VUVUZELA and WAKA WAKA

the world cup soccer which was over last month did keep me glued to the tv during several matches.normally, i avoid the tv. i don't watch any serial because they are all trash. i occasionally watch the news and sometimes one-day cricket matches. but the fifa football event was one of a kind. which i certainly did not want to miss.

hats off to the organisers who seem to have made the event a great success.south africa is notorious for its crime rate. and the continent is infamous for its poverty and AIDS. but there was hardly any crime during the event. the entire africa, proud of the event being held in their continent behaved in the most responsible and dignified manner. the people deserve full kudos for their exemplary behaviour. they wildly cheered their 'bafana bafana' and were disappointed that the team did not go far ahead.

what fascinated me besides the football matches was the vuvuzela, a trumpet like instrument about one meter long. you blow into it and you can blow off somebody's ears with its high decibel noise. and imagine thousands of spectators blowing into them continuously. what a cacophony it must have created. though many teams complained about the distraction the vuvuzelas caused and their teams' consequent failure to concentrate, fifa did not stop its usage as it was considered to be a part of 'african culture'. wonder what our fans will blow during the forthcoming CWG. and just compare how we are going about the CWG and how a fledgling democracy embroiled in bitter and racially tinged ethnic violence did a spectacular job of managing this megaevent. the UAE issued a 'fatwa' that they are 'haraam'. that did not deter the vuvuzela fans.manufacturers of vuvuzelas did roaring business.they sold earplugs too.that was a marketing coup.

three cheers to vuvuzela and 'waka waka' performed by columbian singer shakira and alongwith south african band 'freshly ground' who created a sensation.

a friend of mine showed me a vuvuzela which his friend had brought from capetown.i blew it and felt transported to africa. and the hummable 'waka waka',i downloaded into my ipod hoping that we will also put up a good show.'chak de india'.

a 'britannic' lunch - berry berry good

"he may live without books-what is knowledge but grieving?
he may live without hope- what is hope by deceiving?
he may live without love-what is passion but pinning?
but where is the man that can live without dining?"
owen meredith.

this blog is about mouth watering food and service par excellence from a simple restaurant. hence the above quotation.

"you can call me bemoom or boman or bomi or behuvan or benaan. these are the names by which i am called." thus spoke the octogenarian owner of a south mumbai iconic restaurant when i walked in for the first time early this year with my british customer. i am referring to 'britannia' restaurant situated on the ground floor of wakefield house, ballard estate. my office is on the top floor. the restaurant is always packed at lunch time. and there are always people sitting outside eagerly awaiting for their turn to arrive.

the old man,his brother,the second generation all understand one thing. courtesy. the moment you arrive,they make you feel comfortable. they are all cheerful and enquire what you would like to have. 'britannia' is famous for its berry pulao and the parsee dhansak. when boman irani came to us and asked what we wanted to have,i answered the obvious.i wanted my british friend to have their signature dish. "but you must beat the heat sir first with a cold drink ", he said with a broad smile on his face and then went about taking the order. he was delighted to meet my english customer. boman has a great partiality for the british as the name of his restaurant suggests. he enquired about the queen of england and added "may she live long". i told him that i am a vegetarian. he said he would serve me the "best veg biriyani i would have ever eaten". true to his word,the biryani was delectable.

the iranis as the name suggests are from iran. they still have connections out there. after migrating to india they have become iraninan parsis (zorastrians). they speak in gujerati. they are modest and a bit self-effacing. 'britannia' is neat and clean. furniture is minimal with the old-fashioned square table placed in an angle with four chairs. the table cloth is british gingham. the servers are liveried and speak good english and hindi and are well-mannered.when you are there you feel good.they close shop around 4pm.

when we were about to leave, i asked the old man the secret of his success. i told him that i knew that he imported some ingredients like the berry from iran. "sorry sir, i can't disclose that. that is our trade secret", he said with a chuckle. then he asked my friend to convey his best wishes to the queen. when the cheque arrived and i settled the bill he said "do come again, sir". a friendly person,very affectionate and in peace with himself and his surroundings. a petite cat rests on the reception counter. he encourages children to pet the cat. and they laugh and he laughs with them too.

"there is no love greater than the love of eating". this is the 'britannia' tagline alongwith a hen as their logo.

next time you have some work in fort area, drop in at 'britannia' and enjoy the food and service.

panruti selvam (wealth of panruti)

i was born in a village not very far off from panruti. the only thing i knew about this small town was that one of my mother's cousins lived there for many years.i was astonished to read recently that it is now referred to as the 'jackfruit paradise'. i love jackfruits and therefore i read this article running into many pages without dropping the magazine even for a second. the fruit is available in panruti throughout the year and it is supposed to be the best of its kind in the country. in bali island last week,i had tasted its jackfruits and heard about its durians. indian jackfruits are fatter and sweeter.

known as kathal (bihar/up), palaa pazham (tamil nadu), chekka (kerala),halsu (karnataka),panasa (telugu) and phansi (maharashtra), this delectable fruit when sliced and taken with honey gives you an ecstasy beyond words. while in kerala and karnataka growing jackfruits is infradig,it is clearly not so in this sleepy town. people are proud to grow jackfruits and prouder that they are making a big profit in doing so.

why are panruti jackfruits so sweet? it is perhaps the soil condition and climate. panruti has a long stretch of dry weather and it is a low rainfall area. the biggest pala pazham from panruti recently weighed as much as 70 kgs and has gained a probable place in the 'guiness book of world records'.

kerala state has taken the initiataive to spread the awareness of jackfruit and it organised the first jackfruit festival about four years ago.more and more fairs are being held and its awareness as a terrific fruit is on the increase. it also pays to grow jackfruit. estimated to earn the farmer Rs 60,000 an acre, it is clearly a money spinner. it is resistant to drought.it helps in recharging groundwater.it is very nutritious and its leaves are eaten by goats and used to wrap steamed idlis.the tree after about 25 years has a good saleable value. the soft wood is used for making musical instruments like veena and mridangam and furniture as well. what more can you ask for from this kalpataru?

jackfruit is a great energizer. it has vitamin A,beta-carotene and lutein,vitamin B complex,vitamin C,potassium,magnesium, manganese and iron. its flesh has dietary fibre. a variety of sweet dishes can be made and there is tremendous scope for the entrepreneur for value added jackfruit products like jackfruit jam, papad etc. for me palaa pazham paysam with jaggery and coconut milk is something to die for. its seeds can be boiled like beans and added to sambhar and make it tastier!

what more versatality can you ask for in this humble fruit? mango,banana and jackfruits are the three fruits considered to be sacred by hindus.


i just now realized that in june 2007 i had posted three articles in series on this jack of all fruits. if you are interested, please go to my archives.

MANI VS PAUL

Mani, the Singaporean parakeet and a celebrity in Singapore's Little India, predicted a victory for the Netherlands in the 2010 FIFA finals. Paul the Octopus, forecasted a Spanish victory. In my last blog, I had mentioned that should the soothsayer octopus's prediction come true,he will go up in my estimation. Surely, he now has gone up several notches with a clean record of correct forecasts. I hope that German fans will now cool down and not threaten the poor Paul with dire consequences. After all sometimes truth is bitter.

But South African President Jacob Zuma laughed away at the octopus's prediction and said that in South Africa they listen to the scattered bones of dead animals. Witch doctors do that to foretell the future. Obviously, he wished to remain neutral and did not want to provoke either side. What he said was interesting. That opens up a Pandora's box.

Watch out human soothsayers. There is hot competition. At this rate,you may run out of business.

THE MIGHTY OCTOPUS-PAUL

I hadn't thought much of octopuses till the recent 2010 FIFA World Cup football matches started. They are innocuous invertebrates to me. Yes,in a way they are special. They have eight legs, three hearts and they are supposed to be very intelligent and sadly both sexes have very short life span.

But suddenly like the inanimate Vuvuzela, Paul the octopus has shot into the limelight. Thanks to its accurate predictions on the match results involving Germany, Paul,the octopus, has become the most loved and hatred invertebrate of those who have won or lost their matches. So far all the psychic mussel eater's six predictions have come true. Cent percent as they say. Paul's total track record is awesome. 11 out of 12. It is higher than the 'flipping coin' probability. Something that will put our astrologers to shame.

The Argentinians are seething with anger when it predicted their loss to Germany and recently Germany's unexpected defeat to Spain has left the Germans shell-shocked and boiling with rage. Some want to kill it, some want to fry its brains in hot oil. Some want it to be fried in garlic butter or barbecued or turned into a seafood salad. Will the sensational fortune-teller and global superstar forecast the correct World Cup winner?

Its psychic powers will surely be put into severe test as world-wide expectaions on its forecasting abilities have gone up beyond imagination. Paul has also become every bookie's envy.If Paul predicts the World Cup winner correctly, in my esteem surely he would go up many notches. Because, here is one field where the octopus has outsmarted us human beings.

The two year-old cephalopod was born in England and lives in Oberhaussen in Germany. It chooses a mussel from a glass tank marked with the opposing country's flags. Before the Germany-Spain clash,it ignored the tank with the colour of the German flag and it chose the Spanish flag.The number of anti-'oktopus' songs is increasing day by day in Germany.Paul has achieved an amazing 2.6million hiits on Google so far and he is one of the "Top Ten" trends in Twitter. The famous mollusk has to better watch out. For the first time, he will be predicting the result of a non-German match.He will have to swim away fast to the FIFA winner's shores and seek asylum before the death threats materialise and the famous German knives are out.

jai maharashtra !

i have been wanting to blog on the 50th anniversary of the state of maharashtra for quite sometime. other preoccupations came in the way. finally,i decided to put my thoughts down.

in may 1960, i first set my foot in bombay ( mumbai). i had finished my school final examination in calcutta (kolkata). my late father who was working for an insurance company was transferred and we all siblings eagerly looked forward to our stay in bombay.i must stay i was absolutely fascinated.i enjoyed the monsoon seasons-it would rain continuously for days together.something i had never experienced before.my college was st xavier's which was just 15 minutes' walk from our home.i liked the crispy masala dosas at the udipi restaurants and me and my classmates would walk all the way to a hotel near metro cinema for some tongue tickling puri bhaaji.the occasional movies that i saw were in 'capitol' cinema which has now been shut down. i would go with my mom to the byculla vegetable market which i very much enjoyed.phanaswadi temple and matunga were our other favourite visiting places.we used to see some marathi and gujerati dramas and watch some dance performances occasionally.my mother used to wear a nine-yard saree. and i liked the way maharashtrian women wrapped the navvari around themselves. drama and classical sangeet was at its zenith then.

it is difficult to believe that 50 years have passed since then, lot of changes have taken place in this city, besides bombay being rechristened mumbai. from what was a beautiful city with cleanliness,organised traffic,beautiful buildings and unpolluted air all around, the maximum city has now become overcrowded,dirty and very polluted. and a concrete jungle.

there are many problems that the state of maharashtra now faces. a power surplus state has become power deficit. farmers are committing suicide unable to repay the loans that they have taken. lot of workers have been thrown out of there jobs and many now live in penury. divisive forces are trying to split the state further.i wonder what the average maharashtrian feels. is he happy about the economic growth that has taken place or does he feel that people from other states have taken the lion's share of jobs and left the crumbs to the local populace.economic growth must be balanced and reforms must percolate down to the masses. if that doesn't happen,tensions are bound to take place.economic prosperity cannot be the privilege of a few. prosperity has to be distributed. no doubt there will always be the rich and poor; but the gap in incomes should not be huge. everone deserves a good living.

if all of us can put our acts together and learn living with others in peace and harmony, maharashtra can again become the No 1 state. it lost its prime position some fifteen years ago. dabbawallahs, dalal street, ganesh utsav and bollywood are now known internationally. that makes every mumbaikar and marathi manoos proud. though dharavi is the world's largest slum, the enterprise over there is unbelievable.

traditional maharashtrian delicacies have now become hugely popular.be it puran poli or ukadiche modak.zunka-bhakar,wada-paav,thalipeeth,misal paav or usal. and last but not the least, the mouth watering shrikand.restaurants offering maharashtrian cuisine have become a preferred destination for many. i am sure these ethnic dishes will find their place in menu cards in restaurants abroad soon.

in sum,great achievements have been made in the last fifty years.outstanding sportsmen and artists have brought fame and prestige to maharashtra. just like great farmers,entrepreneurs and industrialists who have put mumbai and maharashtra on the international map. but we must remember that mumbai is not maharashtra. it is only a part of maharashtra. let us just not look at what is happening in mumbai alone. significant improvements in the standard of living,health care and education must take place all over this great state.politicians will have to learn to serve the people and ensure that roti kapda aur makan spreads to all sections of people across the state.every child must be provided with free education and health benefits must be extended to one and all. the fruits of economic growth must each every nook and corner of maharashtra. only then the sacrifices of those who laid down their lives for separate statehood would not have gone in vain.

i love mumbai. i can speak the lingo and i am proud to be a mumbai manoos.i am sure maharashtra will recapture the number 1 state position soon.

jai shivaji maharaj!.jai maharashtra!!

how sweeeeeeeeeet!

a recent on-line survey conducted by UNESCO has revealed that Bengali is the world's sweetest language.Spanish and Dutch languages take the second and third positions respectively. having lived continuously in kolkata for fourteen years after my birth and continuing to visit kolkata eight to ten times a year, i consider it like almost my second home. i speak the language and enjoy the companionship of bengalis.i was therefore thrilled to read on the net about this well-deserved recognition.
not only is the language the sweetest in the world,the sweets like rosogolla,sandesh and mishti-doi can be considered the best sweets in the world. three cheers to kolkata and kolkattans!
aami tomake bhalo bhashi!( i like/love you!)

palladium-will it be mumbai's ultimate luxury mall?

palladium is a rare and lustrous silvery white metal and is very precious.it is an element belonging to the platinum group of metals and has extensive and varied applications. the new super luxury mall at the phoenix mill compound at lower parel has been quite appropriately named.

two lakhs square feet of floor space covered with italian marble and a sheer delight to watch for its magnificence is the palladium mall. covered on top with a lovely glass domed atrium, it has four levels housing shops of international power brands like the 'body shop', 'zara'(yet to arrive).' the fashion store'. 'movenpick' the famous swiss icecream chain. 'the manchester united cafe bar','burberry','emperio armani','hugo boss','estee lauder','tommy hilfiger' and a host of other international brands with a foodcourt at every level. and for the desi food lovers there is 'rajdhani' and the 'punjab grill' too.london's very popular 'comedy store' is likely to open soon.

we took our grandkids the other day to have a look at this awesome upscale shopping centre and to dine at the 'punjab grill' about which we had heard a lot. it was a fantastic experience. very importantly,it was children-friendly.

on the whole it was a wonderful and entertaining experience. i guess that at least for many years the 'palladium' mall will remain mumbai's ultimate luxury mall. if you have an itch for phoren shopping, you don't have have to go to dubai or singapore. lower parel is nearer home.

karthik calling karthik

it's not a run of the mill movie. it's diferent. it's about a schizoprhenic guy (farhan akthar) who suffers from hallucination. the death of an imaginary brother keeps coming to his mind. in the imaginary scenario the overzealous brother tries to push him in to a well. but the protogonist escapes and the bad brother trips and falls into the well and dies. this picture keeps coming to karthik (farhan akthar) as he is over-ridden with guilt for an incident which did not occur in reality but only in the mind.

karthik is a hardworking fellow in a builder's office. because he can never say no, work is thrust on him by everyone. there is a charming woman (deepika padukone) who has not had any interaction with karthik ever since she joined this builder's office. he is besotted with her and secretlly loves her. he writes emails to her everyday which he saves as he is too scared to send it to her.he can see her in her office-room from his office and is pretty mesmerised by her looks and panache. but then sonali (deepika padukone) has a lover in a colleague who is married with a kid but has not disclosed that to her. karthik's boss (ram kapoor) is overbearing and one day thrusts a hugeworkload on him. he demands that he goes through all the contracts and have them ready by next morning. karthik works throughout the night, completes his job and keeps it on the boss's table. the boss on seeing the incomplete output is livid. karthik has missed checking some other important contracts. an altercation follows and karthik is fired.

karthik is totally dejected and is about to committ suicide when the phone in his room rings.it is then that he starts getting a mysterious call every morning at 5. the caller calls himself karthik and advises him how to get along in office and in his private life. it is a motivational pep talk. karthik follows the caller's advice. he becomes self-confident, ticks off his boss, gets a huge salary hike and a great cabin and even sonali falls for him. the one proviso the caller has laid down is that karthik should not tell anyone about the caller lest they think that kartik is insane.he promises not to divulge the secret. but as he and sonali decide to keep no secrets between them he discloses to her about the caller.

then all hell breaks loose. the caller is very angry and decides to finish him. sonali is upset with karthik's strange behaviour and walks out of his life. karthik's boss reprimand's him for letting out some company secrets and fires him again. karthik,unable to bear the loss of his sweetheart and his job leaves his room and city and just decides to go somewhere. he lands in cochin, takes up a room and lives all by himself. he works for a law company and his new boss is happy with his performance. the boss insists that he keeps a landline and a mobile phone so that they can remain connected .he was in a state of mental peace all theese days without the phone. now once he gets a new landline, the early morning call restarts.the caller vows to finish karthik as he has broken his promise. sonali meanwhile leaves mumbai and comes to cochin in search of karthik. she takes him back to mumbai and they consult a psychologist (shefali shah). there is an improvement .

greatly talented farhan akthar does a brilliant job in a role suited to his personality.he puts in an award-winning performance. deepika is sizzling and does a good job too.ram kapoor as the overbearing boss puts in some fine piece of acting.first time director vijay lalwani treads an unbeaten path but falls short of covering his tracks well.the movie gets lost before reaching its finale. music is just ok. the song 'uff teri ada' is very hummable,though. the magic of farhan akthar is there all the way. see it for that and nothing more.

Dial 'G' For God

i am a very strong theist. i believe in the omnipresence and omnipotence of God.i think i know what needs to be done to attain salvation. but there are many who question His existence. they are the doubters and naysayers. the agnostics and atheists. unlike my generation, the younger generation is sceptical about religion. this is more true in europe than in our country.

a recent survey in france has come out with the startling statistics that less than 2% of those in the 18-29 age group of catholics make it to the church every sunday. the young do not find time to go to church, busy as they are in their virtual world of video games, internet and cellphones. social,moral and religious values have taken a backseat.

we are now in an age of the 'instant God'.technology is now at the service of those spiritually inclined-a simple phone call.a group of catholics in france have found an ingenious way of communicating with Him.the name of the company is 'aabas interactive'.mr hautier and his wife camille thought of this service keeping in mind those people who are not able to confess because of immmobility due to age or illness or disabilities. just dial a number. 0 892 46 GOD. it is a pay telephone line called 'le fil du seigneur' which means the line of the Lord. the caller can directly confess his sins to God. the service providers are a bit cautious and circumspect. they say it is only for minor sins. the answerer asks you to press 1,2 or 3. 1 is for advice on confessing,2 to confes and 3 to listen to others' confessions. there is no priest and there is no absolution. it is only a service to help you take the burden of sins off your chest and an aid to prayer and meditation.the cost of the phonecall is quite stiff. 0.34euro/min (rs 22/min), 40% of which would be donated to charity.you could also leave your confession and also decide to grant its replay to other users.

the church of france has understandably denounced it. according to the church, the actual presence of the priest is required at the time of confession. confessions cannot be done by phone or internet,they say. on the other hand 'aabas interactive' say that "confession is not the exclusive exercise of a priest. we may confess by meditation and prayer and receive God's grace".

'aabas interactive' are clever marketeers. they have chosen the period of "lent" (the period of fasting and confessions before easter) for this initiative. for a start, they are expected to make money. but in the long run whether it is a viable business model, time and faith alone will tell.

HOLI HAI!

after a gap of many years,i played holi this year with my daughter and grandchildren. we were invited to my daughter's sister-in-law's home for a holi bash. it was colours all the way. from the time we stepped into the heritage house till the time we reluctantly left, either we were smearing one other with colour or throwing pichkaris and buckets of coloured water.

there were children,youngsters and adults as well. the grown-ups and grandparents who brought their own supplies of paint and colours started pelting one and all with it. some were known persons and some strangers. yet all got together in this great bonhomie. that is the beauty of our country and culture.

our hosts were careful in the selection of colours and paints and had kept many buckets of water and pumps ready for the fun and frolic.the colours were all organic. some threw coloured water right on the face and some like l's b-i-l shot me with a water spray from his pump. he even had his own supply of water on his back and looked llike a scuba diver. the teenagers were all excited though my grandaughters r1 and r2 were a bit subdued understandably as this was their first holi experience.

the eats were terrific. punjabi samosas, jalebi,fafdas and green chillies. and plenty of beer.i had had lots of fun when i was young playing holi. this was like reliving those days. sadly the bhaang was missing. it would have been an unforgettable and inebriating experience had the element of bhaang been there..

m and n! are you listening?

papayas aplenty!

these days we have papayas galore at home.my wife who runs a home for senior citizens at neral has a passion for floriculture and horticulture.she likes to grow vegetables,fruits and flowers.papaya is one of our favorite fruits.everytime she visits neral,which is atleast once a week,she returns with a carload of papayas after distributing them to the inmates and staff there.this time she brought some real jumbo papayas. they weighed about 2.5 kgs on an average. we shared these with our neighbours and friends and we all so to say had a papaya feast!

a favourite breakfast food in india is a boat of fresh papaya served with a sliced fresh lemon. you are supposed to squeeze the lemon over the papaya and sprinkle the juice all over. papaya is generally eaten as a fruit but one can cook papaya like any other vegetable too. when cooked, green papayas become soft and and sweet.

papaya has a low calorific value but rich in vitamins b and c and it is rich in carotene. it contains lot of water. it is an amazingly rich source of enzymes. enzymes are chemicals that enable the digestion of proteins. papain is the most important of these enzymes. papaya has the property of rejuvenation and helps in controlling premature ageing. unfortunately, papaya loses some of its enzymes when it ripens, so eating them green is ideal. papaya contains arginine which is good for the male fertitlity and carpain which is an enzyme good for the heart. as a juice it is a popular thirst quencher. you can make a good and tasty papaya soup too. even the skin of the papaya is used for external treatment of skin wounds.
when buying papayas select those that have smooth and taut skins.if you cut them, keep them in a fridge.don't buy papayas having wrinkled skins.

eat papayas and be happy! i must recall an incident some twenty years ago when i was returning from bangalore carrying a few papayas from our garden tree. at mumbai airport, my boss had just arrived from new delhi and he called out to me across the baggage conveyer.i went to wish him and on my return found that my papayas were stolen.i lodged a complaint with the indian airlines authorities .they couldn't find it.after a fortnight i received a cheque. they paid me a handsome compensation. you can be sometimes happy when you have lost your papayas !

year of the tiger

the chinese year of the tiger started a fortnight on february 14th as per their lunar calendar.ironically, instead of celebrating such a beautiful animal, we have to fight for their survival as they they have become the most endangered species in the world. tigers reflect the health of our forests. if they survive our forests will survive too.

we all know how our tiger population is fast vanishing.we are left with 1411 tigers only as per official reports issued by the NCTA (national tiger conservation authority). jairam ramesh,environment and forest minister thinks the figure is much less and that they are diminishing day by day.one of the mangroves where the tigers live is in sunderbans in West Bengal.there is a disturbing report that in another 60 years the entire sunderbans will get completely submerged.it is a frightening thought.according to a former director of Project Tiger,the tiger population in most reserves has diminished excepting in Corbett Park in Uttarkhand.because of the high density of tigers there,there is a concerted attempt to kill them.

what a sad state of affairs. from about 44,000 tigers at the turn of the century,we are now looking at a figure of about 1000.time is running out.let us join kiran bedi and others in contributing our mite for their preservation.

join the roar and save the tigers.

one lemon,seven green chillies and a piece of charcoal.

yes,this combination can keep the evil away. if you are superstitious and think that evil eyes are being cast on you and your loved ones by some petty and jealous people, you can do what many in mumbai do. tie a lemon chilli charcoal combo and tie it up to your vehicle or the main door of your home. you will find the negative energies generated by your enemies diminishing.

rahul gandhi says it is not a bad idea when it was suggested that along the indo- china border we should tie the lemon-chilli-charcoal combo to prevent the chinese from trying to capture our territory. this is one instance where bjp also supports the congress party.

we are a superstitious lot, whether we like it or not. we run cars over lemons, we apply colyrium to our babies' eyes to ward off evil. we burn camphor in front of the gods so that no'drishti' befalls them. we also burn camphor and circambulate the camphor stand three times in front of our children so that no "bura nazar" falls on them."chashme bud dur"-kisi ki nagar na lage!

i bought this combo some time back and have kept it safely in my room. i think it is working.i might one day soon even get a german-silver vaastu/ fengshui compliant limboo- mirchi- charcoal to add to the numerous other 'totkas"(charm) that i keep, to bring me good luck. i even keep a "e-limboo" as dhrishti pariharam.

as the north indian would say "tere mukh kalo ho buri nazar waale" (oh man with evil eyes let your face be black)

backbiters

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my name is khan

i tried to see this movie on the first show on the first day at inox,nariman point.it was house full for all the shows. the whole area looked like a battlefield with the police in every nook and corner to prevent any untoward incidents courtesy shiv sen/mns. the security arrangements had to be good. after all 'congress sarkar ka izzat ka savaal tha'.

then, after a long wait we went to see it to last saturday. i liked the film. a great tear-jerker; but then it also helps to unwind like that once in a while. shar rukh khan as rizvan and kajol as mandira make an awesome pair.having met kajol recently in a function,i was pretty excited to see her in her latest movie. she did not let the audience down. her acting was superb particularly in the highly emotional scene when she cries over the dead body of her son who was killed in his school's soccer ground after the 9/11 tragedy. shah rukh does a great job as an autist affected person. actually rizvan suffers from asperger's syndrome which is a mild form of autism. albert einstein suffered from this and even bill gates is supposed to be a victim of this form of autism.

the story is pretty simple and straightforward. rizvan and his brother are brought up by their mother(zareena wahab) after the premature death of their father.rizvan's mom is particularly fond of her autist son much to the envy of his younger brother who is good in academics and goes to the usa for further studies.she teaches him that there are only two types of people in this world. good persons and bad persons.their mother dies suddenly leaving rizvan all alone in the world.the brother sponsors rizvan's visit to usa and gets him a job to sell cosmetic products in san fransisco.the asperger affected rizwan walks and talks in a different manner.he gets nervous on hearing loud noises and is terribly scared of the yellow colour.all these things bring him one day close to death. he is saved by mandira (kajol) who works in a beauty parlour. she is a single mother and has a son to whom she is very attached.

mandira is struck by rizwan's simplicity and honesty.and his intelligence.rizwan tells mandira again and again "marry me".they fall in love and get married.the son likes the new father and it is one happy family till tragedy strikes.in the 9/11 aftermath,while playing soccer the son has an altercation with some american boys.there is a fight and the killer shoots the football right in the middle of the son's stomach. his spleen is badly damaged and the boy dies.mandira feels strongly that had he not taken the name khan,the boy would have survived.she is shattered and asks rizwan to get out of her life.

he leaves and wanders from place to place.during these movements he meets an afro-american family in willamina,georgia and becomes friendly with them.later when he hears that willamina is devastated by a cyclone with many people killed,he rushes to find out whether they are alive. he does a fantastic job of helping the victims.after all his claim while travelling in the american countryside is that "i can repair anything".he has a strong mechanical aptitude and can fix any mechanical contrivance.

"my name is khan and i am not a terrorist" arouses suspicion among the fbi authorities. his passion to meet george bush,the president of usa costs him dear.he is arrested,tortured and thrown into prison.he informs the fbi about the whereabouts of the fanatic muslim rabblerouser and as a reward he gets freed.his acts of heroism in willamina gets wide tv coverage and when the newly elected president of usa obama comes to georgia,rizvan gets the opportunity of directly meeting him. later the friend of the extremist stabs him in a public gathering and rizvan fights for his life. he survives and mandira and he are back together.

produced and directed by karan johar,the movie's message is that let us all love each other.let there be no artificial walls between us.there should be no mutual hatred but only love. the music is outstanding.shankar mahadevan,ihsaan and loy mendonca have done a wonderful job.with heavy sufi flavor,the songs sung by rashid,adnan sani,shankar,shreya ghosal,ruchi sharma and others are soul-stirring. sajda,noor-e-khuda,tere naina,allah hi raham,rang de and my name is khan sung by a paksitani troupe are all melodious.cinematography is of a high order.

it is a movie worth watching.

what's life's greatest little pleasure?

"god bless the inventor of sleep,the cloak that covers all men's thoughts".-cervantes

a recent survey conducted in britain on about 3000 people by 'batchelor's cup-a-soup' puts a good night's sleep on top of the greatest little pleasures of life. can you put a price tag on these pleasures? maybe we should check with paul frijters,an australian economist who has recently worked out the value of various milestones in life.frijters has discoveered a formula to determine the cost of happiness. declared as the best economist under age 40,he says,"money has a greater effect on happiness than previously thought". if you have any suggestions on the greatest little pleasures of life, submit it to www.cupasoupmomnets.co.uk.

the top 50 greatest little pleasures as per the survey are:

1.a good night's sleep
2.finding a forgotten tenner in your pocket
3.cuddling up with a partner in bed
4.crying with laughter
5.having a lie-in
6.sleeping in newly laundered bedding
7.getting a bargain
8.making someone smile
9.catching up with an old friend
10.laughing at things that have happened in the past
11.eating a Sunday roast with your family
12.someone saying you look nice
13.curling up on the sofa with a good book and a hot drink or soup
14.discovering you've lost a few pounds
15.breakfast in bed
16.waking up thinking it's a work day and then realising it's the weekend
17.a random person smiling at you in the street
18.looking through old photo albums
19.eating a takeaway
20.first snow fall of the year
21.Singing your heart out to your favourite song in car
22.having lunch with friends
23.listening to a baby laughing
24.having a massage
25.reading a book or listening to your iPod on holiday by the pool
26.playing in snow
27.finding a pair of jeans that fit perfectly
28.being chatted up
29.a girly-night in
30.a pampering session at home
31.the smell of freshly cut grass
32.sitting in the pub with your friends
33.looking at a baby asleep in a cot
34.waking up in a room with an amazing view
35.clothes shopping
36.receiving a letter from a friend
37.fitting into an old pair of jeans again after losing some weight
38.staying up all night getting to know someone special
39.your mum's cooking
40.getting dressed up for a night out
41.watching a live band
42.drinking a cold beer after work
43.browsing in a secondhand book shop
44.going to the cinema
45.getting a new hairstyle
46.your queue being the quickest in the supermarket
47.the cold side of the pillow
48.watching a DVD
49.getting tipsy
50.popping bubble wrap. (ANI)

have a good night's sleep!