It has been a while

I know. I dropped off the face of the earth for months. But, I'm back. I think.

Been a harrowing few months. Shuttling back and forth between the US and India. Ammi hovering near death for weeks at a time. The painful chemo, the mastesctomy, the smell of medicines and sickness, the nausea, then the numbness that takes over after a while.

Abbu had brought Ammi to Bombay from home in Indore for treatment. We stayed with my chacha in Worli. Chacha, chachi, and the rest of the extended family super helpful and patient with Abbu's and my constant demands and bouts of despair.

And Ammi made it. At least for now. She's pale and has very little hair right now. There's been a weird kind of happiness in the family over the last few weeks. We're happy, but somber at the same time. As I embraced Ammi at the airport to catch a flight back to the US, it hit home to me that her contours had changed. A part of her was missing. A cavity. She has to live the rest of her life with this incompleteness. But at least she's alive!

IIPM and its critics

Okay, so this outrageous spat between Rashmi Bansal & Gaurav Sabnis on the one hand and IIPM on the other has stirred me out of hibernation.

Gaurav and Rashmi have received legal notices for criticizing IIPM for false advertising and other irregularities. From what I can tell, my sympathies are wholly with these two bloggers. First it was the ToI against a blogger whose name I've forgotten. Now it's IIPM. Where will this lead us? Does freedom of expression not mean anything?

Anyway, Sambhar Mafia is tracking this story in detail.

New Indian Express

I came across this newspaper called The New Indian Express today. At first I thought Indian Express had changed its name. But this is definitely a different paper. How long has it been around? I can't believe Indian Express didn't litigate to force them to change the name.

In it is a nice picture of a Kathakali dancer. I wish I could appreciate this form of dance as much as I do this picture. But I don't get it. It's too obscure for me. Arundhati Roy's valiant attempts at getting me to see its beauty not withstanding.

Also in it is the story of a Ukrainian heroine of a Bhojpuri film. What's with the trend of foreign models and actresses starring in desi phillums? Is it the case of directors taking anyone with white chamda or do they have real talent and are genuinely interested in working in India?

Gangu dada and his amazing comeback

Those of you who watched the Dada's century, my sympathies to you. So our man now goes around telling the world that differences have cropped up between him and Chappell. The same thing happened with Wright, which was one of the reasons the coach declined to renew his contract. Clearly it is the pressure on him that's making him injudicious. These are signs of a man who has lost it. And hence he must go.

Campus novels

What's with the sudden spurt in campus novels? The first of its kind that I can recall was Anurag Mathur's 'The Inscrutable Americans', which I thought was quite terrible. Sure, there were moments of humor, but it was a sophmoric attempt at writing a book. Which is why I just don't understand how after all these years that thing keeps appearing on bestseller lists. Either I can't recognize good books, or the world has gone bonkers.

Then after a long gap came Chetan Bhagat's Five Point Someone. I've read it, and I must say I was satisfied with it. Sort of like a good meal at a dhaba: you don't expect much, and you're served a simple fare. This is no high literature, but then every book doesn't have to be. A good timepass read.

Now two more in quick succession. Tin Fish by Sudeep Chakravarti, and Mediocre but Arrogant by Abhijit Bhaduri. I haven't read either, but is their popularity due to the Five Point Someone phenomenon rather than their quality? A friend who has read both says they're both mediocre, which may mean that Jabberwock is being entirely too kind to his ex-colleague.

And with this I shall proceed to pen my own masterpiece based on my experiences on campus, which amount to little more than ogling, hooting and being in a perpetual state of confusion when in class.

Random Thoughts from a Confused Mind

Random Thoughts from a Confused Mind is another blog I've just discovered. Sagnik Nandy has some hilarious posts on the blog. Sample this:

The film addict in me wants to make movies. Great movies. Movies that will change the way people think - or at least the way women dress. Hmmmm! Here are some projects that are appealing to me right now:

1. A passionate tale where cricketer Harbhajan Singh falls in love with a slutty woman. I call it Bhaji on the Bitch.

2. A family drama where a King finds out that he has a brother in South India. A masterpiece called Anna and the King.

3. A musical (come on, given my expertise in this area, a musical was but expected) involving two stupid idiots. A musical bonanza that moi wants to call Dunce Dunce.

4. The story of an Indian chef who goes on cooking to feed his irritatingly obese child. A heart touching story titled Curry on Papa.

Review of the Indian team's performance

So finally there's going to be a formal inquiry into the Indian cricket team's non performance.
Prem writes about it. Let's hope something good comes of this.

Rana's Corner has Ranajit Bose's take on the team's decline. He concludes it thus:

We are willing to hold these men up as representatives of our hopes as a nation, allowing our collective fortunes and sense of well-being to rise and fall with their vagaries on the field. Our cinema isn't the only thing that's escapist. So is our cricket and we get what we deserve.

Iqbal

Uma has a very interesting review of the film Iqbal.

What a nice film. We saw it this afternoon at Regal. What fun we had. Clapping, cheering, wiping those stray tears from our cheeks. It's been a long time since I've seen a film that I don't mind seeing all over again back to back.

I didn't like any of Nagesh Kukunoor's films. I liked Hyderabad Blues somewhat. But this one I gotta see.

Discovering new blogs

In the last couple of days I've discovered several new interesting blogs.

My net friend Ranajit Bose has started a blog finally.

Prem Panicker's blog now has other contributors as well. If you don't already read that blog, I urge you to, particularly if you're a cricket fan.

I accidentally stumbled upon a reference to my blog in Sambhar Mafia's entry on funny/interesting blog names. I'm flattered.

Via Sambhar Mafia I discovered a bunch of Southie blogs. There are quite a few of them out there. Once you start clicking on links from one site to another, you're in for endless fun. But since I speak no south Indian languages, a lot of it went woosh over my head.

I've always meant to ask one of my Kannada friends what pyol means. RK Narayan uses this word very often in his books. I guess it's a veranda. For you South Indians out there, am I right? And what does thali really mean? I came across this word a few times in a book I read recently and I was confused by it.