The Universe is an infinitely hugely mindbogglingly unimaginably vastly holy shit unending big space of mostly nothing, where we as human beings are even more of nothing. And contrary to popular belief we do not matter at all in vast schemes of things as far as the Universe is concerned. To put the unfathomable endlessness…
Bangalore or Bengaluru was once known for many things, be its idyllic pace of life as a pensioners’ paradise, leafy avenues, rock music, informal culture, the “AC City” weather, and more recently for finding its place on the World map in the past decade as “India’s IT Capital”. But today, the city is mainly known…
“Nothing is what it seems!” – Walter Burke (Al Pacino), The Recruit In the mediocre-at-best spook movie ‘The Recruit’, CIA chief trainer Water Burke (Al Pacino) kept reminding his new recruits that in the CIA, “Nothing is what it seems!” In other words, everything is an eyewash, what you see and what you have been told is…
I am not a fan of flying. Not even a bit, not even for the smallest part. I am more of a “train guy”, of course, but this aversion to the air has got less to do to with the vehicle and more to do with the experience. In fact, I love planes (almost) as much…
It looks like most people aren’t aware of the fact that primary school tuition fees for one year of LKG-UKG (oh sorry, KG-1, KG-2 according to latest American standards) at an average “middle class” private school in any major Indian city, especially Bangalore, could easily come to one to two lakhs (bus, uniform, events, random…
Everyone needs a home. In ancient times, people built houses to live and last a lifetime. Then modernity happened and the house turned from primarily a place to live to an investment vehicle and a speculative instrument, turning home-buying turned into a high-stakes gamble. In big cities, space crunch dictated that homes be concrete boxes…
I don’t think anyone in India needs any introduction to the social menace called autorickshaws, especially so in Bangalore. They and their drivers are Bangalore’s universally most despised creatures, the hate spreading across class, income and social status, bridging even the great IT/non-IT divide. Much of the complaints against them are on what they charge (if they agree…
Director – Todd Phillips Cast – Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, Ed Helmes, Justin Bartha, Ken Jeong. Genre – Comedy Watch Because – Some funny moments, Entertaining second half Dont Watch Because – Tries too hard, Missing situational humor, Does not live up to expectations, Shoddy direction, editing. Rating – ♥♥ and a half out of 5 VERDICT –…
One of the channels of outrage in the aftermath of the brutal, inhuman violation, assault by six men and subsequent death of the 23-year old lady in Delhi was directed at an unexpected target: The Indian Punjabi rapper Honey Singh (Yo! Yo! Honey Singh). It started on the internet first and on the ground later…
[dropcap]It[/dropcap] was fourteen years ago when I first met them in a dingy movie theater in the town of Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu, India. They lived in a universe completely different from mine, lives not even remotely approaching mine. And that was why I was drawn to them. Brian O’Connor, Dominic “Dom” Toretto, Leticia “Letty” Ortiz, Mia…
On the clammy evening of the 3rd of June 1991, during one of the most tumultuous periods in the history of independent India, a cargo van broke down with a flat tyre on a busy highway leading to the Sahar International Airport in Bombay. The van contained a highly classified and secret cargo, the existence of which and the…
This election was probably the first one in my life where I had no idea what was going on in the Kerala political scene at all. I voted though.