Musings of a loner

Back to Bihar

2013-05-04T01:18:00.000-07:00

Back again at home I am thinking of all the things and experiences that are available here only in Bihar. Sitting on a modified version of Piaggio auto rickshaw in Patna I am precariously perched on the corner of one of the two rows of seats at back. There is another row of seats in the front where the driver sits. Basically it is a seat just wide enough for the driver to sit comfortably. But with complete small town ingenuity he has managed to get 3 other passengers to sit with him.

From a life among the Marathi manoos to a sojourn among the bhaiyyas, it is all different and mostly pleasantly so. Actually bhaiyyas may not be the right term for Biharis as they are politer than the UP walas.

One of the most important reasons due to which I always look eagerly forward to my home trips is obviously the food. No continental, Chinese, Mexican, Lebanese or whatever cuisine can even dream of showing light to the smell of freshly baked rotis and piping hot dal along with mutton with thick gravy having spices fried in pure ghee.

Then there is Litti, that famous Bihari snack. Calling it famous because it is available even in Mumbai <ahem ahem> Litti consists of outer cover of battered dough made of wheat flour and filled with sattu. Sattu is a kind of gram flour. The only difference between it and besan is that gram is sand fried before being ground in case of sattu. Hot littis with generous dollops of ghee spread over them, are to be had with mashed brinjals or potatoes or chicken/ mutton with thick dry gravy. The taste is awesome, pure bliss and your taste buds will keep salivating long after they are over.

Biharis have their idiosyncrasies, their vagaries and their typical Bihari style of pronunciation. For a common Bihari/ riral folks, "station" is always "teason" to be pronounced as "reason" with "s" as "sh". School is "Iskool", corner is "Karner", "inspector" is "nispitter" and many more such words.

There is something else that I have noticed only in Bihari men, in the rural male and in some of the town misters also. They tie their lungis (a piece of cloth normally available in solid colors/ checks, same as veshti/ mundu down south) just above their chest in the same way females tie their petticoat above their breasts to protect their modesty while bathing. The difference with Bihari men here is that they don't do so while bathing in public but while roaming in public especially during early mornings. The only thing I have been unable to understand is what modesty they try to hide by tying their lungis at such heights.

I will be writing few more posts on Bihar, on the changes which I have seen here and hear about and some more Bihari specialities ("ispesaalty" as said by the famous Litti chokha shop owner near Patna station).

This is my first post that has been written on a phone and during an auto ride. And I could not have imagined myself doing that anywhere else. But since a start has been made I hope to continue the same in local trains of Amchi Mumbai also.

P.S. - I updated my native place in the places list in the Facebook check-in feature. You can also do so and add lots and lots of places and make it more comprehensive so that the next time someone tries to do so your city is present in the list :-)

Ciao

Gar Firdaus, Ruhe Zamin Ast, Hamin Asto, Hamin Asto, Hamin Asto

2013-03-20T09:57:00.000-07:00

When Dr. Rubaiya Sayeed was kidnapped by JKLF terrorists in 1989 (I hope you remember/ know about the incident; if you don’t, check on internet), the pressure was on the terrorists to release her at the earliest. These terrorists were fighting for the liberation of J&K which was predominantly Muslim (at least the Kashmir area) and had kidnapped a Muslim woman against the teachings of Islam. It was just a matter of time that they would have released Rubaiya as the public sentiment was building against them on this issue. One noteworthy thing to remember here is that Rubaiya was the daughter of then home minister of India, Mr. Mufti Mohammed Sayeed (first and only person from J&K till date to hold such an important portfolio) and was studying medicine in Kashmir Medical College.

The terrorists were asking for the release of 5 of their comrades from Indian Jails (in Kashmir). Then chief minister of Kashmir, Farooq Abdullah was not ready to release them as he was against kneeling down to the demands of the terrorists. To persuade him, or to say, to force him to release the terrorists through force and subjugation and threats, the Govt. of India sent a ministerial delegation. This delegation was led by a minister with a guttural voice, French beard and having a celebrated painter for brother. This man went on to become the Prime Minister of India and died recently. He forced Abdullah to release the 5 terrorists from jails. That evening of their release, whole of Srinagar erupted on streets to celebrate the victory of JKLF against the mighty Indian government. They got the belief that they could fight and defeat the Indian govt. That led to the ascendency of JKLF and the separatist movement. JKLF became the chief anti India separatist group in the valley. Till the mid 90’s it was the prime force to reckon with among the separatist groups in J&K but slowly its importance faded with the rise of groups like Hizbul Mujahideen and Harkat-ul-Ansar and the separatist movement turned into terrorism. Harkat was the group behind the kidnapping of 5 westerners in Kashmir in the mid 90’s, one of whom escaped while the rest were killed. Hizbul is still a force to reckon with on the terrorism map of Kashmir but its importance has come down a bit with the arrival of groups like Jaish-e-Mohammed and the deadliest among all, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba.

Maulana Hafiz Sayeed, the chief of Lashkar roams freely in Pakistan under the garb of being the leader of Jamaat ud Daawa which is headquartered in Muridke in Pakistan. Lashkar’s headquarter is also the same.

The founder of Jaish, Maulana Masood Azhar was languishing in an Indian jail before he was released during the hostage crisis of Kandhar hijack in 1999. He went on to form Jaish in 2000 and since then has masterminded several attacks on India. It is considered as the deadliest terrorist organization active in Kashmir and is most notorious for the attack on Indian Parliament in 2001 in collusion with Lashkar.

Another person released in the hostage exchange of 1999 was Omar Sheikh who was incarcerated in Tihar jail, New Delhi for the kidnapping of 4 foreigners from Delhi. He was a British Pakistani and was a classmate of Nasser Hussain (former captain of English cricket team) in school. Later on he went on to murder Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal journalist for which he was awarded the death penalty by a Pakistani court. He is still alive though passing his days in a Pakistani jail.

Sayyed Salahuddin, the Hizbul chief is a Kashmiri originally known as Mohammed Yusuf Shah. Sayyed Salahuddin is his nom-de-gurre. He had contested the 1987 assembly election on the ticket of Muslim United Front (a coalition of extreme separatist political parties) and lost. That election is notorious for the widespread allegations of rigging and bogus polling and known as the most rigged election ever to be held in India.

Yasin Malik and Shabir Shah, two of the main protagonists of the JKLF in the late 80’s and early 90’s faded away and are now pale shadows of their former selves. They were the ones who led the Rubaiya Sayeed kidnapping and their popularity reached its pinnacle when their demands were met and the 5 terrorists released. But after some time their fortunes nosedived. Both live in Kashmir after serving time in Indian jails for their terrorist/ separatist activities. Both of them claim to be non-violent now and declare themselves to be followers of Gandhi.

Kashmir always had a tumultuous history and the situation has not changed in the past couple of hundred years. This place famous for its apples, houseboats, kahwa and beautiful women and repeatedly called heaven on earth; has seen lots of gore and killings in the past couple of decades. Blood has been spilled on streets and innocents, terrorists, police men all have been killed in this war of supremacy or freedom fight. Whatever you call it one fact will not change that Kashmir was once beautiful and peaceful. It may still be beautiful but peace has long left the valley.

Read about the valley. The story is enchanting, interesting and riveting but sometimes it takes a turn and becomes blood curdling.

P.S. Recommended reads on Kashmir are –

1. Cuefewed Night (Memoir)

2. The Collaborator (Fiction)

3. The Veiled Suite (Poems)

4. The Shrinagar Conspiracy (Fiction)

5. Kashmir In Conflict: India, Pakistan and The Unending War (History)

P.P.S. Though flawed, Yahaan is the best movie on Kashmir as far as I am concerned, may be at par with Mission Kashmir. Shoojit Sircar (the man who made Vicky Donor) had made Yahaan with all the passion and his efforts show. Please watch if you have not.

P.P.P.S. I would recommend you to read A case of exploding Mangoes by the Pakistani writer Mohammed Hanif. Though nowhere related to Kashmir, it is a fascinating read. An interesting and funny take on the death of General Zia Ul Haq. Or was it assassination!

Freilos

2013-03-17T08:40:00.000-07:00

Memories of Childhood – 1

Couple of months back I visited Delhi in connection with the marriage of a friend. During the functions related to the marriage I met some friends from college whom I had not seen since college ended three and half years back. That get-together got us going about various people and incidents from college, batch mates were remembered, professors were talked about and so on.

Sitting at the airport, waiting for the return flight to Mumbai, on a bone chilling Delhi morning, I was remembering all the talks and laughs of the past few days. I must have been smiling like a fool at that time because many a people looked at me with strange faces while passing by.

All this evoked a strong sense of nostalgia and sitting in the flight, waiting to reach Mumbai and get to office on time, I started thinking about my childhood. Looking out from the window it felt that all those memories were passing in front of me, riding on those white cottony clouds. My childhood was tantalisingly close to me and it looked like I would be able to touch myself, from an era gone by, I just needed to stretch my hand.

Mujhko yakeen hai sach kahti thi, jo bhi ammi kahti thi,

Jab mere bachpan ke din the, chand me pariyan rahti thi .

Today when I look back and think, it all seems to belong altogether to a different era. It feels unbelievable to me that I am come so far from all that. Running on train tracks with friends with everyone trying to outrun each other, standing on somebody’s shoulders to pluck Bel (a fruit) from the trees, standing under the Jamun tree with open hands to catch the falling Jamuns when a friend shook the branches after climbing atop the tree, running through the crop fields, bending for a second and plucking the radishes and carrots, travelling on the roof of buses, running full throttle on a railway platform to catch a moving train; plucking potatoes from fields and cooking them under wood, the list is endless. I can’t even imagine that there was a time when along with friends I used to jump on the ground from high walls whereas today I am acrophobic. Every single memory of those times evoke a strong sense of nostalgia.

Those were the days when I had to wear nickers to go to school which barely reached my knees. While growing up I used to feel shy to wear those pants in a co-ed classroom. I used to ask my mother, “In films girls always wear smaller clothes than boys then why do I need to wear smaller clothes than girls to go to school” (girls had to wear skirts which reached below their knees). And not strangely, my mother never had an answer to that question.

I have planned to write about my childhood memories in several parts, in small posts. As of now I plan to write about the TV serials of the days, movies, travels, other amenities like 2 wheelers and phones and life as a whole. I will not try to be philosophical or gyaani, will be writing just about the memories.

Those were the days of Chitrahar, Ramayan, He-man and Rangoli etc. I still remember that in those pre-cable tv days, my parents always woke me up early on Sunday mornings. Why? Rangoli was telecast at 7 am. Then there was that programme on Guru Granth Sahib teachings, Gao Saachi Baani. Then He-Man, the Master of Universe and Ramayana. If I am not mistaken and my memory serves me right, Ramayana had a re-run on Sunday evenings also. After Ramayana ended, Sunday mornings were taken up by Shyam Benegal’s Bharat Ek Khoj where Roshan Seth who played Nehru, used to come on screen and teach us about our history. Irrfan Khan and Salim Gouse are couple of actors whom I remember from the serial who played a plethora of historical characters every week, in a new story. There also was a desi science fiction series named Sigma which was telecast on Sunday evening in the late 80’s (I have been unable to find any mention of it anywhere on internet though, but have confirmed about the same with friends). Sunday afternoons had those half an hour Spic Macay classic concerts for Spirit of Unity or something like that. Then 12 pm was for Charlie Chaplin and at 1 am we were treated to a regional language film. Spiderman at 3:30 pm and Hindi films at 4 pm completed the Sunday entertainment quota. Saturday nights were for Streethawk where everything about the protagonist was black, literally, dress, bike, helmet, shoes, gloves everything. He vroomed on his bike and my child eyes used to fill up with excitement and astonishment. And how can I miss Malgudi days, tanana tananana tanana tananana, that signature tune of the serial

Mere dil ke kone me ek bachcha rahta hai,

Bado ki dekh kar duniya bada hone se darta hai.

If you are reading this you may feel that I have unnecessary stretched my reminiscences about my childhood with respect to those TV shows on Doordarshan. But please understand it is intentional. I am sure that almost all of you who are reading this and are above 25 have been entertained by these shows at one point of time or other. I have detailed those memories here because while writing about them I relived them again and it felt wonderful.

There are a number of shows which I have not talked about such as Rajani, Hum Log, Fatichar, Jasoos Karamchand, Katha Sagar, Mujrim Hazir, Mungerilal ke haseen sapne….and many more. I hope to write about them too soon, time permitting.

P.S. Nawazuddin Siddiqui, that amazing actor from Kahani, Peepli Live, Gangs of Wasseypur and Talash, was a watchman in a housing society in Shahdara in east Delhi. So the next time when you see your watchman, don’t ignore him, treat him well and remember his face. You never know when you might see him on the big screen.

Au Revoir

Time for changes

2012-08-06T10:54:00.001-07:00

It's been almost two months since the last post. Perfect time for a small and quick post. Lot of changes are happening all round. My life, both personal and professional, is no exception to it. This week is going to be hectic and some peace is expected after that. I don't know for how long this calmness will remain. Next few months are crucial for the stability of future. I am waiting for the coming days with crossed fingers and eager anticipation. I just remembered that why am I thinking and planning so much. After all the world is supposed to end on 21.12.2012.

Ciao

P.S. If you have seen Munnabhai MBBS, there is a scene where Sunil Dutt comes to Mumbai and someone picks his pocket on the station but Dutt catches him red handed. That pickpocket, recently seen in Peepli Live, Kahaani and Paan Singh Tomar, is the lead in Gangs of Wasseypur 2.....Nawazuddin Siddiqui..Mumbai aise hi sapno ka shahar thode hi na hai :-)

2012-06-06T14:19:00.000-07:00

The Nelson In My Life

It has been a long time since I wrote my last post, 111 days to be precise. Isn’t it ironical as well as comical that my restart is happening with Nelson figure, something considered as inauspicious and made famous in cricket by Umpire David Shepherd who had several peculiar mannerisms which included hopping, shuffling, jiggling, jumping etc. whenever the score (either of a team or of a player) was Nelson or its multiple. Nelson figure comes from the name of Admiral Nelson who apparently had one leg, one arm and one eye when he died. Wikipedia says it’s not true as Nelson never lost a leg. I don’t know the truth, never had the opportunity to meet him (pun intended) but remember the image of Shepherd since my childhood and along with that the legend of Nelson.

For me though these 111 days were one of the best periods of my life both professionally and personally. I have to be politically correct otherwise someone or else who, just by chance, if reads this post will be offended indirectly because of him/her being a part of my life. On the professional front, I got the opportunity to learn lot of new things in this very short period, had enriching experiences, met brilliant people and was part of a team which created new organisational records. I know with so much of professionalism this post has started to feel boring to you. Don’t worry, I will try my best to spice it up as I move ahead.

Personally, this period was good, bad and okay. I met some amazing new people, had one of those rare trips to home and spent time with parents, met some old friends and built lasting relationships (I would like to think so). The major part of my sadness came from hearing some news which have become routine for me now. Many of my friends, colleagues and acquaintances got either engaged or married. Some even had children. The last time I had met these people, they were unmarried let alone expecting or their wives expecting. Actually since most of them were unmarried, the question of their wives expecting did not even arise. I am very happy for all of these people, very happy with their happiness. At the same time it comes to my mind that what is wrong with me, why is it not happening with me? I also want to be someone’s husband, life partner, pati parmeshwar. I also want someone to wake me up in the morning with a cup of tea and saying –

“Aji suniye. Uthiye na. Subah ho gayi. Office nahi jana hai kya aaj?” Hay, kahan ho tum meri charno ki dasi? Jaldi se aa jao na.

There should be someone who, when I come back home from office in the evening and even before I manage to untie my shoelaces (which are unfortunately non-existent in my current pair of formal shoes but I will buy a pair of new ones for her), produces a cup of piping hot tea and says “Aaj din kaisa tha aapka? Chehra bilkul utar gaya hai. Itna kaam mat kijiye office me.”

And the baap of all things, “Koi to ho jo mujhe bhi papa kahke bulaye apni tutlati aawaz me”.

But then the reality dawns on me. It is not that I did not have the opportunity to get married and get settled in life but what happens to me is that my legs start shaking, body sweating and mind spinning. And above all that wish to have my kind of girl is also there – Kahin karti hogi wo mera intezaar, jiski tamanna me phirta hun beqarar”. I also want to be like Tom Cruise of Jerry Maguire and tell the girl – You complete me.

In this period I really missed some of the things which I like very much or which have become a part of my life in recent times – travelling in Mumbai local trains, having a sumptuous breakfast, Mumbai rains and reading Ajay Rao’s blog on Namma Bangalore or Bengaluru now a days.

Well I sometimes satisfy my urge by travelling in Mumbai locals on holidays or during off peak hours or at night. Standing on the footboard, which is a punishable offence by the way, at night and music plugged in my ears, the feeling is always awesome. Hey Ya sung by Clinton Cerejo from the movie Kartik calling Kartik is my personal favourite for such an occasion and always plays on endless loop during the night journey to Churchgate. Yes, readers, yes, you read correct. I live in South Bombay. But living in the Southern part of Mumbai has its ill effects also. For my office which starts at 10:30am, I get up at 10:00am and still manage to reach on time. But this does not give me time to have a sumptuous breakfast, an opportunity which I always had when staying at the posh suburb of Mira Road.

Mumbai rains have started returning; twice Mumbaikars had to wake up to a wet morning during the past seven days. Let it come then I will try to write something about it.

And finally about my dear friend Ajay, who after spending 2 years in Sadi Dilli went back home to Bengaluru. A lot changed for him during this period. When he came to Delhi he was be-car and Bangalore was still Bangalore. After two years when he went back it had become Bengaluru and he a carwala. J , I really missed reading a new post of yours during this period. Now as you are back to your home town, please write about it, in the same way you wrote about Delhi, recounting the magic and ills of the cities, its people and their eccentricities and everything which is unique and special with it. Perhaps your new job does not give you time for it but remember “Hare k friend jaruri hota hai”. (I had written about J and his blog in detail in my very first, I request you to have a look if you have not already visited it).

Now on to some random things which I learnt about, got to know or came across and will advise you to experience them. Don’t worry, I won’t blabber now. It’s just a list -

1. Aakar Patel’s column in Saturday’s Mint Lounge – Well written and on a wide gamut of topics. Every week I anticipate what will be the topic this Saturday.

2. Kheer and Fruit Cream along with Aam ras at Crystal, Charni Road – Amazing taste and damn cheap.

3. Poetry of Sahir Ludhiyanwi, Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Ahmed Faraz – All of them are Urdu poets. Sahir was Indian and wrote lyrics for film songs also. The other two are Pakistanis.

4. The Avengers – Please watch it if you already have not done so. And please watch in 2D. I saw it in 3D and the experience was not good.

5. Prometheus – Go watch it when it releases on 8^th June. I don’t care if it as good as Alien or not. The sheer grandness of the canvass is awe inspiring. And how many times a movie comes which is a prequel of a movie released 33 years ago.

6. Bun-maska – At Yazdani bakery, Fort near Horniman Circle. The buns are fresh and hot with dollops of butter and are to be enjoyed with a cup of hot tea. Thank you Mitesh for taking me there.

I had long planned that my comeback post will be about my childhood and the memories associated with it. But when I sat before the laptop today (my friend’s not mine, mine has developed acute keyboardosis and has keys –W, X, Z, C, D, E and @ which refuse to function and typing on such a keyboard with the on-screen keyboard, a great Microsoft invention, is cringe inducing) and started typing, words started to come out in form of this post which you read above. I express my gratitude to you and you must also be feeling lucky because one day you may come to know that the writer of the blog post you read that day, without any interest at all, has become a big writer and is now a famous celebrity. And you may be called on Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai, which unfortunately never had a second season, to reminisce about me or my blog and end up getting your 5 minutes of instant fame. Anything is possible my dear reader in this age and me acquiring instant celebrity status cannot be ruled out. At least I would like to think so…….

Enough of my bakwaas and gyan.

Ciao.

P.S. IPL 5 concreted my belief that IPL is always fixed. Chennai reaching final after being virtually out of the tournament and Kolkata winning it were perfect proofs to it. No offence to CSK and KKR, both team and fans.

P.P.S. Please read Chai, Chai: Travels in Places Where You Stop But Never Get Off by Bishwanath Ghosh. I promise you it will force you to reminisce about you childhood, no matter which part of the country you belong to.

Super Bowl Sundays, Movie trailers and The Avengers

2012-02-16T12:16:00.000-08:00

A few days ago it was Super Bowl Sunday in America. I came to know about it from newspapers. In the newspaper story it was mentioned that trailers of some big budget highly anticipated Hollywood films were released during half time. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/super-bowl-trailers-avengers-battleship-john-carter-287191

If you dig a little deep – figuratively speaking, Google with some effort – you will come to know that the first high profile commercial/ trailer released during the Super Bowl was Apple Computer’s historic 1984 ad, released obviously in 1984. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYecfV3ubP8 This commercial was based on the Big Brother concept of the George Orwell novel 1984. It ran only once but achieved its objective. This was the ad which launched personal computer, the device which was Time magazine’s Machine of the year, the only device to be accorded the honour so far.

Anyway, this year trailers of John Carter, The Avengers, Battleship and Act of Valor were released. The one that caught my eye in the news story was The Avengers. Earlier a trailer of the movie was released last year http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zatgnqdIefs and a small clip from the movie was shown in theaters at the end of Captain America http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3eNDUzUjLU (video quality not very good) . The trailer had impressed me a lot. The movie is said to be in the making for 6 years. It is said that Marvell made movies on Thor, Hulk, Iron Man and Captain America (Raj Comics super hero "Tiranga" is inspired from him) - All these movies have some reference to another super hero or to Nick Fury (Samuel Jackson) - to popularize the comic book super heroes all over the world and to get people ready and licking their lips in anticipation for this epic saga - a potetial summer blockbuster - made on a gigantic scale.

I went to youtabe and searched for The Avengers Super Bowl Trailer, clicked the link with highest number of hits and got this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGt-saFvkNk. There are only two lines of dialogue in the trailer apart from the background voice over. The villain Loky (he is the only negative character shown in the trailers so I am assuming that he is the only villain) says - I have got an army . In reply to this Tony stark aka Iron Man says - We have got a Hulk. After Downey's Line we are treated to visuals of Hulk leaping in air and thrashing or should I say crashing several enemy planes/ aerial vehicles (it shows that the Green Monster is equal to an army) . Downey's repartee is clever and I hope we will be treated to may more such lines in the film because such a brand of humour has become Downey's trademark. Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Sherlock Holmes films, Tropic Thunder etc are perfect examples of this. Even Chaplin (biopic on Charlie Chaplin where Downey played Chaplin and he played it superbly) and the brainy thriller Zodiac had dashes of this trademark Downey humour.

The Avengers have a heavy duty line up of actors - Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Stark/ Iron Man), Chris Ivans (Steve Rogers/ Captain America), Jeremy Renner (Clin Baton/ Hawkeye), Scarlett Johansson (Natasha Romanoff/ Black Widow), Cobie Smulders - Robin Scherbatsky for all you How you Met Your Mother fans - (Maria Hill), Samuel Jaackson (Nick Fury), Gwyneth Paltrow ( Pepper Potts) and Mark Ruffallo (Bruce Banner/ Hulk) among others. I am eagerly waiting for 3rd May 2012 (The Avengers release date is 4th May) so that I can watch it a day early on Imax Paid Preview :-)

Ciao

P.S. Ben Kingsley, the Oscar winning actor who has worked in films like Gandhi, Schindler’s List, Shutter Island, AI: Artificial Intelligence and the recently released Scorcese’s Hugo (He also worked in Teen Patti, the pathetic film which also starred Amitabh Bachchan in his hamming avatar) is a Gujarati – real name, Krishna Pandit Bhanji, born in Yorkhire, England.

P.P.S. All you Saving Private Ryan fans, please sea The Longest Day - its a request and recommendation - a very good movie made on an amazingly grand scale for its time.

My favourite books from last year

2012-01-21T01:26:00.000-08:00

Here are 15 books which I would recommend for reading. This selection has been made from the ones I read last year; some for the first time and some I had read earlier but gave them a repeated read –

1. Chanakya’s Chant – Ashwin Sanghi

2. Immortals of Meluha – Amish Tripathi

3. Secret of the Nagas (sequel to Immortals of Meluha) – Amish Tripathi

4. Open: An Autobiography – Andre Agassi

5. Chowringhee – Shankar

6. The Story of My Assassins – Tarun Tejpal

7. Tunnel of Time (An Autobiography) – R K Laxman

8. Mao – Jung Chang, Jon Holliday

9. The Girl Series – Stieg Larsson

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

The Girl who played with Fire

The Girl who kicked the Hornet’s Nest

10. Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography – Waltor Issacson

11. God save the Dork (sequel to Dork) – Sidin Vadukut

12. A Suitable Boy – Vikram Seth

13. Romancing With Life: An Autobiography – Dev Anand

14. Alchemy of Desire – Tarun Tejpal

15. Curfewed Night – Basharat Peer

P.S. Of these 2 must read are: Open and Curfewed Night.

Bye

P.P.S. If you are going to buy online, I recommend flipkart.com as you will get great discounts plus very good service and delivery. On sites likes Indiaplaza.com and Infibeam.com you might get additional discount of Rs. 15-20 but you might end up ruing your decision plus their customer care sucks. This is Personal experience. Rest is up to you. After all ours is a democratic country.

Ullu ka pattha

2012-01-18T05:15:00.000-08:00

Ullu ka pattha, I have started using this term quite frequently of late. It’s not that I have learnt Hindi just now and hence relishing in exploring new words. I don’t know the reason but it seems that someone has taken glue (not Fevicol as the words do not remain fixed and keep slipping) and stuck it to my tongue. In office, on roads, in taxies, in malls everywhere, the moment somebody irritates me Ullu ka pattha comes out of my mouth. Fortunately nobody whom I have adorned with this title has heard it till now. If someone has heard, he has not understood that the praise was meant for him and I can say this for sure as till date I have not landed in a soup.

Let me put some pressure on my mind and look for a reason, even an excuse. The closest would be the presence of so many people in my life exhibiting this trait. This seems to be the case in the lives of all my near and dear ones. Allama Iqbal ne sahi kaha hai (Allama Iqbal has correctly said) –

Barbaad gulistan karne ko to ek hi ullu kafi tha

Yahan Har shakh pe ullu baitha hai anjaam-e-gulisatn kya hoga.

Literally translated in English it will mean –

For destroying the wonderful garden, even one owl is sufficient. Here there is an owl on each branch, wonder what would be the fate of the garden.

But then as the voiceover in the final scene of the 1984 film Ravan (the movie which had that beautiful song by late Jagjeet Singh – Hum to yun apni zindagi se mile) says –

Ye tha is film ka ant, kahani ka ant aap par nirbhar hai (this is the end of the film, the end of story depends on you) – This is the literal translation of this sher (couplet) of Iqbal, true meaning depends on you.

P.S. If you remember the difference between Shabdarth and Bhavarth from your High School Hindi class you will understand what I am trying to say.

Bye

P.P.S. Eureka! I remember from where this term became a catch phrase for me. I had recently watched the movie, Tere Bin Laden. 3 cheers to Noora.....

Thodi bakwaas thoda gyaan

2012-01-16T03:26:00.000-08:00

This is the first month of this year and the New Year is marching ahead. 2012, the year when the world as we know is supposed to come to an end according to the Mayan Prophecy (Hope you have seen 2012 where Roland Emmerich has shown everything breaking and falling inside the cracking earth; erupting volcanoes and flooding oceans are the supporting cast in this saga of apocalyptic mayhem). The date is 21.12.2012. Think if it was 20.12.2012, we would have got one more status update to share on Facebook. 20.12 – 2012, so symmetrical, and would have got so many likes and a few comments also from those people who had the time to type (and who do not suffer from writer’s cramp).

I am feeling guilty to admit that till now pangs of anxiety have not started within me. I have not yet started reminiscing about my life. I still sleep till 9:45 in the morning (office starts at 10:30 and I am never late), work hard in the office and have fun. Okay! The second thing was meant to be a joke. Anyway, the good and the bad times, everything which I have done till now, mistakes which I made, problems which I created (off course for others; as I am too smart to create problems for myself). Alas! What I wrote was true as I am one among those unfortunate people who were not born with the inherent talent to be a nuisance to all around them. Sometimes I really miss this quality and wish to be a prodigious troublesome talent. And last but not the least, things which I wished for but could not get in my life like a Porsche, sea facing penthouse on Marine Drive, Nokia Vertu and a candle light dinner with Trisha Krishnan (Oh Jessie, I love you). My God, she was enchanting in Vinnaithandi Varuvaaya (if you have not seen it please watch it because there are films other than Bodyguard and MI4). Off course you will need subtitles if you are not Tamil because the movie is in Tamil (see how smart I am). It is my humble request to you that please do not wait for the Hindi remake called Ek Deewana Tha. Watching Amy Jackson in the trailer made me wish that the world should end right now.

Anyway what I was saying before I started blabbering about Ek Deewana Tha?? Ah! Trisha. Trisha. Trishaaahhh…… Now I remember that I was talking about what I could not get in my life. But why should I repent and feel sad. There is a song from a Hindi movie…..Jo hona hai so hona hai, phir kis baat ka rona hai, kis baat ka rona hai…..

So bhai log and my dear girls/ ladies (I doubt that any female would read this so I can be cheeky ) I will share with you some things which I Learnt in the year 2011. Please be attentive and read carefully to grasp the nuggets of wisdom being imparted here for free (muft, muft, muft, bilkul muft) –

Ajay Rao is a person with a great sense of humour (J, you owe me J) Every time I read his blog, this belief of mine gets stronger. I strongly believe that he should write a book because I think he can be better than Sidin Vadukut, another writer with a great sense of humour (though his sequel to Dork, his first book, was a little amiss). Vadukut is a columnist with Mint and is an avid blogger. Google him and you will find more about him. Those of you who understand Hindi, please get a copy of Raag Darbari by Shrilal Shukla (He died this year at an age of 86 J). I assure you this is the best piece of humour you can find. Back to Ajay, those of you who don’t know him, don’t put much pressure on your brains, because in that case you will have to spend money and buy Saridon, use that money for better things, e.g. buying a cigaretteJ. He is a college mate and a dear friend. He blogs at jaydedforlife.blogspot.com though occasionally these days. Please read it and give your opinion.

Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592), a French Jurist is known as the father of modern essay, an example of which you are reading right now, every paragraph written here can be an example of a short modern essay, but since it is fashionable to call such writing blog in the world of internet, my dear co-residents of blogosphere, I accept that I have written a BLOG.

Stay Hungry Stay Foolish, not original; Steve Jobs got his most famous phrase (he ended his 2005 address at Stanford University with this phrase) from the back page of last issue of The Whole Earth Catalog, an American counterculture catalog published by Stewart Brand between 1968 and 1972. After 1972 the magazine was appeared occasionally till 1998.

It is better to avoid travelling in Mumbai local trains because no matter how much we romanticise them, when your balls get crushed in the crowded Churchgate- Virar Fast or when your calves are itching but you cannot scratch them because you are holding whatever you can hold inside the train to prevent yourself from getting pushed outside the train, all the romanticism vanishes. Don’t believe me! just imagine such a feeling and you will get the answer. Can’t imagine, well! just travel by a Churchgate – Virar local between 6-8 pm on a weekday

P.S. – Parle – G gives you more energy per Rupee spent than any other biscuit in the market.

Bye