Caught sleeping...

The title works well for me personally and India’s government. I have been derelict of my blogging duties. The entire August went by without nary a word from me. Can I be excused? I was on vacation for the whole month :)

I ate, slept, swam, ate, slept. Not in my good ol’ town but near Grand Ole Opry. Nashville, Tennessee: Music City, Athens of the West, Home of the Parthenon, Publishing City. A city with many names and many facets. Loved standing on a stage with nearly 100 years’ of country music history. The Grand Ole Opry is the mecca for all country singers and has been since 1925. You can not buy a membership to the Opry. You have to be invited to oldest music hall of fame. Photographs will follow, I promise.

Nashville is cool. Wide streets and even wider highways. A lot of history there. The best building was the Bat building. Not Bruce Wayne’s home, though it would have been a fitting abode for the superhero. It is the AT&T building. It is surrounded by all the bigwigs of the music industry. The studios are awe-inspiring. To know that international stardom is created within those walls was overwhelming and kept thinking of Blake Shelton, Carrie Underwood walking up those steps.

I loved the spaciousness of the city and beyond. Every little establishment had huge grounds, something of a luxury here in Connecticut. Not even the government buildings can boast of vast grounds. And there a man’s personal home had been surrounded by 30000 acres of manicured gardens. It took us half a day to see the various segments within the Botanical Garden. Humidity and Heat took its toll and we beat a hasty retreat.

Perhaps that was the only downer. The heat was oppressive. I didn’t dare to even open the door during day time. But that only gave me a good reason to sleep in. :)

Aah and the other entity caught sleeping. Not that I am one. But the Indian government surely is. Or should I call it a joke. Even with one of the best and honorable man at its helm, India can’t get its act together. We are becoming something of a laughing matter with bombs blowing up in every bazaar, office or train. Is Indian security so poor that anyone can attack it with impunity and walk away without the slightest fear of getting caught?

Are our chosen leaders and hired officials that impotent? Does not one official realise that he needs to take his job seriously? Not just as a source of income and security but with responsibilities and duties? These terrorist attacks are so regular that even the Indian public, the biggest victim of such acts, are getting anesthetized to them. Not caring for anyone except sending up a huge prayer of thanks to God that it wasn’t them. This time!

The social media denizens have led a hue and cry, baying for blood. Anyone’s blood! As the perps have long vanished, the face of governance Mr Manmohan Singh is the target. Poor man! He is a good man caught in a bad position. One man cannot change this country or its state of affairs. We all need to change. How?

No good movie around :(

Have watched all the movies that have been recent hits at the box office in India, i.e. all of the Hindi ones.

Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (ZNMD), Delhi Belly and Ready. I hope I didn’t miss any worth the salt on my table.

They were all hits: some breaking-through, some roaring hits. Yet none of them really held my interest. Except perhaps Ready. Can’t help it. It was such a masala movie and without any abuse of senitivities or culture, that I positively enjoyed the movie.

Salman was the same old, same old. The story was also same old. A little tweaked for the current age. But atleast a positive message for familial bonds. And funny to boot. It made me laugh and that made it worth the money I spent on it. All the other characters were simply there, interchangeable and loud.

Asin who was so good and lively in Ghajini was simply part of the crowd. She didn’t stand out in the movie which was all about Sallu Bhai. He acts the same, talks the same, walks the same and dresses the same. Yet his movies are working. Must be his “good karma”

As for ZNMD, heaven knows why people liked it. Half the time, the camera kept panning on Hrithik‘s handsome face as if it was the only way to hold the audience’s attention. The problem is it is too close to Dil Chahta Hai, which was a better movie in every way: story, direction and acting.

Farhan Akhtar was perhaps the star of the movie, being the most natural and at ease in front of the camera. Maybe it was easier for him to work for his sister. Hrithik Roshan is the best looking actor in Bollywood. However his acting has much to desire. He wasn’t comfortable acting the snob, nor was he any good at romancing Katrina. His idea of acting a man who finally begins to live is to laze around dreamily with a loopy smile in the backseat of a car. But the biggest disappointment was Abhay Deol. The endearing Deol came across so effeminate in his voice and pitch, I thought him initially to be a gay in the movie.

None of the songs were much to write home about except the “Senorita” one sung by the lead male actors. Even here Abhay was the worst offender in terms of pitch and lift. And yet again Farhan was the best. He should definitely make a rock band. India needs it pretty bad.

And lastly Delhi Belly. What was all the brouhaha about? It had way too many cuss words and the story was too old and cliched. Haven’t we seen a similar tale of turning wheel of fortune and presence of mind in Ek Chaalis ki last local or Johnny Gaddar? The only difference is that this movie was unabashedly vulgar. And people seemed to love it. I am fine with cuss words but this was too much too often. Of course it showed how truly dirty we are. Physically, verbally and even emotionally. DB being a hit says a lot about us, or doesn’t it?

Sadly I have not much to look forward to except Don 2. Fingers crossed Farhan doesn’t mess this one up. Also now that the original jodi of Sanjay- Arshad has been removed from the Munnabhai series, don’t know if I should keep much expectation of the 3rd offering. So a rerun of Transformers, Terminator and Independence Day will have to do for me.

A little holiday is all it takes!

Summer is a time for lazing around…on beaches if you will if you stayed where I do! But this summer was excruciatingly hot and so we spent most of the time indoors, venturing to the pool only in the evenings.

A short trip to Newport, Rhode Island took my stress away. Not the town itself..Somehow Cornwall UK and Ganpatipule, India reign supreme in my heart…After that no other beach town has captured my heart. Biased probably..

Apart from the beaches and private islands, Newport has a host of heritage mansions..magnificient properties built for the super rich of 18th century. Visited the Breakers Mansion. The mansion is huge with huge and beautiful grounds. But the view is a killer.

Belonging to the Vanderbilt family, the walls of the main room is adorned with gold and platinum. But its the balcony with majestic view of the Atlantic that takes your breath away. I kept thinking of a family living there and enjoying the view every single day. It would be have been a very happy and a relaxed life. I imagine.

Apart from that, having been brought up in the ubiquitous one-room boxes of Mumbai, this mansion seems like a dream house. It even had a small cottage for the children to play in, complete with a little play kitchen. How the other half lives!!!! They say money doesn’t buy you happiness. But it sure does get you close. That day for the first time I felt that there were somethings I haven’t really enjoyed in life. Luxury! Maybe in my next life! Fingers crossed

Eat well..

Our parting wish for our friends is always “stay well”. In Bengali we say bhalo theko.

Very often the older generation says the new generation is a weakling. We fall sick very often and have no stamina. Our eyes, our hair, skin… nothing can stand in comparison to the oldies.

They may be right. However our generation also faces unprecedented stress. An entire generation of Indian women here in the US is wasting away at home. Rotting. Having worked hard at educating ourselves we find ourselves exerting at dishes and laundry or at best carpet stains.

Men don’t know when they might be booted out of their jobs. They have to now work, help at home, look after the baby, and also forge ahead in life. Not easy!

What is easy is to pick up any food that is instant or readily available and gobble it up! In the name of nutrition a lot of companies are becoming fat and unfortunately the consumer is too. We now face a huge obesity problem. And it is huge!

I have seen countless kids greedily gobbling down junk and yet can’t be bothered to even touch a single vegetable. Even I was beginning to think like my dad’s generation: these kids don’t know what’s good for them. I myself have never ever skipped on breakfast. Generally I never ate any ready-made product for breakfast. It was all completely home-made except for milk. Somehow I thought everyone from my generation is very health conscious. I am talking about Indians. Do not know enough about others to comment about them.

I was wrong! I have seen women not eat anything for breakfast at all. Only running on tea or coffee. Eating their lunch at 12.30 pm somehow seems to make it alright for them. Even when they are pregnant! In at least 4 cases, I have seen their babies have a very high reflux problem. Always vomiting. Always. As much as 10 to 12 times a day.

Then the mothers keep trying various things to stop the babies from vomiting and to eat a few morsel. But it doesn’t work. In all of these cases, I closely asked them their diet. Now I am no nutritionist and yet I know drinking tea/coffee on an empty stomach isn’t good. How do I know?

My father was a tea addict. He would start with bed tea. One of my first duties in the morning was to make him tea. He sometimes had a cookie or bread with it. But most times it was on empty stomach. While he was completely healthy during his entire youth, consequences struck when he hit his 50s.

One morning he started vomiting blood and had to be rushed to hospital. The doctors kept asking us if my father was an alcoholic. And we kept trying to convince the docs that he never touched alcohol. After a detailed investigation, the cause turned out to be our humble tea.

While tea itself doesn’t harm much, what is harmful is its acidic effect on an empty stomach. The stomach lining is very soft so tea on an empty stomach is akin to pouring acid on a soft tissue.

All the women have argued that they have never faced acidity problems even though they are drinking tea/coffee since childhood. As an adult one may be able to handle acidity but a newborn has no such ability. All I can say: What is easier? To make a little sandwich for yourself with the tea or to clean up your baby’s vomit.

I know there has been no study on this topic. But then no studies have ever been undertaken specific to Indian habits. Yet it is too much of a coincidence to ignore. Besides any nutritionist worth his/her degree will tell you breakfast is the most important meal of the day. So pleaseeeeee…especially all you pregnant ladies ..stop drinking tea on empty stomachs and start eating a healthy breakfast.

Nature's fury!

Recently someone in US had predicted an end of life as we know it. Luckily for us all he was wrong! Funnily enough he simply changed dates to 5 months later. I might have said "Budddha sathiya gaya hai" (the old man is bonkers) except that he has built a multi-million dollar empire based on this fear.

World didn't end but a lot of cities have been brought to their knees. Devastating earthquakes, tornadoes and thunderstorms taking life and property alike without mercy. Some cities like Joplin have been almost wiped out. The worst part is that it's not over yet. More thunderstorms and tornadoes are on their way!

We can only pray to God for kindness and help for the victims. Those who have survived may have triumphed death but not destruction. They have a long struggle ahead of them. Picking up mercilessly scattered pieces of their lives. Moving on. Rebuilding. Coping with loss of loved ones. How does one do all this and have a happy life ahead? Don't know!

For US and the world, these whiplashes are doing more than destroying lives. Nature is slowly but surely bringing the already slow-grinding economy to its knees. Monetarily the devastation has had huge impact on insurance, healthcare and small, private businesses. US definitely needs to redefine its policies and focus inwards. Let other countries sort out their problems on their own for a change.

It doesn't make sense that a super nation has to go build houses and schools for people who don't want their help while people in its own backyard are struggling to go through life. Even now, extremists in the war-torn countries are probably happy that there is devastation in US. I read a comment somewhere that US is being punished by God for killing innocents in Mid-East. Wonder why God would target only one western country for the act of many.

No the reason for this destruction is not God's anger. Rather Nature's fury! Why is Nature angry? Simply because in an attempt to modernise, industralise or monetise, man has attempted to subvert and control nature. Building dams, cutting off natural plant and animal habitats, trying to straighten rivers, and a recent term I learnt "weaponise weather" are all culprits either singly or collectively.

You can't tame Nature and expect not to be whiplashed. Nature isn't a lion that man can control its wild nature and make it jump hoops.

A documentary showed how building unnecessary dams has nearly wiped out salmon population. And we know that because we eat salmon. Those creatures which aren't a part of our food chain may have been wiped out without our knowledge. And now millions are being spent trying to increase their population and blowing out some dams.

It's like cutting off your legs and trying to learn how to run. Maybe we should stop and look back. As a nation, and as a league of nations. Else what legacy are we leaving for our kids?

Mother’s weekend!

It really pays to have a growing up child and an enthusiastic husband. The duo made this Mothers’ Day really special for me this entire weekend!

While I was growing up Mothers’ Day wasn’t celebrated. At least not as vigorously as it is now. Don’t know if it even existed back then….BTW back then isn’t waaaay back then, just so you know

On Friday, my husband flew in from TN and right at 12 midnight Saturday, Aditi and he put a small candle on a chocolate cupcake and brought it out singing a robust “Happy Mothers’ Day” to the tunes of Happy Birthday!

Saturday morning, slept in late. Partly because Aditi decided to crash in with us and I was therefore unable to sleep. Our queen bed was too small to encompass the revolving daughter. Finally at 4 am gave in and slept on the sofa..I was woken up to the tune of Happy Mothers Day once again and to my great pleasure Aditi n Bish had made breakfast and tea. Steaming hot idlis with baingan chutney! Deliciousso!

Lunch was Thai at an especially good Thai restaurant. Some shopping. Back home to rest. In the evening we had the best time of all. A new boardwalk has been built connecting two beaches..its about one and half mile walk. We went for a walk and Aditi took her bike along. Enjoying the scenic views and the beautiful sunset and the calm waters.

Back home Aditi and Bish got out another cupcake, a banana-walnut one this time complete with candle and a song. We topped up the evening with a re-watch of Karate kid. Am a fan of Jaden Smith & his father. The only father-son duo to have captured my heart.

And that was it! Or so I thought!

Sunday morning again got breakfast and tea! Lunch, Anda curry made by my fabulous chef husband! Alas in the evening there were no more cupcakes and so Aditi decided to improvise. She took out a bowl of halwa, warmed it in the microwave. She stuck two pretzel sticks in place of candles and sang out Happy Mothers’ Day!

How can anything compare to this kind of weekend. No resort, holiday or gift can match this. It makes all those early morning maddening rush a cupcake walk! All those irritating habits a distant memory!

Maybe that’s why such commemorative days have gained in popularity. Want to celebrate anything? Simply make it a day and announce a special date! Earth Day, Daughters’ Day, Valentines! How about a Volunteers’ Day?

Wish I could have done something special for my mother. Aditi has already gotten a chance to show her mom how much she loves her and I really bless her from the bottom of my heart. And hope my heart is deep!

Mission Accomplished!

What an explosive start to May! 1st May 2011 11.45 pm the President of United States announces that US special force killed Osama Bin Laden (OSL) the most wanted terrorist in this generation’s memory.

As news trickled in of this fantastic achievement, couldn’t help feeling a rush and would have screamed “yahoooo” had it not been mid-night and the neighbours + family asleep. Felt a rush of adrenalin and jubilation. I am not American nor did I have any connection even tenuous or indirect to 9/11 victims.

But on 9/11, I was shocked to the core at the utter foolishness and depravity of some men who did not think it wrong to kill honest men and women going about their jobs and lives. In name of what? Wasn’t God! Certainly no principle or value…What principle would be worth 3000 lives?

I was skeptical when former President Bush attacked Iraq. Somehow it felt like a ploy to control Saddam’s oil reserves or some such ulterior motive rather than revenge for being attacked. Also after so many years no one really thought Osama would be caught and brought to justice..Whenever any footage of OBL was shown, the background was always mountainous rubble and caves. Coupling that with reports of war in Afghanistan between Taliban and US forces somehow took the focus away from OBL.

Even the Americans seemed to want an end to the never-ending war against an elusive figure of darkness. Dealing with their own problems of recession, unemployment, rising health costs became paramount to the the average American.

When Barack Obama was elected President, he cut an impressive figure. A man promising change and hope. 3 years down he lost a lot of support as conditions worsened. People not only questioned his leadership, some even clamoured to question the very legitimacy of his citizenship.

This man last week effectively shut the ‘birthers’ by showing his birth certificate and making a point of demolishing the chief vocalist albeit all in fun and humor. Even then he knew he was sitting on potentially the biggest Ace card a US president has ever held. And he calmly went about his business. What a fantastic political master stroke from a young politician who was a small community leader 3 years ago. He made history the first time by virtue of his skin colour but now he has earned a high post in history through his focussed leadership.

Obama was right in focusing on capturing the figure-head of a dreaded organisation. He showed foresight in not allowing bombing of the mansion. I would rather have a thinking man as the head of the most powerful country than a brash aggressive man reacting to every nudge. Obama has cemented his position as of now and his achievement will force his critics to back off. So by capturing OBL, President Obama has accomplished a lot for his country’s morale and ego! And for his own future!

Has the terrorist network been weakened to the point of demolition or will it prove to mimic the 10-headed Ravana? What is unfortunate that OBL’s organisation has grown and broken into numerous branches. Some may step up to the plate.

What is positive that some of these branches were operating in countries which themselves are going through a “Born Again” revolution. The people in some of these countries want better lives for themselves and are revolting against oppressive regimes. All power to them and hopefully the people power will finish the tail end of OBL’s creation.

Mission Impossible???