SMS "SHUT-space-UP" to 3636

One gloomy day some bright underworked TV guy thought - wouldnt it be fun to have viewers SMSing live to the channel? The ultimate in 'convergence'! (Among words, this has to be a fast-tracker! From meaning 'the arriving together of a bus, truck, two wheeler and a cow in the middle of the road while trying to outrun each other, it has come to mean 'a cutting edge concoction of all media')

The result - a whole generation of kids whose eyes move like a typewriter - from left to right & back. After the initial few months where the channels themselves had to send these SMSes from 'luvr_boy' and 'cute_gal', this seemed to have 'captured the imagination of the country'. Now any channel with an iota of self pride has SMSes as part of the screen. So not only do you get to see Aiswarya Rai dancing away, you also find out what 'wild_at_heart' from Ranchi is doing for dinner on Saturday. How is that for convergence?

Not all is lost however! What better way for citizens of the greatest democracy on earth to engage in nation building than by particpating in one of the 'SMS surveys' by news channels? This should definitely fire up the underbelly of the country & have people shouting 'the pen is mightier than the sword, but nothing compares to Ak47s as CDMA'.

And we all know for sure that our leaders are also glued to television, taking decisions of national import like our vote against Iran in the UN, depending on what Munnabhai from Kanpur is sending - NUKE IRAN to 3636 or -SPOOK IRAN to 3637. And surely, during the four hours of meeting that the BCCI committee had with GC & SG at least an hour was spent tallying the results of the online poll - "Is SG physically, mentally & emotionally fit to lead the team"

One of my 'sources' from the telecom sector tells me that there are usually about 8 guys participating in each of these polls. But boy your day would be made too if you found out you were part of the 67% who decided "YES - The only way out of this mess is for both Sourav & Greg to appear on "Koffee with Karan", bare all, cry if required, decide between Kareena and Kournikova during rapid fire and then bury the hatchet.

Disclaimer - I have not been paid by any telecom major. If they had, then may be I would not have written this.