I've loved driving and being on road journeys - long or short, ever since i was 15. During the past 28 yrs, have burnt as much rubber on city roads as i have romanced mountain paths, verdant jungles or awesome beach stretches. Barring one major accident, about 12 years ago, this love has remained untouched and unblemished.
But the experience of the past fortnite has made me look askance at the unquestioned so far. For the first time in my life - i missed a flight due to a snarl that was oblivious to my urgency and made a 10km distance to the airport seem endless. This has happened to countless guys before and honestly, there's nothing cataclysmic about it. Except that merely 2 days later - i was stuck again. This time not on city roads but on the Mumbai - Goa highway. The fact that departing mumbai at 5.30am made little difference, with us eventually covering a princely 120 odd km in 9 hrs - made this journey the most excruciating in my entire driving life. We ended up abandoning our short getaway plan only to return back to mumbai at the same snail's pace by 9 in the night ! There seemed no obstruction, no accident, nothing untoward at all. It was just a pure and simple traffic build up that was far too humongous and huge for the narrow hiway stretch to accomodate or for the hi-way police to manage.
One has been hearing of similar horrors on Delhi and bangalore roads as well. The banality of the massive fund inflows and spends on road infrastructure seems apparent. The improvement in showcase areas and a few fantastic express-ways is in no way enough. The overall multi fold increased traffic volume needs far more prompt, aggressive and definitive action if our regression into the past century has to stop and incidents like the ones above are to be prevented.
As for me and my road romance, sometimes, hibernation is also a state of being and daydreaming about personal choppers can give one the same adrenalin rush!
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Friday, July 23, 2010
Friday, July 9, 2010
Stupor Stars & Paul
The ongoing and soon to be concluded FIFA world cup has had its share of hype & hoopla. What started off with the exciting eye-popping gyrations & fab rythm of Shakira's Waka-Waka, amidst the annoying drone of the vuvuzelas, soon veered towards the ominous forms of Kaka, Messi, Rooney, Ronaldo and Drogba - the super men, the super stars and the guys with all the fab WAGs (wives n girl friends). Such was the buzz around their ability and skill to dribble, shoot, head and outgun the opponents that one thought that goals were just waiting to be scored off their hallowed feet. All they had to do was to just show up on the field. Full marks to all the wizkids who dreamt of this.
But then reality has a sure way of re-defining the present. And it did. Not that these guys played badly. Just that they couldnt live upto the promised hype, appearing ordinary and fallible like countless others. When most of them played, especially Rooney, Ronaldo and even Kaka in his earlier matches - they looked dazed, uncertain and a lazy sleeping shadow of their media created personas. They were the "Stupor Stars", as i call them.
(Incidentally the promoters and actors of Raavan, Kites, etc all created similar hype and buzz only to face identical fates as well.)
Instead, what has captured hearts and heads alike with his super performance "on his turf" is Paul, the Octopus. This mollusc, a German inhabitant, has amazed the world with his accurate predictions of alteast 6 matches and blurred the distinction between accidental coincidence and blind faith completely. Hope he survives the onslaught of Germans and Argentines who are now gunning quite literally for his flesh.
I believe he is a worthy progeny and successor to the Indian parrot who had been discarded and consigned to the sidelines of history as someone who had outlived its utility with no further role in the lives of an increasingly educated and logical population.
But wait, just like Paul and like the phoenix, he too shall rise to be the cynosure of all TV channels and a dumbed down mass of people when he is employed to predict the outcomes of sundry World Cup Cricket matches next year. Just you wait.
But then reality has a sure way of re-defining the present. And it did. Not that these guys played badly. Just that they couldnt live upto the promised hype, appearing ordinary and fallible like countless others. When most of them played, especially Rooney, Ronaldo and even Kaka in his earlier matches - they looked dazed, uncertain and a lazy sleeping shadow of their media created personas. They were the "Stupor Stars", as i call them.
(Incidentally the promoters and actors of Raavan, Kites, etc all created similar hype and buzz only to face identical fates as well.)
Instead, what has captured hearts and heads alike with his super performance "on his turf" is Paul, the Octopus. This mollusc, a German inhabitant, has amazed the world with his accurate predictions of alteast 6 matches and blurred the distinction between accidental coincidence and blind faith completely. Hope he survives the onslaught of Germans and Argentines who are now gunning quite literally for his flesh.
I believe he is a worthy progeny and successor to the Indian parrot who had been discarded and consigned to the sidelines of history as someone who had outlived its utility with no further role in the lives of an increasingly educated and logical population.
But wait, just like Paul and like the phoenix, he too shall rise to be the cynosure of all TV channels and a dumbed down mass of people when he is employed to predict the outcomes of sundry World Cup Cricket matches next year. Just you wait.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Wife's Soul Maid
The locational clues to a man's heart have long been known. Ever wondered where does the key to a woman's heart lie?
Simple - it lies with her maid. Someone who can be there for her and exhibit exemplary ability with mundane household chores; display the affection and perseverance of a Nirupa Roy as she finishes off a whole lot of additional work over and above her regularly alloted duties, be supremely honest despite her meagre income levels and bureoning needs, be more consistent than Rahul Dravid & Sachin Tendulkar in being at work in time and above all accept "Thy Lady's" commands - silently, unquestionably and preferably smilingly.
The maid is "The" key to the mood and ambience in the house. She is the centre of life; the key to irritation or decibel levels in the demeanour of your spouse. And as powerful (as Osama) in her absence as in her presence. Everything she doesnt do or doesnt do well enough is likely to have an equal and opposite cataclysmic reaction in your life for sure.
So, thank your stars as long as you have one that is reliable, regular and smiling ever so often. Or "run for cover" - maybe even an outstation trip, when you dont.
Simple - it lies with her maid. Someone who can be there for her and exhibit exemplary ability with mundane household chores; display the affection and perseverance of a Nirupa Roy as she finishes off a whole lot of additional work over and above her regularly alloted duties, be supremely honest despite her meagre income levels and bureoning needs, be more consistent than Rahul Dravid & Sachin Tendulkar in being at work in time and above all accept "Thy Lady's" commands - silently, unquestionably and preferably smilingly.
The maid is "The" key to the mood and ambience in the house. She is the centre of life; the key to irritation or decibel levels in the demeanour of your spouse. And as powerful (as Osama) in her absence as in her presence. Everything she doesnt do or doesnt do well enough is likely to have an equal and opposite cataclysmic reaction in your life for sure.
So, thank your stars as long as you have one that is reliable, regular and smiling ever so often. Or "run for cover" - maybe even an outstation trip, when you dont.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
VJs and RJs move on. Its time for TJs.
Heard that MTV will soon have TJs i.e Twitter Jockeys on its shows rather than VJ's.
We were, i guess, part of the generation whose youth (25-40)coincided with the onset of liberalisation in india. We were called the X-generation. But before you knew, as we took cover under Loreals & Revlons, the Gen Ys took over from us lock, stock and barrel. They were smarter, zanier and meaner.
This wasnt the only dramatic change. There was more to follow. Email accounts - something that we didnt grow up with - but adapted to with great zeal and speed suddenly became obsolete as they gave way to social networking, almost overnight changing the entire demeanour of our connect with the world.
One of the first symbols of our youthful attitude then was an affinity towards irreverent music channels - primarily MTV & Channel V. We connected with their VJs, their music and importantly their attitude. But i guess, in the im-permanence of life lies its biggest secret. So now i learn that VJs, RJs et al are old fashioned. Its time for Twitter Jockeys. They'd ofcourse connect with tweeters and other surreal bugs in the digital world, keep track of celebs lives and ofocurse keep the junta updated on TV!
Then ofcourse there is that entire fraternity of networking specialists, podcasters and virtual reality enthusiasts. Beings -that one finds difficult to relate to.
At times i wish i was living in the early 90's. what a peaceful life it would have been. No mobiles to track you, No electronic mails, no social networking - just old fashioned friends and physical contacts with the world that you chose to be in touch with and a simplistic life you could understand. What bliss !
We were, i guess, part of the generation whose youth (25-40)coincided with the onset of liberalisation in india. We were called the X-generation. But before you knew, as we took cover under Loreals & Revlons, the Gen Ys took over from us lock, stock and barrel. They were smarter, zanier and meaner.
This wasnt the only dramatic change. There was more to follow. Email accounts - something that we didnt grow up with - but adapted to with great zeal and speed suddenly became obsolete as they gave way to social networking, almost overnight changing the entire demeanour of our connect with the world.
One of the first symbols of our youthful attitude then was an affinity towards irreverent music channels - primarily MTV & Channel V. We connected with their VJs, their music and importantly their attitude. But i guess, in the im-permanence of life lies its biggest secret. So now i learn that VJs, RJs et al are old fashioned. Its time for Twitter Jockeys. They'd ofcourse connect with tweeters and other surreal bugs in the digital world, keep track of celebs lives and ofocurse keep the junta updated on TV!
Then ofcourse there is that entire fraternity of networking specialists, podcasters and virtual reality enthusiasts. Beings -that one finds difficult to relate to.
At times i wish i was living in the early 90's. what a peaceful life it would have been. No mobiles to track you, No electronic mails, no social networking - just old fashioned friends and physical contacts with the world that you chose to be in touch with and a simplistic life you could understand. What bliss !
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Pawar, finally, leg before
One is actually greatful to the IPL for providing entertainment & insights like no sport has done before. Who could have visualised Tharoor's extra curricular interests or Modi's huge stakes? Or Praful Patel's daughter's selective info leaks or the BCCI President (Shashank Manohar) turning out to be a stake owner of the Chennai team when he ought to have been a neutral administrator ? The sharp twists & surprising turns would certainly do Ekta Kapoor proud !
The prize catch, in this ever unfolding, if somewhat sordid drama, has been Sharad Pawar. Murmurs on his active - below the radar involvement in lucrative sectors and industries have been abuzz for as long as he has been in active politics. His dealings and stakes in the sugar sector (agriculture, milling and retailing), the packaging industry (through a company called Dynamix), egg and poultry production (through Baramati Agro), grapes & wineries (Baramati grapes) have been part of folk lore. Always talked about but never ever proven. There are whispers linking him to Jet airways as part owner. His insistence on retaining the agriculture and civil aviation ministries with himself in every successive government need to be seen in this context.
The first cracks in his bastion appeared when his entire family stepped in to annouce in a well orchestrated move that they had nothing to do with the IPL. This was about a month ago and it almost seemed like a weak attempt to shore up the embankments in the face of an upcoming cyclonic storm that was certain to make landfall soon! It took nosey journos a month to unravel the modus operandi of his company's failed bid for the Pune IPL team. Now as the reigning BCCI Chairman, he is hard pressed to explain this impropriety. As he attempts to stonewall, divert attention and distance himself through rejoinders on technicalities of shareholding pattern and the MD's supposed actions, he is slithering on the thinnest of surfaces. He knows pretty well that urban India wouldnt buy his logic of the MD acting in defiance of the board. An MD who exposes the company to the risk of failure and a big one at that despite (claimed) advise from the board in any case deserves immediate dismissal! Wonder why the board of his company didnt do that ?
If the current revealations have not blown away the proverbial fig leaf and provided the first deep down look at perhaps the most corrupt man in India, then nothing ever will. Its another matter that this man is a hard nosed hawk for whom no embarrassment is so large and no ignominy as much as to get him to accept, apologise and step down. He stands unabashedly leg before, feeling safe that the Umpire's finger is unlikely to go up and those in rural India who form the bulk of his support base in all likelihood would remain unconcerned! Shame is a word that exists in the lexicon of ordinary mortals, afterall !
The prize catch, in this ever unfolding, if somewhat sordid drama, has been Sharad Pawar. Murmurs on his active - below the radar involvement in lucrative sectors and industries have been abuzz for as long as he has been in active politics. His dealings and stakes in the sugar sector (agriculture, milling and retailing), the packaging industry (through a company called Dynamix), egg and poultry production (through Baramati Agro), grapes & wineries (Baramati grapes) have been part of folk lore. Always talked about but never ever proven. There are whispers linking him to Jet airways as part owner. His insistence on retaining the agriculture and civil aviation ministries with himself in every successive government need to be seen in this context.
The first cracks in his bastion appeared when his entire family stepped in to annouce in a well orchestrated move that they had nothing to do with the IPL. This was about a month ago and it almost seemed like a weak attempt to shore up the embankments in the face of an upcoming cyclonic storm that was certain to make landfall soon! It took nosey journos a month to unravel the modus operandi of his company's failed bid for the Pune IPL team. Now as the reigning BCCI Chairman, he is hard pressed to explain this impropriety. As he attempts to stonewall, divert attention and distance himself through rejoinders on technicalities of shareholding pattern and the MD's supposed actions, he is slithering on the thinnest of surfaces. He knows pretty well that urban India wouldnt buy his logic of the MD acting in defiance of the board. An MD who exposes the company to the risk of failure and a big one at that despite (claimed) advise from the board in any case deserves immediate dismissal! Wonder why the board of his company didnt do that ?
If the current revealations have not blown away the proverbial fig leaf and provided the first deep down look at perhaps the most corrupt man in India, then nothing ever will. Its another matter that this man is a hard nosed hawk for whom no embarrassment is so large and no ignominy as much as to get him to accept, apologise and step down. He stands unabashedly leg before, feeling safe that the Umpire's finger is unlikely to go up and those in rural India who form the bulk of his support base in all likelihood would remain unconcerned! Shame is a word that exists in the lexicon of ordinary mortals, afterall !
Thursday, May 6, 2010
House fools
The exceptional thing over the last 7-10 days has been that my daughter turned a teenager and we chaperoned her friends on her bday to a movie. They loved it. we didnt. What can i say about a movie that left me before i left the theatre. I did kick myself for agreeing to see it, though. There is only word for it. Terrible.
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