You cant beat them at originality. I almost fell of my chair laughing reading this:
"Campaigning in Kerala, Manmohan Singh called the Congress’s rival there, the Left, a “valued” ally. In the middle of elections in Bengal, where too the Congress is ranged against the Left, Pranab Mukherjee talked about Pakistan and Iran."
Read the full article here.
20 April 2006
Something saved
The Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor got a go-ahead today from the Supreme Court, but the little bit of good news is that the land and IT sharks will not be able to gobble any land for building 'self-sustainable'(!?) townships.
So, now, yippee, we can get to Mysore in 90 minutes instead of the earlier gruelling-inspite-of-the-AC four hours. Never mind the cows and the farmers.
So, now, yippee, we can get to Mysore in 90 minutes instead of the earlier gruelling-inspite-of-the-AC four hours. Never mind the cows and the farmers.
13 April 2006
How original
The Karnataka government-appointed committee on farmer suicides had said in 2002 that the farmers were killing themselves not because of crop failure or poverty or any such reason. Alcoholism was to blame.
This time, the Maharashtra government has gone one step ahead. Really.
This time, the Maharashtra government has gone one step ahead. Really.
10 March 2006
Faces
So many of them. Most middle-aged. There are the college-going types, and the work-at-office-and-work-at-home types, the lechs, the gum-chewing ones, the pimpled ones, the taken care of ones, and the neglected ones.
Middle-aged woman stops abruptly in front of me and warmly shakes the hand of a middle-aged guy. Could they be long-lost college mates? Unlikely. There'd have been a pause, and an exclamation. This is most like Saturday club types.
How we like to classify people as this or that type! It is our way of dealing with the unknown. Examine, classify, and file. And then keep coming back to the library. Much as it helps, this tendency of ours has been responsible for some of the worst human tragedies. Orientalism by Edward Said is a study into such tendencies.
Notes on the way to office.
Middle-aged woman stops abruptly in front of me and warmly shakes the hand of a middle-aged guy. Could they be long-lost college mates? Unlikely. There'd have been a pause, and an exclamation. This is most like Saturday club types.
How we like to classify people as this or that type! It is our way of dealing with the unknown. Examine, classify, and file. And then keep coming back to the library. Much as it helps, this tendency of ours has been responsible for some of the worst human tragedies. Orientalism by Edward Said is a study into such tendencies.
Notes on the way to office.
20 February 2006
Halfway through
Suketu Mehta is a true believer in New Journalism. Draws vivid pictures, reports
conversation verbatim, and no comments whatsoever. Not apolitical though. Strong
stands on the Rent Act, Bal Thackeray, and the daily torture of living in Bombay.
As a friend said, Suketu is one of the few Indian (or non-resident Indian) writers in
English who have successfully translated Indian colloquial into English. No mean task
that. It's something most Indian journalists fail at. Try translating what you hear on the
bus while holding on to the flavour.
Most of what Suketu writes about Bombay is, of course, true of the larger picture -- India.
But then, that's natural. How else do we know India, if not through our streets and cities?
How else do we know the world for that matter? K V Subbanna, in his essay 'My
Kannada World', says that the world for each of us is just what we encounter in our
personal lives. Most of often, when we refer to the 'whole world', we do not refer to all
the people and all the countries in the world. It's just the persons and places you know,
have heard of, have read about, or seen on TV that form 'your' world.
Hitch a ride to the Maximum City. It's a rare journey.
conversation verbatim, and no comments whatsoever. Not apolitical though. Strong
stands on the Rent Act, Bal Thackeray, and the daily torture of living in Bombay.
As a friend said, Suketu is one of the few Indian (or non-resident Indian) writers in
English who have successfully translated Indian colloquial into English. No mean task
that. It's something most Indian journalists fail at. Try translating what you hear on the
bus while holding on to the flavour.
Most of what Suketu writes about Bombay is, of course, true of the larger picture -- India.
But then, that's natural. How else do we know India, if not through our streets and cities?
How else do we know the world for that matter? K V Subbanna, in his essay 'My
Kannada World', says that the world for each of us is just what we encounter in our
personal lives. Most of often, when we refer to the 'whole world', we do not refer to all
the people and all the countries in the world. It's just the persons and places you know,
have heard of, have read about, or seen on TV that form 'your' world.
Hitch a ride to the Maximum City. It's a rare journey.
06 February 2006
Maximum City
Last summer a friend of mine was reading Maximum City by Suketu Mehta. I picked it up and flipped through. Something about Bollywood caught my eye. I sat down to read some more, and more. It is one of the few reent books that as we say in Kannada, "odisikondu hoguttade". That is, it takes you by the hand and runs at top speed.
I couldnt finish the book then: my friend was half-way through and wouldnt let go. But it has me now.
More later.
I couldnt finish the book then: my friend was half-way through and wouldnt let go. But it has me now.
More later.
21 December 2005
A classified Sunday ad
A “classified” Sunday ad
"WANTED a lady (age 35-40) to teach & train a Bengali housewife, in cosmopolitan social interactions. To helpher enhance herself confidence and interactive abilities.
Apply with non-returnable passport-size photograph & salary expected to no: Box xxx"
This is my first post from Microsoft Word's Blogger tab. br/>
"WANTED a lady (age 35-40) to teach & train a Bengali housewife, in cosmopolitan social interactions. To helpher enhance herself confidence and interactive abilities.
Apply with non-returnable passport-size photograph & salary expected to no: Box xxx"
This is my first post from Microsoft Word's Blogger tab. br/>
03 December 2005
Hoodia Gordonii
They ate it to subdue their hunger because they had nothing to eat. Today the rich eat it to get that extra pound off: http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,3605,1656900,00.html
25 November 2005
Holla anyone?
Found this site: http://hollabacknyc.blogspot.com/ on blogger homepage. Unbelievable. Have told Jasmeen (http://blanknoiseproject.blogspot.com) about it. (I have to include the URLs in the brackets because the comp I am using right now does not have a fully supported browser. So, some blogger buttons have gone missing.)
Someone recently told me that she doesnt want to have kids because she doesnt want the responsibility of bringing them up. I felt a cold shiver. Forget the shit about individial choice. I feel scared to be around people who dont want responsibility. The world wouldnt have existed if there were more like her. This is not to extoll the virtues of mohterhood, etc. It's just the statement: I dont want responsibility. There's something very cold-blooded about it.
What say?
Someone recently told me that she doesnt want to have kids because she doesnt want the responsibility of bringing them up. I felt a cold shiver. Forget the shit about individial choice. I feel scared to be around people who dont want responsibility. The world wouldnt have existed if there were more like her. This is not to extoll the virtues of mohterhood, etc. It's just the statement: I dont want responsibility. There's something very cold-blooded about it.
What say?
15 November 2005
In my inbox
Yahoo! put this in my inbox:
"Tip hari ini: Semarakkan email yang Anda kirim dengan variasi huruf, warna, dan gambar.
Surat Yahoo! - Merasa dilupakan?
Jika Anda belum menggunakannya, gunakan wizard cepat untuk mengirim email ke semua kontak Anda – beritahu mereka alamat email Yahoo! Anda yang baru. Klik di sini."
I have no idea what that means, and why Yahoo! put it there. Strange.
Am coming back. Slowly.
"Tip hari ini: Semarakkan email yang Anda kirim dengan variasi huruf, warna, dan gambar.
Surat Yahoo! - Merasa dilupakan?
Jika Anda belum menggunakannya, gunakan wizard cepat untuk mengirim email ke semua kontak Anda – beritahu mereka alamat email Yahoo! Anda yang baru. Klik di sini."
I have no idea what that means, and why Yahoo! put it there. Strange.
Am coming back. Slowly.
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