Keeping Track. Tracking Thoughts.

My Summer of Love

2009-08-11T09:35:00.000-07:00

There is not much to be said about the guy who is now my husband. Or, just this that he makes me happy.

It is strange that I am dedicating a blog to my husband. For one I usually don't feel excited writing about my personal life. Two, I still introduce him to friends as my boyfriend (for lack of a better word). Also I do not know if I actually think of him as my "husband." I know he heals my insanity, he treasures my dreams, he admires my craziness, he inspires me to achieve everything I want but I have never paused to think if all that makes him an endearing husband. He is my "love"- that is more like it.

So in my otherwise long-distance relationship, this summer shines out sparklingly. As I studied for long hours preparing for my Qualifying Examinations he cooked all the meals and let me study. Over summer I have definitely grown more fond of him. (No ! Not because he cooked) I guess it is important to be be fond of someone you have been wedded to. Also the word "love" comes with immense amount of baggage but somehow fondness does not and it surely helps a marriage survive. Fondness I think allows more space for things going wrong, love is less tolerant and more messy. So my fondness-based relationship blossomed this summer.

In the hope that this relationship will see more summers here are few things I have learned -

1. It is stupid to evaluate/explain why you fell in love and what exactly made you fall in love. Or stupid to dwell on it too much. Make a list of 5 things that made you fall in love and ask yourself if you were to find the same in some other person would you fall in love with him/her as well ?

2. It is good to get angry and let it out but anger should not cause permanent damage. It should not take you on a path retreating from which will be difficult.

3. Share everything with your partner. EVERYTHING can be shocking, can cause sleepless nights, can bring tears but EVERYTHING is a MUST. If you do not agree with me and still have a happy marriage formula we are different people then.

4. Always do fun things. I like watching movies and he loves watching news. We do both. We cook together. We travel. We even read together, sometimes.

5. Do not forget your friends. Have a life outside marriage. a. It will make you a better person if your friends still find you accessible. b. It works wonders for your marriage if your partner sees in you a good person.

6. Never fail to impress. I have often wondered if my mother loved me because I am her daughter or she respects me as a person. I follow the same rule in my relationship with him. I surprise him and make an effort to impress him. In the process I achieve satisfaction for myself. I end up polishing my various other creative abilities. I finish a painting, I compose a poem, I bake bread.

7. Remember that your guy/girl has a family where you are not the only one. Never make him/her choose. As you find space for yourself- give them their due space.

8. In life there are many battles to be won. Get your partner on your side of the battle and then pursue your impossible dreams and battle them. Continue to follow your dreams.

9. Do not live a marriage-centered life.

10. If you do not know what marriage is about do not waste your energy figuring it out.

There is much to be said about my husband but everything cannot be said. But at least one thing must be said. He wants me to be the best I can be. He brings out the very best in me.

"Culprit of the Collapse"

2009-03-29T17:45:00.000-07:00

The world is patiently waiting to see the USA story of economic decline unfold. There is a lot of speculation on what went wrong with this new "nation of shopkeepers." CNN even runs a sub-parallel news line, "Culprit of the Collapse," the sole aim of the journalists being to assiduously research and trace the currents that slowly brought America face to face with bail outs, unemployment, closures, in general- economic decline.

Here is how my story fits in :

I wanted to buy a netbook for my sister, who is in India. It is great time to buy electronics from USA to be used in India (the downside being the warranty does not extend there). For close to 4 months now, the INR-Dollar rate has been 1 to 50 and that is something. So I called up Best Buy to book my Acer Netbook. I wanted to have it delivered to Plainsboro, New Jersey. The sales rep told me that I could not get it shipped. In fact none of the Best Buy-s in New Jersey had the Acer Aspire One Netbook for in-store pick up as well. So I asked the guy if the Best Buy-s that had it in stock could ship it out to the NJ address or at least deliver it to a Best Buy location closer to Plainsboro. The answer was NO. I got the product through Amazon.

Flasback - I was planning for a trip to Hawaii and was speaking to a German guy, I believe, about car rentals. I asked him if the rental company - which turned out to be Budget- would let me be an additional driver, though I was not carrying my passport. He replied back saying something of this nature, " This is America. I cannot give you my word. In Germany, we do anything to bring business, not here."

Coming back to the Best Buy experience, after I hung up, I asked myself how important was/is a customer and the business, to Best Buy. Best Buy is of course symbolic here. I was bringing a business of 315 dollars but I am sure by sticking to its policy, it is losing out on thousands of dollars. This is just a case in point.

The question is - Is it enough to bail out companies and set up new processes in place ? Or does America need to change its ethos of doing business? Is it doing ENOUGH to bring business to itself?

Dasvidaniya and Dostana : Mapping Change in Bollywood.

2008-11-17T14:18:00.000-08:00

I just thought before the year ends- I should write at least one more blog.

Just finished watching two Hindi films, Dasvidaniya ("Good-Bye" in Russian) and Dostana (friendship, or close to that). I liked the first one (DAS) and did not like the second one (DOS). DAS is about a 37 yr old guy, played by the versatile Vinay Pathak, who has not done anything very exciting in his life for a long time (his childhood seems to have been fun) and then he finds out he has cancer and has only a few weeks to live. Sort of a Anand and The Bucket List film in the sense that it is about living your life to the fullest and fulfilling every wish in life, but it is original in its attempts to deal with this cliche. DOS, on the other hand is a cliched Johar production, portraying the cliche of how gay men are perfect and easy objects for comedy. The two heroes in the movie lie, in order to get a rented apt, whose owner is Priyanka Chopra. The lie is that the guys, Abhishek and John are gays. Not surprisingly, they both fall in love with Priyanka and Priyanka with another straight man, Bobby Deol. Not surprisingly again, Bobby and Priyanka live happily ever after and Abhishek, John and Priyanka remain best friends. DAS has something in it that will touch your heart, especially the scene where Vinay fulfills his first wish and buys a car. The scene where he breaks the news to his overjoyed mother is beautiful, spontaneous and a piece of great acting/direction. DOS is ok in some parts but most other parts the humor is unbearable. It is a sorry portrayal of wannabe-gays. The acting could not be more mediocre. Both Abhishek and John are good actors and Priyanka acted quite well in Karam. So clearly it is the director's fault. He could not get the best out from his actors.

So what is "mapping change" all about - I am trying to understand if these movies and the responses to these movies reflect anything bigger than the movies -

1. Good bodies and bikinis will not be enough. Substance maangta hain. DOS has no substance. DAS contrasts in having a more genuine desire to create a context, a space, a dialogue that can engage the audience.

2. Miami, Paris, Sydney - is all fine but they are only the backdrop. DOS has the beaches, the girls, the cars, the outfits but DAS has the typical middle class Mumbaiya flat, with sunmica showcases, unmatching curtains, the busy roads, thaali foods. The setting, in DAS, is an essential part of the life that Vinay lives. In DOS, the story can be picked up and placed in any other city and it would not have made the slightest difference. The need for the background, which is Miami, is not established.

3. Some kind of a touch with reality still sells better than malfunctioning (or let me be kinder, hard-to-believe) fiction. Abhishek never goes to work, except for once. Priyanka is 27 and an editor in a magazine and has a house that is impossible to have. Also, her office has many Americans, but the bosses are always Indians. The American "public" spaces as usual are determined by what Johars of Bollywood think which is a far cry from reality. The cheering crowd who encourage Abhishek and John to kiss each other to prove themselves to their best friend, is so mythical. (I remember Julia Robert and Meg Ryan's confrontation in a ladies restroom in My Best Friend's Wedding. The involvement of the other ladies is carefully worked on. DOS comes nowhere near).

4. Stars do not sell - Acting does. DAS has great performances by Neha Dhupia (am pleasantly surprised), and veteran actor, Sarita Joshi, as Vinay's crazy mother, is a delight to watch. In contrast, Kirron Kher and Susmita Mukherjee do what they best do, create melodrama and that too with no new element.

In conclusion, I would like to recommend both these films to understand the change that I am talking about. The release of both these films is coincidental. However, given this coincidence, it gives us an opportunity to understand and appreciate low-budget movies like Dasvidaniya to make sure that directors and big production houses cannot take the Indian audience for a ride. When I was seeing Dostana I actually felt someone was insulting my intelligence.

These apply not just to BOLLYWOOD - I also saw Quantum of Solace. I would also put it in the DOS category.

Disclaimer - Having written this blog now, I feel that I almost sound as if DOS was intentionally meant to be a callous attempt. I take that HINT back. I know of many good directors and producers who have made very good and very bad films.

Book Review. Virginia Woolfe by Hermione Lee

2008-02-05T10:04:00.000-08:00

Lee, Hermionee. Virginia Woolf. (London : Chatto & Windus, 1996).

Hermione Lee, biographer, Virginia Woolf, did not get an opportunity to read Woolf in her Oxford English course. The faculty considered Woolf to be a “minor modernist,” not to be classed with Joyce and Eliot. Thankfully, Lee did not take the classification too seriously. From having an incurable “illness” that intermittently tormented her, both physically as well as emotionally, to impersonating Hitler in the midst of an orchestrated Nazi procession in Germany, Woolf’s (1882-1941) portrayal in the biography elicits myriad responses: amazement, appreciation, introspection, and even sympathy and tears. Lee accomplishes a remarkable feat through the biography by connecting Woolf’s “soul” with the “social and class pressures” she experienced, following Woolf’s advice on biography writing.

Virginia Woolf, an extremely difficult biography to write given that the subject never understood herself, and made suicide attempts many times in her life, nevertheless places Woolf alongside Joyce, if not higher. Unarguably, Woolf’s works itself, speak for her lofty literary caliber. In Virginia Woolf, Lee investigates reflections and vestiges of incidents, emotions and opinions that Woolf experienced, and locates them in characters and plots that Woolf constructed. As a result, the study of Woolf’s life as an integral part of her work becomes essential. For instance, Lee traces the similarity between Julia, Woolf’s mother’s passing away and that of Mrs Ramsay’s in To The Lighthouse. Lee structures the biography thematically and also chronologically. A part of Woolf’s life serves as the pivotal theme-point in each chapter, around which the rest of her life gets displayed. For instance, the chapter “Press,” centers on the joint initiative of the Woolfs and the foundation of the Hogart Press in 1917 but goes beyond publications and enterprise as Lee describes “And the story of the Press is, in a way, the story of their marriage…”

“Afraid of not being intelligent enough for her,” Lee engages in an effort to write as beautifully and intelligently as Woolf. A generous display of Woolf’s writings from novels, letters, diaries, presents a formidable challenge to Lee in this friendly competition, but she succeeds, maybe not effortlessly. Lee’s description of how the Woolfs decorated Monk’s House creates an indelible impression on the minds of the readers, while her assessment that “marriage and death were counter forces” in Woolf’s life reflects Lee’s sharp analytical prowess. If words of Woolf allow the readers to get a flavor of Woolf, first-hand, Lee’s notes, “new ink,” “new page,” and “left hand corner” leave the readers just short of holding the manuscript. The biography transports readers to Woolf’s world and there lies its greatest accomplishment.

This piece has been contributed by my sister, Parama Chaudhuri.

Johnny Gaddaar : Film Review

2007-10-09T12:21:00.000-07:00

Sriram Raghavan did a great job with Johnny Gaddaar. In fact a few days after I saw Ek Haseena Thi (Raghavan's first film), I was pretty sad wondering if the guy would ever get a chance to make a second movie. I loved Ek Haseena Thi but it did not do well at the box office. That did surprise me but ah ! well ! I was very impressed with the intelligent script and Saif's good looks. I loved the ending.

Coming to Johnny Gaddaar (JG), first a taste of the story line and then my analysis. The film revolves around a gang of five men, from different age groups, with different occupations and spectacularly different characteristics. What brought them together was a desire to make more money, easy money. "Easy" is the wrong word. Quick money. The movie starts with all of them putting in money together to invest in a deal. The movie really starts when one of them decides to steal the money before the money reaches the dealer. How does he do it ? HE (am not disclosing) plans something but things do not go according to his plan. Be it unintended murders, slip of tongue, instant decisions, irresponsible lying - the audience will never be able to guess what is there on HIS mind. Sometimes HE does not know it himself. A very careful sense of humor rendered by Dharamji as also Vinay Pathak; degrees of romance, be it between Vikram and his girl friend, between Dharamaji and his late wife, OR the absence of romance in Ashwini Kalsekar's marital life, with his wife cheating on him; a sufficient number of bar dancers (quite hot looking girls) and just the right amount of blood shedding - the movie is a complete paisa and time wasool. I add the "time" part of it because it cost me nothing to see the movie. That is another story.

So the movie is awesome. No one can get bored, partly because you will always labour to anticipate what will happen next and you will not know it (unless you are watching it the second time) and so you will keep labouring even harder. In all this exercise you will forget about getting bored. If you are a Hindi film buff this is just the movie. It has the essential bits that will contribute to its success. Reference to Hindi blockbusters is a great technique. Even You've Got Mail had frequent reference to Godfather and it worked well. A scene from JG will, rather should remind you of Anand's last scene. There were too many....

Performances are good. Dharamji is quite good in the film, specially after his horrible performance in Life in a Metro ( WHY did he and Nafisa have to be in that movie? That movie was good for the most part but I can never appreciate plagiarism. The main story in the movie was a scene by scene lift from the Academy Award wining film The Apartment . 1950s. Mr Director must have thought no one would have seen that movie. ) Dharam Paaji needed this film. Vinay Pathak and Ashwini Kalsekar are good actors. Vikram, the introducing-so-and-so guy, was OK. He will not make it big, though. He does not have too many expressions. He can do reasonably good butt works but unless he is playing a gay or a transvestite in his next film, which seems like a remote possibility, he has little chance. He played this role alright.

The execution of the movie is superb. Like Forrest Gump (feather blowing in the wind) and some more films the movie starts and ends with the same scenes. In the context of JG, it showed the triviality of the story told and yet magnetic quality it had. It did not end on some great note (surprise note, YES) but the entire stretch was so good, 'the coming of the police' did not have to happen in the end. The movie also reminded me of True Romance ( a must watch film for people who are serious about cinema). No sneaky lift there. Adequate in its doses of love scenes, the plot of both the movies intertwines itself around the leading couple but ends as if it did not matter. The script is quite authoritarian. It does not answer all questions. By the end the audience is prepared to be led.

Movies such as this and Bheja Fry in combination with movies such as Chak De India appeal to me as conforming that we are almost into the Golden Age of Bollywood. How long shall we keep repeating borrowed intellectual lines like " the lyrics of yester-years were amazing...lyrics today make no sense." We need to have movies that run because of the script mainly, without big stars. We also need to see King Khan once in a while. Even better if he is not crying and instead leading a team of bright, witty, women hockey players. WATCH JG.

Freedom At Midnight

2007-09-29T09:54:00.000-07:00

My last blog was posted in July. This is almost October. This is my first book review. Am reading Kafka on the Shore now. May be a review of that will follow as well. Read on...

Collins, Larry and Lapierre, Dominique. Freedom at Midnight. Harper Collins Publishers Ltd., 1997.

The history of twentieth-century colonial India is a complicated yet fascinating one. Within the span of half a century the British rose to the heights of imperialism and almost during the same time reversed the process by releasing India from its imperialistic shackles in 1947. Freedom at Midnight by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre published in 1976 pays a brilliant tribute to the cataclysmic times and paints a lively image of the characters who became in many ways the prime architects of the years that led to 1947-48. Beginning its narration with the melancholic London winter of 1947, made even more so by the loss of India that as Churchill pointed out reduced England to the “scab of a minor power,” and ending with Gandhi’s assassination, Collins and Lapierre portray the history of two years enriching them with lesser known but interesting facts, making it a fascinating read but not in any way compromising on the historicity of its facts.

What primarily makes the book important is the clever scholarship behind its execution. Collins and Lapierre present the public and private lives of Mountbatten, Edwina Mountbatten, Nehru, Gandhi or for that matter Gopal Godse, with effortless ease. They narrate the events in India and 10 Downing Street, almost simultaneously, by a mere mention of the ‘six thousand miles’ that lies between them. Be it Swami Madananand’s prediction about 15th August being “a day cursed by the stars,” or the account of Bill Rich when he stepped over a corpse to board the train, only to realize later how violence during partition hardened him to these otherwise frightening scenes, Freedom at Midnight essays the story of turbulent times in India when all seemed possible. Children turned murderers caught in the frenzy of communal fervor and in those very times 55 year-old Buta Singh found in an abused Muslim girl, Zenib, an object of his affection. Collins and Lapierre show the high politics of the day, be it in London, when Mountbatten, much against his will became the last Viceroy of India, or in India when Patel and Mountbatten began their tour of Independent States to assimilate them in the Indian nation. The authors also showcase the sexual savagery that ensued in the streets of Punjab and Lahore. Collins and Lapierre achieve another feat by displaying the myriad emotions of all their key characters, be it the anxiousness of Mountbatten during his drive through Lahore’s streets knowing full well that he could be attacked by RSSS men or Gandhi’s difficult decision to allow Manu to receive the medication that he denied his wife, Kasturba. Kasturba died and Manu survived. Collins and Lapierre juggle time, place, events, emotions and people and does it rather well.

Freedom at Midnight is an excellent rendition of an era gone by. It includes in its canvass; Gandhi who stood for the modest India and the Princes who stood for its opulence, the English language that united Indians and the religions that divided them, and, once more Gandhi who stood for united India, Jinnah who stood for a divided India and Nathuram Godse who wanted an India without a Gandhi. In this work, Collins and Lapierre, leave much for the readers to delightfully enjoy and then question concepts such as communalism, nationalism and imperialism. By putting a human face on these much debated concepts in history, Collins and Lapierre accomplish the engagement of readers with these ideas, an achievement many historians can only hope for.

Flashback

2007-07-05T11:52:00.000-07:00

Because blogging is not reporting the news does not have to be fresh. This is an entrepreneurial activity and I am my own master. Having said that let me share some old but exciting news (with you ALL - how optimistic). Anyways.

1. I cleared my defense. I do not know if I came out with "flying colours" or not but I passed it alright. In fact, recalling the number of times I said " yeah, that I would like to research on more..." maybe it was after all not that "colourful." But yes, compensating the lack of colours there were high spirits. My advisor gifted me two books, an antique broach (some lady was honored with that broach by the British Government when she fought in the Second World War and she left it in her will to Dr Z, and because the British Empire brought me and Dr Z together I am the proud owner of that broach now) and a bottle of champagne. We had that champagne and then danced till 1 AM in our apartment much to the disapproval of our first floor occupants (naturally !!). One of them whom we jokingly call "Father of Oxford" called me on my cell and because it went unanswered physically came up to advice us to go to uptown and dance BECAUSE it was 1 AM. This was 3rd JULY.

2. On 24 th June (SUNDAY) a kind and dear soul, whom I happen to know for a long time now bought me my first (greedy me !!) Digital SLR camera. It is a Nikon D 80. Kaustique, a friend told me that it would change my life. It has. I am always reading the manual and really working hard on it. A few days back I was out in the sun, all day, photographing Oxford (two days before my defense). I was also carrying the tripod and so it was really a task. I kept cursing the tripod. Yesterday (4th July), in spite of the rain and the umbrella in one hand I was able to click some fine shots of the fireworks. Thanks to the tripod. On a narcissistic note, the fact that I always ask questions has always served me well. The tripod in question was checked out from the library and I had no idea that it could be done but I just called the library to find out and it was certainly do-able. I am so smart !!

3. On 23rd June , I did another fantastic thing. There is this shop called "You're Fired," in Oxford. They have articles there, all in ceramic and in white paint. You can buy them (priced anywhere between 4 to 15 dollars), paint them and then leave it in the shop, and in a couple of days those articles will be fired and glazed for you. There is a cover change of 8 dollars (including as many articles you can paint) and that includes the paints you use and also the firing. Just the idea made me leap with joy and I was even happier to see the place. It is done in bright colours and looks very encouraging. I must add that most of the articles on display are stuff that you can use. Me, D and P went there in the morning and stayed there till it closed at 7 PM. We took a 15 mins break in the middle to have our home made lunch. We enjoyed ourselves a lot, except that we heard "live like you were dying" at least 10 times. Mothers come with their children and it is nice to over hear their conversations : "Mommy, does the sun have to yellow ?" The blog picture was taken at the end of the day. These are all gifts for my relatives and friends in India. I hope they like it.

So in all, life has been fantastic last few weeks.

Challenging SCIENCE and TECHNOLOGY

2007-06-28T13:04:00.001-07:00

The 'title' is just meant to attract attention. But yeah, it has some relation to my blog, so read on. I have been exercising for almost a month now, regularly. I run for 30 minutes and then I work out for 1 hour. While I was running a few days back I realized how tired I was getting. Eventually I feel good, but while starting out it appears to be a burden.

So one thought lead to another and suddenly it occurred to me that no scientific invention in the last 10 years has really taken me by surprise. I remember when Dushtumesho (uncle) withdrew money from an ATM in Delhi, some 9 years back, my jaws dropped but I recovered. After that there were mobile phones, digital cameras (soon became affordable), sharing photo websites, google talk....all these changed my life, added value to it but still I AM YET TO BE THOROUGHLY IMPRESSED.

Imagine, if there was a machine that would make you lose excess fat, just wherever you need it, while you are sleeping !!! How does it sound ? All you need to do is wear a band (or whatever), plug in the fantastic gadget and go to sleep. The gadget will have a small computer in it, so that you can point out how much fat you want to lose and where ? Maybe in six months the gadget will be upgraded and it will also tone your muscles as well.....

I am sure VLCC has nothing like this. All their products require that should stay awake. How blissful would life be, if I could eat how much ever I want and not worry about gaining weight or keeping in shape. Now weight is not like height. You stop growing taller after a point but you don't stop getting fatter necessarily. Odds in life and unexplained mysteries will always be there. What can I say ? :)

The new face of Indian journalism

2007-06-19T10:17:00.000-07:00

The phrase 'meaningful journalism' sounds quite fascinating. It invokes professionalism, as well as some kind of moral/social responsibility. I think I heard the phrase some four years back and of course heard it again in Page 3. I think, to the journalists it means that they can take pride in their work; to an average citizen, the phrase symbolizes hope. It assures them that they will not be duped consistently. They will know the news as it is.
But news is seldom meaningful when it is reported just as it is. Every event has contexts, purposes, hidden motives, agendas, characters, and all these and more, come in together to make it imperative for the journalist to go beyond just reporting the event. It requires analysis and exploration. Analysis comes with a baggage, personal viewpoint.
Having said that, I would like to point out how 'personal viewpoint' especially in the journalistic profession is very important. The words penned down by journalists are read by many impressionable minds and hence the wrong words can send out a wrong message. What scares me more than insincere journalism, is journalists whose viewpoints show lack of awareness and narrowness of mind.

I cite two examples of such 'personal spaces,' where I feel like questioning the journalists awareness and their broadmindedness (based on specific blogs they wrote), definitely not their professional acumen or solidarity or ethics.

Paras Tomar's blog . Excerpt from 'Of Guns and Houseboats.' Referring to a women's team playing volleyball : "Funny how this team made a statement by just playing the game. And yet somehow.. what they wore while playing it.. went against everything they were trying to prove to begin with! The Games, the outdoor activity, the travelling for tournaments all went in sync with the average kashmiri girl wanting to break out of the stereotype. And yet, the fact that they were ONLY allowed to play that game in their school uniform.- a full white salwar kameez with their heads still firmly covered- reeked of the fact that the institution was making sure they didn't go too far with their "winds of change" ideology."
1. When I read this, my first thought was how Tomar must be defining 'winds of change?' is change a totally external phenomenon ?
2. I was also forced remind myself of the burqa-clad Muslim women who went on a tirade against the western world trying to justify their right to wear burqas.
3. I failed to understand how wearing a salwar kameez spoiled everything else that they sought to accomplish by participating in a volleyball game, a male sport.
4. Are women dressed in burqas not modern ? Or, are they not educated and progressive?
5. Also, what is not clear from the blog is whether the girls would have worn shorts (maybe) had the institution allowed it. Maybe not !!
6. I felt from reading this blog that a change in mindset is very much required at least as far as these assumptions of modernity are concerned. Modernity lies, also in the mind and 'winds of change' would remain a flimsy concept if it were to only remain limited to a change in fashion with changing times.

Hindol Sengupta's blog. Excerpt from "Why I Am Afraid of Mayawati?" (After Rajdeep Sardesai's blog appreciating Mayawati's political strategies I admire the fact that this blog was posted. It shows diversity of view within the same organization which to me appears as very healthy.) "Mayawati's historic victory has left me speechless. And scared. Her victory tells me once again how I, and people like me, have no voice in Indian politics anymore. We, the middle-class, educated, metro-bred, Christian-education raised, young. We, the backbone of the knowledge, entreneurial (spelled incorrectly/typo) economy. We, who have no representation. We have no voice. We have no one who speaks our language, our idiom."
1. If Sengupta appreciates democracy in India then these lines are difficult to interpret.
2. Democracy speaks the voice of the majority and the sooner the 'middle class' accepts it, the better.
3. I am not yet a supporter of Mayawati but I have faith in the masses of India. 'Representation' does not mean, has never meant, that individual opinion wins.
4. Just curious, if not Maywati, who ?
5. Sengupta expresses his faith in Manmohan Singh and also the Gandhis. Have the Gandhis always ruled well ?
6. It is Sengupta's disillusionment that surprised me. In India, where most people cannot afford a metro-bred lifestyle, neither have access to education - should the right to vote be taken away from them ? Cause, to allay Sengupta's fears that seems to be the only solution. Mayawatis will always come back till all Indians do not become middle-class. AND frankly, whom are we kidding ? Mayawati has middle class backing too.

These were responses to blogs. When I reflected on these blogs I felt quite depressed because I assign some level of understanding to journalists. I found their blogs (or the pieces that I quoted here) to be very simplistic and naive. I believe the journalists hold important positions. Just like Prannoy Roy, Rajdeep Sardesai, Karan Thapar have often enlightened/inspired me and others with their words, and changed the face of journalism in India, I wish these new kids on the block, are able to do the same, for the sake of the generation that is slowly getting associated with news channels and news websites.

It doesn't Happen in India ONLY !!!

2007-06-08T10:19:00.000-07:00

" Iiiiiiii HAVEeeeeeeee THEeeeeeee POWERrrrrrr "

Politics has always been about power. Power of money, mind, wit...and muscles. Watch this video.

Aa dekhe zara..kisme kitna hain dum !!! As terible as I might be in Hindi translation I shall attempt to translate. Or, maybe not ! I am not expecting international audience here.

Videos such as this make my day. It makes me feel that there is something universal about lack of self-control when it is really (i mean really) essential. It is probably tempting too, to smack someone's face, slap someone on the face (especially if you are confident that the receiver will not retaliate) etc etc

Enjoy !

Living My Extraordinary Life

2007-06-07T07:34:00.000-07:00

Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem called “White Man’s Burden.” The poem dealt with the willing burden the British shouldered, in terms of civilizing the colonized people. The word burden usually implies that none should take it upon themselves ‘willingly.’ But the British did so and as we all know there was much to gain in shouldering that ‘burden.’ India was the ‘Jewel in the Crown.’

Just like the British I have also long shouldered the burden of improving myself. Very modestly speaking, I have not done bad for myself. A little improvement can do no one wrong, definitely not me. But when I say improvement I mean a standard so high that it feels like a burden. I have taken it upon my self willingly. But to me choices are limited, either I improve or I perish. What do I want to improve? Self-discipline.

I am 27. I’ll turn 28 in about three months. Femina (and maybe some other magazines too) said years ago that life begins at thirty. OK so I still have two years to go before I actually start living..GREAT. Not quite. Here’s why :

*Two years back just before coming to the US I had to get three tooth pulled out. My dentist told me later, jokingly, (in Bengali – I’ ll translate) “Great smile you have. I could’nt say that you had such treasures hidden there…” The word he used in Bengali was maal moshla. I love eating but I cannot chew. So that I do not lose my other tooth I should be brushing my teeth every time after I have a meal and then for weaker gums, apply Dabur Lal Dant Manjan (Thanks to my kind friends, they bought me the product from India).

*I had very thick hair when I came to USA. The water here did not suit me at all. AT ALL. Around six months back I found out that if I put curd and an egg in my hair before shampooing (which I do every alternate day) I will not lose as much hair.

*Also I think about the future way too much. I would hate to fall sick and lie down in bed for the last ten years of my life. So I must exercise. This is the least I can do. I need to keep fit, not because I do not have the money to shop for size 8, an entire new wardrobe (which is true) but because after fifty I do not want to be bedridden. At least 30 minutes in the gorgeous gym.

*I also freak out thinking about my memory. Last week for two days I packed my lunch and left it at home. I lose my keys every second day. I have walked to my Department on weekends without my ID card. I could not get in. I walked back. I forgot Jaipur is in Rajasthan. I should have almonds everyday. I should write down everything. I should.

*In order to keep healthy I should have a side of green vegetables, eggs, pulses and fruits I think. If I manage to include one, the other one gets excluded. So if for a week I forget to add spinach in my sandwich I feel bad, I worry that I am not taking in enough ‘greens.’

*Two years back, my mother made an honest confession. She said she was bored of the 5-6 songs that I have been singing for the last 10 years of my life. I know many songs but not more than 2-3 lines. So, I fetched Geetobitan (Tagore's collection of songs) for the lyrics from Calcutta (Thanks Tua). My plan is to listen to the same song for one week and singing with it so every week I learn one new song. I should have at least known 52. I picked up like 10. Booooooooooooooo !!

*I want to be a movie director one day. Something in me tells me I will not. That is a different story. So I think there are two things I should religiously do. One, watch a movie everyday. Watch it as if it is a job. I try to look at scene transition, continuity, camera angles, camera movement, editing ! This pretty much means that I feel compelled to watch even movies like Wedding Date, Bringing out the dead (This one is a Scorsoce flick). Two, watch all bollywood movies and try to become one like ‘them.’ ‘Them’ is who made Dhoom 2 a hit. So, I watched RED, Raqueeb, Good Boy Bad Boy, Robbery, Ek Chalis Ki Local Train and Cheeni Kum (I intend to wtite about all this is in another blog)

*Because I might not become a director, I already feel the pressure to prepare myself for an alternative career. Nah ! Not professor. Journalist. So I think I should read the news everyday. If I do not I will never bag a job.

Now, I feel depressed if I do not do all of this EVERYDAY. I do not have to only read the news but sort of pen down what I think is important to retain. Remember, memory problem. I cannot just walk into the bathroom and take a bath. I have to be prepared for that one hour in advance. Eggs and all. I also have to take them out from the refirgerator and wait for 30 minutes because I had sinus when I put them on my hair straight out of the refrigerator. If I do not go to the gym, if I do not buy greens…I feel depressed. There are many other things. Would have probably bored YOU (?) without any guilt but am sick and tired of living my extra ordinary life, of living by the schedule I have set for myself. TO TOP IT ALL – Blogging will give me an opportunity to maintain my life’s record even when I am 80, so, I also have to blog.

You know why I compared myself with the British? Very simple. Like there was not just one British, I am not the only one. I know there are many like me who all want to do so many things each day and are not able to. Also, so many who live each day the way they want. What is extra ordinary about my life is that I am living it to the fullest. In spite of my receding hair line, my unsteady teeth and weak gums, the excess fat on my body, the chocolate-ice cream dinners, I have passed my driving test in one go, I have learned how to ice skate (not backwards yet), I have written my thesis in three days, I have won a screenplay competition and will make a 15 minutes film when I get back to India (hopfully), I have also secured the brandy that my father has wanted for the last 10 years from every person who traveled outside India, but has never got…..I know even if I lose my memory,my family and friends will make my life worth living at any point in my life. My friend Pallavi will always be satisfied listening to me sing “Bahut nazdeek mujhe aana hain..” I do not need to learn any new song.

Like me, there are many who live such extraordinary lives. Some get documented, some do not. Some will survive in memory, some will not. So, coming back to 'burden,' just like the British, me and many like me have willingly taken upon us the burden of living our extraordinary lives. Doing everything at the same time, or doing one thing at a time - whatever we do, for some others it will always be extraordinary. For me doing a PhD and having a family is an extraordinary achievement. I think high of all my friends who do it, and do it so easily and so well. Just like the British earned India for a colony by shouldering the cause of 'civilizing' the colonized people, we have also earned a LIFE for ourselves. I have. Filling our lives with LIFE.

Kudos..if you have read all this

The "QUEER" Story - The cartoon depicts only half of the story.

2007-06-05T12:45:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I heard a NDTV story (Location :NDTV.com-Videos- Top Stories- More-"Gay community faces hostility": Shumona's story) on violence against gays and lesbians in Calcutta. I remember that around two years back there was a protest march in Calcutta by gays, lesbians and transgendered individuals. They were primarily asking for acceptance, creating enlightenment. I have not thought much about the issue at least pertaining to Calcutta after that. Yesterday when I saw the video two dominant thoughts came to my mind.

First, the ‘deviation from normalcy’ as transgendered behaviour is mostly seen, is met with not just humiliation and ostracism, but violence, all around the world. Calcutta is not the only place, neither the first, definitely not going to be the last. I was reminded, as I watched one of the subjects of the video describe how he was asked to strip by surrounding police officers, the movie “Boys Don’t Cry.” Remember Hilary Swank, giving the performance of a life time in that movie? She played a girl, who, dressed as a boy actually managed to get herself a girlfriend and engage in an emotional relationship with her, till the time it came out in the open and she was brutally raped and violently beaten up, by her girlfriemd’s friends (if I remember). I wonder if it is just hatred/anger that makes queer people an easy target of violence. In some cases, yes. Conformity has long been considered a key to peace. I think it is slightly over rated. Queer people represent the harmless but complicated story of a woman in a man’s body or otherwise. The point is not why they are not being accepted. As important as that is, the more urgent question is why should they be targets of violence, sometimes leading to death? Considering that gays make excellent jesters and gay jokes cracks up audiences in Bollywood films, and also Hollywood, I find it hard to believe that it is JUST hatred/anger. So why such treatment? The way I see it, most people, the aam janta gets cheap thrills (CT) from this. CT 1 – Queers allow just about any ‘normal’ person to straighten them up. CT 2 – Queers are people from Mars. How do they look without clothes? CT 3 – They will probably get audiences to share their acts of bravery with. CT 4 – All queers appear as ‘feminine’ subjects. The lesbian is obviously no threat. The gay is deemed to be weak as well, as they opt for, in some weird way, being the weaker sex. The show of power over these subjects seems unavoidably tempting. I am running out of CT. I cannot think what else might prompt such disgusting acts.

Second, the queers, as the newly (last 5 years or so ) marginalized group face double marginalization. They are numerically insignificant and have not much of a political agenda. On top of that, their sexuality makes them marginalized just about anywhere in the world. The exceptions that are there, do not look very promising. Race, color and religion have often been issues for marginalized people, but they also get some respite with a change of place. I might feel marginalized outside India but not within India. The queers have acquired some sort of permanency in their marginal status. The reactions to their sexual choices seems to follow them every where. In fact, it is no choice for most of them, it is what they are.

I was listening to a BBC documentary on Roma Gypsies in the Czech Republic, a marginalized group. They do not fit in with the Czechs. The Romas are traditional, poor, uneducated, have more children than Czechs…As a state sponsored effort a Roma woman was sterilized while having her first born. It was done against her wish. Worse treatment is meted out to marginal groups. The story of Shumona reminds me that he and many like him are not safe anywhere in this world, not in their own countries, not amongst their own people, not with any government.

The 'Alien' Indian

2007-05-22T15:17:00.000-07:00

Plea : If you are non-Indian replace India/Indian with your country. Yes, Europe included.

It was close to two years back that I first came face to face with a label that I unwillingly allowed myself to be associated with. The label was 'alien.' It was the DS 156 Form, a U.S. Visa Form. USA calls any non U.S. citizens, 'aliens.' I have traveled to London. The British Consulate does not use any such labels.

Clearly, the use of the term has gone unquestioned or so I think. When we talk about aliens we usually mean extra-terrestrials. 'We' includes American citizens. U.S. Blockbusters like 'Aliens' have made that imagery even more permanent and narrow, if I may say so. Narrow, because there is no escaping what the word 'alien' means for most people. Though technically the word also means non-citizens, it is not a well known definition. The fact that alien denotes, unfailingly, creatures from Mars or Pluto, makes it imperative that U.S. considers calling foreigners by something else, if 'foreigner' or 'non-citizen' has some kind of incorrect political connotation to it. If I was India's Prime Minister I would suggest myself that my citizens not be called alien, just because they happen to be going to U.S. for work or study. (If the Indian wants to go settle there....use aliens for HER/HIM ! Kidding )

Aliens probably have higher intelligence than human beings, they travel in flying saucers etc etc. Well, in spite of all that it is not very flattering for me to be called an alien. And, I do not object because aliens do not look handsome the way Spielberg and Shyamalan showed them in E.T. and Signs respectively. I just feel very strongly abut the fact that a general label equates me and many like me, with other living organisms we do not know enough about. That the term means no derogation I will accept but that it causes me discomfort is also true. I was filing my tax returns the other day and I needed help with a certain question. The very kind staff who helped me with it asked me , 'You are an alien , right ? Yeah..click this..." It just shook me up. Type aliens and search google images. Is that 'us' ?

I would really like to know what you feel about being labeled as an 'alien' or am I getting paranoid about nothing !!!

The Road Always Taken : Arjun Singh wants popularity the easy way ?

2007-05-01T20:57:00.000-07:00

I have been following Arjun Singh and his plea for OBCs very closely for the last one month. I have read the news websites and a few blogs. For the uninitiated, Arjun Singh is India’s current Human Resource and Development . He is currently passionately engaged in obtaining quotas for OBCs in government run institutions, which includes the very prestigious IIMs. The government is confirmed that it wants the 27% reservation for OBCs and it will not back down. However, in spite of much propaganda the Supreme Court has stayed the bill much to the chagrin of its supporters. Arjun Singh is obviously not happy and will do what he can…Brinda Karat is also very angry because she thinks the judiciary is acting high-handedly.

I am not in support of reservations of this kind but I am not blogging today to win over some readers to understand my point of view and support it eventually. I want to raise some questions that will hopefully help us understand the dynamics of this issue.

*From Arjun Singh’s past political history, even if his obsession for the ‘deprived’ cannot be suspected, his political acumen can be. He had criticized Narasimha Rao’s alleged failure to save Babri Masjid, not in 1992 when it was destroyed but some years later…I am forgetting when. So when he backs a bill it should not be accepted prima facie.

*Assuming that the educated politicians who have accepted the Bill and supported it have done some deep research into the merits of a 27% reservation for OBCs, there is still no GOD ENOUGH reason provided for endorsing the bill, except that ‘reservations’ have always helped Indian political parties to cling on to the ‘mai-baap’ image which they so fondly treasure. SC/ST reservations have been misused countless times. SC/STs are not all poor people. But the reservations do not differentiate between them. It ought to be remembered that the OBC Bill is bound to follow a similar trajectory. Once financially deprived, families will prosper and the OBC Bill will lose its utopian purpose.

*If you think I have betrayed my words and ‘softly’ tried to advocate my point, I will accept and give my final ARGUMENT. Arjun Singh’s title deals with two very useful words ‘resource’ and development’. I am sure immense amount of thinking must have gone in wording the title but does Arjun Singh really understand it ? He is supposed to shoulder the responsibility of finding RESOURCES ( for OBCs) and helping in their DEVELOPMENT. Arjun Singh will argue that his Bill aims as much. But look closely, is not ‘resource’ and ‘development’ also finding out which kids in OBC families are not getting education and providing them with the resource so that they can develop. Now... there are innumerable kids in India and it must be a darn difficult job to find them, and then educate them. It is easier to spot them as applicants to IIMs (whatever their intellectual capabilities) and then give them a comparatively smooth walk. There are two ways to do the job that Singh has assumed responsibility for. The hard way and the easy way. The hard way would ensure education for all OBCs. The easy way is Arjun Singh’s way. Give speeches and them become another Ambedkar.

In concluding I would like to say that I was disappointed at the analysis of the OBC Bill by the media. My analysis can be proved erroneous only if one accepts that all OBCs cannot be tracked down and given the resource she/he deserves and it is in this acceptance/ resignation that I locate my country’s problem.

Chandan Mitra, editor of Pioneer wrote some very awful (perhaps true) facts about Arjun Singh’s incapability to learn from political mistakes. What I found most funny is the fact that Mr Mitra thinks that no one will remember who Arjun Singh was in 10 years to come. Clearly he did not know that Jamia Milia is naming a Department and a street (within the campus) after MR ARJUN SINGH.

This is my country and yet I do not understand it most of the times. [ :( ]

Aishwarya Becomes An Actor

2007-04-22T14:07:00.000-07:00

Just when I thought it would not be too bad if Aishwarya gave up movies after marriage, I saw Provoked. Unarguably Ash's best performance till date. I had not even heard of director Jag Mundhra till I saw the movie but he is quite a veteran film maker I found out from the internet.

I liked everything about the movie. The casting was superb. I realized that Nandita Das should do more movies. Also I realized that Aishwarya should be ever thankful to Jag Mundhra who got such incredible performance out of her. Even in Bhansali's movies Ash looked pretty, danced well, and I always felt they gave her the awards for that ! But as I was watching the movie, in the first 15 minutes I knew Ash has become an ACTOR. See, a lot depends on the director. What was Saif Ali before Dil Chahta Hai? Who would have thought that he would steal away the show in Omkara. I am sure he is working hard but I also think the director is still the man. Ash is so fantastic in that movie that I cannot help but praise her. Cautioned responses, perfect pauses, measured glances, excellent dialogue delivery, superb expressions - she was fabulous.

Apart from ASH, the story line is also compelling. Women get beaten up by men all the time, as wives, in slums as also in star houses (Neetu Singh, remember) or as girl friends. As I am writing this I am reminded of that scene in 'Leaving Las Vegas' where the actress Elisabeth Shue (who plays a hooker) gets beaten up by teenage boys. Men and violence can alone be topic for a separate blog. Anyways....have loads of work...

Watch PROVOKED..

Virginia Tech Massacre - Thinking differently

2007-04-18T20:56:00.000-07:00

The news is so full of BAD news these days, bomb blasts and a few deaths here and there do not disturb me all that much. But as I looked at Minal's orkut profile I had tears streaming down my eyes. I have nothing new to say. I just hope her mother survives the shock. It has just been one week, I think that Minal's mother has been visiting her. What the South Korean immigrant did we all know, but my question is why a democracy that acted/still acts as an example to newer nations allows availability of guns so easily to its citizens ?

Watch this docu-feature 'Bowling for Columbine.' Directed by Michael Moore. Shock of all shocks - Open a bank account and get a rifle FREE. That is what the feature starts with. Michael does open an account with this bank and he does get a rifle FREE. You heard me right. Not a candy, a RIFLE. In Michigan you can go to a Walmart and buy guns and bullets. Probably coming from India, the culture of having freedom to own arms does not quite sink in me, but why should it ? I have heard people in Bihar, in Allahabad carry guns, arbit shoot outs happen. If the same happens in USA, it is indeed deplorable. With number of clinically depressed people so high in a country, GUNS should not be easily attainable commodities.

'Guns give me power, a sense of protection.' B.U.L.L. S.H.I.T.
'As long as I am showing it, I should be allowed to carry it.' SORRY - This is not the imagery for a safe society and if we do not VISIBLY feel safe, we cannot get SAFETY.

I think this a good time for any of the factions in US politics to take a stand against possession of weapons. Confused kids like CHOW, apart from all other things are mindful of the publicity they make. (REMEMBER SEVEN, Kevin Spacey's big dream was that EVERYONE would talk about HIM ans his murders) The media is covering the case very well, too well for my comfort. So much publicity only makes people like CHOW want to get publicity the wrong way. (If you are not used to American media I advocate for being very rational in my conclusion and hence a trustworthy source) The attention should be focused on the root cause - WHERE did he get that GUN ?

Aishwarya Domesticated ???

2007-01-30T19:26:00.000-08:00

With all due respect.

Just heard Amitabh's interview on NDTV. He has done India proud yet again. He is the recepient of the Legion d'Honneur. Not surprisingly Abhishek-Ash engagement topic was broached. "Ash is a simple girl, traditional." Well that is very good. Ash is domestic, Bachhan said. But why is it such a great thing to be domesticated ?

AB has very good command over English and so I am sure he used the word thinking it to be appropriate. But that being the case, the use of the word really irked me. Look up wikipedia and you will know why it is irritating to know that a girl like Aishwarya was able to win over AB because she is domestic.

1. The term is most appropriate for animals. Domestication is defined in wikipedia as " a phenomenon whereby a wild bioligical organism is habituated to survive in the company of, or by the labour of, human beings."

2. Google 'domestic' and a list of domestic animals will come up.

Now, as long as Aishwarya does not have reason to mind this, who am I . But I can at least express my grief that even for the most educated people in our country, women still remain second class citizens. Would Amitabh have said that both his son and Aishwarya are 'domesticated' and hence they will be running their household very well together? I guess not.

For decades and centuries, women were been kept within the private domain of the house. That being the 'private sphere' the world beyond that sphere was the 'public sphere' and that was the designated domain for men. The distinction between private and public sphere, not only restricted the physical mobility of women beyond the traditional boundaries of the house but also attached symbolism to women's roles as mother and home maker; roles that can be best performed within the 'private sphere' of the 'household.'

Even when women broke these boundaries and made way to the public sphere the symbolism remained attached to women. It is this symbolism, that gets reflected in AB's messege. Women are best at being mothers and wives and homemakers. Even if not consciously, this assumption about women has unconsciously influenced most men's perception about women. Sadly, these symbolic roles get perpetuated by countless women too.

Today, women like Aishwarya have proved their mettle to an international circle and yet in matters of marriage, which is nothing if not 'partnership,' the virtues for which they get valued is their 'domesticity', their 'docility' ....

The more we go forward, we realize we are just on the circumference of a circle and we will only return to where we started by moving forward. Is that not the case ?

Happy Republic Day

2007-01-25T21:41:00.000-08:00

Some two years back I had very jokingly quizzed a friend about the difference between democracy and republic. He was not able to answer it. I first thought that he was joking. But NO KIDDING…He really did not know. As irritating as I am, I asked him to think hard and come up with an answer. He just walked away.

Well if that was not bad, this is. It is 10:50 at night. Republic day is over and I did not even realize it. I have just watched two movies. The more famous one, Confessions of a dangerous mind turned out to be ok and the one that I was merely taking a chance with, White Oleander impressed me immensely. It left me a bit sad but I enjoyed Michelle Pfeiffer, she has never failed me. Her acting is compelling and to match her, was the girl who played her daughter, Alison Lohman. She was sooooo good.

OK. So where was I ? Yes. Republic Day. Even if i remebered it the first thing I woke up in the morning, what would I have done ? Heard some patriotic songs today ? I don't think so. But I think remebering it would be a celebration by itself. I knew it even yesterday. I personalized my google search page today with our national flag and still I never really knew it. I did not wish one single soul.

But here is the confession of a completely guilt-free mind. What was I to celebrate ? Was I to celebrate the Nithari killings ? More than 30 children were raped, tortured, murdered, their body parts packed in packets….My disgust is not so much with Pandher and Koli (who apparently admitted that he had eaten parts of the children’s bodies) as with the UP Police. They did not investigate the case. I know today that Pandher's son is talking about filing a case against all those who are 'on camera' beating up his father outside the court. But I still do not know which policer officer was approached years back to investigate the case? Why is he not being tracked and interviewed?I really wish I knew as much about the police's corruptive and callous manners as much as I know about Pandher. In West Bengal, Gaurav Dutt, IG Police, inspite of three charges of sexual harassment has been promoted a month back. The journalist says that CNN-IBN has filed against a case against this to the Home Ministry. Children in UP and parts of Mumbai are suffering from malnutrition. Even if there is no shortage of food, the corruption does not let the food reach them.

Or am I to celebrate that Goldman Sachs thinks India will be the world's biggest power in 2050? I hope with all my life that this be true. But then I doubt it. We do not even know what will happen to India in ten years, the rate at which the population is increasing. With so many people who are illiterate, where does India find its potential to lead the world ? Ahhh then...So is it again about the rich in India ? By rich I mean anyone earning anyone 10K per month. An Indian IT company will send its employees to US more often? Kolkata will have as many Mercedes as does Ahmedabad? Or will every Indian citizen get food ? Will all children get healthcare and education in 2050? Reports don't get into these details.

If I look outside India, what does India's position in 2050 mean for the rest of the world? Will Africa be a better place to live in? Will Africa have nine year old girls go to school instead of looking for customers wanting to have sex? Will students in North Korea study world history? Will terrorists be scared to plant bombs, afraid that they'll get caught ?

I am just wondering. I am not pessimistic. I want the best for India. I want it to act unselfishly in catering to not only its own people but to the people of the world, IF, India will be what Goldman Sachs’ Tushar Poddar says India will be in 2050. I don't wish to live too long but if it be to see this day, I don't mind.

So, however uneventful my Republic Day might have been so far, I am celebrating it now, with wine on the table, my laptop on my lap and through my blog, sharing my apprehensions about what India has achieved as a 'republic' and also dreaming so much that I am wrong. I am more convinced about the Independence Day though because I know for a fact, or I believe, that 'Swadeshi is (was) our birth right.'

After all it is not that bad. U.S. is contemplating to give more IT professionals from India an opportunity to come to US. Now that is good reason to celebrate.

Four movies and a scary student

2007-01-25T07:13:00.000-08:00

There is always this one student in class, sometimes more than one, who will make life difficult for you. She/He will seem to know that Ancient civilization is really not your area of expertise and will ask you questions to prove that in front of the entire class. Now... I still had to teach it because I was paid to do it. I tried my level best and some students thought I was real good, but not them. They are the ones who haunt you before class, scare you when physically present in class, definitely laugh at your inability to teach that class the moment you turn your back to them, and feel that you have no business to give them anything less than A+. Good News !! This semester I don’t think I have any such student (pretty safe conclusion to draw now) and so I think I will have a good semester. We discussed Rembrandt, El Greco and Rubens last night and it was very good. My students in both sections are nice and well-behaved. I am happy and relieved.

Four movies in last two days:

Mickey Blue Eyes – I cannot say what the source is, cannot recall rather, but I had heard it is an excellent movie. It turned out to be average. Hugh Grant is as always very cutely funny. There are scenes that cracked me up, for instance when he is trying to seduce his girl friend by taking his pants off ( he is wearing his boxers still !!) an his boss catches him in the act, and when he is trying to talk like Manhattan based Italian crime leaders – stuff like fuggetaboudit !!

The Bachelor – It is there on a Top 100 American movies LIST. It was sweet. I would not watch it a second time. But you can watch it once. The guy is scared about marrying. Now that is not new. He makes a real crappy proposal to his girl friend of three years, Renee Zellweger. He pops the big question saying ‘You win.’ Now who would say YES to such a proposal? However the guy has to marry soon because he learned about his grandfather’s will that entitled him to his 100 million dollars property if he married before his 30th birthday. Go see what happens….

Reservoir Dogs – Typical Tarantino stuff. I did not enjoy it as much as Pulp Fiction though but it was as usual brilliant. This is one guy who has surely proved one thing – a good story is not a MUST for a good movie. The highlight of the movie is the execution of each scene. Brilliant is the word. Here is my analysis. T ( for Tarantino) plays around with chronology like crazy. This movie was easier to follow compared to Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill 2. So, if you are looking for each following scene to provide context or take the movie further, that does’nt happen. So the question is – why will an audience have the patience to wrack his brains so much? Some people enjoy it, true. But T I think is aware that he has to direct each scene as if it alone was the movie and yet worth watching. Surprises, action, blood, gruesome scenes are all part of his creation. I loved the movie.

Vatel starring Gerarad Depardieu as Francis Vatel, Uma Thurman and Tim Roth. In the previous blog I wrote that Vatel committed suicide because the fish did not arrive on time. The movie however showed a different side to this creative ‘Master Steward’ as he was a man very strongly rooted to his soil. Soil to him was not France but his own province and that was common in seventeenth-century France. H was working for this rich guy Conde and when Vatel learned that Conde had lost him to Louis IVX, King of France over a card table and Vatel would now have to move to Versailles, he committed suicide. The time coincided with delivery problems regarding the fish. He got involved with Anne de Montesiere (Uma Thurman) but then he died, so nothing happened. Nice movie. The art direction is wonderful and it comes as no surprise that the movie won the academy award for Art Direction.

Promise

2007-01-22T19:54:00.000-08:00

I shall not mention in this blog, why it has a subject like ‘Promise’…but those of you who are familiar with my blogging inclinations will perhaps guess.

Day went off quite well. I am right now listening to ‘O Saathi Re’ from Omkara and writing my blog. Before I go ahead, I must say that Vishal Bharadwaj is probably one director to look out for. He does more than just direct a film. For example he has sung the song that I am now listening to, and what a voice ! (Also music composer for Omkara) Sweet and soft. Makdee, Maqbool and now Omkara. Apparently he has another movie called Chatri Chor to his credit but have neither heard about its release nor read any reviews.

OK, so my day started with cereals and milk. My current favorite is Quaker’s Raisin, Walnuts and Dates. I adore it. I spent all of last year in complete ignorance having Kellog’s corn flakes with dried strawberries in it. I liked it then, but I don’t like to think now that I liked it then.

Attended Dr Norris’ lecture. I am glad I am TA-ing with him this year. We are doing western civilization from 1500 to 1945. The best part is that Dr Norris is doing the history of that long stretch basing himself on ‘people’ who made history. Today he discussed the artist Charles De Brun, who was the arbiter of artistic production in seventeenth-century France (yes, yes, creator of Versailles). Also, he talked about Francois Vatel and how he was the first chef to have actually made his way to history. Most of the word history is STORY, if you notice and hence it is fascinating to know stories. Is it not? Cahrles De Brun is also creator of Chateau de Vaux-le-Vicomte and for that a rich guy, Nicola Fouquet paid him 18 million francs. Can you beat it. Rich people have always been rich. Right? Vatel, more renowned for creating vanilla flavored ‘Chantilly Cream,’ committed suicide because the fish that he was supposed to prepare had not yet arrived and he imagined that he was not doing his job alright. Strange things people give up their lives for, I would say. It is not my ignorance that makes me call the reason ‘strange’ but my inability to comprehend some people from the past.

Attended a lecture on the Silk Road today by Dr Yihong Pan and Dr Mary Frederickson. They are both faculty members at Miami. (REMEMBER – Return Wild Swans to Dr Pan). They shared their experiences of their 43- days trip across Silk Road. They started from western China and finished their trip in Istanbul. They shared pictures and a short video. I loved the landscape, the bazaars, the mosques and the people in the photographs. I am not sure if I ll ever be able to make such a trip. I was just glad to be there in the discussion. Dr Frederickson’s PowerPoint had an awesome background score. I asked her after the discussion if she had obtained some music track from Central Asia. She said, she had not but the background score was by Yo-yo-ma. I have to get it. It was awesome. He is a chellist and apparently the finest in the world.

Apart from doing this I read 'The Return of Martin Guerre' by Natalie Zemon Davis. Fantastic narration of a sixteenth-century story of a small village in France where a certain Martin Guerre suddenly abandons his wife and son. Some years later, Arnaud Du Tilh, from another village comes to Artigat (Martin Guerre’s village) and claims he is Martin Guerre. Martin’s wife obviously realizes but likes the fake Martin better than her real husband. Things continue well but then Arnaud is brought to trial by Martin’s uncle. Arnaud would probably still win but the real Martin returns. Filmi..eh ? True story.

Retuned home and saw Dazed and Confused (1993) by Richard Linklater. I am not very critical about movies. I usually like all of them but that is also because I am careful about what I watch. I completely adored Linklater’s Before Sunrise and Benfore Sunset. I like this one too. No story line at all. It just showed last day of school before summer. All kids, doing pot, drinking, senior kids ragging the junior kids… The movie starred Ben Affleck. He was such a kid then!!

It is a weekday and so I shall restrict myself to one movie only. I saw three yesterday. Thank you for smoking (2005, dir: Jason Reitman), March of the Penguins (2005, dir:Luc Jacquet. Narrator- Morgan Freeman) and David Lynch’s Mulholand Drive (2001). 1. I like Aaron Eckhart (loved him in Possession) and if you don’t know who William Macy is you must know. He is so hilarious. No matter what he says, you’ll laugh. The movie – MUST MUST WATCH. Comedy.Actually all three movies ought to be watched. 2. A National Geographic film on penguins and how they ‘love.’ Amitabh is the narrator in the Hindi version. 3.Mulholland Drive is incomprehensible at one level. But you will enjoy it at another level because you are at liberty to understand it anyway you want. Incomprehensible but thoroughly satisfying. I like Naomi Watts.

I plan to read Madeline Slade’s memoirs now. You know her? She was a British woman who grew fascinated with Gandhi and came to India to work with him. She was called Mirabehn.

(Now listening to Kailash Kher’s ‘Ya Rabba’ from Salaam e Ishq)

Good Night !

2007-01-22T12:51:00.000-08:00

Just seeing if this works...