In one of my favorite romantic films: Before Sunset, while on a cruise near the church of Notre Dame, Jesse talks about how he has this idea of his Best-Self, and he wanted to pursue that, even if it might have been overriding his Honest-Self. This is said in the context of his marriage, and […]
Shantaram, A romantic take on everything
I love this book because: Its set almost entirely in Bombay. Salaam Bombay. It gives a very heart-felt view of India, Indians, and everything Indian. It reminds me a lot of Godfather (the book). It also reminded me of my first read of Godfather, which, sadly, happened only once. It also reminded me of Harold […]
Jingoism revisited
People keep telling me how good things will happen to India if we stop complaining and start doing things. I agree. No amount of armchair philosophy and acerbic cribbing can beat direct action on the ground (italics inspired from The Direct Action Day). NGO’s are doing their bit. Examples like Barefoot College, which do transform […]
Tirade
My striving for abstractness and ambiguity is all gone and the real context emerges. Next time, I will write in even more cryptic tongue using only pronouns and articles. With that said – now for the real discussion. 1 – Why do we assume that the British were any better than Chengiz Khan or Muhammaad […]
Long time
It’s been a long time since they left us. It’s been somewhat long since we allowed them to send stuff back to us again. Now, we are also doing things for them at half price. We love their football, we love their movies, we love their currency, we love their literature, some of us even […]
Extreme Rainwalking
It rained in Mumbai yesterday like it has never rained in India before, with 37 inches of rain, thereby beating the high-school trivia of Cheerapunji, which had some 30 inches of rain in 1910. It poured, oh-my-freaking-heavens, it poured. I was mostly in my lab through the deluge, now and then flinching at the force […]
Attention Deficit
I am passionate. At this point, I tried looking up the meaning of the word “passion” in a dictionary, and much to my consternation, I couldn’t find a concise meaning that I could use here. So, I will just stick to my own interpretation of the word. I have been passionate about quite a few […]
Up, arranged, and re-chopped
Jadav (Bhatt ko) – Pralaynath Gendaswami kaise dikhta hai?Bhatt – Kya?!?!Jadav – Kis desh se hai tu?Bhatt – Kya?!?!Jadav – “Kya” naam ka koyi desh maine to nahi suna? “Kya” mein Hindi bolte hai kya?Bhatt – Kya!!Jadav – Hindi maadarchod!! Hindi – Tu bolta hai kya use?Bhatt – Haan!!Jadav – Toh tu jaanta hai ki […]
Meta-blogging
“The more interesting your life becomes, the less your post… and vice versa.” – Jorn Barger The first blog I came across was Kalyan’s, sometime in early 2002, and it struck me quite strange that someone could actually maintain an online journal. For the next two years, blogs appeared in and around places I inhabited, […]
A Subtle Shift of Power
In reasonably traditional/orthodox Indian marriages, the bride’s first name is also changed. The ‘also’ is to underscore the point that the last name gets changed almost always. The first name of a person, I have always believed, is very important to her. If that is indeed the case, I am surprised that some Indian women […]