Mumbai Coffee House

This is a short post which I know is my third post on Slumdog Millionaire . Still I thought I must put my two bits. And no, I don't make any money blogging yet, which means no commissions from Danny Boyle. I just chanced upon an interview of Amir Khan where he said that Slumdog left him cold . One key reason for this was that he apparently wasn't used to seeing Indians speak English in films...especially slum kids or the cop. I obviously won't even be foolish enough to question Aamir Khan's understanding of cinema. He positions himself as one of our cerebral stars after all. But I don't buy this argument for not liking the film. The film was not a Hindi film! Do all films need to be in the language of the story/ context? I am sure a million examples can be cited to the contrary. And I am not talking of Tom Alter and Bob Christo . By that logic, Devdas , a Bengali book shouldn't be made in Hindi especially with the odd atrocious Bengali in the Bhansali versi...

I last wrote about my angst and alienation (I studied sociology in college) with the socio legal system. This was with specific reference to the housing society which wasn't allowing us to rent out our place. That's when we decided to unleash our trump card - my in laws . Let me clarify before you get the wrong impression. They are not WMDs or something. Nor do they belong to the underground (don't get fooled by my pa in law's shaven head). But they, especially my mom in law, are every tenacious in getting things done. They don't give up that easily. Their track record gave me a lot of confidence. The first time I saw my Mom in Law action was with a couple of insurance policies that were misselled to Kainaz and me. This was from one of the financial groups in India in whose hands we have often suffered. Their (the group's) service and efficiency levels are quite abominable. We have lost interest because we had started a fixed deposit with them but the cretin...

We studied George Bernard Shaw's 'Pygmalion' in school. I remember a character, Mr Dolittle (not sure of the spelling), who made a compelling argument against what he called middle class morality . The crux was that the rich can do whatever they want, the poor are desperate and therefore have no standards to match up to. It is the middle class who get screwed (I am paraphrasing heavily here) because they have to live up to certain norms of morality without the means to do so. Closer home was this serial called ' Wagle ki duniya ' which used to come on telly in the eighties . This was about a middle aged, middle class man, Mr Wagle , and his struggle for existence. There was an episode where he had to give a bribe to a government official. Nothing new about that. But the twist was that straight laced Mr Wagle had no idea about how to give a bribe! I remember our then school principal, Mrs Kapper , gave that as an example of how all of us should be good, honest,...

The news of the Slumdog wins began trickling in as I got ready to leave for work on Monday. My heart did Danny Boyle like scissor jumps when I heard that Rahman and Pookuttyhad won. The Indian media covered the Oscars through the day and, as expected, TV ratings went through the roof. Of course, for every Jai Ho, there seem to be a hundred doubts, accusations and cribs. I felt some of these were out of place and uncalled . So I thought that I will put down some of the complaints and put in my two bits: "Would it have got the same recognition if an Indian made the film?" No, it wouldn't because the Oscars are awards for American/ English cinema. Our cinema is not American. Barring Karan Johar perhaps. "This is not Rahman's best work and he has done better?" Same logic. He hasn't composed for American/ British so was not eligible for his 'better' pieces. And what's wrong if he didn't win it for his best performance. The fact that he...

I am about to leave for home. And am dreading this. The traffic in the evening has been insane of late. The struggle to cover each square feet is epic. It takes me more than an hour to cover a meagre ten kilometers or so. And this is a luxury at Mumbai where people cover much longer distances to come to work. My chauffeur has just left me. I have terrible luck with drivers in any case. And yes in Sumdog's India we do get help like maids and drivers. I have left myself to the mercy of cabbies now because I don't even want to think of driving back myself. It needs a much stronger man than me. Even marriage hasn't prepared me for the infinite patience required for this. There are some common causes for traffic in Mumbai : religious - the Wednesday Mass at Mahim , the Ganpathi visarjans , the Eid fairs, Mount Mary fairs... man's love for God touches us in many ways perpetual digging - subways, flyovers, metros, monorails...good intentions, thirty years too late. Sheer ...

I can't get over the 'pink chaddi protest' on Facebook . In the unlikely even that you haven't heard about it then it is a protest movement where women are sending pink panties on Valentines to the Mr Muthalik and his band of forty brave men who beat up 4 women in a pub for....well for being in a pub. Who said we don't have a sense of humour? Mr M won't know what hit him. I hope some people are considerate enough to send him thongs. He and his leather pant boys can use them as sling shots. I wonder whether road side shops post 14 th February will see a flurry of red panties. After all that's what happens to clothes one gives for flood relief and other government run relief camps. Just one question to the folks who organised this. Why pink chaddis ? I thought red was the colour of Valentines. At least that's what the window display at the lingerie shops at Hill Road, Bandra seem to be screaming out. I saw a few vox pop comments on the pink chaddi ...

I have always given a lot of importance to my barber. The reason's simple. I don't have too much hair. Folks used to point out how thin ( patla ) it was right from my college days. I would try to avoid this by standing tall but there would be vulnerable moments when I would be sitting somewhere only to hear some girl squeal, "eeks you are going to become bald soon" . I have tried various places to cut my hair. From the basic salons of Kolkata to the basic ones near Bandra station and the legendary Air Cool at Churchgate , Mumbai . As the years progressed there was less hair to play around with and there was slightly more money in hand. So I have tried a couple of trendier places here in the hope of getting a 'different look'. With barely visible results. Still I give a lot of thought to where to cut my hair. I also remember my father once explaining to me that the original surgeons in England were barbers. He said that this was the reason why surgeons should...