Well, the stock markets have given me plenty to cheer about in recent weeks, and so I thought I'd spend some of my gains on the things I really love - books and music. I went first to the bookshop. No, I'm not talking about Crossword; I'm referring to my beloved law book depot. Yeah, there's nothing like the smell of a newly printed copy of 'Direct Taxes-Law and Pratice for 2005-06'.

Then I went to Planet-M. I saw the ad's in the papers for some festive offers they're having - they're calling it "ChrisMasti" But why Masti? Masti means mischief in English, right? ...so what's the connection between 'mischief' and a discount sale at a music store at Christmas time? Perhaps if I'd done my MBA, I'd know. If you ask me the first thing they need to do is sack all their marketing/advertising people.

Anyway, so I started looking around. In some places there were little placards saying: Buy 2, Get 1 free, but only applicable on those CD's that carried the sticker. So first you have to look for the titles you want, and then see if that CD had the sticker. Wouldn't it be easier for everybody concerned if they had just put all the CD's on which the offer was applicable in one place? And it was really no surpise to find that all the ones I liked were not on offer, and the few good one's that were, happened to be stuff I already have. It doesn't make sense: why would anybody buy 2 crappy CD's just to get the third crappy CD? Again, I guess that MBA would have helped.

Now they do have a lot of titles, but most of it is stuff that you'd only buy if you won a lottery - you know: those CD's with a couple of good tracks, where buying the CD only for those doesn't quite make sense - that is if you haven't won a lottery. The most annoying thing about Planet M though is that they don't have what you really want. When I asked for Dido's 'Life for Rent' the malnourished salesgirl just says, "Dido is out of stock" and goes about her business. But look in 'D' and you will find every album ever released by Del Amitri! ...For those who don't know, Del Amitri is a half-hit wonder from the 80's.

You know, I've come to the conclusion that people in this country simply do not like giving you your money's worth. Our Indian music companies/distributors are no exception. Take for example the Norah Jones CD 'Feels like Home' - I bought that for Dee on her birthday in March and it cost me 360 bucks. Now you're getting the same CD, along with a VCD of one of her live performances for 400 odd bucks! How fair is that? So I guess what I paid 360 bucks for was actually worth just about... 200?

Anyway, I came away with nothing. But for those of you who like the blues, Planet-M has Gary Moore's 'Still Got The Blues' album with 5 additional tracks for just 295 bucks. It's an excellent, excellent album - Moore's best, I think. I bought it a couple of years ago for 600 bucks (without the additional tracks). Another good buy is 'Best of Smokie' - 18 tracks, all their most popular hits - also 295 bucks. If you're a jazz lover, and can afford it, they've got some good stuff by Wynton Marsalis and George Benson.

I think it's about bludy time Richard Branson opened some of his Virgin Superstores in our cities - because the Indian music lover deserves better.

Peace, love, and free music downloads.