is spot on.
Btw talking of Ravi Verma one Ravi Verma despite having Maa was butchered by Simi and then Monty got everything including the Maa….
Hi,
Why dont you write something on SatyaSai Baba.. as long as you dont get too carried away by the you tube videos that solicit to prove that he is fake, you will do a very fair job..
@Aditi, And now is left to drive a cab in NYC. Life is cruel. Even crueler than death.
You are right Gb very sad indeed and Monty still has it all.
arre nehi bengalvoice
Its Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the head of SPECTRE of the James Bond movies fame.
Raj kiran is a cab driver in NYC??.. how do you know GB?
@ utsav – “Its Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the head of SPECTRE of the James Bond movies fame”.
Hi Utsav, Hope things are fine with you. An interesting snippet is that Ian Fleming actually knew (cricket) Blofeld’s) father very well. They were fellow students at Eton. Many people believe that his name was the inspiration behind naming Bond’s arch enemy.
It is a small world !!
[edited out]
Sandeep, Dipti Naval on Twitter mentioned it. I was surprised and saddened when I heard about it.
“I have always wanted to murder the English language. So I am thinking of writing a book for the Indian market, popular fiction set in an engineering college….” — loved your dig at CB
@H2B2
Oh! Good to know. I also read that Ian Fleming used the Serbian double agent Duskho Popov for Bond’s skillsets. Some guy he must have been 🙂
not upto your usual standards
Your Top 5 is spot on! In recent times though (since Bollywood has decided to ditch the concept of villains), I’d say HR, the rockstar from India doing shows in Germany with a waterfall inside his house and also getting off helicopters and mercs and what not! 🙂 Also Sanjay Singhnia from Ghajini again doing the helicopter thing. Its like a fad with our rich.
Though Mohabbatein gave me this impression that Big B owns the whole of London. LOL.
Very nice post, yet again, Arnab.
I thing Pralayanath Gandaswami deserved a spot…
ha ha!!
all villains! except for the fifth one!
liked d last one too!
Mughal-e-Azam? Where does he stand, if we consider price index?
Okay, not a FICTIONAL character I suppose.
HAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!
Why doesn’t Shankar feature in here? I’m sure his forays into the energy sector with diversified products such as shareefon ke liye jyoti and goondon ke liye jwaala has earned him a fortune.
nice!…
The post wasn’t anything extraordinary but your sense of humor is amazing!
Besh bhalo likhechen..
Respect and genuine admiration for your writing skills,
Regards,
Mansha
Little is known of the homosexual undercurrent between Dr. Dang and Dada Thakur. All that suffices is a single statement from the esteemed doctor:
“Angry Old Man Maza Ayega”
Our correspondents have informed it is Dr. Dang he refers to when Shatri claims, “Thats what the doctor ordered”
Even Phunsuk Wangdu has more than 400 patents, se surelemust have made fortune.
GB – How about Raja Jaichand played by Sadashiv Amrapurkar in Farishtay http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/7642/snapshot20090927002849.jpg .Sadly been forgotten http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=47118659549
Cool!
But you absolutely must have such a list for pre-90s heroes as well. Since heroes never really were potrayed as rich until very recently. (Not inclding infinite waelth types, obviously)
Who are all these chodus who want to desperately the be first to comment…. and who think they are first even though 5 comments have already been posted before them??
Y. Raichand !!
Not upto ur usual standards Arnab….:( And to think i looked forward to it so much 😦
just a passing ref to Kamar Singh !! we demand complete post on Munni and his darling, the faithful spin doggies, the mediawalas, the anna-man and bhus-man..
The last line was a killer !!
and a Chetan Bhagat joke to end it…. hmmm r u jealous bro 😉 …don worry we’ll send a copy of ur book to Raju Hirani for some rolling credits……
H2B2 and others, I am removing your comments. These are not relevant to the topic here and I have requested you and others to keep your own personal discussions off this blog.
Utsav once took a cab in the Big Apple, and guess who was driving it?
Wow! The standards at Greatbong have slipped considerably. Particularly the cynical tough-love administering post on Lokpal Bill and now this drivel.
Funny how writing books and getting them published suddenly makes people pompous, deceitful and full of themselves. Actually not funny at all.
GB,
How about a post dedicated to the “explosive” dancing skills of our next door neighbours? (No Pun Intended).
I present two videos as: Exhibit 1 and Exhibit 2.
I rest my case.
That’s alright Arnabda.
Frankly, the blogsite is whittling down to a host of highly stimulating comments like “Hahaheeheehoho” or “Hmmm. Not up to your usual standards”, or about another 20 variations of the same. And a few “LOLs”.
Electrifying and pulsating as I should find it, my enthusiasm is somewhat waning.
So good luck with the book and the hahaheehees.
H2B2,
Let me clarify. While I appreciate your attempt to inject high quality content into MY blog by your comments but people, wallowing in their mediocre hahahaeeness, mistakenly of course, might think that you are trying to hijack the thread onto topics “of your liking.” Which is something I cannot allow.
As an example of what I mean, lets deconstruct your first comment :
[Hi Utsav, Hope things are fine with you. An interesting snippet is that Ian Fleming actually knew (cricket) Blofeld’s) father very well. They were fellow students at Eton. Many people believe that his name was the inspiration behind naming Bond’s arch enemy.
It is a small world !!]
So far, you are on topic. So far, the realization that “the blogsite is whittling down to a host of highly stimulating comments like “Hahaheeheehoho” or “Hmmm. Not up to your usual standards”, or about another 20 variations of the same. And a few “LOLs”” has not sunk in. If it had, why would you, yourself be commenting on James Bond and suchlike. Right?
Then you ask me to write a post on Sai Baba and post some links. I dont edit the comment then, you can ask me to write on something surely. I say this to point out that even then the low standards of this blog and the comments herein has not registered. One would think that if this blog and the blog-writer/comment are as trivially hahaha as you claim, why do you 1) ask the blog-writer to write a blog or 2) repeatedly keep pasting comments here.
Since I didnt write anything, you still went on posting off-topic comments on this thread on Sai-baba and the evil conspiracies to besmirch his “good name”, still blissfully unaware about the ha-ha-hee-hee nature of this humble blog or the fact that totally off-topic comments are NOT allowed here.
Its only when I removed your comments and edited your first comment has this realization above dawned on you. Well I say better late than never. Please take your waning enthusiasm elsewhere.
If I recall (and I may be wrong), you had once before also taken your enthusiasm elsewhere only to find it later on. Lets see what happens this time.
In conclusion, the fact that I keep “you suck” comments here (as you pointed out) just goes to show that the only comments I will not allow here are the ones that try to, in a not-so-thinly disguised way, hijack the topic (namely yours) and personal attacks and hate speech.
Hmmmm. Cool. Since you have asked, here goes. In order of your queries :
JAMES BOND
———–
My James Bond comment was wrt Bengal-Voice’s question and Utsav’s reply on Blofeld. They had raised it, so I added to it.
SAIBABA
———-
My 2nd SaiBaba comment was in response to Nanditha’s observation that the allegations against SaiBaba may be false. I mentioned the highly relevant point that the allegations were invoked and inflamed by the BBC. And provided a link to what the BBC has been reduced to … a mouthpiece for terrorists.
H2B2 NOTICED THE DETERIORATION IN YOUR BLOG ONLY WHEN MY P-OST WAS DELETED
————————————————————————-
Mmmm. Not correct. I have been noticing the deterioration over the last 2 years.
“H2B2 WENT AWAY, BUT THEN CAME BACK (BUT GB COULD BE WRONG)”
————————————————————-
Yes, you are right, you ‘are’ wrong. I did not attend for 5-6 months during and after emigrating. I did not have access to a secure connection. I had mentioned this.
I returned to see the deterioration in the website even starker. For e.g., in the past, there was a slew of highly useful dialogues with WTF. Ittaburi et all. Where are they now?
I also took a month off for my father’s operation. I am permitted that.
IN CONCLUSION, THE ONLY COMMENTS I WILL NOT KEEP ARE “OFFENSIVE” ONES
———————————————————————-
Hmmm. Well, if this is your intention, then the blogsite is slipping in this regard as well.
If I recall, when I looked at the Dec postings, there were around 60 relentless, insane, babble ridden, expletive ridden, blatant sensual innuendo ridden, rants by BalalSanghParivar.
You seemed to be content with that. Even though the intellectual sum of the entire posts amounted to a big fat NIL.
So the blogsite’s scrutiny in halting ‘offensive’ posts is only partial.
CONCLUSION
———–
Check it out. 3 years ago, one of your blogs would comprise in content 20% homilies etc, and 80% highly exciting content.
It is a lot blander now. A lot. I hope it shores up.
Good luck 😉
Yes precisely. It was perhaps my mistake that I let much of the content that excites you (that 80%) stand. I sincerely hope that it does not shore up as per your definition and you find your “excitement” elsewhere.
If Utsav had raised a point and BV had commented on it on the topic of the blog (which engenders hahaha blabber as per your astute observations), how does that justify you participating in contributing to this haha blabber? Surely there was compulsion on your part to add to the haha blabber.
If you have been noticing this deterioration for 2 years, its disappointing that it took you so long to “get the trend”.
As long as it stays bland as per your definition (i.e. provides room for viewpoints opposed to yours), I am glad. I am sure as I am said before you can find many places that will match the high quality of discourse you engage in and hence also expect. Good bye and good luck. 🙂
Hmmm. Don’t think you understood my point.
YOUR ERROR 1
————-
– If Bengal Voice raises a point, that is not haha blabber.
– If Utsav responds to the point, that is a ‘response’. Not haha blabber. – – And if I add a fact / factoid to that, it is not haha blabber.
Haha blabber is just ” Hahahahaha”. Or just “LOL”. Or just “ROTFL”.
Anything that adds a fact or contributes ‘something’ to the discussion is not.
YOUR ERROR 2
————-
While deterioration in blogsite comments were evident 2 years ago, if you see something you have enjoyed starting to decompose, you do not immediately ditch it. You stick it out for a while and try to contribute to bringing it back to its former greatness. That is what loyalty is all about.
It is only when you see that further effort is futile, that you act peremptorily in number one’s interest. Heck, why do you think I stuck it out in India for so long on a low, low, low salary?
YOUR ERROR 3
————
“Bland per H2B2 = Room for viewpoints opposed to his”
Lol, Quite the opposite. I relish viewpoints opposite to mine, especially if they deal with topics like the life and imminent death of a once grand civilization like India.
It gives me the opportunity to exchange views, learn new facts, and either consolidate or amend my stance. It is exciting.
Bland = “Hahahaha” fullstop. Bland is “LOL” fullstop. Or “It is not up to your usual standard GB” fullstop. anything that you go through, and question “why”????
Hope this dispels your misunderstanding.
YOUR ERROR 4
————
Thanks for your concern about my joining groups relevant to my tastes. You wil be delighted to know that I am a member of a few such groups. They are spread over countries who are similarly petrified of the menace overshadowing their cinderella nations.
I have been busy feeding them with info. on how India was taken over, what sort of propaganda terrorists use etc., what really goes on in terrorist states etc.
Actions like mine ‘are’ bearing fruit. People ‘are’ getting the message. My 9 year old nephew was being insulted by his ‘religion of peace’ co-students as a “cow-p1ss drinker” on the playing field. He was dumbfounded, mumbling “I don’t know what you mean”. Two 14 year old white boys, known for their affiliation with the EDL retorted brutally, “yeah, perrhaps he should have drunk camel p1ss like the hadiths prescribe”.
This could not have been remotely IMAGINED 5 years ago. The consolidation of froces against the current Nazi menace has begun.
YOUR ERROR 5
————
RTDTM is not GB. It is far beyond GB. You had set in motion something fantastic that spread far beyond your persona.
You can certainly take the credit of starting this phenomenon. You can, and certainly should, shoulder the sentinel responsibilities of ensuring it is a perfect level playoung field (in which you have been slipping recently …. you allow 25 pages by BalalSangh, riddled with expletives, yet refuse to entertain a link that exposes the BBC for what it is … an explosive fact that all Indians should know about).
However, you should realize that at the end of the day RTDTM is a movement, which you can colour by your presona, but not stifle by your ego. If you do, you will kill it off.
As I said, RTDTM is not GB. It is far beyond GB. And that is a great achievement.
And that is the greatest compliment you will receive.
And now everyone can relax and go back to basking in homilies.
Little is known of how Mogambo tried starting his terror (“Tehelka”) empire by winning KBC. When asked any question he would appear to be quietly murmuring to himself. But careful scrutiny let the KBC officials to find out that in fact he was talking to his dick all the time. When asked what was the reason behind this, he claimed “Dong kabhi wrong nahi hota”. Though he was kicked out of KBC, Mogambo went on to newer heights with organ trading business which is now handled by his Bhateeja, who specializes in amassing eyeballs by playing “goti” with them.
Hi Bong da,
How could you forget shri Dr. Siddhant Arya from krish ,who used astronomy,astrology and computer science to see bhavishya ,and become bhagvan
he was a filthy rich computer guy
Hilarious! However i have a point , don’t you think 500000 or something billion are a too much even for Kancha Cheena. Probably his worth did go down during the 2009 recession.
Also i still believe ‘Shakaal’ is too canny to let his personal islands and other real estate be squandered.
Hilarious! However i have a point , don’t you think 500000 or something billion are too much even for Kancha Cheena? Probably his worth did go down during the 2009 recession.
Also i still believe ‘Shakaal’ is too canny to let his personal islands and other real estate be squandered.
Arnab…U DON’T SUCK!!! Nobody’s suggesting THAT. Its just that most of ur posts are considerably funnier than this 🙂
1000 billion = 1 trillion … pliss to be using proper scale of magnitude. Mr.GreatBong you’re an engineer first .. yeh aapko shobha nahi detaa!!
@h2b2 – LOL
Arnab, the more replies you give to H2B2, the more his comments become off-topic. I mean what the hell was that about ERROR 4??
And his last comment is the one that makes me LOL. And yes, I am going to leave the “LOL’ as it is and not explain ‘why?’ ‘coz humour and appreciation for humour should NOT be explained. You post-mortem it, you kill it.
I dont think at all that your posts are getting blander. Am sure a lot many more people would agree with me on this. Its subjective anyway. Humour posts (whether written by you or anybody else) would always be at different degrees of funniness. While some people might think all your past posts have been much funnier, it could also be that your funniest post is yet to come! Who knows?
And seriously, if your blog bores someone over two years, they should just move on! Instead of giving us gyaan on the so called ‘revolutionary’ works they are doing around the globe. I think this is a bad effect of reading too many self-help books.
And BTW, RTDM IS GB. RTDM reflects what GB is, what he thinks, what he wants to say about things. It sure has gone on to become a movement of sorts influencing many people’s way of thinking in many good ways. But that’s also coz GB has been able to drill those points into their heads.
Oh, and what the hell is RTDTM?? Bah.
How about a writeup on top5 Maaa. Is it nirupa roy from 1 to 5 or we see some competition.
@ GB Sir..
Hilarious post… Sir u left the iconic Bulla from the movie Gunda ( mera naam hain bulla … :P)
@Surya: “I dont think at all that your posts are getting blander.”
I think H2B2 is in agreement with you on this.
From what I understand, H2B2 has no issues with the quality of GB’s posts (which are indeed of sterling quality).
What H2B2 writes is that readers’ comments are blander.
Surya,
GB’s blog is bigger than GB now. No doubt about that.
Arnab is the Phidias and RTDM is his Partehnon, a finely composed and delicately balanced work of creativity, that accomodates the mundane, yet leaves room for the magnificient.
Arnab is the Gaudipada, and RTDM is his M?nd?kya-k?rik?. His perspective on the same opinion that everyone else has, is still very unique and fresh.
For example, I dont think anyone else would have pulled off (or even thought of) a ranking list of the richest Bollywood baddies.
RTDM is now a people’s movement and the only one who can stop it is Arnab 🙂
the word was Mandukya-Karika
You seem to be out of form. But I know you are like Agarkar, you will resurrect yourself soon.
I like the Ravi Verma part of the blog.
Greatbong,
People look up to you…think the world of u….they have even started moulding their thought processes based on the ‘random thoughts in your demented mind’!!! So when we see someone like you respond to criticism, the way an egoistic bad-tempered kid would, its so disappointing!! Some of what H2B2 said is, in fact, true…you could do one of two things…either scoff at his observations (and other such) and look away, or put your ego aside and take the criticism of a reader seriously. The latter might turn out to be the best way to save our beloved blog…
You have created something amazing, don’t let your ego spoil the delight that is RTDM…
First the book, and now this. Time to sign off from the blog, starting with deleting my browser favorite. It was fun while it lasted.
Ritz,
At the cost of me showing my ego by responding to you, here is the thing. [And I wish to make this clear to everyone] The comment-space is NOT a place for general “discussions” and for sticking stuff up which has nothing to do with my post. This is not a bulletin-board like Indiacricketfans or Bharat Rakshak. if you want that kind of discussion, then you are obviously in the wrong place.
The rules of being at RTDM has been in the FAQ section for years and so this is nothing new. In any place that has user feedback, one needs to have some kind of moderation in place, else this becomes like Rediff message boards. If you go to other popular blogs like Sepiamutiny, you will find much less leeway given to commentators in general and moderation/curation much more pro-active.
Here is the thing. I do own this blog. Which means I have to set the minimum rules needed to make sure my blog does not become a shouting board for people with agendas to push. If that makes me sound like an egoistic bad-tempered kid, then I am sorry. But thats just the way it is. This blog is like my house and it has its rules. If you cannot play by them, then you cannot play here.
Greatbong,
Couldn’t leave it alone, could you! 😛 I see you have chosen to do first of the two things i mentioned… So,a reader chose to write something that is not related to your blog….does this fact really deserve such a wierd and downright crazy reaction from you? The most unfortunate fact is that you, now, have the ‘last-word syndrome’ as well!…
Well,all i can say is, this is the beginning of the end…the point of no return as they say…i’ll be happy if you can prove me wrong…
Greatbong,
I regularly follow ur blogs and really enjoy it….but its so disheartening to see that u can’t take a minimum criticism…….u may own this blog but please don’t forget that u are writing for the readers…..so they have every right to criticize u…..no rule can come in its way….
Cheers
Greatbong
Thanks that u changed ur comment….it now sounds little bit less egoistic
Sambaran, what did I change? H2B2 was not criticizing me, he was discussing something off-topic. Which was what I had to cut off. So many comments here criticize me and they all stand.
There is the character in the recently released movie “game” where Anupam Kher is also pretty rich (his wealth is mentioned a few times I guess)
Also, Akshay Kumar (in Blue, the cult classic), where he discovers treasure and all
Arnab, Why do you waste your creative energies responding to people like H2B2 and Ritz? You are fueling their slander by replying to them. Kindly ignore and continue the wonderful sarcasm in your posts.
Thats what you do best.
Loved the Ravi Verma bit. And one query :- is the net worth adjusted taking inflation into account ? Whatever be the case no one can exceed Ravi Verma as he is infinite 🙂
@sambaran…are you referring to the fact that greatbong, at first,posted a maniacal response to my comment and then changed it to make it sound a bit less crazy and egoistic?! 😛 I noticed it too…and honestly, that little tactic of his was MUCH more entertaining than his current blogpost!! 😛
Amidst all this, I am missing ‘Kishore’-The South Indian!
Not a single mention of Rajnikant? You are doomed GB…you are doomed 🙂
Super-Like 🙂 ( as always !)
Dear GB,
Since this topic has come up let me try to explain to you why your comment policy make me uncomfortable, through a couple of real incidents that had a big impact on me while growing up in a lower middle class para in South Kolkata.
First, our para had a bhadralok who had made a lot of money selling his ancestral land and now was fully occupied in enjoying the finer things in life. He was an erudite man who loved the cut and thrust of a good argument and needless to say , his house was the favored port of call for anyone in the para looking for good food, drink and ADDA. Soon he began invite everyone in the para to his house for a baithak on a pre decided topic every evening. Given the fact that those were the days before cable TV when the only source of entertainment for most lower middle class families in Kolkata was the Chitrahaar at 8o clock on a community TV set, most people eagerly participated in these sessions and the baithak took a life of its own. As is the case with most conversations, there was little discipline in the interactions and the arguments were bedeviled with numerous digressions. Unhappy with the fact that he was losing control over HIS baithak, the bhadralok started enforcing a rule wherein he would be the only person deciding on what was relevant to the argument at hand and what was not. This enraged several vocal members of the baithak, who felt constrained by his diktats. When some of the protested, they were bluntly told ” amaar baadi te amaar aain” (rough translation – My House, my rules). Following this most of the interesting members of the baithak (who were a minority) left to never return but for most, the allure of having darjeeling cha with cream “biskoot” on Bada babu’s teak wood sofa was too much to resist and they continued to participate in the baithak always taking care to toe Bada babu’s line. While the discussions were disciplined, they were inane and bland and the baithak lost its lustre to most.
Second, playing cricket with deuce ball (leather ball for those not from Kolkata) was a dream for most of the boys in the para, since none of us had a bat with which we could play a deuce ball (in those days a proper cricket bat was a rarity and most cricket was played with rubber balls and light flimsy bats that would not be able to take the impact of a heavier deuce ball). A two piece deuce ball also used to cost a princely sum of Rs 35 while a real 4 piece deuce ball cost almost twice that. Amidst all this pining for playing cricket with a deuce ball our only hope was Bada Babu’s son who had a full cricket kit including stumps, wicket keeping gloves and an English willow bat by Gray Nicolls that he had bought on a holiday to “Bilet”. During summer vacations Bada babu’s son whose name I cannot recall, used to invite us to play cricket with his other friends in the Maidan. We would eagerly wait for his invitation and take a bus from Rash Behari Avenue at 5:30 in the morning to get to Maidan in time, while he would come with his kit in his chauffeur driven Ambassador Mark 4. The cricket usually involved him batting and his friends bowling and then him bowling with his friends batting while most us did the fielding and were lucky to get an over to bat or bowl (I still remember the feeling of middling a deuce ball with a Gray Nicolls English willow). When a playing a “Match” with a team from another para he would be the Captain/Opening Batsman/Opening Bowler and would field only in the slip position. When some of us protested this state of affairs, it was met with a “ami kit niye badi jacchi” (rough translation – I am going home with the kit) from Bada babu’s son. For most of us one over with the bat or the deuce ball was incentive enough to drop our protests, but what was played thereafter was just not cricket anymore.
In both the cases Bada Babu and his son were not wrong in the narrowest sense of the term, but it just did not seem right. Same is the case with you.
PLEASE end this discussion here…..We are looking forward to your next post Arnab….Hope its comes soon
it*
GB,
I have been reading your blog for over 4 years. I don’t think I have ever commented on your posts, however I am compelled to write something today.
I really appreciate your posts and it has become an integral part of my life. A few readers may think that over a period of time the quality of your posts have come down. They are entitled to their opinion. May be you have raised the bar so high that every time you write people expect a master act. It is like whenever Sachin goes to bat people expect a century. Sachin can not hit a century every time…. but what we readers can do is savor whatever you write… if the readers get bored, they can move on. There is no compulsion.
I think GB has taken criticism.. the readers can refer to the comments of his earlier posts. At times there is discipline required and thats what he has done.
@ A Well Wisher — I really love the two anecdotes you have written. I could personally identify with the second one. Good that they are, might not be applicable here !!
GB — Me and many people like me are with you… Keep writing.. Keep entertaining. Waiting for your next book release
GB…you jealous of CB ? he made it big..didn’t he ? 😀
Arnab, seriously I admire you for having the tolerance to read blatant comments like ‘you gave a maniacal response’ and ‘egoistic bad-tempered kid’ and all that. All this for just having pointed out the rules of the blog which is YOURS.
A Well Wisher,
Your “anecdotes” (there is a reason why we use inverted-commas and you may be smart enough to figure out why) were very enlightening. Not necessarily to the topic , or off-topic I may say, but to the general mentality of “well wishers” like yourself. Parsing the first “anecdote”, there was a gentleman who used to provide others the comfort of his home and finance their afternoon snacks. There were people who used to come there and free-load, in a very typical Bong fashion. Because this person insisted that the topic be followed, his intent was automatically assumed, as is GB’s, that he was afraid of losing control. If this is not typical of the Bong mentality of eating from and spitting in the same plate, I do not know what is. (I am Bong too so please do not accuse me of being parochial).
There are two important points I wish to make here.
1. Assuming your “anecdote” is true, the reason that person had his insistence of sticking to the topic may well not have been the desire to exercise control. Unlike everyone else, he could not just leave if he did not like what was going on, since it was his house and his food others were eating. If he had just slammed the door and kicked the free-loaders out (which is what he should have done), even then “well wishers” like you would have said the same thing.
2. Unlike that adda,where I presume the freeloaders did not come wearing monkey-caps that rendered them anonymous, over here it is only GB’s reputation on the line and nobody else’s (since everyone else uses masks of monikers). As an example, would H2B2 give his actual name here and stand up for the content of his comments? If tomorrow GB gets a Barkha-Dutt style lawyer’s letter in the mail, (hich that kind adda-admin would never imagine getting, will the “well wishers” stand up for him financially and otherwise? Considering the fact none of his so-called fans and LOL-ers came on this message-board to defend him, I doubt whether anyone would stand by his side then.
Given that it is GB’s name on the headboard and that the content of the blog reflects personally on him, and not on anonymous commentators, he has every right to exercise moderation. I am glad he does so, else this would be a Rediff message board with South Indians vs North Indians and what not.
What I find amusing, besides the amazing sense of entitlement that people like H2B2 and “Well Wisher” have on someone else’s space, is the fact that people find it difficult to understand the difference between a blog and a message board. Places like Huffington Post, which have grown to a multi-million-dollar blog behemoth, still restrict comments and curate discussions and no one there accuses Ms. Huffington of working so that she does not lose control. Of course, most of Huffington Post’s visitors are not Indians and do not come with the sense of entitlement that Indians have. See a clean street, go and urinate there. See someone has painted their walls, go and put posters up there. What we see here is just an extension of that encroaching attitude—“This space is OURs.” No it is not ! It is GB’s. What prevents H2B2 from opening his own blog and post as much as he wants there? What prevented the people in the “anecdote” from pooling together their resources and having a more democratic adda?
The name “Well wisher” reminds me of a story of my own. In our para, one of the boys, who was then going to Class 8, vanished one day out of the blue. Me and another friend (I was in second year then) went to the hospitals, police-stations and even the morgue once his father called us. His father was old, sick and could barely move.
When we came back, empty-handed from our horrible scooter-ride around Kolkata, there was a crowd of “well wishers” in his living room. Mashima, between tears, had made cha and brought biskoot for them and these “well wishers” were all sitting and gossiping. What about? One of them was saying “I knew that boy was going to run away one day, those shifty eyes.” Another was saying, with good wishes barely hidden, “Must have committed suicide, his body must have washed out to the sea by now.” Two of them were discussing how hijras kidnapped teenagers, cut off their organs and made them beg. All this of course in front of the parents and over contented slurps of hot tea.
For a long time, uncle sat there silent. Then he said “Where were you well-wishers when we needed help to look for the kid?”
I have one question to Mr Well Wisher. Where you there in that group? I am pretty sure you were.
@Anonymous, what happened to that kid in the end? Did they find him?
No they never found him.
i am missing kishor.
and those marathon comment sessions, which followed the Himesh articles.
the anti-HR people wrote in small caps whle those proclaiming their alligience went ALL CAPS.
ah, those wee the days!
o tempora, o mores!
dhoda nahi bahut boring laga…..
Anonymous
April 28, 2011 at 3:38 pm
: well said 🙂 i agree (not defending or accusing anyone here)..your logic seemed the most rational, thats it !
swati
April 28, 2011 at 5:55 pm
ha haha, i know ! though i never particpated in those discussions (CAPS vs NON CAPS) i read each one of them and LOLed on every banter..sigh…those were the days…
btw, WHERE IS HIMESH now ??? (GB, not off-topic i believe ;))
haha that was a nice end
GB,
Have been reading this blog for close to 2 years now, yet this is my first comment. Have been too lazy even when I either wholeheartedly agreed with you or vehemently disagreed to your point, but thought of commenting this time because the discussion is regarding the very soul of the blog. I have seen H2B2’s comments in many of your posts and they really enrich the overall discussion IMHO. So, he warrants a little more respect than the ridicule you have made in your second response. While I agree that it is your space, it is undeniable that followers like H2B2, Bengal Voice, yourfan2 etc have a significant contribution in making RTDM so much attractive to passive readers like myself. I feel very sorry to say that the last 2 sentences of your last response to Ritz sounds uncannily similar to George W Bush, at least to my ears. And I had always felt that your single agenda, if any, through RTDM posts was to speak up against anything which reeks of totalitariasm. In that context, I feel a little, no a lot, sad GB. Hope things turn around.
@Anon replying to Well Wisher, Nice reasoning, would have been nicer if you gave your own name before accusing H2B2 of anonimity.
“Amidst all this, I am missing ‘Kishore’-The South Indian!
Not a single mention of Rajnikant? You are doomed GB…you are doomed ”
Dada …not able to find an article on “Rejinigandh” yet….. Any coming up ?
“…it is undeniable that followers like H2B2, Bengal Voice, yourfan2 etc ”
LOL.. Seems like written by Bengal voice !
LOL! Ravi Verma was a nice touch.
I think one of the characters from subash ghai’s movies need a mention too.
Like Sir John from “Ram Lakhan” or Amrish Puri’s character in “Pardes” who was a billionaire in USA.
sunny:”Seems like written by Bengal voice”
No. It was written by Samik. And GB can tell you from our IP addresses that we are two distinct readers. 🙂
@greatbong
“I have always wanted to murder the English language. So I am thinking of writing a book for the Indian market, popular fiction set in an engineering college….”
Is it neccesery to target Chetan Bhagat in any given opportunity ? Ok, he doesn’t write english like VS Naipul or Nirad C chudhary even like Arundhati roy. So what’s wrong in it ? Is it compulsory to write perfect english ?There is a vast majority who likes his novels. So far he wrote 4 novel and everyone is going to translate in films. No, i am not saying that books turns into films means that they are great book. But atleast it shows that there are people who love these books. I don’t think it is neccesary to every writer to write same kind of book or english. Even same dood everday bores.
Hi Arnabda.. You’re losing it! Please read 1900 hotties followed by this one… you’ll probably figure what i mean.
GB,
A wonderful blog, multiple times blog awards and a book in all these years….you have simply raised expectation from everybody. Hence, the above discord.
All I can say is keep writing well and your true admirers will stay and rest will move on.
Arnab
Well, couple of things emerge clearly from the comments here.
Some people (like HHBB)really love Arnab’s writings, and consider his material to be superlative, and only had small issues with the quality of comments and moderation.
There are a whole lot of others that have expressed issues with the writing quality and the topics themselves. Its the Tendulkar dilemna for them.
In any case, the fact that so many people care about RTDM material, shows that this place is important in many people’s lives, and that speaks volumes of Arnab’s work.
Oh my god Arnab..i so agree with you. Going off topic is so tedious. And to explain that to someone is even more tedious!
Umm, are we not going to get some dope on Mamata and the WB elections? And the tiresome balding prince marriage saga? 🙂
Ek to free mein padhne do phir gaali khao. Thoda rules enforce karo to chappal joote khao. I truly admire your patience Greatbong for not blocking these idiots who use this platform to write 1000 letter essays which is essentially just “Look at me, I write so well, give me some attention”.
If someone thinks GB’s quality has deteriorated, just type in another web address and move.
Ooooh….. so much love for poor ol’ me!
I am this little pipsqueak plastic pipe going “Peeeeeeee” once in a while….. on the other hand a dozen super-duper Vuvuzelas blare their tune overpowering any other itty-bitty idea/post/POV and even the itty-bitty blog owner here.
All of you here be honest to Allah Taalah or Elvis Raja or whoever and, please picture those expat knights in shining knickers leaning over their keyboards with quivering lips, throbbing forehead and neck veins, bloodshot eyes with death in them, the halo of just cause warming their stomachs (and the whole city block), the pining for Mother India in Amreeka Bahadur, faithfully make their dozens-of-replies here… against every post GB makes. And are those empty posts? No, they link to painstakingly made websites and whatnot with arcane historiography etc etc. And all that has to be done before they go back to their hated Christian/Muslim professors or bosses or colleagues or neighbors in a western and not too-unChristian nation, forcing a smile on their sweet faces!
Imagine their pain! The terrible sufferings! The paypal offerings to rebuild temples in Pakistan! The samosas lovingly cooked for the annual VHP-America picnic under the nose of their white christian oppressors! The time spent away from Beewi-Bacche! I mean these are warriors that taken the arduous task of defending India….ooops Bharat = Hinduism from being balaatkared by Semitic/pseudo-secular Lambu Attas.
I SAY THESE BRAVE SOULS MUST BE GIVEN THEIR SOAPBOX HERE! Mr. HIGH FALUTIN’N SO_CALLED “GREAT” BONG CAN EAT MY SHORTS! RRRRRHHHAAAAAAHRRRRRRRRR………….
This Arpan Dutta sounds like the guy who made that video on youtube in reponse to comments by Nabojit Singh Seedhu in WC11. Except that this one a anti-Bengali. Hilarious!
@ Dj – Yes, if you’re an author the least that is expected of you is to write perfect/correct English. Its like the minimal expectation of a singer is to sing in sur. Also, if commercial success of a book is the deciding factor for whether the book is good or not, then Pritam Chakraborthy is the greatest musician of this era and SRK is greatest actor.
@ Balal SP
Not a good day to make that comment.
Why dont you donate first to rebuild temples in Pakistan?
You are even below the VHP picnic people on that totem pole, dude.
Btw, 15 Paksitani Hindu pilgrims travlling to Quetta from Sindh were burnt alive http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/4-armed-men-put-bus-on-fire-15-burnt-alive/662030.html today.
Part of the pilgrimage was sponsored by Hindus in the US, like myself.
Sad day.
@utsav
I fail to see what the crime has to do with the 5 richest Bollywood fictional characters. I am sure you will be parachuting into Pakistan armed with a trishul and a photo of Sadhvi Pragya to right the wrongs. I got goosebumps my nipples are so hard just thinking about it! (Hows that for “sensuality”? :P). Oh wait, you are just sending 50$ from your Visacard for the memorial service and mention this in passing at your next chintan baithak……
If you and your fellow Vuvuzelas have such a great fan following they will visit *your* bloody site to pour their hearts or wallets out. What is the need to proselytize in totally unrelated posts GB makes….. His blog became #1 not by the “contributions” of your Reverse E-Jihad (Lite); but by his wacky sense of humor, erudition, wide pop-culture knowledge and ability to see things differently. Now unless GB himself makes a post directly related to that issue (on which occasion your likes holler about like some fully unhinged hick Syrians in a Muharram procession) why are you subjecting other readers who come here to read GB’s articles and comments on it and may have no interest in hearing your spiel every f**king day? Damn, and I thought pentecostals are bad! There ain’t an ignore button here you know like bulletin boards.
I think you are misusing GB’s charity and broad mindedness; know any other blog that has such readership among our demographics who will let you pull the same stunt? I for one don’t want him to outright ban you….. or close commenting all together like India Uncut due to your antics. Moderation is the keyword, grasshopper.
Waiting for posts on Bengal elections…
I think GB is perhaps one of the very few bloggers who take criticism so well. So I fully agree with him on the subject of topic hijackers. Certain controls should be enforced based on the context, otherwise every post would degenerate to a discussion-forum type spat-ground.
u are quite right.
Glad you got goosebumps.
Now when is your dollar fifty coming?
the previous comment was a response to Balal S P
@ Balal Sangh Parivar aka Anand
Speaking of GB allowing drivel, I guess someone like you who uses a abusive monicker “Balal SP” to post here, should be at the back of the line when it comes to complaining about pre-motivated posters.
@ Lucky Chikna
I have a problem extremist Hindus and Muslims and Rastafaris etc and therefore I am somewhat whatchacallit, “pre-motivated”. But at least I don’t fill each and every post with static, sugar. Even when the fr1ggin blog owner appeals against it.
On “BalalSangh”, finally figured it out, eh? Nice. Mogambo Khush Hua. Welcome to the deep south.
And if you have such khujli with my handle make a complaint to GB and if he feels I should change my handle I will do so. His house, his rules. BTW, my new handle shall be Sanghmaster Gogo. Got a pirablem with that,hain?
Peace. Make cyber-sex. Not Flame Wars.
Waiting for the next post so that this idiotic discussion can continue over there …
Amajinnnnnnnnggg!!!! Really loved this and your book too… It’s a lot of fun! Keep it coming please!!
dear GB,
i really like reading your blogs – follow your movie reviews a lot since i feel our movie tastes match a lot. i am also a combo of kolkata and JU and born in 1973 (we could have bumped into each other in campus or the common room). i almost choked to read about your reference to Roger Binny’s backside and the way it jiggled when he ran in to bowl (something that used to be a butt of my jokes in school), your review of Inglourious Basterds or your pronouncing Yusuf Pathan as the Wayne Rooney of cricket – these were precisely my thoughts and i almost had a “Joota Abishkar” moment when i read those. also i fully agree with your views on Didi, Arundhati, Suman, Chetan Bhagat, etc. i keep on coming back to this blog to read your views – not necessarily the comments. however i DO read the comments that get reactions from you simply because in the plethora of comments, if one comment gets a response, it must be something to read. here comes my disappointment normally. so let me move to the instances i have been truly disappointed with your blog/your views/reactions.
a) i did not like the way you kept on criticizing FIP’s blog. the blog was funny and the writing was hilarious. it caught the attraction of the nation not only because of sensationalism but also because of the humour and quality of writing, which i have enjoyed thoroughly in Gamechangers. somewhere i had a feeling that time that the popularity of the blog made you a bit insecure.
b) your book was disappointing substantially because i felt it was a book written zabardasti – that a book HAD to be written. a book which is a sigma of some of your blogs like desibaba, etc felt like deja vu.
c) lastly, your responses to the comments ONLY come when somebody opposes your views or finds a fault in your writing style/grammar/reference, etc. and while that should be done, it invariably reeks of defensive sarcasm. i have hardly seen you reacting and commenting to serious comments/contents, which can throw up further discussions (relevant to the post only). in this blog itself, you kept on going after the comments of H2B2 and then Sambaran, though there were many other comments more pertinent and deserving some response.
d) if you need to moderate and have rules, why not first stop the stupidity of “i am first, give me an ipod/ipad” comments, which force readers to start looking for comments from comment no. 12-13 ?
your journey is becoming exactly like the story of any individual who becomes famous. you are losing sight of what made you famous and who made you famous. when you started writing this blog, you wanted to honestly share your views/opinions and had killer wit to make it worth waiting for. now you have taken it upon yourself to churn out post after post just to keep the momentum going, whether you have anything to actually say or not. by reading your blogs, it is very evident these days as to which ones are straight from the heart (issue-based or humorous takes) and which ones are playing to the gallery. this syndrome is something that plagues most of these one-book wonders like upamanyu chatterjee, chetan bhagat, jhumpa lahiri, etc – they have one story to tell (which they have carried over a long period of time in their minds and hearts) and once that story flies and the book succeeds, they think they have become novelists/authors and they keep on churning out faltu books.
its great to see you going places; its great to see your blog going places. please do not detach yourself from where it all started.i would seriously hate to see this blog go down on the honesty and humility quotient because i like this blog and do not follow too many others. maybe i have spoken out of turn, maybe you will be pissed off; but i wanted to share my unsolicited advice.
Arnab,
Am I permitted to respond?
If so, I shall do so in 4/5 replies :
– One on the 3-4 points raised by Surya, Akhilesh etc
– One on the 2-3 points by Anonymous
– One to Professor Balls
– 2 to you
After that, I confirm I will not post further.
So. Am I permitted to respond? Or would you prefer to let their denouncements remain intact?
h2b2, go ahead and respond.
oh great. I had trained myself to NOT scroll down on Rediff articles so i don’t read the comments inadvertently. Time to do that on GB’s blog too. Or may be GB should disable comments for a few weeks to calm things down.
Way to go Balal SP…’bout time.
Arnab, crap, I was hoping you will not reply to the utterly bullshit “am I allowed to respond?” comment from [edited] Silence would have spoken volumes in this case, my friend!! And therein (IMHO) lies a big difference between you and other famous bloggers! The others will not give 2-paise ka Bhaav to such blatant attention-mongers, but you (inadvertently perhaps) end up responding to such useless comments and provide them ample encouragement to shit all over your blog!!
You are absolutely right in restricting off-topic comments. Pls keep up the excellent blogging and keep making me feel, “F**k, why cant I write like this!!” 🙂
Balal SP@: “my nipples are so hard just thinking about it”
Shubhs@: “Way to go Balal SP….’bout time”
It appears that you two are ready to “Make cyber-sex” (as Balal mentioned)..Good for you. Let us know how that works out. heeehee..J/K 😉
@ Crew Cut
Heh Heh, for more kicks I am waiting for H2B2’s rant-n-rave and hate speech full of logical fallacies, paraphrased under underlined bolded headings to make it appear that he’s actually making coherent points.
Oh cr@p, now what does this post got to do with Bollywood’s fictional Kuberas? By fighting trolls I am turning into one. YA ALLAAAAAHHHHHHHH!
BalalSangh Parivar,
Actually now you really will be cut off. I am serious. Plus I thought you would change your moniker…what happened to that? And wait you don’t need to answer. I know.
Well, I get a dhamki of “cut off” at THIS and the others get a long leash despite their antics over the years?
I guess I get the message.
All the best (really, not like the movie).
Since H2B2 said the exact same thing as you said (but with your name and his interchanged—his contention was that I let you say anything but edit only him and his friends), I think I have been doing pretty well in terms of being fair. So yes all the best to you too.
@Raja Banerjee ….Would love to go through the post where GB took-on FIP. If possible, pls post the link.
For, I didn’t like FIP’s blog after some time and I bet, MIHYAP is better than ‘Gamechangers’ any time of anyday!
A very nice surprise ending.
I love this post, GB. Great one.
Oh man…. what full-on lauda-lahsun is going on here!!?? You guys have a lot of free time!
GB – loved the Osama post.
Hmmm. Should I respond to the comments above at all? Is there any point? What would it prove?
1. Prove I am stung by the criticism of the comments ?
—————————————————
Not at all. The less the boo-hoo brigade have to say, the more they are forced to fill space with filthy expletives (terms like “sh1t” & “pee” & “cr*p”). This has been going on for ages, and entirely predictable.
So this is not it.
2. That the boo-hoo brigade needs to be taught a stern lesson nevertheless?
———————————————————
But I have taught them a lesson. Repeatedly. Many times have they been beaten black and blue from Timbuktoo to Lahore. When they tried peddling a distorted view of 1857. When they tried lying about the history of Sindh. On how Jinnah was nothing more than a loveable St Bernard. BOOM. WALLOP. BANG.
So this is not it either.
3. So why respond at all?
—————————-
Three reasons. First, I want to know a bit more about the mindset of an average ‘hindu’ An amazing anthropological study field that never ceases to amaze. Just when you think lack of self-respect can never descend any lower, hallelujah, a hindu will never fail to wallow even deeper.
Further, explaining to other commenters why I comment. From a sense of entitlement? An urge to desecrate Arnab’s blog? Or from a deeper, nobler stirring?
Second, Anonymous has referred to LAW ON DEFAMATION ON INTERNET BLOG-SITEs. I will provide some info. on that, which some people will find useful. Some of my comments have good learning opportunities. This is one of them.
And finally, I have some, what I think, IMPORTANT OBSERVATIONs ON BLOGs. Make of them what you will. I trust they will be a source for thought. Especially since the field is not even a decade old.
4. Format of response
———————
– Surya, Dhananjay, Anonymous & BSP have raised specific questions. I will answer them.
– Then I will comment on my observation on blogs,
– 2 comments to Arnab – Monitoring is important. Yet excess zeal will cause clinical sanitization. Too few rules? Indian anarchy. Too many rules? Chinese stranglehold. And who wants to live in either?
Taarpor amaar chooti.
5. And….. quality of Arnab’s posts?
————————————-
I am being forced to clarify my view on Arnab’s posts. My observations in earlier comments were CLEARLY about the course of COMMENTs by READERs. Not even remotely a reflection of Arnab’s posts.
What do I think of his posts? I find them one of the best (often THE best) of the sites I visit. Where we all draw a complete blank, only his genius can see a Dr Dang “squirting tomato ketchup over his bald head”. I fell off my chair laughing when I read that. Only he can produce post after post with effortless ease yet ensure each one is better than the one before.
On the flip I believe he has cut down on his ’edgy ’ articles. When I joined the blog-site in 2006, there were a flurry of GB articles as trenchant and awe-inspiring as a razor`s edge. I confess that I miss the fall in the relative frequency of such articles.
Yet I am more than compensated by the ever increasingly astounding circles of biting satire, sharp wit, keen observation, and boundless and powerful writing skills Arnab unfailingly displays in all his articles.
So to summarise, I think his posts have become even more superlative over the last few years.
Does this clarify it adequately for the boo-hoo brigade? It was abundantly clear in my previous comments, yet still the boo-hoo bazooks have seen only what they wanted to see, and charged out foaming at mouth.
Oh, and before the boo-hoos clamor that this ‘change in ploy’ is subterfuge to fool Arnab to get back in his good books, let me spare the boo-hoos the trouble. As I said, I have no need to get in anyone’s good books. I will not be commenting on this blogsite after this as :
(a) most of my increasingly limited web-time is being taken up by certain other ventures &
(b) I refuse to be bound by the, what I perceive to be excessive and unnecessary hardening monitoring on this site.
There you have it.
@ SURYA (HIS COMMENTS IN CAPITAL)
“I DONT THINK AT ALL THAT ARNAB’s POSTS ARE GETTING BLANDER”
—————————————————-
Good. Neither do I. Your assumed premise is as flawed as your subsequent arguments.
“WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT ABOUT ERROR 4”
————————————–
Well, it was to apprise you of 3 facts. That :
a. As the Muslim population increases in UK & Europe, a very disturbing development being observed is of Muslim school and college kids targeting Hindu kids in playgrounds, classes & canteens, calling them “filthy cow-p1ss drinkers, pig worshippers, dung eaters” etc etc etc. Making their lives hell on earth.
b. A few Hindus have been stirred in to action to counter this. It is to our dying shame that the fathers and brothers of those bullied hindu kids refuse to be educated on how to counter this, content to stare on, tongue lolling, passively and stupidly. Yet we have achieved surprising success at feeding concise and terse data to White & Jewish organizations !! And they are educating their kids with a lot of the info. we send.
c. And to our utter delight, we are seeing WHITE kids coming to the rescue of their hapless, clueless Hindu colleagues. They powerfully retort back with some the smart data we have provided. Retorts that community of the failed hindu kid refused to learn and teach him.
This, employing your terminology, is what the “hell” it was about.
Truly, from an idle anthropological angle, do any of the points a, b or c above remotely interest you? Or concern you? What about item (a)?
Please do say yes. Because if not, you may as well select your jamai-raja from the wide array of choice son-in-laws below :
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1384344/Osama-Bin-Laden-death-UK-Muslims-stage-mock-funeral-outside-US-Embassy.html
“RTDM IS GB. RTDM REFLECTS WHAT GB IS, WHAT HE THINKS, WHAT HE WANTS TO SAY ABOUT THINGS”
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I disagree. And I’ll tell you why. If I own a bar of chocolate, I am free to do what I like with it. Even waste it by flushing it down a drain. Yet if I own a vast private enterprise employing thousands of people, I have a responsibility to look far beyond a purely subjective boundary. I cannot decide to set a factory on fire even if it is mine.
In many ways, RTDM is a lot more like a highly successful private enterprise rather than a chocolate bar. And that is the genius of Arnab. While Arnab should certainly be hailed for creating this wonderful thing, and definitely enjoys the power to regulate it as he sees fit, he bears a larger responsibility.
– To ensure all readers that love & contribute to the site are treated fairly,
– To ensure its high standards are maintained by enforcing rules when required,
– And to ensure it never falls in to the easy trap of hardening in to a monologue that strangles dialogue into the confines of rigid, narrow response. So it steers clear of both the extremes of an anarchic slug-fest at the bar as well as the clinical university lecture, and remains the great Coffee House that educates, entertains and promotes vibrant discussion.
Read my observations of blogs that I will post in a comment later. Or if not interested, don’t read. Who cares?
“OH, AND WHAT THE HELL IS RTDTM?? BAH”
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Yeah. (SMILING). And this from a guy who wrote “Humour posts would always be at different degrees of funniness”.
(SMILING MORE). Such incisiveness. Such eloquence. Such wisdom.
Bah Humbug to you. 🙂
@ DHANANJAY MHATRED (HIS COMMENTs IN CAPITAL)
“EK TO FREE MEIN PADHNE DO phir gaali khao.”
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What is your point? Isn’t ‘free mein padhne do’ the purpose of the internet, including this blogsite? Are you suggesting that the internet should start mandating fees for reading ANY site, a la academic articles that have to be purchased?
Well, if so, 99% of sites would remain unread.
“IDIOTS USE THIS PLATFORM TO WRITE 1000 LETTER ESSAYS WHICH IS ESSENTIALLY JUST “LOOK AT ME, I WRITE SO WELL, GIVE ME SOME ATTENTION”.
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No, you silly sausage; if they were desperately seeking attention, they would divulge their identities, or create a blogsite of their own, so people could “look at them with the attention they apparently crave”.
To pre-empt your next rant. I am not saying that anyone who starts a blog seeks attention. Blogs are opened for various reasons. I believe Arnab opened this blog so we could all enjoy his brilliant posts, his amazing penmanship So we could share and discuss his views. And so he could grow even more as a brilliant writer. Not self-aggrandizement.
Yet I am saying that desperate attention seekers WILL start blogs of their own. Or if devoid of talent (like me), plaster their identity all over the place. They are far more concerned about their obscurity blossoming in to celebrity. Even at the risk of that celebrity turning to notoriety.
Let me tell you what a desperate attention seeker will NOT do. He will NOT invest 6 precious hours, IN TOTAL ANONYMITY, to patiently compile & type up a proper history of the Sepoy Mutiny from research notes. Or 4 hours to present the history of Sindh. Or expose the seamless integration between Nazism & Islam. Or the genocide of 3 million Hindus in living memory, a genocide so shamelessly and jaw-gapingly forgotten by the boo-hoo brigade.
Thus I say “THE INSISTENCE ON ANONYMITY IN ITSELF AUTOMATICALLY PRECLUDES ANY CLAIMS OF SELF-PROMOTION”.
Even a 5 year old should be able to understand that. Yes?
@ ANONYMOUS [1 OF 3]
======================
Well done for spending time on searching for the boy. But two things in your post are jarring:
– your analogy is wrong. What is its remote relevance here?
– far more importantly, WHY WERE THERE ONLY 2 OF YOU LOOKING FOR THE LOST BOY? DID YOU NOT GET ANY OF YOUR FRIENDS TO JOIN IN? If you had organized it properly, perhaps the boy could have been found in the first 48 hours.
Did your slovenly attempts cost his life?
THE ANALOGY
————-
Let us analyze your ‘analogy’ first. In your analogy, the father desperately needed help in finding his lost son. Where does Arnab need help here? Had Arnab
(a) been in predicament, AND
(b) asked for help, AND
(c) be refused help by us,
then your analogy would carry some relevance. But even step (a) has not happened, forget about (b) and (c).
So your analogy falls flat on its face.
HOMES & WATSON, OR POIROT & HASTINGs?
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Why in heaven`s name did only 2 of you go to search for the lost boy? And why give up only after one day?
If one of my acquaintances got lost, I would call up as many friends as I could to search for him. At least 30 people would be scouring the city inside out. If they did, perhaps the poor kid could have been saved.
Why did you not get your other friends? Why just the two of you? Wasn’t that grossly negligent and inefficient?
Since it seems to be the season of raining anecdotes, let me narrate one of my own. When I was younger, a 10 year old boy in our block left home after severe parental scolding. When he did not turn up after two hours, his panic striken sister came to us for help. My brother, who at 19 was younger than you, swung in to action.
– he called around 40 boys in the locality and football clubs,
– he Xeroxed photos of the boy (at his own expense) and distributed them,
– he broke notes in to change and distributed them, instructing boys to call our house as soon as they spotted the kid, and for the others to phone in every 30 mins. to exchange info. (cells weren’t that prevalent).
And then they started searching N/S/E & W, leaving it to the adults to mull how to utlize official channels.
And yes, they found the boy, crying and dazed near Baguiati.
This is the way to do it. Cool head. Organization. Patience. Numbers. Resources. Not charge in to a ill-thought out, disorganized desultory venture that is hopeless from outset.
And am I correct in concluding that you abandoned the search after just one day? You did not even persist?
Did your good intentioned yet negligent bumbling cause the boy his life?
So what do you think of you and your scooter-friend? Did you act like a Holmes & Watson. Poirot & Hastings? Bimal & Kumar?
Or is it more like Laurel & Hardy? Nonte & Phonte? Or even Handa & Bhonda?
‘YOU ARE A BUNCH OF FREE-LOADERs. HERE FOR ARNAB’s FREE BISHKOOT AND CHA’
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No we are not. And I’ll explain why. While we visit the blogsite, and drink deep from its rich well of sweet waters, we too add comments and try to contribute to it. From the top of my head, I remember adding comments on
– magic realism,
– Kafka,
– the powerful undercurrent of pseudo-history in the Mahabharata,
– attributes of effective acting,
– the real life of the ‘English Patient’
– Kushan history
– Post Vedic history in central India
– Analysis of 2 key battles in Indian history
And some excellent comments on Jinnah, the 1857 Mutiny (see “Kashmir ki Koli”), history of Sindh (see “the Imperialist argument”), genocide of 3 million Hindus, & the Nazi-Islamist nexus.
I am not citing this to say “I seek attention, look at me, look at me. Me so brilliant”. n fact I KNOW I am quite ignorant, and visit here with the approach, “this is how I see world developments with my limited perspective. Please tell me your view so I can learn from it.”
The reason I cite this is to say that I make sincere efforts to actively contribute here. I have learnt so much from Arnab and the other commentators on the blogsite, and offer the fruits of my limited wisdom to share in exchange … nay, in gratitude.
In my view, Arnab’s unparalleled posts deserve robust and vibrant comments. 5 “LOLs” and 5 “ipod chais” are fine. But a continuous string of such idle platitudes are an insult to the lead post.
A brilliant ARNABIAN lead post is the main & by far most important pillar of this successful & wonderful blogsite. Yet another important pillar is the exciting and vigorous comment section. The former is like a fantastic house, the latter like a garden. A Xanadu most certainly deserves a beautiful, verdant, thriving garden. A paradise-like Ashiana sporting a clinical, dismal, bare backyard will definitely lose an important portion of its appeal.
I am expanding this further in my observations on blogsites below. You are welcome to read them. Or not as you please.
So you are absolutely wrong when you say we post comments under the hubris of selfish entitlement; it is in fact with the fresh eagerness to contribute & actively reciprocate. Most of my comments are thoroughly researched & meticulously referenced, standing firm when time and time again bombarded by boo-hoo bazooks. These comments take time & effort to type up, my friend, they are not conjured out of thin air (like an incorrect & incoherent melee of distorted facts can be). They are a labour of love, and proof of complete respect for the blogsite.
So you see, while we certainly, hungrily and gratefully relish the ‘cha-bishkoot’ Arnab has laid out for us, we do not come empty handed. WE BRING OUR OFFERINGs OF SHINGARAs & JEELEEPIs.
And the oompa-loompas? They make no attempt to even marginally contribute. In fact THEY are the ones who turn up completely empty handed. To gulp down not only cha-bishkoot, but the jeeleepis too. And then they just walk out in to the Shyambazaar sunset with a gruff “cha ta bhalo hoecche” and a mouthful of masticated bishkoots!
Sullenly obsequious. Silently obliging. Yet completely useless. THEY ARE THE FREELOADERs
“HUFFINGTON POST, A MULTI-MILLION-DOLLAR BLOG BEHEMOTH, STILL RESTRICT COMMENTS & CURATE DISCUSSIONS”
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I assume you have posted comments on Huffington Post. I have too (even when it was Ariadne’s), and my view is that Huffington, while excellently monitored, is nevertheless on the whole easy-going in what it permits to stand. An excellent mix of carrot and stick, applying the whip when needed, yet not eye-lollingly looking out for and then pouncing at Mach speed on any discordant comments.
Huffington has to pay a price for this. Thus you will find comments like :
“War not murder pee bagger” (Asmir)
“Or maybe all that porn they found in (Osama’s) lair was homemade? Maybe he was funding terror through the sale of burka/beard porn? Aw jeez I’m just gonna stop now.” (Scottish script)
(these comments are from the post on killing of Osama).
Or even
“The Vedic literatures are full of wisdom about women: they are 9x more lusty than men; a widow is inauspicious and brings bad luck to her family; chaste widows should die on the husband’s funeral pyre, etc. Add to that the media portrayal of non-Indian women as prostitutes. Now, go visit India and ride on the buses or trains and see how women are treated. A female’s existence in India is threatened from the day she is born. They don’t care b/c they believe that she will get another birth, hopefully as a male next time. Their scriptures support this culture”.
(these are from comments on the post on neglect of India girls)
And the price Huffington pays is allowing these bizarre and nasty comments to stand. Yet this price is far more compensated by the overall richness and erudition of the comments taken as a whole.
AND HUFFINGTON VS RTDM? AN APT COMPARISON?
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And you are not comparing like with like. Huffington Post has thousands of articles, written by hundreds of writers, sprawled over the site. There are a million distractions and attractions, so everyone will unfailingly find an article closely relevant to whatever (s)he wishes to exchange views on, & can thus comment therein.
This is why Huffington has to maintain a high degree of diligence in regulating off-topic posts. As there are a thousand articles, a commenter on X can find an article on X, and thus should not encroach an article on Y. Thus the parameters are set very narrow and tight.
RTDM is completely different. It is based on the unique brilliance of Arnab, and focuses primarily Indian cinema, cricket, society and politics. The contrast with Huffington is :
(a) RTDM`s articles are far better written (in my view) and resonate with us, and
(b) RTDM is more focused and has fewer articles. Thus I believe RTDM should permit, to a manageable extent, a wider degree of “variations on the theme” than Huffington.
“(SENSE OF ENTITLEMENT LETS BENGALEES) SEE A CLEAN STREET, GO AND URINATE THERE.”
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What? Bengalees see a clean street and feel the urge to urinate there because they have a misplaced sense of entitlement? ARE YOU INSANE? People urinate in the streets because :
(a) they are very poor and do not have a toilet at home …. or even a confounded home, or
(b) they suddenly develop the urge to go, and there is no proper facility nearby (all the pee-funds have been abolished to accumulate money for pious pilgrimages to middle earth).
That is why. Not because they contort their expressions while straining excretory organs to extremity in their crusade to desecrate clean places, all out of feelings of entitlement.
What will you claim next? That Bengalees with a heavier sense of entitlement are not sated with peeing on the streets alone. You will see them squatting there, in glorious birthday suit, squirming and wincing in their mass movement to turn clean roads brown.
Donning monkey caps? Peeing on clean streets? Spitting on plates? Eating cha-bishkoot before fleeing?
You may be narrating your family and social circle there mate. You are certainly not describing mine!! 🙂
@ ANONYMOUS – “ISSUE OF DEFAMATION ON THE INTERNET” [2 OF 3]
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“Anonymous – “If tomorrow GB gets a Barkha-Dutt style lawyer’s letter in the mail, (which adda-admin would never imagine getting), will the “well wishers” stand up for him ?”
Hmm. Let’s discount the apparent absurdities (e.g. “how do you know adda-admi are unaware of such perils? How do you know that neither adda-admis or oompa-loompas will help Arnab? If you are using YOUR abilities and experience as a yardstick, it has just been proved above that it is inadequate. My brother’s efficiency found a missing boy. Your bumbling did not).
Anyway, leaving that aside, there is definitely an important topic here. WHAT IS THE RISK OF DEFAMATION ON BLOG-SITEs?
Reams can be written, but neither do I know reams on this, & neither do I have the time. I will add some RELEVANT points on this, as some people may find it useful.
1. Defamation is the act of making an FALSE & UNPRIVELEGED statement of fact to a third party that DAMAGES THE SUBJECT`s REPUTATION, and is published WITH FAULT (negligence or malice).
2. PUBLIC FIGUREs have a higher threshold in proving defamation against them. They need to prove the statement was made with MALICE.
3. A STATEMENT can be defamatory, but an OPINION cannot be. So the issue is whether a STATEMENT is being cloaked as an OPINION.
3A. To gauge this, courts test if a reasonable reader understands the comment as asserting a statement of VERIFIABLE FACT (”true or false” statement).
In other words, can the commenter’s post can clearly be reduced to a TRUE or FALSE scenario, & has the commenter posted his statement to be read as true?
3B. This determination relies on the context of the statement, and some courts have clearly pronounced that statements in the context of Internet bulletin boards or chat rooms are highly likely to be opinions or hyperbole.
Other courts have said that the remark needs to be gauged ‘in context’ to see if it’s likely to BE SEEN AS A TRUE OPINION (even if true & controversial).
3C. So “I really hate Arundhati Roy” is an opinion masquerading as a statement. Yet “it is my firm opinion that Arundhati Roy was a key part of the Sabarmati burnings” can be an assertion of fact dressed up as an opinion.
However, even then, a person of authority making the statement is exposed to far higher levels of accountability, as people are far more likely to assume him to be correct. An anonymous commenter is likely to be taken with far less seriousness. Thus the level of defense offered is far more onerous on the former.
4. HOW DO COURTs VIEW THIS?
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The US Supreme Court has ruled that blogs are like news groups. “In the context of defamation law, the rights of the institutional media are no greater or less than those enjoyed by other individuals and orgs.in the same activities.”
To gauge whether a comment is defamatory, courts first check the blog’s general tenor. What is its setting & format? What is the context of the LINKs that users use to access the comment in question? What is the specific context of the blog COMMENT? What is the extent of metaphors and hyperbole used, especially in relation to the reasonable expectations of the blog’s audience?
Context is critical. ESPN captioned a photo saying “Evel Knievel proves you’re never too old to be a pimp.” However, this was not deemed libelous as in context it wasn’t not intended as a criminal accusation, nor was it reasonably susceptible to be interpreted literally like that. The court deemed it to be intended as a compliment!!
5. BLOG OWNERs
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Subject to 4 above, a blog-owner whose blog published obnoxious materials may be deemed harmless, while a blogger using the site may be liable.
5.a. – The Communications Decency Act (1996) is a piece of statute offering key protection to blog owners. S-230 of the Act offers powerful protection.
– It “precludes courts from entertaining claims that place a computer service provider in a publisher’s role.”
– “no provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any info. provided by another info. content provider,” (S-230(c)1), &
– “No cause of action may be brought & no liability may be imposed under any State or local law that is inconsistent with this section.” (S-230(e)3)
S-230 thus provides strong protection against liability for Internet ‘intermediaries’ who provide or republish the speech of others. This even applies to the intermediary’s distribution of defamation.
When a California court tried to pin liability stating the federal law did not on-line distribution (in Barrett vs Rosenthal), the California Supreme Court overturned it.
5b. This is not to say that blog-owners can use S-230 to hide their sins. However, if the blog-owner can prove an element of editing and deletion of user generated comment, he is exculpated.
On April 3, 2008, the U.S. Court of Appeals (9th Circuit) clarified the situation. They clearly stated that interactive computer services that PERFORM SOME EDITING on user-generated content thereby ARE FREED FROM BECOMING LIABLE FOR ALL THE OTHER defamatory messages they DIDN’T edit or delete.
However, website operators and bloggers who ENCOURAGE, incite or implore others to post defamatory comments on their website or blog are not immune.
The Court of Appeals continued that to hold the website liable for content developed on the site, the owners should have materially contributed to the unlawful development, not just generally augmented content.
The biggest clincher is where the Court above states that if there is ambiguity, immunity has to be granted.
6. BLOG COMMENTATERs
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All defamation legal rules apply to their comments, yet it may be complex to apply in case of commenter anonymity. Will the blog-site owner then be deemed responsible?
No. Commenters can be traced with high-tech means. A “John Doe” subpoena can quickly reveal the real identity of anonymous publishers, even on Google-based portals such as “Google Groups” and http://www.blogspot.com. All they need is the date-time stamp and the IP address. As long as the blog owner co-operates with authorities in identifying the commenter, he is exculpated, even in the case of ‘proxies’ masking the true origins.
Even this is fairly further down the line. For it to reach such a stage, the court has to agree via a summary judgment that all the elements of defamation are met.
7. DEFENCE AGAINST DEFAMATION
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(A) Truth – A true statement cannot be defamatory. However, it may contravene another tort (e.g. false light invasion of privacy) when truth is not a defense.
(B) Opinion – Only statement of facts can be defamatory, opinions are not. However, statements masquerading as opinions are not exempt.
(C) Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act – Discussed above. If a blog-owner can prove that he has procedures to screen comments (in general) & take down comments after complaint (in particular), he is fully exculpated even if his commenters have posted defamatory content, and he has not encouraged the defamation or acted recklessly.
(D) Retraction – Some jurisdictions have a retraction statute. California Civil Code (S-48a) states that a plaintiff who fails to demand a retraction, or who demands & gets it, can only recover economic losses. Not presumed & punitive damages. The demand must be made < 20 days of publishing, & retraction < 21 days of demand.
Alas, this does not apply to on-line content in California, it only applies to statements made in newspaper or radio or television broadcast. However, it does apply in some other jurisdictions.
(E). The statute of limitations – This applies to libel claims in most states. California has a 1 year limitation starting from when statement is first published to public.
(F) Jurisdiction – The claim may be brought in any jurisdiction, where the content is published, where the defendant lives, where the plaintiff lives, where the ISP is located etc etc etc.
Of course it is better to bring it in the location of the accused (defendant), as it can then be enforced. Otherwise, what is the point of an Indian court’s proceedings against me if I live in Australia, never plan to visit India, and Australia are highly unlikely to extradite me anyway?
In such situations, defendants in USA, & especially California, enjoy an added advantage. In Canada, UK & Australia, libel laws are biased in-favor of the injured party. The plaintiff has to prove he is innocent (e.g. his statements are true). This is the exact opposite of USA libel law where the defamed party must prove that the statement is false.
9. EXAMPLES OF CASES FROM CALIFORNIA
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Statements deemed libelous if proved false :
.- Charging someone with being a communist (in 1959)
.- Calling an attorney a "crook"
.- Describing a woman as a call girl
.- Accusing a minister of unethical conduct
.- Accusing a father of violating the confidence of son
Statements NOT deemed libelous
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.- Calling a political foe a "thief" and "liar" in chance encounter (because hyperbole in context)
.- Calling a TV show participant a "local loser," "chicken butt" and "big skank"
.- Calling someone a "bitch" or a "son of a bitch"
.- Changing product code name from "Carl Sagan" to "Butt Head Astronomer"
Note that the non-libelous comments above are hyperbole or opinion. While libelous statements are statement of defamatory fact.
10. CONCLUSION
————————————–
I know a bit more about US law on defamation. I know a LOT more about Australian law on defamation, as I read up on it when a group wanted to give me a small grant to start a blog-site for Hindus. But as Arnab is based in USA, I have restricted comments to USA.
So, as you see from the examples cited above, I have provided enough material above to prove that Barkha Datt or Arundhati Roy or Rahul Gandhi or President (sic) Musharraf or Colonel Gaddafi et all will never be able to sue Arnab and succeed.
If anything from some of the comments here, Narendra Modi may have a valid case against many commentators. However, I think has other things to do. 🙂
So you see Anonymous, many of the ‘Adda-admi’ you cite above have a lot more information on this than you give them credit for. Perhaps they know a bit more about this than you !! Orre baap re baap.
@ANONYMOUS [3 OF 3]
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WOULD H2B2 GIVE HIS ACTUAL NAME HERE?
————————————
Hmmm. How do I answer this? Right.
Are people posting comments on FACTs on Islamist brutality attacked? YES
Even people who have posted on internet blogs & forums? YES
Even when these are open facts? YES
Have their families been attacked? YES
Does H2B2 have proof of this? YES
Have any been murdered? YES
Does H2B2 PERSONALLY KNOW anyone who has been attacked or murdered for this? YES
Is H2B2 fearful for his life? NO
Is H2B2 concerned about the impact on his family? YES
Now, is H2B2 aware of ANY attacks on people posting against Hindus on internet blogs & forums? NO
Even when the allegations are blatantly false? NO
What about on-line attacks on Hindutva? NO
Does H2B2 think that people posting against Hindus have anything to fear? NO
Does H2B2 know why ANONYMOUS is hiding behind a mask when there is no cause for fear at all? NO. ASK HIM.
@ WOULD H2B2 GIVE HIS ACTUAL NAME AND STAND UP FOR HIS COMMENTS?
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Why do I need to stand up for my comments? Where they are tongue-in-cheek, they are clearly hyperbole and evidently not intended as statement of fact. So no risk of defamation.
And where they are intended as statement of fact, they are clearly referenced, properly researched, and unceasingly with hyperlinks to REPUTABLE sites.
I don’t need to either give my real name or stand up. I can do it under H2B2 and sitting down. My comments stand on their own merit.
And how do you know H2B2 is not my real name? 🙂
@ BENGALEES SPIT ON PLATES, PEE ON STREETS, AND WEAR MONKEY CAPs
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My. What opprobrium against Bengalees. Well, I like you Anonymous so I’ll let it ride. If it were anyone else I would have said “Mate, you are describing your family. Not mine@. And to solve the problem :
SPIT ON PLATEs – Please wash your plate before leaving your host’s house. Or even better, bring your own shteel thalaa.
PEEING ON STREETs – Please take your uncle to the bathroom before you chaperon him outside.
WEARING MONKEY CAPs – Tell you Dad to return the cap to its rightful owner immediately ….. why did your Dad take it off the monkey in the first place?
🙂
So, to recap.
I have finished my comments to Surya. And to Dhanajaya. And 3 comments to Anonymous (1. Why we are not freeloaders. 2. Law on internet defamation & 3. Reason for anonymity).
So 4 more to go. One to BSP. One on observations on blogsites. And 2 to Arnab.
Will do in a few days.
Very nice list.I would like to include shakaal (shaan) in this.He has a full island with cool gadgets.
Err… The title says “Top Five Richest Bollywood Characters”… And there are six of them…
mast h…..but where is Don? whr is gabbar?
@H2B2
You really kicked ass in your detailed comments…Hats off to you ! It appears all the PALs have crawled back into the woodwork they crawled out from. 😉
Bengal Voice,
Which I suppose means me too. 🙂 since I too have problems with H2B2’s use of my woodwork. Please do feel applaud your friend H2B2 but as someone doing something that makes me uncomfortable kindly refrain from commenting on two id-s (you know you do it and so does your friend Utsav). Since you dont leave your email (on either of your ids from which you comment) I had to say this on the comment space.
My two IDS Utsav and Ootz
Bengalvoice, Arnab gets really unhappy when you use have used another id.
Please use only one id (or anonymous, since Arnab doesnt mind that)
@Arnab
I would like to make it very clear that I did not mean to throw any barb at you in my “woodwork” comment. It was directed at those who wrote under the “Anonymous” handle.
Utsav is not my friend any more than he is yours. 😉
For the first time, the comments section looked mored interesting that the post itself.