Plays of the day

I hear Sreesanth is all set to wed Riya Sen, an actress of some beauteous reputation. I wonder how much that differs from the act of prostitution: one is involved in the marriage by way of his cricketing skills and the other is involved by way of her fame on the silver screen. Agreed, there is the possibility of the two really liking each other and being compatible with each other, but as it happens so often, it takes quite a measure of beneficence to agree with such a viewpoint.

*

I just saw an ad of a Nivea product - a certain spray - that, upon continuous usage for a few weeks, renders a woman's armpits fair and free from the odour of sweat. The ad claims that with that whitening done, "you can be more confident around others" (while raising your hands up, I suppose). What sort of confidence is that which stems from the deliberate suppression of biological necessities? Have we managed to mismanage our social image to the point of being self-deleterious?

*

Intel's new tagline, "Sponsors of Tomorrow", sounds to me like the bells of technology tolling away, announcing the completion of their invasion, as if the magic of devices smaller than a thumbnail is capable of being responsible for everything that is yet to happen. It's a good thing: the Age of Enlightenment has finally climaxed with the ultimate utterance of control, responsibility and, by extension, reward.