Monthly Archives: February 2012
I Spy Hope
It makes sense that one of India’s most successful films of all times is one called 3 Idiots. Being idiotic seems to be a national pastime, particularly if you’re in the government. We have a Home Ministry whose representative, the Additional Solicitor General, thinks homosexuality is against the order of nature. The ministry later clarified [...]
Remembering Shanghai
Did I mention I went to Shanghai at the end of last year? Well, I did. Obviously, the first thing that I wanted to ask anyone I met was along the lines of, “What’s it like to have no freedom of speech?”, but I did manage to restrain myself. It was, in most cases, the [...]
Poll talk
It’s municipal elections time in Mumbai, which doesn’t mean much to people like me who technically don’t exist and therefore can’t vote. Not that I’d have been lining up outside a polling booth had I been on the rolls because I’m among those who is pretty much illiterate when it comes to local politics. All [...]
Love and Laughter
It’s been a calm February 14th. Apparently, the right-wing groups that generally go about thumping their conservative chests and thrashing canoodling couples — they’re usually profess to be Hindu — announced that they were not going to go on a rampage this year. The Shiv Sena’s Delhi convenor said, “Since last year we are not [...]
WTF
If there was ever a post that deserved “WTF” as a title, this is it. Before I begin, can I just say that I was going to jot down my notes from Shilpa Gupta’s Somewhere Else, which is on at Chemould Prescott Road (Mumbai)? But then I was told about this, and I confess, I [...]
How Akar Patel (may have) Helped Me Lose Weight
This is what I had in front of my desk all morning yesterday. Of course this would be delivered to the office two days after I have taken a firm decision to try and lose some weight. My new aim is not to find time to write or read more or any such intellectual pursuit. [...]
Smells Blog-worthy
I’m trying this business of writing posts on the phone. The reasons I’m trying this are the following: 1. I’m sitting in a car, in a Bandra traffic jam (Holy Family is an unholy mess). 2. I’m stuck between two people who are squabbling with each other. They are a married couple in their late [...]
Joseph Lelyveld: Gandhi & The Struggling Subcontinent
Ok, I’ll admit it. I attended Joseph Lelyveld’s talk in Mumbai’s Jnanapravaha for two reasons. One, I wanted to see how many people would ask Lelyveld about M.K. Gandhi’s possible homosexuality. Two, Ranjit Hoskote was to be in conversation with Lelyveld after Lelyveld presented his lecture and I really did want to hear Hoskote swirl [...]
Cut it Out
This is old news but since it’s rather momentous, I figure I’m allowed to exult about this even though this happened 4 days ago. David Fincher’s The Girl With A Dragon Tattoo is not going to be released in India. This probably makes those of us who did see the film’s press screening feel rather special. [...]
World Domination
