tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15919355Fri, 01 Nov 2024 06:37:38 +0000BollywoodTravelBooksLondonMoviesWorldNew IndiaLifeWhat I'm Listening Topopular cultureIndiaPoliticsDiasporaSelf-Centred IntrospectionWhat I'm Reading...racismloveCelebrity Big BrotherChinaFrom my pen...Shilpa ShettyTibetUKreality TVMusicNew YorkOlympic torchdancingfictionfilmsindonesiamephilosophyreligionvampiresBaliBerlinBromoCambodiaDeathEgyptFranceGleeIslamJapanJavaKamasutraMurakamiMyanmarPoetryartbankinghorse ridinginsomnialive bloggingorientalismrelationshipsvolcanoesThe ramblings of a full time, philosopher, part time traveller, former banker, and sometime cynic. Living in London, trying to be good, but so restless...http://thebuddhasmiled.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (The Buddha Smiled)Blogger144125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15919355.post-5085913417061258990Wed, 21 May 2014 18:07:00 +00002014-05-21T19:07:20.197+01:00LondonracismUK Some of you have asked why I'm making a fuss about the racist attack on my sister, my friend &amp; me from a few days ago. So I'm sharing my Facebook status of a couple of days ago to explain what I'm hoping to achieve: "In the last 48 hours, the sheer number of the messages of support, love and concern that I've received following that horrible racist attack on Sunny, our friend &amp; me (http://thebuddhasmiled.blogspot.com/2014/05/why-i-wont-stay-silent-in-face-of.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Buddha Smiled)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15919355.post-2331106750870280445Wed, 27 Feb 2013 22:23:00 +00002013-02-27T22:23:27.502+00:00 Seth MacFarlane’s hosting of this year’s Academy Awards ceremony is, by now, a well-critiqued car crash. The articles&nbsp;here, here and here are well-argued, analytical and clearly document why the racism and sexism his jokes were based on is deplorable.&nbsp; But one aspect of his routine that might have been overlooked is the chorus that supported MacFarlane during his opening number, http://thebuddhasmiled.blogspot.com/2013/02/sexism-sexuality-and-that-damn-oscars.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Buddha Smiled)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15919355.post-7207262365986861970Wed, 23 Jan 2013 15:49:00 +00002013-01-23T15:49:39.627+00:00 For those of you who follow this blog, my Twitter feed, or generally interact with me, you will probably know that I am about as anti-imperialist, post-colonial and post-modern as they come. As such, it may not surprise you that I often (and vocally) take umbrage at writers and commentators from the "West" who may choose to express an opinion about the lives and experiences of men and women in http://thebuddhasmiled.blogspot.com/2013/01/a-new-visa-form.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Buddha Smiled)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15919355.post-38439582453474504Wed, 26 Sep 2012 14:21:00 +00002012-09-26T16:08:13.554+01:00 Some of you might have heard about those ads that have appeared recently across the New York subway system. After originally declining to post the ads, the MTA was forced by a court order to accept the ads and display them across the subway network earlier this week. Almost immediately the same ads were countered with stickers that marked them as “racist”. Egyptian-American activist Mona http://thebuddhasmiled.blogspot.com/2012/09/in-which-i-write-about-those-posters_26.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Buddha Smiled)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15919355.post-6817661026638892968Thu, 16 Aug 2012 09:27:00 +00002012-08-16T13:24:20.450+01:00 Even as I write this, media sources are rife with speculation that the United Kingdom, keen to lay its hands on Julian Assange, who is currently hiding at the Embassy of Ecuador in Central London, where he formally made a claim for political asylum, will revoke the diplomatic status of the embassy, which in turn will allow it to enter the building and arrest Assange. I've been monitoring thehttp://thebuddhasmiled.blogspot.com/2012/08/diplomacy-even-unto-its-innermost-parts.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Buddha Smiled)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15919355.post-9218830587619171895Sun, 15 Apr 2012 20:53:00 +00002012-04-15T21:53:32.259+01:00BooksLifeWhat I'm Reading... <!--[if gte mso 9]> <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]> 0 false 18 pt 18 pt 0 0 false false false <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]> <![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 10]> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; http://thebuddhasmiled.blogspot.com/2012/04/my-first-book.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Buddha Smiled)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15919355.post-8282570935415726269Sun, 08 Apr 2012 20:36:00 +00002012-04-08T21:36:55.536+01:00 This is yet another explanatory post. A post to explain my life. My choices. My decisions, and those weird things that make up that tiny part of your life that I inhabit and make that life of yours a little bit, well, odd. And for which, I should add, I apologise unconditionally. If you're someone who's in my life as a friend or acquaintance, you might have recently have had to http://thebuddhasmiled.blogspot.com/2012/04/run-buddha-run.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Buddha Smiled)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15919355.post-5283131438353829206Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:55:00 +00002012-02-04T15:25:53.285+00:00From my pen...philosophyPolitics These past few weeks, I have been increasingly getting more vocal regarding politics and economics online. Whether on Facebook or Twitter, I have started putting up more commentary around either economic or socio-political issues currently being faced across the world. Not unrelatedly, I've been posting a fair bit about my views on the current rounds of fiscal consolidation underway across http://thebuddhasmiled.blogspot.com/2012/02/importance-of-using-voice.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Buddha Smiled)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15919355.post-1195077206733252920Fri, 20 Jan 2012 01:39:00 +00002012-01-20T01:39:56.903+00:00From my pen...LifelovemeSelf-Centred IntrospectionWorld It's either very late, or it's very, very early. My living room lights are set to a low setting. There is an odd combination of Hemant Kumar and Joan Baez playing softly on my laptop. And while I sip a glass of red wine, I write this post. Because today, it is my 31st birthday. I've never been much of a birthday guy. Growing up, birthdays were mostly small, private family affairs. We never http://thebuddhasmiled.blogspot.com/2012/01/counting-years.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Buddha Smiled)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15919355.post-5099670741664095115Fri, 30 Sep 2011 23:13:00 +00002011-10-01T00:13:04.414+01:00BooksEgyptPoliticsWorld This story begins on a cold winter's day in the North West of England. A young man walks through long corridors lined with books. It is quiet in this part of the library - most students tend to lurk around the sciences and management sections. This is the literature section, and there aren't that many takers for world literature. The department for literary studies is small, and other studentshttp://thebuddhasmiled.blogspot.com/2011/10/maps-of-our-lives.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Buddha Smiled)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15919355.post-833883421661110364Wed, 07 Sep 2011 21:37:00 +00002011-09-10T19:24:22.607+01:00filmsIndiaKamasutraorientalism... or how to live a life as a typical Indian in medieval times. The movie, which shares names with an ancient Indian book that's basically all about how to have good sex, was released in 1996 and made by director Mira Nair (probably best known for her later - and much better - film, Monsoon Wedding) When released, though, Kamasutra created quite a lot of interest, primarily because humans aroundhttp://thebuddhasmiled.blogspot.com/2011/09/infamous-kamasutra.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Buddha Smiled)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15919355.post-8463278315881051161Mon, 08 Aug 2011 19:30:00 +00002011-08-08T20:39:22.328+01:00LondonI'm angry. Very angry. Tonight is the third night in a row that various parts of London are beseiged by rioters; groups of youth vandalising shops, burning cars, attacking bus drivers and generally terrorising their neighbourhoods. I've spent much of the evening texting friends, trying to ensure that they are safe &amp; haven't been stranded or affected (too much) by the violence spilling out http://thebuddhasmiled.blogspot.com/2011/08/and-city-of-dreams-burns.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Buddha Smiled)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15919355.post-7929678688646629547Wed, 18 May 2011 18:58:00 +00002011-05-18T20:15:20.865+01:00BooksfictionIndiaAfter my initial post several weeks back about the rules of how to write an Indian novel in English, some people asked me if I was being too harsh. I disagreed and explained, either via emails, on Twitter or over various pints of beer in random pubs, that I was completely, utterly and absolutely correct, and that everything I said or did could be proven empirically. I am still somewhat surprised http://thebuddhasmiled.blogspot.com/2011/05/symphony-of-meretricious-wounds.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Buddha Smiled)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15919355.post-5355221859396369093Fri, 04 Mar 2011 13:06:00 +00002011-03-04T13:28:49.526+00:00BooksfictionIndiaFor those of you who know me (or at the very least read my blogs or tweets) you may recall that I am a fan of fiction. By virtue of my ethnic origins, I also bear more than a passing interest in fiction written by writers from the South Asian subcontinent. Including that written in English.Indian authors have written in English for decades now. However, only recently has the work that they've http://thebuddhasmiled.blogspot.com/2011/03/10-okay-13-commandments-of-writing.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Buddha Smiled)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15919355.post-7746686329990867646Fri, 31 Dec 2010 15:44:00 +00002010-12-31T15:46:13.389+00:00LifeloveTravelThe fireplace flickers in the wind. Long, undulating tongues of yellow flame, deep blue hearts inside, leap up against the cast iron flue as the wind rushes down the chimney. In front of it, almost impervious to the furnace-like heat, he sits. Pensive, he gazes into the flames, the glass of Bordeaux by his side slowly losing flavour as its absorbs the heat radiating across the room.It is late at http://thebuddhasmiled.blogspot.com/2010/12/another-year-past.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Buddha Smiled)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15919355.post-1846846243982965552Fri, 24 Dec 2010 11:05:00 +00002010-12-24T11:11:39.505+00:00LifeLondonTravelSo many days later. I've been terrible at blogging these past few months. So much happening, so much not happening. So it's been infrequent posts.So that's what I've been doing these past few months. Lots of travel - Greece, France, the USA, Germany, Spain (Ibiza), India, and France again. Now looking forward to spending New Year's in Berlin, my favourite city in the whole wide world.So many http://thebuddhasmiled.blogspot.com/2010/12/so-many-days-later.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Buddha Smiled)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15919355.post-3783102882333208395Sun, 01 Aug 2010 22:29:00 +00002010-08-01T23:53:19.389+01:00Gleepopular cultureracismSo tonight I'm supposed to be in a good mood. I've had a great, relaxed weekend, watched some quality cinema, and also had an excellent first date. So this blog post should really shiny &amp; happy, with lots of little gold stars twinkling at the edges.Instead, this one is going to be a rant. And the reason for the rant is pretty straightforward. For a change, it's not about something that's http://thebuddhasmiled.blogspot.com/2010/08/bending-race.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Buddha Smiled)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15919355.post-1237282683496197380Sat, 26 Jun 2010 02:13:00 +00002010-06-26T03:17:44.787+01:00Self-Centred IntrospectionAnother excerpt from the story that I'm currently working on. Something I've refined this evening, during yet another spell of insomnia.Where is the place that all stories begin? Is there a single point from which all our narratives flow, a single indescribable nucleus, where all our pasts, our presents and our histories are determined? And if such a point exists, could we ever trace our steps http://thebuddhasmiled.blogspot.com/2010/06/self-centred-introspection_3785.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Buddha Smiled)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15919355.post-7119045973987161925Sat, 26 Jun 2010 01:36:00 +00002010-06-26T02:47:44.547+01:00LondonSelf-Centred IntrospectionAnother late night in London.My insomnia kicks in on the strangest days. Today, after a week of insanely busy days at work, with a social calendar that's packed to the brim, I thought I would sleep like a baby. Fat chance. It's now 2:30 and I'm still awake; bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, willing to go out for a run, or a drink, or both. Probably not a good idea, but there you go.So here I am, in a http://thebuddhasmiled.blogspot.com/2010/06/self-centred-introspection_26.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Buddha Smiled)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15919355.post-4291688640271726195Sat, 19 Jun 2010 23:04:00 +00002010-06-20T00:11:48.208+01:00LondonloveSelf-Centred IntrospectionA half moon rises over the high rise council estate flats of Notting Hill.Deprivation.The moon is blood red. Dust in the air, prismatic reflections of pale light. Wisps of cloud fleetingly linger over the semi-circular cusp of reddish-white in the air.Il pleut toujour sur les maisons de Londres a minuit.My heart - the half that remains with me - cries with the weather. The other half, the half http://thebuddhasmiled.blogspot.com/2010/06/self-centred-introspection_20.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Buddha Smiled)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15919355.post-3832356114097626033Wed, 16 Jun 2010 22:20:00 +00002010-06-16T23:22:44.380+01:00LondonSelf-Centred IntrospectionHe sits, eyes, closed, on the Bakerloo line, right opposite him. Hair black, his Japanese eyes screwed tightly shut, mere slits against a face pockmarked with rashes and pimples. The faded grey of his backpack (waterproof, durable, outdoorsy, careworn, used) flat on his lap. His fingers, - rapid, prismatic, a blur – move the small plastic cube, almost inexorably.Turning, turning, turning.The http://thebuddhasmiled.blogspot.com/2010/06/self-centred-introspection.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Buddha Smiled)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15919355.post-429924374852102783Mon, 31 May 2010 01:39:00 +00002010-05-31T02:48:07.106+01:00Self-Centred IntrospectionAnother night, another memory of you.I always sleep naked. My skin, hot, feverish, sexual, burns against the cold touch of the duvet cover. Normally, your naked form next to me kept me warm, the pale expanse of your back a figura to warm myself against in the cold of the London night. But you've left, so I'm left here to my own devices as I look to warm myself in this, the coldest of London http://thebuddhasmiled.blogspot.com/2010/05/self-centred-introspection.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Buddha Smiled)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15919355.post-4162874517553607005Mon, 05 Apr 2010 11:55:00 +00002010-04-05T13:05:49.865+01:00Self-Centred IntrospectionA few years ago, someone in New York gave me a black Moleskine notebook, and told me that I should use it to write down my thoughts when I'm feeling pensive. I took the book, and then forgot about it for a couple of years. Last year though, while packing for my six months of travels, I found that notebook in my desk drawer and decided to take it on a whim with me.Funnily enough, I started writinghttp://thebuddhasmiled.blogspot.com/2010/04/self-centred-introspection.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Buddha Smiled)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15919355.post-5022119681582283227Tue, 16 Feb 2010 08:27:00 +00002010-02-17T07:09:10.694+00:00BollywoodIndiapopular cultureWorldI had first heard of My Name is Khan back in the summer of last year, after Shah Rukh Khan was, somewhat ironically given the plot &amp; premise of the movie, held at US immigration for a few hours as the airport authorities found him suspicious on the basis that his surname was “Khan”. The story was soon dropped, but for a few hours, the rapacious Indian media feasted on the bones of the scandalhttp://thebuddhasmiled.blogspot.com/2010/02/my-name-is-singh-and-i-am-who-i-am.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Buddha Smiled)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15919355.post-5093155911685528510Wed, 30 Dec 2009 10:41:00 +00002009-12-30T10:48:22.164+00:00BerlinLifeLondonIn less than two days, most of the world will be ringing in the New Year (why do I feel it necessary to capitalise those two words?) and also the New Decade (there go those capitals again...) Not surprisingly, with the onus of having to look forward to the ten years ahead, I've gone all nostalgic on the year that's just gone by, and cannot help but think back to where I was this time last year. http://thebuddhasmiled.blogspot.com/2009/12/reflections-on-new-years-past.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Buddha Smiled)