amalgam

Indian Crab Syndrome by Shobha John

noreply@blogger.com (Utpal) — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 04:35:32 PDT

I remember watching the movie 'Ek Doctor Ki Maut' on DD many many years ago. Pankaj Kapoor plays a doctor whose seminal research is met with stiff peer opposition. The movie was inspired by the real-life story of Dr. Subhash Mukhopadhaya. Dr. Subhash's story is tragic and the movie brilliantly portrays his frustration and in effect portrays the story of all individual in India who dares to have

Mausam ki adla badli mein ...

noreply@blogger.com (Utpal) — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 23:19:17 PDT

I am not a big fan of the movie 'Black'. I thought the true inspirational story of Anne Sullivan-Helen Keller was turned into a overtly dramatized, poor adaptation. In addition, the movie lost rest of it's charm because of over acting by Amitabh Bachchan, Rani Mukherjee and Ayesha Kapoor. I have never understood the mind of Sanjay Leela Bansali. The director of a movie is primarily a story-teller

IPL: Some team's contracts terminated

noreply@blogger.com (Utpal) — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 15:47:49 PDT

'Sharad Pawar is homosexual. He removed two beautiful female faces from the IPL. And he let Shahrukh Khan stay', my friend argues. However strong the argument may be I would rather have to disagree, at least partially. Gender discrimination? Lalit Modi created IPL selling one of the easiest things to sell today. Cricket. He let all the his blood relations and relations from marriage to eat as

CWG 2010: India's Pride

noreply@blogger.com (Utpal) — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 15:34:04 PDT

"Indians defecate everywhere", commented Naipaul in his "Area of Darkness", first book in the trilogy on India. As an outsider this is how he viewed Indians on his first visit to India.Off course, many of us thought it to be a statement made due to ignorance of what Indianness is and we openly romanticize the idea of 'maidan' visit early in the morning. Off course, sanitation is a western concept

Of Mice and Monologe by By Mark Leyner

noreply@blogger.com (Utpal) — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 01:08:07 PDT

Check this article. I loved it and could not refrain from keeping it away from you guys. Won't say more on it, just go straight to the article. You will find the article on Op-Ed section of New York Times. Of Mice and Monologe By Mark Leyner I AM absolutely baffled as to why the announcement of a scientific advance heralding the advent of talking mice has not generated a peep from the

Bihar: Now

noreply@blogger.com (Utpal) — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 01:18:19 PDT

I found this article at this link, and found it an interesting read, more so because this was published on Nov 14, 2006, almost an year after he became the Chief Minister of Bihar. This election, even though not an assembly election, will decide whether the people of my home state have started to cast their vote for development and progress or are still voting their caste. History Grants Nitish

Ganguly and his fake team mate.

noreply@blogger.com (Utpal) — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 01:09:01 PDT

There is an over left and seven runs needed. Ganguly at the crease - I expect KKR to win and began writing my post in praise of Ganguly and his famed resilience. It is Ganguly's turn to remind us of the stuff he is made up of. When KKR looked dead and gone Ganguly comes to the party and guides 'his' team to a fantastic victory. We are continuously and imaginatively 'informed' about the insides

An argument.

noreply@blogger.com (Utpal) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 14:25:16 PDT

When Noam Chomsky was asked for his views on religion, in an interview, this was what he had to say:"...if you ask me whether or not I'm an atheist, I wouldn't even answer. I would first want an explanation of what it is that I'm supposed not to believe in, and I've never seen an explanation."I am sharing this with you all because I simply loved the beauty in the argument.

Story of the poor and hence of India.

noreply@blogger.com (Utpal) — Sun, 02 May 2010 12:10:57 PDT

Last week I read an article titled "I am just a poor boy though my story’s seldom told", that I would like to share with you.As an introduction to the article I share with you the first two paragraphs of the article here:That the children of the poor underachieve in later life, and thus remain poor themselves, is one of the enduring problems of society. Sociologists have studied and described it.

IPL in South Africa. It's different!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Utpal) — Sun, 02 May 2010 12:11:23 PDT

IPL began today. Mumbai Indians defeated the last year edition's runners up, riding on a fantastic knock by Sachin Tendulkar. The surprise for me was Royal Challengers beating last edition's champions Rajasthan Royals. The big performers for RC were Rahul Dravid, who played some fantastic, delightful shots for his 66 runs in 48 balls, and Anil Kumble, who finished with figures of 3.1-5-5. But,

The Road Not Taken

noreply@blogger.com (Utpal) — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 14:23:42 PDT

The last few months have been very difficult. Almost everyday, I have looked back to the past and have wondered about the major decisions I made in my life and how they have maneuvered my life and brought me to my present. Almost everyday, I am reminded of last stanza of the poem; The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost. I am not sure if the roads I took were the ones less traveled, but the last

Life List

noreply@blogger.com (Utpal) — Sun, 02 May 2010 12:12:13 PDT

At fifteen, he sat down and made a list. At such a young age he jotted down all that he wished to do in his life. The list included things like; exploring the Nile, Colorado and more, learn about the primitive civilizations of Congo, Brazil and more, climb the Mt. Everest, Mt Fuji and many more, photograph Iguacu Falls, Niagara Falls and more, explore the underwater coral reefs of Florida and The

The best goodbye ever ...

noreply@blogger.com (Utpal) — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 01:09:37 PDT

What would you do if you came to know you have only a couple of months to live? Amar Kaul, the character played by Vinay Pathak in 'DASVIDANIYA' makes a list of things he wishes to do before he dies. He has three months to live. And is successful in ticking off all the items in the list before he says his goodbyes. His journey through the last months of his life is not only moving but inspiring

Illusion of Wealth and a Fraud.

noreply@blogger.com (Utpal) — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 01:10:25 PDT

When Lehman Brothers evaporated and the official anouncement of recession started to do the headlines, I started to search for answers. I was lost. I had little or more correctly no understanding of the stock market then. And my understanding of economics did not go beyond the demand and suppy curve. So, for the next couple of weeks I read and reread a lot of material on the internet. Became, for

Finding sense ...

noreply@blogger.com (Utpal) — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 01:11:18 PDT

I collate here some of the comments and excerpts from articles that I read after the Mumbai terror episode. Maybe, just maybe, as a group, these thoughts will make some sense amidst the confusion, anger, hopelessness and hate that has gripped the nation. A placard during the public demonstration outside the TAJ Hotel, Mumbai: Terrorists don't come by boats alone, they come by votes too. Excerpt

India’s 9/11? Not Exactly by Amitav Ghosh

noreply@blogger.com (Utpal) — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 01:18:59 PDT

With debates on the possibility and effectiveness of miliatary action on Pakistan doing the rounds these days the following article by Amitav Ghosh in the New York Times makes for a fantastic read and I share that with you here. India’s 9/11? Not Exactly SINCE the terrorist assaults began in Mumbai last week, the metaphor of the World Trade Center attacks has been repeatedly invoked. From New

News, or is it?

noreply@blogger.com (Utpal) — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 10:14:17 PST

I followed NDTV and IBN CNN for close to four hours last evening. The fears that I expressed in my last post seemed to have come to pass. There was almost no mention of the Assam blast for the complete period that I followed the news.The 24/7 media had so much in hand that they forgot to give enough news time to the incidence in Assam. Yet found enough time to interview film stars and other

Blast in Assam

noreply@blogger.com (Utpal) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 21:09:13 PST

Another bomb blast. This time in Assam. Militants belonging to Karbi Longri National Liberation Front (KLNLF) are suspected to be behind tha blast. The blast went of inside coach number 8209 of 901 Lumding-Tinsukia passenger train, exploded around 8 am as it entered Diphu railway station. Almost 30 people are suspected to be dead as of now. Read More ...I am waiting to see how India responds to

Government is listening?

noreply@blogger.com (Utpal) — Sun, 02 May 2010 12:15:59 PDT

This country has seen worse incidences of terror and destruction. The Kosi River killed much more than a lot of terror incidences. It was a calamity for which nature was not wholly responsible. Rather the reasons were man made. Definite negligence from political leadership and government officials. The same reasons that made last week incidence possible. So what makes the TAJ incidence so unique

India challenged....

noreply@blogger.com (Utpal) — Sun, 02 May 2010 12:16:23 PDT

With the visuals of the final hour assault by the NSG at Taj, I start my day. Within a couple of minutes into the commentary one could see the fire beginning to engulf the ground floor and the first floor of what is undoubtedly one of the most majestic pieces of architecture facing the west coast. Guns shot reminds of the some bloody Hollywood war movie. But the location is not some forest in

We Wear the Mask by Paul Laurence Dunbar

noreply@blogger.com (Utpal) — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 01:12:43 PDT

We wear the mask that grins and lies, It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes— This debt we pay to human guile; With torn and bleeding hearts we smile, And mouth with myriad subtleties. Why should the world be over-wise, In counting all our tears and sighs? Nay, let them only see us, while We wear the mask. We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries To thee from tortured souls arise. We sing, but

Obama: The Next President of US

noreply@blogger.com (Utpal) — Sun, 02 May 2010 12:17:03 PDT

Barack Obama is elected as the 44th President of United States of America. And its an apropriate time to go back and enjoy one of the most celebrated and famous speeches given in the history of Mankind.I Have a Dream - Address at March on WashingtonAugust 28, 1963. Washington, D.C.I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the

Why to Start a Startup in Bad Economy By Paul Graham.

noreply@blogger.com (Utpal) — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 01:14:03 PDT

The following article I found while general surfing and found it interesting and more importantly pleasant amids the gloom of economic slowdown. The article is written by Paul Graham. Paul Graham is an essayist, programmer, and programming language designer. In 1995 he developed with Robert Morris the first web-based application, Viaweb, which was acquired by Yahoo in 1998. In 2002 he described a

Paul Krugman wins the Nobel

noreply@blogger.com (Utpal) — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 01:13:18 PDT

Paul Krugman, a Professor and columnist has won the nobel for Economics this year for his work on 'analysis of trade patterns and location of economic activity'. Aged 55, he writes a column for New York Times pretty much like the one Swaminathan S. Aiyer writes for The Time of India titled Swaminomics. Where he explains different economic issues in the language of the layman. Simplifying a

Midnight Musing ...

noreply@blogger.com (Utpal) — Sun, 02 May 2010 12:18:59 PDT

A week back I got myself wired to the world. It took the service provider two months to bring in the broadband connection to my home. The last couple of months have been a lousy ride as a customer, marked by plenty of rude exchanges with the agent and customer care executives. Unfortunately, no other service provider has the broadband infrastructure in my colony. So, I had no other option but to