Thursday, November 12, 2009

Precious...




It's amazing how she's grown up so soon!... From a tiny tot to a now mischievous toddler. But , she always does manage to find things her size and scale... :)

Sinja and baby pumpkin in an adorable pic...

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Unable to...




Develope a taste for...Brown rice -ugh!

Harped for its nutritional benefits and closer to it's natural avatar than its heavily polished white cousin, I just do not seem anywhere close to develope a liking for its sticky-chewy bite, unappealing colour and coarse nature...

Unusual weather afternoon...



The hot, sticky yet dry yesterday seems to be far away today...
Grey clouds, a gentle drizzle and the hugely unavailable cool air...

Thursday, November 05, 2009

Contemplative

" I went to a poor school with rich teachers.....no! really!!"... R.A. Mashelkar at TED.

Nouveau- Patriotism

This term actually kicked off while reading a weekly magazine column on a leisurely Sunday. Somehow it has kept on resurfacing every now and then, since the column. It echoes through sensible TV journalists, friends, even VJ's and sometimes facebook!

It is perhaps a new strain of patriotism thats emerging out of being comfortable in your skin in post-independent India. As the "colonial" hangover fades away in most parts, a new pride seems to have set into being 'Indian'. It's not 'shouting-from-the-rooftops' kind-of patriotism that was very evident in the 50's or 60's, immediately after independence. It is silent and subtle yet strong in flavour.

It is more wholesome, it's not about hailing India in isolation, but emerges out of a well-informed mind. It is knowing that we may well not be a superpower, nor the next, but have the capability to get there and will.

It is also perhaps a phenomenon that's more common in the 2nd and 3rd generations , post-independence. The generations that have seen the country grow. Socio-economic extremes still exist and will for a long time. But from a" poor country of slums, elephants, snake-charmers and the like", every Indian knows that we are more than just that. Today we are growing over the guilty, shy, inhibited phase and taking pride in our identity as Indian.

A sample: link to TED India - First session November'09.

Getting back to the column, it was called London Diary by Vir Sanghvi. While talking about his itinerary in London, he starts talking about Indian food in London. Sampling various Indian restaurants, he writes,

" I think I will have to disagree with Namita about London being the capital of Indian cuisine. This may have been true some years ago. But now Indian restaurants in India beat the hell out of anything in London. Forget Bukhara or Dum Pukht – I doubt if many of these London chefs would be allowed to cook in those kitchens – but even the Masala restaurants of the Taj group are immeasurably superior to Benares. And by the time you get to Varq or Indian Accent, the contrast is so great as to be meaningless.


I mean no disrespect to the Indian chefs in London. They cater essentially to people who know nothing about Indian food and who believe that if spice levels are reduced or if the gravy is placed below the meat, this marks a huge advance in Indian cuisine. Which is fine and what’s more, it seems to work. They get Michelin stars and the likes of Atul Kochhar and Alfred Prasad of Tamarind are media stars. As an Indian I am proud of their achievements.


I’m just glad that I don’t have to eat their food"


Further signing off he adds,


"On the way back I switched to Jet Airways and was glad I did. Jet must have the best First Class on this sector. The beds are comfortable, you can shut the shutters and turn your seat into a cabin, the TV screens are enormous, the wines are first-rate and the service is so warm and welcoming that you wonder why Indians even bother with foreign airlines.

Our private airlines may be in trouble but there’s one thing you’ve got to concede. They have erased memories of Air India’s sloppiness and have proved that given the right opportunity, Indians can run airlines that are easily as good as the much-praised carriers of south east Asia.

And the Indian food was much better than anything I ate in London."


Having faith in the author, it is not an opinion blindly built. It is well-analysed and then put forth. It's not necessarily bashing the other or praising oneself. It is knowing India as it is, believing in it and letting the pride speak for itself...

Tuesday, November 03, 2009

Bombay..

" I'm going to Bombay in the afternoon."

It's a rather volatile word to use right now. But it's not just an erstwhile name of Mumbai as we now know it. For the greater Mumbai of today, Bombay still means the business district at the southern tip of the island...

Opinion?!

We are being fed with so much much readymade data, that we have stopped analysing, processing and synthesizing information and form an opinion that is actually our own. All I hear are echoes from somewhere!!

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Charming

Friday, August 07, 2009

Swa

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Sunday, July 05, 2009

Lady Jamshedjee Road...















Finally captured a year after spotting it...