X : XY chromosome in danger #AtoZChallenge2020

Few scientific facts first, to understand the post better - 

The XY gender-determination system is the gender-determination system found in humans, most other mammals, some insects (Drosophila), some snakes, some fish (guppies), and some plants  -(Ginkgo) tree. In this system, the gender of an individual is determined by a pair of gender chromosomes. Females typically have two of the same kind of gender chromosomes (XX). Males typically have two different kinds of gender chromosomes (XY). (Source: Wikipedia)

Since Covid19 outbreak world wide, it has been found, that males (XY pair of chromosomes) are more susceptible to this disease. They have a higher mortality rate than women. And they tend to remain infectious for a longer period as compared to women. (Source: Several news reports)

From here on the post becomes non-scientific and I will be giving my mumbo-jumbo theories on "Why a typical male / XY chromosome is in danger due to this C virus". 

I will be using the SWOT template for explanation.

Strength: Men are brave and risk takers. 

Evidence: They can drive at 100 mph on the roads with maximum speed limit of 60 mph. They jump a lot. Especially into other people's fights. They are the ones breaking most lockdown rules with a swag. 

Impact: Corona Virus is smart and loves a symbiotic relationship with risk takers and brave people. It is good for the virus' evolution. 

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Weakness: Men are idiots. Since Covid19 outbreak, many call them covidiots too!

Evidence: They tend to repeat their mistakes. Like getting involved into drunken brawls. Or falling in love. They are the ones who think wearing a mask is not cool. 

Impact: Corona Virus falls in love with idiots. It is clingy like men that way. Men are great carriers for its spread. It is good for the virus' gene pool increase.

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Opportunity: Men are braggarts. 

Evidence: They tend to exaggerate their performance data. They normally overstate their performance in bed and video games both. They wash hands just for 10 seconds and report that they have done it for 20 seconds.

Impact: Corona Virus doesn't go by reported data. It just knows the real performance like girlfriends do. This opportunity created by braggarts is something good for the virus' virility. 

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Threat: Men are lazy. 

Evidence: They can watch TV whole day long, without moving an inch. They sometimes don't even take a shower. They are used to staying at home for long periods without any form of socialization. 

Impact: Lazy Men are a big threat to Corona Virus. Corona Virus hates them. Brave men - idiots and braggarts, are of no use to the virus, if they don't step out of their homes.
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Key Actions for Men:

• Be Brave. Cook something apart from Maggi noodles. 
• Be an Idiot. Ask silly questions during office Zoom calls.
• Be a Braggart. Exaggerate about your exercise routine.
• But Stay at Home. Stay Safe. Till lockdown is not over. 

Make the XY pair of chromosomes great again!

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My theme for this year's #AtoZchallenge is Lock-down Blues. I intend to write and talk about how I deal with it, what it inspires me to read or watch or any aspect of it which fascinates me. You can read the theme reveal post here. 

Previous Challenges : Letter X

2017: Xeroxed

2018: X words and other tough things

2019: XL sized egos in Hindi Films / Bollywood

X : XL sized egos in Hindi Films / Bollywood #AtoZChallenge 2019

Please first watch the video below from the 1991 film Yodha (starring Sunny Deol and Sanjay Dutt; two big stars from that time), to get the context of today's post.

Are you done?

Okay! On a totally unrelated note, did you listen to the background score in the sequence? Did you find it same as the one used in Sunny Deol's 1990 film Ghayal? I mean how cliched it is, that in 90s even the background scores for certain kind of sequences had a pattern. May be this subject deserves a separate post some other time.

Now what else did you notice in the video? Here are my takeaways on action sequences between any two big stars in Hindi films:

1. Both the stars get equal number of dialogues
2. They get equal number of punches, hits and kicks
3. Each one hits the other and get hits almost the same number of times
4. They fall down almost the same number of times
5. The duel will generally remain unresolved and almost always, a third party will come and intervene to cut the scene short. Like in this case it is police. But it could be a mother or a child or a love interest too.

In real fights, the guy who falls down first after a brutal punch will find it difficult to continue. But then these stars are superheroes in Hindi Films.

This treatment is not limited to only fight sequences, but the whole film will be designed in such a way that both heroes get equal songs, equal number of dialogues throughout the film etc. And there are several instances of this. Watch this clip from the 1993 film Kshatriya, starring Sunny and Sanjay, yet again. This time in a sword fight. What I found funny here is that they both get bruised by swords (bruised... not cut deeply) on the same parts of their respective bodies. And a bruise is responded with a bruise almost immediately as if that was not the intent in the earlier part of the fight. Then the two senior actors and stars in their own right, Vinod Khanna and Dharmendra come riding on their horses in a similar fashion and mouth inane dialogues. Again all shots equally divided between them.

This trend of pandering to XL sized egos of the stars in Hindi films rather than serving the needs of the story and characters is amazingly stupid, but well accepted by their respective fan bases. In the 1995 film Karan Arjun, the big stars Salman Khan and Shahrukh Khan get equal billing. In the fight sequence below, the intervention is divine and most convoluted.

As the stories improved and audiences started liking more diverse content after the advent of cable TV, such films with hackneyed stories, which were designed to titillate the audiences on the basis of big stars coming together, fell by the wayside. But big stars had their XL sized egos intact. Most of them choose those roles even today that further their real life images. Example: Salman will never play a good role in an Aamir Khan film if its length is shorter. This situation robs the viewers in a way. If you look at Hollywood movies like The Departed (2006 film), which had a great ensemble cast, with such powerful actors, you can almost be sure that if such a film is made in India, with Aamir Khan in the lead, all other actors would be lesser stars.

Another Bollywood innovation is "Special Appearances / Guest Appearances". You will never see them in Hollywood. If a lesser known actor plays a 30 minute role in a Hindi Film he or she is treated as a regular cast member. But if Salman plays a 30 minute role in a film, it will be billed as a cameo or special appearance. It happened in 1998 film Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. Most probably Salman was paid handsomely for the role. But this special appearance tag is to cater to his real life image and his rabid fan base. He can't play a bit role in a Shahrukh Khan film. But he can generously make a special appearance. On the other hand, the actor (not a star) Christoph Waltz, won an Oscar for best supporting actor for his special appearance small yet influential role in Inglourious Basterds (2009 film).

As a true movie buff, my only wish is that instead of having XL sized egos and XXL sized brawns, the new generation stars like Ranveer Singh and Ranbir Kapoor, develop XXXL sized smarts and work together in a great film with great roles and make us drool. May be the director S. S. Rajamouli can make it possible. Make our big screen experiences XL sized again!

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My theme for this year's #AtoZchallenge is Hindi Film Industry / Bollywood cliches. You can read the theme reveal post here.

2017 Challenge Post from Letter X: Xeroxed - A post about the recycling of engineering notes and projects. Click here to read.

2018 Challenge Post from Letter X: X words and other tough things - A quirky take on how tough are the X things. Click here to read.

X : X words and other tough things #AtoZchallenge

Do you know that Oxford English Dictionary (OED) contains over 1.7 lakh words currently in use? If we add obsolete and derivative words to this number, the number of words go up to around 2.3 lakhs.

Now, guess how many words among these 2.3 lakh words begin with letter X! 400!

Read slowly - F O U R - H U N D R E D. Yes, a paltry number. 0.17% of the words that are there in OED start with the letter X. And then these words beginning with the letter X, are so esoteric. To write a topic on these esoteric words seemed like an e(X)tremley difficult task.

And you now how letter X compensates for it?

By coming at the end of the most important 3 letter word in this world. The mere mention of that word, shakes us to the core.

TAX.  What did you think?

In India, it comes at the end of a three letter word, that starts with the letter S and the word that every Indian shouts every evening with excitement, over and over again.

(Hint : A Google Fact - S is the letter from which most words in English begin, E is the letter which is midway and X comes last in the pecking order)

SIX! SIX! while watching the IPL cricket match. What did you think you single track mind?

But I am no pushover. I am not a person who gives up easily. I believe in the cheesy maxim that even the word "Impossible" says that "I M Possible". But did you notice that the person who coined this maxim has made an error? "M" and "am" are not really the same. By the way, show me where is the letter "X" in the word "Impossible"!

So I thought of writing on the following topics starting with the letter X and rejected them for the reasons mentioned.

• X - Factor - I didn't want to write on something which is intangible.
• X - Men / other movies that start with letter X - I didn't want to confound my Indian readers. I didn't want them to think that this is an adult blog.
• X - Chromosome - I was almost sure that I would write on female foeticide. But I was not in the frame of mind to write about a serious social ill today.
• Xenophobia - I didn't want to offend some of my close friends.
• XAT / other entrance exams I sat in for MBA admissions - Everything I have to say on this subject is already on pagalguy.com. 
• Xtreme / Xcel / words which actually start with Ex, but phonetically with X - I didn't want to cheat on you, my dear readers. By the way E(x)es itself could have been an eXplosive topic!
• Xenon - The only periodic table element that starts with X - I was weak in Chemistry in school. 
• .XLS (Excel Sheets) - I deal with this data shit the whole day. I didn't want to pollute my blog.
• Xerox - I already had covered it in last year's challenge. (Read it here)
• XL size clothes - I didn't want to write about my personal struggles today.

You get the drift? Right! I wanted to write on a topic starting from letter X. But I found it tough. So I am going to list some of the other things I find tough in life.

I. I find it tough to say "No", especially to girls. 

II. I find it tough to say "No", if am offered a dessert. Cheesecake anyone?

III. I find it tough to resist popcorn, while watching a film.

IV. I find it tough to wake up early in the mornings.

V. I find it tough to talk to someone with bad breath. I am tolerant of bad body odour though, surprisingly. 

VI. I find it tough to smile (with my teeth showing) for a group picture.  I am all for candid pictures.

VII. I find it tough to talk to strangers. I need time to warm up. 

VIII. I find it tough to shed the e(X)cess baggage that I carry. I am not talking about the emotional one. And here was one more lost opportunity for the letter X.

IX. I find it tough to ask for a raise. I hope my boss reads this one and gets the message.

X. I just realized, there was the letter "X" in point 9. I should have used the letter X as in Roman numerals and could have written any random list of 10 things. Silly me! Now I find it tough to write another list of 10 items.

Did you realize, I actually wrote two lists with 10 items in each?

Did you realize, I have listed so many topics from letter X today, that you can participate in this challenge next year without worrying about the X?

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My last year's challenge post from letter X was about my college notes getting xeroxed and how. Read it here.

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My theme for this year's #AtoZchallenge is all about writing stories, anecdotes and observations from my life in form of easy to read listicles. You can read the theme reveal post here.

X : Xeroxed

During my engineering, I was the class batch topper. In fact, I think I used to get highest ever scores in the history of that course. I completed my engineering on a scholarship and swept all possible awards at the convocation. Well, generally I am not that immodest. But this post required this introduction, I believe. 

Every time, semester exams neared, the demand for my class notes increased exponentially. My notes were xeroxed multiple times. My close friends would photocopy my original notes and give them back to me, so that I can also prepare for my exams.  And then copies were made from these copies and distributed further. I have heard stories that xerox copies of my notes and project work were kept at the photocopier's shop itself (near Gate No. 3 of our university) and people just used to go there and get a copy for themselves. As if this was not enough, the enterprising shopkeeper used to save a copy of my main projects, to reproduce and distribute next year for my juniors, of course at a price. I came to know about this, when after many years of completion of my engineering, I went to that shop for getting xerox of some documents. That fellow not only recognized me, but also showed me copies of my projects, I had done years ago.

What I used to find amusing was that the people who attended regular classes or those who missed few, will also get my complete notes xeroxed. For all the subjects. They used to spend more money, on getting photocopies of my notes, than buying actual books and studying properly. In fact I didn't use to study my own notes that much before exams, because I never took down complete notes. I only wrote those things which I found important. My writing was not that great. For newbies, it wasn't that legible too. I used to write in corners or margins, and not at all in a linear fashion. There were lots of doodles and arrows in my notes. I don't know how did my classmates study from it. I would not have topped the class, by studying my own notes. So, what were they trying to achieve. I followed three key mantras, which always helped me in studies. 

1. I was highly attentive in class. The objective was to study as less as possible, post classes or during exams, so that I can watch all the movies I want to, in my free time and also party with all my friends anytime. So, I used to ask lot of questions in the class and get all my concepts cleared there and then. So during exams, I studied only for few hours late in the night or early in the morning.

2. I used to read from books rather than only notes during exams. During the semester also, if something is unclear, I would refer books.

3. I never used to refer to anyone else's notes. 😼

During third year of my engineering, I participated in lot of debating and speaking competitions, so I used to travel to other universities across India. At that time, I missed few classes. So I decided to get someone else's notes xeroxed. I came to know, that when I used to miss classes, people used to get MT's notes xeroxed. So I borrowed her notes for the missed classes. Her handwriting was beautiful. She used to write everything, that professors spoke or wrote on the board. In fact she had learnt basic shorthand, to ensure that she doesn't miss even a single nuance. I used to wonder why she was lower on the pecking order than me, when it came to getting class notes xeroxed. The answers were pretty obvious. People were lazy. My notes could be read faster. They were able to complete the syllabus on time. If they wrote only the important points that I used to note down, in their exams, they tended to score higher. This is my interpretation. Thankfully, most of these engineers, never practiced and went on to do an MBA or Sales. Otherwise, my xeroxed notes, would have been held responsible for the collapsing bridges.