State Of The Art

[ This post is written in the light of the domino effect of  the proposed Andhra Pradesh split. ]

It’s 2012. The earth doesn’t seem to be ending any soon. Sameer is watching KBC which is being hosted by Abhishek Bachchan. On the hot seat is Rita. Abhishek is asking her the next question:

Which is the largest state of India?

A. Bhowanipur
B. Khairatabad
C. C V Raman Nagar
D. Goa

Rita, after a lot of considerations, says – D. Goa. Abhishek Bachchan asks if he could lock that answer. Rita confirms. Just then, Abhishek breaks for commercial ads.

First Commercial Ad: It shows a mother worried about her child’s poor memory. He couldn’t answer the only question in the Geography test – Name the states of India. The teacher then recommends drinking GarLicks, a malt drink. After drinking it, the memory of the boy improved. On the first day itself he could answer question like – name the neighboring states of T-Nagar, which was in Chennai once upon a time. And after drinking the health drink for 100 days, he could remember the names of 50% of the states.

Sameer thinks that the time allocated to ads is unreasonably high. He uses this time to send reminder STD texts to his classmates for the inter-state cricket match they will have on the next day in their school compound after the class. Thankfully, all mobile phone operators have made the STD and local rates equal for both voice call and SMS.

Sameer, then, turns to his computer and reads a blog on Mundane Journey on the increase in the percentage of GDP spent on the government employees and ministers in the last three years. Just then he heard noise on the National Highway passing adjacent to his house. There were two groups of people fighting for the ownership of the water from the tube-well which supposedly fell at the boarder of the two newly formed states.

Sameer’s father asks him about the noise on the road. Sameer tells him the story. His father, who was once the Durga Puja committee president and now the chief minister of the state, gets worried and goes down to look into the matter.

Sameer’s attention is drawn to the television set again.

Next Commercial ad: The ad is of a product called Slays. It’s is a special snack which can be had during fasts. The catch line of the product is – Slays. So that you can become CM without pain.


KBC resumes. Abhishek welcomes the audience back. He recapitulates the question and the answer Rita gave. The background music adds to the suspense. He, then, says:

Sahi Jawab!