tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54969022012-02-07T12:49:34.010+05:30Writer's BlogTransient Thoughtsananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.comBlogger3101100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-25170065369982899272012-02-07T12:33:00.004+05:302012-02-07T12:46:57.403+05:30 Midnight In Paris Got to see Woody Allen's Midnight In Paris, on a plane from Dubai to SF. Last time on an Emirates flight, it was Abida Parveen's main hosh mein hoon to ghazal, and this time it was Woody Allen's latest classic.(Just before that I saw Mel Brookes' Smoking Saddles. But it was only very funny).Well, with the kid and all, watching movies in theaters is a thing of the past. Thank ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-57620119903426982802011-09-03T20:34:00.005+05:302011-09-05T13:43:07.819+05:30 The Old School
Thanks to an excellent channel called DD Bharati, which, in my opinion, is about 10x better than the DD National Channel,I have been regularly catching epsiodes from Shyam Benegal's 'Bharat Ek Khoj'. The serial has several things going for it: excellent direction from Benegal, Nehru's erudite, liberal and generous view of history, and great actors who went on to become ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-75685714687847071732011-07-26T18:42:00.003+05:302011-07-28T09:27:14.851+05:30 Avoid Waste An email a colleague sent at work... My take on this (and I have been following this lately) is to always get any left over food in restaurants parceled. Take it home to eat it some other time, or give it to some needy people...Germany is a highly industrialized country. It produces top brands like Benz, BMW, Siemens etc. The nuclear reactor pump is made in a small town in this ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-62760013689257394122011-07-10T21:38:00.002+05:302011-07-10T21:40:00.573+05:30Damn this contentment.Oh for the madding passions,Of a rabid dog.ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-7778931579311445242011-06-19T09:51:00.002+05:302011-06-19T10:19:23.203+05:30 Haiku What will it turn to,the yellow dress you'r wearing,pretty one? red? green?This, in half profile,fills me up with dreamly sleep,languid yawn of yours.ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-62908929108410667552011-06-12T19:37:00.002+05:302011-06-12T20:04:12.205+05:30 Me and Uncle Pai Today I was going through some old manuscripts and correspondence from the days when I was an active writer of stories for children. I was pleasantly surprised to find myself smile and laugh at stuff I had myself written: I used to be good.I found several letters, some of acceptance, some rejection slips, from the late editor of TINKLE and the creator of Amar Chitra Katha - ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-11373509755957102062011-05-24T19:11:00.004+05:302011-05-25T19:27:14.335+05:30 She...She bit him harder now,Drew a little blood,They tossed about,In the large bed,Under the high macchar-dani ,She giddy with instinctive passion,He, in a dazed half-sleep,Once almost crushing her with his weight...At length he was awake fully,And now he was after her,And she suddenly elusive,He turned on the light,Peering, spectacle-deprived,Till he found her,Gently, he neared her from ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-71663553646123235302011-05-21T16:25:00.003+05:302011-05-22T12:17:28.465+05:30 The Good Life This post was written on board an Emirates flight back from Rio de Janeiro (I have had the good fortune of trotting the globe a bit, these last two years), where I had three seats to myself, where the 'Hindu Non-veg' meal hit the right spot, where two Australian Shirazs made up for the lack of one French Merlot, listening to the Ghazal which I am about to write about, drunk to the ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-40240028720706432292010-12-27T11:31:00.002+05:302010-12-27T11:31:41.566+05:30 Tees Maar Khan - delightfully irreverent Irreverent. That word says a lot. Look here, I respect you, but I don’t revere you. So, while I may not insult you, I will sure as hell make plenty of jokes at you. Farah Khan gets bindaas irreverent in Tees Maar Khan as she pokes jokes galore at her Bollywood friends, at the Oscars, at the Khans of bollywood, at the patriotic movies of the 70s, and maybeananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-66214314587761442822010-12-20T21:10:00.003+05:302010-12-21T13:46:30.531+05:30 Midnight's Children The last time I tried reading Midnight's Children, I could only get to a hundred pages or so. I had been reading Garcia Marquez before that - One Hundred Years of Solitude, and Love in the Time of Cholera. and I found similarities in style that made Salman Rushdie a perhaps-unintentional plagiarist in my mind. Both Rushdie and Marquez have absurd, fantastical things happeningananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-72042540483872958202010-12-17T11:45:00.003+05:302010-12-17T11:47:56.293+05:30 Chirp I have started out on twitter. here goes ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-82325934725934164122010-11-24T19:41:00.002+05:302010-11-24T19:42:15.515+05:30Nitish Kumar Ki Jai: Clean hands and a good heart!ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-88295903473323623262010-09-10T10:29:00.002+05:302010-09-11T13:40:15.858+05:30 Go Rahul Rahul Gandhi's charm is already much talked about. Here's some evidence of that. Rahul Gandhi on Raj Thackeray Charm by itself is probably not something to vote for. But Charm + intelligence + vision + dedication + a will to better the lives of his countrymen + a liberal outlook, well that's a good combo to vote for I think. (For now I am ignoring Rahul's recent publicity hogging over ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-37237992910136716182010-09-04T21:20:00.003+05:302010-09-04T21:33:57.605+05:30 Something Fishy No offence, but I have lately noticed that Pakistani bureaucrats, diplomats, ministers etc. have a tendency to overuse (and sometimes abuse) English idiom.Here's an example. The Pakistan High Commissioner to Britain commenting on Amir's removal from the emerging player of the year nominations. Notice especially the last sentence."After the shocking, arbitrary and high-handed ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-70644998036822948672010-08-29T13:20:00.003+05:302010-08-29T13:36:16.056+05:30 Disambiguation Of late, my blog has had visitors from profiles of other 'Anant Kamath's. Thought I would clarify things a bit, and have added a few details about myself.Writing the 'About Me' was a semi-wakeup-call. Though there are, or used to be, some other facets to my life, including Writing, I can't reasonably call myself anything but an analog circuits designer at the moment. But I would ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-16758352408426439522010-07-30T17:58:00.002+05:302010-07-30T18:02:38.163+05:30If you like humour and if you know your impressionists: Woody Allen's 'If the Impressionists had been dentists' Amazing stuff.ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-52557612132590606092010-07-25T16:50:00.006+05:302010-07-25T21:11:34.945+05:30 Oh to laugh like this! 'Tere bin Laden' was a laugh riot. I don't know if Pakistan is really the way it is depicted. Maybe it's a Pakistan created for Indian consumption, just like 'Slumdog Millionaire' was an India created for the West. But even for a Pakistani watching the movie there are positives. Even if AK-47 carrying Mujahideen are shown waiting in travel agents' offices, looking for a ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-65579949513605570852010-05-04T19:37:00.003+05:302010-05-04T19:47:29.496+05:30 Ad agencies make strange bedfellows This tea brand ad comes on TV these days with this slogan:"Waagh-bakri chai, rishtey banae". Waagh aur bakri ne bhi wohi chai pi hogi!ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-91978855748048028892010-04-24T10:42:00.005+05:302010-04-24T11:05:10.522+05:30 Whither Weather-whether? The Met department has predicted a 98% normal monsoon. They are like the astrologer that exactly preadicts what you want to hear, and then predicts exactly that, so that you are in a good mood and don't not pay them. Last year, two months into a failed monsoon, and they were saying, "Wait, things may still turn around."Well, no one really believes them. Au Contraire. ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-54513796903288349742010-01-26T13:01:00.002+05:302010-01-26T13:12:51.525+05:30 Ocean haiku Lovest thou the sea?But must thou make land thy home?Island's an option.ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-89222787440751505702010-01-10T20:23:00.009+05:302010-01-10T21:18:12.224+05:30 Almost Idiotic Well, if there is going to be an Amir Khan movie, I am going to watch it. What made me watch Three Idiots earlier was the the controversy. I guess publicity stunts do work. I had read reports about Chetan Bhagat crying foul on his blog, and had seen news reports of the press conference where Vinod Chopra said Shut Up. I believed Chetan Bhagat's version, and thought ok, Amir Khan ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-4524720743291602492010-01-01T11:44:00.005+05:302010-01-01T12:24:02.150+05:30 Watch it for the 3D There is a lot of India about 'Avatar'. The word Avatar ofcourse, and some of the cultural traits of the Na'vi - the spiritual chanting, the prayers etc. But more than that. The humans on Pandora are from a private business corporation backed by a state army out to do trade with the Na'vi - to get 'unobtainium' a substance not found on Earth... The earthlings making friends ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-42115705088692627702009-10-10T10:09:00.004+05:302009-10-10T10:53:33.057+05:30 More of Rafi and Ghalib... Zikr us pari-vash ka aur phir bayaan apna Bazeecha-e-atfal hai Gazab kiya tere waade pe aitebaar kiya Shauk har rang raqeeb aey tazaware daane bisate hawaaey dil Hai bas ke har ek unke ishaare mein nishaan aur Includes a bit of dialogue from the movie Mirza Ghalib.ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-57632880018357817962009-09-05T10:27:00.006+05:302009-09-05T11:20:03.916+05:30 Rafi and Ghalib: The original combo On a summer's day more than 8 years ago, I was first properly introduced to Ghalib, through Ghazals in Rafi's voice that someone had stored on the computer I was working on. Now that I have re-discovered those awesome songs on youtube - I realize that I had forgotten how well Rafi had sung them. I am wondering if these are not the best sung Ghalib ghazals thatananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-18044529947703380472009-07-04T10:21:00.004+05:302009-07-04T10:36:18.600+05:30 The sequel to watch for Vikram Seth is writing A Suitable Girl !. It is the first time I have been even a bit excited by the news of an upcoming sequel. But A Suitable Boy will be a tough act to match...ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-32957232242133360462009-05-23T20:14:00.005+05:302009-05-24T12:09:42.849+05:30 A Mid Summer's Day Dream Chapter 10 On the way out of the workshop, Chutti looked at his image in a window pane - shyly, self-consciously. One of the many things Chutti liked about workshop days was being in uniform. Khaki shirt and pant and leather shoes. Chutti thought he looked good in uniforms.His hands and clothes were soiled with fine iron powder. His shirt was wet at the armpits and ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-43634992152622614312009-05-17T20:31:00.002+05:302009-05-17T20:49:51.379+05:30 Jai Ho "Poye Poye, Taamara poye " ("Oh it has gone, Oh it has gone, the lotus has gone").I remember one holiday afternoon, in Trivandrum, suddenly hearing the above slogan chanting, sitting in the room of our home which faced the main street of P.T.P Nagar. It was the supporters of the CPI(M), I think, going by on a small truck, sarcastically mourning the big defeat of the BJP in some election.ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-13749918433715500652009-03-29T19:17:00.005+05:302009-03-29T20:01:45.817+05:30 Amber fluid, Amber fluid A couple of weeks ago, some bee-hustlers (my expression) were invited to our apartment building to take care of some bee-hives. Though I did feel sorry for the bees, smoked out of their homes and lives, poor things, we bought about 3 kilos of honey from the bee-hustlers. Three kilos looked like a lot of honey to buy, but I have since disovered that honey is pretty heavy ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-4800630664141698032009-03-15T12:38:00.005+05:302009-03-17T12:59:43.880+05:30 DevD If I am not forgetting some other interesting film in the interim, and not counting full comedies, since these are mostly packed with jokes, and don't need nor contain a strong plot or 'deep' characterization, DevD for me is the best Hindi movie since Omkara. 'Luck by chance' also had a certain something, but that movie unfortunately was 'phony' in parts.Two thumbs up to director Anurag ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-78474969961821685112009-03-02T19:50:00.006+05:302009-03-21T10:51:08.221+05:30 For the love of fish I am the big bear,Wet, by the stream side,Plucking salmon out of thin air,Stashing them away in his great coat,Preparing for winter peace again.I am the first monkey,That bit into a crunchy sardine,And found his brain go suddenly tick-tickAnd his tail shrink a bit.I am the marlin,Tempted by the fisherman's tuna.I am the tuna,Tempted by the fisherman's sardine.I am the ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-92056989499590596202009-02-14T16:14:00.003+05:302009-02-14T16:37:57.076+05:30One billion votes? 'One billion votes' is the slogan of the Jaago Re campaign. But are there one billion voters in India? I think not. Given that there are (only) 1.15 billion people in India, of which at least a third are below eighteen, the minimum age for voting.Poetic license cannot be the excuse of 'One billion votes' - after all they are not making a poem, they are launching a sober, 'ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-34067029412963893632009-01-31T09:09:00.012+05:302009-01-31T12:34:03.467+05:30 This and That A month ago, me and my wife went on a trip to Chennai. Why Chennai? Karthik had gotten married in Chennai, some fifteen days before, we had originally planned to attend his wedding and had then cancelled because of bad weather and office work - this was that trip, postponed; I really really wanted to make a train journey again after a long time; I wanted to show my wife my college;ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-21143077500661297092009-01-17T10:12:00.006+05:302009-01-17T11:12:49.566+05:30When I first heard this song, in a cassette of old kannada songs, I was quite pleasantly surprised by its quiet melody, its lyrical beauty. But when I stumbled upon this video on youtube, I was even more surprised. Where I expected a picturization quite content with letting the song take centrestage, so to speak, I found the video making its own poetry and telling its own story... I have often ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-71520793652150167542008-12-06T12:06:00.004+05:302008-12-06T12:28:38.812+05:30 Ae jazba-e-dil Update on the previous post: you can find a video of the ghazal here on youtube. Especially check out the last sher:Aata hai jo toofan, aane do, kashti ka khuda khud haafiz hai,Mushkil to nahi in maujon mein, behata hua saahil aa jaae. mauj= waves, saahil=shore ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-65107884809604569592008-11-30T21:00:00.004+05:302008-12-01T09:01:22.820+05:30 The Traveller Ae jazba-e-dil, gar main chaahun, har cheez muqaabil aa jaae,Manzil ke liye do gaam chalun, aur saamane manzil aa jaae. Muqaabil = in front of, saamne; gaam = steps, kadamHow I wish, if I wanted, everything should be possible,I should walk but a few steps, and there my manzil should be!ai rahabar-e-kaamil chalane ko tayyaar to huun par yaad rahe us vaqt mujhe bhaTakaa denaa jab ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-90496858513434814652008-11-09T13:35:00.002+05:302008-11-09T13:41:00.137+05:30It's been a while... From now on I'll try and post something at least once a week. As a beginning, here's an excerpt from a story I have entered in the Deccan Herald short story contest: The Son ...A genius in the family is difficult to suffer. When you realize that a small change in the probabilities of nature, and that genius could have been yours. Or at least, yours too... To watch your own ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-33151456736545907692008-09-23T12:01:00.002+05:302008-09-23T12:08:33.909+05:30 Captain Ahab A week ago, I got a long-standing (sic) ligament tear in my left knee fixed - two year old football injury. Since I obviously had to spend time in hospital I took "Moby Dick" along, the book I had been reading on and off and had still not finished. After the operation, I realized the conincidence. The one-legged captain Ahab going tock-tock-tock with his ivory leg on the deck of hisananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-89973773191699055252008-07-29T22:31:00.002+05:302008-07-29T23:13:37.253+05:30 Collage in a CD Kitne Ghayil hain,Kitne Bismil hain,Is khudaii mein,Ek Tu kya hai...Aye dil-e-naadan...Lata Mangeshkar, Ghulam Mohammed, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Kaifi Azmi, Rajkumar, Naushad, Mohammed Rafi, Kaif Bhopali, Parveen Sultana, Kamal Amrohi, Vani Jairam, Jan Nisar Akhtar, Khaiyyaam, Jagjit Kaur, Nida Fazli, Mahendra Kapoor, Bhupinder.This is the list of artists on the back cover of the ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-60619648750236308792008-07-05T12:39:00.002+05:302008-07-05T12:55:20.799+05:30 I want to write I want to write. I do so want to write. I am writing this post not so much because I want to say something but because I want to write something. Every day I remind myself that I have'nt written anything in a while. I play back in my mind the delicious thrill of writing a poem - I try to rouse my creativity. But no poems strike me at breakfast these days. And not writing is ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-63805614422463796842008-05-01T11:44:00.002+05:302008-05-01T11:49:25.481+05:30 Quite an achievement From SBI's welcome letter:"Welcome to the State Bank of India - the only bank to figure in the list of 100 top banks of the world."Now who can beat that!ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-82847608993205932862008-04-13T19:33:00.002+05:302008-04-13T20:46:02.091+05:30 Lacking Vision I am a staunch supporter of Doordarshan, though I watch it only rarely these days. I still remember them for the good things that they used to do: tasteful serials, ads in public interest that were also works of art, and excellent news reading - no stuttering, no grammatical mistakes and no obvious 'reading' of the news from the screen in front.Well, it's kind of sad that ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-38674138882351778532008-03-30T19:08:00.002+05:302008-03-30T19:12:13.909+05:30 I wish I had said that A borrowed kick-restart to the blog. Today Biman, Karthick and I were on the terrace. On one of the lower floors we saw an old, old lady walking with her middle aged son. Biman observed that the lady was wearing both a sweater and a shawl on a hot summer evening. Karthick said with quiet wit "Maybe because she is in the winter of her life".ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-38840111093780553882007-11-03T10:27:00.000+05:302007-11-03T11:34:52.998+05:30 Moby Dick again, plus an excellent excerptI have again started reading Moby Dick. This time I hope I will be able to finish it. Every time I read it I wonder what made me stop mid-way last time.All the talk about voyages on the high seas stirs something deep in me; my forefathers for several centuries lived on the west coast, maybe some of them were sea-venturing. Something else also stirs ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-9321730396348582352007-10-27T11:42:00.000+05:302007-10-27T12:08:38.279+05:30Please note. This story is written in experimentative good humour. All sorts of disclaimers apply.The earlier scenes can be found by scrolling up and down this page . Macbeth Act I Scene III Scene III The three witches are discovered in an office cubicle. They have had lunch and are now having coffee/tea, except for the first witch who is having a post-lunch cheese sandwich. The computer ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-71925477275205267372007-10-21T08:38:00.000+05:302007-10-21T08:56:22.209+05:30 Bizarre Insecurities of a crazed mind Psychoanalysis of my dreams (if ever conducted, I mean) will throw up some funny secrets. My typing skills are something I am real proud of - I use all the fingers of both my hands and use the correct finger for the correct letter and all that. Yesterday I dreamt that everyone I knew was taking up typing lessons - I was quite distressed by the imminent ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-59783503971813222162007-10-13T12:10:00.001+05:302007-10-17T20:30:33.017+05:30 A Mid Summer's Day Dream Chapter 9 Chutti stretched slightly, lazily, where he lay on the bed. Doing what he had been doing for the past two hours or so. Nothing.The ever-present sun streamed into the room. His feet were just in the sun-beam now. The warmth slowly began to make his toes sweat.His wing-mates sat on the floor, playing cards. Unshaven, unwashed, some shirtless, some in banians, ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-83647761806285366542007-10-04T08:22:00.000+05:302007-10-06T06:36:33.634+05:30 Back to Urdu Kuch to de ae falak-e-na_insaaf,Aah-o-fariyaad ki rukhsat hi sahi. - Ghalib falak=sky, na_insaaf=injustice, Aah=sigh, fariyaad=appeal, rukhsat=leave, permission Give me something, you scorching heavens of injustice,At least leave to protest, to sigh, to complain.ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-3201300975727325592007-09-16T20:53:00.000+05:302007-09-16T21:20:01.687+05:30 Dirty Minds I have a friend who pronounces 'last' as 'lust' - though not on purpose. Naturally, everytime he does it we have a laugh. The last (lust) time was when he was reading a random billboard on the road and read about this 'Ever-lusting ply'. Man! I never thought I could identify with a sheet of wood. ****One of the lifts in our appartment carries this scratching-graffiti of a long-limbedananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-12500611188542094992007-09-09T08:18:00.000+05:302007-09-09T16:57:26.598+05:30 Divine Intervention This post on the Cholas was'nt going to happen, except for a kind of divine intervention which I will write about later. But first the Cholas. They were mighty kings of the south, who ruled around a thousand years ago. At its zenith, the influence of the Chola empire stretched all over India's east coast right up to Bihar and Bengal in the north. Besides whole of Sri Lanka ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-54236921023984127072007-09-01T10:59:00.000+05:302007-09-01T11:43:31.023+05:30 The promised lyrics If you have a spare half an hour (or two), may I suggest you spend it in the most rewarding fashion by studying the below lyrics of the song linked in the previous post. The translations are by S.Karthick (fondly called SKu). The trenchant comments in bold, both linguistic and otherwise, are mine. Its amazing how different, languages are and yet how similar! You might want toananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-67215108409232079462007-08-25T11:14:00.001+05:302007-08-26T07:34:26.505+05:30 Raja Raja Cholan Just had to share this wonderful song. I know I am diluting the value of 'DO NOT MISS THIS' by saying it too often. But then, YOU JUST CAN'T MISS THIS!!!I'll post the lyrics with meanings (courtesy a friend) shortly, not knowing the lyrics should not stop you from enjoying the wonderful melody, the alliterative poetry, the rhyme and rhythm, the sensuous picturization, great ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-72795808343908958162007-08-18T20:11:00.000+05:302007-08-18T20:48:10.510+05:30 Chak De India If you swallow some swallowable cliches and a couple of funny but ham-handed, 'that's not cricket' kind of takes at cricket, Chak De India is a great movie. Great direction, slick production, amazing casting, good acting, no unnecessary romantic angles, songs or item numbers. At last a game that India were once undisputed champions at, gets some big-screen publicity. There's quite ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-71238824480929455452007-08-09T20:47:00.000+05:302007-08-10T20:21:45.150+05:30A 'There is a God', 'Mind over matter' kind of thing happened yesterday. I was listening to Aap Ki Farmaish on Vividh Bharati. After the presenter had, with time and effort, listed the names of all the people who had requested the first song (....Pinky, Rinky, Richa, Ravi aur unka saara parivaar...), the song finally came up. Lata Mangeshkar and Mahendra Kapoor, the presenter said (hope stirredananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-27256785762048174052007-08-05T11:55:00.000+05:302007-08-05T12:33:41.918+05:30Pehale Pyaar Ki Khushboo Meri Saanson Ko Jo Mehaka Rahi Hai,Ye Pehale Pyaar Ki Khusbhoo,Teri Saanson Se Shaayad Aa Rahi Hai...I have been hunting for this song at least five years now - Music stores and countless, varied and regular google searches. Finally a good samaritan has put it on the internet here . Do download and check it out. Besides the great lyrics and music, Lata Mangeshkar's voice ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-75933040333041840232007-07-23T20:54:00.000+05:302007-07-24T21:22:18.634+05:30Excerpts Here is a wonderful excerpt from a book I am reading. The Unpossessed by Tess Slesinger. A celebrated book according to the blurb. I had never heard of it. I bought it second hand sometime ago (the dust from it is probably giving me an allergy) because this is what the blurb says about the book: '... devastating portrait of that uniquely disinherited class, the self-deceiving and ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-29260905127476223992007-07-11T21:57:00.000+05:302007-07-11T22:24:28.518+05:30Those good old days The other day, some train of thought or other led me to think of my school days. When every day, every test, every exam, just about everything was a cakewalk (except maybe Physics lab where one could never get the readings right). All I had to do was enjoy myself, study a bit, play a lot and still top the class. While the others worked hard, agonized and went to dreadful ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-58760792528061270222007-06-23T11:42:00.000+05:302007-06-24T12:33:19.946+05:30While I am quoting...- the innocent sleep,Sleep that knits up the ravell'd sleeve of care,The death of each day's life, sore labour's bath,Balm of hurt minds, great nature's second course,Chief nourisher in life's feast,--- Macbeth********Madhosh hamesha rahata hoon,Khamosh hoon kab kuch kahata hoon,Koi kya jaane, seene mein mere,Hai bijli ka bhi angaara...Itna na mujh se tu pyaar badha,Ke main ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-63290905809928807722007-06-17T11:34:00.000+05:302007-06-17T16:37:24.127+05:30Here's something to keep this blog alive:Is mehfil-e-kaif-o-masti mein, is anjuman-e-irfani mein,Sab jaam-ba-kaf baithe hi rahe, ham pii bhi gaye, chalka bhi gaye.- Majaz Lucknowikaif=joy; anjuman=gathering; irfan=knowledge, wisdom;jaam-ba-kaf=holding the wine-glass in the hand(At this happy party, at this joyful, eminent gathering,While the others merely held their glasses, I drank a lot, and I ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-68958004689198545952007-05-05T12:20:00.000+05:302007-05-05T12:38:05.558+05:30Renaissance man (Must be careful never to misspell the word. Also 'connoisseur'. And 'subtle'. Can't think of anything funnier than a person who tries to use 'fancy' words and misspells them.)I feel sorry for people who never fritter away their time (and to some extent money). I fritter away entire days sometimes. But I have yet to learn to do it without guilt. That will come with practice, I ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-30412538137841009622007-04-29T23:11:00.000+05:302007-04-29T23:51:14.663+05:30 Murder most foul I had once read Richard Gordon describe detective stories as tales of ' chaps killing other chaps by highly complicated means.' I used to be a big fan of mystery books once. I used to love Agatha Christie. Hercule Poirot with his 'mademoiselle's and 'mon ami's and 'eh bien's. In the blurb of some book I had read that 'The murder of Roger Ackroyd' and 'The Mousetrap' were her Laananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-23271205620141667222007-04-28T12:09:00.000+05:302007-04-28T12:30:45.591+05:30My Bachelorhood, on it's last legs Now that my bachelorhood is on it's last legs, for it is, my whole bachelor life keeps flashing before my eyes every once in a while. The late parties, the solitary evenings listening to a good book with some neat Whisky providing the occasional counterpoint, the appreciative looking at all womanhood, with mischievous, uncertain hope, the independance of doing ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-42736587303365566622007-04-23T01:20:00.001+05:302007-06-17T16:38:21.141+05:30Viva la Orient Did you know? H. H. Munro, the renowned author of such delightful stories as Tobermory and Mrs. Packeltide's Tiger, adopted the pen-name (pseudonym is such a pseudo word) Saki, from the Persian/Urdu word for wine-pourer, bar-man, inspired from the last verse of Omar Khayyam's Rubaiyat?(Before he adopted this pen-name, Munro wrote his only serious work, 'The rise of the Russian ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-6191307824244025572007-04-22T07:36:00.000+05:302007-04-22T17:31:08.731+05:30 Bad publicity for Blogextra.com Have finally moved to Blogger comments. Blogextra.com comments gave me a lot of trouble. Here today, gone tomorrow. Now you see them, now you don't. Etc. Don't ever use commenting from blogextra.com.ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-47325142721677075472007-04-21T08:52:00.000+05:302007-04-22T07:34:09.370+05:30 Hum ne sanam ko khat likha ...Found this song in an 80's collection - I had heard it before, but only in snatches, and not carefully. Reminded me of the once I had written to an uncertain address. Enjoy!Lyricist: Anand Bakshi( Hame bas ye pata hai woh, bahut hi khoobsoorat hai, Lifafe ke liye lekin, pate ki bhi zaroorat hai...)Ham ne sanam ko khat likha,Khat mein likha...Ae Dilruba,Dil-ki-gali,ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-63345313246099793342007-04-01T20:50:00.000+05:302007-04-01T23:32:38.083+05:30 Comment pleaseHow is it that I get no comments for the posts I most want comments for? For eg, someone say something about how well you liked 'Spring' or... I'll have to think up another poem again this week ;-) Pardon the extortion.By the way, these days I am paranoid about whether all the stuff I write are my own original thought, or ideas borrowed from what I read. For example in 'The Play' Iananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-79934091880726966192007-03-31T10:25:00.001+05:302007-03-31T10:31:25.108+05:30 If I were a ...In my four years of engineering, not a single lecture so filled me with wonder, so fired my imagination, as to make me rush to the library after class. On the other hand, whenever I watch 'Shakespeare in Love' I feel like re-reading Romeo and Juliet and Twelfth Night.As they say, stupid education system.ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-56995320991625903882007-03-25T20:01:00.000+05:302007-03-28T23:37:04.625+05:30 Describe a breakfast scene in your own words...Part IShe sat at the edge of the seat, erect. Young, dark, er, well stacked. With the chin thrust up, determined. Sacred ash on her forehead. A dark green sari, a darker green blouse. A round face. Full lips. Large, wide eyes. A mole on her left cheek. The long hair left loose in the mallu style with a couple of strands from the left and right tied ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-85678726501996138702007-03-22T19:01:00.000+05:302007-03-22T19:16:13.960+05:30Thought I would add a bit of colour (and substance) to my blog by posting this painting by Picasso. Stunning, is'nt it? I am finally beginning to 'get' Picasso, if I may say so without sounding like the astute connoisseur. He's versatile, adventurous and full of surprises. Checkout more here .ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-45812349000629545762007-03-17T08:50:00.000+05:302007-03-17T08:58:41.592+05:30 An Evening To Remember I often think of the wonderful times I have had, drunk. At some point I was even considering chronicling all these wonderful times in this blog. But then I realized that there were too many wonderful times to chronicle, since it has been a good three years or so since I started drinking, and every time has left behind its own fond memories, is specially special for some ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-17976721044622051962007-03-16T20:36:00.000+05:302007-03-17T12:18:40.951+05:30 Forrest Gump Today morning as I approached the bus-stop from a distance I saw the bus arriving. I ran, tentatively at first, since I have been nursing an injured knee, and then, in desperation, full speed. The joy of running! Especially at your max speed, when your body can't but settle into that perfect rhythm. I missed the bus by about ten seconds, but I felt like Forrest Gump as he broke his ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-1024637040301369802007-03-11T03:06:00.000+05:302007-03-31T10:34:26.276+05:30 The Play The first thing that came to my mind, when I had finished speaking over the phone, was that I aught to plan better. Stop thinking all the time that God was on my side looking out for me. I aught to think ahead, I aught to plan. Not take life as it came and not let chance decide what and who and with who I was when I was 40, 60 or 90. Otherwise, "Tera kuch nahin hoga, Kalia!" If not all ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-24465171853902150222007-03-04T14:58:00.000+05:302007-03-04T15:13:10.212+05:30 Likhne waale tera jawaab nahi A nazm by Shakeel Badayuni sung by Rafi. A new addition to my list of favourite old hindi songs:Husn Wale Tera Jawaab Nahin,Koyi Tujh Sa Nahin Hazaaron Mein,Husn Wale Tera Jawaab Nahin,Tu Hai Aisi Kali Jo Gulshan Mein,Saath Apne Bahaar Laayi Ho,Tu Hai Aisi Kiran Jo Raat Dhale,Chandni Mein Naahaake Aayi Ho,Yeh Tera Noor Yeh Tere Jalwe,Jis Tarah Chand Ho Sitaaron Meinananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-51965755485474628612007-01-26T13:08:00.000+05:302007-02-03T21:03:01.426+05:30A Mid Summer's Day Dream Chapter 8 Chutti woke up in anguish. He had had a bad night - tormented by unplaceable, unfathomable demons, mysteriously malicious, mysteriously unrememberable. As he tried to understand what had transpired during the night, the fact that it was all a dream was an inadequate recompense.A habitual glance at his wrist watch (he wore it almost all the time) and the anguish ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-45243061857682338912007-01-05T21:10:00.000+05:302007-01-06T10:06:55.604+05:30Winter Sunset Going to the seashore has become a regualr feature of my visits home - though the sea shore is some distance off from where I live. The coast line is quite long, sand for some distance, easily climbable rock for some distance, beach sand again, rock again etc. Some day I am going to keep on trekking along the coast to see how far I can go. Too bad I did'nt grow up here, in my ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-1166792711891737842006-12-22T18:27:00.000+05:302006-12-22T18:35:11.903+05:30 Going Home Going Home. That seems like a good enough answer to the title of the previous post. Whither goes thou? Home.Looking forward to a good ten days of sun and sea, fish and fishmarkets, the lazy watching of test cricket (what could be a lazier activity!) and the chewy perusal of Moby Dick.ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-1166555338167921372006-12-20T00:12:00.000+05:302006-12-20T00:38:58.180+05:30 Quo Vadis Yesterday I had occasion to visit the Information Technology Park here in Bangalore during lunch hours. It was the first time I was visiting a big tech campus other than the one I work in. Seeing so many techies at one place gave me quite an identity crisis (or maybe only served as a reminder). It was as if an ant from one colony wandered into a different ant hill and suddenly saw ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-1163692711110558542006-11-16T21:23:00.000+05:302006-11-16T21:28:31.126+05:30 Zikr Us Parivash Ka...Have hit the block after which this blog is punnily named. Nothing seems good enough to be written. Ideas die before they are born. The sanguine confidence (same thing?) which caused several good and bad posts to be posted, has disappeared down a side-street, bored with the inactivity, looking for excitement elsewhere. Memories, thoughts, desires and emotions clog the brainananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-1160496463636132702006-10-10T21:33:00.000+05:302006-10-10T21:37:43.653+05:30After playing the wretched loser for more than twenty five years of comics life, Garfield's pet human, Jon, finally has a girlfriend. At last his creator, Jim Davis, has had a change of heart!ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-1159594764726050982006-09-30T10:41:00.000+05:302006-09-30T11:10:57.426+05:30 SEZ I don't know why there is a law that allows the government to buy land below it's market value. I think they should be paying 50% higher than the market price. That way people might not so feel so bad about their land being aquired, they might even feel good about it.ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-1158960023941629882006-09-23T02:37:00.000+05:302006-09-23T12:01:06.793+05:30Snippets from my Trip to the South of France - (and Frankfurt airport, he he) I was going to type the heading of this post in part French part German. But some ideas seem really hot only when you first think of them...So I went to Cannes, last week, for a customer meeting, and also visited Nice and Monte Carlo in the free time. They, my company, had put me up in a swanky hotel right on the marineananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-1157562107952571552006-09-06T22:30:00.000+05:302006-09-06T22:31:47.966+05:30 The Prodigal Returns This Sunday, I went to the Mallu Mess (actually, Kerala Spice) after a long time. I had been slightly peeved at their apparently charging me more and more for the fish, and I had found another Mallu restaurant which served better food and was at-least a kilometer nearer home. But this Sunday, the other Mallu restaurant was serving Onam special lunches and all tables were ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-1157204307376511682006-09-02T19:02:00.000+05:302006-09-05T01:00:00.370+05:30 In the desert of my loneliness A nazm by Faiz Ahmed Faiz, an edited cut-paste from the net, plus my own, inadequate, translation. The translation is non-literal; refer to it to get the general drift of the poem, only if you need to ofcourse.dasht-e-tanhaaii men ae jaan-e-jahaaN larzaaN hain terii aavaaz ke saaye tere honThon ke saraab dasht-e-tanhaaii men duurii ke Khas-o-Khaak tale khil rahe ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-1157048231714699902006-08-31T22:34:00.000+05:302006-08-31T23:50:57.153+05:30 Thinking How funny it is. Most of us are professional thinkers. Get to the office, start thinking. Take a break, start thinking again. Go for lunch, and if you are unlucky think then also. Come back from lunch think some more. Discuss something with someone. Let them think a bit for you. You think a bit for them. Get back to your desk and continue with your thinking. Back home, again, if you areananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-1156258290140062042006-08-22T19:43:00.000+05:302006-08-22T20:27:07.166+05:30 On the other side, of twenty five In the last one month, more people have called me 'poet' than in the past twenty six years and eleven months of my existence. Though there is a charming rhyming two liner in Konkani which my parents ascribe to me as a kid (Keed maam, keed maam tu ashi kashi? Amgele ghara tu ailo kashi. The English translation, though not doing justice to the original, he he, ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-1155975190105155692006-08-19T13:28:00.000+05:302006-08-19T13:45:43.803+05:30 Look at this Picture !!! Van Gough's La Sieste ...but not in the office (no, nothing offensive), and not after a good lunch. Look at that sunlight on the piled up hay. Does it not make you think that you were out doors yourself, sitting under some shady tree? Does'nt the warmth of that sunlight seep thorough your comp screen and challenge your air-conditioning?And look at that expression on ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-1154968540333639422006-08-07T21:29:00.000+05:302006-08-07T22:05:40.626+05:30 Omkara Before all is said and done, Omkara does justice to Othello, as best as a movie can and without the support of Shakespeare's language. Fine acting and great drama. Ajay Devgan and Kareena Kapoor bring out the stark colour difference between Desdemona and Othello, though it could have been starker. Saif Ali Khan is a credible Iago, though minus his monologues - his thoughts in several ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-1154760413752008182006-08-05T11:52:00.000+05:302006-08-06T08:13:38.096+05:30 Bangalore's still alive! I have always maintained that Bangaloreans are a nice lot, though occasionally strange things do happen here. And the city's much-maligned autowallas are a good lot too. I don't remember having met a nasty auto-walla in the city, though all my friends seem to keep bumping into them. Several times I get into conversation with auto-wallas, though I am not the talkitive ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-1154497209575531682006-08-02T11:08:00.000+05:302006-08-03T14:17:21.886+05:30Though the Times of India is a bad paper overall, its comics setion beats the comics sections of most papers. Beau Peep, Calvin and Hobbes, Between Friends, Wizard of Id, Garfield, Animal Crackers, Peanuts have all been my favourites some time or the other. Dennis the Menace is fairly ok. Only Archies is down right bad.Anyway that was one paragraph of useless information.What I wanted to post wasananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-1154254996205937092006-07-30T15:48:00.000+05:302006-07-30T15:53:16.216+05:30 The world needs many more Gandhijis Whatever is happening in Lebanon is enough to make a cheerful person cynical, and if you were cynical to start with...I wish each side (especially one side in the present situation) would remember how they have suffered in the past and think before inflicting pain on the other.Makes me think of the genius, and courage, of Gandhiji's non-violent satyagraha. ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-1154094783445210372006-07-28T19:22:00.000+05:302006-07-28T19:23:03.456+05:30Select jokes from a forward I got sometime ago. Ha ha! Did you hear about the Buddhist who refused his dentist's anaesthesia during root canal work? He wanted to transcend dental medication! A ship carrying blue paint collided with a ship carrying red paint. The crew are believed to be marooned.There was a man who entered a local paper's pun contest. He sent in ten different puns, in the hope ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-1151931023847004932006-07-03T18:15:00.000+05:302006-07-03T18:20:23.856+05:30How painful it is to tear my thoughts away from Shakuntala My body moves forward My restless heart rushes back Like the silken pennon on the chariot's standard Borne against the wind. -From a translation of Kalidas' Abhijnanashakuntalam Do poets actually feel the emotions about which they write? Or just make them up, simulate them, think ofananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-1150085888451613392006-06-12T09:44:00.000+05:302006-06-12T09:48:08.463+05:30Just the picture to stare at you from your comp screen on a Monday morning: click here ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-1149312530252608182006-06-03T10:56:00.000+05:302006-06-03T10:58:50.263+05:30 I like to make everyone's day a little more surreal - Calvin (of Calvin and Hobbes) Surreal: Having the intense irrational reality of a dream I don't think I fully understand the meaning of the word surreal, which is perhaps why I misuse it a lot. But, mostly near project deadlines, under pressure (applied or imagined), with n things calling for attention, and nothing going the way it should, I ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-1148825777241264142006-05-28T19:42:00.000+05:302006-05-28T19:46:17.250+05:30Garajata barasata saawan aayo re,Laayo na sang mein hamare bichade balamawa...- From Barasaat Ki RaatThe rains have started!ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-1147584541792306782006-05-14T10:58:00.000+05:302006-05-14T11:15:28.903+05:30 Mallu Mess in the news The Mallu Mess, which I have, with my own eyes, seen grow from a mess on a narrow street in HAL 2nd stage to a restaurant called 'Kerala Spice' on Airport road, was recently in The Hindu. I can't help but unilaterally share into some of their pride. Our association has lasted close to three years now, I think. Together we have converted Kilograms of fish into my food. Not ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-1147581762807447962006-05-14T10:09:00.000+05:302006-05-14T11:27:33.283+05:30 Sujoy Sujoy Chakravarty has started blogging here . One more poet who can rhyme - one more poet to envy on that account. Nothing like rhyme to set apart verse from prose. Now I think all Bengalis can rhyme. Som can. Sujoy does. And so does Vikram Seth. Apart from the poetic streak, which till now I did'nt know he possessed, Sujoy takes great pictures, cooks excellent prawn pulao, plays good ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-1145792132909850622006-04-23T17:03:00.000+05:302006-04-24T13:14:00.556+05:30 Macbeth Act I Scene II Scene II : A relaxed pub in bangalore. Sprawled out, amidst cigarette smoke, on comfortable chairs/sofas, in a quiet corner, are Duncan and Banquo. Banquo is smoking. Whiskey glasses on the table. (The play's constumes, a suggestion: Instead of modern day work clothes, why not have the same kind of clothes that people in the original Macbeth would have worn - maybe just ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-1145010048734995042006-04-14T15:47:00.000+05:302006-04-14T17:31:00.436+05:30 Sa Re Ga Pa Dha Sa Yesterday afternoon was pleasantly spent. After beer and lunch, Me and Amlendu were watching Shatranj Ke Khiladi at Amlendu's place. I have written about what an excellent movie it is - amazing cast, amazing story, screenplay and narration, amazing direction, amazing costumes, amazing decor, amazing music and dance - especially the Kathak performance played out for Wajid Ali ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-1144583579103208422006-04-09T17:15:00.000+05:302006-04-09T17:36:04.606+05:30 MacbethA play in Five Acts - gross in partsWarning: This play is the result of indulging a perverse imagination. Indulgence is requested from the reader too. Dramatis personae (to start with) : Three male witches - not quite wizards - employees of an IT company.Macbeth - successful member of the same IT company.Lady Macbeth - Macbeth's wife.Banquo - Macbeth's colleague and friend.Ross - ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5496902.post-1143875480079683652006-04-01T12:38:00.000+05:302006-04-01T12:42:32.256+05:30 A Tiger for the occasion A sher by Allama Iqbal which often comes to my mind when I stray into introspection. Shauq ki deewanagee tai kar gai kitne makaamAkl jis manzil pe thi, ab tak usi manzil mein hai The madness of fancy (fantasy?) has crossed all barriersWisdom (good sense?) has not made much progress still A sprouting wisdom tooth has made useless the left part of my mouth - not enjoying ananthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03785767037331720646noreply@blogger.com0