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- Archives: September 2006
- Book Review: Haruki Murakami's Birthday Stories
This is not a book to be given lightly as a birthday present,it carries enough weapons of emotional destruction to shatter the naive, not-yet-cynical heart.
- Google Books Starts To Make the Virtual Bookshelf a Reality
Now we've taken one more step to ending the information drought.
- Book Review: Eimona: The New World
Eimona, the novel, connects the world of traditional values and the new set of values and the conlict that arises therein.
- Book Review: The Red Power Murders by Thomas King
...a good mystery story...the places where it slips the boundaries of its genre that make it a great work of fiction
- Naguib Mahfouz – The Jane Austen of Arabia – Is No More
Mourning the personal loss of an Egyptian writer who so eloquently showed that Arabs, too, are normal people like us.
- Honoring Our Teachers the ABVP Way
The ABVP, the guardian of every thing Indian, is now teaching us a new way to honor our teachers - The Bharatiya way!
- Movie Review: Oliver Stone's World Trade Center: Knights in Distress
At least it's not an "Oliver Stone movie."
- Of There and Here: Customer Service Fallout in India
I refuse to eat at any establishment that makes a mockery of its founding values and treats its customers like nobodies.
- Celebrity Conversions
"I would like to make it clear that the only religion our family believes in is music," said the 60-something Aasish.
- Movie Review : Lage Raho Munnabhai : Vaat Lag Gayee Mamu
Lage Raho may not on the same quality heights reached by MBBS, but it’s a decent and earnest attempt.
- Book Review: A Short History Of Indians In Canada Thomas King - Short Fiction
Tricky things them stories, tricky like that Coyote, but a lot smarter and don't get into as much trouble
- India Prevents Nepal Army From Getting Arms
The Leftist dominated Indian Foreign Policy establishment rarely acts in the Indian National Interest but furthers its own private Agenda.
- Hezbollah and Israel: Peace Of The Blind
Hezbollah's ambush on July 12 was neither a provocation--nor a threat to Israel's existence.
- DVD Review: Missing In America
Missing In America isn't an easy film to watch, and that's what makes it such a good movie.
- Travelogue: Relax ! Have A Char Minar
I had arrived in Hyderabad a few hours earlier and was immediately drawn into the ambiance of the city.
- Say, Lovely Woman, The Number of Bees: Bhaskara's Lilavati
Is math dirty? Bhaskaracharya's Lilavati gets it right.
- Islamic Fascists or Give a Dog a Bad Name…
In these days of propaganda, polemics and polarity amongst people, it is even more important that objectivity be maintained.
- nomad
cascading… rough seas and inclement weather / broken and mended relationships, waves upon waves of sunrises/ tempt him to newer frontiers
- Kensington Gardens on a Friday Afternoon
Lovers sat entwined in each others arms. Not at all like the furtive couples of Nageshwara Rao Park.
- Book Review: The Looming Tower, Lawrence Wright
A brilliant and thrilling 9/11 account of how Osama became Osama and just how he managed to change the world that September morning.
- Movie Review: Lage Raho Munnabhai - The Mahatma As A Sutradhar
5/5 for a feel-good comedy movie that is ambitious enough to attempt something more and succeeds.
- Lessons in Governance from Good Old Laloo
Laloo is an able leader but the only problem is that he is more concerned for his family than his country.
- Canadian Politics: The Case Of The Missing Kyoto Accord Part Five
I can only assume that I fell like a ton of bricks because that's what you normally do under the circumstances.
- Movie Review: Elizabethtown
Another strangely lovable movie from the director of Jerry Maguire.
- Foaming Tides in Orissa
Even if Puri was not a temple town steeped in history it would have survived for its stretches of golden sand.
- With a Grain of Salt: Can Conventional War Help With Counter Terrorism?
The Indian army has sufficient firepower to break Pakistan into two or more pieces and really hammer the Pakistani Army.
- Penelope Cruz + Javier Moro's Pasion India + Anita Delgado of Kapurthala
The Spanish connection in Kapurthala, Punjab.
- Balochistan Blunder
Musharraf does a Nero
- Silsila - A 25th Anniversary Retrospective
Why audiences stayed away in droves is still a matter of debate today.
- Saying No to Forests
The Tribal Land Rights Bill - who benefits?
- A Writer's Notebook: Singularity Of Purpose
The more that you care; the more care you take, and the more you'll take care of what is truly important to you.
- Movie Review: The Manchurian Candidate
This movie was little seen upon release and until a re-release in the late 1980s wasn't quite recognised. But that has all changed.
- Historical Amnesia: The Romani Holocaust
The ashes of the Romanies mingled with the others in the ovens of the death camps, but the Romani holocaust was marginalised.
- At War With War & Peace - How I Struggled With The Great Classic And Realized That Some Books Remain Unconquered
We don’t happen to books; books happen to us. A memoir of growing up with Leo Tolstoy’s classic novel on Russia.
- Book Review: King Of Ayodhya Book Six of the Ramayana Ashok K. Banker
"Jai Sri Rama". Praised be Rama indeed, but also praise to Ashok Banker.
- Simple Indian Survey: Do You Know Yourself?
Find out if you are patriotic or unpatriotic; gay or straight; leftist or rightist; dumb type or Page-3 type!
- Musharraf's Balochistan Blunders
When the Pakistan military targeted and killed him they turned him into a hero and a symbol of national resistance.
- serpent flames
flames / over the grave / of some unknown soldier / who obeyed orders, (perhaps not of his conscience, or / he may be weak,
- Music Review: Live From Austin Tx. Steve Earle DVD
There are some truly remarkable performances, like this one of Steve Earle, that should not be hidden away.
- Some Memories Haunt You
A nanosecond later, my heart dropped. I wished the stairs would just fall away and take me with them.
- Indo-US Nuclear Deal: Lessons in International Negotiation
It is essential for India to recognize what the deal did not attempt to do – or the proverbial dog that did not bark.
- Canada Under Fire In Afghanistan By Americans
...shooting allies is detrimental to the war effort.
- From the North the Evil Will Burst Forth Upon all the Inhabitants of the Land
And G-d said to me, "from the North the Evil Will Burst Forth Upon all the Inhabitants of the Land"
- More Than a Grudge and a Ring: Why Asian Horror Films Rock
Over the last decade or so, Asian cinema has taken over the horror film genre, and effectively left its own indelible stamp upon it.
- Cell Phone Buying Horrors
Guide to interpretting the techincal jargons that cell manufacturers throw at consumers.
- Book Review: India In Mind, edited by Pankaj Mishra
The Editor Has His Day: Do literary anthologies exist to publish good writing that would otherwise go unseen?
- Introducing The Desicritics Team
Exploring what it means to be South Asian in a world where desis are everywhere, doing everything, and opinionating about their world.
- Satire: BJP Prepares For Dehradun Summit – How To Make Indians More Indian
India’s staunchly nationalist party gathers to address the burning problems of this nation. An inside account of its strategies to re-capture Delhi.
- The Scream and a Madonna Recovered
Art theft is big business. Museums lack security. Terrorists lurk. What comes next?
- World Leaders Exult On Desicritic Of The Day
When contacted by Desicritics to comment on his new found global fame and notoriety Grumpyji said simply
- Honey, Don't Look - He's Schizophrenic!
The medical profession makes very little effort to help those patients suffering from schizophrenia once they are released back into the community.
- where does amor vincit omni fit in?
when our time is up, we go down / but tell me love, where does love fit in / in a beached rudder-less boat?
- Awe And Reason Don't Mix
Without awe how can you enjoy the beauty that is inherently part of life?
- A Simple Potato Curry: The Pleasures of Desi Home Cooking
Discover life, love and other passions while cooking a simple fuss-free meal of Aloo-Tamatar.
- Mary Ann Elliott: Perseverance Pays, A Life Lesson
Mary Ann was a widow in her early thirties with three children and an 8th grade education.
- Book Review: Kama Sutra by Deepak Chopra
Most of all, there's the sheer delight of seeing Indian bodies, Indian complexions, faces, features, details, that no western edition can ever match.
- Malegaon, Maharashtra Blasts Rock India: Dozens Killed and Injured
Following Friday prayers about 35 people have died and over 150 injured in two separate bomb blasts
- Musharraf Signs "Peace Treaty" With Pro-Taliban Militants
Musharraf signs "peace treaty" with Al-Qaeda and its sympathisers and takes the world for a ride yet again.
- Aishwarya Rai Has a Posse
The Gulf states are rich in Oil resources. BUT We are rich in Ash resources.
- Travel Episodes: Chennai
A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step. Mine could be twelve thousand miles.
- The Cell Phone, Our Saviour
In my own life, there is the ultimate use for the cell phone - the pretend phone call.
- Fiction: The Chase : An American, A Terrorist and The Guru - Two
Raffiq didn’t look back until they had crossed the outpost of Darshuk where he had stood a few hours ago.
- Worlds Collide in My Head
My brain doesn't just transplant India into the US. The reverse works very well too.
- dream sculpture
as the dream sculpture / is unveiled later that evening / amidst exultations and praises / i summon modest smiles
- DVD Review: District B13
A dream come true for action movie fans.
- Writer's Notebook: The Return Of NaNoWriMo
Perhaps NaNoWriMo is a little too much like the old Chinese curse of "May you live in interesting times" for some of you.
- The Truth of Malegaon – The Story Behind the 8/9 Terror Attacks
For a change, bomb blasts targeted to kill Muslims.
- DVD Review: Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World
This film is intriguing, but will leave you looking for comedy.
- Defect or Induced Deformity?
We need to make sure this was a genetic accident, or hold people accountable for what could be a crime.
- There Are No Ambulances in Malegaon – How the 8/9 Terrorist Attack Became a Tiding of Good News
Speak Softly and carry a big stick - A hopeful vision of India's future
- Offshore BPO At The Crossroads
Captive offshore BPO centers may not be the best available option for multinationals
- Book Review: Norwegian Wood, Haruki Murakami
Death and suicides stalk the book. At one point, Toru says, 'Death exists, not as the opposite but as a part of life'.
- Canadian Politics: The Case Of The Missing Kyoto Accord. Part Six
More and more I'm convinced that I would never be cut out for bondage. I just don't like mixing work with pleasure that much.
- Michael Schumacher Bids Arrivederci, Announces Retirement
It was Eddie Jordon who spotted the raw talent in Schumacher and signed up the 21-year old unknown at the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix.
- Cycle Rickshaws Banned in Chandni Chowk
The implications are far wider than simply what happens in Chandni Chowk. Rather, it is symptomatic of the social model we are choosing to adopt.
- Michael Schumacher's Magic at Monza
The F1 race at Monza today was of special interest today for more reasons that one.
- Sudden Death Syndrome: A Warning From The Heart
New study shows sudden cardiac arrest is not always sudden. There is time to act, but none to waste.
- With a Grain of Salt: Pssst, Want to Buy the Tower of London?
One of the fascinating characteristics of surfing the mailing lists is the significant presence of conspiracy theories.
- Slobodan Milosevic and The Tragedy of Yugoslavia
Perhaps history would be less harsh in its judgment of Milosevic than the obituary in the Guardian suggests
- HP's Patricia Dunn Should Go
It's time that the HP board fired its chairperson, Patricia Dunn.
- Revisiting Kabir - the Weaver, the Myth, the Master
Kabir's internalization of the Indian spiritual tenets and lore made him a complete hindustani
- 9/11 Attacks, Five Years On
Five years after the 9/11 Attacks, MSM and blogs commemorate the event and wonder whether the War on Terror is going the right way.
- Chennai BlogCamp 2006 - A Report
It's the first of its kind, and has fair reasons to be called a success.
- some more names ii
five years since / the exclamations came down / and the survivors made peace
- The Last of the Macacas
She was born a macaca - brown like a slippery eel, pugged nose, large doe like eyes, small forehead...
- Ban Indian Companies from the H1B program
A strong case can be made for allowing H1B visas only for people holding advanced degress from US universities.
- 9/11 Remembered
Within a few seconds a second plane rammed into the other tower. A ball of fire followed by an inferno, black smoke.
- Karsh Kale's Broken English Track Remixed
A cutting edge remix contest for a cutting edge artist.
- F1 Updates: The Win and The Loss
A perfect win at Monza, but still a reason enough to make the day gloomy for Schumi-Ferrari fans.
- News Analysis: 9/11: We Are Changed Forevermore
What is the lasting aftermath of 9/11 in terms of attitudes? Are we different or have we slid back into a pre-9/ll world?
- Book Review: Sacred Games, Vikram Chandra
Is Sacred Games the Great Indian Novel? Possibly. But it's definitely the Great Bombay Novel!
- Sept 11, 2006
The US is the world's sole superpower. It can, if it really wanted, end Islamic terrorism.
- Canadian Politics: Canada For Sale, First Come First Served
we are dependant on a Government who will care about the future of Canada. This one doesn't.
- Playing Literary Games – In Aid of A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
Acclaimed author Ashok Banker did not like reading Vikram Seth’s greatest novel. A book lover begs to differ.
- When Time Stands Still
It is also a day of realizing what life truly means. And what life expects from us in return.
- Report: BlogCamp-2006, Chennai: An Organizer's Story
I do think we kicked some serious arse. Like BlogCamp or hate it, you can't dislike the people who organized it.
- Travel Episodes: Sunday Chronicles
In this city, you are not allowed to sit next to a woman, unless you know her personally.
- The Indian Song
Fundamentalists, somehow, always miss the point.
- The Greatest Desi English Novels
An utterly subjective list of the greatest desi English novels.
- Abu Salem Enters Politics
Don't these politicians have at least some amount of Patriotism left in them?
- Gone With The Wind
Trouble is hovering over the Sultanpur National Park.
- You Really Should Not Read Bill Bryson in Public Places
Bryson's books exist in that rarefied atmosphere reserved for wildly successful and popular writers of travel memoirs.
- Christians Maintain Silence On The Vande Mataram Issue
I think Christians are moving towards establishing themselves as a politically correct minority.
- Flashback: 9/11/2001
There's so much going to be said about how Muslims and Pakistani-Americans are faring and what they are thinking etc.
- DVD Review: Bob Brozman Live In Germany
Listening to Bob Brozman play guitar is a wonder, watching him play is a revelation
- No Moooore Milk?
The very idea of giving milk a bad press seems quite crazy to me. So, what is so wrong with milk anyway?
- News Analysis: Part II 9/11 -- How Did It All Change Back
After all is said and done, what we have learned from 9/11 is how little we understand ourselves and the world around us.
- Peer Review of Patents
Wikipatents - How effective will it be??
- The Legacy of Haruki Murakami
The Buddha Smiled reflects on what he loves so much about Haruki Murakami's story telling...
- "Soon to give birth" - Eli Shafak's Fictional Crime
She is being charged, she says, for 'words uttered by her fictional characters'.
- unfit to drive: on barely missing an immovable object
been hanged, persecuted, driven to drinks / for perceived hurts, blasphemy or worse
- Back to School
Were we so different as students that one teacher could handle 30-40 kids in a class
- Book Review: To Kill A Mockingbird
...remember it is a sin to kill a mockingbird, because mockingbirds don't do anything but make music for us to enjoy.
- Book Review: On Beauty by Zadie Smith
It takes bollocks to model oneself on an acknowledged master of the English novel of manners, that too no less a personage than E.M. Forster.
- The Congress Legacy: Dynastic Politics
Congress Party Dynastic Rule - Business as usual?
- A Book Lover Sets Out for Pakistan
An imminent journey to Lahore. Too many books, and yet too few. What to carry along? What to leave behind?
- Communication: Is Anybody Listening?
Communication has become a one-way street where my way or the highway is the byword.
- Movie Review: When Munna Bhai is Overtaken by Veer
It is l a great time pass Full paisa vasool!
- Why Do Muslims Not Sing Vande Mataram?
This is my feeble attempt to understand ‘other kind’ of people.
- MGM's Next Project - The Hobbit? So Let It Be, Please
The rumors that were afloat the web a while ago seems to be finally coming true. There is going to be a 'The Hobbit' movie
- Prevent Abuse of Women's Laws
I am of the opinion to consider relaxing use of these laws by educated, aware and self reliant women.
- Book Review: An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro
And here is Ishiguro, an English writer who tells a story that could be set in no country but Japan.
- Movie Review : Yun Hota To Kya Hota : Flat Bubbly
Not all concepts of playwriting can be copied and pasted into movie making and screen writing.
- Third World Groove
Why are we always a land of snake-charmers looking to get into the First World groove?
- Adolf Hitler and Indians
I believe that of all the countries and cultures in the world, India would be hosting highest number of admirers of Adolf Hitler.
- Study Finds Chocolate Does Good Things For You
Chocolate joins tea and grape juice in the new science of flavonols and their benefits to the body. Enjoy!
- Canadian Politics: Fishing And A Question Of Politics
It makes me wonder what kind of country he (Stephen Harper) is trying to create; and for who?
- The Spirit of Ramazan
Let us remember to be compassionate, polite, warm and friendly both to Muslims and, even more importantly, I believe, non-Muslims.
- India's Higher Education Policy-New Rules
Because education is a social investment, government should be held accountable for it's success and failure.
- Harry Potter and the Tightly Grasped Manuscript
Author J.K. Rowling refuses to part with her fictional progeny.
- With a Grain of Salt: India, A Food-donor? Shock! Awe! Horror! Consternation! Disbelief!
All the moans are because people do not know the logistics of the food supply mechanism.
- Fiction: Desi Souls: American Rain
And as each of them flowed and sank further into the wave of emotions, they all looked up at the sky… at the same time.
- Self-Portrait of a Killer: Montreal Gunman Kimveer Gill aka Fatality666
Who was Fatality666? Kimveer Gill shot up a Montreal college. Some details from his Vampirefreaks.com journal and profile page.
- Religious Intolerance: A Young Saudi Serves A Life Sentence For A Deadly Joke
Sending someone to prison for life, for making a "silly" comment about the Prophet when he's 18, is wrong.
- A Writer's Notebook: Modern Times
...what sort of Karmic debt I'm paying off by having to use the equipment of these modern times.
- The Day I Saw Steven Gerrard
At that moment, the distinction between a PSV fan or a Liverpool supporter was lost - everyone wanted to catch a glimpse of Stevie G.
- Journalist Oriana Fallaci Dead At 77
"I have always looked on disobedience toward the oppressive as the only way to use the miracle of having been born."
- India - Aid Recipient or Donor?
The two things India gets are recognition that it is a donor country and a presumed commitment to the multi-lateral system.
- Wishing I Was Wrong
I really wish that the people who become our leaders weren't so damn predictable
- delusional insanity*: montreal september 13, 2006
was kimveer a neglected child? / a spurned lover? undiagnosed? / storms must have raged, undetected
- Is Islam a Peaceful Religion?
Don't look for answers in the verses of Quran. Open your eyes and look around the world.
- Discover : Kent
Kent is hardly known outside Sweden. Its a shame because they are one of the best rock bands there is.
- Is the World Flat?
I believe that India can become a strong economic power only through driving, controlling and dominating technology.
- Afterthoughts On Montreal Shooting
If Montreal shooting is any indication, tougher gun-rules are needed.
- Movie Review: Shattered Glass
The film amazed me for I had no clue about the existance of a honorable magazine like The New Republic or the great scandal
- FBCDs: Myth or Reality?
Meanwhile, I met loads of confused desis during my last holiday trip home. The only difference was, these were born in India!
- News Analysis From Israel – The Evil Will Come From the North: Part II
"...the day of their catastrophe is near, and future events are rushing at them."
- Cars Available in India: All Right, So Give Me Something I Can Actually Buy!
Sigh...just give me a good car, with a price that makes sense. I am already paying a pretty penny for fuel.
- Know Thy Neighbour... Don't Kill Them
It is far easier to try and kill someone than to get to know them.
- The Phenomenon Called Indian Mobile Market Growth
The Indian growth story looks more and more exciting and promises to advance further.
- With a Grain of Salt: The American Legal System: Legal Beagles Losing the Scent
What ails the American legal system?
- Myths of Bengal at the British Museum
At its centre - physically and intellectually - is Durga, the supremely powerful goddess.
- meanwhile…at the end of the day
at the end of the day / and how about another cliché / when all is said and done...
- The Pope and Islam
The Pope gives a talk and gets a talking-to.
- Movie Review: Don - Remixed, Revisited and Re-Don
Don has it all and more - did it really need to be remade?
- Canadian Politics: The Case Of The Missing Kyoto Accord Part Seven
It looked like my time on this case was running out fast no matter what I wanted
- What is in a Name?
Most names are cringe-worthy and corny as hell.Only in Bombay.
- Dalai Lama Urges Compassion, Love
''I am a Buddhist monk now becoming a defender of Islam,'' he said. ''It is unfair to look at Islam as a whole as violent.''
- Book Review: The Loved One by Evelyn Waugh
"The artist's load" and Waugh: He didn't know America well enough to hate it.
- DVD Review: Lost Seasons 1 & 2
Better than most movies, Lost Seasons 1 and 2 are tension filled and compelling.
- The Indian Pharma Industry - Future Directions
At stake is nothing less than the social model of Indian pharma.
- When Gandhi met Munna Bhai
What did Gandhiji say to Munna Bhai? Was it 'Hey Ram'?
- Western State Terrorism: The London Connection
Britain’s basic benevolence in foreign policy is largely in the realms of myth making.
- Rebuilding Your Life From The Past Forward
It's not living in the past to strive to overcome it's effects on your present
- A Sudden Trip to Pakistan – Last Day Reflections in Lahore
Could a three-day stay in an enemy country help diffuse the biased prejudices? Could an Indian find love and affection in a Pakistani?
- Product Preview: Zune, The New Portable Music Player
What is on offer in Microsoft's newest product? Is the ultimate iPod killer about to arrive?
- Artistic Expression, Male Dominance and Women Poets: Pakistan
To be a woman with independent streak in a male dominated Pakistan is a miracle and an achievement
- Book Review: Wicked Cool Perl Scripts
Must read for the professional Perl programmer
- With a Grain of Salt: Guess Who Is Staying for a Thai Dinner?
The King is noted for his hands-off approach to Thai society and politics, which may be a reason why he is so revered.
- Just Another Manic Monday - Or Is It?
Why did I pick this silly shoe out of all the silly shoes in the shoeniverse? The bloody thing's hungry all the time. Chews my
- Photo Essay: A Sudden Trip to Pakistan - Crossing the International Border at Wagah
Are Pakistani guards more handsome? Whose customs office is more efficient? An on-the-spot India-Pakistan report.
- DVD Review: Bad Brains Live At CBGB 1982 Too Wild For Nostalgia
As far as I'm concerned we had it far better than you'll ever have.
- Questioning Islam
These examples suggest Muslims will not engage in nor tolerate discussion of their faith.
- The Politics Of Captain Nemo
On Captain Nemo's white whale.
- Magazine Review: Travel + Leisure South Asia
The glossy travel magazine filled with exquisite photographs is a sight for sore eyes.
- Advice For Free
The know-it-alls, the show-offs and free advice givers bear my brunt.
- The Story of Ramdas
A short story, in verse form
- Comedy Track in South Indian Films
Most of the time, these comedy tracks are anything but funny - many of them are so annoying, you feel like slapping the so-called 'comedy
- Concert Review: The Weakerthans, Winnipeg, Canada (September 16, 2006)
Solid show by one of Canada's top indie rock bands, who are refreshingly focused on lyrics and melody.
- Book Review: The Toyminator Robert Rankin
The Toyminator is a funny book, that could have been even funnier...
- eyes/aankhaiN
while pundits debate sages / long after we're gone / these probing eyes will / continue their search
- A Sudden Trip to Pakistan – Shocked and Awed by a Brave Pakistani Play
A play so brave that it creates doubt about Pakistan's popular image as a fundamentalist Islamist regime accepting no criticism of its controversial history.
- Non Aligned, Almost
How can India be Pro America and Non Aligned at the same time without being a hypocrite?
- Newly Completed Tolkien Tale Due in Spring
The author's son edits and compiles an early story in the Middle-earth mythos.
- India in a Nutshell: The News is Not Good
India is a morass of alarming conditions of livelihood which has become entrenched and deep rooted in the culture.
- Vidarbha: So What If More Farmers Die?
In Vidarbha, people are dying. Yet, the Centre has not done enough to take charge of the situation.
- The Devil Is In The Details - President Chavez vs. President Bush
Both are wrong, everybody knows that the only true religion is the Jedi religion.
- Books: Jay Gordon Co-Author The Eldarn Sequence Strength Of Purpose
The best epitaph that I could probably write for Jay Gordon is he was a damn fine writer
- A Sudden Trip to Pakistan: On The Road In Lahore, With A Digicam
Sight-seeing and passing instant judgments while driving in Pakistan’s greatest city.
- Pondicherry - Puduchery - Pondy - Pody: What Is In a Name?
Who can fathom what goes on in the minds of a politician? Look at Blair or Dubya. Ours not to wonder why.
- India and Latin America: Tata Consultancy Services and Uruguay
In today's world having an Indian company led by Hungarian-Uruguayan servicing American banks with Montevidean engineers is just the new norm.
- Beauty, in Slow-Mo: A tribute to Riquelme
Riquelme, the lazy genius, has announced his international retirement.
- Richard Hammond Is On The Mend, Say His Doctors
Hammond's impish smile, his cheerful persona and sheer delight in his job have made him the darling of the public.
- Music Review: Forecast: Tomorrow Weather Report
...we can just be grateful for what we have, and Forecast: Tomorrow is definitely something to be grateful for.
- Book Review: Brick Lane by Monica Ali
The prose of the novel is versatile and colourful, full of humorous dialogues and entangled sub-plots.
- Studying Science and Math Makes Your Dreams Come True
NASA's bureaucratic approach to "popularising" the study of Science and Math among kids is laughable.
- Pope and Muslims
Pakistani Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam commented, “ — Yo Pope — Call me violent … Im gonna kick your ass!”
- Dutch Diplomat Calls Delhi a Filthy City, and Its People a Nuisance
All hell breaks loose as the Netherlands diplomat Arnold Parzer hurls abuses on India's capital city.
- Satire: Musharraf-Bush Stone-age Politics
“We didnt mean Stone AGE …We meant Stonage … like major doobage.
- Book Review: Coraline Neil Gaiman/ Illustrated by Dave McKean
..the main feeling that a child or adult reader will be left with is wonder.
- Scandal at Hewlett-Packard: A Question of Ethics
The fallout from the truth emerging into the public domain will probably create a far greater loss than the immediate gain you are looking at
- Book Review: An End to Suffering by Pankaj Mishra
The book combines factual detail and personal insight with a fine balance that compels the reader to turn its pages.
- Boycott Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's Memoirs; Don't Buy In The Line of Fire
Arguments laid out to desist right-thinking readers from buying the autobiography of Pakistan's dictator.
- Law and Justice in India - Whose Prerogative?
It is the legislature and the executive, more than the traders, that have made a travesty of law and our entire political system.
- Website Review: Wink, A Social Search Engine
An interesting Social Search Engine cum Bookmarking cum Community site.
- CD Review: Iron Maiden - A Matter of Life and Death
Rewards you with subsequent listens, this mature offering shows that Iron Maiden are still at the top of their game.
- Cartoon: Sleeping With The Enemy
Don't want to be caught napping!!!
- Movie Review : Khosla ka Ghosla : Chak de Phatte
The story hits home. For many of you, it provides identification right from the word go.
- With A Grain Of Salt: Muslim Reformers - A Peek Into The Past
He went straight for the jugular and tried to re-interpret Islam.
- Conversations with an American: To Delhi or Not To Delhi, That is The Question
Is Delhi really filthy and its people really a nuisance? An American visitor struggles with the dilemma.
- Flights Of Corporate Fantasy - The State and The Free Market
The mantra of the Reform Process glibly trotted out by the ruling elites is in effect an Orwellian term for the return to slavery.
- Cartoon: An Eye for an Eye
The problem with "an eye for an eye" is that we will all end up blind
- Poem: A Dinner Recycled
A short story. Versified for brevity, recommended for levity.
- Book Review: The Shark God by Charles Montgomery
This wry and insightful account of life and religious practices in Melanesia may be one of the year's best pieces of nonfiction.
- Canadian Politics: Unanswered Questions About Maher Arar
...another dirty little stain on Canada's supposed lily-white hands that will never wash off.
- Another Bid For Peace in the Middle East: An Enemy of My Enemy...
By guaranteeing recognition this Peace Initiative goes a long way in addressing Israel's perennial insecurity: that of her lack of strategic depth.
- Actress, Dancer Padmini Passes Away - A Salute To The Doyenne of South Indian Cinema
Padmini was to dance what M.S Subbulakshmi was to Carnatic music.
- Cartoon: Bush and Musharraf 2.06 For Dummies
Broken down in pictograms for the semiotically challenged
- Sania Mania to Manic Sania?
When did one decently good year translate to "excellence" in one's field?
- Book Review: Stardust Neil Gaiman
Mr. Gaiman can genuinely create a world where wonder is an everyday occurrence.
- The Golden Days of Doordarshan
Our national channel, Doordarshan, was surprisingly not so 'doooor' from its viewers' needs and sentiments in the olden days.
- It's Not All About Pearls and Biryani, People - Hyderabadi Comedy Has Arrived
Who said all that we Hyderabadis could do was to wear pearls, cook biryani, go to bed at nine pm and wear T-shirts with ugly
- Mile High Perverts
In all probability this was the worst night of my life.
- Spices For Life And Love
Scientists study what we always knew of spices. They taste good, smell good, prevent diseases and may be aphrodisiacs.
- Film Revue: Put The Needle On The Record
...as an expose of how vacuous their whole industry is it’s a roaring success.
- Celebrating Womanhood During This Navratri Festival
It is the time of year when egos are put aside and the Truth is acknowledged – nay, celebrated.
- Navratri - Celebrating Mother Nature
Understanding the meaning behind Navratri
- For The Love Of Language - Karnataka's Language Policy And Indian Integration
We need to always to strive to maintain the complex balance between avoiding chauvinism and preservation of threatened identities.
- The Final Exit: Death Sentence for Accused in Parliament Attack
If the right to life and liberty is not meant for some, the state should ensure a speedy and painless execution of the death sentence.
- Music Review: Introducing Bela Lakatos & The Gypsy Youth Project
I don't think I have heard such wonderfully wild energy as is on display in the music of this CD.
- L K Advani's Journey From Godsegiri to Gandhigiri
BJP leader L K Advani has been bowled over by the Mahatma Gandhi inspired film 'Lage Rago Munnabhai'. Is he undergoing a change of
- Goodness Gracious Me
For me, meeting this particular person was like adding a fresh layer of cream on my already delicious Blueberry Cheesecake.
- Book Review: Bootstrapper's Bible - Seth Godin
If you're just starting off or struggling through a new business, then the Bootstrapper's Bible by Seth Godin is for you.
- Jayamala in Sabarimala: A Conspiracy Theory Emerges
The latest twist in l'affaire Sabarimala: police deem her claim a conspiracy.
- The Birth Centenary of Bhagat Singh
Why Bhagat Singh's picture is still seen on dilapidated walls and off colour posters across the country.
- The Legacy of Dev Anand
If Dev Anand is thinking in terms of leaving behind a legacy, then may he leave us with memories and melodies of Guide, Prem Pujari,
- The Global Competitiveness Rankings - A U.S. Perspective
America is threatened both by terrorism and our own short-sightedness in the global marketplace.
- Satire: Jude Law: To Be or Not To Be a Movie Star
Jude Law's relative good looks threatened by Punjabi outmarriage decreasing English Unattractiveness Factor by almost 15%.
- Rang de Basanti vs. Water: The Oscar Showdown
Water, Rang De Basanti, or Zwartboek? Why not Adoor? The slugfest starts in the article, let's roll!
- Music Review: Outward Bound The Eric Dolphy Quintet
bridge for the new listeners between the recognizable motifs of Bebop and the freer situation of New Jazz.
- General Pervez Musharraf Carpet-bombs New Delhi With In The Line Of Fire
President Musharraf’s memoirs In The Line of Fire hits the Indian capital. All copies sold out on day one.
- Communication Chaos: How to Create Some Order
Chatting has to be the #1 communication killer, especially when other options are easily available.
- Book Review: Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry
This novel traces the lives of many individuals and how they all fit together. You can find here tragedy, comedy, mystery, suspense, romance.
- NKP Salve Challenger Trophy 2006 - The Squads
With the Challenger Trophy round the corner, here's a look at the teams and players taking part.
- Islam, Radicalism and Government Foreign Policy
Home Secretary John Reid has called on British Muslims and parents to help root out potential extremists.
- Senate Passes Detainee Bill - The Military Commissions Act of 2006 - "American Shame"
The US Senate Passes Detainee Bill sought by President Bush regarding treatment of terrorism suspects
- Not so Mushy About Mush - The Real Biography of General Musharraf
Let’s interrogate Mr. Musharraf’s efforts to return democracy to Pakistan.
- Aberrations In Indian Democracy
There have always been multiple shades of democracy and it continues to take on new hues, most remarkably at the grassroots’ level.
- Doordarshan: Surabhi Ke Sunehre Pal
In the early nineties, a programme on the national channel captured the imagination of the nation in a way nothing else did.
- To Bengal, Via the British Museum
The 'Voices of Bengal' exhibition is organised by the London Camden Bangladeshi Association and is on for most of October.
- Music Review: Live At The Earl Of Old Town Steve Goodman
it's like having him stop by and giving you a personal concert.
- On Affairs and Extra Marital Affairs
At the end of it all, its your life.
- Karen Fletcher Indicted For Selling Fictional Vile Kiddie Stories
I find the woman's activities to be repugnant but I believe that the prosecutors would have a hard time making the case stick.
- Homeward Bound Desis - The Reverse Brain Drain
The prodigals are coming back to India to live in cordoned off gated communities with manicured laws and white picket fences.
- Saving Terrorist Mohammed Afzal
Why should Terrorist Afzal be saved? Well...read on.
- The Truth About Jobs
A call center job is just that, a job. The rest is all brouhaha.
- Islam vs. the Rest of the World - A Historical Analysis
The problem with history is that each civilization acted barbarically at some point of time or the other.
- Pervez Musharraf's Predicament: Another Benevolent Dictator Bites The Dust?
Politics in Pakistan is rough on failed princelings.
- Music Review: If I Should Fall From Grace With God by The Pogues
...the Pogues are and always will be one of the great exports of Ireland.
- Movie Review: Amu At The Seattle Independent South Asian Film Festival (ISAFF)
The movie did remind us of the horrors of the riots, and of the complicity of politicians, police and bureaucrats in these riots.
« August, 2006 || October, 2006 »
- Book Review: Haruki Murakami's Birthday Stories
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