Road to Hell

For a second it seemed like I was back on I 95. In the driver's seat, Dire Straits playing, zooming by just knowing where the road would curve left or right. Then, a sudden halt...buffaloes! Holding up traffic in, possibly, the busiest road in Hyderabad! OK, so we wait awhile, get around them and within a few seconds hit the next roadblock - new and improved potholes thanks to the measly rain we had a few weeks ago. A slalom run through them ends in speed bumps at the end of the road! Speed bumps when the top speed one can go is 20 kmph!

Yes, seat belts are a must in Hyderabad or else, a momentary lapse of reason may make you jump out of your running car.

Black or White

While watching a cookery show that had shrimps on the menu, my helper asked me what it was. I tried explaining the Tamil word for it...'Yera' i think. She remarked that it was usually black and then, without missing a beat went on to add that the shrimps on the show were white because they were in Europe!

The name is Rajinikanth????

I've read a lot of books. Some good, some average, many boring but none that I thought of as terrible. But there's always a first isn't there? What's sad is that this book is non-fiction; a biography... about the most famous South Indian actor (debatable, some would say) alive!
How can one go wrong with a biography? The star's rags-to-riches story, professional facts, photos, comments from peers should pretty much cover it all. Hah! I wish.

Chapters alternate about the star Rajini and Shivaji the struggling boy. Its almost like a movie...present and flashback except that it happens for every scene. The author's English is terrible. She constantly moves from one tense to the other seamlessly, leaving the reader confused. She has mis-spelled names of movies, actors and many other important facts. She has literally translated most of the words (i.e say it in Tamil and write it in English). Many of her assumptions are completely biased as she is a hardcore 'thalaivar' fan. Like the teacher that everyone has had at some point that said 'open the door, let the climate come in', someone somewhere has said 'he has two daughters, both are girls'. Never before have I seen this in print(and not in the bloopers section, mind you). Apparently spelling and grammar checks were used neither by the author nor the editors. To publish this book and charge a whopping Rs. 495 is a crime. I feel cheated (although I didn't pay full price for it).

If we shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, should we by it's title then?

Magician, artist, dare I say God? - Part 2

I wrote Part 1 September 2007. Unfortunately part 2 is a whole year later. A bad year for Federer by his standards; exit in 1 Grand Slam semi-final, runner up in the next 2 (although badly thrashed in one) and finally a winner at the last. Based on the last couple of years, number 15 will hopefully come about at Wimbledon. That's where Sampras beat the record as well. Federer respects tradition. He will do the same. I hope he's saving the best for it.