My view on the Apprentice show – US and UK version

I started watching The Apprentice show a few years ago when it had newly started. At that time I had a faint idea of what it was and didn’t really follow it. However as I kept on reading news and reviews about it, I thought I should try watching it again and maybe this time I will get what is the big deal about. My initial exposure was to the US version but later on tried the UK version as well due to suggestions by my British friend who thought UK was better than US version (I didn't truly believe him though).

But after watching almost all the series of both the US and UK versions until the latest episodes of the newest seasons, these are my thoughts about them.

US Version – 

                     1) There is a lot of money that is given to the contestants to execute the task.

                     2) Most of the tasks seem to be PR acts for the companies for which the contestants seem to work for.

                     3) There is a lot of focus on happenings which are not really concerned with the business task.

                     4) Donald Trump seems to make personal comments on people’s looks and that doesn’t seem to be much in good taste.

                     5) Donald Trump always speaks in superlatives about the task, the company, the products while describing them the tasks.

                     6) The music used on the show doesn’t really add much to the show.

                     7) When Donald Trump fires a candidate, many a times it seems sudden, as in there is a conversation or debate happening and suddenly we hear the dreadful words “You’re fired”.

                     8) I loved the first celebrity apprentice season.

                     9) Ivanka Trump is a really attractive woman (I had to add that).

UK Version – 

                      1) The tasks are well set and truly do seem to test the contestants adaptability – like starting with the initial episode where they have to buy and sell stuff with minimal amount.

                      2) I like two of their tasks especially – one when they have to buy stuff by negotiating the prices and the second one where the task is set in foreign land with generally minimal English usage.

                      3) I love all the British accents.

                      4) Lord Sugar is really witty and knows how to dissect the contestant’s views, opinions, defences and offences.

                      5) The focus of the show is truly on the tasks and the activities, one of the brilliant pieces of editing done by them was when two contestants had a fight, they showed a bit in the beginning                               and then covered with brilliant music highlighting the feud but sparing us the embarrassment of bad language and ill tempers.

                      6) The music used on the show is phenomenal.

                      7) Lord Sugar, before firing a contestant, does a good assessment of them and gives their strengths and weaknesses which is nice and educative.

                      8) I have rarely seen contestants raising their voices in the boardroom, seems a lot more professional than the some of the episodes from the US version.

                      9) The interview round seems to be rather harsh on candidates and I would dread to attend such interviews as shown on the show.

However I have to admit both shows work and entertain in their own way and if anything they give us a glimpse of the work ethics and the way to get things done in these two countries. 

Two stories that I would like to share with you.

I read this story some where; maybe many of you are familiar with this story already.

There was this new 500 bill that was made. Initially when it was new and beautiful everyone was amazed at it and admired it which made the bill happy about itself and quite proud. Then time went on and on and it got older and was no more special which started hurting the pride of the bill. One day it dropped of the pocket of its owner and laid in the snow, people stamped on it and it got wet and muddy. It started feeling it is of no worth anymore. But suddenly one day it got a bit bright and a little kid lifted it up and was very happy to see a 500 bill in his hand, afterall its such a big amount for a kid and the bill itself was amazed how valuable it can be to someone.

The moral of the story is no matter whoever stamps on you or puts you down, no matter how you feel bad and down at times, the real value of your stays the same no matter what.

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Once a boy from a village was packing up to move to the city for his new job he was about to start. His father was talking to him.

Father: Son, the most important virtue that a man can possess is patience. If you have it, you will be very successful in life.

Son: Yes dad, I will be very patient in my life.

Father: There are many things that will test you in life, patience is one thing that will get you through these tests.

Son: Yes dad, I agree with you.

Father: Never underestimate the importance of patience, you will not achieve much without it.

Son: Dad, I know that and I have patience.

Father: I have seen too many talented people waste their lives because they didn’t have patience when they were young, I don’t want that to happen to you.

Son: (teeth grinding) No dad, it won’t happen with me as I do have patience.

Father: Great men, if they could advise you something will surely tell you patience is one of the most important qualities in life that one must have.

Son: (shouting) Dad, now stop it. How many times do I have to tell you that I have patience? Now let me do my work or else I will miss the bus to the city.

Father: Son, I just tried to reinforce the importance of patience in 5 different ways and yet you lost your patience, imagine how difficult it will be when you are truly tested with it?

Our patience will achieve more than our force. - Edmund Burke (1729 - 1797)

Indian news media and its ridiculousness.

Having grown as a impressionable youngster with keen interest in world happenings, i was always interested in reading news and following it on TV. In the 1990's when cable TV was still a distant dream for many people in India, i got my share of TV news from our national broadcaster and state broadcaster which were funded by taxpayers money. It consisted of a smartly dressed with slight make up news reader (mostly women or at least thats whom i remember) reading through pages of news without barely any emotions was quite a sight. Then as i grew up we started subscribing to English newspapers which always had genuine headlines with ads thrown in between very sparsely. The more i think about it, the more it sounds very boring, dull but substance oriented with  no frills.

And i am now in 2010 when news channels and newspapers keep sprouting in equal ratio to our ever increasing population and corruption scandals. The highest selling newspaper in India : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/
and most watched news channel : http://aajtak.intoday.in/ have changed things so drastically that it is unbelievable. Both of these news companies 15 years ago were what i described previously. Now our beloved TimesOfIndia (TOI) has been able to churn news headlines which bordered on absolute ridicule like Sachin Tendulkar (world's greatest contemporary batsmen in Cricket) being hit on helmet by a ball in practice (because its something that is totally unthinkable) to direct insult to a self-respecting person's intelligence with news headlines like Amitabh Bacchan (Bollywood's iconic actor) getting cold has brought the levels of news reporting seriously down. On the other hand i have seen Aaj Tak reporting news about how Salman Khan (another Bollywood actor) was chased by dogs in his locality for a 30 minute long programme which consisted of his photos being displayed repeatedly to different songs of his movies and being commented on the background by a guy who reiterated himself saying that his car was chased by a couple of dogs when he drove into his locality. Hardly "news-worthy" is an understatement to such reporting is what i would say.

So why do such reputable companies indulge in such mockery of freedom of press? One of the most common arguments given by people is that because people watch it and love it which brings them money. However i have always found this argument faulty. One of the reasons why people follow this is because they really have no alternative. One would say that this statement contradicts my above observation of us being "blessed" by numerous sources of news via print and TV. However what one misses the point is that every news channel and most of the newspapers come out with the same strategy so it doesn't even matter if you change your channel or your newspaper, you are still going to be bombarded with the same stuff with different brand name. It amuses me how everyone who starts a new venture just wants to follow a tried-and-tested formula instead of being a bit more adventurous and try something new. Of course in today's capitalism driven world where profit drives everything, people may not afford to mess around with a successful combination but why not do it in an intelligent manner and start a possibly slow but eventually long journey with some sense of pride than follow mindless buffoons with a false self satisfaction that you are giving what people are wanting.

Why cannot our foreign-educated, high college fees paid media students think of this angle and do something new in it? Is it really that complicated to follow it?

There comes a point in life where everything makes sense.

There comes a point in life where everything makes sense .......... or does it really? I was going through life for many years without really knowing where am i going and why am i going but then came a point where I said to myself, "things are suddenly making more sense to me than before".This was a point where I rose up from a rather low tide in my life. That is when i started realizing and developing the good effects of positive attitude towards everything. I am still learning and practicing to perfect this art and I intend to be very good at it but it makes so much of a difference in the way i look at life now.

So if I could someone advise about life in general, then i would say that when you are faced with a trouble in life, think whats the worst that could happen and then think if that is how bad your condition is and probably that will give you a better perspective of things in life.