Supercars.....

Just wanted to share with this whoever reads my spot!


TopGear 2004 SuperCar - video powered by Metacafe

A crazy weekend....Whew!

Wow....this weekend has just been unbelievably crazy, I never could have thought I could cram so much into a single weekend. The pace was building up since last week, I had so many things lined up I wasn't even sure how I would be a part of everything.

Thursday, July 13th: was one of my best friend's birthdays. Not only were we taking him for happy hour, but we were also planning a surprise dinner party for him on Saturday. The plan was to use the happy hour as a decoy and convince him that a cheap happy hour is all we could afford. The setting for the happy hour was this quaint little bar called "The boxcar lounge" which was located on the lower east side, and was pretty much a one man show. This was probably the only bar I have or will ever see that was set in the backyard of a building, so they actually had signs which asked all patrons to keep their voice down! The drinks were great nevertheless and the oily fries were quite good :) The happy hour quickly transitioned into dinner and quite a late night; only consolation being the next day was Friday.

Friday, July 14th: My friend from India has flown into NY from NC, and as if that wasn’t exciting enough I receive a phone call from a friend in Dubai that he is flying in that same evening! I could see a long overdue colony re-union and we were all very excited. Phone calls were made, plans were coordinated and soon enough it was decided we would all be meeting up at "The Delancey", a cool and hip bar located at the foot of the Williamsburg bridge; we were all set to meet at about 11pm. From work I head to another friend's place for a few drinks and Samosas at the upper west side. We had a great time with some gin and pizza! After I was done there, I took the train to "The Delancey" were I found my friends who had already downed a few; I had some catching up to do. It was great to meet up with my buddies and be together after so long. More friends were headed in from NJ, DC and Baltimore! We all rendezvous at around 1.30am and the feeling was just amazing. Felt so much like the old times and it was unbelievable to all of us that we friends who once donned the bench at our colony gate were actually partying in the Big Apple! After many drinks and bar hopping we decide to call it a night at 5am.

Saturday, July 15th: my friends from out of town head into the city for some sightseeing; I stayed back as I had to help a friend move his stuff into his new apartment, he was driving in from Delaware. Although he drove in real late (about 6.30pm) I managed to help him out and get ready in time for the dinner party. All dressed up my other set of friends and I head to a restaurant called "L'Orange Bleu" on Broome street. This was a great restaurant with some off-the-hook waiters, belly dancers and of course very excitable young women!

This place was a cross between a restaurant and night club and was definitely unlike any other place we had been to. Soon enough my friend arrives unsuspectingly at the restaurant is surprised to find us all there, he was very surprised and happy to see us all there. We had a great evening with some good food, plenty of sangria and some great Moroccan and African tunes. As we finish with dinner my second set of friends meet us and we all head to a place called "Plan B". This was a small bar at the cross of Avenue B and 10th street. The drinks were strong and the night was still young; soon enough all of us were drunk and of course tired as hell from all the dancing. Once again we decide to call it a night at 5am!

Sunday, July 16th: I wake up late, still exhausted from the two days of relentless partying, and all I could say was....Yayy, I pulled it off! Managed to have a reunion with some old friends, attend another good friend's happy hour plus dinner and also managed to help another friend with his moving amidst all this excitement!

This was such a great weekend; I hope I have more, just not too soon :)

Gore or truth, a tough choice

The Times of India is one of the largest newspapers in circulation in India, and is also one of the most respected. I have been a reader since I was a kid and over the years have seen this newspaper go through many changes. The one thing I have always admired this newspaper for is its boldness; the way this newspaper has always been able to depict the truth without hesitation for the reaction and consequences. However, I was a little surprised today to read a note from the editor which said that TOI has chosen to block any gory images of the Mumbai blasts from the public as they were concerned that this may only further increase the grief and anguish that Bombayites have already been through. For some reason, this just doesn't seem right to me.

Although I have been in NY for 4 years now, I have been born and brought up in Bombay and I pride myself in being a Bombayite to the core. TOI has taken a noble stance in not portraying the gore associated with such atrocities, but in doing so it may leave out the crux of the message, which is, death and destruction occur when senseless violence strikes. Over the years our city has not only transitioned from Bombay to Mumbai, but has also turned into a city which heals too quickly and forgets too fast. Keeping that in perspective it is essential to embed this unfortunate incident in the mind of every Bombayite and it can be done only by showing the truth and not hiding it. As an editor it would be a tough call to make, but in my opinion it would also be wise to balance what is portrayed. Although sensitive, it would be unwise to completely obscure what has really happened. A balance needs to be struck in how much gore is portrayed, as the goal is to sensitize the people and not numb or anger them towards what has happened.

A sad day for Mumbai

07/11, the way we shall always remember this day, when senseless and heartless people decided to take away the lives of a 190 innocent people in Mumbai.

It seemed like just another day to me here in New York; I reached work and entered a meeting at 9.30 am. The meeting went on till about 2 pm and that's when I had a moment to check some calls I had missed since morning. Strangely, all the calls were from my girlfriend, I immediately called her back and that's when I learnt what was going on in Mumbai. As soon as I heard the news I had a sick feeling in my gut, as though someone had just punched the wind out of me, I didn't even know how to react. I rushed to my desk and was horrified by the images I saw online. I called my parents and was relieved to find out they were OK. I couldn't help but imagine what could have gone wrong had this been a day sooner. Until Monday my father used to take the train to Churchgate (he is an occasional train commuter, usually drives to work), on Tuesday he drove to his other office in Vikhroli.....that very evening the blasts happened. I had bad thoughts all day and some bad dreams that night, it was hard to fathom what had transpired, and it was even harder to be so far away from home.

God bless Bombay and its people.....I love my city for whatever she is and I know she will come through.

Raw Materials......

.....is the name of this "group" whose performance I went so see with a few friends on Friday. For starters, the two musicians, namely Vijay Iyer & Rudresh Mahanthappa are of south Indian heritage, but are very American, which actually helps them to bring a lot of versatility to their music. Honestly, before I entered the auditorium I was expecting the music to be more of fusion than jazz, which happens to be true for most jazz musicians of south Asian origin. It’s not a stereotype, just very natural I think to fuse what you already know with whatever you have learnt. This duo however, was anything but stereotypical. The show began very atypically, with no monologue of sorts from the musicians; instead they simply walked onto the stage, glanced at each other and immediately set off.....hallmark of serious and great musicians in my opinion. The show lasted for all of 90 minutes with a 10 minute recess in between.

The first half of the show was very introductory but quite interesting. Some of the pieces the duo played seemed very rudimentary for someone of their aptitude and experience, but overall it all seemed to mesh well. The highlight however was the second half; the duo played some powerful short tunes which had the audience gripped and this half really showed the versatility and the "co-ordination" the two musicians shared.

Overall the duo put on a great performance and even a newbie jazz aficionado would have felt he got his $20 worth. I would definitely recommend this duo's music and would encourage anyone who is reading this to try and catch one of their performances.

http://www.vijay-iyer.com
http://www.rawmaterialsduo.com
http://www.rudreshm.com

Vijay Iyer & Rudresh Mahanthappa