Ideas Random

Humble Garlic Bread

2011-11-02T22:34:00.003+05:30

I go through the week thinking how I’m going to make my Saturdays useful. Sometimes I intend to sign up at the gym/ for driving classes (yes, at 26, I still don’t know how to drive)/ dance lessons. And sometimes I plan to cook – from elaborate Indian curries that Mum makes back home to fancy finger food, right down to that key-lime pie someone at work told me about. That’s usually the plan. Until

Delhi 6

2010-09-26T12:14:00.006+05:30

The Parathe Wali galli was everything I’d hoped for (and more, parathas, I mean)It’s been a while since the last post, and I’m not sure anyone’s even following this blog anymore. But I’ve always had a single-digit following, so what the hell.28 items on the menu. And they are all parathas! Ranging from the normal (aloo paratha, mooli, gobi) to the absolute insane (ever heard of a rabdi paratha or

Love, Sex Aur Dhokha... A bitter pill

2010-03-21T15:17:00.002+05:30

A naive, Bollywood-inspired love story ends up not with a rosy ‘happily ever after’, but in a pit by the highway, murdered and chopped into pieces. This one’s different, and it’s cringe-worthily real. LSD isn’t going to drive the Box Office ecstatic. Rather, it might break a few conventions, on what makes a film, what makes a story, what can be told and what is taboo. The purpose of art isn’t to

Caught in a cell

2010-02-21T13:58:00.003+05:30

‘So, you want postpaid?’ Yes. ‘You have residence proof?’ What do you mean? ‘Ration card, Voter id, driving license?’ No. You see I’m not from Mum... ‘Electricity bill?’ Yes, but on the landlord’s name. ‘Sorry, not possible.’ Vodafone, Airtel, It’s the same conversation everywhere. ‘Sorry Sir, you’re not eligible for a postpaid connection.’ Why? Not because I’m a terrorist; not because

Hands-on-head

2010-02-20T18:18:00.003+05:30

One of the best ways to spend 50 rupees in Mumbai Now, everyone will agree on this. Mumbai is an expensive city. Whether you’re like me, from another city, who at the first encounter with Bombay had a mini heart attack every other day; or if you’re from the city, a pakka Mumbaikar, everyone is unanimous on this one. Rent, food, chaat, street shopping, real estate... you’re in the most expensive

The Avatar experience

2009-12-18T18:09:00.003+05:30

Joyride warning: This is not for heart patients, people with claustrophobia, migraine problems, or those with any proven record of 3D-o-phobia. So, I saw Avatar in IMAX 3D. And? Well, it made me want to throw up. There. I’ve said it. It’s an honest admission, and no matter how hard I try to tell myself that it was the bad popcorn they served at the premier, 3D, the IMAX version at least, doesn’

Unique Selling Product

2009-11-19T21:44:00.004+05:30

As they say, the best USP there can be is the product itself. If that’s good, half the publicity is taken care of. Well, anyway, I’m no marketing guru, so I’ll steer away from this before someone grows suspicious of my expertise (lack of it, rather) on the subject. Besides, that’s not what this post is about. It is about a product though. Two, actually. Every month, a new product sells on local

The Calcutta update

2009-10-03T14:32:00.004+05:30

Alright. So part of the reason I’m writing this post is so that I can test the keypad on my new laptop. Even otherwise, though, back in Calcutta after 6 months, and back for the Durga Puja after 2 years, the need for an update is a bit of a necessity.This is perhaps my longest stay in Cal since the time I moved out of the city, in 2006, to Hyderabad. It’s been a week so far, and everything

Beware! Masked men about town

2009-08-18T16:58:00.004+05:30

It’s the August of 2009 and there’s a new villain on the prowl. The crowd-and-sweat loving citizens of megatown Mumbai have a new menace wreaking hovoc, striking fear in their hearts. The swine is in the air! And as the city pushes and shoves into the 9’o clock Borivili Fast, the dark new face of evil lurks surreptitiously about. Stretching its dark, invisible fingers, it

Truth, anyone?

2009-07-29T13:19:00.001+05:30

Let’s face the truth here. We really are better off with Ekta Kapoor (Gasp! Her name begins with ‘E’. She should call her self Kkekta Kapoor). Jobless women bitching about each other, running around the house hatching plots; going to sleep in couture and flashy jewellery; and crying without spoiling their make-up. ‘Suspension of disbelief’? Little did Coleridge know! Why,

Seeking sal(i)vation… even as the swine arrives

2009-06-24T17:15:00.002+05:30

AAA… THOOO… There goes another one. A convoluted missile of saliva flies through the air as I dodge just in the nick of time to avoid it landing on my foot! There would be no research necessary perhaps to establish that every single square inch of public space in Mumbai has been spat upon at some time or the other. It’s a joint effort that the people of this city collectively take credit for.

Shrinking world?

2009-04-08T18:22:00.001+05:30

To write in a post that ‘the world is shrinking’ or that technology is bringing the world closer is to say nothing new. It’s almost like being a Gallileo-too-late and waking up to declare to the world that it…is actually round. ‘Yeah, what of it? What’s new?’ So, well, nothing ‘earth-moving’ in that (if you follow my desperate attempt at pun).Yet, you wonder sometimes if we take these statements

Sonia Gandhi and the Hyd invasion!!

2009-03-04T18:07:00.006+05:30

My farewell, a friend’s due birthday treat, a bucket of chicken wings at KFC and the last of the good times and people that I will miss about Hyd. [Here’s to the entire populace that keeps track of my blog (a number you can count on two fingers!) news that I am shifting to Bombay…sniff sniff.]Anyway, so all goes well until guess who spoils the day…Sonia Gandhi! The Congress supremo is in town and

Up up and away to Chandni Chowk

2009-01-22T16:30:00.005+05:30

Akshay Kumar after reportedly being attacked by bricks and bats by a bunch of haggard critics has come out to say in an interview, ‘I am not Superman,’ by which I think he means he would’ve willed all the bricks to fly in the opposite direction by mere eyesight and then fly away cape fluttering to the Great Wall of China.Yes, almost all of China in Akshay’s Chandni Chowk seems to stretch from one

You’ve been Stafl-ed!

2009-01-12T18:41:00.001+05:30

“Stafalmandi, Stafalmandi…” the ring of the autowallah’s shout is something I can recall at will. I sometimes suspect it’ll stay with me forever.Well, this ‘Stafalmandi,’ or Sitafalmandi, as it less-commonly, and more accurately known, has been my residence for the last year-and-I lost-count in Hyderabad. I moved here initially when I was doing a French course. That’s over, but you get the drift

Terrorist: 'Run, it’s a gesture!'

2008-12-10T16:43:00.003+05:30

What is it with these gestures? A recent ‘report’ (one of those where there’s not much reporting) was about how the Bollywood fraternity did not celebrate Eid (on Dec 9) and chose to wear black arm-bands to condemn the Mumbai blasts. Now, me being the cynic that I am, have my doubts if the terrorist organizations have read about this daring gesture and have become so demoralized that they have

Now showing…Pirates of News: The Curse of 24x7

2008-12-05T14:30:00.003+05:30

Woah… ‘India’s 9/11’… ‘War on India’…sounds damn intense and moving! The entire nation’s woken up, thanks to you folks! Everyone’s talking…taking part in the debate…the rise of the voice of India!Great, alright, so we got the message. Good show, guys, but it’s time for a wrap. Pack your bags, lock away the creative faculty, and for God’s sake (and for Allah/Ram/Jesus/Satan…the whole halo club),

The Rs10 middle-class ticket

2008-12-02T20:47:00.003+05:30

The term ‘middle-class’ has to be the most overused (read, abused) adjective in the whole of journalistic repertoire in India. From the manicured fingers of the self righteous Shobhaa De didactically writing about her super-Indians to the the frontpage of the newspaper, you just can’t miss the expression. Well, we writers find it extremely convenient, to shove everyone possible, from the

40 hours of Train-ing!...Part 2

2008-12-01T18:29:00.005+05:30

(…continued) Howrah BridgeHave you ever stood on the Howrah Bridge? I mean, stood, as in stood still, without walking? Those who have will know how the entire bridge shakes, as if there’s an earthquake, with every passing bus and car. It’s actually quite an exciting feeling, and if you look closely enough, even the lights on the poles along the railing shake! These vibrations on the bridge,

40-hours of Train-ing!... Part 1

2008-11-30T19:12:00.005+05:30

Till date, my longest train journey. Nearbout 40 hours on the Upper Berths (and thanks for that at least) of Sleeper Coaches of the Indian Railway.And if the prospect had been daunting even before I started, it was no match for the dreariness and backache at the end of the expedition!After office, the Falaknuma Express to Calcutta was a 26-hr journey, and from there, it was onward to Ranchi the

Andhra 'Meals'

2008-11-16T17:25:00.002+05:30

Yes, rather peculiar, you might say, and I agree. I’ve been in Hyderabad for 2-and-a-half years now, and have never before tried food at a typical Andhra mess, the ones that you’ll find beside streets here and there, all over Hyderabad. But I did already have a fair idea from eating the food served at the Times Of India canteen here, and from a couple of friends’ narrations of their encounter

Cutting it close

2008-11-11T21:33:00.005+05:30

As the auto-driver dodged a group of college-girls on the wrong side of the narrow by-lane, spitting paan and sending vehicles and people diving for cover, I glanced at my watch, “Shit! 10 minutes before the train pulls out,” I thought, “…We’ll be cutting it close!” ----------------------------Hurriedly finishing our quick-fix bowls of Maggi, Manish and I thought we might just make it to

Glass walls

2008-11-10T20:04:00.002+05:30

It’s amazing how two worlds can be separated only by a layer of cold glass – On one side, the frosted breath of a hungry 5-year old; On the other, the air-conditioned discomfiture of long hours at the traffic signal, looking at the Blackberry and cursing, “Dammit!” The naked feet on the other side, separated by 10mm of glass and 10 strata on the economic pyramid, do not have the diction of “

The Obamanic diaries

2008-11-07T00:35:00.002+05:30

I think JFK will still keep the airport, but everything else runs the risk of getting Obama-fied, if the man’s present charisma and popularity are anything to go by. Don’t be surprised if say TOYS R US come out with Obama-robot Prez dolls that give inspirational speeches and which get used by schools and model parents to teach their kids “some good values” – the American way! ‘The ultimate good

Revisiting Lear

2008-09-17T13:56:00.002+05:30

It’s been a while since I saw a film that made me think after the show was over. The Last Lear did not only that, but it also left me at a lack of a convictional response when asked if the film was good? Good or bad is way too judgmental a reaction. I’d say the film makes you think and that’s the best part of a Rituporno movie. Amitabh, I thought, excelled playing Sam, the eccentric retired stage

Fundamentalism vs Nationalism

2008-09-08T14:49:00.001+05:30