Creating this website has been both an exercise in personal indulgence and a labor of love. Actually, it is a website that I myself would have loved to visit if it had already been in existence!
For as long as I can remember, I have been a voracious consumer of popular culture as well as an inveterate list-maker of the things I liked. I have channeled these two passions into building this website. Like many baby boomers who grew up in the ’50s and ’60s before the advent of television in India, my main source of entertainment was comprised of: (a) reading books and comics borrowed from the local circulating library, (b) watching movies (Hindi and English) in the cinema halls and (c) listening to popular Hindi music on the radio, among other things.
We live in a period when there is a vast amount of information available on the web and there is a steady stream of distractions from devices constantly asking for our attention. This is in stark contrast to the halcyon days when we were able to concentrate on savoring the many delectable creations of our favorite authors, filmmakers, musical artistes and comic-book writers and artists and give them the undivided attention which they richly deserved.
Unlike many other websites which simply compile and tabulate information in an indiscriminate fashion without regard to the merits of a particular piece of popular art, I believe this website is unique in that it incorporates the following important features:
- Selectivity. Most other websites which collect similar information in one place do not give any consideration to the quality of the items listed. For example, if there is a site which is a compendium of Hindi songs, it will include all the Hindi songs in a particular category without any attempt to select the songs which have more merit than others. On this website, I have instead tried to ‘separate the wheat from the chaff’. Of course, any selection criteria I apply will always be subjective and not universal. However, I have found that my own tastes line up quite well with those of many of my friends, so I hope that they will line up with yours as well! In addition to listing only those items I deem to be notable, I have also marked those special items which I consider to be all-time classics as GEMs. (“GEM” = Genuine Masterpiece, or an item which is greatly enjoyable and memorable.)
- Sortability & Searchability. All the lists shared on this website are in the form of tables which are sortable by each column (or a combination of columns). Also, all the tables have an instant search feature. My background as an engineer makes me cognizant of the importance of these features. With the ability to sort a table of dozens of entries (sometimes hundreds), you can easily find items with a particular attribute of interest to you, e.g., a specific singer or music director. (Alternatively, you may want to easily separate and view the GEMs in a particular list.) I am not aware of any other site of this kind which has these features, and I hope you find them useful!
- Interactivity. In addition to the above two features, I have also designed this site to maximize the ability of visitors to interact with the site in different ways and at different levels:
- Share your views on the content, e.g., by providing feedback on the things you like (or don’t like) about the site
- Have an online dialogue with others on a particular topic, e.g., by posting comments on a song or movie you like
- Build a community of people with similar interests, e.g., by starting a fan club devoted to your favorite comic-book character.
- Become a contributor to the site, e.g., by helping to review and moderate the information posted by others as well as by posting featured stories and other original content.
- (You can express your interest level in any of the above items by filling out this form or by simply contacting me here.)
Thank you for visiting my site, and I look forward to seeing you here regularly!