Zidane....The Fallen Hero.

In a moment of weakness, this player who is considered as one of the greatest in the history of football, gave up what would have been considered the greatest comeback and the greatest retirement in world football. Zidane who had retired from professional soccer came back into the game to lead his country to a world cup victory, but this man who was considered invincible showed us how human he was when he traded a possible victory plus a memorable retirement for a classless red card exit for a headbutt to his opponent in the final of the world cup 2006. Despite what happened, I still consider Zidane to be a truly great player; this video is in his dedication.......France could have been the champions.


Zidane Video - video powered by Metacafe

Formula 1 Greatest Race Ever

This is an awesome clip of two amazing drivers battling it out. I am not sure who the drivers are and which race this is, but it definitely reminds me of the race where Mika Hakkinen beat Michael Schumacher by accomplishing the greatest and boldest overtake monouver in Formula 1.

Light your stove with the heat of my bosom!

I was as puzzled and humored as you probably are when I read this; of course no woman in her right senses would actually say this, unless the implants have something more than just silicone :), but somehow the people behind the scenes, who did the subtitles of the critically acclaimed film "Omkara", seemed to think differently.

I watched this film in Bergen, NJ about a week ago with some friends. As we stepped out of the theatre, the mood was very sullen due to the very graphic portrayal of tragedy in the protagonist Omkara's life, however after a few minutes when a discussion ensued about the movie and some of its scenes and dialogues, the first thing that came to my mind was the line "Light your stove with the heat of my bosom!" from the song 'Beedi'. Apart from some spectacular acting by Saif Ali Khan, the movie seemed to stand out for its absolutely ridiculous subtitles; makes one wonder how a film which is being screened internationally doesn't go under the microscope for the accuracy of its subtitles. Are the people actually translating this stuff just going by what they hear and not contributing an ounce of imagination to the task at hand? How can you be so blatantly literal to actually put words like these in place of the lyrics of a song?

Apart from these annoyances, I did find the film to be very well made with some great acting, although halfway through the film, I started feeling the length of the film and definitely felt it could have been shortened had some of the songs been “backgrounded” or simply dropped from the film and retained in just the soundtrack.

However, considering the film had been single handedly written, directed, produced I think this was a great effort. Of course, Vishal Bharadwaj also directed the music and he and his wife have even lent their voices to one song each. That is some talent!

Overall I would highly recommend the film and of course watch it without any bias in case you happen to be reading this piece before actually watching the film.

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

Strings concert in New York

So, I had been to the Strings concert in NY a couple of weeks back. The concert was in an auditorium, which didn’t really give one a “concert” feeling, and the band didn’t really play to a packed audience, but the show was pretty good nevertheless. As a spectator I felt the band lacked the ability to keep the audience captivated long enough. The additional interruptions caused by the charity organization which had invited the band didn't help as well. Impromptu announcements urging donations, coupled with a bidding game to see if they could raise money spoilt the atmosphere of a "concert" altogether. The high point of the evening however; was when the band played "Yeh hai meri kahani" from Zinda. Apart from the performance itself being great, this also happens to be a current favorite of mine, and I felt the band did an absolutely great job performing this track. I was lucky enough to capture the whole song on my digital camera, so the sound and video quality isn’t that great, but I wanted to share it regardless for those that might be interested.

One more for the diary....

Once in a while you need to be reminded that it could be you! Day after day we notice things around us, or hear about someone to whom something bad happened; and although we react adversely at times to what we may see or hear, somewhere deep inside we all are a little smug about the fact that it dind't happen to us! Yes, we all feel invincible until the inevitable.......my inevitable came last weekend.

Usually I am very careful about my car, where I park it, how I drive it, the whole 9 yards, but somehow last week I was a little aloof about the fact that my car had been parked on unchartered territory by a good friend who had borrowed it and decided to park it there as no other spot was available. Normally I would have been high strung about this, but the luxury of not having to move it until the following Monday caught me a little off-guard and temptation got the better of me (Alternate side parking CAN be very frustrating!). Anyways, on saturday I was all set to drive to Fire Island with some friends and as we walked to the car, I unlocked it only to hear 3 beeps, which meant something was wrong. I immediately peeped in and saw broken glass; as I ran to the other side I noticed the dashboard had been ripped open and the stereo had been stolen. An uneasy feeling sunk into my stomach and gut,as I was trying to come to terms with what had just happened!

Eventually after all the knitty gritties were sorted out, I did come to terms with what had happened, but learnt a valuable lesson.....because nothing has happened to you in a long time, don't get careless; it always pays to be careful and alert about what's going on around you!

Rang De Basanti...All or Nothing!

Saw the movie a couple of weeks back, had to find out if it lived up to its hype, and honestly, I wasn't too disappointed. Opinions however have been very polarized for this movie; people have either loved it or just hated it, haven't met too many people who have an opinion in the "in between". I for one, am the "in between" guy! I loved the concept of the film and what it tried to drive home, however I seriously feel the implementation could have been better.

The fim maker seems to have spent a lot of time in the first half, rather 3/4th of the film just delving too deep into the lives of the characters, which left him very less time for the important part of the film, which actually formed its crux. As a result, scenes like the lathi charge incident by the Rapid Action Force at India Gate didn't seem appropriate, especially when the protest was a silent one, that too in the capital. Additionally Madhavan never figured in the bunch of the main characters, I feel he needed to have more coverage. Somehow, all of a sudden the movie seemed to detach itself from being realistic, just because there wasn't enough time to drive home the point the fim maker was trying to make.

Hindi films can either be a bollywood flick, or a realistic, well-made film (Black, Mangal Pandey etc.), however when a film falls in the grey zone, it leaves much to be desired. Unfortunately, Rang De Basanti fell in that zone. Although the concept, along with some scenes in the film were very moving and provocative, I wish the implementation could have been thorough.

My favorite scene in the film is when Aamir Khan comes back home with the English Girl and just as they are starting to eat he breaks down; now that is great acting! That scene definitely shows why Aamir today is a cut above the rest!

Lastly, I think I get what the fim maker wants to show us. He is very successful in showing how an English girl, an outsider who really needn't take so much interest, could not only see where our people were going wrong, but also show that to us. He successfully portrays how we are so used to things like corruption and the everyday filth, that these things are just mundane and we don't notice them anymore. In fact, they are so mundane that its just tea-room chat and nothing else for most people. If we want to make a difference, it cannot be done by sheer criticism, or even abuse of democracy for that matter. We definitely need more goal-oriented young minds in our political system who aren't in it for the money.

I sincerely hope we have more thought provoking films like this, we defintely need them! And of course, for the people who didn't like the film, there will always be another one :) for the time being you can just take back the fim maker's thoughts and see what you can make of them!

Here we go again...Democracy..blah, blah, blah!!

So yet again we prove to ourselves what a bunch of hypocrites our country is really filled with; The SC actually went ahead and banned screening any adult films on TV, additionally any movies with smoking scenes cannot be screened as well. I dont think the day is very far when we are a second China in ourselves, where there isnt any democracy, instead the governement tells us what to watch, listen, eat, whom to worship and of course what to wear. There is no denying we have been making steady progress towards this anyways, couples holding hands on the street are arrested, women who wear minis or shorts are looked down on, what else is left.

I see no reason why we should pride ourselves in being the world's largest democracy, instead we should be declared the World's Largest Hypocricy!!! At the end of the day that's what we are!!

Of course the PM doesnt seem to be doing anything about any of this, sure he has done a good job so far, but is it good enough?? Only time will tell......

A close shave.......

A rather eventful weekend came to an end this Monday morning; drinking and pub hopping from the Cooper Hewitt to the Village Lantern until 5 in the morning, despite a flu attack, a rather sober Saturday since it followed my hyper friday night partying binge and then Sunday was my first close shave in my car.......

The backdrop was the ramp leading onto the Queensboro bridge from Astoria into Manhattan. The ramp is a snaky little thing with a concrete road, narrow lanes and tight turns. After the slight drizzle, driving on it was nothing short of skating on ice. Before I knew it, the car had spun 180 degrees and was facing oncoming traffic. Luckily, the traffic was light and not too close. Strangely, people saw I had skid, but honked as though I had done it on purpose. My girlfriend and I were a little shaken, but we collected our thoughts and of course a broken headlight, only to find out it wasn't mine, probably belonged to some poor soul who might have fallen victim to the treachery of the same venue, and then made our way into the city and shopped as though nothing happened!

In hindsight, I guess my gaming skills with Need for Speed definitely helped as I think I controlled the skid pretty well :) However, the whole thing feels surreal, and I guess its just one of those things that absolutely has to happen at least once to someone who drives a car!

No bones broken, car isn't damaged too bad, had a fabulous night out...so, all's well, that ends well!

False Glory....

"Desis are rocking on globocorps' boards"

Quite a glorious headline, but somehow, I was unmoved by it. Offlate, the Times has carried several articles about how well Indians are doing abroad, often glorifying them to the extent where it seems as though these people were actually heroes of sorts. Don't get me wrong, I think achievements by these individuals are commendable, but how does piggy-backing on their success help our country in any way??? Agreed, these people may serve as great mentors, but then unless our country eliminates problems which exist at the grassroot, glorifying ourselves as a developing nation based on an individual's success just seems lame.

I see this as a growing trend, where we seem to take the success of an NRI and attribute that to signs of a country on its way to becoming a super-power. We couldn't be more wrong. These people are who they are today not because they come from India, but because they worked hard and they worked hard in a place where they felt their success would be rewarded. Instead of basking in someone else's glory, its high time we try to see why people like them were more successful elsehwere and not their own country.

India has a lot of potential, we seem to have the highest number of educated people, but despite that, the people on the top are ones who are in complete contrast to this statistic. Most politicians are uneducated and most certainly have a criminal record. For a nation to grow it is imperative to have someone on top who is not only sympathetic to his people but is also foresighted, creative and has a thirst for a holistic success, not his individual upliftment. Sadly, most politicians today work more for themselves than their people, and unless this changes, all we can do is falsely glorify ourselves as a nation.

I really hope our country can see what's really happening and make ammends before its too late.

Mangal Pandey - The Rising! Half patriotism, full Bollywood!

At 50 crores, this movie stands tall as the most expensive movie of the year, I even read somewhere that its the most expensive movie ever made in Bollywood. Apart from the finance shim-sham, the movie definitely focusses on the first martyr of the independence struggle, which was then to ensue for another 90 years before India was to gain her painful independence at the cost of losing Pakistan.

The movie definitely invokes an underlying passion and feeling of patriotism amongst its viewers, especially if you are overseas and away from home. This was very obvious amongst a theatre crowd that did not hesitate to give a standing ovation at the end of the film. Some were teary eyed, some were fired up and some were actually unmoved, but overall the movie was received well amongst the audience.

Personally, I was very moved by certain scenes and especially the end of the film. I left with all kinds of thoughts in my mind, not just about how hard it had been for us to gain freedom, but I felt I had gained a lesson in life. How often, when we throw trash on the streets, or in so many other scenarios, do we say, "What difference does it make, its just one wrapper!"......etc. etc.........Well, after this movie, I learnt, that's all it takes, One person! This is a very valuable lesson that the film teaches you, never get discouraged because you are singled out, or are in a minority, if you want to make a change, you can do it single handedly.

Mangal Pandey shows us how it’s done, and more than anything else, this is the lesson and value I will take away from this film.

Of course, other than the depth of the film, superficially, it is a bollywood flick designed to reach the masses; personally I don’t think it does a great job at that. The film definitely has its flaws as I found the music to be abrupt in certain parts and Amisha's character to be completely useless. She added no value to the film on the whole; I guess she was there purely for the "masala" factor of an English officer falling in love with an Indian woman.

At the end of the day, I got my $10 worth, and a valuable lesson, so I am nothing short of being a "Happy Camper!"

Interesting Article in the TImes

So, the headline read "Are we going to see just cartoons on TV?", and that was all I needed, I was elated to see someone finally saying something about the current state of affairs as far as the I&B Ministry is concerned.

The information & Broadcast Ministry, as Pritish Nandy says, has truly overstayed its welcome and requirement, I couldn't agree more with what he has to say. Censorship is no longer a beneficiary act, but more of an ego boosting mechanism for the bored politicians who have nothing better to do than deciding what I should watch on TV.... MY TV! The TV I paid for, the cable service I paid for! How sincere is this censorship anyways, and are we really considered that immature a nation who cannot decide what's best for our own family? Its one thing to suggest what may be better, but to actually go to the length of implementing the opinion of an ignorant few on a whole nation is nothing else but plain old naziism. Hitler would be nothing short of proud of how close to dictatorship our so called democracy actually runs.

The recent events in Bombay, which involved the death of more than a 1000 people because of the rains, was nothing less than ghastly and shocking. The fact that a "World City" such as Bombay should be mortal to mere rainfall, speaks volumes for the leaks and holes in our so called infrastructure. Not only was there a complete absence of concern and responsiblity on behalf of the government after these events, but now they are ensuring that all this sham of being a responsible government is never exposed to the people through news and media. In addition to this, its pitiful that as a nation and as a public we never seem to be raising our voice against any of these atrocities. We may have rid ourselves of the British, but we never managed to shed our subdued shell which compels us to just take things as they come. Remember, even freedom was possible only because a handful felt that whatever was happening wasn't right. Most were content with whatever came their way.

The problem seems to lie in our lack of foresight and the ability to prioritize. In the big picture we as a nation always seem to ignore whatever may be harder to accomplish, and always choose whatever may be easier....this is exactly how our government operates as well. And this, they seem to have accomplished with tremendous success, because of the sheer indifference that the people have towards the government. We are just too used to fending for ourselves in crisis, and the goverment is just too happy to let us do just that.

In the face of the rain crisis, the government that didnt lift a finger to help its people, a week later decides what is suitable and not suitable for us to see on TV....who the hell do they think they are???

It just seems as though, every step forward is followed by two steps backward for us. When the Naraimha Rao government made those changes which revolutionized trade and insustry, one could not help but ask how long all this "change" will last, well it all seems to be coming to a slow down......God help us!

Raise your voices Mumbai!

Its heartening to have read what the people of Mumbai endured while nature was its worst. Each and every person had stories to tell of how they battled the odds with no help whatsoever from the people who are supposedly minding the State. Even now after all that has happened, rest assured, the whole political system will forget about this in a month or two and life will go on as though nothing happened. But who is really responsible for rendering this government so useless, irresponsible and insensitive? Its us, the people of Mumbai. Why are we not raising our voices, dont we willingly give away a chunk of our hard earned money to the welfare of our state and our city? Where is all this welfare then??
Until we raise our voices, these politicians will sit in their cushy chairs being minimalistic in their so called welfare ventures for the city. Day after day I keep my eyes peeled for news of any ground breaking developments that the states will announce in order to alleviate the pain and suffering the people have gone through, I keep hoping that they will do soemthing to make sure the people have to never go through something like this again, but tragedy followed by negligence has just become too commonplace. Its as though the politicians know that the dust WILL settle and they can get away with anything and sadly this is the truth.
Ever heard of the Asashi Kaikyo bridge in Japan? Its the world's longest suspension bridge, but no, it wasnt built for this reason, the government of Japan built this bridge for all the right reasons. A boat carrying school children to the mainland sank killing all children on board. Saddened by this calamity and moved by the outrage of the people the government decided to take on this almost impossible task just to make sure something like this never happened again. Can our politicians learn nothing from this?? Let alone a bridge, why cant we at least have some urban planning to ensure that the city doesnt get bitten in situations like this? These are all the reasons why a state needs educated and intelligent people to administer it. But we are a land so drenched in the waters of bureaucracy, that all the wrong people are always up there. People who dont give a damn, but are there only for the power and money.
I love Mumbai, as much as I hate it for how despite having all the education and knowledge we are still third world. And this will not change unless we the people make a concious effort to bring the right people to office and make sure they do their jobs. If not, not even God can't save us.

Is Mumbai still a third world city!

Living in NYC for the past three years, after spending the previous 25 years in Mumbai, I have come to believe I know almost everything there is to being urbane. Mumbai runs through my veins and I feel deeply connected to the city even though I am so far away, but its times like these that invoke feelings which are all too overwhelming, and it becomes almost impossible to not shed a tear even while you sit at work and read the news about what is happening in Mumbai.

So we were faced with a natural calamity, but what ever happened to Disaster Management and Recovery?? This question has never been more pronounced than how much it is today in my head, especially after hearing the news that someone I knew, actually perished in the rains! Before today, I never even considered this a possibility in Mumbai. With all the talks of how the Sensex has seen record highs and the way India is on the right track to becoming a superpower, it is an event like this that actually presents itself as a reality check. Thousands of people, one of them being my father were stranded on the streets of Mumbai for 12 hours or more, battling the rains and trying to survive without food and water, and no one out there to help them, but each other. Where were all the officials, the policemen who are otherwise omnipresent to collect their bribe when they see you running a light? To me, it seems as though the average Mumbaikar has learnt to live on his own, without any expectations of the government going out of its way to help him in a situation like this, a government that runs because of his tax money, a government which is present only because he chose them to help him, but chooses to stay away and do nothing when he needs them the most.

Crores and crores of rupees are spent on roads and sewage systems, but year after year it’s the same story, roads covered with potholes only paralleled by the craters on the moon and sewage flowing out from the clogged gutters. Every monsoon Mumbai turns into the biggest toilet in India.....and no one cares. Where is all the tax money going??? I dont care if the politicians pocket what we pay but give us something in return, but someone who is plain greedy certainly does not deserve any kind of office in the state.

These past three days have been plain trauma for the Mumbaikar, all I have read about is how people have died and how everyone out there is battling it out, but not one article about any efforts made by the police or any other rescue officials to help these people. I mean, it just doesn’t make sense!!!!!!! How could there be no one, why didn’t the navy come in and have any kind of air rescue in areas that were worst inflicted?? Where are the politicians who are otherwise rallying around the city, why did these people not even make any statements or give us updates on rescue efforts (if any) that were underway to help these people??

These rains have truly shown us how third world we are, and how the average Indian is deluded by the farce of his country being on the way to becoming a superpower. Of all the places, I would have expected a more sophisticated disaster warning and management system in Mumbai, which is after all the hub for pretty much everything.

Sitting this far, I feel helpless, but I feel it is about time the people started realising how weak the city really is and how much needs to be done, if ever Mumbai is to truly become a world city. Rising Sensex points, GDP and trade alone does not symbolize development, true development lies in the heart of every citizen in the country and every citizen of Mumbai, who will do whatever it takes to make this city and the country the best. Sadly, we are all just too caught up to see where we are heading. So invloved with our own personal lives that we fail to see the big picture. Its true, the Mumbaikar has a spirit like no other, but why does it take events like this to bring it out, why not be this person everyday and truly make a difference?

I salute Mumbai for the city she is, but I will not hesitate to condemn the actions of the people who run the city. The city has become their playground, and as Mumbaikars, it is up to each and every person living in this city to ensure that this doesn’t happen. It is about time; Mumbai came out of the 20th century and truly entered the 21st century. And no, glitzy clubs and high budget glamour doesn’t cut it, its sophistication at the grass root level which will truly make a difference. I love you Mumbai, and I hope the souls of all those who lost their lives rest in peace. But we need to do something, raise a voice and make sure something like this NEVER happens again.

Sitting in traffic....

So, as usual I have my blogging pangs, which seem to surface every couple of months or so.
Not because I have something important to say, or there are people sitting there relying on the information I give out, but it's more like this paranoia of being left out that drives me to do this. I have always been the kind of a guy who does things because I think this is something I must do, I dont waste too much time evaluating the practicality or viability of actions, if its being done, and I am not doing it, I have to do it!

I realised something this weekend, there is so much you can get done in your head when you are sitting in a traffic jam...no, no, no......not if you are a passenger, you have got to be the driver! You see, its strange but true, but the driver always has his own space in a car full of people. The driver has his own private universe, where none of the passengers are allowed, in fact they can't actually get in 'cause they arent drivers......I know, this may sound crazy, but offlate I have experienced this, and now when I think about it, I feel this isn't just limited to a driver-passenger scenario. the concept of maintaining seclusion amidst a crowd or even an audience is no more alien to me, in fact I feel all you have to do in order to build this universe around you, is do something everyone else isnt doing. Its controversial, I agree, some may argue that this would in fact attract attention, but somehow I feel the human psyche is to always keep a distance from anything that isnt orthodox. This may not apply to everyone, but its widespread enough to qualify as generic in my opinion.

My 2 cents for now, just a little cosmic spit from the depths of my ambiguous mind!

Baida Curry Italiano!

Well, that's what I decided to call it, for what started out as a simple curry became something more exaggerated and turned into a dish which could more appropriately be categorized into what's fashionably called "Fusion Cuisine".
The idea was to whip up something quick for dinner, and what better than eggs, but then I really wanted to eat something nice and spicy, so I decided to make baida curry. The dish is very simple, except the sundried tomatoes, basil and oregano would be the spices that put the "Italiano" in the name. Apart from the fact that the dish tasted surprisingly good (especially with basmati rice), it also turned out to be quite a looker! So, without any further adieu, I proudly present Baida Curry Italiano!

Feel free to contact me for recipies :)