All Talk and No Action

My current obsession...

2012-02-25T01:01:00.002+05:30

is Pinterest.

I feel a childlike excitement while pinning on this virtual soft board.

Fairly new to the platform, I am charmed by the site's elegance. Simple to use and a fabulous treat for the eye.

John Branyan - The 3 little pigs

2012-02-20T13:38:00.000+05:30

This is totally worth your time.

I am amazed to find a humorist not relying on abusive language or snark to evoke laughter.

So refreshing!

In other news

2012-02-08T03:15:00.000+05:30

Friends and I freaked out on the south Indian fare at Hotel Ram Ashraya, outside Matunga station.

By south Indian fare, I only mean apna roz ka dosa, uttappa, idli aur upma.

I have never, ever, in my whole life, had such awesomely tasty upma or such wholesome and heavenly dosas.

I can die now.

Leo Burnett's legacy

2012-02-08T02:51:00.001+05:30

A fine farewell speech converted into an equally engaging video.

Work for work's sake is a recurrent theme in most of my readings these days. God knows if I'm subconsciously digging for such works or it's a co-incidence.

Movie Round up - January 2012

2012-02-02T03:45:00.000+05:30

Starting 2012, I have decided to post a monthly round up on prominent movies watched during the month.While I'm interested in documenting the range of movies I watch, I hope you'll find movies that interest you enough to give them a try.

Recently, I have been handed a collection of movies by a cinema lover whose taste is different from mine. Hence, watching movies has been a strange experience lately. I may not have given preference to some of these movies, and may have skipped others completely. But that's the good part of watching movies from a collection that's different from your own. You end up experimenting and watching newer directors and exploring more themes.

Another practice I've followed is to randomly pick movies and watch and not whet my expectation with reviews or rankings.

L.A. Confidential (Jan 4) : A crime thriller set in the 1950s. 3 LAPD cops on the trail. An absolute must watch! Crisp writing and strong, believable characterisations. Given the ambitious scale of the project (since it is an adaptation from a book), I felt the movie assumed a life of its own and is standalone piece of art.

Let the right one in (Jan 10) : A Swedish, vampire love story. My first Swedish movie. My first vampire love story. My last vampire love story. I hate vampires, especially when they are in their pre-teens! Having said this, I loved the mood and the cinematography and feel the winter in Mumbai added to enhance my late night movie watching experience.

True Grit (Jan 13) : Decent performances and that's that. I couldn't understand the hype, except for that it's a 'Coen brothers' movie.

Winter's bone (Jan 13) : The plot is fairly basic and the movie is simple in style. Yet, this was one of the most engaging movies I have seen of late. A spectacular performance by the lead actress, Jennifer Lawrence. Winter's bone is the actual True Grit.

The Fighter (Jan 14) : My only motivation to watch this one was Christian Bale. While he didn't disappoint, I didn't think much about the movie.

The constant gardener (Jan 28) : A political drama about the nexus of governments, large (and evil) corporations and the impact on third world countries. A fairly engaging watch, with some great shots of Africa. While I wasn't too impressed with the political theme, I enjoyed the parallel romantic theme, especially, because of its non linear treatment.

Other decent movies : The squid and the whale (poignant, funny, family drama with good performances. The more I see Jesse Eisenberg, the more I like him), Man on the train (French movie, a lovely theme and good performances. I enjoy movies which have two or at the most three characters, and are completely dialogue driven. It is a minimalist approach and can serve as a litmus test to see how good a writer one really is).

Less is more

2012-01-27T00:27:00.001+05:30

Solitude and Leadership, one of the best essays I have read in a long time. Originally a lecture, I found it easier to read than to listen.

Although the premise isn't new for me, I thought the speech was beautifully constructed. Every word, thought, suggestion was priceless.

I'm not sure how many readers here like to read lengthy, thought provoking prose. All I can say is this should be a great philosophy to read and practice.

Elderly Animals

2012-01-10T03:43:00.001+05:30

I stumbled upon this video of Isa Leshko. Poignant and beautiful. Some of you may find Isa's personification of the animals silly. Yet, it struck a chord with me.

I always maintain that caring for a pet has made me more human. I'm glad to have relatives and friends who've had various farm animals as pets.

Getting to know such animals has been an important part of my life experiences.

Most in my family are very sensitive to animal abuse, and feel strongly about animal rights. This may sound funny, especially, if you're from my part of the world, India. In a country famous for its callous attitude towards human life, striving for animal rights can appear to be an elitist indulgence.

Yet, humans can find courage and hope, rationalize and even stand up to their tormentors. Not so with animals. World over, many farm animals, including well bred home pets, continue to die earlier than usual; they are either abused at a young age or turned away by their adoptive families in old age.

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Another reason why I found the video compelling was the ageing factor. There is much discomfort and disgrace attached to this natural process. Yet it's the one thing that connects us all.

Reading in 2012

2012-01-07T03:20:00.000+05:30

Though it's not a new year's resolution, I wish to cut down my reading list on Google Reader. In fact, I've already reduced my subscriptions by 30%

Over the last 3 years, I subscribed to and shared many interesting resources and blogs on Google Reader. The social buttons on the platform provided unimaginable highs of learning, sharing, ideating and curating. My primary purpose was to hog on knowledge and opinion. My days began with checking for updates on reader and often ended with commenting on interesting reads.

The knowledge accumulation was great while it lasted. There will always be fun stuff to read, new ideas to comprehend and opinions to absorb. The urge to subscribe to one more witty cartoonist, read one more great movie critic, follow one more erudite political analyst will never end.

However, with time, my reading habit has evolved. I no longer want to keep up with this sort of competitive reading. I don't want to feel bad about unread reading items on Google reader. I'm fine with not accumulating all the knowledge out there. Of course, my decision also has a lot to do with exasperation with ideas and opinions. But, more on that later.

For now, 2012 will see a refined and leaner reading list, focused browsing and fewer Op-eds.

Kaam ki baat

2011-12-31T02:58:00.001+05:30

Reason three that made 2011 tick was an intensely busy and enjoyable year at work.

I worked in a new territory, learnt new equations and had high expectations to manage.

That's when I realised, not having a formal education in the sphere of one's work, can sometimes be a darn good luck! I worked harder, experimented and learnt much more than I would have, had I been an industry insider.

I also gathered that very few people work for the sake of work or the enjoyment it brings.
For the benefit of those of you who haven't already seen the famous IDEO video

It never fails to inspire.

Vacations reloaded

2011-12-31T01:42:00.000+05:30

Another reason that made 2011 wonderful was the opportunity to play a dutiful aunt to different sets of nieces and nephews.

Gaming parlours, television and shopping malls have cast their net far and in my opinion, most parents in cities, lack creative ideas to engage and help kids grow. It annoys me to see 9 and 10 year olds whiling away their vacations on Facebook. The other extreme of endless tuitions is equally frustrating.

The post is not so much about my skills but about the places I took these kids to.

Nehru Planetarium, Taraporewala Aquarium and Juhu beach.

The amount of joy, awe and entertainment shot through the roof at Nehru Planetarium. The place offers much to pique a kid's curiosity. Hell, adults have been known to squirm with delight during the screening of space shows.

Aquarium, on the other hand, even though unclean and poorly maintained, managed to interest the kids.

Juhu beach is an easy bet and always saves the day.

And if everything else fails, the streets of Mumbai and the local trains are a fun way to spend your day.

Some of my most cherished memories of summer vacations are of my father driving us across the city or taking us on foot tours through the lanes of Mumbai. I don't think we missed visiting any major area of Mumbai. Infact, we had been to all of Mumbai. Come vacations and my brother and I made endless lists of must see places, with several repetitions over the years. My father never tired of revisiting these places, pointing at buildings or narrating special stories about various localities.

When Vashi and other regions in New Bombay grew, we made an excited visit to all railway stations on the harbour line and understood how and why they were better than the older railway stations

One of our most interesting trips was a night spent outside the international airport. We spotted every departing airplane through the holes in the boundary wall and learned about the faraway lands these airplanes took people to.

We are no longer kids and our family outings are not the same anymore. Yet, a lot of my early education happened through the sights and sounds of Mumbai.

Thanks to my parents, I was happy to put these memories to good use this year.

Pups for adoption

2011-12-20T19:31:00.000+05:30

All the above are ~2-3 months old and have been de-wormed.

Please share with friends and family and let me know if anyone's interested in adopting them.

Infinite stupidity

2011-12-19T01:13:00.001+05:30

A remarkable talk by Mark Pagel.

A tiny number of ideas can go a long way, as we've seen. And the Internet makes that more and more likely. What's happening is that we might, in fact, be at a time in our history where we're being domesticated by these great big societal things, such as Facebook and the Internet. We're being domesticated by them, because fewer and fewer and fewer of us have to be innovators to get by. And so, in the cold calculus of evolution by natural selection, at no greater time in history than ever before, copiers are probably doing better than innovators. Because innovation is extraordinarily hard. My worry is that we could be moving in that direction, towards becoming more and more sort of docile copiers.

If you're scrambling for time, I recommend reading the transcript. Pagel posits a thought provoking argument, the evidence of which you 'll find within your own environment.

A related article appeared in The New York Times, earlier this year.

Very few people discuss ideas, fewer still, come up with newer ones. The what if quotient of our generation has suddenly plunged.

Television, print media, movies and books don't seem to be helping either.

I don't know if it's to do with information overload, shorter attention span, lack of incentive, lack of desire to engage in meaningful dialogue or a killer combination of all of these.

But it sure is unnerving to be moving towards zombieland.

Allo

2011-12-18T23:38:00.000+05:30

Thanks for hanging around and checking for updates every once in a while.

It's been an eventful quarter and a wonderful 2011. My mind has been stretched beyond limit and I've had some worthwhile insights into what makes me tick.

I'm working on the half penned ramblings in my diary.

Be assured, most of it will greet you in the next two weeks.

Till then, check out My cousin Vinny and Office Space. Some serious hilarity there!

Retail, once again

2011-12-05T13:45:00.001+05:30

In sum, the bania shopkeer is powerful in all democracies. He uses small-man rhetoric to advance his interests, but, far from being weak and unorganized, is actually highly organized, whereas the consumer is not. The bania constitutes a vote bank, which the ordinary consumer does not. The bania is an important political donor, which the aam admi is not. For all these reasons, the aam bania repeatedly triumphs over the aam admi.

Another excellent write up to archive on the FDI in retail issue.

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My final year thesis during graduation was on sunrise sectors of India. Retail took up much space in the report. It continues to enamour me even today.

Before you take any political party's word for it, do your own research and read up on how retail has transformed India and other countries.

Change is discomforting. But often it's the only panacea.

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Most ordinary folks, whose daily dose on retail comes from newspapers, may not be able to fully appreciate the trickle effects on the economy in terms of employment, logistics, transportation and real estate. I will make a small atempt to explain just some areas/professions that will benefit with the opening up of the sector.

As I had explained earlier, a major store will employ at least 100 people directly in various capacities.

Apart from these, following (in no particular order) will hugely benefit :

architects, interior designers, fashion designers, food experts, food technology graduates, food consultants, visual merchandising graduates, animation graduates, film makers, actors, editors, writers, singers, content writers, printing and publishing services, hotel management graduates, hotel management colleges staff, retail graduates, retail colleges' staff, trucking companies, packaging services, hotels, catering services, airlines, travel agencies, mobile/social media application developers, videographers, tile manufacturers, air conditioning companies, lights and fitting companies, cement companies, construction companies, indigenous furniture manufacturers, language experts, voice training/accent neutralisation experts, electricians, plumbers, carpenters, supply chain graduates, copy writers, web developers, corporate trainers, teachers, subject matter experts, plastic products' manufacturers, toilet paper companies, glass and marble factories, security and other staffing companies, retail software developers, textile companies, shoe manufacturers, grooming experts, learning solutions companies, e-learning companies, sociologists, anthropologists, legal advisors, lawyers, auditors, stationery and other office suppliers, cleaners, washers, office boys, warehousing and cold storage staff, PR experts, social media agencies, communications experts, advertising agencies, market research agencies, insurance companies, actuaries aandd sooo onnn.

The above service providers only help in running a retail store, and we haven't even started discussing the producers whose goods will be sold within the store!

I also want to highlight that India's most beloved professionals : engineers, marketing whizkids, MBAs and doctors will also be hired in droves. However, the purpose of this list is to let people soak in the possibilities that will open for various non glamourous occupations in India.

Again, this is the "top of my head" kind of a list. I am sure I have missed out on many other services.

Ergo, let's hope India moves ahead on such reforms and we get to enjoy some long deserved economic benefits.

Self help is the best help

2011-12-05T12:40:00.001+05:30

Somtimes I think it is a miracle to keep alive in India, especially in a metro.

Take this news for example.

Less than a third of the IB's estimated 25,000-strong manpower, two former high-ranking officers told The Hindu, is dedicated to what might be described as national security tasks — like monitoring terrorist groups or extremist organisations. Even that ratio, one serving officer said, was “a charitable assessment.”

...highly placed intelligence sources have told The Hindu, a large part of the IB's resources were committed, and remain committed, to providing the government raw information and assessments on its increasingly bleak political prospects. In the summer, the IB carefully monitored Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's public meetings in Uttar Pradesh after the events at Bhatta Parsaul; later it sought to penetrate Anna Hazare's anti-corruption mobilisation in New Delhi.

On the upside, this news offers tremendous opportunities to martial arts' professionals to set more shops, for in future, we will have citizen armies looking after their own security measures.

link via Vikas.

Changeling

2011-12-04T03:33:00.001+05:30

Out of the many movies watched this season, I have to recommend Changeling.

Changeling has many things going for it : An Eastwood direction, a fabulous theme and some compelling questions on the horrible misuse of power by a State police. Like other Eastwood movies, the plot is taut and unforgiving; so much so, that as a viewer one is left emotionally zapped by the end of the ride.

But, the one reason that trumps all, is Angelina Jolie. Such elegance. The range in her performance is remarkable and you will go from feeling protective to enraged to sharing a deep sense of loss to holding her character in high respect.

Also, I haven't seen any other actress pull off wearing a bright red lipstick with such style. That alone made me cheer for her.

Why are Atheists so angry...?

2011-12-04T01:55:00.001+05:30

This is by far the most remarkable video I've seen on the argument against religion.

Hilarious, thought-provoking and, poignant even - Greta Christina raises legitimate questions, which, according to me, should've been decreed by God for all believers.

Anyway, I urge you to watch this talk, especially if you're a believer.

I'm amazed when I take stock of how far I've come this year, as far as religious beliefs go. Travel coupled with reading, and loads of idle introspection have helped a lot.

Not to forget, brahamins at Mathura, Vrindavan, Gokul, Rishikesh, and Pushkar who've done their bit to help crystallise my feelings.

Rule the world, eh?

2011-12-01T00:10:00.001+05:30

I was meant to share something else with you today.

But a friend derailed my thought process.

He stated he respected women and the world might have been a better place had women been ruling it.

All was good, until he sought my agreement.

For all my feminist rants, I surprised myself when I replied in the negative.

While he kept prodding me to think of a utopian world and re-imagine a future where women, instead of men, ruled the roost, all my head kept hammering was Error Not Found.

I am surprised at my mental block. Wasn't day dreaming supposed to be easy?

I may have played along had I been living in a country which treated women better. However, given the ground realities in India, scraping through the day and trying to protect one's dignity sound more real than women ruling the world.

And, even if women came to rule, I am not sure we will be better than men. Having had a woman Prime Minister, we will have to agree she wasn't a messiah of non-violence.

I also doubt if our innate desire to nurture will have any impact on world peace. Weren't German women partners in crime during the Holocaust?

What I do know for sure is I suck at beauty queen questions and India is God damn lucky not to have me as a Miss World finalist.

FDI in Retail

2011-11-29T09:37:00.001+05:30

Time to ease some frayed nerves.

Rama Bijapurkar wrote an excellent Op-ed in yesterday's Economic Times. To add to the erudite write up, from what I know, one Hypercity/D Mart/Big Bazaar store provides direct employment to at least 100 people. At least. You have no idea about indirect employment and the trickle effects on the economy.
Now do the math on all future stores that will come up in India.

Sounds nice? Did it ease your guilt about allowing FDI in retail?

Will you now please stop our patriotic brothers and sisters from burning Walmart effigies?

Good day.

Om nom nom

2011-11-24T07:07:00.000+05:30

I pucker my face at the mention of beet. Have never been able to stand its smell or taste.

But this video had me drooling.

beet cake from tiger in a jar on Vimeo.

Beautifully filmed. Every action, slow and deliberate. Catchy music and vibrant colours.

Only, the font didn't work for me.

Rockstar

2011-11-12T03:48:00.001+05:30

Image courtesy : 88 reviews

Calling Code Blue for Bollywood!

What a horrible year.

The one movie I expected and hoped (like really prayed) would add shine to this morose landscape was Rockstar.

Such misplaced expectations.

The last time I fidgeted this much in a theatre and shut my brain completely was during My name is Khan. Infact, even Kites let me off the hook in 130 minutes.

But not Rockstar. No. All the mild moments of enjoyment in the first 30 minutes quickly give way to such inanities, that I wanted to slap myself for even wanting to watch the movie, let alone expecting an engaging experience.

I cannot begin to enumerate the faults with the plot. What I think Imtiaz Ali set out to give us was a rich and layered tale of love, longing and heart break. Instead, what he has dished out is a senseless, trite and if you may, a sadistic love story. There is absolutely no reason why a viewer should feel for the characters.

While the love story is incredulous, the Rockstar bit is even more disengaging. I don't believe that pain and heartbreak are pre-requisites to create great art. Yes, great artists have been known to have suffered harsh ordeals, which may have lent more depth to their creations. Yet, the corollary doesn't work.

This is where I can't reconcile with the movie. And, you know what's funny? That the movie doesn't mean to promote this thought. And that, my friend, is my biggest grouse. The characters and the story are so botched up, that no one, including Imtiaz himself may know what the point of the entire drama is.

I am often amazed when film makers hire highly skilled staff to bring us breathtaking cinematography and soulful music but forget that great movies often work magic with the bare minimum : a well drafted script.

Is this rocket science?

Don't ask about Nargis. I hated her. Hated.

The only person I feel bad for is Ranbir. He must have had a lot of faith in the project. He acts well and is mostly a delight to watch. If only his character and the movie were more nuanced and better penned...

Listen you guys at Mountain View...

2011-11-08T13:50:00.000+05:30

I am still sulking about the so called improvements to gReader!

No, don't roll your eyes! This will give you an excellent lowdown of all that gReader has lost in the name of a cleaner and seamless UI.

Did it occur to you that you may be driving people away altogether?

Google, thanks for killing it

2011-11-05T10:27:00.000+05:30

Friends and readers who use Google Reader and have been flummoxed with the recent changes - read this.

My favourite product. Almost killed by Google.

The Tiger

2011-11-05T00:32:00.001+05:30

Ah, okay. Hmm.

This was all I managed when I learnt of Pataudi's passing in September. I didn't feel any pangs and was almost sure the man had had a full life.

Image courtesy : Sulekha

Yet, I felt pretty low when the eulogies started pouring in.

I felt sad for not having learnt enough about an incredibly talented sportsman and an inspirational human being.

I was irritated with the media for not bringing to life pages from days gone by. At a time when most youth icons are morally bankrupt and staggeringly mediocre, when we latch onto anyone with a faint shimmer of talent, we could do well with revisiting our past and learning about men who have reshaped the sport(s) we worship.

While I love what Dhoni does and what Ganguly did for Indian cricket, I am equally keen to understand and appreciate the long forgotten, albeit, equally or more talented sportsmen cricket and other games have produced in India. There is much the lives of these men and women will teach us, if we are willing to spend time and dig.

Their stories need to be re-told so we learn that the human spirit is capable of achieving a lot more than what it settles for. And that cricket has been a lot more than its glamourous, media crazy avataar today.

I am embarrassed I mostly knew Pataudi as Saif Ali Khan's father. And I think most others of my generation won't fare any better.

What a loss.