I first caught this show 'Are you smarter than a fifth grader' on television as I was aimlessly surfing through the channels on a lazy sunday. I thought it to be a nice format and then forgot all about it till Shahrukh Khan and Synergy Adlabs happened to it. And thus was launched 'Kya aap paanchvi pass se tez hain'. Though I missed the first episode (got a bit confused as to the dates), I did catch the other two and I must say that Mr. Basu impresses once again. Right from the TATA Steel Quiz all those years ago in Patna to Quiz Time, KBC, and now this show, I have always been a fan of Siddharth Basu, not as much for his quizzing talent (which, in itself, is remarkable) but more so for his ability to execute, without a fault. Consider the sets of KBC and the questions that stumped you just enough to feel that you can win, and just enough to make sure that you actually don't. Consider Quiz Time and the first ever popular quiz show on the Indian television, much before the current breed of reality shows had hit the boob tube.
Coming back to this particular show, the technical stuff is very much in place and very similar to the original, thanks to Mr. Basu and team. More than that, Basu's getting the hang of getting the right people for the job is pretty evident as well. I mean, who else but King Khan to pit kids against young and not-so-young adults, who else but King Khan to host a show that is supposed to be bubbly, energetic, and to a certain extent, kiddish, who else but King Khan to make a complete mockery (and yet be considerate enough to be polite all the way) of the contestants when they are not smarter than a fifth grader?
Fortunately or unfortunately, the people who have actually come on this show so far have not really been geniuses and the questions haven't helped either (well, some cases like the Is-Is-Istanbul and Karanchi-Lahore or revolutions around the SRK-sun were plain dumb). More than this, and definitely unfortunately, SRK has not been in his elements so far to be actually able to take the show to another level with his infectious energy. Whether it is thanks to his commitments to IPL, or unveiling of yet another wax statue of his, or his receiving yet another award in yet another award function organized by yet another magazine/TV channel, is open for debate.
Speaking of the IPL, things are going on pretty smoothly for the league now and just as the interest was about to be weaned away from the affairs on field, some things happened off it that brought the limelight right back. The 'Slapgate' and 'Cheeromania' were enough for even Dadas and Dadis who had not been clued in to the game's latest avataar to start talking about it. From news channels focusing only on the opulence of the game so far, and partly on the game, as well, this gave enough fodder to bring in other aspects of the drama to the public, and finally, it is the BCCI and the IPL franchise owners who are silently but surely, laughing all the way to the bank.
Work, on the other hand, is fast becoming a multi headed monster with too many things occupying my attention at the moment. Some of these are down right mundane and I do not wish to spend any more time on them but then there are others as well which are absolutely exciting and I can't wait to get going. However, as long as I am involved in these tasks, I shall be held responsible for their failure (if not the success, being just another cog in the wheel) and thus, have to give my whole and be on my juggling best as I go through late nights at work and at the same time, boring inerludes of sleep-inducing stuff during the day.
The personal life is not really kicking with work taking more of my time than I would ideally want but then I had anticipated this when I agreed to come to Mumbai in this role. Having been put into a position where I need to cultivate new friendships, and not having the ease of picking up a conversation with any and every one in the vicinity, is getting to be a pain, as well. I had assumed that life in Mumbai would be more social what with the IIMK people presumably hitting it big time in Mumbai, but I couldn't have been more mistaken. Distances play the spoilsport here in Mumbai, as well. Perhaps more so, since the distances are not just composed of the actual miles but even include the time constraints that many of us face in this fast and busy city.
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