Tag: Sky

Smog

It’s been 3 days since I arrived in India. I’m yet to see the sky.

The cab driver called it fog. But the daytime temperatures are in high 20s, even saw 31°C yesterday. Yet this fog never clears.

I’m in my hometown. When I was growing up here, we used to lay on the roof at night, and try to recognise all the constellations.

In three days, I haven’t even seen a clear sun or moon.

Back home in Guildford, we still see the sky bright and clear – just the way it used to be here when I was growing up.

I miss that clear sky. That sharp, clear sunshine. And that bright and clear moon at which my boy barks.

Everyone knows this is smog. Everyone knows what’s causing it. (I think) everyone knows it’s quite bad for their health.

And yet, no one’s bothered about it. Not one bit.

Continue reading Smog

On train back out from Waterloo. Thames, Westminster, then Vauxhall outside my window. Grey blue skies.

Suddenly, I’m in a train south from Bandra. Mahim bay spread out besides. Grey blue sea. Faint smell of the sea, the fish, the Mithi crawls out of memory, through the nose, into the heart.

I miss you, Bombay.

BBC-F1-Sky!

The culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, described the deal as “tough but fair” and reassured the BBC’s commercial rivals that it would no longer be used to “blast them out of the water”.

In other words, Msr Hunt apologizing to the masters in Sky and offering them F1 coverage as a peace-making present after the NI-BSB deal got scuppered.

Further, what I don’t get is why keep half the races? If they were sharing the other half with a free to air channel like ITV, I could get the idea but in the current deal, BBC is just acting as a teaser for Sky – we’ll lure them in with half the races free and then you sign them up for the other half!  Heck, instead of paying £33m, BBC should be getting paid by Sky for generating subscriptions. But then that wouldn’t go down too well at the next conservative-NI-Sky dinner party, would it?

I have Sky at home and still hate this deal. I love the presenting team on BBC and will be distraught if that is split up, as seems likely from Martin Brundle’s tweet. Yet another reason for me to say – Screw you Conservatives!

Out.

P.S.: The Hunt quote is from here.