Kreatif Online

You're watching a Bollywood comedy if...

2010-11-08T17:00:00.006+05:30

Bollywood comedies today seem to be giving a new meaning to the Hindi phrase 'na sar, na pair' (no head or tail). This genre seems to be taking slapstick a bit too far. There was a point where we enjoyed watching these 'senseless' comedies as an escape from the tedium of life. But now, it has become mind-numbingly dumb. The list is endless - whether we're talking about 'De Dana Dhan' to the latest, 'Golmaal 3. Sure, they are entertaining...but only if you go with the mind of an 11 year old!

So, you know you're watching a Bollywood comedy if:

There's an ensemble cast of the same faces which keep getting shuffled around in different movies.
There are so many plot and sub-plots that the main plot is lost (if there was one).
The songs make no sense and make the movie even more distracting.
Everybody hits everyone else for no reason.
There's a vamp/prostitute who tries to seduce the wrong people.
The 'good' heroine gets mistaken for the vamp.
There's a bag of money or some precious jewellery that everyone's after and will solve their respective problems.
Johnny Lever has a strange and supposedly funny condition that you tire of 5 minutes into his appearance.
There is a lot of abusive and suggestive language which is also supposed to be funny.
The men are sexist and the women get pushed around as if they have no real purpose to serve.
There is lots of furniture broken and cars destroyed.
The movie ends with a chase in which the whole cast gets together, while you're still wondering what the plot is.

Bad, bad English!

2010-05-19T16:57:00.003+05:30

Disclaimer: The following post is purely subjective and only represents my views of how I see the English language dying a slow, painful death. In no way does it represent my dislike of people who use the terminology below because I am sure they dont realise the disservice they are doing to the language. I certainly do not represent any association that works for upholding the language or such.

Call me old fashioned but the chopped-off, alien language that passes off for English nowadays really puts me off. I can tolerate a little abbreviations here and there, but to completely hack words in meaningless stubs out of sheer laziness is deeply painful. I am probably going to be sniggered at for this post for being a fuddy-duddy (Hah!) but this is my blog, and well, I am going to let it flow. Here are some of the enervating words we come across everyday but they make my head spin with grief - because it's too much to see the language I have spent so much time and effort perfecting, being massacred.

List of the English language's most gruesome aberrations:

LOL: Unfortunately, this very common and very irritating term reminds me of AIDS, SARS and other deadly diseases. It sounds like someone is dying with a very painful, incurable and mentally debilitating disease, which is partly true, because people who use it think it makes more sense than a simple Haha!

OMG: Oh My God is again a very common exclamation, but only if they would say it that way! All we get to hear is oh-em-jee which is like the sound of a chalk screeching on a blackboard to me.

Ma: Not a new term because all during the seventies, Maaaaa was a common refrain in Hindi movies. But, horror of horrors, this has actually come to mean 'my'. And I simply fail to understand the logic behind this. There's no extra effort required in writing 'my' in place of 'ma'. It in no way goes with the English accents we have in India. I would understand a rapper saying this, but a student who hails from UP/Kerala/Calcutta? It simply makes no sense and it sounds ridiculous.

dat: Aaaaargh!!! This 'totally' makes my blood boil! I mean, it's sooooo easy to write 'tht' so why make it sound like a programming language? Same number of words too!

Kewl: Clueless about this one. It's far easier to write 'cool' or 'kool' and it's also aesthetically appealing. Kewl sounds like a cough and cold syrup.

Okies, Babes, Bye-Byes: Sounds like plural diarrhea. Where one would have thought people (ppl?) would have been concerned about making things shorter, they've started adding an extra 's' which not only doesnt look cool, it makes them look like they flunked in English in Grade 3 and joined a vernacular school (which I would totally support).

Um: It seriously took me a while to figure out that this is actually 'am'. Enough said.

The list is endless but I guess I've made my point clear. As we can see from the examples above, it is not really about convenience. Most aberrations have the same or even more number of letters where a perfectly simple shortening is possible such as 'abt', 'tht', 'whn' etc. But I guess this is some kind of rebellion where words are being intentionally twisted to stand apart from the (sane) crowd.

It's not even that people are sending SMSes from mobiles that have just 9 buttons. Almost everyone has a Qwerty keypad or a touchscreen. And even if not that, there's always predictive text!

But then, I guess that the fuddy-duddy inside me talking.

Hindi TV serials...or matrimonials?

2010-04-23T14:47:00.007+05:30

It's hard to surf channels without bumping into one TV serial or the other. While they all appear as different manifestations of the same script, there is one thing that quite bothers me about them. The women characters seem to have no other occupation in life except to get married, and after that wear a year's volume of makeup, don all of CTC Plaza's sarees, jewellery etc. and then scheme or become victims of schemes while keeping the aforementioned attire intact.

Why do Hindi TV serials have to be so regressive? Why is a woman's life only about the home and hearth...no matter how lavish it may be? Even in the serials where there is a so-called social message, most of the airtime is spent on wedding songs, mehandi songs, festival songs and so on. And all this happens in slow motion...where core of the plot is always a trivial domestic issue. Where women are shown to be working, they usually have a multi-crore family business to 'run' by sitting pretty around piles of cardboard 'files' (ever heard of a PC?).

Looks like nothing can tear the TV script away from the ultimate aim of getting some witty/attractive/ambitious/rebellious girl married so that she can gradually learn the art of dealing with matrimonial and domestic issues via the machinations of in-laws. Looking at any of these serials, one would come to the conclusion that there is no life beyond the lavish four walls of the house for an Indian woman where all the 'drama' happens. Where is real life?

And what's with the dress code? Even many middle class families today don't expect their bahus to wear embellished sarees, and are quite ok with a salwar-kameez or even a pair of jeans. So why the open advertisement for CTC Plaza and Meena Bazaar?

Even if you argue that most of today's serials are consumed in small towns where the mindset differs, why would we want to propogate that domestic mindset? Why not talk about the way the world really is? There's lots of drama going on outside the home...just tune into any news channel.

Do we really want to continue with a make-believe that nobody really believes in? Look at Bollywood, it's at least light years away from the time warp that Hindi serials are stuck in.

(Pic courtesy: starone.in)

Reservations about women

2010-03-08T15:51:00.004+05:30

Today is Women's Day and there is a hullabaloo about the Women's Reservation Bill being passed in the Indian Parliament. But it makes no sense to me. Reservation has never made sense after liberalisation took place in the early 90s. About women's reservation in particular - I wonder how it will bring about any development? Politicians are politicians - whether men or women and there is no guarantee (well, I am sure) that women politicians will do nothing to uplift their kind. Take two of our greatest examples. Mayawati keeps harping on the Dalit issue (which is no issue) and Mamta Banerjee spent half the railway budget on Bengalis.

Whatever makes us think that more women in the government will lead to a better country? Can't women be cunning or hypocritical or corrupt like the rest of the political community? And I am surprised that everyone is falling for this eyewash and hailing the Women's Bill as some kind of revolution. Puhleez! Even the media is lapping it up like crazy. Sorry, but I dont share the enthusiasm. If anything, I have my own reservations about that things will get worse, with uneducated, uninformed and uninterested women using up the quota just to fill up their bank balances.

Instead, we could have announced better education and social policies for women. Educating girls should be our top priority to really make a difference. They should be given social security if there are dumped by their alcoholic husbands or indifferent children.

But instead, we are making a mockery of the whole system and filling it up with whoever gets the reservation.

Reservations should only be restricted to meritorious candidates, whether in the government or in schools and colleges. How does being from a certain caste or religion make one person more worthy of entering an institution than another who is more sincere and dedicated?

As the Bill is tabled in Parliament today, I have a feeling it may be passed by a party that wants to 'look good'. We will soon end up with a bunch of mother/daughter/sister puppets who will be sitting in the government controlled by the same bunch of morons who are messing up our country today.

Why is hockey still our national game?

2010-03-02T15:03:00.004+05:30

You might have heard that the Hockey World Cup is being held in New Delhi thanks to the fact that the Indian team beat Pakistan 4 to 1, hereby ensuring front page coverage in national newspapers. But you could easily be forgiven for not knowing.

Here in Delhi, there is no excitement nor encouragement for people to be part of this world event. The only noticeable change for Delhites is the increased security cover around parts of town. But it certainly looks like we are almost apologetic about hosting the event because I haven't come across a single banner which welcomes the hockey teams to the city, and no single ad encouraging people to buy tickets. Restaurants and pubs think its not even worth trying to get crowds to come and watch the matches on big screens.

It's sad that we still call hockey our national game (do today's kids even know that?) and then show it no respect whatsoever. Heck, we dont even pay our players fair compensation. Then why persist in the pretense? On second thoughts, cricket cannot be our national game either - because it's our national religion!

P.S. You can do your bit by watching a match or two. Heard the arrangements are good (thanks to the low turnout). Book tickets here: http://www.ticketgenie.in/app1/Events/pEventGroupDetails.aspx?nEventGPID=17

Visual attyachar

2010-02-23T14:11:00.003+05:30

It's new-age television in India. Emotional Attyachar is a reality show which is aired on TV channel Bindass. And 'bindass' (laidback/carefree) it is! No, my post is not about the level of vulgarity or intimacy aired on the show but the fact that people are now breaking up, live, on TV! This is ridiculous!

First, you send a hot babe or dude to entrap your partner. The said babes/dudes are usually very good, almost professional in their entrapment. Then, the partner is spied upon without any holds barred. And when he/she finally succumbs, it looks like they are the torchbearers of immorality in the world!

It's not an exaggeration that at least 50% of people in this world would cheat at least once in their relationship. What this show is doing is not revealing something new, but the way in which the 'cheater' is humiliated is a bit over the top. I am not defending them, but dont understand the need to do this in front of millions of TV viewers. Think about it, the guy/girl has to live a life beyond this episode, literally, and that's not going to be easy with their face plastered all over TV, thanks to news channels who religiously show repeats of the juiciest bits of the show.

And how come, everyone fails this test? How come we dont see any success stories where the partner being spied upon just says no? Are they telling us that no one passes this test? I really find that suspicious. Or maybe those episodes are not 'good' enough to broadcast.

This also makes me wonder about how we dont seem to value our privacy anymore. People go on and off relationships on Facebook, Twitter and now, television. I would have thought infidelity is a serious issue which should be resolved by a mature discussion or counselling.

Oh well, maybe things have changed beyond repair. I mean, if people can get married on TV, why not break up? There's a similar programme on a radio channel (I forget which) which treats the whole infidelity thing as joke, remarking on lightly, while two people prepare themselves for massive emotional turbulence.

There's Splitsvilla on MTV which I simply cannot understand the logic of. If you want to go out with someone, do it. Why do you want to be on TV for that? Skeptical as it may sound, for the youngsters who do land up on these shows, it is not really about the issue at hand, but the fact that they get to be on television. Guess that overcomes all issues of privacy.

India is about 'dhakka start'!

2010-01-25T12:30:00.003+05:30

It's been months since I posted but been busy on the work front. Well, let me get on with it right away. For the uninitiated, 'dhakka start' is a phrase derived from those old cars which dont start unless they get a good push from behind! Over the years and my interaction with people, both professionally and personally, I have realised that many people in India work the same way. Starting right from the top, take our politicians. They don't move a muscle (except to blab, perhaps) except when they are pulled up by some high court for a crime they finally got caught in. Or when the media highlights an issue and because of public sentiment, they have to take stringent action. Things move on the fast track only when they get pushed to the forefront of newspapers - whether it is bad roads or bad justice. Why can't they realise their duties without being told to do so and so by our senior judges, whose role nowadays seems like that of a schoolteacher handling rowdy kids?

On a smaller scale, neither your plumber nor your maid nor your car cleaner will do their work diligently without a good string of abuses. And mind you, if you show the least sign of sympathy or softness, you will be taken for a loser who can be walked all over. Maids (I could write a whole book on them from my own experiences and those of my friends) seem to think that their only (real) job is to pass half-cooked stories from one house to the other. When you are not looking, they'll just 'forget' to clean your table or dust your lamp. It's only when they you constantly stare at them and pull them up once in a while that they budge into some action.

On the professional front, it's not a new thing - work only when someone's looking. I am sorry to say that this is the mentality of most Indian employees. Private company employees, that too, since government employees dont even pretend to work. Barring those in senior management who are really held accountable for the humongous salaries they draw, most people prefer to wile their time and only work when really required.

I think this is an in-built attitude problem. It is generally agreed that Indians cannot function without authority. We have no sense of self-regulation. Leave us lose and we'll mess up the whole country. There is no civic sense - no sense of ownership of the cities we live. We dont care whether our lanes are clean or if local politicians are doing their job, as long as everything is fine inside our homes. But, I am transgressing...The sense of obeying authority has led us to have no self-motivation to do anything unless pushed to do so. Look around you and I am sure you'll find lots of examples of people goofing off from their respective jobs because they have no fear of being held accountable.

I think countries like USA, Germany and Japan are what they are today because of the collective effort to each and every of their citizens. Because they care about their country...and they do what they are supposed to be doing.

Step this way, Mr Khan, you may be a terrorist

2009-08-17T12:26:00.004+05:30

Alas, we have to face the truth - having a surname like Khan can get you in some sticky situations in the US of A, the self-declared beholder of human rights the world over. When will they learn? You can't stereotype terrorists by their name or appearance. It's common sense, if it's a real terrorist you are dealing with, he will not travel under his real name...he could be Ronald McDonald for all you know! Secondly, what makes you (yes, you paranoid airport officials!) think that he'll be wearing a salwar kameez and a scraggly beard so you can point out, 'hey! that's a terrorist!' Seriously, US needs some strict lessons in orderly conduct here. And we all know Shah Rukh Khan's case is not the first time this has happened. Dr Abdul Kalam had to face similar humiliation recently, and God knows how many countless others are made to go through this just because their surname denotes them as Muslim or they look 'suspicious'?

That's the American side of the story, but we need to seriously think about the Indian government's reaction too: there is none. I don't know whether Indians politicians suffer from a chronic inferiority complex or colonial mindset but they have the feeblest of reactions or none at all. I don't mean the government should have made a noise about SRK, but at least about Dr Kalam? Why don't we make some strong statements to show that our dignity matters? Why didn't we frisk Hillary Clinton when she was on a visit? Oops sorry! We were busy falling at her feet!

Even in the case of attacks against Indians in Australia, which is a deadly serious matter, what exactly has the Indian government done to offer security to its citizens? Nothing, except made some feeble requests to the Australian government, which is in snobbish denial of everything. What we needed here were some strong measures to ensure that our kids are safe in foreign lands. We have seen how USA protects and aids its citizens no matter where they are. If we want to be seen anywhere on the global map as a country with its own standing, we have to learn to speak out.

Three Cups of Tea: The triumph of one man's vision of peace

2009-08-14T14:39:00.005+05:30

It's hard to believe that a person like Greg Mortensen exists today. What he has achieved by setting up hundreds of schools in war-torn and poor regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan is no mean feat. And that too, with just the determination and will to power him though. The book, Three Cups of Tea, is authored by Mortensen and David Oliver Relin and narrates how Mortensen went from being a mountaineer to a promoter of peace and goodwill.

Mortensen's story is an extraordinary one, not because of the extraordinary dreams he had but because he's actually achieved them. Staying with the people in the most isolated mountains of Pakistan, Mortensen realises how important a good education is to them. He promises the people of Korphe to build a school for them and after years of struggling and encountering all sorts of hardship, he succeeds in keeping his promise. He does this while not having a full-time job and sleeping in his car.

As you progress through the book, you realise that it is only Mortensen's compassion and his determination to do good that keeps him going. Otherwise, for a man who has no funds and is an American, it is almost impossible to win the cooperation and hearts of people in the innermost regions of Pakistan where even the government has not been able to do much.

After years of struggling and striving, Mortensen succeeds in setting up the Central Asia Institute (CAI) which exists today and has become a full-fledged organisation promoting peace through education. Mortensen's logic is that terrorism is bred when uneducated children are brainwashed by conniving fascists. A modern education is the only way to avoid this and CAI concentrates on education above all the other things it does to help the downtrodden and needy.

No book review can do justice to this book which must be read in its entirety to comprehend the full power of Mortensen's work.

Read Three Cups of Tea for sure, but also do what you can to support CAI and its noble initiatives.

Visit:
Greg Mortenson's home page

Three Cups of Tea

Central Asia Institute

The Undomestic Goddess: Time to slow down!

2009-06-02T12:45:00.003+05:30

Reviewing a chiklit novel isn't exactly necessary because its sole purpose is to entertain you and keep you rolling with laughter. But I'm making an exception with this one...

I particularly love Sophie Kinsella's sense of humour ever since I read Confessions of a Shopaholic. I haven't read any of its sequels because I felt they would never match up to the excitement of the first one. So I picked up The Undomestic Goddess to get more of that genuine humour and particularly because the theme of this book itself is so hilarious.

Samantha Sweeting is a top notch lawyer in London. She's so busy that she literally has to remind herself to take a breath. She's addicted to her Blackberry and nothing can tear her away from work at law firm where she's spent five long years harbouring her dream of becoming a partner.

A disastrous event more or less ends her career as a lawyer and Samantha finds herself in the countryside at a mansion, being mistaken for a housekeeper. Samantha knows absolutely nothing about cooking, cleaning or ironing and her endeavours at fooling her already foolish employers is entertaining to the core.

Needless to say, there's a man too and this time it's a Mills&Boon type of dark, handsome, rugged hero who also happens to be the gardener.

But if you think the book's just about rolling in the grass and baking bread, think again. There is a real plot to the book as Samantha attempts to salvage her career at one point and faces some scandalizing truths.

The Undomestic Goddess is also about slowing down. In Samantha, working women will see bits of themselves trying to do too much without sparing a thought to their real dreams. With Samantha, it goes to the extreme but the lesson to be learnt is that it's good to take a break once in a while.

Kulfi hunting in Old Delhi

2009-05-25T12:08:00.007+05:30

It was a picture of mouth-watering kulfis in the latest issue of Time Out that led me (and my better half who really hoped this was worth it!) to explore the bylanes of Old Delhi to locate the famous Kuremals kulfi wala. A metro ride to Chawri Bazaar led us to the chaotic Sita Ram market which we would have scoured up and down at least twice before being directed to one tiny bylane from among the numerous there. Walking down the isolated, though not completely empty, lane led us to the famous Kuremal's - shuttered down!

My first instinct was to call up the Time Out office and give them a piece of my mind as it was only 7.30 pm and the magazine said it was open up to 9 pm. Luckily, just opposite was the shop of Lala Dulli Chand Naresh Gupta, another renowned kulfi wala. The guy at the shop informed us that Kuremals has not been operating for a while now, and only works on special orders. What a pity!

Anyhow, we started off the thing we came for - stuffed mango kulfi. He gave us six sumptuous pieces of frozen mango filled with kesar kulfi and pistachio. It was the most unusual and amazing frozen dessert I have ever had! So much so, that in my excitement I forgot to photograph it! (As a result, I am putting up a pic of the kulfi courtesy eatanddust.wordpress.com)

We followed that by anaar kulfi (pomegranate) which was more of a gola, fruit cream (not as good as expected, a bit flavourless) and matka rabri kulfi (authentic to the core).

The shop also has faalsa kulfi, stuffed apple kulfi and litchi kulfi but we didn't try those out. Overall, the experience was good but I don't know whether I would go all the way again for it. And that's the point anyway...I wanted to visit this part of Delhi at least once...and it was worth it.

Aakriti vs Shanno

2009-04-27T10:41:00.003+05:30

Two incidents in two schools happened recently, leading to the death of two girls. One died due to the alleged lack of medical attention and other, due to an alleged punishment that went too far. Both received due media attention but it is the first case which evoked the candlelight protests and visits from politicians.

Aakriti was a 17 year-old student of Modern school who died of an asthma attack, and her parents allege that it is the school's untimely response which killed her. The media hype was enough to have Sheila Dixit and Renuka Chowdhury visit Aakriti's parents. Now, the parents are planning to take the case to court.

On the other hand, Shanno was an 11 year-old child studying in a nondescript school who belonged to a poor family who could hardly make ends meet. She clearly died from brutal punishment at the hands of a teacher who has not even been implicated so far. No one has come to Shanno's aid, and no one is taking up her cause - forget candlelight protests. Not wanting to send her siblings to the same school, her parents have instead admitted them into an orphanage.

It's not that I blame Aakriti's parents for having the muscle to create a noise, but what happened is unfair. The poor girl's plight has no takers, except for 2-3 days that it received coverage. Her parents don't have the time or money to buy a place in media. They don't have visits from politicians to show for it. Most probably, the teacher/school authorities paid off the doctors and police to make Shanno's death look like an epileptic attack. Even if she did suffer from epilepsy, did the teacher not bring it on with her brutality? But nobody will answer these questions, because nobody's interested.

As for the other case, reports lead us to believe that the school did all it could to help Aakriti and most schools dont have a doctor on location. She was apparently ill before joining school and her parents could have taken extra precaution given her condition.

Whether it's media bias or a reflection of our own prejudiced society, we knwo how this goes. The poor man's daughter has no sympathizers but the rich man's daughter has plenty.

TOI falls for it!

2009-04-02T14:33:00.003+05:30

The Times of India has fallen for an April Fools joke! On page 15 of the Delhi edition today, it published a report on navigator shoes (here's the link). This actually a joke, and here's the original site where people have already caught the trap in the various comments.

In fact, even the authenticity of the second piece of this page is debatable, about the touch screen phone for the blind!

Somehow this is not surprising. I am sure a lot of papers who don't believe in doing their research would have fallen for stories like this.

Here's a great list of all the jokes that were placed online yesterday. I personally like The Guardian's Twitter-only announcement, The Economist's theme park and Gmail's autopilot!

Revolutionary Road: For better....or the worst

2009-03-16T10:59:00.003+05:30

You must watch Revolutionary Road with no preconceptions in mind, because what you will be taken through is something totally unlike what you could associate with America in the 1950s. For Americans, this era was the best time to be alive, to prosper and be happy with their families - stark contrast to the recession they face today.

So, we have a seemingly perfect family in the Wheelers - April (Kate Winslet) and Frank (Leonardo DiCaprio) and their two children. But things are not at all what they seem. Below the farce, are the frustrations of both these individuals. Frank, for an unsatisfactory job, and April, for a failed career as an actress.

In an effort to pull up her life, April suggests that the family move to Paris and Frank gets as excited about the proposition. But as always with life, their plans dont work out. This completely shatters April, whose expectations of happiness and escape from a dreary life and as Frank puts it, a "hopeless emptiness", are hanging from a single thread - Paris. When that snaps, so does April.

The climax of the movie has been beautifully shot and poignantly features April's hopelessness and resignation.

Both Kate and Leo are powerhouse actors and do a great job with good support by David Harbour as his best friend and Micheal Shannon as the disturbed intellectual.

This movie may not appeal to all and slowly progresses from one scene to the next, perhaps mimicking life's drabness. But men and women will identify with Frank and April to some extent because we all go through moments when we question our very existence but choose to keep quiet about it.

When will we take ragging seriously?

2009-03-13T11:49:00.004+05:30

The brutal death of Aman Kachroo at a medical college due to ragging has shocked the nation. Apparently, Aman had been suffering for a long time and no help had been extended to him. And to top it all, I read today in the papers that there is no anti-ragging law in Himachal Pradesh where the crime happened. I can't look at the smiling photo of Aman without thinking about the immense sorrow, shock and anger that his parents must be feeling. I mean, this is 21st century India...can't parents be safe in the knowledge that they are sending their children to study in a protected environment? No, because what they end up getting instead is the tortured dead body of their child.

Sorry if that sounded crude, but it's time to take ragging very seriously. Today another girl committed suicide after a humiliating experience. All this is happening even after the Supreme Court intervened to ask colleges to do everything they can to stop ragging. I think we need more stringent and specific measures for college hostels where victims are helpless and have no escape.

There's a bill pending in Parliament since 2005 against ragging but I guess our MPs are too busy passing bills increasing their salaries and perks to bother. We can't have any more Amans -- this is too big a tragedy to ignore, because this is the death of trust we have in the Indian educational and justice system.

Another issue which urgently needs attention more than ever is the suicides that happen around this time as students are unable to cope with their exams. Why do we have an educational system that kills thousands of students every year? Why cant we make it mandatory for every school to have qualified counsellers? Why can't we make 50 per cent of our syllabus more practical and activity based? Somebody at the top needs to seriously think about this.

The Hundred Foot Journey

2009-03-09T14:10:00.004+05:30

This book may easily have been called the hundred 'food' journey. From the beginning, author Richard C Morais overwhelms your senses with the smells, taste and sights of Indian cuisine which can only be described as cosmopolitan, typical of Mumbai. From then on, it is a gastronomic journey of Hassan, a boy who goes from helping his parents in a roadside eatery to becoming a world-renowned French chef.

Surprising as it sounds, the journey is interesting and its characters may be divided into two sets: the boisterous Indians and the reserved French. Hassan is enterprising and learns the very authentic form of French cooking, without any global influences and innovations.

Morais works hard, going in detail to describe every dish and every wine. Sometimes, the food overpowers the characters. So, it would help if you are a foodie when you pick up this book. Otherwise, you may not understand this obsession with detail. Also, vegetarians beware, some parts of this book may make you queasy!

I would recommend The Hundred Foot journey for an inspirational read into what goes into reaching the top, and the doubts that come with it. It is also about breaking with tradition and following what your heart asks of you.

Valkyrie: "Only God can judge us now."

2009-03-02T11:53:00.002+05:30

Tom Cruise proved his mettle as an actor way back in 1992 when he starred in A Few Good Men. With Valkyrie, he is a pleasure to watch as the headstrong Col Stauffenberg, who just couldn't go against his raging conscience.

Historians say there were between 17 to 42 failed attempts to kill Hitler, and Valkyrie, which originated in Hitler's own army was the boldest one of all. Attempted on July 20, 1944, Stauffenberg came up with the plan to use Hilter's Reserve Army (Operation Valkyrie) against his own regime. Ambitious though it was, Hitler was lucky and survived the attempt.

The movie makes you realize how outraged people were with Hitler even in his own ranks. Tom Cruise and other notable actors play their roles to perfection as the conspirators who will ultimately pay with their lives.

Interestingly, as you watch the movie, the director is able to create a suspense so strong, it makes you forget that you actually know the outcome of this story. Hitler was not assassinated. But as you watch Stauffenberg and his men, you wish from your heart that they would succeed. Unfortunately, that doesn't happen and WWII gets bloodier, with Hitler committing suicide only nine months later.

I would recommend this movie for any person who is remotely interested in WWII history. The director also spares you any discomfort by not showing any ghastly images from the era, and the filmy is mostly confined to the white corridors of power.

Trivia: One reason Tom was attracted to this role was the stark similarity he has to Stauffenberg. see picture below:

For some facts on the Stauffenberg plot, see this link.

Rahman rocks Hollywood!

2009-02-23T14:11:00.006+05:30

We didn't need Hollywood to tell us that Allah Rakkha Rahman (or A R Rahman, as we know him) is a genius. But the Oscar is definitely welcome, and Rahman deserves it all the way. He's the first Indian music director to have taken the path less trodden and composing with a fresh, imaginative mind. I first encountered Rahman when I heard Dil Se... and I recall that the haunting music really grabbed me and made me reconsider Bollywood music...which I wasn't a fan of at that time.

Then on, this shy, but consistent music maestro has delivered hits like Taal, Fiza, Zubeidaa (another beautiful album), Yuva, Swades, Jodhaa Akbar, Ghajini and now Delhi-6. Slumdog Millionaire is not Rahman's first tryst with the West as he has worked with Andrew Lloyd Webber on the Broadway musical, Bombay Dreams.

The greatest quality of Rahman is that he completely blends his music with the stroyline and character of the film. Take his latest, Delhi-6 example. He's done this album so well, you would think its a Delhi native and not a man hailing from Tamil Nadu who's created it.

As for Slumdog Millionaire, it's certainly not his best work, but far superior than the film music Bollywood and even Hollywood normally churns out.

Kudos, Rahman!

P.S: Rahman becomes the first Indian to win an Oscar, in fact, two. He was awarded at the 81st Academy Awards. http://www.arrahman.com/v2/

Seven Pounds: The goodness within

2009-02-14T13:42:00.004+05:30

How much goodness are we capable of? In today's world wrecked by terror and death, you wouldn't even trust your next-door neighbour. But in Seven Pounds, Will Smith plays a character who will literally jolt you out of your indifference.

It would not be right to reveal the plot in my review because the storytelling and screenplay in the movie is fantastic, which keeps you guessing and wondering about the reason behind Will, who calls himself Ben Thomas in the movie, being so perfectly good.

No longer do we see characters in movies today which sacrifice their happiness and come close to sacrificing their lives for the happiness of others. It does seem a bit unrealistic until you realize at the end that there was a very strong driving force, guilt, which made Ben the way he is. A small mistake which changes his life so drastically that Ben loses his identity and lives only for others.

With this movie, Will has proven that he is an actor who knows what he is doing. Watch Seven Pounds for the strings that it will surely pull in your soul, and make you wonder: Am I capable of even a fraction of that kindness?

Pink lingerie as a political weapon

2009-02-11T12:36:00.003+05:30

I don't know how effective the Pink Chaddi movement is going to be, but it has certainly got our attention. The Consortium of Pubgoing, Loose and Forward women are doing this campaign to send out pink underwears to Sri Ram Sena, the people who are making the life of women in Mangalore miserable.

It's interesting, but is it enough of a response to the violence and humiliation that women had to go through? This activism immediately reminded me of the bra-burning of the 70s when women declared their sexual freedom. We need to ensure that we get the message across loud and clear: we will not be manhandled by religious goons. We have a right to be who we are -- whether we drink, smoke or wear short skirts is OUR choice.

Obviously, there are a lot of people in India who are not hardliners, but still disapprove of women partying at pubs -- such as your neighbourhood Aunty (whose daughter eloped with her boyfriend, but this doesn't stop her from making snide remarks about other girls) or your landlord. The point is: they have a constitutional right to do that. just like the SRS has a right to (forcefully) declare their views. we couldn't stop them, so why stop women from having fun? If you are so concerned about Indian values, instill them in your children and leave it at that.

No one can control the customary steps that the next generation takes to declare itself different from the previous one. And I do feel that the purpose of a lot of young, school-going kids who frequent pubs (what legal drinking age?) is not to have fun but show that they have the freedom to do what they want. THAT is where we need some moral lessons.

What we DON'T want is to stop young men and women of legal drinking age to go out and have fun.

Welcome to Indian democracy

2009-02-03T14:47:00.003+05:30

This post comes in a bit late, considering that hooligans taking over our country is an alarming situation. First they were burning Christians in Orissa alive, now they are humiliating women in Mangalore. At this moment, I am sure they are rolling up their sleeves for Valentine's day so they can thrash couples. Even the government and police are supporting them.

Is it just me, or is democracy in India being taken too far? Come to think of it, it's because of the freedom that Gujjars can block our roads in Delhi and prevent us from going to work because of a spat they have in Rajasthan, doctors can leave their patients to die because they are on strike and people are afraid to put up Urdu signs in Mumbai, because it's in Mahrashtra and Raj Thackery can't stand any other type of Indians.

India is a democracy where:
- we elect the same leaders who will become parasites later
- we forget injustices done to innocent people and elect Modi as CM again
- we don't mind the filth and mess around us because we don't expect the government to fix it
- we have to take care of our own security because Indian police is the most corrupt (after politicians, of course)
- court judgements can go on for centuries, after your bones have turned to powder
- any hooligan can come and attack you in the name of freedom of expression

It makes me sad that such a progressive nation is being bled by such sick elements.

Driving in Delhi: Do you know the rules?

2009-01-16T10:22:00.007+05:30

I started driving in Delhi over a year ago, and needless to say, was apprehensive about the notorious ways of the road in Delhi. So far, I have realised that there is a code of conduct that 80 per cent of the people driving in Delhi follow, except for the remaining well-behaved minority and the more abundant irrational cab drivers. So, here are the ten rules followed by most people on Delhi roads:

DON'T drive in a single lane. This shows that you have no knowledge of driving. Why follow one lane when you can zig-zag your way through and get there faster (even by two minutes, it's worth it)?
When there's a traffic jam in a two-way lane, don't be stupid and stand with the rest of the morons. Instead, go to the OTHER side of the road where it's clearer. Don't worry about the traffic coming from the other side, you can just bully them into the corner. Besides, very soon, the other morons will follow you and extend the traffic jam to both sides of the road so that it's total chaos and nobody gets anywhere.
When the traffic policeman signals you to stop, just inch your way into the middle of the road and zoom off while the traffic coming the other way tries to dodge you.
Even if there's a red signal, keep honking so that the person in front is compelled to do the stunt mentioned above.
Honk even if there's no reason to, it's shows them you're the man!
Overtake from the left without even so much a twitch of the eye. Don't bother honking, it's the other person's responsibility to watch out for cars coming from their right and left.
When you are driving at night, MAKE SURE that your car is on high beam so that people know you have them. It's ok if you blind everybody around you to crash into the divider. (same goes for fog lights, even if it's not foggy)
Indicators are for wimps. When you want to turn right or left, just do so, what are you waiting for?!
When you see a woman driving treat her like an idiot and NEVER let her overtake you, even if it means risking your life. Your manhood is more important.
Lastly, if you ride a two-wheeler (esp a bike), you are naturally exempt from traffic rules. Drive any way you want, go over dividers or even footpaths, and generally, flout all rules of civilized driving.

Happy Driving!

Panic, panic!

2009-01-09T12:02:00.006+05:30

The scenes I witnessed in Delhi today made it look like there was a war on or something. There were km long queues at petrol stations and even the lucky ones who got close to the pump had to contend with hoards of people carrying plastic bottles and cans. Yes, there is a strike on by oil companies (I am no longer interested in knowing why), but it's not like the world has come to an end. No one is interested in putting an end to the world's petrol supply or burning up the remaining oil fields!

But if you saw the scene at petrol pumps today, I was afraid we would have nationwide riots. And I strongly believe that our media is responsible for this. As is collective human nature, panic spreads quickly when you don't have complete information. So, instead of reassuring people to take it easy at least for a day or two, our Indian news channels were on a war footing...creating even more panic among people, who were hoarding petrol like it's going out of fashion.

Instead of just hyping the shortage, what they could have done was spoken to the authorities, found out what the situation is (and why the strike is happening in the first place!) and tried to make things look reasonable. Strikes like this happen in a democracy like India and we have to live with it. Just to add a note, there is also a truckers strike happening, due to which vegetables prices are touching the sky, and I am sure people have started hoarding them too...

Anyhow, it's the duty of the government to take the support of media to control crisis situations such as these. Why is it that, forget about even making a national announcement, our PM doesn't even issue a press release?!! It's a pity, really. Hate to say this, but even the terrorists who attacked Mumbai in November 2008 knew how to use our media better.

Update: As if on cue, the Indian government has taken stringent steps to tackle the crisis, and even published print ads to prove the point. See Ad 1, Ad 2.

Why 'Rab ne bana di jodi...' shouldn't disappoint you

2008-12-17T11:43:00.004+05:30

The minute I saw the promos of RNBDJ (hate such acronyms!), I wondered What is Shah Rukh doing here? It's strange to see him play a role like Suri and the movie itself is a return to the common man...something we don't even get to see on TV serials today. And that's why, I think , one should not be disappointed with this movie.

Sure, being a Bollywood movie Rab Ne... has it's larger-than-life elements, but the movie doesn't make a show of a middle class India that generally isn't. Based in a small town in Punjab, the movie about Surender Kapoor aka Suri who doesn't look like a dude, is happy with his government job and doesn't have many interests. Suddenly, he finds himself wed to a beautiful, bubbly girl who literally transforms him into somebody else.

Therefore, don't go to this movie expecting a fairytale, predictable romance or an adventure. Just sit back and immerse yourself in a world where aspirations are really not so out of reach and there is happiness in the little things in life.

Mumbai terror: Why the blame game?

2008-12-01T16:52:00.004+05:30

I have been unable to write on the Mumbai terror so far because everything has been so mind-numbing. Somehow, I still can't imagine an India (more so, cosmopolitan Mumbai) where people emerge on the streets wielding AK-47s and firing at people indiscriminately. I can't imagine a heritage 5-star hotel being reduced to a warehouse of dead bodies. It's been very hard for all of us and in terms of psychological damage..this has been no less than India's 9/11.

Now that it's thankfully over, politicians and intelligence agencies have begun their blame game...dirty as their minds are. Offering rehearsed sympathies and blaming the other party is all they are capable of doing. Most disappointing has been our PM who should have consoled the people of India and announced some concrete measures to at least make the people feel safe. But he has let us down...

The intelligence bureau is blaming the NSG and Navy and vice-versa, but people, what's the point? Over 200 lives have been lost and all we need to do now is create an independent cell precisely to deal with such situations, regardless of the governing party. I believe that that the NSG was created for this purpose, but it was too busy guarding politicians' kitty parties to focus on 'trivial matters' like national security. I don't know how we are going to deal with this and how iron-fisted we can afford to get...but we need to ensure that the Mumbai nightmare doesn't happen again.

'The Stone Gods': In search of a blue planet

2008-11-11T17:37:00.003+05:30

The Stone Gods by Jeanette Winterson is well-crafted like a mosaic built of different pieces made to form the larger picture. The essence of the book is the inherent nature of human beings to destroy their dwelling place and thus inflict pain of themselves.

The book is divided into three parts which seem like completely different stories except for names of the two main characters. The first two may be real or imagined, as they seem so remote from reality that it's hard to tell. It's only the third part that brings things into focus, though you as a reader still have to string together some thoughts.

In the story of the futuristic world on a planet called Orbus, the author describes a society which is completely artificial, right from the weather to people's appearances. Nothing is at it seems, and people have gone to the extremes to fulfill their shallow desires, the planet can go to hell. Billie is a woman who still thinks 'traditionally' and lives on a farm, eyed with suspicion by all. Spike here is a beautiful robo sapiens who is what the future's future is about...an evolving robot.

The second part takes us to a primitive island where nothing is remotely futuristic, but the theme is the same...man destroys nature, thus destroying himself. Billie (a man) is an explorer who meets the local Spike and sees the fallacies of an island where wood has become a precious commodity.

It's the third part which is chillingly real, and offers a more realistic alternative to what happened in the first part.

The events may appear detached at first, even up to the last few pages and I guess that is what keeps the reader glued on, but there is an end where the past and future are one and there is only today to think about.

Winterson uses language which is philosophical and (unnecessarily) long-winding but the message is worthwhile. This book is not a literary masterpiece but a peek into a future which may not be so hard to fathom.

And history is made...

2008-11-05T11:31:00.002+05:30

The victory of Barack Hussein Obama is a proud moment for all of us, not only because he is bi-racial (he's only half Afro-American), because this gives minorities a hope in the country which has truly become diversified. The New York Times reports, ironically, that just 143 years ago, Obama could have been bought as a slave...Blacks have have been traumatised and exploited more than any other race in America and Europe and this is indeed a dream come true for them.

Obama's key voice during the Presidential campaign was to call for change and now he has become a symbol of exactly that...the fact that Americans voted for him shows that they are desperate for change from the mess created largely by the Bush administration.

It's interesting how this US election has had everyone around the world glued to their seats...and a poll conducted by Economist .com shows that Obama is the favourite the world over...because this is not the victory of one popular candidate over the other, but the victory of one oppressed race which now is the voice of the most powerful country in the world.

Congratulations to Americans for opening their minds!

Below is the acceptance speech by Obama:

What politicians wear

2008-10-23T16:12:00.009+05:30

This article in The New York Times shows how politicians' clothes come in the limelight when they are in the news for some reason. Here, Sarah Palin is being criticized for spending $150,000 on clothes for campaigning, with the party's money of course. Frankly, I don't know what the fuss is about, because 1) she looks exactly the same as earlier, just with a more polished look 2) she needed clothes for her campaign tour! I mean, what's so hard to believe about that?

Anybody who understands an iota about women knows that whenever there is some occasion, any occasion - they need to buy clothes. And this is the US presidential elections! I don't blame her one bit, as long as she doesn't colour her hair red (then, it would be obvious that she's trying to look 'trendy').

Closer home, I recall watching news reports of a TV channel on how Shivraj Patil is always impeccably dressed in white. This was during the recent bomb blasts in Delhi, and they made it look like he was guilty because he was so well dressed! They even interviewed his tailor...now, what did they expect? That he should have gone around in rags to offer his condolences?

Look at the image change that Sonia Gandhi went through. From her floral dresses to the (mostly) white cotton saris she exclusively wears. I guess this makeover was all the more important for her as she was not born Indian and needed to prove herself.

One thing I have noticed about politicians in India is that they wear their patriotism on their sleeves. is it written in their constitution that they should only wear khadis and Nehru caps? One of the exceptions to this is Priyanka Gandhi. She is as comfortable in jeans as salwar-kameez. In short, the modern Indian woman. Wish I could say the same of her brother Rahul who always walks around in crumpled white kurtas...and Sheila Dixit too, who needs to look in the mirror...wonder what she achieves with the disheveled look?

Given the shabby state of Indian politics, it's no surprise that our politicians dress the part. But it would be nice to see well-dressed netas as well. APJ Abdul Kalam is famous for his safari suits and Vasundhara Raje has a good collection of saris too. But looking at the global stage, few can beat Bill Clinton's style and charisma.

Why the bias?

2008-09-29T14:55:00.002+05:30

I don't usually fill up my posts with another article, but this time I am making an exception, because a piece written by Rakhshanda Jalil in the Times of India has very aptly put together the kind of negligence faced in predominantly Muslim areas in Delhi. The place which she talks about is something I can vouch for, having stayed there for quite some time myself:

Why a bias against Jamia Nagar?

Living in the Jamia neighbourhood has always been tough. The incidents of last week, being dubbed the Battle of Batla House by the press, will only make it tougher. Biases, I suspect, will get sharper; discrimination more covert; and the gloves, I fear, will be off. A few years ago when I moved from Gulmohar Park, a tony locality in South Delhi, to the Jamia neighbourhood, little was I to know that I would be changing not merely a postal address and a landline telephone number but virtually exchanging one way of life for another...

Doesn't anybody care about Christians in India?

2008-09-24T12:11:00.007+05:30

It's horrific the way Christians, one of the most peaceful religious communities in India, is being vandalised by Hindu extremists. The blind attacks on churches are going on unabated and no serious action has been taken by the governments in Orissa or Karnataka.

But what I find even more horrifying is the complete silence of everybody else on this issue. Hindus are quiet because Christians are supposedly taking away their brethen by forcible conversions. Muslims are too preoccupied with their own problems and extremist elements to care. And even the West...the supposed fighter of the Christian cause...is not even looking. The Pope has not raised a voice. The only voices we are hearing are those of hurt (an understatement, if ever there was one) preists pleading for justice.

All this while, the Bajrang Dal is allowed to go on with its uncivilised, inhuman behaviour while the rest of us shake our heads in disapproval. We need more than this to contain this violence...aren't Christians part of India? Are they those in-betweens which are ignored by their countrymen as well as the global community? Will nobody accept them as their own?

I don't know what the answers to these questions are, but I am outraged at the ability of people to push such serious human rights violations under the carpet. Even the UN has not stirred...and I am speechless myself.

Related report on IBN

P.S. My favourite quote nowadays is one by Diderot: "Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest."

Big Bang for news channels

2008-09-11T12:41:00.009+05:30

The phenomenon we know as news channels in India is certainly peculiar, and one can never tire from writing about them. Whereas in the rest of the world, news channels present factual information, those in India do everything they can to dramatise (and thus twist) information. As a result, what remains are shreds of hardly recognisable truth.

A recent spectacle was the CERN project which is supposed to be a

huge experiment to achieve something I frankly don't understand. The ironic part is that humungous machines have been used to create super tiny, sub-atomic protons! Anyhow, so our news channels decided that this was not exciting enough to talk about, but they found an angle to it which would put K-serials to shame. There was a disclaimer to the experiment that if it went wrong, the results could be a world-shattering disaster. Of course, we know that the thousands of people working for 20 years would do everything in their power to never let this happen.

But the millions of people watching Indian news channels couldn't have known that, because they were told that "the world is going to end". And this is no exaggeration. All over, the news channels kept reporting that the end was near and the experiment was doomed. So much so, that ex-president Kalam had to step in to put an end of the panic this was causing among people.

Rightly now, the I&B Ministry is planning to take action against Aaj Tak and India TV for spreading baseless fears in the public.

All in all, I am sure the news channels secretly enjoy doing these kinds of things to keep their TRPs going. My suggestion to everyone is: Don't take news on TV seriously, read the paper instead.

Life in a metro

2008-09-03T15:42:00.003+05:30

Living in a metro in India is nothing less than waging a war with the 24 hours allotted to you. There are so many things to be done, and all you have is those hours you can manage to stay awake before flopping in an unconscious-like state on the bed. Most of these waking hours are spent crawling through ill-managed traffic. The time that's left is spent on managing maids, maintaining the house and shopping for groceries.

I live a life very similar to this but I do wonder very often...what is it that makes our lives so hectic and stressed out? Are we demanding too much from ourselves or is the stress only in our mind? It's true that stress originates in the mind but physically exploiting your body also takes its toll. And the way we exploit it is by not giving it enough exercise (most of us have sedentary jobs and skip the gym trips) and eating all sorts of junk food.

I think life in a metro is about chasing a never-ending dream. Your needs never end...you want one branded thing after another...you want a bigger car....a bigger and better house....a more exotic holiday. Though there is nothing wrong with being ambitious, we forget to enjoy the present...and if you think about it, that's all we have now. We have nothing except this living moment and a mind full of dreams.

Here are some ways I have thought of which might make life less hectic or at least easier to handle:

Prioritise: Picture this. It's a Saturday. You have a movie to catch, a dinner to attend and shopping to do. Instead of trying to do everything, prioritise and think of what can be done later. Needless to say, relationships should come first in those priorities (though splurging once in a while is retail therapy!)
Zero hour: Every minute does not have to be spent doing something. When was the last time you just sat back and relaxed? Try to spend at least an hour every weekend just doing nothing and probably thinking about the week gone by and what you could have done to make things easier.
Re-discover old passions: Did you enjoy making silk flowers once? Or did you spend your time swimming? Whatever it may be, there may be lots of things you gave up when you got busy. Recollect those hobbies and passions and if you can return to them, do so.
Do you need everything? Sure, your colleague or friend might have bought a new phone and you like it, but do you really need one too? Sometimes, we just want things without really needing them. This adds unnecessary pressure on ourselves to work harder and earn more money. Let's learn to demand less from life.
Find reasons to be happy: Think about the good things in life. What is it that makes you smile? make sure that those things or those people are around you more often. Do things that make you genuinely happy.
Talk to God: I think no person is complete without a spiritual connection. It is when we talk to a Higher Being that we realise how small we are in this universe. And sometimes it's good to have that perspective.

Overall, it's not easy living the fast life but very often we don't have a choice. It's great as long as we don't lose sight of what's really important to us.

"So, how does it feel..."

2008-08-13T12:13:00.003+05:30

Ever since I got married a few months ago, I have been asked this question a million times by every single person I meet. It usually goes, "Sooooo (with a smirk) how does it feel to be married? (smirk becomes a full-toothed smile)?" I never know how to answer this while as I dread the next person who is going to ask me that.

I mean, logically, how are you supposed to answer this question? Of course, life changes after marriage. For some, it's a big change and for some, it's a natural progression. For me, it's been the second thing and I don't know why people are so curious about my post-marital life! So, my natural reaction was to smile back (smirkily?) but now I have had it so much that I just say, "Why does everybody ask me that question?" which is enough to put them on hold.

I guess this has something to do with the fact that people like to state the obvious and it can be very annoying. I mean, if I were to take that question seriously, I would have to go into a complete philosophical and sociological account but of course, I don't want to.

But if I had to answer that question, maybe I would say: Of course life changes after marriage. It's a new experience and it's a new beginning and I am just figuring it out, so please give me some breathing space!

Traffic terror in Delhi

2008-08-11T17:39:00.005+05:30

I was really happy when I bought my car...the independence of going wherever you want to without having to worry about the public transport was a wonderful feeling. I have enjoyed it so far, but for the past few months, the traffic in Delhi has been getting worse. Roads are jam packed all over the city and you really have to think twice before venturing out on the weekend, or at least you have to keep an hour's window for getting there.

One of the reasons for this swelling traffic could be the lightning speed with which the Metro construction is happening. The other is that every other person is buying a new car. if he already has one, he's buying another one. Money is overflowing in people's pockets, you can't help but notice.

Well anyway, instead of cribbing about it, I have thought of a few solutions to reduce the mess:

Congestion charge - This is a measure adopted in UK and I think it's worth paying a little extra to avoid painful hours of driving in traffic (which, I have realised, is very strenuous). This could be for roads like Ashram and MG Road so that people take another route if they can or think twice before adding to the mess.

Second car tax - People are buying cars at the drop of a hat, and I am not exaggerating. Not only does this add to the traffic, it is also fueling the second hand car market. So, every second car in a household should be taxed, so people buy one only if it's really necessary.

Awareness campaign - I know we have bigger issues like AIDS prevention and female foeticide, but we could have a campaign by Delhi Police to promote good driving habits and encourage car pooling. (The traffic police also need an awareness campaign - to become aware that they have other jobs to do than take bribes from the helpless public.)

Timings - Offices which can afford to should change their timings to avoid peak hours. I would prefer starting early and finishing early. This is esp important, in fact, mandatory for offices in Noida and Gurgaon.

I am sure that once the Metro is fully on track, things will get better. But we must remember that the number of cars is not going down and that we are going to have a deluge of tourists (and traffic) in the Commonwealth Games. It's better to gear up now before we mess up completely.

P.S. This post comes after a long hiatus because I was caught up in more, let's say, offline stuff...but I am going to try and update more often :)

ICICI banking...Shoddy banking

2007-10-10T13:21:00.000+05:30

You would have thought that after the privatisation of banks in India, we would say goodbye to those long, sweaty queues under a fan that could fall on your head anytime (if there was a fan over your head, that is). Now, you can sit in the comfort of your air-conditioned home or office and waste 3 hours trying to get your problem across the thick head of an incoherent customer care executive.

ICICI Bank is the perfect example. They do a great job of frustrating the hell out of you and you end up actually missing the 'good' old days in fits of insanity. To cite the latest such incident, I had to visit an ICICI Bank branch for an account statement in print. I was there at 9am but had to change three counters because their systems and printers were not up and running. This, for a bank which is supposed to start the day at 8am - I am glad I didnt go earlier.

To make things worse, they are actually charging me 100 bucks plus taxes for that print-out on measly computer paper. I mean, in an age where the cost of banking is going up, you at least expect some perks - but dont expect it from ICICI. They charge you for every little thing and sometimes things that you dont fully understand, like quarterly average balance. Hell, why cant they tell you a fixed amount?

The only saving grace about the bank is its website which is more efficient than all its customer care executives put together. But anything that goes offline becomes a nightmare. Once, my internet account was blocked due to a wrong entry and it took three months of harassing and being harassed to get a new password.

Only recently, on a call with an ICICI exec, I was told that I had to go to my ICICI branch because they hadnt updated my personal details. If they expect me to do that, they can keep expecting.

On the other hand, I also deal with Axis Bank and they have a decent customer care system. In fact, I rarely need to call customer care because they rarely goof up. They send me an SMS for every bank charge and keep me posted through quarterly statements, without my having to ask or pay for them.

'The Road': The last gasps of humanity

2007-09-29T23:19:00.000+05:30

Cormac McCarthy's The Road is a book you just cannot take at face value. Simply put, it's plot describes a man and his son trudging down a road amidst the wasteland that earth has become after a natural (human-triggered?) disaster. It is about seeing a cold, dying world through the eyes of this duo, and all the horrors within:

Where all was burnt to ash before them no fires were to be had and the nights were long and dark and cold beyond anything they'd yet encountered.

To say that The Road is about an imagined situation where the world is taking it's last breath would be oversimplifying it. McCarthy's style is bare of frills and fancies, even allegorical, but his message is clear: it is humanity which is dying. Worse still, it is humanity which has brought upon this self-destruction.

The boy is never named like the man and the other 'presences' in this book (they never evolve into 'characters'). It only goes on to show that in the nightmare that the world has become, names and identities don't matter. What matters is survival. And the boy is of an era where nothing exists. Everything we take for granted is something of a folk tale for him.

Maybe he understood for the first time that to the boy he was himself an alien. A being from a planet that no longer existed. The tales of which were suspect.

Even all the principles and thoughts are nothing but a hazy memory:

You won't wish us luck either, will you? the man said.

I don't know what that would mean. What luck would look like. Who would know such a thing?

What the survivors are walking towards on the never ending road is not some lost Atlantis, but just the fact that by moving on they will continue living.

The Road is unsettling but that's its purpose. We are all too ready to take our greatest gift from God - Earth - for granted.

Prospective readers be warned, there is no window of hope in this stark novel, except the hope of survival. The only hint of a future is the boy's ability to stay alive.

Way to go, Team India!

2007-09-25T14:37:00.001+05:30

I am not about to forget the gripping, nail-biting final cricket match played yesterday between India and Pakistan at the Twenty20 World Cup. Till the very last moment when the ball was in the air, you didn't know whether it was India or Pakistan that would take home the Cup. And one must admit, both teams deserved to win. Finally, when India picked up the Cup, not even the most staunch cricket critic in India could help but feel proud for his country. So, hat's off to Young India. And I have a request for the BICCI selectors: let's the boys play their game, and keep the politics to yourself so that they can continue playing the way they did.

Here's a video of that last crucial wicket.

See the gripping final over.

'King of Bollywood': The emergence of a star and a global phenomenon

2007-09-02T22:29:00.000+05:30

I consciously avoided Anupama Chopra's book on Shah Rukh Khan, 'King of Bollywood: Shah Rukh Khan and the Seductive World of Indian Cinema', at first. I abhorred the idea of what I presumed was an attempt to cash in on the SRK brand (the gaudy cover didn't help either). But then, word got around and people were raving about it - people who are not SRK fans. It's ironic because I am one and a steady one at that.

The first thing that impresses you about the book is that it is not about Shah Rukh from a very personal, emotional viewpoint but rather from an industry's perspective. Anupama writes about how Indian cinema evolved right from the beginning. There is rarely a period she misses out on as she talks about how popular Indian cinema became Bollywood, an exportable phenomenon by India. She describes it as:

There are only two rules: There must be love and there must be songs.

Shah Rukh did not initially consider films, concentrating on theatre and TV where he felt the real acting happened. However, Fate had a different role for him, and he finally fulfilled his dream of ruling the city of Mumbai - though now he rules over many more.

Anupama describes how Bollywood turns from a hierarchical network into a corporate-style industry and how this helps SRK achieve his global superstar status by wooing the hearts of the Indians abroad and the liberated Indians at home. There is no doubt that Raj of DDLJ is where SRK the superstar was born, though he had proved his acting (in his own style) earlier in movies like Baazigar. Anupama writes:

Raj resonated with the aspirations of a post-liberalization 1990s India. Shah Rukh became the personification of the collective ideals and longings of a country undergoing social upheaval.

The book's first few chapters are about Shah Rukh's intense struggle with life, especially after losing his father. After a series of misfortunes, SRK is ultimately thrust into the film world, which is particularly taken by his incessant energy, which gives a signature style of acting.

Even after achieving a star status, life wasn't smooth all the way. First he fielded threats from the underworld, and then his home productions flopped. The downpoint of his career was:

At least one distributor suggested to Shah Rukh that perhaps he could compensate for the distributor's financial loss by dancing at his friend's wedding.

Of course, SRK recovered and reigns as King of Bollywood, but even if you are not a SRK fan, the book gives you an inside view of how the industry works, though Anupama does not go too deep. The book is about a star's ascent to superstardom and the industry's ascent to global fame.

'Chak de India': Makes you feel good

2007-08-19T20:05:00.000+05:30

Ah, I can't seem to avoid the India theme for the past few posts. But believe me, it's unavoidable. After watching Chak De India I knew this was an unusual movie, for many reasons. One, it's about hockey - our, so to say, national game. Second, it's about women...playing hockey. Third, it's a Yash Raj production starring Shah Rukh and 16 women. I mean, it sounds over-ambitious right from the start...

But fact is, Chak De is a movie which you can't overlook because it has a very real message: A game can be dead serious. And it takes all your dedication and determination to get to the top. Shah Rukh as Kabir Khan plays the coach of the Indian Women's Hockey Team considered the last option any coach would choose. But then, Kabir has his own reasons. Shah Rukh is wonderfully subdued in the film and the actor in him comes out in full bloom and you actually forget his star status. These are the kind of roles one would want to see more in. He's proven himself to be a reigning star and we know he didn't get there without calibre, but it's roles like these which really drive home the point. In fact, it's only after Swades that I have seen only the actor in Shah Rukh and he looks like the role was written just for him, though it is based on a real-life coach's story.

Of course, Shah Rukh is only one half of the movie. The other half consists of 16 very determined girls who have their eye on the ball. Because Chak De is also about the Indian women who are breaking glass ceilings everywhere. It's about changing tradition while remaining true to yourself. It's about firing ambition which is the only way to get to the top.

The point to note is that these women are not just fighting their foreign opponents on the hockey field. They are fighting the system which thinks that cricket is the only real sport. They are fighting the male chauvinism that women do not belong to sports. Overcoming all these hurdles is probably a feat unique to women sports persons in countries like ours. It makes you look at all these women with a new respect and pride.

Overall, Chak De is about feeling good about yourself as an Indian. About a country which can produce heroes like these. It's about knowing full well that any miracle can happen in this country.

No silence please, we're Indians!

2007-08-18T21:27:00.000+05:30

Indians have always been averse to silence. No wait, that's an understatement...they have a morbid fear of it! Put two Indians together (well, most of them anyway) and they'll find something to talk about because they are just not programmed to be seated in silence. So, whether it's a doctor's waiting room, a railway station, a bus stop or a box office queue - you'll find lots of yakking. I use that term because people speak about the most absurd things...a liver operation...a broken water tank...the neighbour who parks in front of their house...the good ol' days...you must hand it over to us for filling the air with words.

And my theory is, Indians do this because they fear quietude and silence. To us, silence means something is wrong (Itna sannaata kyun hai bhai? is the perfect example). That's because we are brought up either in a joint family structure or a closed neighbourhood environment. Your house was always full of relatives. their relatives, neighbours, their neighbours and so on. You probably shared your room with a sibling and never had a moment's peace. Even if you were an only child, there are always cousins...you get the drift.

Now, take places like gyms, joggers parks and beauty parlours. These are the places you go to rejuvenate, not talk. In fact, these are the places where you want some peace. Go to any Western country, and these places are fountains of calm. Everybody goes about their business and no one bothers you with their gall bladder story. Take a beauty parlour (and this is from personal experience!)...you go there expecting to relax, but end up between a crossfire of gossip among women of all skin types. Even if there are no customers, the beauticians share their domestic lives over your head as if the fact that you have a face pack on also makes you deaf, and rather non-existent.

Take our movies. Mainstream Bollywood has never really exploited the power of silence to convey the gravity of a scene. Even if there are no dialogues, be sure there will be some heavy 'background' music that nearly deafens you.

I am sure a lot of people enjoy these conversations and count it as one of the better traits of Indians. But I have always savoured silence and I hate speaking just for the sake of it...especially when the subject is yawningly absurd. But like everything else you get used to it...part of being an Indian, you know.

Ten reasons I am proud to be an Indian

2007-08-15T15:26:00.001+05:30

I admit that I am prone to be negative and critical when it comes to my country. So, for a change, on the occasion of Independence Day, I will attempt to look at the positive side and list the ten reasons (that come to my mind at this moment) I am proud to be an Indian. Here goes:

I can criticize the State without fear of being picked by the Thought Police. I can voice my political opinion freely and openly.
I can communicate with every other Indian so easily - everybody has a mobile phone. Soon, everybody will have a PC with an Internet connection.
I can travel from one state to another without any formalities. Think about it, in NCR, people live in one state and travel through another to reach yet another state where they work!
I don't have to conform to any standard definition. Any Indian has so many stereotypes even, that you can't even fall in one category! I claim to understand many languages that I have acquired only by interacting with other Indians.
I have never seen a lapse of democratic ideals, even if it's only heard in the voice of the Opposition!
I have such a rich history that I can never stop learning something new about the past of this country.
I can watch a range of films made in my own country - from the entertaining to the thought-provoking to the downright touching.
I can hope for a way out, no matter what the mess we be in - Indians are the masters of jugaad (quick-fix solutions).
I can count upon my fellow Indians to stand up for any injustice - Indians are never known to be put down, and are never short of numbers.
I can hope with confidence that India will get there...somewhere...someday.

At your own risk...

2007-08-14T10:15:00.000+05:30

When you step out of your home in Delhi, do so at your own risk. Everyday, at least one person dies under the wheels of a private bus on Delhi's roads. And that's the end of it. Don't even think about justice, because this is the kind of justice the victims get:

A Delhi court today fined a private bus driver Rs 2,000 and sentenced him to two years imprisonment for running over a person waiting at a bus stop 11 years ago.

This is from a report in The Indian Express today. A man whose only fault was that he was waiting at a bus stop expecting to get from one place to the other, was run over and killed. A man lost his life. A family lost their support. And what does the murderer get? Two years in jail, a meager fine of two-thousand rupees and just two years in jail. And after eleven years too. What sort of justice is this?

This sentence is the very reason more people die on the roads everyday. Because nobody really cares. The government started a mighty drive against errant drivers, caused much trouble to the commuters of Delhi and today, things are back to 'normal'. Normal in the sense we know from everyday. We know that we are responsible for our own safety and there is no state mechanism looking out for us. We know that we can't expect justice, except a token sentence decades down the line.

Waterways of Delhi

2007-08-02T20:21:00.000+05:30

One night of blissful, hearty rain in Delhi, and what do you wake up to? A mock flood, that's what. And I use the word 'mock' because that's exactly what it is: a totally unnecessary exaggeration of things as they really stand. So, today morning there was chaos (again!) as people were caught in freak traffic as they maneuvered the waterways of Delhi that connected one place to another.

But the unfortunate part is that it was 'borne' with such a fuss, as if a little water here and there was the end of the world. I say, how typically pretentious of Delhiwallas. Especially at a time when most parts of our country are really flooded. Not to speak of the local TV channels who played looped footage of water flowing across in some gully and mohalla of the city.

Of course, I say all this with an undercurrent of sympathy for commuters who were actually delayed by hours (many of my friends were hostage to traffic jams).

Traffic in Delhi is really strange. It's like that scene in The Truman Show where Jim Carrey is driving down an isolated road, and suddenly a host of cars just appear out of nowhere. Believe me, it is as exasperating as that. And the reason for these traffic jams are stranger - whether it's an increase in diesel prices or a little bit of rain. All the same, it's usually inexplicable.

Capital in chaos

2007-07-12T10:07:00.000+05:30

For the past few days, regular Delhi-ites (not the high-flyer variety) are in deep muck, because of the government's inability to provide a reliable, convenient transportation system. The capital of India is in dire straits after a crackdown on private buses which have been flouting every rule in the book ever since they opened their eyes.

Anyway, thousands of buses are off the roads, either in protest or because they have been booked. Now, people are forced to travel on the public buses which have never taken their job seriously since they opened their eyes.

And now, it seems, auto-rickshaw drivers (who were under the scanner earlier) are making the most of the public distress. I experienced this first-hand yesterday when I went to Lajpat Nagar market to pick up some stuff. I do this sometimes in the evenings and I didn't expect things to be as bad as they were. Well, at 8.30pm there were no autos available and people were stranded all over the place as auto wallahs refused to go or charged the moon. Ultimately, I ended up taking two cycle rickshaws to cover the 6.5 km distance home!

This makes me think about the mentality of Delhi versus Mumbai (again!). On 26th July 2006, when people were stranded due to the floods in Mumbai, strangers offered people lifts home, taxi drivers took passengers without caring about money and shops stayed open all night to provide shelter. Consider the situation in Delhi where the slightest bout of rain or agitation is fully taken advantage of by everybody to fleece commuters.

I mean, this is the capital of Asia's emerging superpower, for heaven's sake! I rest my case.

' A Thousand Splendid Suns': That which is behind the veil

2007-07-08T21:29:00.001+05:30

When the much-televised reign of Taliban in Afghanistan was beamed into our homes, did it ever occur to you what was inside the figures blanketed in blue - the Afghan women who were strictly, to put it lightly, kept 'in order'. Well, it did enter my mind. I wanted to know what went on in the hearts of these women. What did they feel at the torture meted out to them - fear, anger, hatred or even, guilt in some strange way? Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns tries to get inside that abaya, into the homes these women inhabit, into their lives...and into their hearts.

Though even Hosseini cannot claim to know these most elusive women inside out, he does seem to do justice to their many tragedies. The book is the story of two women, Mariam and Laila, who become sister-like friends in the most unexpected of circumstances. They see the many changes in power that their country goes through, and the many wars which batter it completely. Mariam is resigned to her fate at being a woman in a male-dominated country and is ever-resilient. But Laila is in for a rude shock as her life of liberty is snatched from her and she is thrown in to share Mariam's nightmare.

Sometimes, it is hard to believe that it is a man, Hosseini, who is writing the book and not the women themselves who are forming the words on the pages. Oppression does not come by choice, but sometimes it is suffered due to helplessness. This is one of the insights this story gives us. It is as if, we the reader, are being secretly taken into a world which will never unfold before us.

With A Thousand Splendid Suns, the author faced a classic situation that comes with any second book after a hugely successful first one. And Hosseini does not disappoint. Though he is far from his country, his attachment to it is evident, as he quotes Saeb-e-Tabrizi's love for Kabul:

One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs,
Or the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls.

Even more heartening is the fact that Hosseini is not all words. He is an active social worker for Afghani refugees. Visit his site for more.

Independent Indian woman...where?

2007-06-29T20:26:00.000+05:30

After almost sixty years of India's independence, how independent are its women really? You could say that women are much more liberated today than they have ever been, but do they really feel so? Naturally, if things have changed for women so have they for men in India as the country progressed. But it's the mindset that I am referring to...that is still stuck in good ol' eighteenth century (or earlier, depending on where you are).

The idea of an 'independent Indian woman' to me is one who can make her own choices and live without fear of being victimised just because she is an easy target, a woman. I am not even talking about the villages where electricity has not yet reached, and there is no point in discussing liberation where there is struggle for daily survival. I am talking about the women living in big cities...who I can closely identify with.

Urban society offers little opportunity for young woman to exercise their independence. They are forever tied to familial obligations and hardly get time to themselves. Every decision they make must be approved by Mummy, Aunty and the next-door neighbour. In fact, every step she takes must be socially acceptable. So, there is no question of lighting a cigarette or talking to a stranger (man, must I add?). I am not saying that these are the things that constitute liberation, but why have different rules for women?

If she wants to stay on her own, relatives assume something must be wrong. Career decisions must be what I call, 'matrimonially safe'. That means, it should sound good to her prospective in-laws. So, there's no question of becoming a hydraulic engineer or zoologist. Many women do go on and achieve their dreams but they are far too few.

Even in the blue-collar workforce, our society does not give women the freedom to become plumbers, gardeners or taxi drivers -- which could have given them the economic independence they need. So, women of the lower strata are forced to work as house help and laundry persons. Others meet a worse fate, and even then, they have no protection from exploitation. Prostitution is illegal in our country and that has not stopped this practice from proliferating...it has only led to more exploitation of women and young girls.

The answer then, is not in merely educating women, but also opening avenues for their economic liberation. Not only will this ensure a good future for their children, but will free them from the clutches of painful marriages and relations.

Speaking of which, domestic violence and dowry deaths have been proven now and again to be unrelated to education and social status. Silently, many professional and well-to-do women continue to suffer at the hands of their spouses.

All this does not count the mental torture. As soon as a woman enters into her twenties that she is made to think that her only purpose in life is to get married and have kids. At the peak of their lives when they should be exploring life, they are handed burdens which tie them down forever. For women who choose to delay marriage, the mental torture continues till they finally do. It seems that society cannot accept a single, happy woman. She must always be attached to her parents or husband or kids.

So, I still think the Indian woman has a long way to go. Until she has to feel guilty about being single and happy or pursuing a successful career, she is anything but independent.

Where are the real Gandhis?

2007-06-17T12:13:00.000+05:30

Ramchandra Gandhi, a philosophy professor at St Stephens in Delhi University, University of Southampton in England and two other institutions passed away in a guest room at the India International Centre, New Delhi on June 13. If you haven't heard this, I won't blame you. For the record, Ramchandra was a grandson of Mahatma Gandhi.

The Gandhi Serve organisation states that there are 54 direct descendants of MK Gandhi. But, where are they? Why aren't they playing an active role in the political system? Strangely, Mahatma Gandhi has gone down in history as a solitary figure, battling the Evil Empire. His sons and grandchildren seem to have been abandoned to oblivion.

What we have instead is a revival of the 'Gandhi' brand with Pandit Nehru, Indira and Sonia. Gandhi's simple ideal of democracy was replaced by socialist principles as soon as Nehru came to the centre stage. It's unfortunate that none of Gandhi's children were given any position of statehood that would have kept them alive in public memory.

All of Bapu's sons - Harilal, Manilal, Ramdas and Devdas - led their own little lives. Harilal died in obscurity because of his seperation from his father. Manilal spent his life running his father's paper in South Africa. Ramdas was active politically, but not enough to get him to a prominent position. Devdas went into journalism and led a quiet life. Their children are scattered across continents. Some of Bapu's grandchildren run missions abroad. Ironic, considering that MK Gandhi was a staunch swadeshi.

One does wonder, though whether Gandhi himself is responsible for this. He did not care much for political accolades and it is doubtful whether he would have supported his children's political careers. Instead, he sent them off in different directions. When Manilal Gandhi's daughter, Uma Duphelia-Mesthrie released her book Gandhi's Prisoner? The Life Of Gandhi's Son - Manilal in South Africa, she alleged that Manilal's life was completely directed by his father's wishes.

It seems unlikely, though not impossible, that there will be a rebirth of the 'real' Gandhi family in Indian politics. Indians seems to prefer the romanticized version of the Nehru 'Gandhi dynasty' instead.

References:
Wikipedia
IOL

Indian democracy: Anything but equal

2007-06-12T21:56:00.000+05:30

In George Orwell's futuristic book 1984, the citizens of Oceania do not even know what their identity is. They do not differentiate among themselves on the basis of religion, appearance or language. That's because all these concepts have been erased by the government. While the government of 1984 is hardly democratic, its de-recognition of these labels is perhaps the only positive aspect of its rule.

Indian democracy, or any democracy, was all about equality of all people before the law, and before its elected rulers. I say 'was' because I don't see this happening. Even USA could not do justice to democracy, evident by the the uprising of Blacks. In India, our forefathers tried to be 'fair' by recognising each and every differentiating factor that an Indian could claim. India is a democracy of unequals. In every sphere of its working, we see differences among men.

I put my mind to what could be done to make India a better democracy. I may not be able to pull off this Plato-ish task but I would like to put forward my thoughts on what could be done with this country. Some ideas:

End quotas: Quotas on the basis of caste have only deepened the differences. From the beginning, we have put it into the mind of Indians that their caste and religion decides what opportunities for growth they will get. I say, abolish all quotas and reservations, except for the physically or mentally challenged who cannot compete equally, and make the sole deciding factor economic status. Education and employment opportunities should be reserved for people who can prove that their poverty regardless of anything else.

Cut MP perks: If all citizens are equal, so should the servants of the people. Ministers and bureaucrats should pay their electricity and phone bills like everybody else. They should pay tolls. They should pay for their air travel except when travelling for official purposes. Every Member of Parliament who asks for extra security should get clearance from the High Court of his constituency, stating why he requires it.

Public accountability: Every scheme or programme initiated by the government for the welfare of the people should have a system of accounting to the public for every rupee spent. These statements should be made available in newspapers and websites and be archived for recall at any given time. Possibly, the accounts should track the progress of these programmes every three years. If the Ministry undertaking the programme does not meet its target, it should explain why on a TV broadcast and a public statement, otherwise the Supreme Court should have a right to penalise it by cutting its grants. On the other hand, they should be rewarded for meeting targets by increasing grants.

Local nominations: Some members of the IAS, the 'lifeline' of bureaucracy, should be elected at the local level instead of being appointed by the government. This should be for positions which directly affect the welfare of villages or towns. Locals can nominate worthy members of the community and then vote for them, overseen by a vigilance officer posted by the government. The job of the vigilance officer would be to check corruption. He will be motivated to do so under an incentive scheme. The bigger the corruption he reports, the higher would be his incentive.

Of course, there's a lot more that can be done. And I know all of this is utterly ambitious because for change to happen, there should be a large enough advocacy group to push it. But all of the above measures have no single lobby. Maybe the changes should happen one at a time. Realistically, I don't see it happening. In a country as complex as India, there is no clear cut solution, no matter how logical. To expect India to become an equal democracy is like expecting America to change it foreign policy!

Of course, neither will happen but we must keep the think tank open. Ideas must keep flowing in, to at least remember the ideal that we are a free country where citizens have the real power.

An age has dawned...

2007-06-03T20:24:00.000+05:30

An age has dawned
upon us,
Where darkness flows
in every crevice,
And none but the blind
can lead us to light.

An age has dawned
upon us,
Where the whisper
of truth dies,
Amid of a roaring
cackle of lies.

An age has dawned
upon us,
Where none but the
richest survive,
And hunger begets
the deprived.

An age has dawned
upon us,
Where tomorrow is
an unknown abyss,
And today is
an uncertain instant.

An age has dawned
upon us,
Where treaties of peace
are written in blood,
And lines are drawn
with human lives.

Where buds wither
for want of love,
And love withers
for want of life.

Judicial interruption

2007-06-03T19:11:00.000+05:30

It does seem like our country is being ruled by courts nowadays, instead of the government. It's not a bad idea, of course, when the court steps in to correct a blaring mismanagement by the government. Like the sealings in Delhi, and various laws to curb excesses by ministers and members of the Parliament.

But, now, it seems the courts are taking their role too seriously. When I saw a report in The Indian Express that the Delhi High Court was warning overweight air hostesses (yes, you read that right), it was a little difficult to digest. In fact, it's funny. What next? They'll ban fast food because it's not healthy? I mean, if the judges are so pissed about fat and snooty air hostesses, why don't they travel by private airlines? There are so many legal issues pending in the air travel sector. One of them is fixing the compensation for citizen victims of flight disasters, something that is surprisingly not in place in India. There are so many other gross injustices that the courts could take cognizance (their words, not mine) of, but who do they pick on? Overweight air hostesses.

Come to think of it. Everybody with a little power is trying to rule this country in their way. The politicians don't want to pay highway toll or stand in queue at an airport. The judges, meanwhile, plot their next victim (after street food, is it fast food?). The right wing extremists complain that nobody gives a damn about Indian culture, except them. And they will go to any lenght to protect it.

While the rest of us? We are still struggling for our basic rights. We are still bribing the very officials we elect for water, electricity, phone and legal protection.

'Can You Hear the Nightbird Call?': Wounds that refuse to heal

2007-05-27T20:18:00.000+05:30

There are many incidents in Indian history that we would just like to forget. Anita Rau Badami, in her book Can You Hear the Nightbird Call?, confronts many of them. It starts with the Partition, spans the two wars with Pakistan, the Emergency, the Sikh riots and the sabotage of Air India flight 182. Needless to say, this book is an overdose of human tragedy that leaves the reader with a heavy heart - it's almost too much to bear.

To be fair to Badami, she tries to do it differently, using the voice of the faintly-heard Indian women of those times. These women emerge from their tragedies in many ways - emboldened, disillusioned and paranoid.

So, we have the strong woman Bibi-ji with an open heart that believes in the equality of every Indian, until events around her trample that thought. Leela is a practical woman who knows what good opportunities await the Indian abroad, though she feels lost in a new country. Nimmo, back in India, only wants to hold on tight to her family for fear of losing everything, yet again.

The narrative is threaded around the stories of these women and their gains and losses, reinforcing the transiency of life's little joys.

The insurgency in Punjab which was active during the 70s and 80s gets ample mention - both from the point of view of the God-fearing Sikhs and the labelled militants:

And it is not just soldiers who desecrate with guns and bombs. Over our heads, on the roofs and under our feet in the storage rooms, our own brothers and sons and fathers, armed too, stamp as hard as demons.

I expected a gift of money or gold. Both would be used to buy us food and more guns and grenades. This was how we found the means to fight for a free country. After a while I didn't know what that meant anymore, really. Free country.

Like with almost every other Indian fiction coming out nowadays, this one too is strongly rooted in diaspora. It seems that the Indian writers living abroad are more interested in writing about India's past.

But what's the point if we don't learn from these lessons? Punjab recently staggered hurt from riots between two Sikh groups. People proclaiming to 'protect our culture' unleash more violence onto the country which won its freedom more peacefully than most.

In the end, what really matters?

2007-05-13T20:19:00.000+05:30

I have been observing something in the people around me (including myself) for quite some time now. People are trying to outdo themselves. Think about it, when was the last time you:

- sat calmly without thinking of something that needs to be done?

- told someone close to you how important they are to you?

- took a walk in the park (not a fitness exercise)?

- noticed the beauty of nature around you?

- sat down and spoke to your kids/spouse without TV in the background?

On the other hand, you might have:

- snapped back at someone who didn't deserve it?

- abused the driver of another car on the road?

- forgot a date that was important for your family?

- excused yourself from a non-business social occasion?

- delayed that medical check-up yet again?

I think the root of our stressed lives is that we forget to prioritise. We always give an unbalanced weightage to work, and completely forget to give time to ourselves. Everything revolves around work and we have to consciously take out time for 'leisure'. Time-outs have to be planned weeks/days in advance and we have to work harder to 'deserve' that break. And it's not as if this is the management's mentality, it's what we have come to expect ourselves.

We are never satisfied. We want more and more. We earn money to acquire material things, but we forget to enjoy them. Come to think of it, do we really need everything we covet in the first place? Fact is, we have come to equate happiness with more money, more material things. I think we have forgotten what happiness really feels like. Remember childhood, when little things used to make us elated? And they were not necessarily material...it could be a hug from mom or a good game with friends. No more do we think like that. Everything has to be material-ised. You fight with your wife, you buy her diamonds. You are not there for your kids, you give them cell phones/game consoles. You don't have time for your parents, you send them cheques.

In the end, we are actually losing a lot. We are losing time rapidly. We are playing havoc with our health. We are acquiring 'success' and 'status' at the cost of our happiness and contentment.

Upon closer observation, I noticed that the following people are most affected by this unending race:

High-flying executives - They are constantly overworked, at their own behest. They schedule time with their families. They are ready to lose their today for a better, richer tomorrow.
Working women - They don't really have a choice because they are unable to escape their traditional responsibilities. If they shirk, they are labelled bad mothers and wives.
Students - They have to pass brutal competitive exams in order to join this unending race and ultimately lose out on their childhood.

Our competitive society does not let us think differently. Few are encouraged to be artists or writers or musicians - unless they get a big break. In short, you cant stop until you have a Merc in the garage of your three-storey villa and a big farmhouse in the suburbs.

Capitalism is, of course, feeding the fire...the lust to own more...and we are blindly following. I confess, I am not completely unaffected by this either. But we have to draw a line somewhere. We have to learn to love and be happy. We have to stop this self-destructive rush to the top.

Take a deep breath and think about how you want to live your life. Do you wanted to be surrounded by status symbols or do you want to be truly happy? In the end, that's what matters. And that's all you will have left.

'Life in a...Metro': No surpises here!

2007-05-13T19:32:00.000+05:30

Life in a...Metro is a movie that is so obvious in the emerging India, that nothing about it surprises...or shocks. Director Anurag Basu has tried to do a Madhur Bhandarkar number, complete with the soulful music. In fact, it seems like a tribute to Page 3, even one of scenes featuring Konkona Sen is an exact copy! Yet, let's not dismiss it so easily.

Basu has done a good job identifying his characters. Anybody staying in a metro or a large town is familiar with them. There's the detached couple Ranjit and Shikha (Kay Kay Menon and Shilpa Shetty) which is such a common occurrence that you just expect things to go haywire. Kay Kay is, as usual, good, though underrated - but he's good at whatever he does. Yes, one of them is having an affair and the other is left loveless and lonely (yawn!). There's even the older couple, played by Nafisa Ali and Dharmendra, which doesn't add any substance to the movie. Firstly, because it's shoddily handled. What's missing the sobriety that both actors deserve.

Unfortunately, Shiney Ahuja (who I had expected to have a meatier role), for the nth time, plays a brooding lover. C'mon Shiney, you're great at brooding and screaming, but you are getting typecast - which is not good for an actor of your calibre.

Kangana Ranaut is typecast too, as the rebellious woman she loves playing. No, suprises here either, except that she's got a great makeover. Ditto for you, Kangana.

Sharman Joshi proves that he's a good actor - playing the common man in a metro who wants to make it big at any cost.

The one man who hardly disappoints in any movie is Irrfan Khan, and he is truly a surprise in Metro. It's hard to describe his often irritating character, but he has this great quality of morphing into any role. Konkona is good too, though in another of her oft-repeated independent-woman-with-a-mind-of-her-own roles.

Pritam's music is catchy, though I didn't enjoy the band appearing at every corner in the movie.

And I have a question for Bollywood, when will we stop doing that running-at-the-end sequences? You know, when the hero/heroines run to stop their counterparts like there's no tomorrow, or a second flight/train?

Well anyway, to its credit, the movie has some good moments. Like Kay Kay's clear-cut confrontation with his mistress. And Konkona's funny predicament. Won't give much away...go watch it!

Official site

'My Name is Red': The passion of the brush

2007-05-10T22:01:00.000+05:30

Pamuk is an intense writer, so much so that you begin to live the experiences of his characters. You enter his world which is passionate and colourful. Somehow, the 'red' in his book My Name is Red brings to my mind a dark, blood red.

The book is set in late sixteenth century Istanbul whose world-famous miniaturists are obsessively dedicated to their art. This is a world of dark workshops where the sunlight trickles in and the artists paint with hair-thin precision, slowly extinguishing their eyesight. Their dedication is so severe that a miniaturist considers himself lucky if he goes blind in old age, having given his sight to creating beautiful paintings.

As the master miniaturist Olive remarks:

To know is to remember that you've seen. To see is to know without remembering. Thus, painting is remembering the darkness.

Much like Turkish miniatures, Pamuk's characters are drawn in simple lines. Their names are irrelevant but their characters are clearly etched out. And the graveness of the situation comes to light when one of them is suspected of a gruesome murder.

What leads to the murder is a clash of ideologies. The miniaturists were increasingly under threat from the religious fanatics of Turkey, being Sufi themselves. The trigger is a secret book that is commissioned by the Sultan, rumoured to be blasphemous enough to attract the severest of punishment.

A distraught Enishte Effendi says:

In the end, our methods will die out, our colours will fade. No one will care about our books and our paintings...

The plot intensifies as the identity of the murderer slowly unravels as the narrator morphs into multiple voices - not all human. Along the way, we come to know of the darkest secrets buried in the hearts of beautiful Shekure, whom Black desires intensely.

It is hard to imagine that the delicate artists of Istanbul could hold so much venom in their hearts, to even go to the extent of killing to retain their status. But that's how they are, and we realise that, to them, their art is their very soul.

One of the most beautiful lines in the book is when Master Osman, the Head Illuminator, describes to Black a masterpiece:

Can you see the splendor in the leaves of the trees in the night-time darkness, appearing one by one as if illuminated from within like stars or spring flowers, the humble patience implied by the wall ornamentation, the refinement in the use of gold leaf and the delicate balance in the entire painting's composition?

It is with the same dedication that one must read My Name is Red. Like a journey along a grey road, one must stop to smell the flowers. One must ruminate over each phrase, hang on to every word.

Like his master miniaturists, Pamuk is a master writer - creating a fascinating work of art with his pen.

Related links:
Review of Istanbul
Article on Turkish miniatures

Aurangzeb: A play about the zealous Mughal

2007-04-29T14:05:00.000+05:30

Natwa Theatre brought us a theatrical performance entitled Aurangzeb, here in New Delhi yesterday. What is interesting is that the play was written in Tamil originally 33 years ago. I saw the recent Urdu version written by Shahid Anwar and directed by K S Rajendran.

What we witnessed was a riveting performance by Mahendra Mewati as Aurangzeb who is written down in history as an intolerant tyrant. But was he really that? Yes, he committed acts of oppression but we also learn that Aurangzeb had his heart in the right place. He loved his father Shah Jahan (played by Sanjay Gautam) who neglected him all his life. He sees Shah Jahan and his brother Dara Shukoh (played by actor and Sansani host, Shrivardhan Trivedi) as transgressors of Islam for their excesses. For him, ruling is all about providing subjects with their daily living instead of wasting money on building grand monuments. Ultimately, Aurangzeb questions himself in his declining years: is he really a murderer of hundreds? Is he not a pious person? Has he forgotten the beauty of life's little pleasures?

Mewati and Trivedi are passionate actors and you can see it in their eyes as they seem to speak from the soul of the characters. Anwar's dialogues are full of vigour and bespeak the full-bloodedness of Mughals. Laxmi Rawat is believable as the manipulative Roshan Ara who is consumed by jealousy of her beautiful sister Jahan Ara (played by Manleen Kaur). The actors spoke impeccable Urdu and the lighting matched the mood perfectly.

There is more to Aurangzeb than a historical drama. Often, the dialogues echo the reality of our country today, such as "Mazhab aur siasat ko alag nahin kiya jaa sakta." So, on the one hand we have rulers like Shah Jahan who don't give a damn about people and dream of building monuments by imposing more taxes saying, "Aani wali pushtein un logon ki qurbani yaad karengi". On the other, we have Aurangzeb who considers all non-Muslims as transgressors and refuses to see beyond that. Dara is the 'secular' voice in the play who accepts all religions but is no politician and therefore, loses his right to the throne.

Overall, a commendable production by Rajendran which deserves a standing ovation, and it got one too. There's a repeat performance of the play today at Shri Ram Centre Delhi at 7 pm.

P.S.: I wonder why the brochure shied away from calling the play an Urdu translation when it was clearly one and chose the term "Hindustani" instead?

Visit Natwa Theatre website for details.

Missing the point

2007-04-29T13:45:00.000+05:30

An excellent article by Tavleen Singh (The case of the kiss, The Indian Express, April 29) talks about how flawed our idea of Indian culture is. At a time when we have a lot more to worry about than Richard Gere demonstrating, with a little help from Shilpa Shetty, that AIDS and kissing can go together (Clarification: Neither of the demonstrators suffer from AIDS.)

Our developmental stats are so shameful that our courts should order suo moto inquiries into negligent welfare ministers instead of bothering other people. First it was Narayan Murthy accused of playing a "polyphonic ringtone" version of the National Anthem. Then, it was Sachin Tendulkar who committed a 'crime' by cutting a cake with the Indian flag on it. Yesterday, Mandira Bedi was hauled up for wearing a sari with flags of different countries. Unfortunately, our Indian flag made it only below her knee. Thankfully, it didn't make it elsewhere or that would be a bigger controversy!

Point is, silly non-news items like this are taking up so much space in the media that it's taking away our focus from the real issues. Instead of discussing a kiss or hug, we should be asking our ministers what they are doing for the country. The media should trail them day and night instead of celebrities to ensure that they are on track. How come petitioners and protestors do not find anything wrong with the fact that 25 per cent of our ministers have a criminal record?

Small minds...big pressure

2007-04-22T12:14:00.000+05:30

I chanced upon this really sarcastically funny comic called 'Moderately Confused' by Jeff Stahler on Comics.com (that's what I read when I am suffering from bouts of insomnia). Aaaaanywayyy, there was this particular comic which had me laughing and crying at the same time (I can't reproduce it here because of copyright issues) - it has this little kid, barely three feet tall, carving a lifesize statue of David by Michelangelo. A little girl looks on with a little sculpture of a duck as the kid asks "What did you sculpt for your preschool admission test?"

The exasperated look on the girl's face to me is the classic irony in our life today - we want our kids to grow up as soon as they have hardly started speaking. And why do we do this? My theory is this: As time progresses, our demand from life is exponentially increasing. We want as much as we can dream, and more. Since we have not defied age yet, we have to achieve the most out of this life and we want children to get into this mindset from the beginning, so that they can, so to say, be more successful.

The problem here is that what we are doing here is robbing them of the right to be carefree, to make mistakes and learn from them. The harrowing process starts from the time parents seek admission in pre-school or nursery. Why does the child have to be a baby genius to get through? Why can't he/she be just a child?

There's this lovely movie which was running recently, called Little Miss Sunshine which again focused on the 'adultification' of kids. The movie is about a young girl called Olive who wants to participate in a beauty contest for girls and is blissfully unaware of the status such contests have achieved. Her shocked father looks at the horrifying contestants who look like mutated versions of beauty queens miniaturized. When Olive does a dance which can be termed as 'lewd' it is the turn of the other parents to be shocked - ironic, considering what they are doing themselves.

Isn't it enough that older children are ruining their childhood slogging for IIT/IAS/MBA and what-not competitive exams? Isn't it enough that the rat race is tougher when we go out to work? Then, why are we punishing little children by expecting them to grow up when they shouldn't? Why pressure them to perform exceptionally well?

I do hope that one day we realise what we are doing otherwise we will lose the concept of 'childhood' altogether.

'City of Djinns': A mesmerising performance

2007-04-16T20:06:00.000+05:30

I admit, I had my reservations about how William Dalrymple's City of Djinns would be adapted to a theatrical performance. Since it is one of my favourite books, I went more out of curiosity than excitement to watch a preview of the play yesterday on the lawns of Maati Ghar at the Indira Gandhi Centre for Arts in New Delhi.

As I reached early, I saw the preparations for the play in full swing. And this does not include just the artist rehearsals, but the other people who would play a role in creating the 'experience' for the play. So I watched as the kite seller decorated his kites on the branches of tree and the kulfi seller put his matka in place and last but not the least, the seekh kabab wallah heated the charcoal. The atmosphere was building and I was experiencing my first pangs of excitement for what lay ahead.

Artists of the group told me that they had worked day and night, literally, for this play. They were all praises for the director, young Rudradeep Chakraborty. And as the preparations advanced, I could see the passion of the man which was matched equally by the lead actor Tom Alter (see pic below).

When the play finally started with the mesmerising beats of the Qawwals, I was lost in another world. The play was not a conventional stage performance - here there was no demarcation between the audience and the actors. Everything blended together to give you the feeling of a 3-D theatre were you feel every movement. In the same way, you could feel every emotion as Alter as Dalrymple took you through his travails in Delhi. And I must say, he gave a splendid performance as did all the other actors - Zohra Saigal as Norah, Ahmed Ali the writer, the eunuchs, the kabooter baaz and all the others.

And yes, did the play do justice to the book? I would say yes because it captured all the excitement/exasperation/sympathy that Dalrymple has portrayed in his account.

I won't give much of the plot away as it is only to be experienced first hand. So I would suggest all self-respecting Delhiites to book their tickets immediately - City of Djinns is too good to miss. It's on till 26th April.

Delhi Events link

Hands up! It's the traffic police

2007-04-12T19:28:00.000+05:30

If you happen to visit Delhi any one of these days (unless you stay here), you will be surprised at the vigilance and zeal of the Delhi Traffic Police. Yes, the same one with the slogan 'Your Safety Our Concern'. And this isn't because the bribe rates have increased or a foreign dignitary is on a visit, but it is thanks to the directives of the Delhi High Court for better enforcement of traffic rules in the Capital (see The Hindu report).

This Monday onwards, Delhi woke up to a dream city of sorts where every traffic violator was made to pay for his crime. And this includes the previously untouchable DTC bus drivers and auto wallahs. Fines were collected to a tune of Rs 17 lakh from the 'exercise'. I use this word because I have no idea how long this charade is going to last. Maybe it will lose fizz just like the sealing drive.

What I found surprising was that many people complained to the news media that they had to pay hefty fines (with a cess of Rs 500) for violations. On second thoughts, you can't really blame them...they're not used to obeying traffic rules, yaar. You can't come up to them one fine day and say "Keep the 100-rupee note to yourself, I'm cutting you a challan." Not that corruption has been rooted out of DTP overnight. That tradition continues but the heat of the judiciary is still burning and no one wants to burn their fingers. Not even the drivers who are waiting for things to return to 'normal'. My point is, unless these enforcement measures are ingrained into the functioning of the traffic police, we can't expect the drivers of Delhi to mend their rash ways. Another issue at hand is the accountability of the administration for the money collected as fines - by all reason, that money should go into a more efficient public transport system, not just flyovers.

(pic courtesy www.delhitrafficpolice.nic.in)

Banning sex or education?

2007-04-08T13:32:00.000+05:30

The ban on sex education in schools by the state governments of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat is to my mind equivalent of shooting the messenger who brings unpleasant news. I won't get into the politics of the decision, but looks like the heads of our government are burying their head in the sand.

It looks like the patriarchal government is not ready to accept the fact that there is a gradual loss of innocence among the youth of today. In this ban, there is a classic confusion between cause and effect. We are bringing in sex education because the young generation needs advice, and this is after they have already been exposed to the winds of change.

We live in a media environment where newspapers have become as bold as Mallika Sherawat - the new icon of unbridled sexuality. An atmosphere where TV channels and magazines have, so to say, lost their innocence. This is the age where parents hardly have the time to tell their children what is wrong or right. Whether we like it or not, the moral rot has already set in. the least we can do is accept it and help our kids get out of the mess.

So, what sex education is actually doing is clearing up the dirt dug up by the erosion of moral values. What's the point in banning it? It won't stop what has already happened in the young minds of today. Does the government think that by this move it is banning the changing mindset of the world around us? Not by a long shot. And I think we all know that.

Whatever the reasons behind this moral erosion, the consequences are staring us in the face, and the sooner we acknowledge their presence, the better.

And I ask our honourable protectors-of-culture a few more questions:

What have you done to control underage drinking? And drugs. What have you done to rehabilitate the young drug addicts on the streets who get into the habit to overcome the torture at the hands of policemen and thugs? What have you done to protect the children who are trafficked in the sex trade? What about the kids suffering from HIV/AIDS?

We know very well that the answer does not lie in banning FTV or sex education. It lies in taking responsibility for the results before us. If the seeds of growth that India is sowing are rotten (by our own negligence), one can only imagine what the crop will be like.

'One Hundred Years of Solitude':

2007-04-08T12:24:00.000+05:30

Gabriel García Márquez creates a new dimension in One Hundred Years of Solitude which is where past, present and future merge. It is where reality and fantasy combine. Macondo is a town somewhere in the Carribean which we follow over the period of a hundred years right from its founding to its gradual destruction. Jose Arcadio Buendia and Ursula at the head of the Buendia family are the founders of a Macondo where flying carpets and ice are equally magical.

One can't help relate the events in the town to events witnessed in world history. The clash between the Liberals and Conservatives is reminiscent of the split in Christianity. The rebellion of the workers of the banana factory recalls the Industrial Revolution. There is even a reference to what may be compared to the holocaust - with the extermination of the rebels.

All this, of course, is seen through the eyes of the Buendia family. A nagging doubt is created by the different versions of history that different inhabitants of the town adhere to. It makes one think if the history we have grown up with is not the same as reality. And what is reality and where do we stand in the picture of things? Like Macondo, is our world also isolated from the 'real' world? What we witness, are they just glimpses of the progression of time?

Amid the fast pace with which time moves on, it is Ursula who maintains a saner view of the world around her as she recalls the magic of the past:

"What's happening," she sighed, "is that the world is slowly coming to an end and those things don't come here any more."

Further, the events are made out to be circular in nature, with every other thing reminding one of something that happened not so long ago.

"I know all of this by heart," Ursula would shout. "It's as if time had turned around and we were back at the beginning."

What is more real than anything else in the story is the fact that time changes things, but we can never really let go of the past. Time seems to grow outwards, rather like in concentric circles. It is not a linear growth that stretches on forever.

In the end, it is as if all the things exist at the same time.

Márquez is a man possessed of a remarkable imagination. One Hundred Years of Solitude is a book that not only creates new paths into your imagination, it makes you wonder whether there are many more unexplored worlds out there.

The Forgotten: Victims united in suffering, neglect

2007-04-05T19:52:00.000+05:30

I had written earlier about how the compensation announced for Gujarat's riot victims is inadequate. In a follow-up to that story, The Indian Express has highlighted another issue which is unresolved. Many of the riot victims are still homeless, living in slums and barely earning a living. This is yet another reason why the compensation is insufficient to help the victims, if that is what its purpose is.

Further, of the 4 lakh rupees compensation announced, effectively only Rs 50,000 is being offered to them for building houses. What does the government expect them to do with that money? I doubt if even a single-room house would be available at that rate in Ahmedabad. And considering that a lot of these people lost the houses they must have built over their lifetimes, this is a slap on their face. Many were even deprived of their shops and business outlets.

It would have been better to have at least provided the displaced people with respectable accomodation than to do what they are doing now. How much of the earmarked cash will actually reach the victims is another question mark.

Incidentally, the victims of the Kashmir earthquake of 2005 are suffering the same fate. Many of them lost their homes and are still living in rehabilitation camps (see BBC report). For that matter, the victims of the 2004 tsunami calamity are still awaiting the return to normalcy, but we seem to have conveniently forgotten them (see blog and The Guardian report)

We may boast of riding the waves of success in the international markets, but when it comes to aiding our victimised citizens, India is still a Third World country. And until we get rid of these inefficiencies, this undesirable phrase will continue to trail us.

'The Namesake': More than a name

2007-03-31T20:56:00.000+05:30

When I went to watch The Namesake, I had no presumptions. I hadn't read the book by Jhumpa Lahiri on which it is based either. That's the way I do it: I never read reviews before buying a book or watching a movie...that's strange because I'm writing one...but let's call it one of life's little ironies.

All I knew about The Namesake was that it was a 'diaspora' movie - you know, the identity crisis fare. But what I found was that this is no ABCD (American-Born-Confused-Desi) movie but yes, it is about searching for one's identity. It's about Gogol Ganguly (Kal Penn) who realises that a man cannot change the threads binding him with the past by just changing his name. When Gogol decides to become Nikhil, he slowly moves away from his Bengali family - a sensible, strong mother (Tabu, playing the Great Indian Bengali woman) and a father drawing strenght from his culture (Irrfan Khan, playing with his usual conviction).

It is only with some personal losses that Gogol finds out what a variable man's identity is - a human being can be so many things at the same time. He sees that it is impossible to break ties with one's past, where's one's soul resides.

Gogol does not necessarily find his 'true identity' because there isn't one - you cannot describe a man in so many words. A man is the product of so many chapters in the book of life, chapters that are written even before he is born.

There's something of Gogol in all of us - we live multiple lives like him, and our heart tugs us in different directions. The director, Mira Nair makes this Bengali-English movie one for all of us - especially Indians, so brought up in diversity. There's so much I can say but the movie speaks it's own language.

My recommendation: watch it if you can, it may give you a different perspective of yourself.

Official site

Blogs on way out? You've got to be kidding!

2007-03-27T19:39:00.000+05:30

A funny guy named Tony Allen-Mills has written on Times Online that blogging may be "destined to become a footnote in the history of computing". Now, that's news to me. He's backed this premise by research which states that 200 million blogs have been created and then abandoned.

The article goes on with examples of celebs like Lindsay Lohan and Melanie Griffith to support its story. There are yet other examples, from ordinary bloggers who havn't updated their blogs in a while. Firstly, we don't really need celebs to add a fillip to the world of blogging. Secondly, some people hang in there, some don't. What's the news in that?

What I find particularly unreasonable is the conclusion that blogging is an "extraordinary failure." Well, like it or not, Mr. Allen-Mills, I feel that blogging has empowered millions to voice their thoughts and share it with like-minded people. I can think of 20 blogs at the least which are regularly flooded with comments, and insightful ones at that.

I agree, not everyone is a writer, but that does not prevent people from becoming a part of the discussion platform that the blogosphere offers. I think the article completely missed out on the interactivity of the medium, and the fact that blogging is not just an individual activity but very often a community effort.

The article goes on to say:

Some internet analysts call them “ghost blogs”, lingering reminders of a cultish enthusiasm for self-expression that is rapidly wearing off. Others liken the abandonment of blogs to “the suicide of your virtual self”. At least one internet writer blames the blogging culture for helping to turn the internet into a “dictatorship of idiots”.

As far as the issue of abandonment goes, that happens with every technology. For instance, how many e-mail accounts do you have? Do you use them all regularly? In the beginning, we created a lot of e-mail accounts but ended up abandoning a lot of them. The same thing happens with social networking sites. You get invited to dozens, sign up for a few, but regularly visit only one or two.

Really now, this a saddening relegation of bloggers to 'just-another-fad'. And it seems to me to be the reaction of newspaper-worshipping dinosaurs who are unaware that the world changed a long time ago...

Riot victims or political pawns?

2007-03-23T19:18:00.000+05:30

The present Indian government seems to have developed a certain sympathy for the riot victims of 2002 in Gujarat. The Indian Express reports that about Rs 106 crore will be given to the riot victims who were denied justice. I find this news extremely upsetting because now the NPA government is using these victims for their political gain.

I am all for compensating riot victims but it is unfortunate that the government can think of them only prior to the Uttar Pradesh elections. Very cleverly, the Congress has tried to attain multiple objectives with this one announcement. One, it is using the taxpayers' money (which may or may not reach the actual victims) to publicise its own sympathy for the people. Two, it has its eye firmly on the Muslim vote bank in UP. Three, by reminding people of the Gujarat tradegy, it is reiterating the failure of the opposition party, BJP, when it was in power. If only these politicians used their intelligent minds for nobler purposes, we would have been living in a cleaner country.

Another thing I stringently object is the method of appeasing victims of any injustice only with money. Five years after one of the worst crimes against humanity, what good will the money do? Why, instead, did they not declare how many of the offenders of the riots were punished? Because we all know the answer to that - none. And oh, what a shameful admission that would be for any government, wouldn't it?! It's always better to spend some money and get the votes in.

Sights and sounds of Mumbai

2007-03-19T20:08:00.000+05:30

Though I was born in Mumbai, I have hardly spent time in the city because I left it when I was only three. Still, the images and smells of the city have always stayed with me. When I recently visited Mumbai ( 7 years since my last visit), it was like returning to childhood all over again. The fragrance of fresh flowers at every street corner...the aroma of vadas frying...even the salty yet refreshing breeze of the sea. It was a wonderful feeling.

Memories apart, I tried to find out what it was about this city that kept the people attached to it. For one thing, it's the bindaas nature of Mumbaikers. Though they work hard, they are always ready to share a joke - there are few signs of frustration. It was a relief to be able to travel in a city without haggling over price. The taxi drivers take you to your destination without hassles. The buses are not crowded and the bus driver waits patiently while you get on and off. And most exhilarating of all was the freedom of walking on the street without having dozens of eyes staring at you. Oh, the relief of it! I don't know why Mumbai is more courteous to its women, is it the fast pace of the city? I don't know, but even in this fast pace, people are always willing to help others.

Mumbai is also an advertiser's heaven. It's hard to capture a frame without a hoarding in it. Yet, advertisers are innovative. There's a Hutch phone box in almost every bus. There are Red FM taxis plying the city, and broadcasting live on radio.

One thing I appreciated was the responsibility with which BMC (bombay municipal corporation) have maintained the city. It made me realise how important it is to have a responsible municipality in your city. It makes a world of a difference if there are clean streets (ok, it's not Singapore - but hey, this is a megapolis bursting at its seams). There are dustbins at public places, the parks are green among the concrete. The buses are clean too, as are - to my surprise - the various slums. You may call it a failure on the part of the government to control illegal houses but the slums are not at all like what I have seen in Delhi. They are sweeped clean and have a closed sewer system. There are no dirty open drains you find even in good localities in Delhi. There are tarred roads even in small lanes and buses connect every little place.

Here are some pics I took with my mobile camera:

Tall buildings are coming up all over the city.

Who says there's no greenery in the concrete jungle?

The resplendent dargah of Haji Ali attracts people of all faiths.

The trademark taxi of Mumbai...ever-reliable.

This is by no means a city guide to Mumbai, these are just my thoughts and sensations. I believe that every city is different to every person - with a unique set of perceptions.

Ghalib descends in Nai Dilli!

2007-03-12T12:49:00.000+05:30

I have often wondered how the stalwarts of Urdu poetry would have reacted to the gaana-bajaana to today. While these musings often go unfulfilled, I had the opportunity to witnessing Ghalib's rebirth in his erstwhile abode on earth (Delhi, pal!). And no, I havn't had too much black coffee to fire up my imagination. Last evening, I was at Alliance Francaise watching the play, Ghalib in New Delhi, performed by Pierrot's Troupe.

The thought itself is funny - Mirza Ghalib in nouveau Delhi. The comic play takes us through Ghalib's exasperation as he encounters people who have forgotten the beauty of Urdu poetry - born and brought up on Bollywood songs as they are. Not only that, the whole culture's changed. It's no longer a Mughal town but a bustling melting pot of characters a Delhiite encounters everyday. This interesting plot sealed by good performances by the actors makes it worth a watch.

I won't give too much of it away, though. For those of you who missed it, there's another performance on 1st April at 7.30pm at Shri Ram Centre, New Delhi.

New-age mouse trap? Not really!

2007-03-09T15:45:00.000+05:30

I am one of those new media junkies sociologists worry about. It is only recently that I have noticed this tendency in myself. I am more comfortable with the mouse than I have ever been with a pen. I prefer mailing people sitting right next to me (yes, I do that - and the people next to me even reply to them). I try to find solutions to everything online. I have stopped using the dictionary. Now, I use Word Web. I don't write notes. I use Post-It software. When I have to plan my day, I look for events of the day on the net. Most of the time, I keep in touch with friends through forwarded emails. I hardly transact in cash (except to the pay the rickshaw wallah). I buy stuff through my credit & debit cards, preferring retailers who take plastic. I pay my phone and electricity bills online. Even my credit card bills. If I lend money, you guessed it, I transfer it online. And to confess something - I often wish I could withdraw money through the PC instead of going to the ATM.

I order books online pretty often, though I am not very comfortable with ordering gadgets and clothes. But I sincerely hope I will be able to order my groceries online one day - even in the middle of the night.

Lest you think I am a complete net addict, let me clarify. I read newspapers regularly and I always have a book next to my bed. The only difference is - when I like an article in the paper, I don't cut it out and keep a clipping - I bookmark it. And when I read a book, I review it on this blog.

And the only reason I really prefer doing most of these activities online is because I want to use my precious free time in productive activities. Like watching a good movie or a play, or visiting an art gallery. So, it's not that bad after all. New technologies can really be a good thing if you use it for the right reasons. It can actually make your life more worthwhile. Take social networking. Traditionalists may blame people for staying in touch through scraps, but I have met at least 20 long-lost friends through Orkut! even if through scraps, I am now a least in touch with them.

I am sure there are lots of people out there like me. So, Mr. Social Psychologist, you really don't need to worry about tech increasing the mental dependance of humans, rather it frees up the mind for more worthy pursuits.

Getting married? Mind your money

2007-03-07T14:43:00.000+05:30

Wedding services will now be taxed, as a result of the Union Budget. A report in Mint (yes, I finally got it) states that a service tax of 12.36% will be levied on wedding planners and other service providers in this industry. So far, weddings have remained off the tax net, because of the religious ceremonies involved. But, as we know, religious matters todays constitute only a fraction of the whole wedding show (rather like a big banner Bollywood production).

I think this is great idea to curb the unnecessary exhibition of wealth that people do at weddings. At the bottom of it all, the economics come into play. Weddings are no longer limited to their social or religious functions, but have become financial activities. Therefore, the tax makes sense. Maybe, once people are made accountable for their expenses, they will think twice before lavishly indulging in every fantasy money can buy.

In fact, I think the government should create a mechanism for auditing wedding expenses and correlating that with the income of the family. Maybe the income tax department should have a special wing to monitor wedding expenses.

Since money is a root cause of dowry and the status of women (not the root cause, just one of many) in India, state intervention in such matters should not hurt. If the rich can afford extravagant weddings, they can afford to pay tax. And as for the not-so-rich; they will be discouraged from borrowing for affording unnecessary wedding expenses or acquiring the money illegally.

'The Inheritance of Loss': How many Indias do you know?

2007-03-04T12:48:00.001+05:30

Imagery plays a big role in Kiran Desai's book, unfolding each scene before your eyes like a holographic image. You can feel the wet mist at Kalimpong and the moist earth beneath your feet as you climb the hills. At first, you would think that The Inheritance of Loss is the love story of a girl with strong ideals and her Maths tutor, rudely interrupted by the Gorkha insurgency of 1986. The characters are all etched in what seems their own perspectives of themselves. What each of them lacks is the ability to look beyond themselves. The sadist judge, the hopeful cook (who is never named) and Sai with her ideals acquired from convent school.

But you would be wrong to limit yourself to this view of the novel. For, I think, The Inheritance of Loss is all about being Indian. Not the Indians you and I know - the blooming middle class with one foot in the past of Indian tradition, and the other in an optimistic future.

There are Indians for whom India is the final homecoming. Like for Biju, the cook's son, who is forced to work in the U.S. to pacify his father who dreams big. Thrown against the reality that America is, he sees the filth beneath it all. Yet, he is appalled by the desperation of the people who still think that immigrating will solve all their problems. These are not the stereotype NRIs, but the Indians who are almost invisible, who work in the dark recesses of dirty hotels, gas stations and fast food outlets. All with their eyes on the 'green card'.

There are people like Father Booty who gives his whole life to India, only to be told that he does not belong here anymore - and sent back to an England he does not recognise.

There are people like Sai (the lady in love) who harbour the vision of an India - of cheese toast and rum cake - that seems so out of place in the violence of the times. Similarly, sisters Lola and Noni lead a life of seclusion from what is really happening in the country. When Lola is humiliated by the chief of the rebels, she realises:

It did matter, buying tinned ham roll in a rice and dal country; it did matter to live in a big house and sit beside a heater in the evening, even one that sparked and shocked; it did matter to fly to London and return with chocolates filled with kirsch; it did matter that others could not.

Then there's Gyan, the gulity Maths teacher. Only, what is his guilt for? Falling in love with Sai with all her ideas, or partaking in the rebellion because of his Gorkha blood? It is this conflict which tortures him.

There are many others - all open for observation at the Calcutta airport where Biju lands on his return. There's "the yuppie who had taken lessons on wine", the hippie with tie-dyed motifs of Hindu religion, "computer boys who'd made a million", "young straight-laced businessmen", the "Indian student bringing back a bright blonde" and of course, "all the NRIs holding their green cards and passports" looking "complacent and civilized".

This is India outside the periphery of our everyday vision. One that exists in the hearts and minds of Anglicised Indians, foreigners who have adopted it, legal and illegal Indians abroad and even the rebels who want to break away from it. Sai best describes this when she muses:

What was a country but the idea of it? She thought of India as a concept, a hope or a desire. How often could you attack it before it crumbled?

When the people of Kalimpong witness the rebellion, they finally see beyond their own concepts of India and that of others. Indians who are heir to an India that does not really exist. An India they have lost, keeping it alive only in their thoughts. Yet, for millions of Indians, there are still many Indias they have no knowledge of.

Think of the North-East. Forever relegated to its fate. Think of the Andaman & Nicobar islands, still recovering from a horrendous natural calamity. Think of the Indians on foreign land, doing menial jobs, yet revering a vision of India that soothes their frayed nerves.

More than anything, Kiran Desai deserves applause for bringing all these hidden Indias before our eyes.

For better or purse - the other side

2007-03-02T10:57:00.000+05:30

A valid comment in my last post by Amodini made me think:

...if you don't want your daughter's worth measured in terms of money (dowry), why judge a man based on his material possessions ?

Makes sense. I am no hardline feminist and I think that the other side deserves to be heard. From a reasonable standpoint, men are equally under pressure. Especially because, for them, financial standing is everything. A woman may be judged on her looks or education, but a man is always judged on his income for the purpose of marriage.

The bias truly exists among parents - who would prefer a richer groom for their daughter than a middle class one. Money is everything in today's world and we often forget the tremendous pressure exerted on boys right after they complete their education, to get on with acquiring wealth. And they cannot even think of getting married without acquiring a fat bank balance (for which they are openly interrogated) and a flashy car. What happened to character, good values, intelligence and honesty? Now, these values have been replaced by a 'smartness' which only means being selfish enough to get ahead at the cost of ethics.

A friend of mine always says that it's easier for women to move ahead in life. While I don't completely agree with him, I would say that for women above the poverty/illiteracy border, they do have it easier, since whatever they do is for themselves - while men always have their families to look after (parents and siblings), in addition to acquiring the right social status for marriage.

I am not denying the discrimination against women, but I do protest is the unreasonable expectations from men to 'make it big'.

For better or purse?

2007-02-28T22:57:00.000+05:30

In a commendable decision, the Delhi High Court has stated that people who give dowry should be prosecuted if they go ahead with the marriage despite recieving demands for the same (as reported in The Indian Express). I think this is a path-breaking judgement. No matter how much people brush it under the carpet, dowry in India is as real as cow dung on the roads (and whole cows as well) - you may look the other way, but it doesn't disappear - and it is as shameful.

I really do not understand the logic behind the custom of dowry. Is the man doing a favour to the women by marrying her? Has he been wronged that he is 'compensated' for it through money and other articles of no small value? Shameful...to say the least. And worse, even educated people see nothing wrong with it. Brides happily sell themselves for a bike, car, flat or furniture and grooms happily buy them.

For the sake of argument, I can understand the two families exchanging gifts or the bride taking stuff for her own use, but what's the point in giving a vehicle or house or furniture? If the guy can't afford it, why marry your daughter to him in the first place?

As a result of girls' parents quietly putting up with this, the in-laws have started seeing brides as cash cows, not women. They say education is important for the development of women in this country. But I think destroying the dowry culture is the real key to their uplift. After all, how has education prevented women from giving dowry? It is, after all, the custom of dowry which make girls appear to be a 'liability' to their parents. How would you feel if you planted a tree and had to pay to give the fruits of your labour to someone else? That's the way it is here.

Further, people are not happy just spending their often illegally-acquired money on dowry, they have to spend a visible fortune on the wedding ceremonies. They have to show that they have a lot of money to throw around on importing flowers from Poland, cooks from Paris, fireworks from US or stars from Bollywood. That just makes it worse for others who can't afford it. Why, I ask? What are they trying to prove? It's just a marriage, for God's sake! It's just another occasion to celebrate, and life moves on.

Unfortunately, despite the government ban, Indians continue to revel in this pitiful custom. I don't know when and how this degradation will end, but I hope that the generations to come succeed in eventually making dowry a thing of the past.

Culture capital & Capital culture

2007-02-27T12:02:00.000+05:30

I've always had a love-hate relationship with the city I live in. I love Delhi for its beautiful trees, wide roads and the peeping history at every corner. I hate it for other things - which I will elaborate later. Of late, I have been noticing a number of websites which show you just how 'eventful' a city Delhi is (some listed below). Culture has always been the byword in this with a number of art and photo exhibitions, musical performances, plays and social events. It feels good to be here, knowing that there is so much to see, so much to discover and appreciate. It's soothing to spend an evening at the India Habitat Centre which really feels like the cultural nexus of Delhi (for those who havn't been here, it was filmed as Delhi University in Rang De Basanti). I love leafing through books at the cosy and inviting Oxford Book Store in Connaught Place.

Now, as much as I love the city, I still don't feel completely at ease. Travelling is always a nightmare. Haggling with auto drivers is worse than a nightmare. Taxi services are not as accessible as in Mumbai.

That's the reason I can't explore Delhi as much as I would like to. But I try not to let that get in the way. As with everything else in life, Delhi is a win some-lose some city. And I love it! Or do I really? Uhhhhhh....

Check out:
Delhi Events
Delhi Live
Yahoo! Our City
Explocity
My City Pedia

Dr Kalam: The level-headed President of India

2007-02-25T12:28:00.000+05:30

Among the cacophony of dissenting voices in Indian politics is one leading man who speaks with sincerity, and more importantly, practicality. Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam has to be one of the most focused presidents we have ever had. If you notice, he always takes up issues which are actually important. Like other politicians, he doesn't complain about the country going to the dogs and doesn't promise to make it Singapore or Tokyo - he simply offers a solution. Practical man that he is, President Kalam never takes up a problem without also offering a solution.

A scientific man with a humanitarian heart, he has often pointed out that research and development is essential for the economic health of India. As reported in The Indian Express, he spoke about taking technology to the grass roots - to the people who really need it. Basic things like nutritious food and clean water are where we should start, rightly, according to him. And mind you, he is not unaware of the policital mindset of the others in his fraternity, as he was quoted in the same article:

There are two kinds of politics — developmental and political. I tell the politicians to practice developmental politics 70 per cent of the times and the remaining time they can indulge in political politics.

Unfortunately, the office of the President of India, as we all know, is rather limited. 'Mainstream' politicians obviously don't share his vision.

President Kalam has also highlighted the lack of sufficient legal protection to children in India, the importance of external audit for our defence research and independent decision-making for IAS officers. It is impressive to see our President, in all humility, speaking from his heart - laptop in hand, Powerpoint presentation on the screen - truly impressive.

Further, he has proved to be the president of the common man. Today, I read about how he paid a surprise visit to a local military hospital to call upon an injured Field Marshal. If that's not a People's President, I don't know who is.

A lot can be said about President Kalam, but I am ill-equipped for the task - there is so much to say. Dr. Kalam's term in office ends in July 2007. I duly hope he gets a second term. Even otherwise, I am sure he will continue winning the hearts of people.

Links:
The President of India website
Online petition for President Kalam's second term

Pamuk's 'Istanbul' has a melancholic soul

2007-02-21T22:07:00.001+05:30

Orhan Pamuk beautifully sums up his city in his book Istanbul - Memories of a City in one word: hüzün. As Pamuk describes it, the word is truly descriptive of his Istanbul, a sort of melancholy which is not altogether unwarranted, as he writes:

Istanbul does not carry its hüzün as 'an illness for which there is a cure' or 'an unbidden pain from which we need to be delivered': it carries its hüzün by choice.

What Pamuk has done in this book is captured the essential soul of the city of the great Ottoman Empire of yore. Yes, it is dilipidated, it is tattered and in ruins, it is even Westernising itself to keep pace with the world - but essentially, it is in a state of melancholy. Of the time gone by, taking with it the beauty of a culture that had fermented itself for so long. Yet, what remains now is a sort of rot, as symbolised in the wooden houses falling apart.

Even then, Pamuk professes his solidarity with the city he was born in, grown up and discovered his creative soul. He is at one with the city and accepts it unconditionally:

...I remember that I love this city not for any purity but precisely for the lamentable want of it.

In a style which is an outpouring of years of thoughts, Pamuk describes his exploration of every narrow lane of Istanbul and his attendant emotions with it. So much so, that the city's hüzün becomes his own, a combination of his personal losses and resignation. He describes hüzün as a 'collective melancholy' to which every resident of Istanbul is privy, and accepts as a not altogether unwanted heritage.

The most striking focus of the book, I feel, is how Pamuk so well understands that a city is not just the facade of its buildings or its roads or coffee houses - it is the living soul behind them. This reminds me of Salman Rushdie's Salim (in Midnight's Children) who felt that his fate was intertwined with that of his country. But in the case of Pamuk, it is far more believable (and understandable). His memories are not only straightforward, they are sincere and at times, touching.

Overall, Istanbul is a refreshing read. You get to know the city from its psychographic profile rather than superficial demographics.

Orhan Pamuk links:
Official site
Nobel Prize page

Where's my paper, boy?

2007-02-18T20:31:00.000+05:30

The last thing you expect from a newspaper is shoddy logistics. I mean, you can expect an online retailer or mobile service provider to goof up, but...newspapers? And that too, from a renowned media conglomerate. I am talking about Mint, the new business newspaper from the Hindustan Times group. They launched their campaign with a lot of hoopla about how the paper would make business news more readable. I can't comment on whether they are delivering on their promise. That's because I havn't been able to read it. So, what I can comment on is the fact that I have subscribed to it a long time ago (for a daily, every day counts) and I still havn't had the satisfaction of forming an opinion on it. The facts are these: I paid online for a year's subscription of Mint on the 1st of this month, and I still don't have it. There was no other way of subscribing at the time and they were offering free access to the Wall Street Journal for a month. So, I went for it. After repeatedly e-mailing them (as they offer no other route of customer service) I am still waiting for the newspaper to slip through my door. I can understand a start-up going through teething troubles, but isn't timely delivery the backbone of a newspaper? And this is not expected of Hindustan Times either. Worst part is, when I did receive a reply to my nth mail, I was just marked on an internal mail directing someone to "resolve" it. And it's not just me, a few of my colleagues are facing the same situation after having made the payment. It's a shame really.

Happy Gooey/Mushy/Lovely/Anti-Indian Valentine's Day!

2007-02-15T15:50:00.000+05:30

Couples in India spent another day in trepidation this Valentine's Day. They weren't sure which of their actions would be interpreted as 'anti-Indian' resulting in humiliation, violence or threats from hooligans. Hooligans who are affiliated to various organisations claiming to protect Indian culture from dangerous Western influences like Valentine's Day.

Marketers, of course, were unperturbed. They tried their loudest to exclaim that your expression of love would not be complete without the big diamond or a satellite radio subscription. Yet others made sure you paid five times or more for a single stem of wilting rose. If you walked into a pizza parlour or a coffee shop, you had to choose from their V-Day special menu consisting of everything edible shaped like a heart.

As for the people, there are two types who celebrate V-Day. One, those who genuinely feel all mushy and can't wait to express it. Two, those who are unwittingly caught in the web and know that it has become de rigeur to offer the bouquet of red roses and the box of imported chocolates. There's no escape, so they might as well enjoy it. Needless to say, this is the majority of people.

Again, there are two types of people who don't celebrate V-Day. One, people who think they are beyond the whole affair and don't need to express their love unconditionally esp. through expensive gifts. This category usually consists of couples who have been together for a long time and are so full of each other they can't stand the thought of a quiet, candle light dinner with each other (or at least, can't imagine it). Two, people who turn up their noses and say they don't believe in the concept of Valentine's Day because it's too gooey for their taste. This usually consists of self-pitying singles who won't admit it.

Having said all this, you would wonder where I stand, because I am expected to have an opinion of my own, after all. Well, I am a little bit of the self-pitying single and a bit of the 'caught in the web' person. As they say, it takes all kinds to make up this world. And a few confused people like me thrown in.

Freedom of expression...what's that?!

2007-02-12T16:10:00.000+05:30

And the debate continues...Should Parzania be screened in Gujarat? Should Traffic Signal not be shown in Himachal Pradesh? Should Black Friday have been delayed for as long as it did? The movies are different, but the point is the same - why have they been prohibited from lawful screening? In the case of Parzania, the ban has been dictated by extremist group Bajrang Dal and not the government. Moreover, this is about freedom of expression, which seems to have been redefined in the extreme by Indian authority figures. Now, you are only allowed to say something if it doesn't hurt the sentiments (tsk!) of some people (read extremist groups).

Have the people of India become overly sensitive or does the State think they can't form their own opinions? If a movie like Parzania, based on the Gujarat riots of 2002, can fuel communal clashes, so can our leaders be accused of dividing the people (vote bank) on communal lines? In fact, Bajrang Dal activists have gone to the extent of saying that if the director had portrayed the Godhra incident, they would have a different view. That's clearly saying that what happened to Muslims in the aftermath of Godhra was somehow justified because the lives of the people who were burned alive in Godhra were more important in their eyes. Let's remember that no court of law has proven that Muslims were behind the Godhra attack. From what I see, it was a premeditated political drama in play with everything planned out like a screenplay - the actors being the easily-misled public playing in the hands of politicians.

Coming back to freedom of expression, it's all a sham. Or Water would never had to be shot in Sri Lanka. Deepa Mehta's movie on Hindu widows has even been nominated for the Oscars, but I wonder if Indians will ever be 'allowed' to see it by our patriarchal government. Recently, the state has taken the liberty of deciding what is good and what is not for the Indian masses to watch on the big or small screen. Smoking's not allowed, you know. It might lead our gullible youth astray. "Sexy music videos" are also not allowed, same reason as above. Man, looks like we are a country of gullible morons who don't know right from wrong.

Increasingly, the behaviour of the government has become like a naani (grandmother). But sometimes, even naani used to look the other way...knowing well enough that her admonitions would only be heard by one ear and ejected by the other.

Don't rely on Reliance

2007-02-09T16:26:00.000+05:30

Welcome to the telecom revolution in India. Here, mobile subscribers have the best of services at their fingertips - from shopping to banking to railway ticket booking. For God's sake, people can even SMS their prayers to the temple's short code.

Telecom service providers are so upbeat about the revolution that they are giving their subscribers every feature they can think of - even if they don't want it - and also making them pay for it. Reliance Communications (the telecom arm of Reliance ADAG) has never been a devotee of Gandhi's "Consumer is the king" principle. Sometimes it looks like if they could chuck the customer altogether, they would gladly do it. And this is not hearsay, it's personal experience.

True, Reliance offers the best call rates among all operators, but maybe that's why they don't give a damn about customer care. If you have a problem, the last thing you want to do is dial customer care. It was the billing hassles that made me shift to prepaid. Then I suffered with a faulty handset for almost a year, which was never exchanged despite everyone having a problem with it (and it's still in the market - Nokia 2255, if you need to know). I finally bought a new handset at my own expense.

Now, Reliance has tried to pull a fast one on its unsuspecting subscribers. I realised recently that my Call Waiting had been deactivated. Called them up to re-activate it but was told that "Call waiting, call hold and conference facilities have been withdrawn for prepaid subscribers." This struck me as really strange. Firstly, because I was not informed of this. Secondly, I would consider something as basic as call waiting as my fundamental right by using a mobile service.

Then I figured out why they are doing this...they are trying to push their Missed Calls SMS service. Because, for the past few days I have been receiving unsolicited SMSs saying that I have a missed call - presumably when my phone is busy. And I have to pay them to retreive those numbers. Wow, great way to save on advertising costs to promote the service.

Plus, if I was desperate to find out what calls I was missing, I would end up paying them. Now, that they have taken away my call waiting service, they are practically blackmailing me into using it. And I am certainly not going to be blackmailed by my service provider just because it has the cheapest rates and because I have bought an expensive new CDMA handset which is only compatible with Reliance. No way!

Since I am just one of the millions of mobile subscribers in the country, I can only tell my story. Ask others and they will tell you about wrong billing, unsolicited calls, unwanted 'value-added-services', dropped calls and hefty roaming and ringtone download charges.

This is real working of India's telecom machinery. Wonder why no one bothers tightening the bolts.

India, watch your step!

2007-02-08T14:07:00.000+05:30

The Economist's cover story ('India on fire', 1 Feb 2007) has brought to light a very important perspective on India's place in the world stage. India's growing importance on the world radar is welcome, but questions are being raised whether it can sustain this momentum without spinning out of control. It's rather like India has its head in the clouds, but if it doesn't see where it's going, it could trip over.

Yet, optimistic as Indians are, they will continue applauding the Great Indian Myth. The one where India has everything it needs to become a power to reckon with. The Times of India has started its India Poised campaign to commemorate the achievement of Indians. While I fully appreciate their effort, it reminds me of BJP's 'India Shining' campaign which was a total disaster. There is a certain class of Indians which may feel fulfilled just by reading these success stories, but it also takes away their attention from problems which need to be addressed. We always blame politicians for ruining the country, but forget that we are the ones who elected them.

Why is it that we always overlook the most basic problems when charting out our future plans? It's almost as if we are bored of discussing poverty, illiteracy and health. Why is it that all our success cannot give our marginalised citizens access to reliable health care and good education? Why do we have to bribe our way through everything?

An article in AsiaMedia highlights India's attitude of turning a blind eye to real issues. And the funny part is - if the change has to come - we don't know where to start. We are so used to things being the way they are, that we see nothing wrong with it. We black out the slums that we pass on our way to work and we ignore the little child coming to collect our garbage ...

Worse, we fight amongst ourselves. We fight over religion, caste and language. We talk of a culture we know nothing about. An article by Francois Gautier in Rediff.com succinctly puts across our gravest problem:

Instead of feeling first Indians, they feel they are first Muslims and then Indians, first Dalits and then Indians, first Christian and then Indians. This is a dangerous trend and it spells the death of the minimum unified nationalistic pride that can take a country forward.

Gautier is so to the point. In fact, the government seems to be constantly reminding people of their divisions in the garb of protecting them.

I am not saying we should not be proud of our country's progress, but we should not be so proud that we overlook its deficiencies.

What did you just call me?

2007-02-06T12:42:00.000+05:30

Have you heard about the Blank Noise Project? It's a movement against sexual harassment on the streets of India. A lot of people cringe at the word, thinking that it's too harsh a word for being commented on, jeered, leched or worse on the streets. I think it's neither harsh nor overstated. As I stay in Delhi, I can only talk about what I have witnessed here. Ask any girl and she will tell you about her unfortunate run-ins with ordinary men who think it is their fundamental right to lech at women.

The worse part is people don't take this seriously enough. Elders will always advise you to 'ignore it' and very often, there is little else women can do. There are still others who think it is the woman's fault that she was harrased. And not just on the streets - it could happen anywhere, even in places of work. A sexual inneundo is not uncommon in work places - very often women take humour in it, which is ok as long as they don't find it offending. But for the women who do, who can they complain to? And saying what? Very often, there is not enough 'proof' to prosecute a person and companies do their best to brush such cases under the carpet. The HR department is not always equipped to handle such things and some companies don't even have an HR department to speak of.

Coming back to the streets. Who do you turn to there? Once when I was walking in a subway (in broad daylight that too) a man passed a comment. I looked around and asked him what he was talking about. He was visibly scared and murmured that he was speaking to his friend, but I reprimanded him anyway. The point is, no man will take such a step if he knows he will be persecuted. I can understand the mentality of a man who is on good terms with a police officer or a politician, who thinks he can get away with anything. But the fact that any moron on the street thinks he can behave any which way shows a gaping hole in our society and law & order situation.

And mind you, you cannot turn around and say that Indians are like that, or blame it on on socio-economic factors. I recently read about a site called Holla Back and was shocked to find that women are going through the same thing in the United States. It's true that we cannot make people think differently but what we can do is at least formulate laws that make some effort to protect women from this sort of harrasment. If we can formulate the Domestic Violence law where a woman is protected from verbal abuse of her husband or in-laws, why have we left her to suffer the same from complete strangers?

So, who's King?

2007-02-05T16:20:00.000+05:30

I promised myself I would NOT write about this...but I can't help myself anymore! I know the KBC 3-Shah Rukh debate has been going on for ages, but I think the whole thing is uncalled for. For the people living in Honolulu, Shah Rukh has replaced Amitabh Bachchan as the new host of popular game show Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC). If you look at the debate on media website agencyfaqs.com, you realise that people (including the gossip-sniffing media) have created this whole 'cold war'. There were rumours hanging in the air earlier, but now KBC has become the perfect opportunity to brew the rivalry between Bollywood's biggest icons.

Personally, I think people are being scathing to SRK. Once the unsatisfactory TAM figures were out, they were only too happy to say "Look! We told you. Shah Rukh can never be Big B!" Wait a sec now, what makes them think SRK would want to be Big B? Hasn't he worked all his life to create his own identity, his own style? Shah Rukh is probably the only actor who can get away with being egoistic and ultra-confident. In fact, he makes it look like a style statement. As for the TAM figures, the TV channel has explained that the research techniques used earlier were different and there are other factors like a cricket series which could have affected the ratings.

As far as KBC is concerned, SRK was hired for his persona. And he's doing a great job - if you ask me - because he's not trying to ape Big B, he's being himself. And if you think this is a fan ranting - it's not. I just think it's unfair to compare the two on any grounds. Every star has his personality and he should not be denied that, especially on the grounds that he is unlike some other star.

'The Kite Runner': Voice of a shattered nation

2007-02-01T22:20:00.000+05:30

You? You've always been a tourist here, you just didn't know it.

These are the words that sting Amir when a driver says this to him on his return to Kabul after two decades. That's when Amir realises that the Afghanistan he knew, and the one he didn't, are both gone. Written from Amir jan's perspective, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is not only touching, it is a chronicle of how wars can scar lives forever. We always look at wars and violence in terms of numbers - how many people died, how many were maimed, how many rendered homeless and how many orphaned or widowed. We are never in a position to even estimate the devastation that a war can bring into an individual's life. The protagonist is the lucky one - he escapes before he sees his country shrivel and die like an unwatered plant in the scorching summer. Yet, he suffers immensely for his own cowardice, as his alter ego Hassan faces the brunt of the Russian invasion and the Taliban regime.

Hosseini describes the downfall of a nation which was not without its faults, but did have its own soul. An Afghanistan which was discriminating yet tolerant, where blood flowed only when people flew kites on their glass-coated strings. He describes how Hassan suffers for being a Hazara under the Taliban rule, how women are beaten like animals and children robbed of their childhood. This is an Afghanistan which we even see today - where every skeleton of building is swathed with bullet holes if they survive the shelling. After 9/11, what America bombed was this fallen country, already dying a bloody death everyday.

Yet Hosseini does not pass judgement, he just pictures these events through Amir's eyes, sometimes first-hand, sometimes not. People may dispute some of the descriptions of Afghan society - especially the hypocrisy of the Taliban - but it doesn't undermine the message that war in any form is a catastrophe. He writes of how Afghani immigrants try to keep their culture alive, miles away in America, in contrast to the freedom that their brothers lack in their own country.

Yet Amir is full of hope, as he muses:

Zendagi migzara, Afghans like to say: Life goes on, unmindful of beginning, end, kamyab, nah-kam, crisis or catharsis, moving forward like a slow, dusty caravan of kochis.

There is no doubt that the Afghans are a strong people, but its about time they got their country's soul back. Its nang and namoos - its dignity and honour. Hosseini does not preach a message of peace - he does not have to. Through the ordeal of Hassan's son, Sohrab, he paints as a clear picture of human atrocity as can be painted. It's through Sohrab's silence that we realise that he's screaming inside - screaming to have his old life back, screaming to regain his childhood and his country. This child realises at an early age that life is not fair, that your parents can be dragged into the streets and shot. This is the story of a people who are still struggling to piece together their broken identity.

The Kite Runner is a riveting read and I feel one ought to read it, if only to see what's happening on the 'other' side.

There's still hope for Urdu!

2007-02-01T11:00:00.000+05:30

I'd written earlier about how languages like Urdu are being neglected on the web. So, I was pleasantly surprised to see an Urdu version of the BBC website. I am not sure how old it is, but this is the kind of thing that is needed to keep the language alive. An Urdu website does not necessarily need to deal with shayari (poems), literature or recipes as we see often on the Urdu websites of our neighbouring country. Very often, the content is laced with an Islamic flavour, which is good only as long as it is relevant to the content. I think an effort needs to be made to separate the language from its Islamic association, at least for the sake of giving it the identity of a language with a rich literary tradition. I can understand that happening to Arabic (which I respect as the language of the Holy Qur'an), but Urdu deserves a different treatment. Contemporary content is what's really required to attract readers to the language. As for the BBC Urdu site, its a great option to get the latest news which at least appears unbiased. The fonts could have been more aesthetic, currently it looks a lot like typewriter Arabic. An interesting section on the site is Fauji ki Dairy which is a journal of a soldier fighting a war. Besides, the site also has versions in Hindi, Persian, Pashtun, Arabic and Bengali. A South Indian language is conspicuously absent.

I tried looking for similar websites in India of the Urdu newspapers published here. The results were not so bad:

There's Inquilab which does not look like a news site at first glance. They've even roped in a radio advertiser and the font is legible and looks good.

Munsif Daily is bilingual and looks more like a news site. They even have an e-paper.

Siasat is bilingual too and looks neat. You also have the option of viewing the site only in English or Urdu.

Urdu Times has great legibility. It's a Mumbai paper and I havn't seen it but the site is a good effort, though limited in content.

One paper which is sitting out on the online buzz in Urdu is the Roznama Rashtriya Sahara, which I believe is widely read. They just have a site for their Hindi newspaper, Rashtriya Sahara.

All this makes me optimistic that Urdu will not be sidelined on the web after all. Though I am sure that websites like these could do with some support from the advertising community and high-profile investments wouldn't hurt either.

India's online revolution: Are we there yet?

2007-01-30T11:54:00.000+05:30

Online advertising may be doing great in India, but I think ecommerce has a long way to go here. Take online retailing. It seems the best of our shopping portals are still struggling with their basics. I have had many unsatisfactory transactions with indiatimes shopping (shopping.indiatimes.com). For one, their books are hardly in stock. It seems that they are only interested in selling gift items, and the books section is just there out of plain neccessity. Once you're transacting online, you expect a certain transparency and responsiveness. Sadly, no one seems to bother at such portals.

I recently received a gift certificate from my bank for indiatimes shopping. Thankfully, the amount of the GC was not substantial, because I havn't been able to use it to date. Initially, I ordered for a book. When I recalled placing the order a week or so later, I logged on to check the status and saw that it was (as usual) 'out of stock'. Strangely, they did not consider informing me of the status of my order. Secondly, they the money was was not refunded to my GC. As a result, it's still unsuable. Obviously, I don't want to waste my time trying to complain to them because their responses are not helpful at all.

Earlier, I had the same experience with the Fabmall website(now, www.indiaplaza.in). I placed an order for a book and there was not option for cash-on-delivery; which I consider the safest option considering the management of these sites. As the book was not easily available, I chose to pay at Reliance World outlet for which I got a receipt. The amount was Rs 180. After that, I never received my book. I tried getting in touch with them but I knew that my efforts would be in vain.

The pathetic manner in which our ecommerce websites, esp. of online retailers, are handled is a shame. We already widely use our credit cards and online banking for ecommerce, but what is lacking are trustworthy options to shop and transact online.

Its even more surprising to see a poorly managed corporate site of a popular brand name. Reliance Communications (www.relianceinfo.com) is not a badly designed website, its even easy to navigate. Yet, what you will not find here is up-to-date information. All the available handsets are not shown online. There is no mention of their prices and as a result, they are sold at different rates at different franchisees. Another personal experience here: I recently bought a handset from Reliance, cheaper than the MRP from a dealer. I used it to send an MMS and immediately received an SMS that I could retreive all my MMSs at the reliance website. When I logged in, I was told that my handset does not support the MMS feature. Wow, Reliance does not even know what handset I am using at present. So much for customer database.

Looks like as far as ecomm is concerned, India is still having teething troubles. One good word here, though - I have never had problems with my online banking accounts and even if I did, they were sorted out. Here's another catch again - after my ICICI internet banking passwords expired for not logging in during the first 15 days, getting another set was a lot like snatching a piece of meat from a hungry tiger. It took to me months on end to get the new passwords - sometimes my identity was not verified, sometimes the courier guy never made it and what not.

Maybe something like foreign investments might do something to help our ecomm industry. Our Indian companies are taking way too long to pull up their socks.

'White Mughals': An unspoken history

2007-01-25T14:19:00.000+05:30

William Dalrymple's White Mughals describes the British in India in a way which is different from anything most of us have grown up learning about. These were the 'foreigners' as we now call them, who neither our parents nor our grandparents today can recall. White Mughals speaks of the era in which some Britishers were so impressed by the Indian culture, they adopted it wholeheartedly.

Of course, this was not taken well by those who had come to the country with the intention of colonising it, or at least plundering its rich resources. yet, from what the book suggests, Indians welcomed the 'dissenters' into their lives and their hearts. I believe Dalrymple researched the book for five years and that shows in his details. It is a critically-acclaimed book but what I liked most was the message of tolerance it presents. The most significant lines in the book in this regard are these:

As the story of James Achilles Kirkpatrick and Khair un-Nissa shows, East and West are not irreconcilable, and never have been. Only bigotry, prejudice, racism and fear drive them apart. But they have met and mingled in the past; and they will do so again.

My sincere wish is that this hope of Dalrymple comes true. We desperately need this kind of tolerance in people today. An East India Company servant, James is the perfect example of this reconciliation - he stayed loyal to the Company while winning the hearts of Indians, by adopting their lifestyle and even their religion (he converted to Islam) - especially of one young girl with a respected lineage.

Why don't we see sentiments like this today? I know inter-cultural marriages do take place, probably more often than they did in the 18th century. But where's the interest in other cultures? Instead of looking for differences, why are we not interested in studying the beliefs and values of other communities? We don't necessarily have to practise them, but at least it will teach us to be more tolerant. Many communal riots today occur because people often misinterpret the actions of other communities because they have no knowledge of its nuances. Very often the defenders of a community hardly know anything about it themselves.

The problem is that there are fewer people like James Kirkpatrick in this world and more like Lord Wellesley - the Governer General who disregarded the beauty of India, while trampling its people underfoot. Many avatars of Wellesley exist even today, putting their prejudices and greed between the efforts at peace.

This may appear to be a rather far-fetched interpretation of White Mughals, but a lot has already been spoken about it as a history. I want to interpret it in the light of today. More than ever, today we need messengers of peace like James who set foot in foreign land and died a revered and loved man. We need people like Khair un-Nissa who embraced James as a good human being, rather than a 'foreigner'.

No wonder, people like James, who were many in number at the time, have been erased from history books. The English were embarrassed by it, and the Indians could not justify it after the Freedom Struggle. Maybe if we added historical accounts of situations where people from different nationalities cooperated with each other, we could teach the future generation more of tolerance than they will from stories of bloody wars.

It's not about religion...it's human nature

2007-01-23T10:19:00.000+05:30

I have realised that most wars and clashes are not really about religion, they are about an inherent part of human nature to discriminate. Take places like Iraq, Palestine and Kashmir - where people of the same religion are at each other's necks. Islam, one of the most misunderstood religions of the world, is stricken by infighting as well. Instead of at least maintaining the identity of a single religion, it is divided into so many sects. The same was witnessed in the 19th century by Christianity. The breaking up of this religion into sects too was not without its share of bloodshed.

I am sure that if we found a solution to religious differences, we would easily come up with a thousand other reasons to fight - colour, caste, language and choice of music band. There is an unbelievably evil aspect of humanity which rears its head ever so often. It's hard to believe the kind of atrocities that are committed in times of war - as if they are an excuse to behave in an inhuman manner. Take the Gujarat riots in India, the Iraqi war or the Israel-Palestine clashes - they all speak of the same despicable horror which makes you want to give up in humanity altogether.

Though we will never to be able to find a solution to war, I think it is nature's design. An extension of the 'survival of the fittest' if you will. Homo sapiens will probably destroy themselves, making way for a more tolerant species or maybe humans will destroy the earth altogether.

Credibility vs Convenience

2007-01-19T20:05:00.000+05:30

I recently had the opportunity of attending the India Digital Summit 2007 held here in New Delhi. One of the fears expressed by speakers was that the youth today has a tendency to believe just about everything they read on the net. This becomes critical when it comes to sensitive information like health, politics and education. Very often, postings on the net intentionally or unintentionally are built on a bias, which often gets transferred to the unknowing reader.

A blogger, for instance, may write about a particular world event while being miles away from it. He (for convenience's sake - 'he') may himself not have enough information to talk about that particular incident and even less, may not even know the other side of the story. Very often in cases of criminal acts, one has to remember that the "accused" is only so until he is proven guilty by court of law. This is just one of the examples where individuals may take liberty to write about something they are not fully aware of.

I am not saying that blogging should be politically correct or even neutral. But the importance that blogs have come to play in our lives, to the extent that they are threatening other news sources, makes it essential for bloggers to at least acknowledge their limitations. For instance, if you are writing down what you heard somewhere, try to cite the source. If not, admit that the information may not be accurate.

I understand that blogging is a very personal activity and a freedom of expression. I agree that it should be left that way, but bloggers should also make sure they don't give rise to biased sentiments and claim all that they write as their personal opinion (unless there's another source's quote).

Again, I reiterate that this precaution has only become necessary due to the growing influence of blogs, especially among the youth. Yet, it would also be wrong to expect people (like me) who look at blogging as a way of expressing themselves, to worry about social factors.

Therefore, the mainstream media will have to become more youth-friendly - not by adopting 'slang' but picking up issues they can relate to. I find the idea of talking to teenagers in affected slang equivalent to 'goo-gooing' a baby. Teenagers are not dumb. They are intelligent enough to comment on world affairs. The internet has given them a voice, so they flock to it. It's about time newspapers, TV and radio did the same.

I would say that internet does have a way of making people jump to conclusions. This is because they get less time to think about what they are writing. I may be wrong in this very post. Maybe bloggers are more responsible that I think. The point is that any individual who publishes on the net should understand that freedom of speech comes at a cost, that is, responsibility. You have to understand that you are not talking to yourself but putting information on a medium that reaches millions of people. Again, freedom of speech should not come at the cost of the liberty of others. Bloggers cannot demean or criticise others just because its easy to do so.

Ultimately, blogging is not subject to any rules. That is the beauty of it. The only saving grace is that if good thoughts exist in an individual, it comes out in his/her expression. So, as long as there's goodness in the world, we can rest easy.

Boredom doesn't kill...but comes close!

2007-01-16T20:00:00.000+05:30

I have heard that animals don't get bored. It's purely a human trait. Man, how I wish we could get rid of this cumbersome trait! Who doesn't get bored? Whether its a head of state attending a conference or a kid attending a family get-together - no matter where you are, you can't avoid being bored. I feel that I am particularly susceptible to this disease...nothing catches my attention for long. It's not that I can't focus, it's just that I start yearning for change...any change!

In fact, my worst days in office are not the ones when I am overloaded with work, it's when I have nothing to do. And the funny thing is, when you realise you're getting bored, it just starts gnawing on you...like fungus on a soggy wall.

Well, here's a list of the top 10 things that bore me:

Sitting in office with nothing to do
Watching (by chance) a saas-bahu TV serial
Attending a meeting that no one is interested in
Hearing someone go on & on & on about smtg I already know
Attending a social function where I don't know anyone
Reading a government/public company press release
Standing in a long queue
Receiving a call from the bank/telco to confirm my details
Waiting at an uninteresting spot
During a power-cut, waiting for it to return

Havn't been able to come up with the way out in situations like these, but I am open to ideas!

Contamination of language

2007-01-14T19:12:00.000+05:30

'Contamination' is a fate no language can avoid. It has happened to all our ancestral languages like Latin, Nordic and Persian, transforming them into new languages we are more familiar with today. The process of mixing of two languages - often the colonial with the local - led to the creation of a number of new languages that not only helped people understand each other, but evolved new generations of poets and writers who claimed their loyalty to the newly-formed language. In the subcontinent, Urdu and Hindi are the basic examples of languages which were formed through interrelations with many conquerors.

Yet, what worries me is that we must know where to stop. Contamination has proved to be useful and even inevitable in any language, but we must also take a step or two towards preservation. I will take Urdu as the classic case in this regard. Unfortunately, the language which is the result of great dynasties who flourished in India, receives a rather step-motherly treatment today. The government has not done anything for the promotion or even preservation of Urdu on a scale which may be called commendable.

As such, the burden lies with ourselves to give back languages like Urdu their dignity, instead of using them to compose 'item' songs. You could point a finger at me and say: If you are so hung up about Urdu, why are you writing this in English? The reasons are two. One, like it or not, English is the language of the masses. Two, there is no established Blogger in Urdu.

I would particularly call out to the young Indians whose mother tongue is Urdu, to reach out to their roots by at least picking up an Urdu book for a change or conversing with their fellows in the language. For those with kids, why don't they apprise them of their mother tongue before sending them off to French or Spanish classes? Why hasn't any qualified Indian developed an Urdu literature website? Speaking of which, how many notable Urdu websites have been developed by Indians?

I would not be off-mark if I said that language is a the root of a person's culture. To explore other cultures, you need to be aware of your own. To take my own example, I was brought up and educated in the Middle East. In the Indian schools there (at least seven years ago) students could choose only one second language - Hindi, Urdu, Bengali or Malayalam. I had to choose Hindi, being my national language. However, my father had the insight to send me for private Urdu tutions, for which I am eternally grateful to him. I must say that I have always felt easier to express myself in English, but when I started reading some Urdu books and poetry, I was suprised at the beauty of the words.

In fact, I would say even English is suffering from severe contamination today. Hinglish is just one of its results. I am not against this new and convenient language, but I personally think it should be restricted to informal conversations (even blogs, if need be). I know that many will disagree on the grounds that it is a language of expression for certain people, but as I said, it is really up to the teaching fraternity and older generation to inculcate a sense of language and respect for it among the emerging generation.

The age of mediocrity

2007-01-08T21:37:00.000+05:30

A thought-provoking article in Spiked Online (Are you the Person of the Year?, Rob Killick) has well, provoked my thoughts. Time Magazine's choosing everyone who has led the internet revolution as Person of the Year has been subject to debate. Truly, new media like the internet and mobile have given people the voice to express their thoughts - but it has not given them the ability to think desirably. How would I find 'desirably'? I would say that it would be to think in a way which is morally or socially acceptable. It is good to question the society, religion, principles, government and what-not as an expression of your thoughts. But how many of us actually suggest a better way of doing things or actively involve ourselves in improving the world around us?

The new media-fed generation according to me is an inert generation, which only likes to talk its mouth off, but does little else. In today's world, mediocrity is applauded. People (like me!) can write anything they want to and get away with it. There's no quality-check and no counter perspective. There's no one to look up to and no ideal. We are content to accept the world with all its evils and merely comment on it.

No. This will not do. Why not leave behind our computers and mobiles and talk....discuss...and learn to listen to others' thoughts? Let's learn to be more tolerant of differences and let's actually teach this to each other, and the younger generation.

The web has only succeeded in creating a bunch of hermits who think they know everything they need to know. It's time they came out and looked around and decided first-hand what this world really needs and what they can do about it.

What's happy about the new year?

2007-01-03T20:06:00.000+05:30

I do not want to start the year on a gloomy note, but the above question has been haunting me for the past three days. Here in Delhi, the sun did not shine on the first day of 2007. It was a gloomy, cold day. There was the inherent happiness of the auspicious occasion of Eid-ul-Azha. However, the thoughts that filled my mind were: Is'nt Islam a religion of peace? Don't all religions preach goodwill and tolerance? Don't they demarcate the difference between good and evil? Yet, at the end of the year, all the news we got was that innocent children were brutally killed by some barbarians in UP, people were injured in bombings in Iraq, and passengers were stranded for hours at Indira Gandhi International airport. Children who were "rescued" from exploiting labour, ended up returning to hazardous work due to lack of government support for their poor families.

Not that I sat out the New Year celebrations - I did meet friends for a quiet dinner. Surprisingly, the streets were rather deserted for New Year's Eve. Was it the cold or the overall melancholy? I cannot say. You could turn around and say that 2006 was the year of youth empowerment. Yet, from what I can see, two high-profile murder cases were solved. So what if they were those of Jessica Lal and Priyadarshini Mattoo? Justice is laudable, but every citizan has equal right to it - rich or poor. The judiciary must do its job with or without media glare. What I would applaud is the woes of poor Indians coming to an end. Give them water, give them food and give them justice. That's all they need. They don't want to appear on television.

While the Supreme Court took steps to initiate reforms, politicians obstructed them at every turn. Whether by sponsoring clashes during Delhi's sealings or opposing the development at Singur. Politicians have even gone to the extent of calling the proposed police reforms "unconstitutional" - probably because they can't do away with the idea keeping the police in their pockets.

Hopeful that human nature is, I will dare to hope that 2007 will bring some joy, a glimmer of sunshine even. Evil has always co-existed with good in this world. I want to see the good side more often.

Brrrrr

2006-12-27T20:06:00.000+05:30

Okay, almost in an ominous response to my last post, winter has arrived in Delhi with all its chill. It's cold, it's wet and it's chilly! I was kind of missing the bone-chilling winds and the winter rain which we so lovingly look back on in the scorching summer months. Must say, now Delhi seems like it should be in winter. The misty atmosphere in the mornings is great to look at, but makes getting out of bed a momentous task!

I guess what adds to the charm of the winter is the holiday spirit all around. I am not exactly a party animal, but it makes me feel good to know that people are having a good time.

The chill doesn't bite!

2006-12-20T16:39:00.000+05:30

Winter has been disappointing this time round in Delhi. There was a time, not very long ago, when people used to be warned against the Delhi cold. Alas, what a misnomer it is now! One of the things I have noticed this winter is that the city does not look like a modern version of Kabul. There are no walking blankets passing you by! People are doing well enough with a sweater and muffler. I don't know who to blame for the weather shift - George Bush for global warming or the Delhi traders for setting the city alight during their sealing protests. Nevertheless, I do miss the Delhi winter.

I understand that the real people to comment on the weather should be the homeless, but I just see the slum kids in knickers running around barefoot with careless abandon. When winter first set in, I felt I was the only one feeling the warmth. Now I notice people hanging up their coats and jackets in office, and they only seem to be wearing sweaters out of respect for the winter.

I guess more than the weather itself, it is our mind which makes us feel hot or cold. Now that I strongly believe that winter's not really here, nothing makes me feel chilly.

Temperatures apart, I think December's a wonderful month with a very festive feel to it, as the countdown to the new year begins. Now, thats another story...

So, what do you do?

2006-12-17T19:26:00.000+05:30

Simple as it may seem, this is one question I dread. For some reason, I find it hard to explain to people what an 'online journalist' is. I am not talking about old-fashioned auntys and uncles either, I am talking about people whose online interaction is limited to emails and chatting. Even if I do manage to say that I write for a media & advertising website, they think I am some content writer who fills in the spaces between the pictures. With all due respect to Content Writers (notice the capital c and w), I do work a little harder on developing my feature articles. Again, I am not a daily reporter which makes it hard to explain to presswallahs. My forte lies in writing feature articles which you see in any business, current affairs, lifestyle or travel magazine. The only difference is, that my work is 'published' online (that's the terminology used).

Yet, people remain under the impression that if I am not a reporter either, I must be doing some dilly-dallying and passing it off as journalism. Let me clarify that my job is not an easy one. When I call up people for an interview or to answer my queries, they are always a little disappointed that their words will not appear in ink. I guess the written word on the web has a very transitory reputation. People who are in the online business themselves are of course happier to be written about in their own medium, but this proportion is clearly small.

I do admit that the online medium allows a more, let's say, friendly language. But I prefer to see that as an advantage. People who read online (yes, people do that) want the writer to get to the point - fast. One has to be concise, conversational and accurate. I will, however, not deny that I am stanch supporter of newspapers and books myself. Yet, over the years, the web has evolved its own fraternity. What I can read on other's blogs, I may never get to see on any other medium. Online communities allow me share my opinions with like-minded people in a frank manner. Online news sites are updated frequently. Online magazines like http://www.chowk.com/ are doing a great job too.

Let me add that I write occassionally write for a print magazine, but when I was offered a position as a full-time correspondent with the magazine, I declined to accept. This is because I see the web as a more radical and evolving medium, even as it grows in respectability. I have a feeling that the web is where the future is. I am as concerned about the sanctity of the language as pro-print people are. And that is why we need more talented people to move from print to online. Not only will this add to the credibilty of the medium, it will fulfill the need for better writing on the web.

And when the aforementioned Auntys and Uncles do ask me what I do for a living, I just tell them I write for a magazine.

Is not exposing a crime?

2006-11-09T20:28:00.000+05:30

That's what the debate over the wearing of veils my Muslim women seems to indicate. The question that comes to my mind is - what do veils have to do with democracy? As far as security issues are concerned, I am sure that security personnel are not denied their requests for identification. If a woman (of any religion/sect) decides to wear a veil and not show complete or part of her face, how does that affect the rest of the society? We don't impose rules on over-exposing (the tolerance of which is increasing by the day). So, why the fuss over not exposing at all? One must understand that more than a religious sanction, the wearing of a veil may be a personal belief.

Just as we don't prohibit Sikhs from wearing turbans or Hindus from putting tikas on their forehead, we cannot deny a person's right to follow the diktat's of his/her religion. I personally know many young Muslim women who happily accept the tradition of wearing the burqa, as part and parcel of their lives. They don't seem to mind it and they certainly do not consider themselves oppressed! I agree that not every social activity is possible behind the veil and it is a personal choice after all. Yet it is in order to remember that Islam (as indicated in the Holy Qur'an) clearly asks for 'modesty' of every man and women before it mentions any code of conduct.

Rather than indulge in such meaningless debate, the so-called social reformers need to address the real issues facing Muslim women. The veil would be no impediment to providing them proper education, would it?

Beyond the figures

2006-10-30T21:47:00.000+05:30

Seema Chishti has written an insightful article in The Indian Express (Minority Report, in numbers). It brings to light how the Muslim cause in India is a political card. Unfortunately, even the media seems to have fallen for this bait. Two extremes represent Muslims in the media - Muslims who have been accused of violent acts (so labelled 'terrorists') and victims of what is perceived to be an oppressive religion. Though I quite agree with Ms. Chishti's thoughts, the views in this blog are entirely my own.

The committee headed by Justice Rajinder Sachar has been 'revealing' figures about the sad state of Indian Muslims in every aspect - employment, literacy and income distribution. I do not understand to what end the Prime Minister has appointed this particular commitee (not that the others are doing ground-breaking work)? We know the state of Indian Muslims in India. Just quantifying the gravity of the situation is definitely not helping matters. After 60 years of Independence, Muslims who chose to stay with their mother country, who fought for its freedom, are still looked upon with suspicion - their minoritry status being exploited for political purposes.

There are two sides to this coin. I don't blame only the government, as the community itself has not been very forthcoming. They perceive an exxagerated hostility by the government, and refuse to bring in any change. Firstly, I think the government should focus on welfare on secular terms in all poverty-stricken areas of the country. If, according to the figures available, Muslims are proportionately poor, they will also benefit proportionately. Secondly, the media should ensure that religious undertones are avoided in any related news story.

For the community itself, they need to have a voice of their own. For this, they must end their internal differences. Why don't madarsas, which are being given a bad name, bring their representatives out and speak to the media instead of avoiding them or entering into meaningless arguments? If there are stereotypes being built about Muslims, we need to see how we helped create them, and then help in breaking them down. Muslim India desperately needs a sane, rational and progressive voice. While Islam recognises no intermediaries between man and God, the people who call themselves our leaders must first earn that title by washing away the moss that has gathered on the community by its own inertia.

Marriages of convenience?

2006-10-29T14:45:00.000+05:30

Many would not agree that infidelity in marriage or a committed relationship is a new phenomenon. It is not. The inclination to digress is an instinct present in every man and woman. However, I think people have mistaken freedom for lack of stability in the modern age. Yet, one can argue that infidelity was as prevalent earlier as it is today – it was just not out in the open. I think the tendency to be disloyal has increased with the changing definition of marriage and relationships. While earlier, relationships were about sacrifice, now they are about convenience. Nobody wants to give up any part of their lives for their spouse. The husband doesn’t want to lose his ‘freedom’ and the woman doesn’t want to compromise on her career. I am not saying that there is anything wrong with that. It’s just that I don’t see the commitment anymore. People seem to be thinking only about themselves. They seem to forget that any relationship requires a give and take. While I may not be qualified for writing on such a topic as I am not married, I have observed enough from everyday life to come to the conclusion that marriage is not considered a sacred institution anymore.

Coming back to the aspect of infidelity, it may not be new, but it is a growing one. Couples are not as dedicated to spending time on working out their problems anymore. Like everything else, they want express solutions – which lead to express relationships. Nothing good comes out of it, however, and only weakens the belief in the concept of marriage. I think we must not blindly go ahead trying to create new paths in any direction. It is always better to learn something from the values of previous generations. They may not have had the best marriages, but they were willing to strive to keep them going. I find it disheartening that couples have the smallest of excuses for indulging in infidelity. They may not have the same preferences or have their points of difference. But who doesn’t? Does that give you the right to trample on your spouse's trust and love? Today, we need to respect (and maybe, reassess) the boundaries recommended by religious and social norms. They are there for a reason.

Justice finally dawns

2006-10-18T20:36:00.000+05:30

Yesterday, 17th Oct 2006, was a great day for the Indian people. Yesterday Priyadarshini Mattoo's murderer's acquittal was reversed. Yesterday, the judicial system looked at itself in the mirror, and decided to clean the dirt. The High Court is Delhi was shocked how a murderer and rapist like Santosh Kumar Singh could have been acquitted despite all the evidence against him. It was surprised that an accused like him could be cleared on "benefit of doubt." It is clear that some judges, Delhi Police, and even CBI officials clearly played with the evidence to free the murderer, who is the son of a senior police officer. Himself a lawyer, some of his friends are still on his side, and had a brawl with mediapersons outside the court. All said and done, I am relieved that justice is still alive. In justice lies true democracy, and the day the voice of truth dies in our country, we will cease to be a democracy.

Loopholes, however, remain. It took ten years to put one murderer behind bars, though all evidence was against him. Yet, he will pay for it now. If we persevere, and the courts continue to pull up errants, we can make this country a better place. Nowhere is the voice of the common man as loud and clear as in India, let's take advantage of that. We need to support justice, even if it sometimes goes against the ruling class.

The judiciary also needs to put a system in place where this justice permeates to the grass root level. While high profile cases like Priyadarshini Mattoo and Jessica Lal receive a lot of media coverage, what about the crimes against women that happen everyday? Do those cases (if any proceedings are actually initiated) carry on for years on end? Maybe they do. The proposed reforms to the Indian Police system will bring corrupt officers under the scanner. So will the empowering of IAS officers to deny unacceptable orders of their superiors. Let's not forget the implications of the RTI (right to information) Act that empowers Indian citizens. The tools are right there, but their success depends on you and me.

Fear the mosquito

2006-10-08T12:39:00.000+05:30

What place does the tiny mosquito have in the ecosystem? Very insignificant, to say the least. Yet, the very same insect is bringing humanity down to its knees. Here in Delhi, the mere sight of a mosquito fills one with dread. Dengue is the much feared disease, taking a greater toll by the day. And the threat is not unfounded, it is unfortunately, very real. Besides fear, there is also human suffering. It's heart-wrenching to see that people are lying on the floors of hospitals (not themselves earmarks of cleanliness) waiting for medical attention. Which brings me to the basic question: is cleanliness such a difficult goal to achieve for the government? We plan to host the Commonwealth Games in four years, but can we succeed in doing that while neglecting basic amenities?

I do not need to specify the civic disasters which plague Delhi. Power cuts and lack of adequate water supply are just part of it. Subways are havens for filth, breeding insects and stray animals. Sewers in the smaller colonies are left open. Only with the fear of dengue on their heads, have city dwellers gone ahead to close their sewers at their own expense. Garbage bins are nowhere in sight in most residential areas - where are the people to dispose of their garbage? They have no choice but to pay garbage collectors who dispose of it wherever convenient.

Something is missing here. Some link, some connect on the part of the Delhi government to take its civic role seriously. Efforts are usually triggered by a disease outbreak or a visit by a foreign official (Even then, only those areas are spruced up which falls on the foreign official's route!). Again, there is something lacking in Delhi-ites too. They dont think twice before throwing out an empty packet of chips from their car on to the road. They see nothing wrong with spitting out pan even in cyber cafes. And nothing can beat the man I recently saw relieving himself on a newly-constructed flyover. Unless he has a bladder problem, that man should be behind bars, if you ask me.