Nila-Kantha-Chandra on Calcutta, its intelligentsia and much more:
While the intelligentsia of Calcutta prides itself on being fiercely secular and tolerant, the truth is that most educated Hindus in the city would never have had any substantive intercourse with a Muslim in their lives. And yet they would not hesitate to express their opinion on Muslims, [...]
Archive for the 'Culture' Category
Justice for Rathore
Published by January 13th, 2010 in Activism, Corruption, Culture, Development, Government, India and Law and order. 0 CommentsThat’s what The Diary of Rakesh Jhunjhunwala wants. That and Justice for ND Tiwari, Paneerselvam, Dinakaran..
Me: OK, I think …..I have a solution.
DINAKARAN: WAIT, WAIT, WAIT, WAIT !!! SIRJI! PLEASE DON’T FORGET ABOUT ME.
I’m the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court and was due for promotion to become a Supreme Court Judge.
But the media [...]
Drinking Away to doom
Published by January 8th, 2010 in Consumer, Culture, Health and India. 0 CommentsThe advent of Twenty Ten (2010) fetched 47 crore rupees for TASMAC shops in Tamil Nadu. Chennai topped the list with 7 Crores. Since Beer was shortage, Brandy and Whisky were bought by the revelers of the New Year.
And most important, 60-70% of the new year revelry was by the Youth, the future of this [...]
Demystifying India….
Published by December 30th, 2009 in Caste, Children, Corruption, Culture, Development, Education, Gender & Sexuality and Government. 0 CommentsIn the movie Swades Shah Rukh Khan says when asked about whether India is the best country in this world compared to others ,” I dont think that India is the best country in this world, but we have the ability, we have the resources” and for that to happen each and every person has [...]
Crying children at the gates
Published by December 22nd, 2009 in Children, Culture and Education. 1 CommentMany of us share memories of family members embarrassing us when they remind us of our behavior on the first day at school. We have thrown tantrums or witnessed the same from our children….
Pasungilidakshina tries to imagine a child’s first day at school :
There was crying from every corner. In one large classroom, there were [...]
English speaking and elitist ….
Published by December 17th, 2009 in Culture, Education and Language. 1 Comment6 AM Pacific cites Chetan Bhagat who in a recent speech to the British Council has classified people into two groups :
One, which he calls E1, is proficient in English and gets all the good jobs. The other, E2, is familiar with the language but is not proficient. E2 is ten times the size of [...]
The Hip Hop Grandmom reflects on the place of God and prayer in her life :
Unlike my Christian friends we, in our family, were under no compulsion to pray on a regular basis or go to the temple on a particular day. But we were expected to leave all work and assemble in the room [...]
The Mahabharata : Bhima’s version
Published by November 19th, 2009 in Books, Culture and India. 0 CommentsJai Arjun Singh reviews M T Vasudevan Nair’s acclaimed retelling of the Mahabharata in the voice of Bhima, the second of the five Pandava heroes through his Malayalam work “Randaamoozham”.
Next in the line of succession to his elder brother Yudhisthira (and usually in the shadow of his younger brother Arjuna when it comes to charisma [...]
Can I have my privacy ?
Published by November 10th, 2009 in Culture, Human Rights and India. 0 CommentsScribe Silhouette raises the question of just where do you draw the line at a couple’s right to privacy?
Time and time again, it keeps happening – if you are nice and polite, people take your basic decency to be a sign of weakness. They try to absolutely bulldoze their way through, and heaven forbid, if [...]
An incident makes Ugich Konitari rethink about the meaning of the term ’spirit of Mumbai’ :
Because it was Mumbai’s finest at work. I am tempted to use the word “spirit”, but ever since politicians used it to justify their own non performance, it raises hackles.
Because at the end of the day, no one who went [...]
Harini’s insights on how things work or don’t in the ‘unique eco-system’ of the shooting floor:
Last week we were shooting at Sankraman – in Aarey. The same sankraman that was the home to the bulk of the Balaji soaps that used to be on most channels. If you had gone there a year ago – [...]
Lean and unhealthy
Published by October 25th, 2009 in Bollywood, Business, Cinema, Culture and Women. 0 CommentsRum remembers the days when actors didn’t have to starve to look good on screen and blames Kareena Kapoor and Deepika Padukone for starting an unhealthy trend:
I’m not gonna hate on all naturally skinny gals like Anushka Sharma, or others but its just that Kareena Kapoor is going all out to promote an unreal expectation [...]
What (not to) say in Kolkata
Published by October 24th, 2009 in Culture, Humour, India and Language. 0 CommentsAlthough the writers are affiliated with a daily newspaper, I found this list at the I Love Kolkata website bherry bherry intereshting:
45. No worries: Means precious little. It is cold and emotionless, said just for the sake of saying something. “I hate it when someone says ‘no worries’ with a smile on his face without [...]
Be the change. CSM is not sure Gandhi said it, but the line, as he points out, is becoming quite popular thanks to Barack Obama:
obama massively popularised “be the change”.
the quotations page says that gandhi said – “You must be the change you want to see in the world.”
there are many websites with BTC fundas.
1. [...]
G.Mohan bemoans the declining trend of manual labour in India and wonders if working with our hands is taboo in Indian society :
Whereas, the tradition of worshipping these tools and implements continue, the respect and regard for the various crafts like carpentry, smithy, plumbing etc which use these is declining. In urban Indian homes, even minor [...]
Deranged (or arranged) marriage ?
Published by September 13th, 2009 in Culture, India, Society and Women. 2 CommentsNamrata feels that arranged marriages are not the way to go :
If having children,going to movies on weekends and having dinner together is all that is required then our country is an example nation. Unfortunately for many women even this is not a reality. They are trapped in marriages where all they are required to [...]
Those commercial breaks…
Published by September 12th, 2009 in Consumer, Culture, Media and Television. 0 CommentsAccording to the neo indian, there is no better way to stay in touch with India than by watching television ads.
1. Do your research before you buy gifts for folks in India
2. Smoking increases the likelihood of being picked up by girls
3. “Ending the pregnancy is better than abortion”
4. Feminists agree: Indian women need men [...]
Where’s the Indian people ?
Published by September 10th, 2009 in Culture, India and Society. 0 CommentsApu wonders why images of “white” people feature in websites directed towards an Indian audience :
I am reluctant to attribute it to a lingering worshipfulness of white skin. Ah, if the white man likes it, it must be good! Can it really be that? I hope not.
A reflection on the eternal India vs Bharat conundrum……
Are the men who celebrate Ganapati on the streets uncouth? Is there a system to civility?
Rich people dance at discos and other city spots that attract money. Such places are enclosed and its activities are not for the poor man. The people attending these places may not [...]
Digging up the past ….
Published by September 7th, 2009 in Culture, History, India and Women. 0 CommentsRukshana Nanji stumbled upon a female human skeleton as old as three thousand five hundred years, while digging a site in Navadatoli in Madhya Pradesh. Back in the early nineties this was a stunning discovery when historians believed the Harappen Culture to be existent around the Indus. A masters degree in Archeology and Ancient History [...]
Copying Unabashedly……
Published by September 4th, 2009 in Culture, Globalisation and India. 0 CommentsWhen it comes to aping Western Culture, there is no generation gap in India. Adults do it just as well as youth. The free lance _thinker says ” Ppl have always been talking about the generation of today and how it is aping the western culture… about how youngsters are following the western culture blindly… [...]
Unmana recently offered in-law advice for husbands. Now she has some for the wives :
Let him know if there’s any specific behaviour of theirs that hurts you. “I know Mamma means well, but when she asks me how often I make halwa and then looks at you like she’s sorry for you…”
That one had me nodding [...]
A more environment friendly Ganesh visarjan
Published by September 2nd, 2009 in Culture, Environment and Religion. 0 CommentsOver at the Punekar blog, Sagar says there are more ways of making the Ganesh utsav environment friendly than bans on immersion processions:
Moreover, I feel it is high time the government bans the production of Ganpati idols made from plaster of paris (PoP) preferred for its moulding characteristics. Not only is PoP non bio-degradable but [...]
Praveen writes about the Nehru Trophy Boat Race at Alappuzha in Kerala and also has some wonderful pictures of the event.
Amidst all this, can the crowd stand still? Never! They added all the flavour singing a variety of Vanchipattu. Some were seen watching it all from tree tops. There was one particularly awesome sight of [...]
On the cusp of change
Published by July 28th, 2009 in Culture, Media, Prejudice and Society. 1 CommentIndian society, everyone seems to proclaim, is on the cusp of change. So Bradhi talks about the recent “debates” over the show, “Sach ka saamna”:
I request our ‘progressive’ media doyens to stop issuing money in the show so as to teach the moral policing backward, idiotic voices. After all every one is for admitting [...]
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