14,000 weddings and don't know how many funerals

that was a record of sorts.the favourable conjunction of planets on 28th november this year,about three weeks ago.astrologers and matchmakers in delhi went on overdrive.the scorecard-14,000 marriages.toi estimated that the average cost for each marrriage would be about 10 lakhs.which puts the total amount of money spent for the marriages at a staggering Rs 1400 crores.
should so much money be spent on marriages?.some say what is 10 lakhs when lakshmi mittal,subroto roy and the likes spend several crores.after all should we not stretch ourselves and put up our best show to our friends and society when our darling daughter is getting married.we are not showing off.we are only enjoying one day together with all our friends-khana,peena aur masti karna hai.begane shaadi me abdulla deevana!
this argument cannot be ignored.and after all all this expenditure finds its way to various sections of society:- caterers,stagesetters,phoolwallas,mehndiwalis,hairsetters,gana-bajana people,photographer,videowallah,so on and so forth.
and movies like hahk,ddlj,monsoon wedding have made marriages a spectator sport.
it is not that huge sums of money are spent in metropolitan cities alone.even in rural areas spending lavishly is de rigouer.it is ironic,given our income levels.but then izzat ka saval hai.beg,borrow or steal.
didn't somone say marry in hurry and repent in leisure.abhi shaadi hai aur phir barbaadi.

Phone Cameras Hit Headlines

It happened recently in Delhi.In the Delhi Public School.A male student had oral sex with his girlfriend and had it photographed by another friend in his mobile phone camera.Some time later the video clip moved to IIT Kharagpur,was on the LAN for sometime and a net savvy student who happened to get hold of the footage auctioned it on bazee.com and earned some money.
The story of DPS was in circulation for some time though.But the bombshell came last night when the CEO of bazee.com,Avinash Bajaj, was arrested for assisting in the sale of porno on the net.The IIT student also has been arrested and so has the DPS student.The girl is missing but it is learnt that she has gone abroad.Delhi police are investigating into this cyber crime.
Almost simultaneously the Kareena-Shahid PDA(Public Display of Affection),got splashed allover.The TV news channels ran it ad nasueum.Both were seen kissing in a restaurant and the Mumbai tabloid Mid-Day turned it into frontpage news.The picture was taken using a camera phone.Both denied the incident and said the images were morphed and that they had never visited that restaurant where they were supposedly shot while they were very intimate.Kareena has sued Miday for Rs 20 crores for damage to her reputation.Mid-Day is sticking to its story.The papparazi have done it again.
A furious debate has started.Whether public figures should not be discreet and keep their emotions for the private.Also whether camera phones should not be banned in certain public places.The marketing chief in India of Samsung who was interviewed on this subject,said that their cell phone is designed in such a manner that there is an audible click when the cellphone is used for taking pictures.It can alert the people around.
The question really is the downside to techonolgy.While on the one hand a cellphone is a mustmust for everyone considering the convenience it imparts,the dangers of misuse like the above examples as well as the effects of radiation on the brain due to overuse is frightening.
For some time,I have been windowshopping for a PDA.Only yesterday afternoon I walked over to Abdul's shop at Flora Fountain.The bloke sells entertaiment electronics stuff and when I asked him for his suggestion for a PDA he tried to convince me of how superior Sony P 910 i is to the PalmOne Treo 600.He was so well informed that he knew about the DPS incident as well as the IIT KGP student Ravi Raj's road to fame!.He said that when he reached home last night his children and wife were discussing the DPS incident as well as the kareena-shahid affair.
The camera phone is becoming omnipresent and omnipotent.Global sales are expected to be around 50 million by 2007. Surely,in future, these camera phones will have to carry warning signs like 'It is injurious to health' as well as 'It can click your privacy away'.

Mumbai's newest hotspot

Situated at Nariman point and just 5 mintes'walk from our house opposite the oval-maidan, this new mutilplex has great appeal for me.It has all the four rolled in one;food,shopping,entertainment and car parking and all under one roof.Stylishly named, the CR2 INOX is a worldclass mall.The architecture is pleasing to the eyes,the decor inside is superb and there are conveniences galore.
It is spread over 75000 square feet and has a 8 storeyed car parking.The food court is likely to have muti-cuisine joints.There are 5 cinema halls having a total capacity of 1350.The last show is at 11.45pm. There are escalators for moving from one storey to another.The air conditioning and housekeeping is superb.
After having sung hosanas to Inox,you might ask whether there is any downside.Bit heavy on the purse.For example,each cinema ticket in the upper stalls costs 200 bucks.And the parking fees for about 3 hours comes to nearly 90 bucks.During daytime,traffic congestion could be a problem on weekdays.Also the decibels emanating from the sound system could send you rushing to an ent specialist.So if you take your family along,and do all the four,it may take a heavy toll on your wallet.Inspite of getting cash back on credit cards(a new gimmick started by the service providers).
It is still an experience one must go through.For us it is the proximity, and the tremendous saving of time.The latest movies get shown here.We watched Veer-Zarra and Vanity Fair during the last fortnight and enjoyed them.If you are in this side of the city and want to unwind, give it a try.
I have taken some pictures.I can email them to those who are interested.

Fifty-Fifty

I was very impressed with the latest billboard ad of Amul which I saw a few days ago.There was this mother standing in between her two sons flanked on either side.One is suited and booted while the other is in a neta's dress.She is holding a plate with bread on it.The caption reads-"Share the bread equally".And the bottom of the ad reads "Amul,Rely on it".
No wonder that Amul has entered the Guiness Book of World Records with its billboard advertising commenting on the breaking news of the day.In the old days prior to nationalisation of aviation,it was Kooka of Air India who was famous for such brilliant billboard advertisements.Then Amul took over and has been continuously doing a splendid job since then.
Imitation is the best form of flattery ,it is said.And TOI decided to do it openly,unabashedly and with Amul as inspiration.While the first page of today's Bombay Times carried the ad about which I mentioned,the third page carried a quarter page ad with the brothers shaking hands,the tagline reading "Share the newspaper equally!" and signing off as "The Times of India,Rely on it".
An utterly butterly spoof.

Hottest four letter word of 2004

Guess which is the hottest four letter word of 2004.Give up.OK.According to Merriam-Webster it is 'blog'.The most looked-up word on its internet site this year.The top ten are:
1)blog
2)incumbent
3)electoral
4)insurgent
5)hurricane
6)cicada
7)peloton
8)partisan
9)sovereignty
and
10)defenestration.
a couple of these words made me scramble to my pocket dictionary!.

MW has defined blog as " a website that contains an online personal journal with reflections,comments and often hyperlinks." "Blog spreads gossip as well as serving as an outlet for people increasingly disenchanted with mainstream media."
Did the presidential election and the natural disasters in usa have anything to do with voluminous hits for the top ten words? I guess so.

Yaha mumbai meri jaan

aye dil hai mushkil jeena yahan,......,yaha bambai meri jaan.i was reminded of this very hummable song from 'cid' a very old dev anand starring movie y'day when i decided to leave my office during lunchtime and visit my old parsi bonesetter located in the fort area near pherozshah mehta road.don't get me wrong,i haven't broken any bones yet.i only stretched a ligament in my back while trying to lift something very heavy.what a stupid thing to do.and i am partly decommissioned due to this temporary disability.this doc's dad was the one who saved me nearly 40 years ago when i dislocated my left shoulder in the bombay gym swimming pool.the nearest place i could be rushed to then was dr hadvaid's clinic and the grand old man set it right in a jiffy.since then,i must have had a million dislocations which i have learnt to put back on my own.

while returning from the doctor's clinic,i felt very hungry as i had not had any lunch.i decided to tryout something novel.while i was on the lookout for an eating place during this return walking journey of 20 minutes,i saw a huge crowd in a corner of sir pm road.i saw something amazing,what i had never seen before.three guys sitting facing one another.a small center table.fresh fruits in a huge basket.papaya,pineapple,water melon.one was peeling the skin off, the other two cutting them into big pieces and serving them on a4 size papers.all done with great speed and clinical efficiency.i decided to try and took a plate for ten bucks.chunks of fresh fruits for lunch.something i have never done. garnished with some salt and pepper.it was heavenly.within a few minutes i finished it as there was enough room for me to move to a corner and eat the fruits without any push or pull.there must have been atleast 50 people,when i was there,clamouring for their plates.there was a big basket kept for throwing the paper plate out.ecologically friendly,open-air,good for the health,pretty inexpensive and all within a few minutes.this is mumbai.meri jaan . i then realised that though i am so fond of kolkata,i have actually lived for a longer period in mumbai.and mumbai is my home anyway now.

i mentioned about this experience to a colleague of mine late in the evening when we were returning home.i was not surprised when he said that the fruitwalla's net earnings would be about rs 3000 per day.no fixed costs,no electricity bills,no credit,no tax.all hard cash.that is the way to earn!

Vanity and Vanity

in my last posting,i wrote about lulu guiness's vanity bag.from this vanity fare,this time i will move on to mira nair's splendid movie-vanity fair.we saw it last sunday at the new nariman point mutiplex,cr2inox.this was our second visit to this new convenience in the last fortnight.this british classic written by w.m. thackeray was well directed by mira nair of monsoon wedding fame.the cinematography, the performances,the music were all top class.don't miss seeing this film if it is being shown in your part of the world.

Shop Till You Drop

no,i am not recommending any particular shopping mall given that so many have mushroomed all over the city.i recently read about an adorable metallic purse from cult designer lulu guiness."it's gold lame with multicoloured embroidery of shopping bags,hat box and an appliqued with bow.it zips up at the top and has a satin lining.".wow.that sounds fantastic.the price?.anybody's guess.after all it is Lulu Bag.

Ye tho hona hi tha

when it exploded,it wasn't really much of a surprise.the stock market was expecting it,the rumour mongerers were working overtime spreading all the juicy happenings in 'sea wind',the popular magazines were writing reels of stories on the brothers and bahus,there were whispered discussons in the corridors of the corporate world as to when it was going to happen.and then finally muks broke the news."ownership isues;but then they are in the private domain".

ril and rel prices took a beating though the nifty and sensex were continuing to move north.political leaders,godmen,et al jumped into the fray.there was lot of drama.six directors of rel resigned presumably under pressure from muks' camp.kokilaben intervened but to no avail.she even gave an ultimatum to the warring siblings,but then the deadline passed away.she sought the help of 'morari bapu',famous for his narration of kathas.anil and tina shot off to tirupathi to seek balaji's blessings for peace and tranquility in the extended ambani family.and also to nathdwara.but then there were talks that they were trying to save their marriage.

sushmita sen was rumoured to be the third person,though she vehemently denied.they were seen together in switzerland in the same hotel and it was said that tina was going to have no more of it.figures started flying around.some said she wanted 600 crores for a settlement;the last sum i heard was 1000 crores.

chorwad,where dhirubhai was born was full of activity.prayers galore.letters to kokilaben to pray to keep the family together.appeals to the brothers to stay like ram and lakshman and not fight like the pandavas.

i think long days and long nights are there ahead.though anil has strategically backed off in the latest rel board meeting by agreeing to seek approval of the ril board on major investments,it appears to be a lull before the storm.mukesh doesn't like anil's ways.excessive partying,hobnobbing with celebreties from the tinsel world,getting closer to the samajwadi party and the likes of amar singh,amitabh bachan and mulayam singh yadav.and finally the rajya sabha nomination by samajwadi party.

anil knows he is getting marginalised.mukesh wants a big slice of the cake and is not satisfied with equality.it is anil's response to mukesh's movements.to create his own political base to fight the war.it is said that dhirubhai died intestate.that is without a will.which means that his share will get divided by 5. 2 sons,2 daughters and kokilaben.mukesh wants to prevent all that and grab most of the whole and leave a part.he is prepared to give away rel to anil and cash alongwith it.anil may settle for this ultimately.he his already having nightmares of having to deal with nita on the board of ril if that should happen.

the days of bhai-bhai are over.it is now bye-bye.

In the name of the Father,sons,holy ghost,amen

Mother is the most beautiful word in the English language as revealed to us by the recent survey undertaken by the British council."Arre pagle,maa se badhkar koi nahin hotha".Or,"Maan main aa gayaa hoon".Still better,"aap maa ke pair chhuo,aur kamiyabi aap ki pair chhuegi".And still better,"Maa mere paas hai".

But then maa appears to be passe for some.Kokilaben has been relegated to the background and Dhirubhai has been resurrected.In spite of "Oh Dad,poor dad,mamma's hung you in the closet and I'm feeling so sad",the title of Kopit's avant garde play staged in 1962,it is now "Dad,love,tujhe love,mein karta hun!.".The father has been invoked,by the wharton educated Anil who says that Papa had warned him to be careful of "chamchas,chelas and cronies".A bit of brotherly advice to the elder Muks,stanford educated mba and chemical engineer,who in one stroke has taken sweeping powers from the Board of RIL on its July 27th meeting.A Rs 99,000 crores empire employing 88,000 people,having a sales turnover equivalent to 3.5% of india's gdp.Conventional wisdom had it that money takes precedence over human values.Who cares,what is corporate governance!.

Didn't the Bible say,"For the love of money is the root of all evil".And then there is the famous tamil saying "panam paathal,ponam pesum".(even a corpse would start talking,if it sees money").Pound notes is the best religion in the world.Anil says that they are not inheritors of Dhirubhai's wealth,they are joint creators.They-papa,muks and himself worked together like a joint venture and created what is today the reliance behemoth.Reliable or unreliable.Let me keep it for the next posting.

TTT(The Top Ten)

no,i am not a pop afficianado nor a movie buff.i don't qualify for either as i hardly hear much pop or see many movies.neither am i referring to the topten b-schools in india or the top ten in the usa.you might perhaps think i am going to give you my pick for the stock market with sensex raging at 6033,knowing my weakness for the bourse.sorry,it is none of these.
i am reproducing the ten most beautiful words in the english language according to a recent world survey conducted by the British Council.the words are in this order:
1)mother
2)passion
3)smile
4)love
5)eternity
6)fantastic
7)destiny
8)freedom
9)liberty
and
10)tranquility
how do you like it?

oh calcutta!

Pardon me for sticking to the past.one might say i am a diehard.but then,calcutta is past and kolkata is present!.i am back in my born and brought up place.practically so.only that i was born in villupuram,about 100 miles from chennai and after a few months cam along with my mom to calcutta.we lived in 150 rashbehari avenue.and then when we moved to then bombay 15 years later,the address was 150 queen's road.is that a coincidence are the play of numerology.that is a different subject which i shall deal in this blog some other day.
the flight last night was delayed by three and a half hours thanks to the fog.and this morning i was pleasantly surrised when i read an ad in the 'statesman' put up by indian airlines saying that don't worry if your flight is delayed due to fog,we will keep in touch with you on your mobile!.indian airlines in a new avatar!.i don't normally eat in the plane because i just don't like the food that they give.and my wife loves it.we discussed it this morning and laughed it off.we have been together for 35 years and this is one more uncommonality.i knew mushtaq and nirmal would have taken pains to keep the food for me which i found when i landed in 60 ballygunge circular road.the khana was warmed up,hot thick phulkas were dished out and the meal was heavenly.the right recipe for a good night's sleep.calcutta has changed in many ways.the city has become cleaner.lot of new highrise apartments have mushroomed.flyovers have reduced travelling time.and i always do my shopping for clothes when i am in kolkata.i don't know why.i drive down to the 'new market'and buy all the stuff that i want.i am always reminded of the old days whem my dad and mom took us to new market for the diwali shopping.this market was gutted ina fire many many years ago,but then it has again risen like the proverbial phoenix from the ashes.so,a quick trip to nm is due today.i need a lot of trousers.after having lost 50% of my clothes on iberian flight,i am going back to my old peter england shop for a replenishment!
and the i will have my favourite luchi and aaloodum for lunch with mishteydoi and sandesh.and then when i sit back late in the office,tomorrow being a board meeting day,my office boy will bring me nice and spicy mudi(puffed rice with a dash of mustard oil and green chillies).a rather royal dinner will await me in the guest house.
thanks to my reliance mobile with a fantastic moden 152kbps,i am on the internet using my laptop and blogging away.

The Arrest of the Seer

Shocking,startling,incredible.Call it what you might,but this is what happened.The Pontiff of the Sankaracharya Mutt was arrested on charges of murder and collusion for murder.It happened on Deepavali night at Mehboobnagar in Andhra Pradesh.Jayendra Sarawati,the head of the Sankara Mutt was in his pooja when the team of police officials sent by the Jayalalitha government located where he was and tapped at his door,like the gestapo.Late night,under great secrecy,on a very auspicious night.Early next morning he was produced befor the Judicial Magistrate at Kancheepuram after travelling by helicopter,cessna jet and a suv.He was remanded to judicial custody.He is still hovering in jail as his bail plea has been rejected by the Madras High Court.He is now in police custody and fighting a slew of legal battles to free himself from this unholy mess into which he has landed himself.India's best criminal lawyer,Ram Jethmalani has been pressed into service.So far,the score card reads-advantage Jayalalitha.
Now what was the provocation for this high-profile arrest.One Sankararaman was working in the Mutt as an accountant.He crossed swords with the Pontiff on several issues.He alleged misuse of the Mutt's funds,he stopped the pontiff's visit to China by getting a judicial stay and alleged harassment and plans to eliminate him.Finally,he was sacked by the Mutt.But he did not give up.He took up a job in the nearby Varadaraja Perumal temple and continued his fight with JayendraSaraswathiswamigal.
one day in the month of september some scooterists went to his home and asked his wife about sankararaman's whereabouts.they were told he was in his office in the temple.they entered the temple and asked where the office was.then they got him.he was hacked to death,severely beaten with sticks and sharp knives and killed in cold blood.it was a professional job.then they disappeared from the scene.firs were filed,the police investigation began and the needle of suspicion indicated the Pontiff's involvement.then as they say all hell broke loose.
at one time jayalalitha and the pontiff were great pals.it was a mutual admiration society.after the last elections they fell off.the various political alliances broke off,the chemistry between people changed,and new equations were drawn.jayalalitha was routed and dmk karunanidhi's star was in the ascendant.she had to do something sensational,bold and courageous and identify herself with the non-brahmins,the dalits to recapture her vote base.she decided to play the masterstroke which she did with aplomb and great consummate skill.she outsmarted karunanidhi,and proved her sceptics wrong. she did the unthinkable,the undoable.she,a brahmin, had the holy shankaracharya arrested for murder.
jayendrasaraswathiswamigal,the pontiff,the shankaracharya,has not been above controversy,unlike his predecessor,the periyaswamigal.he began painting on a much broader canvas.he envisaged his role as not just the head of a sectarian religious mutt,but that of a religious and socialreformer,educationist,philanthroper,political conciliator,the rajguru of many monarchs,etc,etc.obviously,he attracted attention and enemies.the funds at the disposal of the mutt became a talking point.Rs5000-10000 crores.sankararaman became a pain in the neck.too many allegations of misappropriation and malfeasance were flying.something had to be done to stop this negative publicity.the rest is as they say history.now the battles are going on.the debates.the media publicity-good,bad and indifferent.jayendraswami's credentials are being questioned,he is being asked to step down,one hears the oft repeated cliche-no one is above the law.
it is a great irony of our democracy and judicial system.when thugs and goons who have an enviable record of murders are moving around freely as political netas,mps,chief ministers,etc, that sections of the intellegentsia are crying for the acharya's blood.politics and religion make a heady mixture.
if i am found guilty,i should be punished.this is what the acharya has said.let the courts decide and let us not pass any judgements.for the acharya anyway,it has been a bad fall.literally from the ivory tower to the allwomen's jail in kanchi.let us give him the benefit of doubt.he deserves that at least.

Bush is Back

Much to the relief of those responsbile for conducting the US elections,George Bush won by a sizeable majority of popular votes,thereby leaving hardly any scope to Kerry to get into a litigacious mode.The nightmare of the last presidential elections still haunts these people who had to count and recount and handle chads and what nots.Technologically the most advanced country in the world does not conduct its elections using modern technology.What an irony!.In a developing country like India, EVMs(electronic voting machines)were used in the recently held national elections which were conducted very successfully.Maybe for the next presidential elections,the whole process should be outsourced to India!.
It was an interesting week with all sorts of speculations on who would be the winner and who would come a cropper.Astrologers,political analysts,psephologists et al entered the fray and tried to predict an outcome.Even the stockmarket was seen as a barometer by some on the election result.Indian astrologers predicted a Kerry victory.The 'Economist' put its prestige on the block by confidently predicting a comfortable victory for Kerry.The general newspaper reports said that it was going to be 'neck to neck'.
Interestingly,a poll conducted by a children's tv channel called Nickelodeon in USA on children aged between 2 and 11 predicted a 53 to 47 vote in favour of Kerry.This channel has been conducting such polls from 1998 onwards and it has always hit the bull's eye.100% success rate.When I read about this amazing performance,I waited with bated breath for the final announcement. Thought Ohio might still change the scenario.But then it didn't happen.Kerry conceded and for the first time since inception Nickelodeon failed.The rationale behind its 10/10 success rate is that children do not lie.They know whom the parents have voted for and say so when asked.Does it mean that these yougsters have outsmarted Nickelodeon.That needs some introspection.
gs

The 'Y' factor

Yet another proof of the wonder of Yoga.The complete decimation of the Indian cricket team by the Ozzies in the recent series.The team has a yoga specialist called Kate Turner.Justin Langer,Martyn Hayden(no relation of diana),Damien Martyn and Shane Warne are all yoga practitioners.They recently visited BKS Iyengar's yoga institute at Pune and expected to spend about 10 minutes with 'guruji',the 86 years old iyengar from belur. he is also famous for having taught yoga to umpteen celebreties including yehudi menuhin.the yogacharya actually spent about three hours with them and put them through various poses and spoke to them about the root of the word yoga which is yug i.e. "to join".soul and supreme.so,it was a physical demonstration and a metaphysical discussion which the ozzies had not bargained for. they were absolutely thrilled when they learnt about the body mind connection from 'guruji'.
What an irony it was when an Australian newspaper reported that the secret weapon of India's defeat apparently has been yoga.

Tallest Tree in the World

Redwoods,I recently came to understand, are among the world's tallest living trees.On an average they are 180 to 250 feet in height and 7 to 12 feet in diameter.Wow,that is some size.There is a redwood tree in northern california which is 330 feet high and the tallest known tree in the world.Any competition to the highrises in New York?.Had I known all this earlier,I would have made it a point to visit the taxodium family,during my umpteen visits to California.It is called redwood because of the red colour of its wood.Its grows along the west coast of the United States from Central California to Southern Oregon.So next time I plan a visit to USA a meeting with Sequoia Sempervirens is a must.
gs

My best friend-the laptop

I got attracted to it during my visit to USA in 1998.I visited a huge mall and was looking for some hightec stuff for computing.I liked the Toshiba satellite model instantaneously and bought it.It has been with me since then till a couple of months ago when I gave in to the temptation of buying a newer model of the same family.The laptop has been a great companion all these years.It has been used and abused.My daughter spilt a glass of water on the key board and it was out of commission for a few months till a new one arrived.Everyone in the family used it and derived great benefit.Till recently,I had preserved all my incoming and sent messages from day 1 in the outlook express.Surely,it slowed down the computer a wee bit,but more than compensated for it by the sheer joy it gave of being able to access these mails almost instantaneously.I will write more about my laptop in the days to come.This is only the beginning.For the record,my old Satellite has not become redundant.My wife has tucked it waway nicely for her use.
gs

Walking with the dogs

being a sunday morning,i was quite relaxed.got up later than usual.about 6.30 and got ready to go for a walk with sheilu and the dogs.after all they are inseparable!.well what we normally do is to drive till nariman point,park the car there and then walk up to hotel nataraj and then back right up to the tip of the sea and then get back to the car.the sky looked clear when we set off but then when we were walking there were some feeble intermittent drizzles.could have walked more but then at one point it looked as if there might be a heavy downpour.luckily that fear was belied.a) we didn't relish the ideas of mango and cherry getting drenched and b) i didn't want to get wet.
even at 7am the place is so active.nariman point.besides the morning joggers,the coconutwallahs and kids cycling fast and host of stray dogs,there was an ad shooting being set up.i believe it was for a choocalate firm.maybe cadburys,who knows.the paraphernalia is awesome.the vans,trucks,the cars for what was going to be a few minutes shoot.lots of young girls and boys wearing tight jeans and cellphone in one hand and giving directions to the errand boys with the other-all this was a funny sight.unfortunately,i didn't have my camera.i was pretty fascinated by the volkswagen beetle convertible in burgundy colour mounted on an old telco truck with the driver on the wheels and the whole truck being manouevered for the shoot.then batata vada and chai being prepared in a separate van.i am sure the guys will complete the shoot only around noon!

did not want to wait any more and drove back home.m and c enjoyed their outing and we have returned to our nest and our workplaces.got a lot of things to be done.before leaving for europe on 4th september.

gs

the waning monsoon

i woke up this morning with a good feeling.there was a small but sharp shower and i was quickly ready for my brisk morning walk.i combine a couple of things during this walk.e.g.buy the daily bread and plaintains for breakfast and the most important purpose of the walk-the milk.that is called simultaneous multitasking to use a management jargon or parallel processing if you want to sound like a high falutin IT guy.
on return from this walk,i corresponded with my friend rangarajan who lives in new jersey in marathi in roman script.that is funny.at times hilarious.it gives him a kick because of nostalgia.and the deja vu factor.the words we use and the expressions are pehaps non-marathi but then the communication has been made,we have understood each other and that is what language is essentially about.
we have guests for dinner tonight.friends whom we have known for the last 35 years.i enticed them to come over for a power point presentation by sheilu on the egyptian civilisation.too good to resist;not that the iyengar menu is going to be less attractive. and then i propose to surprise them with my own ppp on my recent usa visit-redwoodcity,san fransisco north carolina,livermore et al.those of you who know kamakshi will be surprised to know that she too joins sheilu in the ppp and intervenes with some anecdotes of the pharaos and nephritis.it reminds me of the old chester barnard joke.he was too tired of making presentations.on one such occasion he asked his chauffer to replace him which the guy dutifully did.at the end when the q&a session started, there were several questions on the intricaies of open heart surgery which he deftly handled.and then there was a toughie.he was momentarily at a loss. then came the masterstroke.he responded by saying "that is a very simple question.my chauffer will answer that for you."christian barnard got up and answered that very difficult question.