CARPE DIEM

Travel 2009

2010-01-10T07:35:00.001-08:00

Travels in 2009 so that I remember and for the record -
Jan - Feb - Started with trip to Jaipur. Feb - Moved from Mumbai to Delhi, Summer - Dhanolti, Mussoorie, August -September - Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Bathinda, Beijing, Shanghai, Patna
Oct- Dec - Mumbai, Patna, Bangalore, Chennai

My new year resolution is to travel some more in 2010 :)

Random clicks

2008-10-09T02:09:00.000-07:00

Thats Sasoon Dock in the background, Mukesh Mills, Colaba in the foreground

Alibaug

Slums by the road: Wadala

Ganga, Patna

Laloo Yadav has planted a fruit tree

2008-06-16T01:13:00.000-07:00

Priceless!

Sherwood College Part 2

2008-06-04T13:10:00.000-07:00

Part 1 on Horsman Wing was written a while back and for some time now I've been meaning to talk about Dixie(Dixon Wing) .
Before I passed into Dixon Wing (Senior School Classes 6 to 12) I had had an ordinary year academically and otherwise in Horsie. Class 5 wasn't smooth. I sucked at numbers and remember that it was in a class 5 Geometry test that I scored my first zero. I wasn't studying that much. Time was spent elsewhere immersed in novels and children stories. Each class had its own small library back then: a small cupboard holding about 80-100 books. Most of the books were Hardy Boys or abridged works of Dickens, Bronte sisters, Mark Twain and the like. It was here that i spent most evenings by myself in class or along the small swimming pool at the back of Horsman Wing. Enid Blyton and Hardy Boys took up all my time and often late at night I'd read in bed covering myself and using torchlight as the rain come down heavily on the tin roofs.
I was keen to get to Dixon Wing but wary of the reputation the place had. We had heard stories about how people were beaten up and the dreaded 'fatigues' that were a regular feature of Dixie life. These stories were often exaggerated and I approached my entry into the senior wing with equal amounts of apprehension and thrill for the freedom that I assumed it would bring.
The dormitories in Dixon Wing were larger than the ones in Horsie and the first time i saw the inside of one I remember thinking it would make a fine setting for a game of fotta, soccer played with cosco tennis balls where the cupboard frames at the ends of the dorm would serve as the goalposts. On my first evening our House Captain, a soft spoken Sikh asked all Class 6 FT guys (my house) to report to him. We saw him outside our dorm and he told us about 'rules' and what was generally expected of us and that now we were not gonna be 'pampered' by Dorm matrons. Hardly promising.
I noticed how everyone quickly fell into place every time the bell rang for the school to assemble before a meal, an announcement or even a fatigue. It was unreal at first. In less than 45 seconds 400 guys and girls would fall into 5 lines perfectly aligned. Before a meal the CC (College Captain) or a Prefect would take 'parade' ..."College attention..left turn." Sometimes the attention 'thump' wasn't loud enough or synchronized and we would be made to do it again. Once I remember the CC evidently in a foul mood from before gave the whole college a fatigue for not doing the 'thump' right! We were made to thump repeatedly till we got it right and then sent away to change into games kit and report back for the drill. The entire 'fatigue' thing merits some description and I'll come to it soon. Suffice to add here that often by the time these 'drills' were done a sizable number of boys were left with badly aching limbs and muscles for days. Sometimes you were walloped with a hockey stick on your behind. I remember getting '2 hockey sticks' from a particularly pissed off Dorm Prefect in Class 8. I couldn't sit right for a week following that incident.
I wasn't too much into sports and cricket was the only game i played with some confidence. I captained my house team in class 7 and we won all our games. The highlight of the first half of the year was the Excursion in early April followed by the Easter Monday picnic at Golf Links. I went to Garjia a small town near Corbett in class 6 and my only memory from that trip is of the paan shop outside the PWD guesthouse. At the shop a meetha paan cost 25 paise and I must have had atleast 50 pans in the 4 days i spent at Garjia. An year we went to Hedakhan, an arduous trek on foot. It was a tiring trip and then the following year we went to Dudhwa and DMC Resort near Kashipur, which was the best time I had ever had in my life.
No mention of Dixie is complete without the description of the build up for Founders week. For 2 months the entire school spends afternoons and holidays rehearsing for the torchlight PT display put up each year under floodlights on the evening of 4th of June. May is a torrid month spent practising long hours in the dust and considerable heat(well heat by Nainital standards).
The night of 4th June when the school puts up the show for the chief guest, parents and vociferous OS is a moment of great significance. For us students it is a feeling thats hard to articulate. The crowd swells on the steps on the hillside overlooking the field. Amid loud cheer as the lights are turned on and the crowd blocked from your sights under the bright bulbs comes a thrill that only those who've been there can feel. Its a heady feeling standing in line under the dark shadow of the hill, the school song played by the band, rapt spectators in attendance and the late evening breeze in your hair.
More later......

Sack Dravid

2008-05-09T09:21:00.001-07:00

About time Rahul Dravid came out and admitted that he got it totally wrong at the IPL auction. I've been a huge fan of Dravid the batsman but I find him totally unimaginative as a captain. His theory that 'the best test players are the best in any form of the game' has been disproved. Actually thats an understatement.

For one it shows absolute disregard for the nuances and specific necessities that are typical of the T20 form of the game (not to mention ODIs) .ie. the need for quick decision making, ability of top order batsmen to clear the field and most critically fitness: presence of fast legs and strong arms in the outfield. Through his decision making he just hasn't showed enough respect (and I can't think of a better word here) for this format of the game.

What grandpa Sunil Joshi's doing out there is hard to comprehend.. He is closing in on his 38th birthday, averages 7 with the bat in T20s and a mediocre 31 with the ball (as on 9/5). Then there is the dedicated Anil Kumble who is 37 (mind you he is no McGrath or Warne with the ball). Add to that Dravid (35), Misbah ul Haq (35), Chanderpaul (34), Kallis (33), Boucher (31), Jaffer (30) as the core of the top order international batsmen. Surely they got to be kidding if they expected this bunch of geriatrics to put in sliding stops and acrobatic saves...sounds more like a neat little pension fund arrangement for the 'due to retire brotherhood.'

Figure this: Chanderpaul (ODI Strike Rate 70.7) cost them $ 200K while all rounder Watson was picked up by Rajasthan Royals for $125,000. Kallis who cost them $900,000 averaged 13 (SR 108) with the bat in 3 T20 games prior to the IPL. He wasn't picked for the SA T20 World Cup side. He has scored 118 at 16.85 (SR 114) thus far in 7 games. With the ball he averages 50.2 at an economy of 9.65! (stats as on 9/5)

Misbah ul Haq and Cameron White are probably the only ones who have substantial T20 experience among this lot. Inexplicably they have just featured in a couple of games each of the 8 games to date. Somebody in their selection team messed up royally. And now they've sacked their CEO, Charu Sharma.

Their coach Venkatesh Prasad who at 38 would have surely fancied himself turning out in red for the Royal Challengers speaks of how the 'hire and fire policy could work in the corporate world probably.' Prasad needs to a get a grip on this: $111 million has been spent. If you sign up to accept the rewards that come with the job then you should be able to handle the downside when the results don't materialize however unjust it may seem. Like in the corporate world the bottomline is everything. It happens all the time in professional sport: Ask Mourinho. Knowing Mallya its likely that they will see a new mix of players for the 2009 season. A new captain would help too.

And thats not a bad thing actually. We'll all know why when their new recruits turn out in April 2009 now that its all but certain that they are out of this one.

Commies get conned!

2008-02-10T11:27:00.000-08:00

Ho ho ho..remember those email scams promising you the moon for 'your assistance' in moving money from inaccessible bank accounts et al..Guess who they got hold of this time?
Jokes apart tell me, wouldn't life be really boring without the commies?

Kothbiro

2008-02-07T10:17:00.000-08:00

My second song upload.. its written by Mbarak Achieng, performed and arranged by Ayub Ogada.
Kothbiro: The absolutely gorgeous soundtrack of The Constant Gardener. Not only did the movie make me think when i first saw it an year back, i was left with this sound in my head for days together. There is a haunting aura about it.. i am unable to find what the song means as yet.

Monkey Business

2008-01-29T20:54:00.001-08:00

I know I'm likely to get flamed for this but IMO the entire Harbhajan Singh racism issue has ended badly. Its a shame because the series just concluded has been one of the best in recent memory. The manner in which the charges were diluted in the face of not so subtle threats of a pullout really made a mockery of the entire proceeding. Further this incident has shown the ICC administrators to be no more than impotent puppets who quake in their boots at the might of the financial behemoth that BCCI is. As much as it inflates our ego and clap that justice has finally prevailed it can't be good for the game. No matter how rabid a fan of Indian cricket you are, you can't be blinded by the brazen conduct of the Indian board.
Most of all I'm not sure Harbhajan Singh ought to be chuffed about having racist tag discarded just yet. I'm afraid very few outside the Indian team will buy his version of events. The hearing in the aftermath of the Adelaide test has been witness to much arm twisting behind the scenes with the Indian board threatening a pullout from the pending ODI series coming up. The risk of financial losses caused Cricket Australia to 'advise' their players and get them to drop the serious Level 3.3 charge of racism to a piffling Level 2.8 charge. For me that really stank the place up.
I don't think even Harbhajan deserves this form of 'acquittal'. From all accounts the Indians are satisfied but I'd much rather have seen Bhajji acquitted of the allegation from lack of evidence than as a consequence of political maneuvering.
The point is no one in the cricket world now is gonna believe Harbhajan didn't utter that 'monkey' word. While our supremely righteous media has hailed the decision it should escape no one that if Bhajji was not given a fair trial in Sydney then Symonds didn't get one in Adelaide.
I watched the match in Sydney and it was pretty evident that Symonds immediately retorted to Harbhajan by asking him, "Did you call me monkey?" Thats there for everyone to see. Further the stump microphones have apparently picked up Matthew Hayden straight after the incident.

Australian opener Matthew Hayden interjects: "You have got a witness now champ", obviously addressing Symonds.

Apparently turning to Harbhajan, Hayden is heard saying, "That is the last time".

Harbhajan: "No, listen, he started it." Hayden: "Doesn't matter mate, it is racial vilification mate. It is a shit word and you know it".

Now whatever Hayden said can not be admissible as proof of Bhajji having indeed used the word. That is to say it can't be admissible as clinching evidence legally. But the reality of what went on out there shouldn't be lost on anyone. Further this wasn't Bhajji's first time. Apparently Symonds in Mumbai had let Bhajji know that he considered the word deeply offensive and racist. But lets for the moment overlook that. Assuming that he did indeed say 'monkey' (and i really believe he did) a stand can be made that he didn't intend it to be racist. Which i think is a fair point. Harbhajan is a impulsive hot headed chap and its reasonable to assume that inspite of the Mumbai incident (it makes him look really stupid but then..) in the heat of the moment he did blurt it out. But then thats not the stand the Indian team took.
The worst bit was when 'in a show of solidarity' all their players were moved to Adelaide and a chartered jet was kept in readiness for the team to fly back if the charges weren't dropped.

In the Sydney Morning Herald one of the Aussie players has this to say:

"The thing that pisses us off is that it shows how much power India has," the anonymous contracted player told the paper. "The Aussie guys aren't going to make it [the accusation] up. The players are frustrated because this shows how much influence India has, because of the wealth they generate. Money talks."

I don't know if Harbhajan Singh is racist. But in the light of what happened yesterday its very tough to argue with the above.

Random

2007-12-27T11:33:00.000-08:00

Machang Lalung of Tezpur who spent more than half a century in custody for a petty crime without facing trial is dead. His story represents everything that is wrong with our judicial system.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
The heady days of Adelaide 2003 are gone and we face certain defeat in Melbourne. The first two days have given me good reason to abandon the idea of 5:30 mornings in time for the start of play.

I have never really understood the big deal with new years. Another year rolls by and all it means is a new calendar for the table, a new set of term books, winter clothing and Santa Claus.
Damn it isn't even a holiday. MA in all his magnanimity announced he wouldn't be taking class on 1st but to be prepared for a quiz on 31st or 2nd. Thank you for nothing i say.
There is laziness in the air. With the 6th term on there isn't much to do for now except fill out my planner for the new year. Which feels totally cool except that i sense i spend more time adding columns and neat coloured boxes than i foresee myself executing any of the plans.

Dear oh Deer

2007-12-27T09:52:00.000-08:00

StumbleUpon is such great timepass! Have you heard about Bryan James Hathaway? The man from Wisconsin who was charged with having sex with a dead deer?
In his defence he stated that since the deer was no longer alive it ceased to be an 'animal' thereby his act didn't qualify as sexual gratification with an animal within the meaning of the law. The judge ruled against his contention upholding that his act fell within the definition of the law and that the deer in its carcass state was an animal. Well that would have made my day but then this Sudanese guy humps his neighbour's goat and is then forced to marry the goat by the 'Council of Elders.' For good measure he was made to pay a dowry for the goat he violated.
I don't know how fascinated I should be.
PS: Links via reader Madhav and StumbleUpon

Taare Zameen Par: My Review

2007-12-21T06:18:00.001-08:00

Reproduced here is a review of Taare Zameen Par that I wrote for Reel Suave.

Cast: Darsheel Safary, Aamir Khan, Tisca Chopra

Director: Aamir Khan

Taare Zameen Par is the story of a dyslexic child(Ishan) whose interests lie not in books but in his own exotic make believe world. His dreams are populated by fishes, trees and planets not arithmetic. In frustration his parents send him to a boarding school in the hope that it will finally discipline the errant child. Here again he is faced with stigma and punishment. Enter Ram Nikumbh who senses the unhappiness and depleted self confidence that consumes Ishan. He then sets about helping Ishan overcome his limitations and emerge from the darkness a confident focused individual.

It is a challenge to translate such a story to screen. In that sense the film is an accomplishment for a first time director. Aamir shows remarkable insight on behavior and the thought process that children go through.. There are many among us who have known that feeling and they will find in Ishan's turmoil a reflection of their own lives. The middle class household and the boarding school setting is laced with nostalgia. More significantly the film is a damning statement on parenthood today and the dwindling appreciation for individuality and imagination. In no less measure does it question the regimented nature of education in our times.
Darsheel Safary (Ishan) is the best child act in Indian cinema since Kunal Khemu in Zakhm. The dialogues are akin to everyday conversation devoid of exaggeration and hysterics commonplace in our films today. The music merits special mention because it enhances the mood and impact at key moments in the film.

However the film does suffer marginally on account of the slow pacing and drawn out length.
Beyond the merits and flaws then. Having given us Lagaan, that embodiment of box office lunacy, only Aamir Khan could have made this film. TZP isn't landmark cinema and its not going to set any box office records. However it is a sensitive honest film. Taare Zameen Par is a good film in the deepest true meaning of the word.

Salaam Bombay!

2007-12-19T21:26:00.000-08:00

For all movie buffs be sure to check out the brand new movie review website Reel Suave.

Reproduced here is a review of Salaam Bombay that I wrote for Reel Suave. A lot many people have heard of the film but few have seen it. Hopefully with time more people would go ahead and watch it.

Starring: Shafiq Syed, Hansa Vithal, Chanda Sharma, Anita Kanwar, Nana Patekar, Raghuvir Yadav

Directed by: Mira Nair

Salaam Bombay an Academy Award nominated 1987 film by Mira Nair captures the wanderings of Krishna, its kid protagonist on the streets of Bombay. It is a poignant story about poverty and the loss of innocence. Through the experiences of Chaipau (Krishna) played by Shafiq Syed, we see a world that we always knew existed yet were seemingly afraid to acknowledge.

Krishna works in a circus that is winding up and leaving for its next stop. Sent out on an errand by the domineering manager,the free-spirited Krishna returns to find that the circus and his mates have left leaving him behind. Left all alone this child no older then 10 boards a train to a ‘bada shehar’(big city). He arrives in Bombay and is robbed almost immediately. In time he comes to find companions among fellow street children and gets a job as a ‘tea boy’ delivering tea and biscuits to the shops and brothels in the vicinity of Grant Road railway station. He befriends Chillum (Raghubeer Yadav) who works for Baba (Nana Patekar), a drug dealer who also has a stake in prostitution rings in the locality.

The movie while essentially an account of an individual’s strife to stay afloat in the big bad city also poses some serious questions on the state of our Government institutions. In a stirring sequence the disconsolate prostitute mother pleads with the in-charge at a government reformatory for the return of her child..the daughter who she says is the only soul she has in the world. The denial of the child’s custody on the grounds of her profession followed by the superb repartee almost a whisper from the anguished mother, “Sarkar kaise maa ban sakti hai?” (How can the Government play mother?) brings a lump to the throat. All the characters in the movie are surrounded by overwhelming circumstances and it is their resilience that shines through.

Salaam Bombay is dark and often disturbing but the director wouldn’t have had it any other way. There isn’t a flippant way to tell such a powerful story. The destitution, the streets, the images couldn’t be starker. The intense closing frame of Chaipau finally breaking down in despair ensures that the film stays with you long after the credits have rolled. The individual actors are at ease in their roles. It is hard to find flaws here. Because in the end the story and its message leave much more of an impact than any aesthetic attributes could. Salaam Bombay is compelling stuff. Don’t miss it.

Yada Yada

2007-11-11T06:32:00.000-08:00

Arbit post.
The summer internship process has kicked off for the new batch here. Watching everything from the sidelines is an interesting experience. To see others going through the same stuff..the fears, the anxiety and then those high on confidence.
Meanwhile everyone's been speaking of the twin Diwali releases OSO and Saawariya. I don't know much about them really. The movie I'm looking forward to is Taare Zameen Par. And my first song upload! A child to his maa on the fears he has.. Listen closely to the words. Pretty good eh?

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Inertia

2007-10-23T09:52:00.000-07:00

Even at 25 I realize I have done nothing significant all my life. All my life i've sat in exams, read books or hung out with friends over beer and sometimes coffee. Rest of the time has been spent in idle mostly meaningless chatter and sleep. As silly as it must sound i have not done anything to explore life. I've never gone backpacking alone, never been in a major accident, never championed a cause, never challenged authority, never been in authority, never done anything that makes my life minutely interesting or significant in any way. I don't remember the last time I did something on impulse, without having planned it... like taken a train to nowhere, visited unknown hidden towns or even lanes in the city. I'm used to playing safe. To taking the tried and tested way. The ordinariness of it all is excruciating.

All my life i've been used to putting off things. Everything that ever needed to be done straight away has been pushed back in the ceaseless rush to meet deadlines, submissions, priorities. In school I never ever figured out organic chemistry. For months after i had the realization that i was clueless at anything ranging from allotropy to aliphatic compounds i continued to procrastinate. To allay the fears i always had I would put it off in the shallow belief that studying just before the exam would help me recall it better at the test. I didn't study anything and almost flunked the paper. I didn't get a single question in organic chem right. Sometimes I worry my life is one interminable chemistry paper. That I will somehow 'pass' at the end of it all but the real tests I'm failing are right now and not at the end. I suddenly feel the need to relax. I'm cosy and comfortable. I think I need a smoke. I then turn on the volume. Roadhouse Blues drowns out the distant Himesh Reshammiya strains coming from H10. I then sit out in the balcony puffing away.

Well, I woke up this morning
And I got myself a beer.

The future's uncertain
And the end is always near.

Let it roll, baby, roll.
Let it roll, baby, roll.
Let it roll, baby, roll.
Let it roll, all night long.

And then i worry about the fact that I worry so much.

2007-10-23T09:06:00.000-07:00

That they beat the Australians becomes even more significant because of the manner in which they did it. Though there are no substitutes yet for the Big 3 the performances of Gambhir, Uthappa show that there is a second line which when given the opportunity will rise to the occasion. It is important that these players get the chance to play as often as possible at the international level.

While Tendulkar is still scoring runs I'm not sure there is much to be gained in the long term if he continues to turn out in ODIs. His fitness is a major concern and if we want to keep Tendulkar fit and prolong his Test career it is very important that he gives way to younger guys in the ODI format. I have said this before and I still hold that the important thing isn't whether we have found a batsman good enough to replace the master. We probably never will. The question to be asked is whether we are willing to give a young kid a chance to become a Tendulkar 4-5 years down the line. It is in the heat of battle that champions will be made and not in the dusty pits of a Chepauk or Wankhede in the domestic arena.

A Weekend to Remember

2007-09-23T11:06:00.000-07:00

As India take on Pakistan in the finals of the T20 World Cup tomorrow a fifth of humanity will sit riveted to their television sets. I have commented elsewhere how important it is to give youth a chance. The success, fearlessness and drive some of the players have shown in the past few days has been refreshing to see. Rohit Sharma's dismissal of Justin Kemp is a classic case. A brilliant direct hit from Rohit ended Kemp's stay who till then had been South Africa's most prolific scorer for the tournament. It is these moments which turn a game. It isn't really surprising then that the two teams with the lowest mean ages have made the finals of the event.

Its a pity that this wonderful team will be demolished and mutilated to accommodate the Big 3 when they return for the Australia ODIs. Its time to look forward. Invest in the future. For too long we have hung on to hope. Stars are created in the heat of battle not out on the bench. Admittedly T20 is no measure of how a batsman will do in Test match cricket but its well nigh impossible to keep Yuvraj out now. For me his is the 2nd name (after Dravid) I would put into the team when asked to pick the best 6 batsmen for any game.

For now we wait with bated breath for the spectacle to unfold tomorrow.

"Atalji kaa Bomb"

2007-08-26T02:31:00.000-07:00

Whats the 123 Agreement about? Ask our MPs...and they want to pull the Govt down!
The best of them was apna Amar Singh.."Kya lagta hai aapko...nahin pata hai?"
What a bunch of clowns.

A Breezy Affair

2007-08-17T05:58:00.000-07:00

Friday evenings are a great time. You sit in bed wondering what all you could possibly do over the weekend. My roomie has been away a full week and I have the entire room and the double bed all to myself. I think I could just sleep my way through this entire weekend. I remember the engineering days when I would pride myself on sleeping 12 hours everyday through the week. I have had a tough week and a little rest won't hurt.
The end credits begin to roll and I know I am sleepy. No matter how hard I tried I had caught myself nodding for the past 15 minutes. I put aside my laptop and get up to turn out the lights.
There is a loud knock on the door.
Wtf.
"Its 2 am man..come on in, its open."
'Hi!"
In strides Miss R dressed in a typically gaudy flowing pink top and blue jeans, much too tight for her ample perimeter.
"Whats up R?"
"I just got back from the disc..thought we could catch Se7en on your lappy."
" Take the thing, I'm kinda sleepy."
"Oh come on, I know you love the movie. Besides movies are boring to watch all by yourself."

A strong perfume emanated from her. It was quite nice.
"Hmm..Your perfume's nice..but must you marinate in it?" I say no such thing.

"Umm..ok. But I might just fall asleep. I don't think I have it in me to wake up for another 2 hours."
She settled peacefully on the bed and fidgeted randomly with the laptop.
"What's your password?"
"Give it to me."
I punched the keys. This was going to be painful.
The movie began. R got up to turn out the lights. The constant drone of Morgan Freeman is perfect and lulls me slowly into sleep.
R moves and positions herself on my pillow. This is decidedly uncomfortable. I argue with myself whether to raise a protest. But now I can feel her hair against the side of my neck...the rhythmic movements of her heaving chest just below my chin.
Now I am your average decent bloke. More often than not you'll find me perfectly in control of myself. I'm not given to bouts of lascivious behavior and have on occasions resisted provocations to surrender myself to what I consider unholy temptations. But this was unfamiliar. Here is this girl who herself comes in at 2 am knowing fully well I was alone and then perches herself on my bed and even moves onto my pillow.
Now I wouldn't call R attractive. She is tall and well endowed, well built and has a hairy back. She is actually quite heavy too as I'm just about to find out.
I was getting nervous. I hadn't anticipated (innocent foolish me) what this was leading to.
The air was thick with tension. Sensing my reticence R positioned her head on my outspread arm and rest her face on my chest. By now I wasn't thinking straight. I stared at the screen my mind ill at ease. This time again she made the move. Resting her head on my chest she turned to face me, released her hand and tugged at my shoulder. Instinctively I grabbed her and drew her close.
Now now. I know a lot of kids out there whose mummys won't approve if I proceed further. Cut to the 'assault' then (sorry fellas). All seemed to be hunky dory until R moved over me and drew her face close to mine.
And then it hit me. It descended onto me like the smooth talking land grabber who dupes the gullible, naive resident. Rather... more like the lion would upon its unsuspecting prey. Before I could possibly react, it hit me full blast in the face. I recoiled in horror, self preservation uppermost in my mind. It was as if someone had detonated a dynamite in the deepest recesses of my cranium. But my arms pinned down under her elbows, I wasn't going anywhere. Bending over my face while she straddled me she let loose another torrent of foul air.. bad breath. As the air invaded my nostrils I could feel my life ebbing away. Someone was screaming in my head. Summoning every ounce of strength remaining in my body I turned over and deposited her softly by my side.
I got up. Sat erect. Absorbing into my lungs air..something that only a few moments ago seemed to be the most mundane of activities assumed life altering significance.
I stand up all my senses alert. She draws closer. Just when she seems willing to spring another attack I withdraw.
"Umm..R..I dont think we should be doing this."
"What happened."
I say nothing, my head still spinning from the after effects of the malodorous assault.
"I think you should go now. This wasn't planned," I murmur fumbling for words.
She is quiet for a while. "Don't you like me?"
Like hell I don't. I say nothing.
"Ok atleast tell me you will think about it."
"Hello! I think the way this works is that you like someone then this happens. Not that you go ahead and make out and then wake up that you like the person afterall."
I am sitting at a safe distance but then she reaches out and puts her arms around me and kisses my neck."Think about it," she whispers. My my.
By now I was getting annoyed.. all the heavy duty action packed moments just passed were a distant haze.
"I'll speak to you tomorrow," I said with all the restraint I could command. I walked over to the far end of the room and turned on the lights.
I could see she was a bit flustered by my tone.
"Can I hang around for a bit. You sleep. I'll go in a while."
"Sure."
I covered myself and made a pretense of sleeping off. Through the corner of my eye I saw her reach out and pick up her bag. Quietly she walked out of the door.
Convinced she was gone for sure, a few seconds later I got up walked to the door and promptly latched it. I straighten out the sheets. I turn out the lights.
And then I crash onto the bed and I sleep 12 hours flat.

Lions, Crocs and Buffaloes

2007-08-09T07:29:00.000-07:00

Amazing video this..
More than 9 million views already..all the same here it is for all those who might have missed it!

Team India

2007-07-27T14:13:00.000-07:00

Worcestershire wants Munaf Patel.
But there's a problem..
Er we dont know how to contact him.

Apparently no one in the Indian team currently touring England has his phone no ., email address or any other contact.
This is strange.

Team India heh?

A Good Indian Son

2007-07-20T12:38:00.000-07:00

Read this from David Marr : The Age, Australia:

Mohamed Haneef emerged from the questioning a nerdy guy with fractured English who has done little in the last decade but study. He has performed to perfection the classic role of the good Indian son — becoming a doctor, supporting his mother, seeing his sister married and marrying well himself. He told police: "I am the sole carer for my family.

He was 18 when his father, a teacher, died in 1997. With a scholarship, Haneef entered medical school in Bangalore. The family lived in an ugly lower-middle-class Muslim quarter of concrete flats. Old neighbours still speak highly of a wholesome and studious boy. After graduation, his aim was to become a physician, an ambition that took him to England in March 2004.

Its a sad story. The 'War on Terror' has claimed a new set of victims..upcoming young Muslims travelling to the West in search of a better life, a career... caught as they are in the crossfire between suspicious, apprehensive often paranoid Governments and the terrorists.

What remains to be seen is what the Indian Government can do to secure the release of Mohamed Kafeel detained in Australia on 'thin'.. rather non existent evidence of his link to the Glasgow bombing.

The editorial titled "Haneef and democracy both are in detention" goes onto say:

As the gap between natural justice and political expediency continues to widen, public confidence is beginning to erode....Public confidence must be restored quickly and decisively. At stake is something that defines our way of life.

Indeed. Thats a line that will find resonance with the multitude of Muslim Indians aspiring to go abroad in their quest for a better life.

Murder, spies and intrigue

2007-07-19T13:33:00.000-07:00

It looks like a case straight from the pages of a spy fiction novel set in the days of the Cold War.

In November 2006, former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko died after he was fatally poisoned with radioactive isotope plutonium 210. The affair is now fast developing into a high stakes diplomatic face off between two of the world's biggest powers. It will be interesting to observe whether the British or the Russians are the first ones to back off.

In response to Russia's refusal to extradite Andrei Lugovoi, a former KGB agent and the man suspected of murdering Alexander Litvinenko in London last winter, the UK Government had expelled 4 diplomatic staff of the Russian Embassy. Russia reciprocated by expelling 4 UK Embassy staff earlier today.

The background of the entire case is replete with political intrigue, a highly sophisticated murder, espionage and war. For those who came in late, Alexander Litvinenko was a lieutenant -colonel in the Federal Security Service or the FSB (Russian) the main successor to the KGB - the Russian intelligence agency.

In November 1998, Litvinenko in charge of protecting Russian billionaire Boris Abramovich Berezovsky, publicly accused his superiors of ordering the assassination of Berezovsky. He was initially arrested by Russian authorities to be released later. He fled to the United Kingdom, where he sought political asylum and citizenship upon landing at Heathrow. He had been living in the UK eversince.

Litvinenko had also tried to publish a book in Russia wherein he claimed that Putin's rise to power was a coup spearheaded by the FSB. He even suggested that one of the elements of FSB's strategy was to create paranoia and scare the general populace by bombing apartment buildings in Moscow. He alleged the bombings were the work of FSB and subsequently blamed on Chechen terrorists. This was used to "legitimise reprisals using military force in Chechnya." This led to the Second Chechen War. Former KGB officer Mikhail Trepashkin has confirmed some of his accusations to be true. Whats more in an article in July last year Litvinenko alleged that Putin was a paedophile.

Since his death there have been many public accusations that the Russian Government is behind the murder of Alexander Litvinenko.

In a fascinating read, Catherine Mayer of TIME writes:

"

Unlike the games played in the cold war, when the globe was clearly divided into East and West, friend and foe, the dispute between London and Moscow is taking place in a more confusing world. As the Kremlin prepares to take the inevitable retaliatory action against Britain, the motivations of the main players appear mixed. Britain lodged the extradition request for Lugovoi knowing that the Russian constitution rules out the extradition of Russian citizens. The government anticipated this would create an impasse but says the murder on British soil of a British citizen demanded action......

So far, Britain and Russia seem deadlocked. And so the strange case of Litvinenko is added to the list of unfinished business involving Russia — matters such as the future of Kosovo, the deployment of forces in Europe, the role of foreign investment in the Russian energy sector. It is not a return to the cold war; but nobody, this summer, could say that relations between Russia and the West were warm.

"

Already the US has thrown its weight behind UK's extradition request. Condoleezza Rice currently in Portugal goes on to add that "... there are complexities in the relationship including disappointing progress in Russia on democracy, regression on press freedom, and what she suggested was a tendency by Moscow use its energy resources as a political tool.

This is getting to be interesting; with UK under a new assertive Prime Minister in Gordon Brown the case could potentially recast the already 'cool' UK-Russia relations.

Clearly this isn't over yet. Expect more in the coming weeks ahead.

33 years later

2007-07-14T09:57:00.000-07:00

Another bizarre piece of work by the MP government this time.

And they say they want an enquiry into this now! No doubt I see a committee being formed for the same. Nothing ever works without them. One small issue.. Really wonder how long it will take for the committee to submit its final report on the matter...

'Raisina Hill is Ours"

2007-06-22T01:15:00.000-07:00

It beats me how journos continue to engineer and churn out infinite supplies of such fantastic tales.

Now the Rashtrapati (or Rashtrapatni ?!) Bhavan, and the rest of Raisina Hill is claimed to have been built over 'our ancestral property'.

Can't say I saw that coming!... even if instances of land grabbing have become common-place in and around Delhi. Well now you know the trouble the aam-aadmi out there has to go through to register and hold land under his name.

The villagers of Malcha claim that the area between Paharganj and Chanakyapuri in the Capital belongs to them

Kashif

2007-06-20T11:04:00.000-07:00

Hrithik Roshan has competition. Check out Kashif! Watch out for the incredulous looks from David Hasselhoff and Morgan.
Priceless!

Paul Potts

2007-06-18T10:36:00.000-07:00

"Confidence has sort of always been a difficult thing for me."

There come moments in time when you come across stories, real stories about individuals which grab you by the hand, captivate your senses, rouse you from your chair and make you clap; stories of triumph, of prevailing over seemingly unsurmountable odds. Here is one such story. Paul Potts, a mobile phone store manager has won Britain's Got Talent - a British talent show on television.

To quote from a write up I found on him:

"
Outsiders are not simply malcontents. They are the people who don’t always fit into society as smoothly as others. The are the ignored, the passed-by, the unimportant. Those are seldom attributes they assign themselves; they’re assigned by others.

But there are those outsiders who have found the nugget of value within themselves. Paul Potts is one of those. He’s not especially attractive. He got bullied in school. He could easily have become bitter, disillusioned and withdrawn. Instead he uncovered a talent, an absolutely beautiful voice, and despite being a mobile-phone salesman, he gathered up the courage to risk more humiliation by sharing his ability with the world. And the world is better off for that.

Please allow yourself to enjoy this too short video, and let it encourage you to follow your own dream.

"

Now I cannot claim to be a music or an opera buff. And I don't have a clue what it is that he's singing. All I can say is that it must be something beautiful - so deep, intense and meaningful that it cant be put down in mere words.

"Backwardness"

2007-06-03T23:51:00.000-07:00

Violence over the Gurjar reservation issue has now reached the NCR. This wasn't entirely unexpected. In times past we had the lower castes pleading to be a part of the common fold. Now we have agitations for the exact opposite cause. Meenas, the powerful ST community has strongly opposed inclusion of the Gurjar's into the STs fearing lesser number of seats that would be available to them as a consequence. Since everything in the end will be decided by whats the politically smart thing to do I see little chance of the Gurjars' demands being met. Thats because they comprise a mere 2% of the votes in Rajasthan as opposed to 12% for the Meena community.

In the whole tamasha being played out on the streets outside my office in Gurgaon the most pertinent issue seems to have been overlooked. The reason reservations exist is because they claim to uplift members of the society who have been "backward".

What are the grounds for defining backwardness?

Is there any law that lays down what is going to be that measure of backwardness? Is it economic deprivation? In the prevailing scenario I don't see that to be the case. Is it then classes that have been historically discriminated against/ oppressed?

Is there any measure that would tell us when a given class of people have emerged out of the so called backwardness or fallen enough to be newly included in this category?

Wasn't the aim at the time the Constitution was adopted to progressively reduce reservations? Is there any caste/sub-caste that has gained from reservations substantially over the past 57 years to now be included into the mainstream?

These are questions that must be answered before we seek to implement the current structure of reservations. As much as I am opposed to the whole concept of reservations at the grad, post- grad level(which I have previously touched upon here) I see the absence of any reasonable 'measure' of backwardness as the most vital issue that remains unaddressed. Even if we are willing to forego our strong opposition to the proposal, we are yet to see anything that tells us that they will subsequently be reduced with time. More than the reservations themselves at the moment what scares me more is that 49.5% reservations, the ceiling set by the Supreme Court looks set to stay exhausted for all time to come.

Dhanolti

2007-05-15T07:49:00.000-07:00

The internship is slowly drawing to an end and there is plenty of ground left to cover. But im not fretting. I've seen worse days at IIML, accomplished more in much lesser time. Thats the great thing about IIML. No matter where you're thrown in the pool it cant get any deeper than what one has already seen and survived. Delhi has been predictably hot. At the MDI hostel no coolers are allowed and I wake up every morning at 7 (yes 7 am) troubled by the rising temperature and the rapidly building heat outside.

Visited Dhanolti-Mussoorie over the last weekend - a welcome break from dusty sweltering Gurgaon. Dhanolti is no more than a small glorified roadside village on the Mussorie, New Tehri road. At 25 km from Mussoorie it remains untouched by the commercial trappings and hordes of tourists that throng its more well known neighbour. Dhanolti was the perfect weekend getaway, serene and idyllic - surrounded by tall deodar, oak trees & lush mountains on all sides. At 7500 ft there is a chill in the air and a stiff breeze blows across the town in the evenings whispering its way through the forests!

Gurgaon

2007-04-25T21:44:00.000-07:00

A delightful article this from that man Amit Varma. I sometimes don't agree with him but its articles like these that keep me glued to his blog.
Meanwhile Australia march into the World Cup finals against Sri Lanka to be played this Saturday. They haven't even been remotely tested at any point through the tournament. And that looks unlikely to change come Saturday. The one person who might make a difference is Malinga. The Aussies have not played much of him and his unorthodox bowling might test Hayden and Gilchrist who have been unstoppable all summer.
As much as i dislike Delhi I'm beginning to find myself looking for reasons to make unscheduled trips up north from this glorified village of Gurgaon. Its dusty and very chaotic. The place is devoid of any culture which it seemingly makes up for by having malls at every half a kilometre. Its a decidedly horrid place to live in.

Justice

2007-03-23T03:12:00.001-07:00

All 8 accused have been pronounced as guilty in the Manjunath case.

Bob Woolmer

2007-03-21T04:59:00.000-07:00

The sudden demise of Bob Woolmer, probably the most astute cricketing mind of the past decade has cast a shadow over the ongoing WC. Alongwith Hansie Cronje he put together an almost unbeatable South African team brimming with talent. For a long time only the South Africans looked capable of upstaging the Australians while the rest of the teams only fought for 3rd place.

Now comes the news that Woolmer could have been murdered. And to further investigate the "suspicious" death arriving soon in the Caribbean are Detectives from Scotland Yard.

Tomorrow is India's do-or-die clash against the Lankans. Given the form the Lankans are in, I wouldn't put my money on India.

Deja Vu

2007-03-18T04:56:00.000-07:00

Watching India go through the motions last night defeat writ all over their forlorn faces overwhelmed me with a feeling of deja vu. Remember Netherlands 2003 or Zimbabwe 1999? A couple of fearless teenagers had outplayed a passion-less team.
India lost because it was mentally the weaker team. For too much emphasis for too long has been placed on talent, ability and too little on execution. I am a great fan of Dravid the batsman. He has given us stirring victories like the Adelaide test and Headingley. But I find him to be an woefully myopic, and incapable leader.
Let me elaborate:
1) We should have batted first. Bashar even acknowledged they'd have bowled had he won the toss. Dravid has done this before in SA. Batting first on tricky wickets - placing foolish bravado ahead of cold rationale.
2) Virender Sehwag - Defending the indefensible. Yeah he's got a triple ton, great talent etc etc. The World Cup is not a platform for those out of form to get back into form. Sort it out in domestic/county cricket. Period.
3) I am particularly pissed off with his backing of Ajit Agarkar. Its been years since his debut but still not a semblance of consistency or control. Yesterday he managed the unattainable. To be dismissed twice for a duck in single innings! He was plumb leg before to the first ball he faced only to be let off by the umpire following which he promptly nicked his second delivery to the keeper not giving the umpire another chance. We should have played the additional spinner. Playing Kumble against Bangladesh made sense. (Teenagers not having played Kumble before)
4) Lastly I find his ceaseless urge to be 'politically correct' extremely annoying. Quit the diplomacy. He once said,"At the end of the day, its just a game of cricket." Just a game? In India? Are you nuts? Sample the list of Captains to have won the World Cup:
Clive Lloyd
Kapil Dev
Allan Border
Imran Khan
Arjuna Ranatunga
Steve Waugh
Ricky Ponting
All of them were known to speak their mind and say it as it is. Rahul Dravid would be such a misfit in this line-up.
We need inspiration. We need passion. We need a team to go out there and play like their life depended on it.
Quit the trash talk. Lets see some balls now.

Images Courtesy Cricinfo

Sense and sensibility

2007-03-13T12:49:00.000-07:00

We all see the world from our tiny windows. I am the sum of all the moments and experiences of my life. So whatever I write is bound to be a construct which emerges from the clay of my own mind.

I have never been around poverty or violence. Or political intrigue. Why then must I write about them? They do not form a part of my world. They do not interest me. A shirtless Ganguly waving animatedly from the Lord's balcony has more of my attention than XYZee's latest mineral ore acquisition in Uganda or the mechanics behind the valuation leading to buyout of a minority partner in a desi telecom deal. I have no pretensions of being taken seriously here. I do not seek to resolve ills plagueing the country through this medium nor is this an outlet to vent homilies on 'meaningful issues'.

Seekers of the same are hence forewarned.

Caribbean Calling and more!

2007-03-03T05:16:00.000-08:00

So, India is going to the World Cup. Well I heard someone once say- "The more things change the more they remain the same." We have the old war horses back(Dada, Kumble) and the young turks(Raina, Dinesh Mongia, Gambhir) have been unceremoniously dumped. Considering Australia has had a bad last month the whole of India looks forward to the event with more than a glimmer of hope. Already Arjuna Ranatunga has said spoken out in favour of India. Not many within the Indian cricket fraternity are so convinced. Kapil Dev doesnt believe India has the armoury to last the distance. Whatever the result the whole of India will look forward in eager anticipation to March 17 when the men in blue take the field against minnows Bangladesh.

Onto other things now. Third term at IIM Lucknow has been more peaceful after the troubled times of Term1 &2. That looks all set to change as the exam dates come closer but life for now is good. Placement week is underway here and the excitement is in the air. In the next two three days over two hundred 20-somethings (well most of them) will find their calling in their "dream" jobs - a period which is bound to be both memorable and momentous.

A couple of days ago I had a rare laughing fit when I saw the latest ad of IIPM in the Business Standard calling itself "The Biggest B-School on Earth." It went on to say that IIPM is the "World's most globalized school."(whatever that means...)
In the past too IIPM's page length ads have come in newspapers exhorting us to "Dare to think beyond the IIMs." Even more amusing were the junk politico-economic articles featured alongside the ad penned by some random Prof - apparently a ploy to delude us into believing the profound and vast intellectual capital that populates the hallowed confines of IIPM. Why the Dean of this institute even came out with a film. He claimed to have done thorough market research and studied consumer behavior patterns before scripting. The film bombed. Well what they definitely don't teach at IIPM is how to make good films.

Had the chance to visit Dudhwa National Park a couple of weeks back. Having been there twice before(1996-98) I was pleased to find that little has changed there over the last ten years. Pallia, the town at the fringe of the park however seemed to have transformed into a quiet sleepy hamlet. Quite unlike the bustling, commercial center I recall it was back in the 90s. The sugar mills though are the same, billowing out voluminous amounts of effluents and smoke while farmers lined the road leading upto the mill with trollies full of sugarcane shoots. Dhangarhi, the bordering town in Nepal is nothing like it remember it to be. It seemed dull and insipid this time. The solitary hospital near the main market was filthy and the stench from the toilet unbearable.

Dudhwa was itself - verdant and abounding. It had rained the night before and the swollen Sharda river lazily waded its way through the dense forest.

Looking forward to the summer now. Internship and more.

India in SA

2006-11-24T04:15:00.000-08:00

The pathetic display of frontline Indian batsmen (91 all out) in the Durban ODI against South Africa is a screaming reminder of just how inadequate the wickets in domestic cricket remain. Not much has changed since 1996-97 when we were bowled out for 100 and 66 in the two innings of the Durban Test match. This makes it all the more painful.
By not learning the lessons of the past and surrendering meekly time and again on fast bouncy wickets the Indian cricket team has shown a lack of character and resolve. Its not about winning anymore. Anyone who follows cricket will agree that South Africa has a far superior pace attack but the manner of the loss makes the defeat humiliating. Unfortunately I see more of the same coming their way over the next month as they continue their tour. I dont know what can be done to salvage the situation. I can't think any remedies. There isn't anything that can be done now. The planning and preparation should have begun much earlier. Its too late. What I do hope is that this team shows some fight and purpose. We might lose but let's see some steel..

Home and Away

2006-11-15T23:04:00.000-08:00

This is the best essay i have read in a long long time. It captures beautifully the pain of being a refugee and the yearning for a return to one's "home" - the land of one's forefathers.
Read here:
'My Kind of Exile' by Tenzin Tsundue

The Departed

2006-11-06T09:06:00.000-08:00

Martin Scorsese, Leo de Caprio, Jack Nicholson and Matt Damon!!

Add brilliant screenplay and a super ending to the mix. What you get is a taut fascinating story replete with savage twists and great dialogue - "I dont want to be a product of my environment, I want my environment to be a product of me."

Man this is how cinema should be made.

Sherwood Sherwood Ra Ra Ra!

2006-11-03T00:46:00.000-08:00

Makes one proud to see 3 men all distinguished army veterans and alumni of Sherwood mentioned in the same page.
Visit here.

Dor and Khosla ka Ghosla

2006-10-14T13:46:00.000-07:00

Given the load of silly cinema bollywood churns out every Friday its surprising how a couple of films released over the last fortnight have gone unnoticed. Dor and Khosla ka Ghosla represent how mature cinema is gaining a foothold in India. No doubt the films have been talked about but the amount of space they have occupied in the cacophony that accompanies releases every Friday is grossly inadequate for films of such quality. Again this is not to say that they are "pathbreaking" or "revolutionary" but its particularly significant that the two films released on the same day. The frequency of meaningful cinema coming out of Bollywood has slowed down to a trickle. Dor and KKG represent the emergence of a new breed of writers who are not solely driven by the need to make a fast buck.

Coming to Dor and KKG, no two films could be more unlike each other. Yet they strike a chord because they are stories from among us. The real stories I have always believed lie in India's small towns and villages and from the huge middle class that populate our cities and not in fashionable NRI weddings.

Dor is a beautifully shot movie. I can't recall the last Hindi movie I saw which even comes close to it in this respect. The film is not without its flaws but has several moments of sheer class. In particular the scene where Ayesha Takia clutches to her heart the red sari she finds among her dead husband's belongings is intense and brings a lump to your throat. Dialogues are minimal and silence is used powerfully. The acting is top drawer and Gul Panag is brilliant and looks gorgeous. But more importantly the dignity and sobriety she brings to the role is priceless in the context of the film. Wonder why she wasn't featured so prominently in the promos.

Khosla ka Ghosla on the other hand is the story of a middle class family in Delhi cheated of their plot of land by a crafty rogue (played to perfection by Boman Irani). Humour may be the underlying theme but the film eloquently captures the pangs of a humble retired middle class man torn between morality and the desperation to recover the plot of land which is the result of the savings of his lifetime.

Hope we haven't had an year's quota of watchable cinema in one week! Until then brace yourself to watch signature Bollywood tripe for all Fridays remaining in the year.

Lucknow Times

2006-10-13T10:13:00.000-07:00

The vast majority of billboards that have come up all over Lucknow have to do with two things:
1) University elections
2) IITJEE / CAT coaching

The election banners/boards never cease to amuse me with their colourful lingo and even poetry.. The tution centers too have a knack for picking up names which catch the eye. Sample this..

Oh Captain, My Captain!

2006-09-22T06:13:00.000-07:00

Rahul Dravid is a great batsman. Infact he is probably the best batsman in Test cricket based on form in the past 3 to 4 years. But a great batsman does not a great captain make.

Its all too apparent that most of the thinking that goes into selecting the side happens from the coach's end. Dravid's decisions on the field have left a lot to be desired. He is unimaginative, lacks aggression and fumbles at the game's key moments.

India had Australia on the mat at 117/6 today. The last recognized pair (if you even consider Hogg a specialist batsman) were at the crease. Dravid promptly brought on his non regular bowlers in Sehwag while Mongia continued from the other end. The Australians were let off and went on to accumulate 213 when they should have been restricted to 160 if Munaf, who was by far the most effective bowler in the team, had been brought on at that very moment. Infact he didn't even bowl his full 10 over quota and was ostensibly being saved to bowl the last few overs of the innings to Australia's number 10 and 11!

Contrast this with what Ricky Ponting did today. He was on the button from ball one. He immediately brought back Lee when things started tilting in India's favour with Dhoni and Mongia having put on a 50 run partnership. Australia's leading spearhead responded by removing Dhoni and exposing India's tail which as always meekly crumbled at the doorstep of victory.

India lost and are out of the tournament which had three teams competing for a place in the finals. India frankly didnt merit a place in the final. They played very ordinary cricket and the captaincy and selection of the playing 11 was poor. How else can you explain the omission of Sreesanth, India's most successful bowler of late and the only one in the side having some real pace. He bowled splendidly against West Indies the other night and his two wickets at just 3 an over were superb returns. He should have taken RP Singh's place.

The batting was pathetic all through the tournament. Sehwag is long overdue and needs to be dropped for a while. He has scored practically nothing for two years now. Only in India we hang on to young prodigies and fail to put a system in place to develop them as more complete cricketers. Sehwag's one day form has been poor for a long time now.

I was amzed to discover that Australia's prolific batsman Hussy made his ODI debut aged almost 30! This is testimony to the highly competitive level of domestic cricket in Australia. Have we had anyone in the 28-32 age range making their debut for India and proving themselves in international cricket in the past 2 decades? All of those playing today made their debuts when they were 18-25 years. Noone has come out of the domestic cricket scene in a long time now.

No wonder Gavaskar once remarked "India continues to produce champions..but it is by accident rather than design..."

HE IS BACK!!!!!!!!

2006-09-14T03:37:00.000-07:00

Sachin slams 40th ODI century

SR Tendulkar 142 not out off 148..13x4, 5x6
Take that!!!!!!!!!!!

CWTA (cant watch this anymore)

2006-08-18T14:27:00.000-07:00

I have read so much about the movie that finally i succumbed to the shor sharaba and went ahead and watched KANK. Not that i thought it would turn out better than what i had initially anticipated but the sheer magnitude of the fuss such movies create make it a curious subject of study for me. The movie was on the lines i had expected it to be. However I am convinced the movie will do reasonably well. I am told the movie has released a record number of prints in an attempt to maximize revenues over the first week. Thats smart marketing even if it isn't smart film making!

The film had a decent enough story but the over dramatized sequences coupled with an absolute lack of novelty by way of storytelling and presentation made it an ordeal stretched over 3 hours. This is Rani Mukherjee's most irritating performance to date. Her character is shallow and no justification is provided why she remains so aloof and uninterested in her doting husband. Why does she marry the guy in the first place when she is so confused? She literally had glycerine poured all over her face everytime she same onscreen. Shahrukh was more economical with the glycerine, he merely held it in his eyes and looked skywards feigning pensive bizarre expressions, knitted eyebrows and a twisted jaw. Abhishek Bachchan was a revelation and has improved tremendously over the years. Makes you wonder why he did those "Tera Jadoo Chal Gaya" movies in the first place. Preity Zinta played the only believable character in the movie and inspite of not being the leading lady made an impact. Her motivations are perfectly believable and her actions justified in the script. She plays the only strong willed character in a movie in which people are bent upon weeping their eyes out.

Im not sure if Amitabh Bachchan yet has a sense of what works for him and what doesnt. Why on earth would the man play ridiculous unfunny 'sexy sam'? Also Karan Johar has a poor sense of humour. Jokes can be funny without being sexual. All his movies post KKHH have relied on doses of crude innuendo which certainly would have been more palatable if he hadn't got Amitabh Bachchan to mouth them!

Mr Natwarlal

2006-08-13T02:22:00.000-07:00

Natwar Singh is angry. All his years of 'loyalty' to the Gandhi parivaar notwithstanding things have come to such a pass that he is on the verge of being expelled from the party. Natwar Singh for me remains the most abominable caricature of the self serving politician that we have come to expect in this part of the world.
His diatribes against the Prime Minister have only underlined his unwillingness to directly respond to the serious charges that have been levelled against him. Known as he is for his strong anti-US stance in policy issues, he continues to blame the US for having 'plotted' his downfall through the Volcker Committee report. Yet the same man on a trip to Washington as the Minister for External Affairs was sufficiently pleased by the hospitality extended to him to claim that India will revisit their stance of sending a peace keeping force to Iraq sometime in June 2004 when the Government had explicitly ruled out such a possibility. This prompted a furore back home in India and Natwar had to beat a hasty retreat on his earlier statement.
How such an individual could rise to occupy one of the highest offices in the Goverment of India is a mystery to me. But we have been there before..V P Singh, Sukh Ram, JMM bribery case...the list is endless.
While our capable leaders continue to debate on the appropriate General-SC/ST/OBC ratios within our classrooms why dont they put in place a more suitable process for selection of individuals to the country's highest offices? That wont even cost a fraction of the 1500 crore the IIMs have sought for capacity expansion and would spare us a scam or two!

The Bun-omi Canvas

2006-07-29T02:40:00.000-07:00

Nainital...by night..

The temple at the corner of Flats

Some amazing pictures of Nainital....couldnt resist posting them here..enjoy!!

Sunshine Holiday anyone???

Different Moods.....

Balrampur House..Overnight leave..Circa September 1993!

Kaladhungi...Treks 1991!

View from Tiffin Top..

.......and the last puff of the day-wind brought from the unseen villages the scent of damp wood smoke, hot cakes, dripping undergrowth, and rotting pine-cones. That smell is the true smell of the Himalayas, and if it once gets into the blood of a man he will, at the last, forgetting everything else, return to the Hills to die - Rudyard Kipling

Sleep deprived

2006-07-18T10:30:00.000-07:00

I have two quizzes scheduled for tomorrow and a load of assignments piled up. I love the lib here..the sofas and the tranquil environs provide the perfect opportunity for a quick nap espcially when you haven't had much sleep the night before. The weather has been very humid forcing me to seek refuge in the comfy confines of the lib of late. How i wish we had a coffee machine inside..infact we even need one inside the PGP block given the number of people who nod of in class everyday! The committee tasks are taking their toll and its hard maintaining a balance between all the work piled up and extra curriculars. But im not complaining. This is the life i have always yearned for and now that i have it i have to make the most of it.

The Mumbai Blasts

2006-07-16T03:47:00.000-07:00

The blasts in Bombay have brought to the fore again the total inability of our Government to address issues with resolve and purpose. We even had some ministers including the moron (Arjun Singh) making noises about the blasts being a handiwork of the RSS! On the one hand we have Israel which has initiated a full blown operation to recover their two soldiers taken hostage by Hizbollah extremists and here we have a characterless, insipid, confused Govt which routinely comes out with statements 'condemning' the blasts and some garbage about 'the scourge of terrorism' as if that were some real revelation! Never has the External Affairs Minister of a democracy escorted a terrorist and delivered him across to his bunch of outlaws..Kandahar remains the biggest blot on India's awful record while dealing with terrorists. The US, Russia, Israel have clear cut policies which spell out what steps need to be taken under the threat of terrorist attacks and hostage situations. Its explicitly mentions that there will be no negotiation with terrorists.

That apart I am extremely bugged with all this talk about the 'spirit of mumbai'. Are we supposed to appreciate the fact that people go about their lives with complete abandon as if nothing has occurred...Why should we forget what happened and move on? Im not prepared to accept random murders, bombings as a way of life..i want to remember... always..The need to get back to life again must not give rise to a society which remains unmoved or stoic in the face of such adversity. For all the trauma and riots Bombay has seen we have not one monument in memory of those who lost their lives in the Bombay serial blasts of 1993 and the riots that followed nor for the Gateway of India blasts. We are only reminded of them when one reads the newspapers on the interminally long judicial process in progress against the accused 13 years after.

IIML - the beginning

2006-07-16T02:33:00.000-07:00

Im making this post a full 3 weeks after i landed in IIM Lucknow. Life has been a relentless grind and there are uncountable stories to tell.

Right from the first day of our induction to today time has been a scarce commodity. Its been a period in which one's limits are tested, tried and often redefined. A few distinguished alumni had come over to speak to us during our induction process. A common question which everyone was keen to know about was whether the workload at IIML was too high and whether we would be able cope with it at all. The alumnus said something to the effect that a lakh and a half candidates across the country would give their right arm to be on the very chairs we were sitting on and the workload at IIML rather than being a source of fear should be taken as the opportunity only available to a privileged lot. That effectively concluded all further the discussion on the topic.

The second half of the induction process was a bit of a nightmare with seminars and form submission deadlines keeping us up till the wee hours of the morning. On one particular night after a full day spent in the hall over induction, we had a test that ended at 3 am and a seminar was scheduled to follow that. Thankfully owing to the packed schedule we had to go through that day the event was cancelled.

A big surprise was the food at the IIML mess. Compared to the food i have had to encounter during my 15 years at different boarding schools and at the college hostel the food here is a welcome relief. Besides for someone who has survived on rasam chaval for four years anything edible seems like manna!

The library here is really great considering i have seen quite a few good ones. Most of my time is spent there. A number of freshers can be found studying in the lib every afternoon. Its my favourite place on campus by some distance.

Some of our Profs are pretty good but somehow the experience of sitting in an AC hall with the monotonous rambling is enough to put you to sleep. Yesterday we had a section party. It was well deserved after a week of classes and more. The diversity and background of students here is pretty amazing. It all adds up to make the experience all the more memorable.

If i was to use one word to sum up the life here it would be 'intensity'. You discover that there is a remarkable amount of work you are capable of once the intensity kicks in. It not only helps you do more in less time but opens your mind to avenues and inculcates an outlook you thought you were never capable of.

Nostalgia...

2006-07-02T06:17:00.000-07:00

The valley i shall visit again...and again...Nainital June 2006.. ah nostalgia..
photo courtesy: http://www.oldsherwoodians.com/

LTTE rewind

2006-06-28T09:23:00.000-07:00

LTTE's apology over the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi for me betrays the absolute impotence of the Indian Govt. Where else in the world do you have a Government that stands aside and does precious little to combat or eliminate the organisation that has now openly confessed to having assassinated the Indian PM. I cant imagine the US or China or even Russia taking such a passive stance in the face of such temerity. I cant comprehend what the Govt and the Congress are trying to convey when they say that 'they reject the apology offered by the LTTE'.

And its not as if the enemy lies hidden in some remote inaccessible cave (a la Bin Laden) but one which is only removed from the Indian mainland by a few miles. It does little to enhance India's image as a soft state which can be held ransom by extremists time and again..remember Kandahar? Its been 15 years since Rajiv Gandhi was assasinated and yet the LTTE freely holds press conferences and gives interviews to various publications. I cannot fathom how an internationally branded terrorist organisation responsible for the brutal assassination of a PM continues to flourish so brazenly. Moreover the LTTE has been responsible for the assassination of Lankan President Premadasa. India has never quite been able to control the trouble brewing in its neighbourhood be it Nepal, Bangladesh or Sri Lanka. But this is all the more jarring since it concerns the nation's own PM. The mere conviction of 22 accused in the assassination of RG does nothing to weaken the LTTE which was the sole mastermind behind the assassination.

The latest events only serve to underline India's total lack of resolve and readiness to deal with such enemies of the state.

Madras Madness

2006-06-21T00:55:00.000-07:00

A court in Madurai has issued non-bailable warrants against actresses Shilpa Shetty and Reema Sen for publication of their 'obscene' photographs in a Tamil newspaper. See news item.

While i have no access to the allegedly obscene pictures i find the court's ruling ridiculous. The actresses have no way of controlling who publishes which picture of theirs. This is all the more amusing because the court is in Tamil Nadu which has by now established a splendid record of parochial hypocrisy in such matters. The moral brigade in the state has reached alarming decibel levels of late. Conservatism is such a sham here considering the sleaze their cinema is full of.

Some time ago we had the Khushboo episode. For no fault of hers the lady was harassed and the issue was blown out of proportion by self appointed custodians of 'tamil culture'. Regardless of whether one agrees or disagrees with the views of Khushboo one could not deny her the right to express them. The larger issue here is one of ethnic chauvinism that is deeply embedded in the Tamil subconsciousness. The false notion of moral superiority finds expression in uncivilized attacks like these.

Torture no more!

2006-06-16T07:06:00.000-07:00

For some reason not known to me i find making small talk with random acquaintances a very painful exercise. The sheer thought of going to that aunti's place for dinner and putting on my 'good boy' smile for the rest of the evening has me trembling in my shoes. I dislike the whole idea when all i'm really bothered about is whats in store for dinner, when can i hog and make a move. Even so mom dad insist that i accompany them on all occasions reminding me that other 'kids' like Sitamarhi waale uncle's beta Chintu will be there..You will enjoy yourself'..when i know that the likelihood of Saddam Hussein and George Bush playing a round of golf together is greater than that of my 'enjoying' the evening.

I hate it. The pattern of questions i am required to answer on all such occasions is predictable. 'Beta kya kar rahe ho aaj kal' or 'Kis branch me engineering kar rahe ho...kitna scope hai electrical ka..aaj kal to computer engineering demand me hai ...aage ka kya socha hai? '...

I tell you i feel like fleeing from the scene and would much rather prefer to slowly bleed to death than respond.

Isliye, from now on i have resolved that come what may im gonna stay home and tolerate Aaj Tak and its unique brand of shitty news rather than venture out!

Me an Engineer!!

2006-06-16T05:22:00.000-07:00

The latest is that i cleared all my final sem papers and im now officially an engineer! Whats the big deal with that...its not big its a huge, gigantic, earth shattering achievement.

My electrician's damaad's aptitude for engineering would be greater than my own. This dawned upon me one night while i slogged my way through some intricately worded problem from this HC Verma Physics book living vicarious dreams of making it to IIT when i knew better than most that Gandhi's chances of success at preaching non-violence to Bin Laden were greater than mine at IITJEE. The day i get through JEE India will beat Brazil 7-0 at soccer.

So while i didnt graduate from IIT this for me remains the stand out achievement of my (otherwise) modest academic career. What however makes me feel smart is that i succeeded at simultaneously duping my Profs, lecturers into awarding me that BTech degree and considering me 'competent' enough to become an 'engineer'. Seriously if engineers like me were to serve this country the possibility of ensuring electrification of India's thousand villages will remain as real a possibility as that of finding dinosaurs in downtown Mumbai.

Thankfully i wont have to join the IT company i was placed with considering i have nil aptitude for or interest in such a career. The company is great but seriously i cant visualise myself doing code or finding that elusive bug ailing a program. If things hadnt worked out i would be forced to take up the offer in which case i would pity the collective misfortune of the company's bosses.

In another week i will be off to IIM Lucknow and thank god for that..

Rakhi & Mika

2006-06-15T00:44:00.001-07:00

I have been observing with utmost fascination the going-ons in the Rakhi Sawant & Mika kissing controversy. The first day numerous news channels devoted chunks of their air time to this 'worthy' piece of news. We had anchors animatedly discussing the event and analysts earnestly dissecting the events at Mika's birthday party. Aaj Tak, the leader of the gang, religiously flashed clips of the smooch and that of Rakhi Sawant planting a kiss on the birthday boy's cheeks. In one bizarre show we had the news anchor mediating between the couple and trying to patch things up between them while he spoke to them alternately and simultaneously!

The shor-sharaba was most colourfully captured by an ET editorial part of which i shall reproduce here -

" ...the TV news channels kept focusing on the incident with the single-minded passion of an Auguste Rodin sculpting the kiss in 1866! .....The only thing missing was a kindergarten kid reciting ' Georgie Porgie, pudding and pie/ Kissed the girls and made them cry./ When the boys came out to play,/ Georgie Porgie ran away! ' "

Ha!

ICC- 'A Bunch of Jokers'

2006-06-10T20:53:00.000-07:00

The ICC has imposed a fine of 20% of match fee on Virender Sehwag for excessive appealing. At the same time West Indian captain Brian Lara has been allowed to go scot-free in what many felt was absolute shameful behaviour by a captain of an international cricket team. Lara had snatched the ball from the hands of umpire Asad Rauf officiating in the first test at Antigua.

While Lara's frustration is understandable given that Dhoni had smashed three sixes in that over and had it not been for the 'catch' it would have been the fourth six of the over! But his response left a lot to be desired. Moreover even the fielder who had caught the ball at the ropes was unsure whether his feet had touched the boundary. Under such circumstances when TV replays are also inconclusive its accepted procedure to award the benefit of doubt to the batsman. So i really dont understand what Lara was fussing about..that Dhoni had just smashed a rapid fire 69 and placed his team well and truly in control of the game had more to do with his frustration than the events surrouding Dhoni's 'dismissal'.

In this light the attitude of match referee Jeff Crowe comes across as blatantly biased. Also i wonder if the match referee would have acted differently if Lara had snatched the ball from the hands of the other on field umpire Simon Taufel of Australia. Just because Asad Rauf is from Pakistan the disrespect shown becomes 'understandable' in the words of ICC spokesman Dave Richardson! This is ridiculous to say the least. I'm convinced if Taufel had been at the receiving end things would have turned out differently.

Sherwood College - Part 1

2006-05-24T02:30:00.000-07:00

I joined Sherwood College, Nainital on 5th March, 1990 and was there from 1990-98. It would be no exaggeration to say that the time i spent at Sherwood has had an immense impact in shaping the person i am. Not only did i make friends to last a lifetime i imbibed an ethos that has guided me through all the good and bad times in my life.

My first memory of Sherwood is walking up the brick road leading from the unpretentious main gate to Horsman Wing...the entire road swathed in mist. Along the path smartly dressed boys in bottle green blazers milled around and the idle chit chat of hostellers back from the vacation filled the air. In Horsman Wing i was allotted a bed in Dorm 1..i was hesitant speaking to other kids in my dorm. Most of them were new to Sherwood like me. A boy wept uncontrollably in one corner while a sikh boy played merrily with a green tennis ball at the other end of the corridor.

Now Horsman Wing in my time comprised classes 2 to 5. Most of the kids were sorely homesick unable to adjust to the harsh reality of settling into an unfamiliar life, rigid timetables with noone to help them or take care of them. From being a pampered lot at home we were condemned to live a life we detested. Where we were in charge of ourselves. We did have matrons but most of them were middle aged foul tempered women who cared little for the sensitivity that kids should be handled with. Most of their time was spent shouting out instructions or punishing kids for petty faults varying from wetting their beds to not polishing their shoes. Moreover the matrons were perpetually locked in a war amongst themselves. And often we students were caught in the crossfire and brutalized as victims in the ego clashes that so charaterized every aspect of dorm life in Horsie. Guys were made to kneel for hours out in the cold or caned indiscriminately if one belonged to a dorm that was not under the matron whose 'rules' we had dared to infringe. Rules such as how a dorm 1 guy had entered dorm 2 or if we had 'pushed' some other dorm's guy in the bathroom line.. But Horsie was an education in survival. The food was pathetic,the cold unbearable, the toilets straight out of a concentration camp.

Horsman Wing along its eastern fringe gave way to a steep mountain incline called 'khudside' in Sherwood parlance. There was this patch of stinging nettle or 'bichchu kanta' that grew along this fringe. Many students would get 'stung' by this unique plant specimen while they played in the area. True to the Sherwood survival instinct we discovered 'dog leafs' which when rubbed over the'stung' area would instantaneously relieve the pain. Whats more the 'dog leaf' somehow always grew in close vicinity of the stinging nettles!

The food in those initial years was terrible. For breakfast we got this pale and foul smelling liquid called porridge which often tasted like some bitter medicine. Once that entered your system you were left with this nauseauting odour that stayed on for hours. We were served tea(more like boiled water) with the porridge and egg..but one always had guys who would happily eat the porridge you couldnt swallow or the rubber-like egg that smelt from a distance.. Sherwood did strange things to people..

It used to be extremely cold in the first month of each session i.e. March. And often for souls like me unaccustomed to such extreme weather, life would become miserable. Often due to the cold the fingers would swell up and become real thick..so much so that one couldnt bend it all the way or even write properly. It was called 'chillblains'. And the college infirmary had no real cure for it. They would apply this oily greasy liquid which smelt like camphor and send you on your way. It never helped. Numerous boys with chapped faces would line up outside the infirmary to get their 'chillblains' treated every winter. i also noticed some guys would get 'cuts' at the edges of the mouth something i have never come across outside Sherwood. Later on we read in biology that this was due to the extreme deficiency of iodine in one's diet. So much for Sherwood food!

The worst part was the toilets. This merits a whole new article of its own and I will deal with it separately in a write-up later.

Not everything was wrong with life in Horsie. It taught you to fight for yourself, it trained you to be responsible and organized. More than anything else it gave you access to books that would make all those 'prep' times meaningful and fun at the same time!

Horsman Wing also had some outstanding teachers. They provided a solid grounding in fundas in order to deal with the competitive rigours of higher education in the years to come. I recall we had Ms Edgar a very competent and excellent teacher in English. It was a pity she left the school only an year after i had joined school. Later on we had Mrs Beale under whom my poor math skills witnessed some major improvement. I liked Mrs Hoffland's geography lessons too..somehow i was drawn to the subject. I had an atlas at that time and would spend hours locating places i heard about. Besides Geography I was attracted to literature. I always scored well in my essays and often my essays would be published in the annual school magazine..something that really made my parents proud in those days!

During the academic year we were taken out on treks twice (in April and September) and for a 4 day period to some close-by destination. The teacher in-charge would often pick the students who were to accompany him on the trek. Often students were left out if they were considered too small or 'frail or weak' to undertake the trek. It was meant for the 'big' guys. This was often an occasion for a lot of heart-burn. I recall in class 3 i was initially not among those who made it to the 'list' supposed to accompany Mr Hoffland with our seniors (classes 4 and 5) to a nearby camp. I was devastated. I was told by fellow classmates that students with the best marks were selected. That argument fell flat because i had topped the class that term. So confident that a mistake had been made i approached Mr Hoffland hoping he would acknowledge the gaffe and duly include my name. When i told him that a mistake had been made in drafting the list he was so amused by my story that he promptly included my name for the sheer entertainment value of my submission!! So away i went to Kaladhungi..and boy did i have the time of my life!!

Kaladhungi was this quaint, scenic spot in the foothills along the edges of a dense forest, a mountain stream running all along its fringe. For four days we were indulged lavishly..great food, great sights! We were putting up at Camp Corbett and the place we had heard was frequented by leopards..enough for all kinds of adventure stories and fairy tales to emerge every morning from our gang of 8 year olds!! Often guys would come up with inventive stories about how they scared away a leopard which had entered our camp during the night..sadly noone was awake to witness such feats!!

For four days we had the time of our lives returning only to tell long stories about our 'adventures' to those who couldnt come with us.

In Horsie we had a 'smiley man' who turned up every Sunday afternoon and students would crowd around where he laid out his packets of jelly, nuts and namkeen etc. We also had a 'fruit man' who sold overpriced strawberries and kafels (i dont know how thats spelt) a sweet and sour fruit that left one's mouth purple with its juices. Besides them there was a 'pastry man' too whose cookies were the stuff of legend in my time at Sherwood. For us starved souls the sheer sight of the 'pastry man' would enliven an otherwise dull drab day.

However as juniors in Horsie we always had a sense that we weren't a part of the 'real' Sherwood which for all practical purposes was Dixon Wing-the senior school. The Principal rarely if ever came down to our dorms or classrooms. We were an appendage, a necessary but irrelevant community whose participation in school activities was restricted to our play and the flags or dumb-bells display over Founder's week.

So after Class 5 we bid adieu to Horsman Wing and prepared ourselves to embrace the tougher environs of life in Dixon Wing, the 'real' Sherwood where kids grew into men, where we were the masters of our lives, a place about which horror stories of physical punishments circulated frequently and freely(with generous doses of exaggerated masala in typical Sherwood tradition). To Dixie then!

Cricket

2006-05-20T23:17:00.000-07:00

At different times in my life i have had different interests. Initially i was extremely fond of reading. When i was in Class 8 i got hooked onto the devious and ingenuous murder mysteries of Agatha Christie. Infact my school library had a large collection of Agatha Christie..40-50 books and by the time i finished Class 9 i had read all of them..some of them twice over!! Among my favourites was 'Crooked House'. It is one of those books i bought after having read it just for keeps. Throughout the book an atmosphere of dread and underlying fear of the 'unknown' is built up beautifully to culminate with a savage twist in the tail. But apart from this i really havent been 'addicted' to anything else. Atleast not over a reasonable period of time. I was extremely fond of trekking but havent really had much opportunity to do that of late.
So that leaves only Cricket. I have followed the game since i was a kid. Whenever India takes the field all things in life come to a standstill. The game evokes strong passions and it unites a diverse, heterogenous multitude that is India. It tests not just ability and finesse. It stands as much for strength of mind and fixity of purpose as it is about style and elegance.
The game captures the nation's imagination like little else. For the average cricket follower in India moderate successes in cricket make up for the nation's abysmal record in other sports..when India wins on the cricket field all else is forgotten and forgiven..
For the first time we have a team which promises great things. Its a team that represents the 'real' India with representations from all across the cities, the towns the hinterland and the urban India. But often in the past the Indian team has flattered only to deceive. Only time will tell whether the current lot live up to the enormous expectations and perform consistently over a period of time and across continents.
P.S.: Here's wishing the Indian team the very best on their Caribbean tour!!

Random Ruminations

2006-05-17T01:17:00.000-07:00

With every accomplishment and goal achieved one looks forward to new beginnings, sets new goals, and starts afresh.
I still have more than a month to go before i join IIM Lucknow but the exhilaration that accompanied the declaration of results has evaporated and i'm back staring at life with the same mundane, bored eyes. Part of it is due to not having much to do these past few days.
Most of the time i'm still preoccupied with my project work or making travel arrangements. There really isn't much time to sit back and soak up the euphoria and hullabaloo of having 'made it'.
I have never been much of a social creature and to date i find it hard to meet new people and socialise in general. I detest it. I find it doubly hard to get along with people I have no interest in and make small talk when there is no relevant purpose to any such conversation. It comes across as arrogance to a lot of people around me but i really dont care. Im too busy taking care of my own life to acknowledge the ramblings of people i scarcely concern myself with.

Bombay

2006-05-17T00:50:00.000-07:00

I have spent two years in Delhi too and im often surprised when people tend to compare the two cities. I dislike Delhi at the best of times. Mumbai is more organized as a city with a top-drawer public transport system. While Delhi used to be terrible 5 years ago the situation has somewhat improved after the introduction of the 'Metro Rail'. Another reason is the weather. Now Mumbai might get hot but its not even close to Delhi when it comes to heat. Delhi temperatures are close to a searing 45 degrees while Mumbai is at a somewhat sane 38. However what compounds the problem is the frequency of power cuts in Delhi. Thats virtually unheard of in Mumbai!! Summer in Delhi with no power is akin to getting roasted alive. The only issue is the cost of living. Mumbai is really expensive but provided one has the resources (read: moolah) Mumbai is the city to be in!!

Reservations

2006-05-06T05:37:00.002-07:00

I really dont have anything new to say on this topic purely because so much of it has been already said and discussed. Its all happening out there on our streets. But the issue is far too complex and has the potential to divide Indian society forever.

What i can hope to do is to add my perpective to the debate..from the viewpoint of a student who has been selected to the IIMs in the General category.

I think quotas are the very antithesis of everything that merit and ability stand for. By reserving a fixed number of seats one takes away from the entire admission process the motivation to excel, to compete, to aspire and to achieve which is what higher education in our premier institutes is all about. The stated objective is to improve the lot of our backward communities but thats not likely to happen. Rather such a step will wedge a further divide between the backward castes and the rest of the country.

Let me explain. At the end of each year's placement process one gets to hear of high salaries being paid out to the fresh gradutes coming out from the IITs and IIMs. That the industry is paying out such high salaries is in itself a testimony to the calibre and potential they see in students emerging from these institutes. Now if a company is going to pay that much they would like to be assured that the benefits that they will obtain from recruiting a particular candidate would be proportional to his compensation. I see the possibility of institutes being forced to provide data to the recruiters pertaining to an individual's caste/creed and whether the said candidate has qualified under any fixed quotas. Moreover students from such communities often lag behind in their academics. That is likely to further wreck their confidence. Also i would like to state here some interesting statistics i came across:

To begin with, do we have a clear idea what proportion of our population is OBC? According to the Mandal Commission (1980)it's 52 percent. But the National Sample Survey Organisation (1999) puts it at 32.1 per cent and the National Family Health Survey (1998) at 29.8. The NSSO data also shows that already 23.5 per cent of college seats are occupied by OBCs. That's just 8.6 per cent short of their share of population according to the same survey. Does that order of difference justify reservations?

The solution would be to prepare students from these communities to compete on an equal platform with the rest at competitive examinations. For this the focus should lie on primary education rather than higher education. Also the objective at the time of independence should have been to progressively reduce quotas as the first generation of backward castes emerged out of the reservation policies of the 1950s- 60s. That the time has come to increase them is in itself a pointer to the failure of the reservation policy.

Movie of a Lifetime!!

2006-05-05T04:29:00.000-07:00

I have watched quite a lot of movies though im not your normal movie buff. I watch between 5 to 10 hindi movies every year. Generally those which get spoken about or some which are keenly awaited. But rarely if ever do i catch a movie which i carry in my mind and which stays there for days together. I mean i dont see cinema as an idle past-time..i see cinema for the 'experience'. A movie for me in order to fulfil its purpose must register on the viewer's senses a lasting impact. Somewhere the movie must strike a chord or provoke you to think. Good cinema reaches out deep into you and opens your mind to an experience unlike any other. That is what i believe good cinema is all about.

Some time ago i watched 'The Shawshank Redemption'. Its one of those movies which uplift you and thrill your senses at the same time. And stay with you long after you have trudged out of the theatre. Somehow the last sequence of the film in which Morgan Freeman embraces Tim Robbins and the camera pans out over the endless Pacific blue stirs within you an exhiliration and a joy for the sheer fact of being free..'Fear can hold you prisoner..Hope can set you free'....This represents the very best of inspirational cinema.

But such cinema is rare. Particularly in India the overall quality of cinema is poor and panders to the emotions of the masses in India's small towns and cities. With the emergence of the multiplex culture and pouring in of overseas profits garnered by Hindi cinema hopefully we will get to see more meaningful films soon.

We are cursed!

2006-05-04T22:03:00.000-07:00

The CBI yesterday conducted raids spread over six states on properties allegedly owned by former Haryana CM O P Chautala. He is estimated to own property worth Rs 1500 Crores. The CBI stumbled onto the Chutala link while they were investigating discrepancies in the appointment of junior teachers in Haryana between 1998 and 2003 as per a Supreme Court directive.
The sheer scale of the corruption saga that must have flourished under the former CM is borne out by the figure above. Its a pity Indians continue to vote for such individuals who then treat their position as a front to further their own interests.
Chautala is currently in the US undoubtedly blowing away the crores he made through his evil deals.
While Chautala and his ilk flourish we have upright, conscientious leaders like Pramod Mahjan falling to the bullets of a mad-man. It tells you something about India. We are cursed as a nation. The only way we can make a difference is by standing up and be willing to speak out. I hope Lok Paritran wins the next Lok Sabha elections. Atleast they should be given a chance(if only to fail) considering how screwed up we presently are.

Pramod Mahajan

2006-05-04T07:28:00.000-07:00

Pramod Mahajan passed away yesterday after a 12 day battle for life in Mumbai following being shot by his own brother Pravin. I was struck by an odd thought while i went through the news article this morning. In the last five six years three middle aged politicians of repute with the potential of becoming PMs someday have all died unnatural deaths. First to go was Madhavrao Scindia, then Rajesh Pilot and now Pramod Mahajan. Scindia died in a copter crash and Pilot in a road accident. All three of them were leading politicians whose promising careers were cut short by some ghastly tragedy.Its the country's loss more than anyone elses. Lets hope some of our second generation politicians develop and fill the vacuum that has been created in India's political space. Otherwise we are condemned to be ruled over by demagogues who have no conscience or moral judgement.