Whats in a name??

Being the diverse country that it is, India and its people have always been classified into various religions,castes and groups...and to identify which group you belong to, your last name is more than enough. Now, what came along with that package were also stereotypes.

Whether its the warm hearted, loud mouthed Punjabis, the miserly Gujaratis, the eccentric and always inclined towards the arts Bengalis, or the fact that all South Indians are Brahmins and are strict disciplinarians ...we can't seem to escape these stereotypes even though we know that there are many exceptions to the generalised rule. But since this is my blog, I shall only rant about the stereotype thats been associated with me since birth.

My name is Pranav Shetty. Yep, I'm a Shetty. Now,ever since I can remember, the moment I introduced myself in this manner, I have always received this standard response, "Oh! Your a Shetty, eh? So, how many hotels do you own?"

Yes,'coz thats what Shettys are known for. Thats the stereotype thats been associated with my name all my life. And if you actually think about it, it is in a way justified. Because about 85% of Shettys are hotel/restaurant owners. Of the remaining 15%, around 5% are underworld dons (the ones that are called "Anna"..meaning brother) and the remaining 10% have,what we can call the "other" jobs.

So, my response has always been with an apologetic smile, "No, I don't own any hotels. In fact,nobody in my immediate family owns one."

Some of 'em would accept this reply...'coz its true. But, there are some idiots who go like, "What!?! Stop lying man.You can tell me the truth, I'm not gonna come there and ask you for a free meal!"


Idiots, I tell you.

The worst incident happened about a year back, when I had a welding workshop session in college. Surprisingly, my classmates were ignorant about the stereotype until I had the above,exact conversation with my workshop teacher.Soon, the news spread.

About a couple of hours later, my faith in grapevine and exaggeration increased ten fold, when an idiotic classmate of mine came up to me and asked me the exact whereabouts in Goa, of my two hotels which went by the names of Hotel Alfredo and Hotel Alberto.

While a part of me mulled over as to why a Shetty would give Spanish names to his hotels, another part of me decided that enough was enough. So I came up with an alternative...I changed my way of introducing myself.

Now, my introduction goes about like this, " Hi, I'm Pranav Shetty...and no, I DON'T own any hotels!"

Bah! I know its kinda lame. But, its sure does work as an ice-breaker ;-)

The 'F' word...

All my life I'd read and heard various articles on success,failure and other sorts of related bull shit. Examples and analogies were thrown at me, but never once did I understand any of 'em. Reason- I'd never experienced either...nor did I ever give so much importance to any event in my life that would drive me to have such huge expectations from myself.

But after 19 years, 10 months, and 18 days of my life, Ive finally tasted one of 'em. FAILURE.

It can be sure be a bitch. It stings, it hurts, it frustrates and it angers. Thats what I am right now.Angry.

Lets roll back a couple of days....

It had been nearly a month since I'd shot something. College work and stress had kept me restrained from my camera, from my hobby. But then came the college festival and I was like 'Hell..why not?!?!". So on the last day of the festival I lugged my SLR film camera around my neck as I waded amongst the crowd that had gathered to see the Hindi band finals.

Concert Photography--understandably one of the toughest kinds of photography that one can encounter; owing to the dimmed,flickering multi-coloured lights and the non-stationary,non-caring, shrieking-as-if-you're-in-hell crowd. But hell, I don't blame 'em.

Throughout that day, the anticipation and the excitement mounted within me. By the time it began, I was high on enthusiasm...and by the time it ended I was high on my very own expectations. Exhausted and flushed out of energy, I returned home to my warm and faithful bed.

The next day I gave the film in for processing and scanning. The guy said he'd have it ready by tomorrow. After a bit of arguing and negotiation I convinced him to get it done by 8.30 pm, the same evening. An entire day of frustration which arose from anticipation didn't really help the situation. Every second felt like an eternity, as I sat looking at the ticking clock. At 8.30 pm sharp I was at the shop.

The photographs sucked...big time. Disappointment is a bigger bitch. What started next was the blame game that ran for around 5 seconds in my brain. First I blamed the studio guy (crime: for ruining the pictures) ;then I blamed the crowds (crime: for not standing still and causing the blurred images); then I blamed the poor lighting (crime: for not providing enough light that was required);then I blamed my camera (crime: for being an old film one and not a modern digital one); and then finally I blamed the photographer...me (crime: for being a bad one).

Everything numbed....all sounds and noises dimmed as realization hit me. I'm a failure. That thought rang around in my head as all my expectations came crashing down around me.

As I lay on my bed staring up at the dusty ceiling, I asked myself a thousand questions. Questions doubting my abilities, my passion, my hobby, raged through my mind as I noticed that there were some weird smudges on my ceiling that were probably caused due to water leakage. I shut my eyes and let the inner voice speak. All I got in response was "So...what??"

So what if your pictures sucked, so what if your not a good photographer, so what if your not that good at the only hobby you actually ever gave a damn about. Are these factors decisive of the future thats yet to come? Hell it certainly is NOT!!

Recovery is great.I'm not angry anymore. Its cool. Its okay. I'm fine.

It took me 19 years, 10 months and 18 days to finally taste Failure. I sure as hell know that its not gonna take me that long to taste Success.

Who's Better ??

Okay,this particular post has been long overdue. Ive been meaning to write about it for a long time but the combined efforts of Captain Procrastination and Lady Laziness have deterred me from my path. But now I'm back on track, so here goes nothing...


Ever since I was a kid, I've witnessed people from both genders and different age groups argue over this social issue with a lot of aggression and enthusiasm only to end up without any consensus. What would begin as a normal suggestion to the discussion would eventually turn into a full-fledged debate...which frankly speaking lead to nowhere. So I have taken up the task to address this issue and finally prove to the world out there as to why (considering all the situations that one can even think of) .....


Why Batman owns Superman


Oh yeah... that's right.


(1) Batman is human and unlike Superman he isnt an alien from some other planet. This fact instills within us humans a hope that we don't need superpowers to become a superhero.


(2) We all know that Superman is extremely strong ... so any fight he gets into isn't that interesting as we're all like "Okay the man of steel is surely gonna win this one...all thanks to his brawn power. Bah! How predictable". But in the case of Batman we as viewers are more interested to watch the fight as Batman resorts to his intellect and intelligence to fight opponents who are way stronger than him. And it's this very fact which makes us all go like "Holy shit!! That was so fucking awesome! How did he do that? :-O "


(3) Lets have a look at their disguises okay. All that Superman does is change into formals and put on a pair of glasses and voila he becomes Clark Kent!Wow that makes him so bloody unrecognizable! Kinda like SRK from Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi ..and we all know how that movie was ridiculed. On the other hand nobody knows that Bruce Wayne is actually the real Batman which just proves as to how careful and efficient he his when it comes to hiding his identity which is of utmost importance when you're a superhero.


(4) Superman wears his red briefs over his costume.I think that statement speaks for itself.


(5) Superman's powers were like a gift..he was born with them. Batman had to work hard...train in martial arts...design his gadgets,his Batmobile,an effective costume which was not only bullet-proof but would also help him glide in air without the help of any shitty gadget like a jetpack which probably would be the first option on any other humans mind.


(6) Superman can't even woo a simple woman like Lois Lane. All he does is stay in the friend-zone and smile like a wuss. Batman, on the other hand is a natural chic magnet. His persona and his charisma as Bruce Wayne is irresistible to any woman. Hes the very basis on which the character of James Bond was designed.


(7) Superman's best opponent was Lex Luther who was nothing but a mortal businessman and even then he finds it hard to defeat him.But Batman has an entire cabinet full of enemies its deadliest being the infamous Joker who as everybody knows has some amazing tricks up his sleeves at all times. That makes him more challenging than Lex Luther and hence more hard to defeat. Yet Batman even manages to do that.


(8) Superman lost his parents when he was just born.He never knew them at all so he didn't have to live with any sort of grief. Batman on the other hand actually witnessed the murder of his parents and also realized that in a way it was his fault that they died. Grief + Guilt => more sympathy towards Batman.


(9) It isn't difficult to defeat Superman. All you need to do is carry a green rock in your pocket and tell him its Kryptonite. The idiot will believe you and stay away from you. You need to be really intelligent to defeat the Dark Knight though.


(10) The popularity votes that the Batman movies garner are way more than the Superman movies.


Ladies and Gentlemen... I think we have a clear winner.