How blogging has changed me

Over the years, I have acquired some (dis)honorable titles such as the “incurable pessimist” “the girl who forgets to talk”, “meek”, “bookworm”, “unresponsive” and “shy”, “cry-baby” and “nerdy”. . . . I have been labeled as a girl who doesn’t talk . . .She can now talk through her writing, she is finding new means to express herself. . .More. . .

Remembering Krishna Menon

As Mr Tharoor put it, Krishna Menon’s approach was not calculated to win friends.He died a forgotten backbencher, without even a political party to call his own. . .More. . .

Dust, sweat, grime…

Every piece of paper holds some memory, I don’t want anyone toying with that. Mum and I have been agreeing to disagree big time these past few days. I say throw something away, mum says “No”. She says: “We don’t need this… (or that)… ” and I say “No, we need it!” It goes on endlessly… hahaha… loads of fun packing. And loads more fun in arguing whether or not we need to retain a brass tumbler my grandpa used…More . . .

More of Macao

I met an imposing gent in the middle of a park in the middle of Macao literally. He stood there, looking quite imposing (I said that already didn’t I?) and unmoving. I am sure, in his time, he moved and how! I am talking about the statue of the Portuguese sea farer, navigator, Captain, explorer, . . .More . . .

TV9 telecast that unified Karnataka

Round-the-clock telecast . . .had awakened the conscience of viewers, who, feeling as if they were physically present on the spot, involuntarily forgot, at least for some hours, their differences by way of caste, class and creed and were seen bounded together to pray for the safety of the lad. . .More . . .

Children as journalists

These young people post some of the assignments they do in their neighbourhood.The stories on ice-cream parlours and Jaipur handlooms and a local bakery have been the obvious choices in the first round of blogging. . .More. . .

The Gym and I

I have no hope, of course, of losing my paunch. The credit side of that account keeps increasing in the form of great business lunches washed down with great business beers, faster than my gym exertions can deplete it. Still, one does what one has to, especially when one's wife knows kick boxing. . .More. . .

Eight-year old, 35 ft.deep; and receding hope

I don’t know why, the general human reaction if someone falls into a pit, suffers a fatal blow, and if is the government’s fault, everyone immeditatley reacts, angry protests here and there, but as soon as the incident is over, the whole drama collapses and we choose forget what happended instead of trying to find the cause of it all and prevent such things from happening in the future. . . More . . .

B2B: Kini on the move - Yugoslavia

We were planning on staying with my Delhi artist friend Rajendra Dhawan (R.K.Dhawan) in his small one bedroom flat trying to evade the watchful eyes of the landlady who lived downstairs with her mouse like henpecked husband. She exercised her power by doing Gestapo style inspections of the property daily at unexpected hours of day or night. . .More. . .

Can we visualise a self-governing Bangalore?

Isn’t this the kind of vision many have for Bangalore? Mere location of a number of IT companies and BPOs do not make a Silicon Valley, as our consul general in San Francisco, Mr B S Prakash would tell us – ‘Silicon Valley is not a point in the map but a state of mind’. . .More. . .

When Rs.12 was a princely salary

Descendants of the Mughal emperors, in early 1800s, were paid their upkeep by a magnanimous British East India Company. . .More. . .

Good heavens! Good riddance!

I think what’s needed is not development journalism but a development OF journalism! There were so many events happening all across the country, but what did the media choose to portray? . . . I honestly felt pained to see tired journos hanging around the two houses in the run up to the wedding, as though their very lives depended on it. . .More. . .

Death of a roadside tree

In a tribute to the roadside tree that had its life so rudely cut short, Lakshmi plans to mobilise the young ones in her town, mostly Tinkle readers, for a tree-planting drive. . . . “I can’t keep quiet about such things,” she says. “If I talk to them (kids), perhaps the parents could become more sensible.” Are you still mad at your tree-killer neighbour, Lakshmi?. . .More. . . .

Talent unrecognised

Talent is living just down the road, near an open drain, or even in the quiet, isolated villas and towns of northern Karnataka. If we only recognize and popularize the Indian Handicraft industry a little more, we could be exporting such stuff at exotic rates, and people from all over the world are willing to pay. . .More. . .

'Who should go to Moon?'

ISRO Director Shri. Madhavan Nair is all set to launch the trip to Moon, in 2008. . . He called for nominations for the ‘Aam Admi’ slot. . .If you want to send anybody to Moon please name the person and say and why, so that Mr. Nair could be informed. . .(Post your nominee in ERR's blog, he has a hotline to ISRO chief - MBP moderator). . .More . . .

Carbohydrates in Mysore

I now come to the mystery part. The operating hours are 5 am to 7 am, when the shop winds up for the day and what was buzzing with activity quietly dons the garb of a sleepy rural street. Who would want to eat mutton pulao at 5 am in the morning? Search me. Even the locals haven't a clue as to how these hours evolved. . .More. . .

Macao for dummies

. . . .could not read the menu. The waitress (and for that matter anyone else in the restaurant) did not speak English but she was clever enough to fish out another menu made for tourists and that had items that could have made your stomach churn if you were vegetarian like me. Listed among pig intestines and other gory innards and unmentionables . . .More. . .

Neti Neti or Indian identity?

Witty summations or pithy observations abound: 'Anything that anyone can say about India is true; its opposite is equally true!'; 'Centuries coexist in India -- both the bullock cart and the satellite are in their trajectories at the same time' and many more. All true, all useful, all known instinctively to us as Indians, but difficult to impart to foreigners. Which, as it happens is part of my job. . .More. . .

It wasn’t a kiss, says The Times of India

I can’t think of many other newspapers that would have given thought to the possibility that the millions who read the Gere-Shetty story and viewed visuals on TV and the Internet, wouldn’t have applied their mind to draw a line between a peck and a kiss. . .More. . .

Deport NRN to where no one wants him

One of our leaders wants him to be deported where nobody wants him. I have been phoning all over the last three days. Everywhere they seem to want him. At this rate, it’s going to be difficult to pack him off to nowhere’. . .More . . .

'Gurukul', for Infy trainees

The best thing about this theme was the crickety names i found for the links.. like 'Pavillion' for homepage, 'Bouncers' for campus pulse, 'Outswing' for articles&poems, 'Straight drive' for trainee interviews, 'Captaincy' for management interview. . .More. . .

My favorite tree

The next day, I learned that my favorite tree had been axed to accommodate the neighbor’s car. I was devastated. I rushed to see my plant…and there it was. Completely chopped down. Uprooted. Leaves hanging meekly from the last remains of the plant. I almost cried. . .More. . . .

My Republic Day Parade

We spent this Republic Day at the shopping mall down the road. The irony of it - celebrating the anniversary of a republic based on the principles of Svadeshi and frugal Gandhian living at a mallshowcasing the finest and the most decadent of western hedonism - was not lost on me. And this heady consumerism, far from being ruinous, has ushered in a wave of prosperity, look around you. . .More. . .

The Narayana Murthy Row: What Would Tejaswi have Made of it?

“We have foreigners on board here and we didn’t wish to embarrass them while we sing the anthem.” I get a feeling Narayana Murthy would have regretted it the moment he uttered these words. . .More. . .

Are women in media over-empowered ?

Media women are a class apart. They are, perhaps, the most empowered of the lot. So much, in fact, that if the likes of Ms Kakaria have their way, women's empowerment in the media may well become a threat to many men hoping to get into the media. . .More. . .

My grand-aunt, the feminist?

She was an Education Officer in the Karnataka Government. . .Her life could have gone so horribly wrong. It had all the ingredients for the making of a disaster. She was married at seven to a 42 year-old man. Following the marriage he disappeared, never to be heard from again. . .More. . .

Talking (Kannada)Movies

Sadly enough, the film has not got the kind of exposure it deserves. I recall journalist Krishna Prasad once wrote in his Deccan Herald column that at a special screening in Shimoga the award-winner Beru drew an audience of two. Yes, there was a turnout of just two persons for the show. . .More . . .

The langa grandma gave

It still looked disused and brand new, and to give away that dress was a real pain, because I was haunted by guilt that I never really used it, and my grandma would be upset if she came to know. . .More. . .

Our man in San Francisco

We have had writers, journalists and poets posted as heads of mission. Poet and essayist Octavio Paz was Maxican ambassador to India, John Freeman (ex-New Statesman) served as the UK high commissioner in New Delhi. Our journalists and columnists have represented India. I can think of three – Prem Bhatia (Kenya), Dr K S Shelvanker (Sweden), Kuldip Nayar (UK). . .More. . .

Vanity Publishing or an Archive for the Future?

This did not prevent me from thinking I had a unique “business plan”, not so much to rake in millions as one of my new friends thought, but to dream about unleashing a project like the “Gutenberg” on an unsuspecting world. . .More. . .

Sounding silly in Silicon Valley

What is your mental image of Silicon Valley? I will pardon those who think that it is the name of an extension in Bangalore ...... In an Edward Said-ian sense we have internalised and Indianised much of the US: the burgers have been Brahminised to vadagers. Images on televison of the Infosys or Wipro campus with its lush green landscapes, bright looking lads in pastel t-shirts, state of the art canteens with designer dosas and ...... all these have created a mental picture of the Silicon Valley as a suburb near Koramangala. . .More. . .

Visiting Mysore Again, Two Decades Later

Depending on which of the two mills in the shop was running, we would smell the warm spicy aromas of sambhar or rasam powders, or the toasty smell of rice, roasted wheat or ragi. The aroma of coffee from a shop that sold coffee powder was a permanent fixture, as was the sound from the tailor's sewing machines across the street from the house. . .More. . .

Gaping holes on water tank; who pays for the damage ?

It is all very well for Karnataka Chief Minister H D Krishnaswamy to talk tough to non-performing officers, warning them of stern action. Our media works into the story well-worn clichés - 'taking officials to task', not tolerating 'lackadaisical attitude', and action against officials who don't 'pull up their socks'- to make CM appear a no-nonsense guy. . .More. . .

Mysore's 7th Wonder: Dr Jagdish

The other six are - huge and ornate Mysore palace (in which lives the huge and ornate king of Mysore), the 6.00 am mutton pulao, the addressing of all and sundry as "saar", breakfast for less than Rs. 10, tiny workshops where craftsmen produce the most intricate of wooden carvings, a restaurant named "RRR" which serves such spicy chilli chicken that it is rumoured to be fed to suspects by the police in order to make them "talk". . . More. . .

Mysore’s Moon-Man

The gentle Dr. Nagaraj is a man of many parts, and a quintessential Mysorean, given his varied and intellectual pursuits. Apart from gazing at the heavens he also writes reviews on music and dance every Friday in The Hindu, and Star of Mysore on Mondays. . .More . . .

FIRST BLOOD DRAWN?

I have heard that the other Airlines are all keeping a positive attitude - that's good because that's all they can do; keep positive. They will paint red all over the skies with their results this year, notwithstanding bravado statements from the "glitterati" of aviation. The sector is set to lose something like Rs.1,800 crores and that’s no small change!. . . More.. .

Arguing India

Her group blog, in its statement of purpose, raises provocative questions: Is India a democracy (at all)? Is she booming (in real terms)? Does the caste system still exist? Come on, Ananya; the real argument is over the quota system, which, some would argue, represents a radical role reversal of castes in political terms. . .More. . .

B2B (on road, in Turkey):Dreaming History

Often at night we had to wait for a bed at the youth hostel which would not take non members until the last moment. I recall both of us at its doors sitting on our respective suitcases, in the hope of a bunk bed for the night. Our foray into the University in search of students to provide company and play host to us just did not work out in Istanbul. . .More . . .

No, Mr Tejasvi, you haven't left me

I will remember him forever, not as a bearded old man, but a faceless freind who has supported me and revealed a new path for a life connected with nature. I want to follow the path he has laid out for me, and connect with nature.No, Mr. Tejasvi, you have not left me, yet...you are alive through your books. . .More. . .

Why do you blog?

It means a lot to me… I hadn’t written much since I quit my job last December… it is like sharpening a knife and being prepared… not that you need something to slaughter right away! Of course, I am speaking of us being journalists/writers who may have the opportunity to exercise our capabilities in the near future, in the real world. . .More. . .a lot More. . .

Coping with copying in exams

Debarring candidates – whether for two or three years – makes sense only for those who are found out. But then candidates who are determined to copy and the teachers willing to accommodate them abide by the 11th Commandment – ‘Thou Shall Not Be Caught’. . .More . . .

A look-in on Infy campus, Mysore

Bowling at 45 Rs per head, per game and the sight of Renu & Asshu bowling in the adjacent lane made it much more enjoying. Mayur kept on mentioning that concentration is the key to winning a ball game, but with too many distractions none of us were actually successful. . .We came out of the Infy campus by 3:00 and drove towards Kamath restaurant on Nanjangud road for lunch. . .More . . .

Chamarajanagar’s Illinois connection

If asked which one of these places sticks out like a sore thumb, I guess, there would be near unanimity on Chamarajanagar, a town that strikes me as dry, dusty, and in a perpectual state of neglect. . .I said near-unanimity, because Chamarajanagar is a ‘charm-nagar’ for our man on the move - Dr. Krishna Venkataswamy, Director of Research and Development of GLS Corporation, McHenry, Illinois. . .More. . .