The great Indian Debate – Will it, wont it?

How do our political leaders, ministers engage with us - the public? The young guns do it through an impersonal stupid one line templated response from their Blackberry. Which amounts to minus zero engagement. In fact works dramatically in an opposite manner – only if they’d understand the damage they are doing themselves and their reputation! The older leaders try to engage the masses through their blogs which continue to have a personal motivation and an agenda. Once again amounting to nothing for the masses given high illiteracy levels in our country.

And if none other vehicles of communication work then a press conference is called for to wash dirty linen in public! No matter what questions get shrieked at them, they only give information single mindedly on what they would like to provide ammunition for. There is no two way speak, in this great democracy of ours. Do you remember a scenario where you have had a two way dialogue with any of these leaders?

And I don’t mean touching them or shaking their hands post the Bombay attacks or during a rally! I mean a dialogue, a conversation, a meaningful point of view which us masses have absorbed, analyzed, understood and have related to?

Indian leaders’ direct communication begins and ends with that great ‘tamasha’ called the election. The moment the vote is counted and government formed, they build impregnable fortresses around themselves. No Indian Prime Minister has ever organized a town hall kind of a meeting and took questions from the public in the middle of a raging national crisis or controversy (remember Obama on the Jay Leno show?).

When did our Prime Minister ever explain the various stock market scams to us directly, in terms that you and I can comprehend? Dr Manmohan Singh was famously dismissive of the biggest scam that first broke the trust of the small Indian investor in 1992, saying he “did not lose his sleep” over the plummeting BSE Sensex, which, until then, was hawked incessantly by his government as the emerging middle class’ big ticket to prosperity.

Why do our political leaders shy away to connect with this country’s people? A case in point was the nuke deal crisis that threatened to force an early election on the country. The deal resonated favorably, at least with urban India, but all that the PM did by way of reaching out was to shadow box. The party spokepeople – now they are a tenacious breed! Ravi Prasad, Jaitley, Kapil Sibal, Amar Singh – fantastic shadow boxers! Infact they have an alternate career if they ever decide to give up ad libbing! They have mastered the art of rhetoric, interruption, finger pointing on TV shows- they behave like the lotus flower. All the ‘keechad’ is around them viz their opponents from rival political parties. They themselves are the beautiful Lotus flower which blooms, does its work remaining agnostic to the ‘keechad’! Don’t we really wish!

On the other hand irrespective if you hated it or loved it, The India Today Conclave pulled off a high decibel conclave showcasing international political stars and villains all on the same platform. Look high and low on TV do you find a single show of equal nature and stature for our prime ministerial candidates to make an appearance on? Ok lets not even debate this… they can honestly come on any show and we will allow the likes of Arun Purie or Arnab or Prabhu Chawla to field questions at them

But- they shy away. Its alright for Advani to challenge Dr Manmohan Singh today. If the situation was reversed I assure you not even Advani would take the centre stage who seems to be roaring like a Tiger from within his den with no purpose. Its time these guys realized we are an intelligent people who understand whats at play in Politics. And no amount of fake talking or hoodwinking can take away their credit if they have done substantial work in the development of the nation, or the demerit if they speak mere hollow words.

Sure the big question remains - will they ever come live on TV? In a debate? Highly unlikely – neither will the challenged nor will the challenger, you figure who’s who in this great democratic, hollow power play that seems to be unfolding with some fervour in our country!

When a nation is in troubled times, be it the security of the country or the economic meltdown, be it the Satyam scam or the problem involving criminals in politics, when it is about hate speeches or about paani, sadak, bijli for the aam janta - our leaders, political leaders need to be able to differentiate between the real problems and political wolves and find a way to wrest a communication pathway with the public and reassure them the nation is in steady hands, hands that are not daunted by the challenges. Our future leaders need to display a show of courage that despite the humungous problems facing the nation “together” we will keep our wits and diversity and secularity intact and still be able to ride the wave of development and grow at a frenetic pace.

That’s a leader you want to leave the country in the hands of. That’s the leader you want to vote for. How difficult can it be to talk on a subject they have spent 70, 80 plus years of their life on?

Festival of colours- Holi

Holi welcomes the spring and the season of love in Honor of God Krishna, who played in his times throwing colors at his many lovers. In the city of Vrindavan, this festival lasts for 7 days. Colours are the most joyous part of the Holi celebrations. They add life and vitality to the festival making it most vibrant of all. Happy holi, everyone

Largely everybody I know love to indulge in Holi celebrations. Not me. I not only refrain from celebrating the colours part, as the artificial colours used in the festivities give my skin rashes and irritation in the eyes. The other unholy part why I desist is the rowdiness associated with this festival which don’t allow me to feel comfortable with strangers coming up to me to apply tilak!!

Pre Colours night - the bonfire
As much as this was a genteel act of good winning over evil, with my social knowledge quotient going up I just feel that the burning of fuelwood to create the bonfire for Holika dahan presents another serious environmental problem. A study done in the state of Gujarat revealed that each bonfire uses around 100 kg of wood, and considering that approximately 30,000 bonfires are lit in the state of Gujarat alone on Holi night this leads to a staggering amount of wood loss.

Maybe we need to find an alternative material to burn instead of good wood?

How about a dry Holi?
In the current situation of water scarcity faced by most of our cities, the wasteful use of water during Holi, is also under scrutiny. It is common for people to douse each other with buckets of water during Holi, and children often resort to throwing water balloons at each other, if not buckets of water from atop apartments on innocent passerbys. The idea of a dry Holi may seem superficial and alien, however if you allow yourself to ponder a wee bit, especially as the climate becomes warmer around Holi, and the water provides welcome relief from the heat – consider our large cities where citizens go without water for several days, it seems wasteful to use so much water simply for a celebration.

I think awareness about the environmental impacts of celebrating Holi are being felt, we need to find traction , and we need to allow our actions to speak louder than words. We need to choose a more natural and less wasteful way of playing Holi.

An environmentally sensitive Holi?
Originally the playful throwing of the coloured powders was seen as joyous as it had a medicinal significance as the coloured powders were made of Neem, Kumkum, Haldi, Bilva, and other medicinal herbs prescribed by Ayurvedic doctors. Including Bhang that is drunk had medicinal reasons for it to be considered good.

But modern days bring its own apathy and neglect. The pastes contain very toxic chemicals that can have severe health effects - Black contains Lead oxide and can cause Renal Failure, Green contains Copper Sulphate and can cause Eye Allergy, Puffiness and Temporary blindness, Silver contains Aluminium Bromide which is Carcinogenic, Blue contains Prussian Blue whcih can lead to Contract Dematitis
Red contains Mercury Sulphite which is highly toxic and can cause skin cancer

And heard this? Holi gulaal is now mixed with Glass Powder to add that sparkle and shine to it to make it look more alluring to beckon buyers!

New releases: Simple or Smart- Take your pick

Billu brings a tear to the eye at the same time a smile to your lips and you realize it’s a nice warm film – helps you appreciate the people you have in your life.

Irrfan steals the show with his portrayal of Billu, the barber. This actor is truly blessed with talent and craft. He always pitches his performance just right. There is not a single discordant note in his performance, which is like sheer poetry. In this film, he underplays Billu and his angst, and delivers his dialogues with just the right kind of punch. In the recent years, Irrfan has emerged as a force to reckon with, his performances have appealed to all strata of moviegoers and his work in Billu will only cement his status as a remarkable actor He is quite the life of the film.

Shah Rukh Khan really does not have to do much to portray a superstar. He gives the character of Sahir a certain kind of warmth, which is quite endearing. SRK needs to be admired for two reasons. The show belongs to Irrfan, although SRK could've forced himself in every scene. Also, he has chosen to opt for a film that's not one of those run-of-the-mill types. In terms of performance, SRK shows his true potential towards the finale

The narration is very entertaining, the 3 songs of SRK are visually brilliant and placed perfectly. The music is good. Love Mera Hit Hit and Mar Jaani are the pick of the lot. Billu Bhayankar is funny and stays with you long after the credits roll.

Contrast this with Dev D. Cracker of a film. My vote for its nomination into an Oscar for certain.

It’s experimental, real, layered, new, innovative, complex, and everything to do with human emotions of the good and not so good kind! O my God the music is a double whammy! The soundtrack of this movie is an out an out winner. Emotional atyachar at best defines the movie exploding with myriad emotions. And the camera man has not been afraid to venture into new territories to symbolize and define and interpret the Director, Anurag Kashyaps, gripping story telling.

I feel if I put too many words to such a powerful cinema I will degrade it to another commercial movie. I am affected by this movie. I loved its songs. I loved the 3 men/witches and how integral they were to the plot. Abhay Deol is a star! Can’t imagine anybody else doing this role with Abhays panache.

Wow where was Abhay Deol before this movie?!

The colour of Love

The innocence of Mother
The adoration and pride of Father
The need of a sister
The unspoken language of a brother
The seduction of a lover
The stable strength and depth of a husband
The power of a friend and friendship
The innocence of a new born baby
The askance of a pet
The serenity of a home
The togetherness and apanapan of a family

I instinctively wanted to root the colour of Love into white, but soon realized Love has soo many facets, so much depth - could I really slot it into one colour?

For me maybe the colour of Love has to be the colours of a rainbow

It's blue because it can bring peace and tranquility
It's green because it can cause envy
It's yellow because it radiates
It's white because it can be innocent
It's red because it can be passionate or dangerous
It's black because love when goes wrong could cause negativity
It's pastel shades because it can be young and soft
It's bold colors because it can stand apart from all else
It's plaid because it can be confusing

Love is a splendid array of colors and patterns, interweaving causing both happiness and sorrow, joy and pain, forgiveness and hatred

Love is. . . . a vast universe where a sense of oneness develops, unable to be quantified or defined by words or expressed in colors, the colour of Love can be felt inside the soul

We question her even before she is born!

Have you seen the movie ALL OF ME? The hero one day wakes up one morning as a woman - a man within, only his physical appearance has changed! It was funny! But the film also addressed some real issues plaguing our society.

Look around you –and assess for yourselves - is being a woman in our society a reason for smiles or laughter or fun? Be it the Mangalore incidence or the Gateway or the Noida or the Ita incidence with the 6yr old child and the cop? Women being kicked around and manhandled on the pretext of protecting Indian culture?

If this was not enough to bring angry tears to the eyes, you have to listen to men justifying on TV the actions of others because they were only behaving like older brothers?

We take celebrities to task if a black buck is killed, and yet we have seen these women molesters walk away free from jail. We reward men for doing what they have done- not only did they get free publicity on TV they walked away from their one day judicial custody with pride and smirks on their faces as they won their battle against these ‘lose moraled’ women!

In a chat with a handful of so called progressive men of our society I heard one of them justify the actions of the men in the attack episode of Mangalore. I was even more amused to hear a male colleague state that women need to be controlled. Is this a self appointed right I asked? He was indeed very iffy in his reply. Added to this another girl agreed with this progressive male set on why the Valentines day celebrations should be nipped in the bud, and why women should not be allowed love marriages and why women have absolutely no right to think for themselves or take any decisions on their part alone without consultation with a male bread winner of the family.

In our country, a woman’s right to live is questioned even before she is born with pre birth sex selection so rampant in progressive cities like ours. Frankly none of this shocks me - I see sexist stereotypes around all the time. It doesn’t matter which school or college they’ve studied in or the kinds of books they may have read while growing up.

I am not trying to influence men to think otherwise but these are some issues which I think our world definitely needs to ponder over

So coming to this movie I started talking about - in a funny kinda way- this movie depicts how terribly difficult it is being a woman, because you are principally dealing with fragile male egos and age old conditioned minds.

Think Apple

Here's to the crazy ones...
The misfits;
the rebels...
The troublemakers
The round pegs
in the square holes.
The ones who see things differently.
They're not fond of rules,
and they have no respect for the status quo.
You can quote them,
disagree with them,
glorify or vilify them
About the only thing you can't do,
is ignore them;
because they change things
They push the human race forward.
And while some may see them as the crazy ones,
We see genius.
Because the people who are crazy enough
to think they can change the world
are the ones who do.
Think Different.

Slumdog Millionaire and the noise around it

Many debates, much anticipation, lots of discussion forums and group discussions on various tv channels- all pointing to one thing- love it or hate you cant ignore Slumdog! A bit like India wouldn't you agree?:)

I only want to say one thing here- best luck to Mr. Boyle good luck with the Golden Globes and the Oscars. I am glad you made this film. Its a good film on many counts, directed brilliantly and therefore, deserves the accolades. But, ofcourse there has to be a BUT, Slumdog Millionaire is not the India or Bombay I have ever been proud of. It’s not the India that should exist. It’s certainly not the brand of “Incredible” India I like seeing ’sold’ to the western world.

But it is entirely my problem, not Danny Boyle’s!

Rahman you rock! Never doubted that ever..all kudos to you:) Wish you loadsa international acclaim.

Let’s discover our noble selves

I was commenting on SK’s blog, and my comment there compelled me to write this post.


With much sadness I am realizing that as a nation we are so caught up in some urgency that can best be described as goalless and meaningless. We are caught up in outdoing the other, we are losing our patience, we are getting mean and rude as a race, we are constantly hurling abuses and picking fights with strangers on the road, we argue more and more with no purpose, we don’t understand the meaning of constructive criticism, all we know - is how to reach into our primeval instincts and nudge the other out because the threat looms large in our minds that they may overtake us in some form and that threatens our peaceful state if any! We have forgotten that we are one of the oldest civilizations, who were acknowledged for our diversities, our skills, our art, our nobility, our sense of wisdom, culture and above all a basic politeness which is a trademark of a good community


As a nation we are increasingly forgetting some basic courtesies such as saying please and thank you, while other good manners, such as sending handwritten thank-you letters and holding the door open, are slipping


Very few people always make a point of saying please when asking for something. Almost entirely not too many say thank you no more. I was talking to a bunch of youngsters on how they would react if they bumped into somebody by accident, they claim they would not apologize if they bumped into a passer-by and that they would happily let a door slam in someone's face if they were in a hurry.


Things are unlikely to get any better in the run-up to New year either, which is fast becoming a festival of rudeness, impatience and bad manners.
Queuing, being caught in crowds, attacking bartenders because your glass is empty - all leads to short tempers and rudeness. We all want things in a hurry, lets barge past soon, get what we need and step away from the crowds - adds to further chaos, and further stepping on toes. But who really does care? Now we shush and mutter loudly and think nothing of queue-jumping if that gets us to our goal faster


What is this if not a race which is incredibly selfish and bad mannered? Where has our nobility disappeared? And our politeness? When will we search for it and how will we ensure we preserve it and teach these great values to our kids?
We all rationalize and accept that life is so fast-paced these days that people no longer make the time for social niceties. But who is losing out here?
The attitude of firing off quick texts and emails definitely lends itself to great response time, and I am sure we can use the same mode and media to be nobler and more patient as a society too. Lets learn to breathe, pause and count to 100 to calm down, grin, be cheerful, be optimistic, hopeful, value others and be helpful.


Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2009. Thank you all who visited and commented on both my blogs (www.meetravels.blogspot , www.quip-pro-quo.blogspot) during the whole year 2008, I appreciate them very much. Your support helps me to keep my bloging in progress! :)

Mumbai, Maximum city - What next?

I have been alone at home for the last 59 hrs and have been weeping
by myself. I feel outraged, sad, brutalized, shocked, gutted deeply with wounds and have many questions unanswered.

The Taj in so many ways signified my growing years in Bombay - was and is, a symbol of grace, dignity, magnificence which will rise from the ashes and will be rebuilt am sure!

Taj Mahal Colaba and the grand old lady VT station are our pride, beauty spots of global recognition. They have undeniably stood the test of time , weather, mal- usage, and reached heritage status today. Both these structures are set in the minds of everyone who belongs to the city, irrespective of whether you were born here or came to build a life here. When a heritage structure is showered with gun fire then it feels like an attack on the person! I felt like that.

Will we find a way to resolve this- - that is what is scaring me. Will we soon suffer from short memories and move ahead in life with this being, yet another chapter forgotten in the past?

Remember how outraged we were when we got to know that our soldiers did not have proper shoes when they went to fight Kargil? I have felt for them then, even got mentally disturbed and outraged then, but soon forgot about Kargil because it didn’t impact my life directly. Bombay is where we grew up, we breathe freely here, have seen childhood to adulthood here, seen happiness here and today mayhem

Today - I am enraged that how dare these dirty politicians question our soldiers getting 24eggs in a month! The same soldiers who come to Bombay as NSG & Marine Naval Commandos. To save us and protect us. And these politicians dare question that they get 24 eggs a month?! Why don’t we question these politicians and ask them why does NSG have to be based in Delhi? Don’t the Government have a moral task of safeguarding lives everywhere in the country? Is the Home Ministers life more important than the ordinary citizens life in Bombay? Should the NSG not be spread across the country for safeguarding and for security and God forbid never again for swift action too?

I am hopeful we will do something and not forget this time, the cruel hand of terror played in our city. I just know it in my guts we will not forget this lesson soon.
Just don't know what we will do to not forget, yet, though…

Maybe like all strategies the answer is staring us between the eyes and its not complicated a thought at all ! Maybe the answer is the most obvious – citizen vote bank! If we as citizens don’t have a citizen representation in the vote bank of governance in the country – through politics — then we absolutely don’t stand a chance to make anything correct! Then public memory will indeed live to be short...

If we want this crap to end, if we want terror to be finished, crisis management to be well handled, Intelligence systems to be well in place then we need to have a citizen’s vote bank! This once I want this terror crap to be the last.
I will personally persuade, direct, beg, plead, make reason and ensure everybody within my world votes! And makes sure their voice is heard!

Its now time for action – enough of words
I am totally for POTA to be revived right now! We need to move that machinery soon. How come no more terrorist acts have happened after 9/11 in USA? So can it be here too - provided we know what it takes to make it happen

Let's ensure we have a good acting responsible govt that knows
how to lead, govern & look after the nations interests

My heart will continue to bleed seeing Taj burn as long as the TV keeps flashing those images:(

For what it's worth, we need to speak up and now. Elections are round the corner lets be prepared to be heard. We need to rally in support of a War on Terror. We need to mobilize our world of family and friends to support the right leaders (am sure there are good young leaders there) by electing them resoundingly through our votes. And they in turn have to promise to flush out the terror training camps, irrespective of the soil they are on. If that leads to war, let us be mentally prepared- are the happenings in Bombay any short of war?

Lets nomore be called a city of tenacious people who jump back to normalcy all too quickly. Lets not be told how spirited we are. Let me tell you its not spirited at all, it is a desperate need to make money to feed those mouths at home that makes us go to work the next day. Its to earn a living! We are deeply indifferent as long as terror doesn’t touch our lives directly!

My friend Summerflower said, seeing things in her office, the branch head is singing songs out loud and a colleague thinks it's amusing to crack jokes with reference to the tragedy – so can this be spirited? Resilience? Or indifference?

Over the last 15 years we as a city have witnessed too much maybe therefore it leaves us cold if a few 100 die its just another day! Let it be the riots of 1992 or bomb blasts of '93, or the flash floods or the train blasts or the Gateway of India blasts and now this...any other city would by now would have torn itself apart and rebuilt a protection wall around itself. But we continue to break down even the thin walls that are barely surviving no thanks to us, and marvel at politics of the words and politicians make merry on politics for the vote bank! And the moron public like Mee cannot tell that we’ve been had not once, not twice, but so many many times!

Despite the 13 serial blasts in 1993 our city remained united. The
citizens could have easily relived the '92 riots, going at each others
throats in the name of religion. But no matter what these terror
elements tried to do, they could not break this city's unity. People
went out of their way to help others at times of crisis...never
did they ask "which region/caste/religion/country do you belong
to?" So who is creating the frisson here I ask you? The Politicians.

Incidentally for those who may not know there is an interesting story about how the Taj came into existence. The founder was not let into a plush south Bombay hotel because he was an Indian! So he went on to build India's first 5 star. Reason for each of us to be proud of our heritage.

I don't mean to offend anyone, it's just that I'm tired of calling our
coping mechanisms "resilience" when it is nothing but just truckloads
of sheer helplessness at being held at ransom every time...

I am sick of hearing abt our resilience n spirit n crap like tat
it is bull shit at it's best Part of it is sheer necessity n part of it is the need to move ahead It is all forced!! how can it ever be resilience?!

Lets wake up and ACT. Let this not be forgotten, because if we do, then we deserve the future we get. But we want a future which is prosperous, bright, economically powerful, and most importantly we want to be part of a harmonious peaceful community.


Lets all vote, lets get others around us to vote, register online if you are not a voter yet! http://www.jaagore.com/

I hope and pray now our leaders will not fail us in rooting out this terror
My sincere gratitude to the brave hearts of our forces. Sincere homage to those who lost lives in this senseless battle over the last 3 days. The war has come down to the street we live on. And it would be a crime to hold our silence. This was the last straw that broke our backs!

In grief and hope we must act and vote. That is the only way we can bring sanity to our country and make sure we have a government that knows what effective leadership must do. Protect the country at all costs!

No Water, No Life

Two things compelled me to write about Water.

A) I am working with a client (an Ngo) WOTR who do pioneering work in water harvesting. During my course of work I had a meeting with Shekhar Kapur who shared so much information and passion on this subject that it compelled me to think deeper and search for more answers.

B) After viewing Quantum of Solace I was stunned to realize Bolivia was held to ransom in real life by USA when 70% of Bolivia’s water supply was stolen by USA - a basic resource that belonged to Bolivia was controlled by USA and then resold to the Bolivians at a price the locals could not buy! This resulted in poverty, death and further erosion of life.

Water is today’s oil. If not more precious! Just as many wars have been fought for oil, many wars will be (and have been) fought over water!! But unlike the battles braved by American soldiers to keep SUVs humming on US highways, these clashes come at the price of something far more precious - the basic necessities of life. According to one estimate, there are over 1.2 billion people on this planet without access to potable water. So why is the situation only getting worse? Seems like the key word is ‘privatization’, and those contracted to solve the problem are the only folks, who will financially benefit from the same, adding to the misery of the masses across the globe

All humans have the “right” to water. Not to bottled water. Not to high priced, frequently unavailable water, but pure, clean, easy to obtain, and inexpensive drinking water. Let this be a wake-up call to those who take such issues for granted. Water is no more a given. How many people who run the faucet as they brush their teeth, think that they are actually wasting the equivalent of a whole South African town’s weekly supply? When we pick up that bottle of Kinley or Himalayan or Evian, do we really understand that in some South American countries people would kill for such a source?

We can put down this hurtling disaster of nature, as an anecdotal incidence today and carry on with our lives and allow the maids to leave the tap running while they chat with us, or waste the rain water that flows into our cities without harvesting it meaningfully, or not teach the kids in school how important a resource water is and help preserve and conserve it to ensure that the water tables don’t run dry, not create enough sustainable incomes in villages to stop migrants from seeking big city employment for an earning thereby putting more pressure on already fast depleting resource like water! Else we can wake up and take cognizance of the crunch and help in a small but meaningful way. I know of 2-3 people in Bombay who have already looked 15 years hence and have created under ground storage tanks to harvest rain water when lakes run dry eventually, so that they are self reliant and not shelling pots of money to buy water then

Indeed, some believe that, just like during other times of crisis, an informed outside constituency will rise up to rectify what commerce and corruption has shattered.

For that fact alone, we need to conserve and preserve water and not let our taps run dry. I know it is a tired rhetoric but soon will become a reality if we don’t wake up to the dangers.Conserve. Preserve. Water IS life.