tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-115331352024-03-13T13:21:42.582+05:30Muesli harmlessPicture yourself in a boat on a river
With tangerine trees and marmalade skies
Somebody calls you, you answer quite slowly,
A girl with kaleidoscope eyes
(Lucy in the sky with diamonds,
Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band 1967,
Lennon/ McCartney)Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger153125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11533135.post-80865970841364568252016-11-22T22:05:00.002+05:302016-11-22T22:05:43.882+05:308 things I've learned from 8 years in Mumbai<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
1. Run..<br />
.. the standard chartered Mumbai half marathon. Training for a half isn't too time consuming and the run itself is worth it. You'll catch the breeze on the sealink, watch Milind and the Kenyans lope past you, grab 5 stars and orange segments from the Peddar Road crowd, get a medal and a foot massage at the end.<br />
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2. Don't run<br />
.. For a train, traffic light or bus. Running to catch the first two could kill you. And this might be my middle aged cynicism at work- but buses will not stop for you, run you ever so shrewdly.<br />
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3. Start up<br />
Create something yourself. Start a lake cleanup, get your society to segregate garbage or start helping the maids and security guards to open bank accounts and get insured.. It might seem like your efforts aren't making a dent in the mountainous problems of mumbai, but like the garbage people throw into the sea- come the monsoon, it'll wash back onto Mumbai's shores.<br />
Seriously, do something garbage- related.<br />
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4. Marine drive, kala ghoda, Colaba, chowpatty..<br />
Are all visited during your first bewildering month in the city. After that, you'll find a suburban place for all the sobo food, and monuments can always be revisited when friends from the US want to show their kids the sights and sounds of "real" Mumbai.<br />
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5. Friendly neighbourhood<br />
Your college buddies may be in Mumbai, but if they're several suburbs away and on a different train line- you're going to see them never. Make friends in the neighbourhood, join a local area fb or whats app group, take part in the building dandiya, attend the society AGM... You won't make friends at the AGM, but you'll find out about enmities, frustration, hunger for power and maybe even see a few angry-but-genteel punches and hair-tugs.<br />
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6. Signed, sealed and delivered<br />
If it's a commodity or service that can be provided at home, you will get it in Mumbai. You will get so used to the efficiency, that you will pout and sulk when a single contractor delays his work.<br />
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7. Don't let it rain on your parade<br />
Mumbai's extreme weather is the monsoon. Since it's mainly a car and public transport city, everyone uses umbrellas, unlike Pune, where we all had wind cheaters to protect us while on our two wheelers. Buy yourself a small foldy umbrella that's useless in a July downpour. You will inevitably lose it in the first week. Then go and get yourself a lovely big umbrella that fits your nuclear family and dog under it. Most of Mumbai then proceeds to buy "jelly shoes"- those colourful rubbery slip ons from Thailand that won't get spoiled in the rain- though they will slosh all kinds of water and lepto-ridden slush onto your feet. Be smarter than that- search for a pair of rain boots and stride proudly through the puddles.<br />
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8. Leave<br />
After 8 years, pack a bag - and get the incredibly efficient movers to wrap, pack and box everything else- and move out. You'll realise how dependant you were on maids, caterers, drivers, car washers, delivery services, contractors.. and everyone else that comes to your doorstep- usually when you're napping- to do all your work for you. Move to a smaller town, enjoy cooking, gardening, hanging your own laundry in the sun- no pulleys in sight- and for the first time since your childhood, learn to clean your own..<br />
Methi. Clean your own methi. What did you think I was going to say? We're spoilt in Mumbai, but it's not that bad!<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11533135.post-50087329285563094012013-05-30T11:15:00.003+05:302013-05-30T11:15:52.351+05:30Since 2011..<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
.. I have bought a house, changed jobs and had a baby.<br />
What else is there to do while waiting for the third part of the <a href="http://www.amitavghosh.com/">Ibis trilogy</a>?<br />
<br />
I've read the first 2 books of the game of thrones and the mind boggles at what I'll do while waiting for<a href="http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=j7lp3RhzfgI"> g r r Martin to finish the series</a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11533135.post-92218506100341059372013-01-01T20:16:00.000+05:302013-01-07T18:44:27.566+05:30Editor wanted<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b>Item One </b>The venerable folk at <a href="http://www.bestundertaking.com/">BEST</a> decided to provide a public information system to allow users to track bus timings. It allows commuters to receive SMSs on bus locations. The site's imaginative title: <a href="http://www.bestpis.in/">http://www.bestpis.in </a><b></b><br />
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<b>Item Two </b>Promotional ads for the new Sallu movie characterize Inspector Chulbul Pandey as<br />
"bad ass".<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEjCzJkVumyNXhMRwG2MLJKlHC5ZslogntyL2TrhifJVxQF_RbqNMz4OnxCQX_9V3smhjGo1YudzHVm3P-eAdqUPGEJMNmfVdV5dJFJIMHQiHjilCAn4rOjx077_V2YJsrfYmI/s1600/dbng2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEjCzJkVumyNXhMRwG2MLJKlHC5ZslogntyL2TrhifJVxQF_RbqNMz4OnxCQX_9V3smhjGo1YudzHVm3P-eAdqUPGEJMNmfVdV5dJFJIMHQiHjilCAn4rOjx077_V2YJsrfYmI/s320/dbng2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
All that work in the gym and then they insult his glutes?<br />
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If the marketing department meant badass, defined as a tough, aggressive, uncooperative person..<a href="http://m.timesofindia.com/city/mumbai/Hit-and-run-case-Salman-Khan-exempted-from-personal-appearance/articleshow/17779457.cms"> ..that I agree with </a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11533135.post-65294197598417101602012-11-19T21:35:00.000+05:302012-11-19T21:36:45.349+05:30A quizNaBloPoMo it is! After such a long gap, it's extraordinarily difficult to get back into blobbing mode. Especially on a daily basis. Even though I started 2 weeks late. So a daily blobber I will be. Here's a quiz for crime fiction fans, answers tomorrow:
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1. This detective's sidekick was reported to have a shoulder injury from a "jezail bullet" during a battle in Afghanistan. Later in the series, he mentions a thigh injury, also from a jezail bullet. Who is the unfortunate detective with the traveling bullet wound?
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2. Two comically clumsy detectives who look identical, yet could not be related
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3. HRF Keating, a British author wrote a detective series about a Bombay CID inspector. His first book was made into a Merchant Ivory film. Another of his books was set in Goregaon- Powai areas. Name the detective
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4. In a Danish book later made into a movie, this female detective relies on her understanding of snow and ice to solve the mystery behind the death of her neighbour, an Inuit boy.
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5. Agatha Christie's created a character said to resemble Christie herself- Ariadne Oliver. Oliver wrote detective stories starring a vegetarian detective who she disliked and wished she could finish off. Name the detective and the country he's from
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6. A celebrated film director wrote a series on a detective Pradosh C. Mitter. Name the director/ author and the popular name for the detective
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7. Next- name the female detective who is a Crimean war veteran and owns a dodo called Pickwick.
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8. A short, stumpy detective, who's crime-solving ability is coloured by his Catholicism.
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9. A titled, cricket-playing, whimsical gentleman detective.
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10. A NY city police detective 3,000 years in the future solves mysteries on Earth and other planets. The detective's sidekick is governed by the Three Laws of Robotics. Name the detectives and the author
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11. A holistic detective who investigates the "fundamental interconnectedness of all things", may be psychic, and runs up huge expense accounts
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12. Elegant Effendi the miniaturist painter is murdered in the Ottaman Empire. Name the author.
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Well obviously you can google these if you want.
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11533135.post-19527586865624399272012-11-18T20:55:00.000+05:302012-11-19T09:30:54.643+05:30Funerals of septa and octagenarians from natural causes I have knownWhat did I learn in <a href="http://molybdenim.blogspot.in/2006/04/let-he-who-is-without-sin-stone-first.html">2006</a>- don't go to work, or you'll have to walk home.
What did I learn in 2012: always keep ice cream at home. You never know when you are going to have a tooth extracted, be put on an icecream diet and find all the shops <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Bal-Thackerays-final-journey-cripples-Mumbai/articleshow/17272238.cms">shut for 36 hours</a>.
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11533135.post-24312566009601703792011-07-29T15:26:00.009+05:302011-08-05T10:39:00.023+05:30"We're maroon"<a href="http://www.umass.edu/">Umass Amherst: We're maroon!</a><br />We're also brown.<br /><br />I point out to you, (converts pointy finger into one of those Apple multi-fingered gestures)<br /><br />Item 1: <a href="http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-07-27/news/29820663_1_juergen-fitschen-anshu-jain-deutsche-bank">Anshu Jain is Deutsche Bank's CEO, first non-native German speaker</a><br />1.1: <a href="http://www.isenberg.umass.edu/CISDM/">Anshu Jain is a Umass Amherst alumnus</a><br /><br />Item 2: <a href="http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-07-19/news/29790970_1_hina-rabbani-khar-foreign-minister-foreign-policy">Hina Rabbani Bandra (I mince Khar, suburban Mumbai joke) is Pakistan's first female foreign minister, and the youngest</a><br />Point 2.1: <a href="http://www.umass.edu/loop/talkingpoints/articles/132605.php">Hina Rabbani Khar is a Umass Amherst alumnus</a><br /><br />Item 3: Have I missed out on anyone?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11533135.post-69946838347653769122011-07-14T19:42:00.011+05:302011-07-21T08:08:20.894+05:30Barb WireNo, I don’t mean <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115624/">the movie</a> that is basically Casablanca in a dystopian future, with Pam Anderson as Bogart.<br /><br />I mean the real thing- in all its pointy glory. <br /><br />My worst barb wire memory involves a bicycle. There I was, learning to cycle on a leafy University campus. I rode downhill, and felt confident enough to negotiate a sharp turn. At the crucial moment, I froze and couldn't turn or brake. As I went hand-first-to-avoid-going-face-first into a fluffy hedge, I expected it to gently break my fall, in a planty sort of way. But the university campus that I was cycling in had decided to put barb wire inside the hedge, <s> just for fun </s> to lacerate the tongues of passing cows. <br /><br />You can imagine the result- the cycle was in two pieces, joined tenuously by the brake cables. My right palm was in similar shape. I was rushed home and taken to the nearest doctor. On a Sunday evening, that was a piles clinic. (You probably didn’t imagine that part.) They were kind enough to clean the wound and point us in the direction of a less-specialized, and less piley doctor. Who happened to be one that believed that doctors over-prescribe, and the body has natural healing process that will holistically self-heal. So no stitches for me. At the end of a week, when the <a href="http://molybdenim.blogspot.com/2006/01/bandages-i-have-known.html">bandages</a> were removed, I found I had an angry scar along my palm. This led to two outcomes- the first was that in the years to come, I found that a sharp tap on the scar led to a shooting pain along my right hand. And second- throughout my childhood I could never claim that I had stitches. (This was an important talking point for children in the 90s). <br /><br />Last week, Johhny Hoogerland reminded me of my accident. (He was hit by a car seconds before this, while cycling at high speed).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYMcIKVjTJ3HW-Ra7N7t7lKxGNaYgjI3519OPMI9_1E3d8jPHC9wIoN80ZYHzN5cZZE5PcQC21CZ5YquV4a0Azd1B2uPdYW4dMGTT-OWqw00U2IcEyNzdMaz7XrcP41f6HVbu7/s1600/3e611aceb748aec001b30355048763aa-getty-_.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYMcIKVjTJ3HW-Ra7N7t7lKxGNaYgjI3519OPMI9_1E3d8jPHC9wIoN80ZYHzN5cZZE5PcQC21CZ5YquV4a0Azd1B2uPdYW4dMGTT-OWqw00U2IcEyNzdMaz7XrcP41f6HVbu7/s320/3e611aceb748aec001b30355048763aa-getty-_.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5631430963441798482" /></a><br /><br />Pic source: <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/sc/gallery/im:urn:newsml:sports.yahoo,getty:20050301:sc,photo,3e611aceb748aec001b30355048763aa-getty-_:1">Yahoo</a><br /><br />In conclusion- barb wire bad. Stop hiding it in hedges. Stop using it to hem in pastures. Just stop using it. And <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115624/quotes">don't call me babe</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11533135.post-12034296437724097412011-05-17T21:24:00.004+05:302011-05-17T22:00:27.153+05:30Not quite Cinderella<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDWqnRdGFbelEWCx0Q8w0LT_AXuaHZ-H4fozQd1xV-JvnQq5n51fL4egn_eIcqVkgGwHZstjjTvM3mLs-57TSElCbcRLgojkPbKT5D3Te6oZq__CdkHKs4EFJ-g0gcIna_XCiL/s1600/IMG_1154.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDWqnRdGFbelEWCx0Q8w0LT_AXuaHZ-H4fozQd1xV-JvnQq5n51fL4egn_eIcqVkgGwHZstjjTvM3mLs-57TSElCbcRLgojkPbKT5D3Te6oZq__CdkHKs4EFJ-g0gcIna_XCiL/s320/IMG_1154.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5607721328626494098" /></a><br /><br />The other shoe lies somewhere at the bottom of the Kundalika river, along with one earring and some of my skin. <br /><br />After falling out of a raft at the start of a Grade 4 rapid, I think I'm going to go ahead and stop thinking of white water rafting as a Disney ride.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11533135.post-14447015349390904832011-04-18T14:30:00.001+05:302011-04-18T16:36:23.011+05:30Filmi filmi, wizard howlTwo days, two deaths.<br />March 26th- Diane Wynne Jones<br />March 27th- H R F Keating<br /><br />I have read one book by each of them, and seen a movie based on one of their books. Coincidence?<br />Yes.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0176016/">The Perfect Murder</a> was of course, neither perfect, nor a murder. It was a murderous attack on Mr. Perfect, the Parsi secretary at a South Bombay business house. Naseer, fat family tycoons, suspicious wives and daughters in law in low-cut Merchant Ivory type sari blouses, the monsoon... I remembered the movie and the author because Keating had written the initial Inspector Ghote books without ever visiting India. <br /><br />Years later, the Herr Doktor gifted me Filmi Filmi, Inspector Ghote- a murder mystery on a film-set with movie stars, agents, fat financiers, light boys with ambitions to finance movies, all under suspicion. The set was set in Kamaal Amrohi studios, on JVLR (Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road, obviously) which I drove past every single time I visited Mumbai as a chile. The filmy characters even picnic in Powai, where I now live. Knowing an area that a book is set in.. joy! After all, the only thing I liked about The White Tiger was its opening line with the office address of a BPO transport agency near Electronic City, off Hosur Main Road. Ahhh, I thought.. Hosur Road, where the bison freely roam...<br /><br />And then there was Ms. Wynne Jones, who should be read for her <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2011/mar/29/diana-wynne-jones-chrestomanci">mad photograph</a> alone. Howl's Moving Castle is of course, brilliant. It's funny, charming young adult fantasy fiction with clever bits that make you re-read the book. The <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0347149/">movie</a> is beautiful, as behooves young <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0594503/">Mr Miyazaki</a>, but it can't help but miss out on the plot twists. So I'd recommend watching it only if you aren't going to read the book. Which would be silly. <br /><br />Among other series, Wynne Jones also wrote about a school for young wizards (long before she who must not be named). The Chrestomanci series. Wonderful stuff, strongly recommended for young adults. Although.. I haven't read any of them yet- I freely admit. <br /><br />HRF would have approved.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11533135.post-21653918518096109742011-04-07T11:36:00.005+05:302011-04-18T11:55:10.131+05:30Plane sailingHeading for a long flight on a budget airline? Going to be in the train for more than 24 hours? What keeps you awake at night a week before leaving? What's the last thing you do before locking the door? Paranoid types turn off the gas, those with sensitive systems go for Pre-Departure-P/ P-D-Poo . My personal idiosyncrasy is obsessing over journey reading material. Of course, if I'm going on holiday, there's a whole separate obsession about holiday reading, but this is not the blob post for that.<br /><br />The ideal journey book is light and entertaining, but not too gripping, so I can let go of it and nap, if needed. And not too frothy or reread 500 times- one doesn't want to be seen publicly as the Girl with the Georgette Heyer. One week before the journey, I buy the perfect book. Three days before leaving, I finish reading it. Two days before leaving, I'm filled with rage and panic at being reduced once more to a nothing-to-read situation. The day before leaving I scramble and pack something that's sat around the house, unread. An hour before leaving, I remove the unread book, look around for a better one, don't find anything, repack the unread one and add another book that is dull/ fat/ both. O Pamuk's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_%28novel%29">Snow</a> has been that unread book. Twice. And on two flights I have gnashed my teeth and breathed deeply all over the sleeping spouse to wake him up and entertain me because I couldn't bear Ka (narrator) in perpetual kar (snow) in Kars (town) anymore. <br /><br />While my ideal book (yes, it’s still a book, no kindle/ Ipad here) for the journey is usually fiction, there has been the occasional <a href="http://www.harpercollins.com/books/India-After-Gandhi-Ramachandra-Guha/?isbn=9780060198817">brilliantly researched and Guha-written</a> exception. <br /><br />I have twice stumbled on a book which fuses with the journey into one inseparable experience.<br /><br />Item 1. NYC on a Friday evening, waiting for the Amtrak to DC<br />I got there early with some sort of <a href="http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?c=Page&pagename=am%2FLayout&cid=1241305460725">international-people-can-use-multiple-times pass</a>, stood in a LONG line to book a seat and then waited without anywhere to sit for a LONG time for my train, as the next few trains were full up. Edging away from the mass of New Yorkers who were beginning to resemble Dadar commuters waiting for the Deccan Queen while the 6:50 fast to Virar arrived at the same platform, I drifted into a bookshop. Umberto Eco’s <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Travel-Salmon-Other-Essays-Harvest/dp/015600125X">How to travel with a salmon</a> deposited itself into my waiting hands and opened to a page that read, <br /><br />“American trains are the image of what the world might be like after an atomic war. It isn’t that the trains don’t leave, it’s that often they don’t arrive, having broken down en route, causing people to wait during a six-hour delay in enormous stations, icy and empty, without a snack bar, inhabited by suspicious characters, and riddled with underground passages that recall the scenes in the New York subways in Return to the Planet of the Apes. The line between New York and Washington, patronized by newspaper reporters and senators, in first class offers at least business-class comfort, with a tray of hot food worthy of a university dining hall. But the other lines have filthy coaches, with eviscerated leatherette cushions, and the snack bar offers food that makes you nostalgic (you’ll say I’m exaggerating) for the recycled sawdust you are forced to eat on the Milan-Rome express.”<br /><br />(found the quote <a href="http://uncommon-priors.com/?p=3126">here</a>. My google skills never fail to amaze you)<br /><br />Umby was exaggerating, of course. I know why, though. He had probably had to wait as long as I did. And while grateful for the little metal bars below the seat in front of you that are such a help for weary long-legged travellers, he’d also probably found that they are mysteriously absent on the train that brings you back from Washington to NYC. And it wasn’t just in my train that they were missing- I asked around. <br /><br />Item 2<br />That was then. More recently, I boarded a Bom-Del flight- Indian Airlines it was. Or Air India. Or Apache Indian. Or whatever they’re calling it these days. Plumped onto seat, kursi-ki-peti-d and de-shoed. My seat-neighbour quickly described her living situation – married, no kids, joint family, great cook for parties. As we waited for a late passenger to board, she asked me for my phone number*. My reading material proved hefty enough to silence her for a while- <a href="http://www.flipkart.com/trotter-nama-allan-sealy-book-8186939040">Trotter Nama </a>packs a literal punch. <br /><br />The captain announced that the flight was delayed, and I began the book. The narrator, for those of you who haven’t read it, started with a chat to a seat-neighbour on an Indian Airlines flight, explaining his strategy of getting onto the plane at the last moment, to score an upgrade.. and well, I don’t remember the rest of it, but I was struck by the coincidence. Struck enough to tell her about it. Turns out she was “into books, but only by Chetan Bhagat”**. Mid-way through the flight, she took out her phone to check the time. And this was before the days of the iphone with its airplane mode. Eyes almost falling out of my sockets, I hurried into an explanation of the potential dangers, the accidents that had led to the cellphone ban and as a post-script- the lack of concrete evidence, as well as current thinking that the ban was more for cellphone companies than airline safety. She smiled indulgently, patted me on the head and turned it off to pacify me. The book Trotters onto an incident in a hot-air balloon that ends in grisly fashion. It is not mentioned explicitly, but I sense that an annoying co-passenger with a cell phone is involved. Sub text is everything!<br /><br />And finally, I should note that I actually finished reading the Pamuk. Didn't buy the Eco. And Trotter has now occupied the spot vacated by Snow.<br /><br />*How to deal with this without giving rise to massive sulks for the next 2 hours, and more importantly, without feeling embarrassed and guilty? This is particularly difficult if the askee is same sex/ at a community event /doesn’t seem to be asking for fraansip reasons. <br />I just gave the woman my number, because I was too slow to think of a way out. It’s not a bad strategy though- the kind of people who randomly ask you for your number probably do it to so many people that your number is lost in their database. I hope. <br /><br />**Far be it from me to be a book snob, but it just goes to show you, doesn’t it?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11533135.post-64915501828323167972011-03-18T10:12:00.002+05:302011-03-18T10:30:04.715+05:30Prelude to a SundayFeral children roam the streets. The ones that are alone press themselves against walls and duck behind parked cars, hoping not to be seen by neighbourhood gangs. Some are armed with seemingly innocuous plastic bags filled with a transparent liquid. Tiny, but in the right hands- deadly. Others strut around carrying weapons, with ammo strapped to their backs. The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_of_the_Flies">little uns</a> fight their battles, while the old uns walk past, unthinking. Two days from now, they won't be able to ignore the mayhem.<br /><a href="http://www.google.co.in/images?q=holi&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi&biw=1100&bih=574">Holi hai</a> indeed!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11533135.post-51953014591728433842011-03-09T11:02:00.006+05:302011-03-09T11:28:36.509+05:30How not to review booksA few books on running that I've been gifted. Thanks, N!<br /><br />-<a href="http://www.flipkart.com/talk-running-haruki-murakami-book-0099532530">What I talk about when I talk about running by Haruki Murakami</a><br />"First Murakami I've read where nobody is obsessed about ironing or suicide"<br />Read this a year ago. It's very re-visitable. Murakami turns out to be just the kind focused, early-sleeping, successful runner I imagined him to be. <br /><br />- <a href="http://www.flipkart.com/run-bernd-heinrich-natural-history-book-0060958707">Why we run- A natural history by Bernd Heinrich</a><br />"Most Misleading Book title and cover picture"<br />I expected a book in the manner of <a href="http://www.flipkart.com/tatiana-sex-advice-all-creation-book-0701169257">Dr Tatiana</a>. Instead, I got a male German Jane Eyre becoming a runner at a Lowood-type school in New England, while discovering iridiscent beetles all over the place. <br /><br />- <a href="http://www.flipkart.com/running-philosophy-michael-austin-marathon-book-1405167971">Running and Philosophy- Michael Austin (ed)</a><br />"Why Kant I run after hitting a training Plato?"<br />Am running out of clever ways to characterize books. The book does what it says.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11533135.post-46045267020996836212011-02-16T16:45:00.006+05:302011-02-16T17:06:54.491+05:30Auroville Marathon 2011: You'll never run hungry again!Or rather: if all you do is run the auroville half marathon, you'll never go hungry again. I'm back from a blogging breag and happy to report that Auroville is the best half marathon I've ever run. Why?<br /><br />1. The company- first official half-marathon for N. The obligatory fun and games associated with training together, almost not getting to the venue on time, celebrating the end of the run, limping up and down the hotel stairs together.. Also had fun training through the year with my Mumbai running buddy and meeting runners from <a href="www.runnersforlife.com">Bangalore</a> and <a href="www.kennybunkportmaine.blogspot.com/">Chennai</a>. I liked the whooshing sound they made as they flew by. <br /><br />2. The course: Green and windy as it cuts through the spiralled canopy of trees, beautiful houses, pony paddock, schools and gigantic golden orb that is auroville. It's a trail, so was probably kinder on the knees than concrete, though the uneveness may have caused a lil damage of its own. Tough spots: an uphill sandy patch. and the last 2km without shade. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA4Y5pCni_VESYnMGHzIWkJ2JaXi6bxjqWV-gG5PlH84vKVZkORgFwBiwscaYurkXAdHBx5PiBmDgatJi-A5Zgj-DC0eywqPuCHUKHOEfo_MQcwA4cRjZnB0iWEalxoZ9ft3Rr/s1600/auro1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA4Y5pCni_VESYnMGHzIWkJ2JaXi6bxjqWV-gG5PlH84vKVZkORgFwBiwscaYurkXAdHBx5PiBmDgatJi-A5Zgj-DC0eywqPuCHUKHOEfo_MQcwA4cRjZnB0iWEalxoZ9ft3Rr/s320/auro1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5574245675207578002" /></a><br />(Great pic, no? Not mine. Not this year either. From <a href="http://journeys-explored.blogspot.com/2010/03/escapade-to-auroville-marathon.html">here</a>) <br /><br />3.The weather: perfect. The morning was cold, specially for those who had ridden in on rented Honda Activas. <br /><br />4. The organisation: flawless. Water stops regularly, friendly volunteers, cyclist and drumming encouragers, course well-marked, tshirts at the end, and apparently some massages at the finish that I didn't bother with because of.. <br /><br />5. The food: Each aid stop (every 3km they said, but seemed more frequent) had the obligatory water, electral (which N said tasted like vodka, in a bad way. Electral complex?),sliced bananas, oranges, glucose biscuits, sliced five-stars, peanut chikki. and some pain management stuff. Did I mention that bananas, oranges, bikkies, chocolate and chikki are all major weaknesses? throw in some chips and you're looking at my birthday party!<br /><br />Guess who ate too much en route and probably slowed down at the end because she felt a tad bloaty?<br /><br />Post-run, they had laid out a breakfast of tea, unpolished rice cooked with whole peppercons, sambhar and vadai. There was a humongous line for the food, but by dint of hanging around in a totally different part of the field and looking pathetic, a new food table conjured itself in front of us and food was dispensed with very quickly. <br /><br />6. Post- post-run- we returned to our hotel in Pondicherry with a large number of stairs (ow ow ow ow ow) and a restaurant under a mango tree. a nap and then a supposedly french, but actually italian brunch was consumed very slowly over 3 hours. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2mDQia2ZuehN3RBWKwBdxOHgGwPZH33PvVQ5p-osrn25UNjdgYoyoQRSuEUSKDSG3j3LXn4Ovi6jvleuMZxIxeOJZ1rvkXtNQ8TEESgDadqOV1UdnlVaHaKC_sIdqkilBw9eP/s1600/hotel2.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2mDQia2ZuehN3RBWKwBdxOHgGwPZH33PvVQ5p-osrn25UNjdgYoyoQRSuEUSKDSG3j3LXn4Ovi6jvleuMZxIxeOJZ1rvkXtNQ8TEESgDadqOV1UdnlVaHaKC_sIdqkilBw9eP/s320/hotel2.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5574247600443444946" /></a><br />Bliss.<br />Dinner was tiffin- dosai with three types of chutney and sambar the likes of which those pune udipi joints with their watery red liquid can only dream of.. <br /><br />Oh and the run wasn't bad either.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11533135.post-83347478825768997292010-11-10T17:04:00.011+05:302010-11-12T10:41:22.155+05:30Fragen ohne AntwortWhy do I have a gardener, when I live in a highrise apartment with 12 potty plants?<br />The maali drops in once a week to look up the plants. Like all good gardeners, he is able to lean on a convenient tree/ balcony railing and punctuate his work with a slow discourse on sunlight, vegetable gardening and the pidgie poo menace, all the while sending a gentle shower of mud onto the carpet. In case this is beginning to sound all corduroy-covered-Lord Emsworthish, you should know that the maali works in a nursery from 6 am to 5 pm, and then makes home visits till 10 pm. Only in Mumbai moment?<br /><br />Why am I composting in a nook outside the apartment?<br />Because... we all should? This is working out werry well. Go to <a href="http://www.dailydump.org/where_to_buy">Daily Dump</a> to find your friendly neighbourhood composter. In 6 - 8 weeks, <a href="http://www.ehow.com/how_14655_make-compost-tea.html">compost tea</a> will be served. With almond macaroons. <br />[steps off soapbox]<br /><br />Why do I try to turn all parties into board game nights?<br />I spend parties at home "accidentally" bringing out a box of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiel_des_Jahres#Previous_winners">Carcassonne</a>, silly me, when I'd gone to get a bowl of roasted almonds. This has never worked.<br /><br />Why do I picture <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Name_Is_Red">elegant effendi</a> waggling his wrists about whenever I hear the name <a href="http://www.cricinfo.com/india/content/player/30750.html">Laxman</a>?<br />It could be worse, I suppose. I could picture Sehwag- you beauty and his lusty blows.<br /><br />Why hasn't match fixing wiped itself out?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin9S0clzZSBlEsRqoBFW1dd-V85lCuhuWoSR94aTd72jClJ9v39t3d1GbGYRS17jdlFSQLkIzb58TdCYXtEbzxc6af9MG4WHsBkoGOC7vgP1u90m1XobYBUd8zpGqo5zMfzKY6/s1600/flowchart.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin9S0clzZSBlEsRqoBFW1dd-V85lCuhuWoSR94aTd72jClJ9v39t3d1GbGYRS17jdlFSQLkIzb58TdCYXtEbzxc6af9MG4WHsBkoGOC7vgP1u90m1XobYBUd8zpGqo5zMfzKY6/s320/flowchart.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538525960521318994" /></a><br /><br />Why doesn't anybody comment on the blob anymore?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11533135.post-42099158630202335072010-11-10T11:42:00.003+05:302010-11-10T13:06:06.246+05:30Sanyogita better watch out.... now that Prithviraj Chavan is riding into Mantralaya.<br /><br />-An 1192 AD pun.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11533135.post-40959129145634500432010-09-16T22:00:00.007+05:302010-09-16T22:42:31.872+05:30House-workI wonder why I abandoned the blob for so long. <br />It's not that I didn't have anything to say. <br />It's not that I didn't get 2 emails from a loyal reader asking for a daily breakfast bowl of freshly tossed harmless muesli.* <br />It's not that I've shifted my focus to twitter. I'm only there to check that every Indian cricket lover and his family <a href="http://twitter.com/sachin_rt">is being wished the best in life.</a><br /><br />Maybe blobbing was something I needed to get out of my system. I'm now a proper grown-up who works and runs a home and doesn't write about sitaphal milkshake and leechy treks. My mind is now taken up with bais, appraisals and wotnot. <br /><br /><br />Nice try.<br /><br />It's actually because I'm always watching <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0412142/">House</a> and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0386676/">The Office </a><br /><br />But I'm back, baby! <br />And no, it never was lupus.<br /><br />*It is quite possible that he really just wanted a bowl of breakfast cereal.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11533135.post-84413377478558720222010-09-13T16:41:00.005+05:302010-09-13T16:50:20.297+05:30Filled with the kind of self-loathing.... that you only get when <br />you haven't updated the ol blob in 7 months<br />you have eaten an entire plate of (and this is very important) <span style="font-weight:bold;">cold</span> <a href="http://www.google.co.in/images?hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=ch7&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&q=kanda+bhaji&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=rQeOTNeEKsvXcbrr6JIE&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CCUQsAQwAA&biw=1054&bih=545">kanda bhajji</a> without sharing<br />and you have cancelled your plan to run the <a href="www.kaveritrailmarathon.com">Kaveri Trail Marathon</a> a week before the run because of sickness and busyness. <br /><br />(returns to blobby hideout with a hideous plop)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11533135.post-84903680286798421742010-02-19T10:07:00.009+05:302010-02-22T09:39:44.145+05:30Orcaella Brevirostris's Curls and CurvesThe Winter Olympics are on, accompanied by the clatter of skates, swoosh of skis and..the silent sweeping of brooms?<br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curling">Curling</a> as an olympic sport is a little hard to understand. For that matter, curling as a sport is hard to understand. <br /><br />Skiing though, is awesome, even when there isn't enough snow on Solang's slopes and you have to go up into the mountains for some off-piste action. Here's Sanjay, former India under-19 champion, skiing down a meadow above Beaskund. <br /><br /><object width="580" height="360"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/HnVxsaXuRhU&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&border=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/HnVxsaXuRhU&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="330" height="300"></embed></object><br /><br />*off-piste action ~= eating large quantities of salted dry fruitUnknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11533135.post-22745011545881876242010-02-14T17:54:00.007+05:302010-02-15T16:44:06.713+05:30Q. How many sick-sainiks would it take to break a lightbulb?A. 0<br />..if the lightbulb in question was above the head of an Australian of Pakistani origin who was in Mumbai to celebrate Valentine's day with her boyfriend, a taxi driver originally from Bihar, by watching a Shah Rukh film.<br />because the goons' head would explode, from the sheer information overload.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11533135.post-32478466272718086592010-01-18T22:59:00.013+05:302010-01-18T23:28:35.363+05:30Mumbai, halved<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF2r9kpIAQ4GQUzZDaefATTwV89CwpFfPt8lM19XUs-2OSWz5VtjdDWJ3cJcGWCJK1tkhdHrSwGSf5Zshrba8U1u87d4ikuZfn6IYrRZ1AWZ3gfcizP9jgmpNMDqoo-KxMAhbB/s1600-h/P1030364.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF2r9kpIAQ4GQUzZDaefATTwV89CwpFfPt8lM19XUs-2OSWz5VtjdDWJ3cJcGWCJK1tkhdHrSwGSf5Zshrba8U1u87d4ikuZfn6IYrRZ1AWZ3gfcizP9jgmpNMDqoo-KxMAhbB/s320/P1030364.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428133602856386866" /></a><br /><br />Busy taking photographs while crossing the sea link at daybreak. And then I wonder why I logged a personal worst PR this time round at the Mumbai half. <br /><br />Had a timing chip on for the first time, so was absurdly conscious of stepping emphatically on the red carpets at the start and finish, to register the time. Over-ate on the run up the pedder road flyover per usual (1 ravalgaon boiled sweetie, 1 segment orange, 1.5 glucose biscuits, 1 yellaki banana), pasta partied and then ran with/hours behind the usual suspects, and one unusual one, wilted in the marine drive heat, cheered the winners-who-take-less-time-to-do-double-my-distance, vowed to never do this again except that i know perfectly well that i will, tried not to think too long about the street kids that asked for banana and water bottle, didn't recognise shobbha day even though she blocked my way, ate the hippo chips that were part of the goodie bag (chinese manchurian flavour) and darkly wondered who had pilfered all the food from my goodie bag last year. Aall, as they rightly point out, iz vell.<br /><br />(limps into the sunrise. one is not the young orcaella one used to be. more like an old hippo. some sort of water creature)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZe8kO6JFv6kJTU-XB73MTCuvtVLR-hdn5EjHQdiUl_6Uii2Qzf2qOzfCeKzxFibymw6X1TnuZjnPVWDLCbeWNAzfVmNact-7s_m7FjHGIFobdBveg-JpHQSkAY8kT0Am51IN1/s1600-h/P1030362.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZe8kO6JFv6kJTU-XB73MTCuvtVLR-hdn5EjHQdiUl_6Uii2Qzf2qOzfCeKzxFibymw6X1TnuZjnPVWDLCbeWNAzfVmNact-7s_m7FjHGIFobdBveg-JpHQSkAY8kT0Am51IN1/s320/P1030362.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428136686102363266" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11533135.post-86888018043966215382010-01-08T19:39:00.004+05:302010-01-08T19:50:31.668+05:30Safe as the fuehrer?Seen on a lock in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koyna_Dam">Koyna</a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Yi5oKnG6_yu0Pd5a6v5eADwm5oXI1uXGEnU43NXMvhcCAgRqGhdR2m4yGh2QkjDCN7gIRWFUXX_Ck9AsFAHyppGoFQ8MEWLzcmWpx0LoC8gG6-Uf1_-LQszXpQhK1ETAA3Kg/s1600-h/IMG_0210.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Yi5oKnG6_yu0Pd5a6v5eADwm5oXI1uXGEnU43NXMvhcCAgRqGhdR2m4yGh2QkjDCN7gIRWFUXX_Ck9AsFAHyppGoFQ8MEWLzcmWpx0LoC8gG6-Uf1_-LQszXpQhK1ETAA3Kg/s320/IMG_0210.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424373334877881730" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11533135.post-43012495230731428022009-12-21T12:24:00.006+05:302009-12-21T13:07:26.830+05:30City lightMy <a href="https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11533135&postID=221946140467877437">comment</a> to Kenny inspired me to list snappy one-liners that refer to a specific institution in a city, but have now taken on a life of their own, to define the city. After the first few, inspiration dried at the rate of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aral_Sea">Aral sea</a>. <br /><br />1. London: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_the_gap">Mind the Gap</a><br />2. Bangkok: <a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=same+same+but+different">Same same but different</a><br />3. Mumbai- <a href="http://www.sawnet.org/books/reviews.php?Bombay+Meri+Jaan">Yeh hai Bambai meri jaan</a><br />4. Delhi- <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/Indias-heritage-needs-urgent-attention/articleshow/4179499.cms">Chalo Dilli</a>!<br />5. ...<br /><br />Suggestions wanted.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11533135.post-2219461404678774372009-12-19T21:32:00.007+05:302009-12-19T22:09:47.468+05:30Cringing girl growling dragon vampireYes, I'm reading Twilight. The book series, not the time of day.<br /><br />What else is one supposed to do while waiting for Amitav Ghosh to finish writing the sequel to Sea of Poppies?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11533135.post-526837143618163582009-09-28T21:49:00.004+05:302009-11-15T12:25:34.174+05:30A toasty grammarian?<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PÄá¹ini">Panini</a>.<br /><br />Another toast- this one to the nation's baby. Congratulations on your 20th year as cricket god! May your wrists remain supple, your eyes keen, your cut square, your drive covered, your bowling dibbly, your joy infectious, your stance balanced, your voice squeaky, and your shorts permanently in need of adjustment.<br /><br />Salut.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11533135.post-64312703791681090772009-07-04T23:51:00.002+05:302009-07-04T23:53:23.303+05:30Suggestive?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg12g52QUxBaouMFStODZ7tRNumg3EWRc27VXLwFKwLwShsus9rr_ScttrIDyR9JnXIc7pcQ50siC91kXju7qvTjNKs0QcURftTWimDhmr_k_ou6A6rOwF5OyUA6TTddr6ct480/s1600-h/P1030151.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg12g52QUxBaouMFStODZ7tRNumg3EWRc27VXLwFKwLwShsus9rr_ScttrIDyR9JnXIc7pcQ50siC91kXju7qvTjNKs0QcURftTWimDhmr_k_ou6A6rOwF5OyUA6TTddr6ct480/s320/P1030151.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5354672248555416642" border="0" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7