Tuesday, March 15, 2005

Flickr

This is a test post from flickr, a fancy photo sharing thing.

Sania Mania

For a country starved of icons,Sania Mirza has won the hearts of millions of fans.The brave,beautiful and bold girl from Hyderabad,who was spotted at the tender age of 8 while playing tennis in Bangalore, has firmly positioned herself on the international tennis map.After becoming the first Indian girl to win a WTA title at Hyderabad,she has gone on to win many more laurels.
What really propelled Sania to fame was her match with Serena Williams down under in the Grand Slam tournament.Serena shivered and sweated before she finally won the match.And then Sania's dream performance in Dubai where she got a wild card.She took full advantage of the opportunity and humbled world champion Maria Kuznotsova.The oz flight of fancy and the Dubai dream has jettissoned her to 77 from 450 0r so.She now wants to get into the top 20.It is her focus which is her great strength besides of course a lethal forehand and a booming serve at 160-170mph compared to Serena's 190mph.
Jassilike bespectacled and flashing her nosering which has just come back in vogue,Sania with puppy fat on her face has a mind of her own."I know my Indian culture well,I am not going to pose in a bikini",and "Sometimes I think I am 30,so I definitely feel different from other kids my age".That was what she said and on a recent power trip to New Delhi when she met Sonia,Kalam and Sunil Dutt. Sania even administered polio drops to babies during an awareness campaign in New Delhi. Modern in her outlook, she is a great fan of Eminem,wears short skirts while playing and dresses quite hep.She prays 5 times a day and fasts during Ramzan.
Globosport who handle her commercial work say that she has both the achievement and personality.The italian sports company Lotto has signed her up for 3 years and she will be their international ambassador and will have a signature line of her own.The second woman to do so after her idol Steffi Graf.
Making the impossible possible has become a habit with this tennis diva.She is getting ready for her next big tournament in Europe and who knows she may still pull off similar Houdini acts.Her coach Bob Brett is working on all her weaknesses and if her ankles don't give way she may still serve it up,all aces.

Monday, February 28, 2005

Hot Puris and Jalebis


Photo 265
Originally uploaded by gopoo.
It was too tempting and extremely mouthwatering.The sight of hot puris and jalebis being fried.The ambience was quite interesting and the immediate surroundings not unhygienic . I did want to have a go but then it was too early in the morning.

Birla Temple,Kolkata-A Side View


Photo 257
Originally uploaded by gopoo.
A side elevation of the Birla Temple.The intricate carving throughout the temple exterior shows the superb craftsmanship of the Rajasthani sculptors.

Birla Temple,Kolkata


Photo 260
Originally uploaded by gopoo.
This is the Birla Temple on Ballygunge Circular Road.It was built in the early 1990s and was officially opened to the public in 1995.The temple is tall and majestic and gives a spectacular appearance.The marble used in the construction was brought from Makrana in Rajasthan and the workmanship is outstanding. Though the temple is about 10 years old it is immaculately maintained.It is a must see for any visitor to Kolkata.

A Washed Street in Kolkata


Photo 280
Originally uploaded by gopoo.
In the early 50s when we were living in the then Calcutta,the streets used to be regularly washed.Practically every street had a hydrant.A huge hosepipe would get connected to the hydrant and the street would get a thorough washing.Gone were those days as Calcutta fell into the pits.But then it is now rising like the proverbial phoenix from the ashes.Kolkata is changing.For the good.Streets are again being washed and the city certainly looks cleaner.No it did not rain on Friday morning when I was taking a walk on Ballygunge Circular Road.A huge municipal truck with automated jets had just cleaned the street.It was a bit late for me to take hold of my camera as the truck whizzed past.Anyway the telltale marks were left behind.

A young boy doing gold embroidery


Photo 275
Originally uploaded by gopoo.
Recently at Kolkata,I happened to see a shop with 10 boys inside sitting together and feverishly working embroidery on a silk saree.They had to work for 14 hours a day and it would take them 15 days to finish.Selling price-about 1100$.

Sunday, February 13, 2005

black is blackest

we watched 'black' very recently.it was awesome.superb acting by rani mukherjee and amitabh bacchan.fantastic cinematography.coincidentally there are three movies having black in their name showing in mumbai.black,black friday and blackmail.ofcourse 'black' is the best.so i decided to refer to it as the blackest.
perhaps this is the best movie rani and amitabh have ever done.sanjay leela bhansali deserves 10/10.i am sure it will get an oscar nomination.
black is beautiful,black is dignity,people look smart when they wear black suits,you wear a black robe when you graduate and in the old days cricket umpires used to wear black coats.when henry ford decided to make a car within the reach of every american,he wanted the colour of the car to be black.it lost its preeminent position to other colours over time but seems to be back in fashion.one sees more and more black car on the roads these days.
kale hain to kya,hum dilwale hain!.

Friday, February 11, 2005

Andal -Lit Cutout


Andal -Lit Cutout
Originally uploaded by gopoo.
while we were in madurai in early january this year we visited srivilliputtur,birthplace of andal,the mystic srivaishnavaite saint.the lunar month of mrigashirsha or margazhi as it is called in tamil is very auspicious for vaishnavaites. every morning tiruppavai of andal-30 verses in soulstirring tamil is sung every day throughtout this month.the verses are in praise of lord krishna with the strong desire of meeting him.we watched the evening utsavam(festival)which took place near the pushkarini(tank) about one and and half kilometers from srivilliputtur at a place called thirumurkulam.it is believed that three sacred rivers meet in the spot where the lake is situated.

Sunday, January 23, 2005

Lulu being blessed by elephant at Meenakshi Temple

Our recent visit to Madurai was very memorable.We worshipped at the Vishnu temple at Srivilliputtur,where the 9th century Srivaishnavite saint Andal was found under a basil plant by her fosterfather Periazhwar,another Srivaishnavite saint.We also visited the Meenakshi temple at Madurai.Lulu was very fasacinated seeing the temple elephant and therefore we got her pictured offering a plantain to the elephant and in return being blessed by the pachyderm.

Monday, January 03, 2005

The winter wedding



Originally uploaded by gopoo.
Surprisingly,mumbai has had an apology of a winter so far.With Delhi going into minus,one would have expected some cold weather in mumbai.But it was not to be.
We had a wedding in the family on the 26th.It was a tamilian iyengar boy marrying a maharashtrian girl.a fusion of two cultures.It was a colourful morning function with priests from both sides competing for the honours.And the nadaswaram and shenai players too did not want to be left behind.The bridegroom looked very handsome in silk dhoti,jibba and petha tied over his head.And the bride wearing a nine yards saree and bedecked with jewels was looking gorgeous.The whole ceremony was such a pleasure to watch and to participate.In the evening there was a reception at the Willingdon Club.And I decide to wear my new suit.Father and daughter took a picture together.Lulu as usual was looking marvellous in her new attire.

Saturday, December 18, 2004

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.

Friday, December 17, 2004

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'.

Monday, December 13, 2004

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.

Sunday, December 12, 2004

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.

Wednesday, December 08, 2004

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.

Tuesday, December 07, 2004

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.

Sunday, December 05, 2004

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.