• Halo Dilli

    No, I’m not shifting to Delhi.

    Lara Dutta is not an actress I’m a fan of, though I’ve not been able to fathom why. And this was long before she became part of Colgate’s Namak Harem (after Koel Puri and before Sonakshi Sinha), so that, though enough, can’t be the reason. However, Vinay Pathak is an actor I like, especially in roles in which he is a silent sufferer. (remember Dasvidaniya)

    Things thus balanced out, I decided to watch Chalo Dilli. Vinay’s Manu Gupta is awesome as ever, and Lara Dutta actually surprised me with a decent performance, and the ‘bhaisaab‘ and ‘behenji‘ shared an excellent chemistry throughout the road trip. Yana Gupta has always received an excellent chemistry from my side and that continued with her rendition of ‘Laila o Laila’. Since this isn’t a movie review, I’ll stop at that, and let you read a legit review by my favourite reviewer. Not a movie I’d fancy at a multiplex, but easily one that I’d buy a DVD of.

    Somewhere during the movie, probably the scene where Lara is surprised by the joy of seeing a sunrise, I had an epiphany of sorts – that I might have a better shot at joy if I didn’t pre-decide what could give me happiness. The templates that I form – movies, shopping, vacations, reading etc probably make me shrug off opportunities when they present themselves. In fact, I probably go out of my way to ignore them and prevent them from arising.

    It also made me think of the flip side – unhappiness/sorrow. Would I be better off if I decided what are the things that would really make me sad, instead of being upset over every minor derailment of plans? The ideal is to be able to treat happiness and sadness with the same calmness and even further, detachment, but until the time I get there, this is probably a good measure.

    until next time, chalo comment, don’t dilly dally 😉

  • The Elephant and the Maruti: Stories

    Radhika Jha

    Radhika Jha is perhaps one of the most unique authors I’ve ever read, even if I had to judge only from this book. There is a vividness in the prose that I’ve rarely experienced before. The book consists of 6 stories. ‘The Wedding’ gives us a peek into Delhi’s high society, as portrayed by a wedding that stops just short of bizarre. This would be my least favourite. ‘Hope’ uses two characters – the narrator, who represents a typical middle class migrant to the big city (Delhi) and Shibu Mondal, a roadside beggar with a cruel past, and their experiences, to describe facets of the city’s relationship with its inhabitants.

    3 characters and their unique relationships with ‘Beauty’. This one is set in Bangalore and features Koshy’s. ‘The Elephant and the Maruti’, is a chain of events set in motion after an elephant steps on a Maruti in a busy Delhi traffic junction. The story takes us through a cross section of social layers, and seems a hat tip the ‘circle of life’ as well as the ‘butterfly effect’. ‘Sleepers’ is set in the remote village of Mangladi, and the narrator’s experience with the role of blind faith and religion in individual lives and the community. ‘The Cook’ is the story of a chef whose family realises that he has lost his skills. The chef feels that his family is plotting against him. What follows is a maze of betrayal and counters, which ends in a neat twist.

    The stories are all a mix of vivid explanations and layered mysteries, often leaving a lot to the reader to imagine, and fill. Worth a read.

  • Food for Soul week

    The Lovedale Foundation sent me a mail about an initiative called Food for Soul Week, which they’re organising in association with several restaurants across Bangalore (list below) as part of the Joy of Giving week, from the 2nd – 8th October. Details from their Facebook Page –

    The objective of this event is to create awareness and raise funds for Lovedale Foundation, an NGO which provides holistic education to under-privileged children from granite quarries in suburban Bangalore. In this initiative, all the participating restaurants are reserving a table ‘Food for Soul Table’ for Lovedale Foundation. Proceeds from that table will be donated by the restaurant towards supporting Lovedale Foundation. The funds raised through this event will be used to procure a school bus for the children of Lovedale Foundation. 

    When you are thinking about where to lunch or dine during this week (2nd-8th October), think about the children who will benefit from your decision. Head straight to one of the participating restaurants and do not forget to ask for the special ‘Food for Soul’ table.

    Enjoy a sumptuous meal and experience the little joys of life, the ‘Joy of Giving’!

    List of participating restaurants and hotels: 
    • Fava (UB City – 22117444) 
    • Mocha (Lavelle Road – 42110094/95) 
    • Mocha (Koramangala – 41570437)
    • Mast Kalandar (all 25 outlets across Bangalore) 
    • The Biere Club (42124383/84/86)
    • Opus (23442580)
    • The Gateway Hotel, Residency Road (66604545)

    Do spread the word and if possible, take part.

  • Update: Autumn-Winter 2011

    The last few weeks have kept me busy, thanks to a career crossroad. I had a few options, each of which presented its own share of pros and cons. At a larger level, there was a dilemma on whether to stay as a consultant or get back to a job. This tussle is something I’d like to document in depth, so that’s a story for later.

    It was made even more difficult because the major consultancy option was with an organisation whose work I respect and whose domain is a personal interest area. I also had a couple of ‘smaller’ consultancy options, which offered work in interesting domains, in addition to my regular Bangalore Mirror columns. There was also a job option which would allow me to work with a couple of people whom I’d gotten to know through Twitter, and whom I like and admire for their perspectives.

    After much consideration and with a little help from invaluable friends over DMs and chats, the update on the LinkedIn profile now reads ‘Head -Social’ at Myntra. In addition to various personal priorities, I chose to go with this opportunity because it gave me the maximum scope to implement the concepts I frequently write about on the blog. The organisation is at that rapid growth stage where I can work towards making ‘social’ inherent in processes across domains. In addition to the ‘social’ piece, I’ll also be working on a couple of other domains.

    So, in addition to the regular kind of posts here, I’ll hope to share the experiences of creating a ‘social’ strategy and implementing it on the client side. The mandate is to embed social in fashion, not be social after a fashion, and so, I think we’re in for a lot of fun. 🙂

    until next time, job 2.011

  • Character’s Objective

    There are some movies I watch multiple times – whenever they show up on TV. One of them happens to be the 2010 version of The Karate Kid, featuring Jackie Chan (as Mr.Han) and Jaden Smith ( as Dre Parker). And the fact that one of my favourite scenes is the ‘snake woman’ is only a coincidence, and nothing to do with my alleged (by Cyn) affection for snake scenes in movies. 😀 Actually the part that interests me is the conversation after. (do not quote  this line out of context)

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inZWX5ipBZU&feature=related

    Dre: “She was doing the Cobra thing.   She was like…(makes movements)… copying the snake. And it was like…  right here, and she was like…”
    Han: “You did not watch closely enough, Xiao Dre… It was the snake that was copying the woman.”
    Dre: “What? I don’t get it.”
    Han: “Look.” (points at pool of drinking water) What do you see?”
    Dre:“Me, well my reflection.”
    Han:“Yes. (whirls water). Now, what do you see?”
    Dre:“It’s blurry.”
    Han:“Yes. That woman was like still water. Quiet and calm. In here (puts hand on the head) and in here (puts hand on the heart) .
    Dre: “So, the snake reflects her action like still water. Like a mirror?”
    Han: “Yes.”
    Dre: “So, she controlled the snake by doing nothing?”
    Han: “Being still and doing nothing…  are two very different things.

    (via)

    The conversation interests me because the snake’s behaviour is typically the way I react to events and people that life throws at me. The aspiration is to have the clear and calm mind that will allow me to change the relationship equation. It’s an extremely difficult task, thanks to stimuli received from all around, especially social platforms. The real time knee jerk reactions characteristic of ‘social media’ also start influencing the way I make decisions even when they are not involved.

    It’ would probably be easy if I just closed myself to these stimuli, but that’s not really practical, or the best way. The better, and more difficult way, is to be there, and yet, not allow it to affect what I am and do. As John Wooden said, “Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.” That’s something I am trying not to forget, even as I try to make the character as objective as possible. It’s ironic that the platforms which started out (for me) as places to express myself are now trying to ‘force’ me to conform, to become part of cliques, or maybe that’s just the way it’s supposed to work when networks become media.

    until next time, character limits 🙂