Blog = Pseudo Intellectual chauvinism

An Obituary printed in the London Times - Interesting and sadly rather true. Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, *Common Sense*, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as: - Knowing when to come in out of the rain; - Why the early bird gets the worm; - Life isn’t always fair; - and maybe it was my fault. Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don’t spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge). His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition. Common Sense ...

Give the man a break... ever since Slumdog Millionaire made it big in awards circles.. suddenly everybody has a opinion on the movie and they want to express it right through the media. I have been following debates over whether Slumdog does India any good.. is it only a gimmick.... Does it selectively highlight India's filth and backwardness.... Is it a foreigner's perspective on showcasing India.. Somehow when I saw the movie.. I loved it. Probably I saw it much earlier that it caught all the hype for bagging most of the awards.. I found it very entertaining, positive and full of great performances. As a social work student in India, I have visited the slums (Jhuggi Jhopri as they call in Delhi) for my field work. I am surprised as to how well the director captured the appropriate characterization of slums.. there was no exaggeration in depicting the slums. Isn't slums a reality in India.. Isnt child labor a reality in India.. And anyways its a movie.. Its not documentar...

Ya ya yaa.. I know its late to write about new year resolutions now, We are almost a whole month into 2009. However, I just wanted to pen down my thoughts on New Year Resolutions.. I think I must have made at least a million resolutions, may be just not New Year but you know.. like from next month... from tomorrow, from next monday and the list goes now. And its no secret that I haven't kept any of my resolutions. Losing weight and studying harder... is I guess I always resolve to do in mind.. but I am not sure how it translates into action. This year was very different. I didn't feel like having any NY resolutions. I realized that we make resolutions when we are lacking something we want to achieve. We only foresee the result that we want to obtain, and we make a resolve about achieving it. I have always said that I would like to lose 20 pounds (okay.. may be I need more, but lets stick to 20 for now). For a day I remember it and the next day its gone. I never paid attention t...

Op-Ed Contributor What They Hate About Mumbai By SUKETU MEHTA Published: November 28, 2008 MY bleeding city. My poor great bleeding heart of a city. Why do they go after Mumbai? There’s something about this island-state that appalls religious extremists, Hindus and Muslims alike. Perhaps because Mumbai stands for lucre, profane dreams and an indiscriminate openness. Mumbai is all about dhandha, or transaction. From the street food vendor squatting on a sidewalk, fiercely guarding his little business, to the tycoons and their dreams of acquiring Hollywood, this city understands money and has no guilt about the getting and spending of it. I once asked a Muslim man living in a shack without indoor plumbing what kept him in the city. “Mumbai is a golden songbird,” he said. It flies quick and sly, and you’ll have to work hard to catch it, but if you do, a fabulous fortune will open up for you. The executives who congregated in the Taj Mahal hotel were chasi...

WOW!!!!!!!!!!! What a night it was. History was made for the right reasons. I felt proud being associated to this election through my television, through the free flowing discussions in my college corridors, through the hush-hush conversations at my desk at office. As a commentator on CNN rightly reported "It is the triumph of FEAR over Hope" When I was new to this country I was often surprised to see the number of fear tactics used by people in power to influence the public. I in no way undermine peoples' grief and shock over devastating events 7 years ago, but living in fear and spreading fear is not the right path to take to overcome it. To have color codes for terror and attune peoples' mind by fine tuning color codes is no way to lead the country. For me the most important thing that I took away from this election, was not which ideology prevailed, BUT THAT IT WAS AN ELECTION OF THE PEOPLE. So many people voted, and they did not think "does my vote count, wh...

Very early when I started to blog, I wrote about an incident when my husband was away for an office trip (his first one) and how miserable I was the whole time alone at home, feeling as though my wings had been clipped. Well after that trip, my husband took many more and slowly my wings kept growing. I can't say that I am flying but definitely I am trying ............ Hmmmm this blog is slowing turning out to be about my wings.. It is not intended to be so.. Today I watched movie (Ya my husband is away for 4 days).. "The Jane Austen Book Club".. Ohh this movie is for you, my girl friends. A recommendation from my side to all of you. Light, yet meaningful and insightful. I am a sucker for romance and there were different shades of romance in the movie. Temptation, boredom, jealousy, lust, love and betrayal... all covered. I must admit that I haven't read any of Jane Austen's Books but I am tempted to do so. For us Indians one of the first images that must be coming...

Wow Its almost been 2 months since I wrote on this page of thoughtless ideas. A few of my friends reminded me that I haven't put anything new... that means some of you are reading my nonsense.. I have thought of jotting down some lines many times... but I guess these thoughts were not strong enough.. These 2 months of summer have been bliss (with many interrupted by strong thunder storms). I have not seen such lightening before. And there was an earthquake too. I was alone in the house and I got up too. As my PANIC threshold in very low... I panicked and the rest is history. What else.. I visited Detriot in May. It was nice, may be only for spending 2 days max. We went to the Casino and as played good amount of Blackjack. We won lots and finally left when we lost it all. In June I also attended a ballet done by the Gregory Hancock Dance theater group in which they performed on songs of Devdaas, Lagaan. It was a delight. The performers were all white but they infused bollywood a...