Old Warhorse
October 7, 2007The old premier taxis in mumbai are on their way out. many of them are ancient, and falling apart. their owners still drive them as though they were in a F1 race, and there was no other traffic around. Now who will…
Category: India
Without Nepotism….
October 1, 2007says the NYT: Without nepotism, Hillary would be running for the president of Vassar. But then, without nepotism, W. would be pumping gas in Midland — and not out of the ground. i wounder where our leaders would be. [tag]Sonia Gandhi[/tag] would…
The Nightingale Sings…Duets
September 29, 2007On her birthday, my favourite Lata Mangeshkar duets. She has sung with practically everyone and his cousin in her eons that she has ruled the roost of Hindi Film Music Chod Gaye Balam – Lata and Mukesh voicing for a very young…
Pudcha Varshi Laukar Ya …
September 26, 2007Yesterday, was the day when most of Mumbai was out saying bye bye to [tag]Ganpati[/tag]. The little home Ganpati’s had their joyous send offs. Accompanied by band baja, and scores of bad dancers, the Ganpati’s wove their way through the streets of…
The Lord of Mumbai
September 15, 2007Mumbai gets geared to welcome its favorite deity. Over the decades it has moved from being a Maharashtrian festival to something lots of others follow. This Ganpati is made almost in the style of Srinivasa of Tirupati – check out the tilak…
Show Cause – Live India TV
September 13, 2007This from IndianTelevision.com Live India, which ran into controversy after telecasting a sting operation that was subsequently declared as fake, has been issued a showcause notice by the information and broadcasting ministry. "A notice has been issued to the channel to show…
Withdraw Live India TV’s Broadcasting License
September 10, 2007this from the ToI Delhi Police on Friday detained for questioning a TV channel reporter who conducted a sting operation on a government school teacher in an attempt to show that she was running a prostitution racket. "Prakash Singh, the television reporter…
Ouch
August 6, 2007This, a headline from the ET – India's most widely circulated business broadsheet : Some SC/STs too made it on merit replace the word SC/ST with any other ethnic/religious/gender grouping and tell me what is right/ wrong with this headline. [tag]media bias[/tag]…
India circa 2007
July 30, 2007This year I began teaching culture studies to my students. Culture studies is not the study of culture perse – but the study of cultures – their power structures internally and in relation to other cultures – their internal & external dynamics…
The Taxi Driver
July 18, 2007There was a time when a taxi ride was a treat. I have chlidhood memories of travelling by taxi between Churchgate and Colaba. The taxi driver was invariably a Sardar in a white outfit with a great turban. As a child, i…