Slumdog Humdog

Unless you’ve been test running on Virgin Galactica over the last 2 months, you’ve probably heard of Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire. Every now and then, a Movie comes around that the entire World takes notice off, what’s surprising in this case is how completely polarized (Except for the British) the audience’s views are on it.

The West absolutely loves it, whether it’s cause of ‘Danny Boyle’, the fact that it fits an image of India that’s most convenient or whether they are genuinely moved by the story of Jamal, I guess we will never know. I was watching the BAFTA’S on the BBC the other day and the anchor made no bones hiding her favourite choice, the film they were rooting for and how other contenders such as ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ stood out ‘only’ for their technical brilliance. The film has a big fan following in the U.S as, primarily fuelled by a large NRI population , many of them who left India many years ago. When they catch up with with their American friends, they are probably asked, “So is it really like that?”. And they turn around with a knowing smile, “Yes, every minute detail”.

In truth, they’ve probably never been inside a slum.

The story of the movie’s rise though is remarkable. Set only for a DVD release after the film’s original studio backer, Warner Independent shut down, the Movie was picked up by Fox Searchlight as some of the senior execs thought it had a similar feel to the previous year’s ‘Juno’. Infact, if reports are to be believed a week after it’s release the response to the film was still lukewarm, it really picking up steam only after word went around.

In such cases, the Movie generally stands out on grounds of pure quality.

Why then has the Indian media not taken to the movie well? Why for instance has Arindham Choudhary massacred it in his review.

Let’s collate the criticism. Some of it reads as follows:

1. How come it only shows the murkiest sides of Mumbai? How come there isn’t a single shot of Marine Drive?

(The Marine Drive bit is a little funny, if there is a writ about every movie depicting Mumbai necessarily having visuals of Marine Drive than I probably missed it.)

2. How come any of the Social work around Mumbai hasn’t been displayed?
(I don’t remember any movies about New York’s underbelly showing its drug/violence rehabilitators)

3. How come Jamal has a British accent?

Fair point though. But I guess you co-relate his accent only if you’ve seen one of his ‘many’ interviews.

About 2 weeks ago, I had a chance to watch the film. As with any film which the entire World has gone ga-ga about you’re a little overawed even before watching it, this could have 2 possible effects. You pretend to love it regardless or well you pretend to hate it regardless. More so, by then you’ve heard so much about the film that expectation begins to weigh it down.

Personally, I liked the movie, the first time I saw it on DVD and moreso the second time I saw it in the Theatre. Some superb sequences like the chase sequence depicting Hindu, Muslim violence another great one when Jamal and his mates escape from the beggar Mafiosi. Wonderfully edited, Great Music, a feeling of upliftment as I walked out of the Theatre. What more could I want?

One thing that stood out for me though, is that there is no doubt, no doubt whatsoever that the film has been made tailor-made for the Western audience. Whether, this is because this is a Westerner’s view of India or a conscious choice is a separate debate. It stands out for me though that Jamal had to have worked at a ‘Call Centre’ (more so a call centre which indulged in terrible service), surely India has lawyers, doctors, Investment Bankers, Consultants…but he had to have worked in a Call Center. He had to have worked part-time at the Taj Mahal, his Mom had to have been killed in a Hindu-Muslim riot, there had to have been cricket involved, not to mention an appearance/ reference to the the Big B.(He blogged about it as well, but let’s leave that aside). The funny thing is that if you speak to an American with a cursory knowledge of India, there’s a good chance that he will name at least 3 of these 4 things. It’s like an Indian making a movie on the U.S with an Afro-American fighting a drug-battle, interning at the Statue of Liberty while enjoying his baseball…oh yes he also probably worked nights at McDonalds.

What’s wrong with that? Nothing really. Hell, if an Indian could make such a great movie about the U.S, he might well win as much acclaim. The deeper problem is the relating of the Movie to what ‘Mumbai’ stands for and in some cases what ‘India’ stands for. Isn’t someone allowed to set a plot on a city without actually taking on the responsibility of showcasing it completely? For instance, haven’t there been so many movies which only showcase the drugs and violence of New York?

Why the over-reaction then? I think the problem is deeper, firstly Danny Boyle has compounded this by saying ‘It’s all because of the wonderful city of Mumbai’ in every media interaction.

Further, every member of his crew echoes it.

If it is then about the wonderful city of Mumbai, perhaps yes it should depict it truer and in more totality. Besides the parts of Mumbai he has shown certainly aren’t ‘Wonderful’. More so, most of the things that happen in the film could have happened anywhere in India or the World and needn’t necessarily be related to Mumbai. In fact now looking back the Movie doesn’t really make an attempt to showcase the ‘spirit’ of Mumbai and really the script doesn’t need it to.

But perhaps, it’s also a little envy and jealousy directed at a Westerner coming over to our Mumbai, making a movie on it and walking away with the accolades. Yes, he did have an Indian ‘co-director’, a great sound track by A.R Rahman and a strong performace by the cast. I thought the little Jamals in particular were terrific. Even with all this, there is no doubt though that there will only be one person the Movie will always be related with.

With a week to go for the Oscars, I would like to make a prediction here that Slumdog’s going to win. Almost certainly, more so it will make quite a sweep. How much of all this will be remembered after the Oscars. We will have to wait and watch…I do hope his acceptance speech doesn’t contain ‘It’s all because of the Wonderful city of Mumbai’.

Candid Camera

 

Some things are better left un-said… aren’t they?

 

Freedom of the Press?

So what were those new norms on Banking security again…

 

Hungry Kya?

 

The Joy of Numbers

If it’s one thing we’ve never lacked, it’s a sense of Timing

 

 

So which one is it, ‘Buyer beware’ or ‘Seller beware’?

 

My personal favorite would have to be ‘Incredible India – The mantra to woo tourist’. I wonder how a tourist would feel when he sees a bus zipping pass with that message, but err let’s just ignore that for right now. 

Most photos taken on my Nokia N73. Locations from Bangkok to Dilli. And yes all photos taken by me, no Creative Commons linking, no attribution and no law suits. Phew!

Freakonomics – Desi ‘Ish-style’

How come you have never seen a venture capitalist on a motorbike? How come most doctors in South India are named Vijay Lakhsmi or Ramamurthy? Just like the immensely successful book did, this post endeavours to answer these and a few strange, ironic or freaky occurrences which tend to find their way into our day to day lives.

None of these questions or occurrences might have any bearing on your life.

Come to think of it, when was the last time you read something that actually had a bearing on your life?

So, let’s get started

Why do people prefer borrowing a DVD from a library, even though buying one is in most cases cheaper?

Yes, buying one is cheaper. And more so, you get to own it, build a library and do all those sorts of things. Yet, statistics say that the libraries are the most successful. They have the maximum foot-falls and make more revenue.

Why so then? I asked around and these are some of the answers I got:

• Borne out of Habit
• Libraries are more civil places than back-alleys which sell pirated DVD’s
• Wider selection

And so on, but then each of these can be easily refuted, it’s like saying the ICL won’t be a success because of the IPL, there must be something more to it, or so I thought.

Most DVD’s are only watched once, therefore there intrinsic value plummets after you watch them the first time. More so, they are not so easy to store and those who do manage to store them successfully will tell you that they are so inundated with requests to borrow DVD’s from friends, that very soon they don’t have much of a collection.

While this is true, it didn’t quite convince me enough. So, about 3 months ago, I went ahead and bought 10 DVD’s from the black market and also parallely began renting movies one week at a time, such that I borrowed approximately 10 over a 3 month period. All other conditions remained the same – standard of print, popularity of movies and so on.These were my findings at the end of the 3 month period:

• The 10 DVD’s I borrowed from the library – I’ve watched 9 of them, had to return one without watching it, which I am till today repenting.
• I look at my ‘collection’ which I tried to build. Out of the 10 movies I bought, only 6 remain, 4 have been ‘borrowed’ and I have no idea when I’m getting them back. Out of the remaining 6, I have watched only 3.

Every movie evening, I look at my ‘collection’ and tell myself “Haan these DVD’s are mine right, I will watch them when there is nothing else.” If it were a Library DVD, my thought process is a little different, it’s more on the lines of “Damn it, put it on, I have to return the damn thing tomorrow or that guy will hound me.”

Why do your friends not return your DVD’s? They have every good intention of doing so, but hey there is a part of them which wants to replenish their own own depleted ‘collections’ right? It’s a vicious cycle.

Why do frequent flyers have a tendency to put on weight?

Ideally, you’d think that a frequent flyer has more of a tendency to lose weight. What with choc-a block queues, flights which never seems to take off on time and traffic jams which seem to pop up only when you are running late for that connecting flight. You’d think the stress would get to you and cause for you to lose your mind and some weight along with it.

Surprisingly, freakonimian research indicates otherwise. Contrary to popular belief, frequent flyers actually have a tendency to gain weight or there would be enough evidence to suggest so anyway. Why so then?

What was the last domestic flight you took? 11 AM Delhi – Mumbai, a 4 PM Chennai – Bangalore or perhaps a 9 PM Bangalore – Delhi, for the 11 AM flight your wife/mother probably made sure that you had a good breakfast before leaving. you had a coffee and a puff while you were waiting for the flight, you got on board and was served a healthy ‘brunch’ by a beautiful air-hostess, who you quite palpably couldn’t refuse. The same probably happened to you on your return journey home.

A quick look back will tell you that at 11 AM and at 4:30 PM, instead of smoking / blogging / faffing or whatever it is you generally do at those times, you were eating. And why so, cause really you had very little else to do.

So boredom + pretty air hostess leads you to eat a meal regardless of the time of the day it is, and in many ways a flight itself creates environments in which you are forced to eat. The more you fly, the more you eat, so there you go.

In a social gathering, why is there a good chance that you will be told that you’ve both lost and put on weight?

I’m sure this is happened to you. You walk into a party where you are meeting a bunch of old acquaintances, and one of them pops up and says, ” Hey Dev, looking slim and trim, working out kya?”. You feel extremely happy with yourself, you walk a little further and then this heart throb from the good ole days stops you, ” Hey Dev”, she pats your stomach and says, “Looking quite prosperous, I must say.”

How did then that happen? Could that Gulab Jamun you had between meeting Rajiv and Shruti cause you to have put on weight? Do women acknowledge men to be fatter than they really are? Are men more polite?

Not quite.

The real reason is far simpler. It’s for the same reason that the most common conversation you hear at a party is “Where is your drink?” or “How is your drink?” or an equivalent. In many ways, it’s for the same reason that Indians crowd around an accident site and make conversation.

Because by nature, man is social. He wants to be social, to meet people, he is looking out for something to talk about, looking to break the ice. So he talks about the weather, talks about your weight, talks about anything that he believes will get a response. Really, he doesn’t care about your drink, nor does he remember really how fat or thin you looked the last time. In many ways, it’s just something to get the show going and if you are intelligent enough to recognize that, you are well on your way to becoming a ‘socialite’. If you want to become one, that is.

Why Indians have a tendency to crowd around an accident site and do nothing to help? That my friend, is a different question altogether and we can probably look at answering that in a separate forum.

Why is a free hit not capitalized upon as much as it should be in modern cricket?

You’ve seen it before, smashing opening batsman on strike, bowler bowls a no-ball, the next ball is a free hit, the bowler is under pressure, the crowd is expecting one to fly into their section of the stands, the bowler comes into bowl and wonder oh wonder, the batsman misses it completely. How did that happen? Why did he miss the ball?

Do bowlers bowl free hit balls better? Do ‘free-hit’ deliveries swing more? Or do batsmen put more pressure on themselves. Well, the latter sounds sane, and is probably an answer. But we aren’t going to end this discussion so easily, are we?

I would like to draw upon a parallel here. Have you been to one of those all-you-can eat buffets, where it seems like you need to hire a cab to actually see all the dishes being served. You go there with this massive appetite all ready to devour the food. Half an hour later, you are all done and full without even finishing half as much food as you would have wanted to.

Freakonomian research states that like with the free hit, your approach to an all you can eat buffet is very different to how you would approach a normal meal. As any cricketer would tell you, technique and the necessity to guard your stumps is as important for a regular delivery as it is for a free hit. However, when a free hit is announced, all that seemingly goes out of the window. It’s like all his Diwali’s have come on the same day and he swings his bat with gay abandon, not realizing that his chances of hitting the ball out of the park in effect reduce.

My syllogism here is that free hit or not, at the end of the day, they are certain balls you can hit out of the park and certain balls you can’t. Just like when you go for a meal, there is only so much you can eat regardless of whether it’s free or if they are paying you for it.

It’s a pity that we can’t do a real-time comparison for this, but in my estimate, if 6 balls are bowled in the 50^th over of an ODI match, 6 free hits Vs 6 regular deliveries, there is a good chance that the batsman will score more of the 6 regular deliveries.

Why do cigarette companies in India celebrate every time the budget is announced?

It happens every year, the budget is announced and the first thing you read under the column ‘Things that will be dearer’ is Cigarettes, followed most times by Paan Paraag. The government’s reason, simple – it’s injurious to health. Somehow taxing something that’s ‘injurious’ to health, reduces their feeling of guilt.

So, the prices get higher. The markings on cigarette packs, first started to create ‘awareness’ on the ill effects of smoking have now progressed to show life threatening images which would evoke as much fear as the scariest Hitchcock movie.

Beware – Smoking ruins your teeth, heart, lungs and whatever is left

Do you think he cares?

Your right – he doesn’t. It’s an addiction for him and honestly he couldn’t care if it were his own corpse on the cover. So, the fact of the matter is that in spite of the annual price rise, the scary images on the covers and all the commotion of how an individual is not allowed to smoke anywhere else except underneath his bed, sales of cigarettes have increased every year. Bottom line figures state that annual sales of cigarette prices have gone up by 8% every year. More so, the industry is worth a whopping 100,000 crore today and maybe, just maybe, this is the main reason why everyone likes taxing them so much. How come the alcohol industry is not taxed every year because of it being injurious to health?

So with every tax rise, the price of the cigarette goes up by a certain percentage. What happens is that a cigarette pack which was worth about Rs.30, is now priced at about Rs. 33. The cigarette companies see this as an opportunity to conceal a price rise and take the price up to Rs. 35. After all in the smokers mind, the price has increased because of the budget. Damn government! The cigarette company in his mind is not responsible for this price rise at all.

A smoker really doesn’t mind paying an extra two rupees for every cigarette pack he smokes, for him there is little difference between Rs.33 and 35. Sales increase every year, so do profits.

End analysis – cigarettes remain one of the most ‘profitable’ commodities to tax for the government, Cigarette companies use it as a vehicle to conceal a price rise and hence increase their profit margins, the smoker well he forgets about it after a couple of days, and really he couldn’t care. And I thought – “ Win – Win situations didn’t exist”.

I’m quite looking forward to the budget now to see what the increase will be…

This post tries to provide some answers to questions which might have baffled people. More so, this post tries to underline the fact that most times life is more about the questions than the answers. With Google.com, everybody can find out the answer, if they know the right question. Right?

Of Coorg, Cameras and Camaraderie

It was another Monday at work, you know one of those days you wish you were elsewhere, clubbing in Rio, Skiing in the Alps, Skinny dipping in….ah yes, you get the picture. Anyway it was one such day, and regrettably both those corporate tools – the Email Inbox and the mobile phone were witnessing unpreceedented activity. It was the latter, which was more frenetic, calls poured in, Muthukumar who insisted on offering me more credit to a credit card I never knew I owned, Palani Swamy who couldn’t believe his ears, when I told him I didn’t need a personal loan and Murugappan who was adamant that I explain to him, why I conferred only a ‘7′ upon him in his customer service appraisal. Yes it was another regular day in the office, until the phone rang again with it this time reading ‘Kiruba’, ‘Kiruba’. Kiruba Shankar, blogger, entrepreneur, journalist, consultant, I sometimes wonder if there is not one but two Kiruba Shankars, anyway one of them was calling me, must be something important, I thought.

So, I said, ” Hi Kiruba, What’s happening?”, he replied ” Not much Sudhir, would you like to come on a trip to Coorg?”. And I was like, ” Hmmm, Hmmm… Errr, I have to check my…”, he interrupted, ” It’s an all paid trip sponsored by Club Mahindra.”

The next time I met Kiruba was in the airport, boarding pass in my pocket. Smiling palpably as you can see…

I mean, you would too right, a fully paid holiday to the land of beautiful women, flying Kingfisher and staying in one of the best resorts in the land. You probably would’ve smiled wider.

It was around this time that I learnt that I was to join a group of some of the best travel bloggers in the country. Imagine that, it was only later in the piece that a part of me inferred, that I was only enlisted to maintain the required balance. To maintain the right formula, the group apparently required both the traveller and the ‘tourist’, the subdued and the ‘loud’, the punctual and the ‘not so’, needless to say, I fitted in perfectly at the extreme end of the latter side of those descriptions. The group was hence now a balanced one.

So, there we were then, a motley crew, as you would expect, each figuring out ‘who’ or ‘what’ to expect as company for this momentous journey. Soon enough the group began to take shape, with there being a clear demarcation between the intellectual ‘traveller’ and the ‘gawar tourist’. The ‘intellectual traveller’ easily identified with his manner of speaking. ” Have you been to Leh, , 25 Kms south-east of ‘Namcha Barwa Himalayas , 890 Kms north of the tropic of capricorn filled with Azure skies and that rarified aroma !”. The gawar traveller would look on, looking forward to his next meal, to him the word ‘Leh’ took on a slightly different meaning.

Another one at the forefront of the pack of ‘gawar’ tourists was Marketing Head Honcho Dev Amritesh. Dev like me thought he had seen all that life had to offer, but when he came across cameras styled like ‘Bazookas‘ and patience greater than that of the Buddha in awaiting that perfect snap, he too scratched his head, shaking his belly in amazement asking, ” Arrey! Kahan ponch gey yaar hum!!?”

Soon enough we arrived, and what awaited us was a true Coorgi reception.

The dance symbolizes the onset of the harvest season.

It was then the turn of our official tour guide, Mr. Joy E. Patel to make his entry.

Ever smiling, fun-loving, effervescent and with immense knowledge of Coorg, Coffee and the ‘Kodagu’ culture, Joy always had a story to tell. Not least of which, was how he acquired his surname. ” Actually, you know, in our community, we only have initial and no surname. But, when I was in the registrar’s office, he insisted that I give him a surname, so dada thought for a while and said, “Patel! Let’s just go with Patel”. As simple as that, and here in the ‘city’ we hear of couples spending months and years on end in trying to find that perfect name for their pet poodle.

By now, I had become well acquainted with the whole group. It was an interesting bunch indeed, we had Mridula, one of India’s top travel bloggers. It was quite clear that she had primarily 2 great interests, Travel and T.T. The latter of which she was so menacing in, that soon enough but for the wall, she had none to play with. Another exceptionally creative person from the group was Anil, for Anil a camera was not something you just went click, click and discard with. For Anil, it was the entire reason for his existence, so much so that we often saw more of his camera than we did of him. The photos on his blog stand testimony to this.

Our first stop on our trip the next day was TalaCauvery, the birth place of the river Cauvery. Set amidst, the mountains, the Tala Cauvery is the spring from which the Rivery Cauvery originates. Truly picturesque, as Dev pointed out it was in many ways ironic to see that the river Cauvery, and all the controversy and heartburn that come along with it, all originated from a spring which is no more than than 3 by 3 feet in dimension.

Didn’t someone once say, “Big things come in small packages”

Inspired by Anil, and his long talk with me on Apertures, Shutter speeds and hues, I took the one photograph, I am actually more than just a tad proud of.

To the most of you, this is just a random photo of a few people in front of a bell. But, the discerning few of you would notice how, the sadhu in white looks towards the water, while a man stands next to him on his mobile phone. Is this the oxymoron i.e the new India? A bell is positioned in the center such that it balances and aportions the hues and contrasts, shutter speed – high, aperture – wide, camera focus at an angle of 67 and a 3/4 degrees.

Anil, has quite clearly rub off on me.

An evening of much revelry awaited us. Guitaring, our voices and Simon and Garfunkel, thankfully there was enough liquor to make us all believe that we sounding incredible. The next day, saw us making a trip to the Elephant sanctuary, where the Elephant bath is the chief attractions.

A photographic journey:

Here comes Mr. Elephant

Down goes Mr. Elephant

Scrub, scrub, scrub

Time to eat some chow

All aboard…!

Our trip came to an end that evening, with a sit-down dinner around a bon-fire. From a group of absolute strangers, thrown together from various parts of the country, we had become one group, and the cameradrie built was overwhelming. There is something about a traveling group which brings it together, maybe it’s the feeling of togetherness, maybe it’s the feeling of going through the same journey, or maybe a holiday is the one time, a person can truly be oneself with little or no pretensions. The group itself, may never meet one another again, but those few days spent together will always remain special.

A big Thank you to Arun of Club Mahindra for making it all happen.

And then en route back to Bangalore.

The Tibetan Monastery. I guess we could all do with some enlightenment from time to time…

India : Twenty 20 World Champions

In the 2 years of me writing on this blog, I have completely refrained from writing about cricket.Firstly, writing about cricket is probably the easiest thing one can do, for really when it comes to cricket, everyone turns expert and everyone turns expert writer. The other thing is that when it comes to cricket; Indian cricket in particular, everything about the game is so inconsistent that something you might write about could be completely the opposite tomorrow.

And through it all, we the undying legion of loyal Indian fans have stood by the team. Yes, they have been those who broke down the team’s houses at every given opportunity and those who sent mass sms’s asking everyone to contribute Phenol to burn the team down; they exist and will continue to.

But then they have also been others who have continued to had undying hope, those who have watched and lived Indian cricket through the good and the utterly atrocious, those who have watched in disbelief as India got out chasing 120 on a minefield in Barbados, those who watched with pain in their eyes as India managed to lose 5 wickets for a paltry 16 runs against Pakistan in Chennai, and those who thought the end was near when the unheralded Bangaladesh beat Indian in the inaugural match of the World cup.

This one is for them.

As Sreesanth, caught the last catch and as India made the victory lap of the ground waving the tricolour. All I can say is Chak De!

This one is for me.

Those long hours in front of the television, uncountable days listening to the scorn of friends, missed homework, procrastinated assignments, agony, despair often ending in disappointment leading to tears.

For that one moment, when Dhoni held the trophy, it was all worth it.

I can tell my children, I got back early from work, and watched as India beat Pakistan and became World champions.

Chak De India!

P.S Cricket my dear scornful friend, is alive and well.Be it ICL, PCL or even the gulli version. Only 1 week after our exit from the Worldcup, on an assignment in far flung Koddikerri this is what I saw, and for me that in itself was evidence enough.

The I-Phone

It’s here finally, as promised the much awaited demo of the I-Phone on my show on India Interacts.

My guest on the show is Rohit Agarwal, the CEO and founder of techTribe. Rohit was one of the guest speakers at proto.in, and gave a talk on ‘Effective PR’ for the young entrepreneur.
His firm Techtribe is a career networking site based out of San Francisco and New Delhi, and has been making rapid strides since it was launched 9 months ago.

The highlight of the video however, is his demo of the I-phone. Having held it, and seen it up close, I must tell you its a work of art, and if only for its look and feel, is worth all the hype that’s been associated with it.

The demo of the I-phone starts in the second half of the video, watch out for the last bit when he….. actually why don’t you find out for yourself.

I-fixed. Did you?

It was with this speech on this day, 60 years ago that India was awarded its independence as a democratic, sovereign,secular, and republic country.

It’s on this day, every year that most Indians feel the sudden urge to be patriotic and jingoistic. Some do it with hoisting flags outside their homes, others do it by making their children dress up as Pandit Nehru, while still others do it by going for Independence day parties, getting intoxicated and taking the concept of independence to an entirely new level.

I felt this urge as well. So come the 13th of August, like every year that has gone by,I too made plans of singing the anthem and hoisting a flag on my balcony. Even more so, as this would be our 60th anniversary. The momentous celebration like every year however, would no doubt be short lived, with the flag making its way back to the attic on the morning of the 16th without fail.

I then got a sms from Vijay(Of Proto.in fame), which went something on the lines of “Hey, a bunch of us are planning to fix all the potholes in the city as part of independence day, Would you like to join us?” Knowing the bloke,I knew only he could be crazy enough to send that message and actually mean it.

At 10pm, he and Mahesh, an architect mate of his along with a team of 10 individuals got together on the Velachery bridge in South West Chennai and using cement, concrete and a truck started attacking one pot-hole after another. I joined them at 1 AM, and these are some of the sights I saw.

Everyone seemingly chipped in, the industrious ones got their hands dirty with filling the concrete and cement.

While the not so industrious ones like me, helped out with diverting the traffic, identifying new pot-holes to attend to and providing refreshments.

Very soon, as we progressed, open pot-holes which looked like this,

were very soon beginning to look like this.

By 7AM, a total of 40 pot-holes were ‘Fixed’.There was another group of individuals headed by set out on the same mission in another part of the city.The two groups tackled drunken drivers, killer mosquitoes and over inquisitive policeman while successfully tending to over 80 pot-holes across the city. Quite an achievement for one night, I’d say.

The group which orchestrated this is titled ‘I-Fixed’ and believes in the maxim that the best way to fix a problem is to actually go ahead and fix it yourself. In the next few months, the group plans to do their bit to address other local issues which they find consensus on.

As much as this might sound like another Lok Paritrana initiative, another NGO or another social service community, it really isn’t. It’s just a bunch of individuals, who complain a little more than everyone else, and have finally decided to do something about it. The initiative might succeed, it might fail, it might spawn a revolution across the country, it might be the last such effort, who knows. What’s important is that we tried , atleast now we will have some sort of an answer to that voice in the back of our heads which asks, ” So, what have you done to address the problem?”.

The sight of seeing the logo shining in the night sky, next to every pot-hole we covered simply made the whole experience worth it.

Oh! And before I forget, here’s wishing you all a very happy independence day!

P.S Do log onto the wiki here, if you are interested in joining the group.

Everybody is free to write their own sunscreen song..

Yes Everybody is. Not that they need this blog to tell them.

Here it goes my version of the sunscreen song. A bunch of un-connected lines about life, strife , irony with the intention of creating that all empowering reaction – ” Heyy!!! That is sooo true… “

For those of you who haven’t heard this song. Firstly you should have, and if you have’nt this nifty “web 2.0” gadget should certainly assist you in doing so, if you do remember to put your speakers on i.e

”Choose the girl you see yourself growing old with”
Like most advice you hear, you even need advice on how you should apply it.
You often hear, ” It’s not winning or losing but playing the game well”Life is all about happiness. And if happiness is derived from personal success. How then, can it not be about winning?You soon find out that 8 out of 10 quotable inspirational quotes contradict each other.

Its amazing the extent of the role economics plays in our day to day life.
No matter which part of the world you live in, the girls are always prettier in the other town.
No matter how cool your adopted land, and how crappy your home-town you will always begin to miss it after a few weeks.
Conversations which create a lasting impact upon you are often had with the most random people.
Its the song you sing every day to work, the tune in your head. the one which stays with you for months that you never hear otherwise. You probably don’t even know who sang it.
If you did. It wouldn’t stay with you so long.

The scarcest commodity in the world today is not time, not water or money but undivided human attention.
People don’t even have the time to criticize.
Two innovations have changed the world forever – the internet and the mobile phone.
Believe it or not, we didn’t have either 10 years ago and I don’t remember any of us being any less productive.
The human brain will forever remain the most incredible creation conceived. The female brain the most complex.
Invariably what you enjoy doing the maximum is financially the least viable.
We all have a habit which we wanted to change this morning.
Its amazing how long we take to learn from our mistakes.

As much as we deny it, jealousy and ego play a vital role in our lives. Its how we handle it that makes the difference.
Friends who are acquired to meet a specific purpose will do so. And perhaps do just that.
Friendships made on the fly are often those which fly.
Its amazing how we never remember anything negative about a person we lose.
Of all those who you are close, you know deep down who you will call first when in an emergency. That doesn’t mean the others don’t matter. They all do.
Its amazing how many problems can be solved, if you simply keep yourself busy.
Sometimes the only way out is for the shit to hit the fan.
When it does – it often works to our advantage. Just ask Shilpa shetty.

The long run can be as short, and the short run as long as the speaker wants it to be.
The forbidden fruit often tastes best while being so.
The world is changing as quickly as we are allowing it to.
Ambiguity plays a larger role today than it used to. Not receiving a birthday gift from a friend could mean 3 things – Too close – too cool – too cold.
Though we often deny it – a phone call not returned affects us.
It should.

A good-looking man is perceived to be 20% more intelligent than an average looking one.
A good-looking lady 20% more dumb.
If you truly completely understand a woman, you probably are one.
We always feel strong emotions towards someone we perceive as a ‘Loser’, We love and hate him almost equally.
We all feel safer liking something someone else already does. This explains the power of word of mouth.

We often experience strange coincidences in the middle of a mundane day, if we analyze them more deeply they often have a hidden message.
If everything in life went our way, astrologers would be out of business.
Making someone else feel good about himself almost always works.
Overdoing it however is not advisable.

If there is one term which best describes the world we live in – it would be user-friendly,
Designers exist who get paid more as their designs get skimpier,
Artists exist who are more appreciated as their paintings get more unfathomable,
Poets get away with verses with non-existent rhyme schemes.

Atleast they hope they do. My first attempt at poetry – modern poetry atleast.

My first attempt at regular poetry was way back in the 8^th std, when I wrote if I remember right about a mosquito. Maybe I will dedicate a separate post to that one.

~Chennai’s favorite son’s~

Welcome to Chennai. The city in which summer, winter, autumn and spring all invariably mean the same thing. Rains ofcourse being the only relief, invariably accompanied by floods; and most often a cricket match.

It’s in this city, that on one Tuesday afternoon, you find yourself running late for your scheduled luncheon meeting. Its 1:30 in the afternoon, and you need all the signals to be green for you to reach your destination on time. Deep down, you have a feeling that isn’t going to happen, but we very seldom actually agree with what we believe deep down. Don’t we ? Anyway, it doesn’t happen, two red signals and some cursory abusing of passerby’s later, you reach your destination.

A quick search for a parking spot outside the restaurant; it’s quite evident, “another restaurant which expects most of its patrons to use public transport”; 15 tables inside the restaraunt parking space for about 3 cars. (And that’s including the restaurant owner’s car) You turn around the bend; it’s your lucky day! A quiet spot, it even has some shade, and what’s more the watchman there seems to be dozing. A quick maneuver and your ready for your meeting; I guess by IST standards you’re pretty much early.

Just when you are about to get out of your car, out of the darkness (sorry out of daylight) he appears

“ Its him”, you think. Yes, I know, you thought he was dozing. So did I. Pointing his fingers at you, and then at various altitudes, he begins viciously

“ No parking, etha no parking”. “ Where do I park my car then?”, you ask. He replies, “ Enkeyo Park panno park paana saar, Inkey park panna, puddu Hyundai accent ley, Police kaar vaaro. Tyre ley Yovlo peraso lock podovo( with hands wide apart) ,

aprovo unda window ley

BEWARE ! BEWARE! sticker podho, aadha vokay na park pananga.” Ok, translating that isn’t really easy, anyway in short; according to the watchman, if you were to park your vehicle there, the big men would descend from their white Hyundai Accents, put a lock on your tyre and if that’s not bad enough also put a ridiculous ‘BEWARE’ sticker on your windscreen.

For whatever reason, you believe him. You reverse your car, it’s a painful process, and you are back to where you started. You are back to scanning again, hallaleujah! a car in the allocated parking seems to be shifting out, you seize the opportunity, a quick maneuver and your car has found a parking spot, a sigh of relief, a good lunch, a better meeting and a great day await you.

Not quite.

You get out of your car, lock your door. And then you hear a whistle, it’s him again; he decided to make the walk. He objects, apparently the car has not been parked to his satisfaction. He wants you to re-park it. And then the Da vinci in him comes out , konju left saar, Konju right saar, slighta reverse saar, konju pinnadi, you begin to wonder if so many directions went into the crafting of Shah Jahan’s Taj Mahal. After another good 5 minutes of aligning, adjusting and re-aligning, he is finally happy; you have managed to impress him. Right saar!, he gesticulates with one hand up and a content smile. You get out of the car, there is only one thing in your mind, to get to your luncheon meeting as quickly as possible, and come up with a plausible excuse to your client for making him wait.

Bang in front of you however, he’s back. Standing as forcibly erect as our very own Marina Light house building, with a crisp water tight salute, and a contained smile, well ok, you can see how he’s smiling.

He tells you, “ Saar, parking ticket – five rupees”. Why on earth, should you pay parking to eat in a privately run restaurant, you wonder. You ask him, he then says something to the extent of “ Saar, tea, coffee”. He has you confused now, is it for his coffee or is it for parking, you give up. You rummage for change, manage to get 5 bucks put it in his hand, and flee towards the restaurant.

You enter the restaurant in haste, scan it , you can’t seem to spot him. The door swings open, the two of you make eye contact, almost in unison the two of you say, “Sorry, got delayed; was stuck in a meeting”. Meeting with whom ?, it isn’t even important..

‘IST – Indian Stretchable time’, it is part of the Indian mindset, I hear someone say. But let’s assume, we did have wider roads, designated parking spots and dare I say it, less eager security guards, would IST still be as stretched? Maybe, I’m just getting a little too hypothetical.

RSS

~Chennai’s favorite son’s~

Welcome to Chennai. The city in which summer, winter, autumn and spring all invariably mean the same thing. Rains ofcourse being the only relief, invariably accompanied by floods; and most often a cricket match.

It’s in this city, that on one Tuesday afternoon, you find yourself running late for your scheduled luncheon meeting. Its 1:30 in the afternoon, and you need all the signals to be green for you to reach your destination on time. Deep down, you have a feeling that isn’t going to happen, but we very seldom actually agree with what we believe deep down. Don’t we ? Anyway, it doesn’t happen, two red signals and some cursory abusing of passerby’s later, you reach your destination.

A quick search for a parking spot outside the restaurant; it’s quite evident, “another restaurant which expects most of its patrons to use public transport”; 15 tables inside the restaraunt parking space for about 3 cars. (And that’s including the restaurant owner’s car) You turn around the bend; it’s your lucky day! A quiet spot, it even has some shade, and what’s more the watchman there seems to be dozing. A quick maneuver and your ready for your meeting; I guess by IST standards you’re pretty much early.

Just when you are about to get out of your car, out of the darkness (sorry out of daylight) he appears

“ Its him”, you think. Yes, I know, you thought he was dozing. So did I. Pointing his fingers at you, and then at various altitudes, he begins viciously

“ No parking, etha no parking”. “ Where do I park my car then?”, you ask. He replies, “ Enkeyo Park panno park paana saar, Inkey park panna, puddu Hyundai accent ley, Police kaar vaaro. Tyre ley Yovlo peraso lock podovo( with hands wide apart) ,

aprovo unda window ley

BEWARE ! BEWARE! sticker podho, aadha vokay na park pananga.” Ok, translating that isn’t really easy, anyway in short; according to the watchman, if you were to park your vehicle there, the big men would descend from their white Hyundai Accents, put a lock on your tyre and if that’s not bad enough also put a ridiculous ‘BEWARE’ sticker on your windscreen.

For whatever reason, you believe him. You reverse your car, it’s a painful process, and you are back to where you started. You are back to scanning again, hallaleujah! a car in the allocated parking seems to be shifting out, you seize the opportunity, a quick maneuver and your car has found a parking spot, a sigh of relief, a good lunch, a better meeting and a great day await you.

Not quite.

You get out of your car, lock your door. And then you hear a whistle, it’s him again; he decided to make the walk. He objects, apparently the car has not been parked to his satisfaction. He wants you to re-park it. And then the Da vinci in him comes out , konju left saar, Konju right saar, slighta reverse saar, konju pinnadi, you begin to wonder if so many directions went into the crafting of Shah Jahan’s Taj Mahal. After another good 5 minutes of aligning, adjusting and re-aligning, he is finally happy; you have managed to impress him. Right saar!, he gesticulates with one hand up and a content smile. You get out of the car, there is only one thing in your mind, to get to your luncheon meeting as quickly as possible, and come up with a plausible excuse to your client for making him wait.

Bang in front of you however, he’s back. Standing as forcibly erect as our very own Marina Light house building, with a crisp water tight salute, and a contained smile, well ok, you can see how he’s smiling.

He tells you, “ Saar, parking ticket – five rupees”. Why on earth, should you pay parking to eat in a privately run restaurant, you wonder. You ask him, he then says something to the extent of “ Saar, tea, coffee”. He has you confused now, is it for his coffee or is it for parking, you give up. You rummage for change, manage to get 5 bucks put it in his hand, and flee towards the restaurant.

You enter the restaurant in haste, scan it , you can’t seem to spot him. The door swings open, the two of you make eye contact, almost in unison the two of you say, “Sorry, got delayed; was stuck in a meeting”. Meeting with whom ?, it isn’t even important..

‘IST – Indian Stretchable time’, it is part of the Indian mindset, I hear someone say. But let’s assume, we did have wider roads, designated parking spots and dare I say it, less eager security guards, would IST still be as stretched? Maybe, I’m just getting a little too hypothetical.