Article 15 - a mini-review

Last night, I watched Article 15 after a recommendation from a lady friend of mine who I respect and whose judgment I trust. In the two-plus hours that I spent alongside an almost 50:50 audience of men/women in a relatively packed Mumbai multiplex screen, I went through a psychological riot, shifting from anger/outrage, sadness, laughter, introspection, reflection, hope, and contentment. A few drops of tears broke through my resilience during a couple of scenes. At the end of the movie, I found myself searching for faces that mirror my feelings, and I wasn't disappointed.

Aspects of the dark underbelly of 2019 India that the movie covers--some of which include casteism, gang rapes, honor killings, caste and religion politics, media blackouts, fake news, gender inequality, underwage labor, child labor, socioeconomic divide, urban-rural divide, armchair activism, gun violence, social media outrage, bureaucracy, corruption--are issues that should occupy a larger space in our collective consciousness. I hope this wonderful movie sparks educated conversations on these topics, which is the most effective way changes will percolate to the grassroots of society.

Here’s a useful article on the movie. https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/gk-current-affairs/story/why-is-article-15-important-for-india-1557401-2019-06-28

A former Mumbai medical resident’s take on the suicide of a Mumbai medical resident

I’m a former medical resident from Mumbai. I am in a Whatsapp group with my peers from Medical College. As expected, there is an active conversation in the group about the suicide of the Dalit doctor in Mumbai, allegedly due to casteist slurs by senior residents. Along with that there is a relatively healthy conversation about religion, hindutva, NDA, the 2019 elections, Modi etc. I generally keep myself quiet in this because of several reasons. But I decided to break my silence and ended up posting this.
Considering that I did my post graduation from Mumbai, I guess I can throw some light on this. It's a bit of a rant, but I hope to address a few points.

Racism (regionalism) and ragging/discrimination go hand in hand in my hospital. In my case, casteism was not applicable because I was born to Brahmin parents. But I did get discriminated for being from the the South, being different, being a musician, etc. despite being not too bad at Hindi. The people who perpetrated  the coincidental happened to be, voila, upper caste Hindus.

This discrimination is more among the senior residents upward. The nurses, assistants, and staff were super nice to me. So I was able to pull through.

I had to isolate myself from orthopedics/surgery etc residents because these departments seemed to have more people with such tendencies. I thankfully got a resident from psychiatry (someone who thought like Sebind, ironically) as a room mate. That led me to me hanging out more among his friends. Eventually, I came out to them and they were super cool with that.

In other words, I was more accepted by residents from other departments who were generally broadminded.

Most of you don't know that that I have been under treatment for depression. You may remember that I was on the quieter side of things in my first three years in our college. I have had suicidal tendencies through my undergraduate, postgraduate, post-postgraduate lives.

I eventually got diagnosed and treated at the end of my postgraduate tenure. One of the reasons that I took a sabbatical was because of this discrimination/ragging aspect, which seeps through the hierarchy everywhere, but especially in North India in surgical fields. As someone said, for every publicized suicide, there may have been 10s not publicized, 100s of suicide attempts, and 1000s of victims who have somehow managed to pull through. Like me.

What about Mumbai itself? I get discriminated on a regular basis because I'm South Indian and because I'm dark. Restaurants, pubs, hotels, live events, what not.

The common denominator in all of this is this. Lack of "education", relative upper caste origin, religiousness, lack of evidence-based thinking, all leading up to herd mentality and lack of tolerance.

Guess what drives all of this? The current government. They may not commit or admit to atrocities, but they still don't clamp down on happenings. There is no open stance apart from empty platitudes. Who are they serving? The corporations. Who's benefiting? Upper caste more than lower castes. Who's feeling insecure? Any minority, let it be religion, caste, orientation, gender, etc.

Whatever truths/lies people want to tell themselves to put a coat of paint on what's going on, I will not believe it because I'm a minority in many counts, despite being born upper caste.

And the irony is that these trends are so evident in my own family/extended family, my partner's family, my ex-orthopedic peers, and some among us here.

Guess some of you may get a hint of why I (have preferred) prefer to distance myself from some of these. Basically, I'm trying to protect myself.

All I have to say is this - the world is going darker for the minorities, including the economic one. This is being driven by religion, which is one of the most potent forces that can be harnessed to bring and keep people to power. Such trends are cyclical (~20 years), but the extent of damage unleashed on the persecutees can take 100s of years to reverse.

Everybody else is doing it, so why can't we?

I guess most people of my age have heard the title catch phrase because of the debut album of the '90s band The Cranberries. What people don't realize is that this phrase is a catch phrase of India as a nation. Why else would everyone do things that are outright stupid and unproductive? For example:

• Why would people ride motor bikes on sidewalks, scaring the shit out of pedestrians, and feel no guilt?
• Why would people walk at a slower pass flinging their arms around without being aware of how they are being jerks by obstructing and impeding pedestrian traffic?
• Why would people out-honk each other at red lights?
• Why would people talk so loud in public transport setting so that everyone else is forced to listen to their dinner plans?
• Why do people spit out of cars in traffic-congested roads?
• Why do people push and shove each other despite realizing that it is not going to achieve what they think it would?

The only way to rationalize--yes, I'm ashamed to--is this: everyone thinks that it is okay to do all this because everybody else is doing it and; so they can and should as well. I believe such behavior starts in childhood. Why? Probably because of the lack of proper nurturing opportunities, the lack of infrastructure, poverty, the paucity of resources.

Is there a way out? Maybe in a couple of generations. When/if the present generation try to educate their offspring about what could be done differently?

Oh yes, for those who think that this happens everywhere around the world and not just in India, here's an analogy. Religious extremism happens everywhere in the world, but it is sort of more common in the Middle East. So...

My disenchantment with India

I wrote in my last blog post that my recent trip to the United States of America has changed my perspective about life. I have become a disenchanted Indian.

So apparently I have transformed into a stereotypical Indian who is disenchanted with life in India after visiting the US of A.

— Krishna Kumar V. (@krishna_kumar_v) May 27, 2015

What I mean by the that is that the way things are done in India, especially in Mumbai, don't particularly make sense. Unfortunately, these things universally involve people: people being uncooperative, people yelling at each other, people letting their kids to annoy other people, people not respective personal space, people talking louder than what's necessary.

Sure, when you aren't exposed to this year round, these will seem charming--they become a part of the India experience. That's what movies like Slumdog Millionaire and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel do to you. Like allergens, anything unacceptable can be tolerated at low doses of exposure.

My close friend Rich, who loves this limited-exposure to India pointed this out. He thinks that Indian New channels, with 5 tickers, 10 people shouting at each other seemingly always, and the assault of colors on our retinae, are able to sufficiently encapsulate this phenomenon. I agree with him.

So the trip hasn't changed my opinion about the reasons underlying this public immorality. I still think people behave they way they behave because they were forced because of other people behaving a certain way. A closed loop, you see. So, technically, you can't blame them. They do what they have learned in their life and they probably haven't exposed to anything different.

What has changed, however, is that, before the trip, I thought that I had to adjust to it and remain relatively unperturbed. You couldn't do much, you see. You need to expose yourself to it if you want to experience life and not live as a hermit.

Now I think it is different. I feel that I'm being unkind and inconsiderate to myself by consciously exposing myself to this and bring the quality of my life down. Yes, I know that I will probably have less of a social life if I follow the strategy. But what I will have left will be more worth the trouble.

But what am I doing to change it? I will communicate my resentment more regularly. Here, I just wrote about it. Yesterday, on my way bag from a weekend at J's home across the bay, I had a conversation where I made sure the people who misbehaved understood that I was talking about them. Maybe Indians still have a certain threshold for shame that I'm able to overcome.

Quality of Life and Friendships

They say travel experiences define you, change you, and give you a new perspective about your life. And I think they are right.

Thanks to my employers, I got the opportunity to be in America for two weeks. I represented my company at a scholarly conference in Philadelphia, which was sandwiched by visits to Washington DC area and New York City.

It was an incredible experience. Friends who were exposed to my constant updates on social media told me that I satisfied about 88% of the criteria of a stereotypical Indian touring the States. And that's not a good thing. :)

Photo: One gets really happy when one sees the best-tasting food on the planet! #patscheesesteaks... http://t.co/0jHjytdKTg

— Krishna Kumar V. (@krishna_kumar_v) May 16, 2015

What they did not infer, however, is the dramatic shift in perspective that I have of life. Living in metropolitan India, especially Mumbai, tends to numb you. Especially if you are--I hate to use this word--"cultured." You are suffocated for time, space, and noise, among other things.

I think I am at a stage in my life when a quieter, less-stressful life may be a good thing. My psychological state make this wish more or less compulsory if I need to have an acceptable quality of life.

This trip also made me understand that friendships, even those I maintain online, are my most prized possessions. After all, friends seem to care about me like no one else ever has.

Quite simply, we should all spend more time with friends, share experiences, learn from each other, and create moments.

(PS: With this post, I hope I haven't climbed up on the criteria list for the Indian stereotype.)

“Porngate, my foot”

That’s an excerpt of what Pritish Nandy wrote about the two Karnataka cabinet ministers who were caught watching a pornographic clip on a mobile phone inside the assembly.

“@PritishNandy: Porngate, my foot. its Yawngate. ND Tewari did better. At least the women were real.”

All I have to say is this. India, watching pornography is okay. Ministers watching pornography is okay. Watching pornography at the workplace is probably wrong, but shouldn’t amount up to resignation if someone is caught. They are human beings too and can get distracted and hence they should be warned.

However, carrying mobile phones in the assembly – which is what the ministers did - is against the rules, and should be condemned. You voted for people who are just like you, who are vulnerable to the physiological demands of relaxation and entertainment, and of course sexual urges.

Here are two read-worthy articles on this issue that I came across this morning. The first one is an article written by my friend and journalist Vikram Doctor from Economic Times. The other one is a blog post that I was referred to on Twitter.

Pakistan, oh Pakistan

Most sane Indians don’t hate Pakistan. And vice versa. They like each other and the others’ nations. This is especially true in social media.

I have some Twitter friends from Pakistan who seem to be so different from the stereotypical image being portrayed on various platforms about Pakistan and it’s citizens. They, in turn, accept those from India.

I have always believed that if a group of Pakistanis and Indians were locked together in a room, they will come to terms with each other just like any other random samples of population would.

The Pakistani authorities, however, seem to be trying tarnish their own country’s image. For example, the recent news about a new telecom regulation banning ‘offensive’ words and phrases in SMS messages.

Although, I have read somewhere that the rule is not going to be implemented, the stereotypes will in be further strengthened.

Those who are sane, however, will still continue to ridicule such ‘crazy’ rules hampering freedom of speech/expression.

Indians are ‘donkeys’

!ncredible India. !ncredible media. !ncredible Indians. !ncredibly humorless. !ncredibly silly. !ncredibly shallow.

Nasser Hussain used the term ‘donkeys’ to refer to a few Indian cricketers – it’s a cricketing slang used in England to refer to cricketers who are tardy on the field.

The Indian media and some of the former greats of the game have gone overboard and have criticized Nasser Hussain for insulting Indians. Virat Kohli was offended too

This is just bullshit. Even if Nasser meant it in the way Indians mean when they call each other ‘donkeys’, you should take in the spirit and not whine.

Nasser, sure didn’t mean that. But the way some of us overreacted to this, I’m sure we ended up letting the term imply the meaning that we thought it meant.

Apple Store in India? And a date!

So, I posted a message on my FaceBook wondering why Apple never launched an Apple Store in Mumbai. I got a few responses saying that there are indeed Apple Stores in Mumbai. I had made it clear to them that I was not talking to them about premium sellers – I have one right next to my apartment. I’m talking about actual Apple Stores. Like they have in the US, where prices are not exorbitant.

Some of my friends convinced me that there are indeed Apple stores in Mumbai. I was excited. I wanted to check them out, especially since I was considering buying a laptop before I headed out for my trip to Lucknow in December.

So, I asked my honey from the office, my wonderful colleague SN from office, to come out with my to check the ‘Apple Store’ at Palladium mall (Phoenix, Lower Parel) and have a dinner afterward.

We went. We found out that it was not an Apple Store after all – it was an ‘iStore’, a premium reseller chain operated by Reliance. I even tried finding the reason why. Apparently, Apple can’t yet sell its products in India without tying up with third party companies. And with the taxes etc, the prices go up over the roof. So, there is indeed no Apple Store in India.

At the store, however, I was charmed by MacBook Airs, MacBook Pros, iPads, iMacs and what not. I think I’m becoming a sucker for Apple stuff. Incredible turnaround isn’t it, considering that I wrote this barely a week back. Now I want to buy an Apple laptop and an iPad soon. Hmmm…

After that, we had lovely tenderloin/bacon cheeseburgers with beer and coffee (me and SM, respectively). Over tons of jokes. A hell load of laughter. I SO love her!

At the back of my mind, I was thinking about getting back in touch with May. I told SN about the current situation with her. She inspired me to do something about it by messaging her. I did. We have agreed to meet in a couple of weeks’ time.

DNA article

A post from my blog got published in today’s DNA. I’m happy and proud. Here’s the link to the original post.

It's not over yet

Yesterday, the Indian ODI team achieved what 1.2 billion people desperately wanted them to. They won the World Cup of Cricket in 2011. The best part is that, they did that without much help from their senior statesmen, the same people who make the Indian team's balance awry. Yes, I'm referring to Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag.

Honestly, I didn't have a lot of faith in the present Indian ODI team (which is otherwise termed as Men in Blue) because of several reasons that I have stated in an earlier blog post.

Fittingly, India's younger generation of cricketers, led by the magnificent MS Dhoni, played superbly (at least during the chase) to win us the World Cup. Now that they have achieved this remarkable feat, the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) should invest in youth in the two shorter versions of the game. That is the only way that Team India can remain competitive to the rest of the top-brass international teams.

Bring us more of the likes of Virat Kohli, R. Ashwin etc, please.

Anti-Pakistani sentiment

Yesterday was the big India-Pakistan semi-final. I was working full day and had a rehearsal at my friend’s place in the evening. So I decided to watch the second half of the Pakistan innings there. Out of the six people out there, three were very biased anti-Pakistani people. They would swear at each move made by a Pakistani player and despite having cricket-oriented brains, would comment negatively on everything. Apparently, they were totally enjoying this.

For me, however, such behavior takes the fun totally out of watching an interesting, high-octane match. Even I wanted India to win, but I don’t hate the Pakistanis. I love them like everyone else. Later, when I tweeted about it, I got a response from a Pakistani tweeter that he felt the same when he hangs out with people with a strong anti-India sentiment. Soon, more users were complaining about people more interested in swearing at Pakistan than celebrating the Indian victory. Such behavior should be condemned and discouraged.

On the positive note, I was encouraged by Shahid Afridi's responses in the post-match ceremony. He said he was proud of his team's effort and was happy for the support that he got in India. Here's a snippet.



Later on, when he reached Pakistan, he gave another brilliant reply to some of the anti-India questions he was asked.



I have full respect for Shahid Afridi and the way he reacted. More Indians should be acting like him and accept Pakistan, its sport, culture, people with smiles and respect.

ODIs are back

The Quarter Finals of the World Cup cricket are on. After the horrible mismatch in the first Quarter Final between Pakistan and West Indies, the India vs. Australia match and the New Zealand vs. South Africa matches have proved something that even I had stopped believing - that the good old ODI had life left in its legs.

Four years ago, when India won the first T20 World Cup, I had given up hope on the ODI. Every time I tried watching an ODI, I would feel that each innings was at least 20 overs too long. But this World Cup has proven me and many others wrong. I think there are two reasons why this World Cup has rejuvenated the ODI.

- The England cricket team, which consistently provided close finishes.
- The not-so-batting-friendly pitches, which have brought the gap between the bat and the ball down, albeit slightly.

I hope the ICC goes and makes things better by arranging for longer bilateral series and scrapping the Champion's Trophy.

Their last World Cup, I hope

I most of my Sunday watching the final match of the World Cup group stage between India and West Indies. I was happy to note that Sehwag and Nehra were being replaced by Raina and Ashwin. A few might wonder why I was happy why Rain's inclusion at the absence of Sehwag would make me happy. It's simple. I think the present Indian World Cup team is too batting heavy, bowling light, and fielding feather weight.

I personally believe that the Indian team which played ODIs against the Kiwis, Aussies, and South Africans in the last few months before the World Cup (which excluded Tendulkar, Sehwag, Gambhir and a few other big names) was a much more balanced side. Indian batting, even without the top three 'big guns' is good enough to put up a good total on the board (or for chasing down one).

But when it comes to bowling/fielding, it's much better to have the Rainas, Ashwins, Vijais, Rohit Sharmas around. That way you would save an extra 15 or 20 runs - the same amount of runs that a Sehwag or Tendulkar might bring you extra that he had played. But because the young legs create more pressure in the field, the bowling would become more capable and probably provide us with more wickets than otherwise. This gives a clear advantage to a younger side.

Back to the match - anyway, despite Sehwag's absence, India did well with the bat. If only the fielding was better, we would have felt more assured after our relatively easy win of the Windies. This victory, despite it's comparatively large margin (80 runs), would not give the Indian team some reliability when it takes on the Aussies at Motera. This, despite the Aussies not performing at their best.

Come what may, even if India goes on to win this World Cup, I hope this is the last World Cup in which India will have to field such a lethargic team. I hope most of these big guns retire from the shorter formats of the game so that we can have a young energetic fielding unit to back our bowling. Oh, I forgot about some more genuine allrounders. When are India going to start finding them?

Sports Entertainment

This is a wonderful time for a spectator-sport admirer. The World Cup is going great guns with the English cricket team doing every bit to make life more exciting. The Irish are show grit outside the pubs, the Bangladeshi Tigers have surprised a few with their spunk, and teams like Pakistan, India, and West Indies are showing tremendous inconsistency to even things up.

It's not just the cricket which is grabbing the attention. WWE is pulling out all their trump cards out. The Rock, Triple H, Stone Cold Steve Austin, - all legends, pulled out from from hibernation and thrown into programmed television. Today, I saw the RAW episode which featured the return of Stone Cold. And what at return it was! Honestly, I fell in love with him again!



It's not just WWE. Even TNA is trying to get their act together by bringing icons like Sting back and holding their title. Alas, Jeff Hardy fucked up again, falling prey to substance abuse (yet again!), bringing the whole industry down when it was really on the way up. I hope TNA finds its way out of this slight mess that Hardy has pulled them into and competes head on with WWE.

Whatever, it's compelling viewing for the sports entertainment lover! And guess what, IPL is just around the corner! Long live sports of television!

Blog censorship?

I was involved in a FaceBook status message thread about the Chinese Government imposing sanctions on journalists, when my friend linked me up to this article on Economic Times.

Bloggers call content regulation a gag on freedom

BANGALORE: A proposed government move to regulate content on blogs has ignited a firestorm of protest from the blogging community which is accusing the government of restricting free speech and acting like the guardians of a police state.

At the heart of the issue is the Indian IT Act which was amended in 2008 to incorporate the much-needed changes to clarify the legal position of intermediaries or those who provide web-hosting services, internet service providers and online auction sites.

However, the term intermediaries, for some reason, was also broadened to include blogs, though they neither provide the same kind of services like the ISPs nor have large-scale commercial interests. The law stated that the government should clarify the rules under which the intermediaries should function and the list of prohibitions applicable to them.

The list was published sometime last month and comments were invited from members of the public, bloggers and other members of the intermediaries group. 'Intermediaries' include web hosting providers which would include companies like Amazon , cyber-cafes, payment sites like Paypal , online auction sites, internet service providers like BSNL , Airtel etc.

Blogs also fall in this category as networked service providers. The due diligence specifies that the intermediaries should not display, upload, modify or publish any information that is 'harmful', 'threatening', 'abusive', 'harassing', 'blasphemous', 'objectionable', 'defamatory', 'vulgar', 'obscene', 'pornographic', 'paedophilic', 'libellous', 'invasive of another's privacy', 'hateful', 'disparaging', 'racially , ethnically or otherwise objectionable, 'relating to money laundering or gambling'.

"It's a fundamentally flawed exercise. One has to keep in mind the nuanced role of bloggers. The government needs to understand the power of the blogging community," said Pavan Duggal , senior advocate, Supreme Court and cyber law expert. "The blogosphere has to align themselves to the changes in the norm," he said. "But since the term 'intermediaries' is vaguely and loosely used, the bloggers are right when they express agitation," he added.

A senior government official defended the government's response. "We are in the process of finalising it. We welcome positive feedback and constructive criticism. We might have made a mistake in understanding the public aspect. The public could have a different view point," said a senior government official.

Bloggers fear that the government will use these omnibus terms to charge the writers with almost anything. On Twitter , online users expressed their anger and frustration in equal measure.

"We cannot let the government to play the judge, jury and the executioner in this. Our entire audience is Indian. If our site is blocked, we are gone. I am a small player, everything we have built goes away in one shot," said Nikhil Pahwa, founder and editor of Medianama, a digital business news site.

The penalty under this law are of two kinds. Under the civil penalty, the intermediary could be sued for damage by compensation up to Rs 5 crore per contravention. The criminal penalty is imprisonment for three years to life imprisonment for the top management of the intermediary if it is a company. There are no exceptions to the due diligence.

I'm furious. Since when has India started aping China? And considering what I posted yesterday, will my blog be banned?

Dostana's negative influence

Yesterday, my colleague MVP and I, both doctors and out gay persons, were doing some work together at the office. As usual, we were teasing and and taunting our colleagues. Then, MVP answered a call during which he talked about meeting 'someone' at Malad station at 7.15 pm. I started pulling his leg by announcing to my other colleagues that MVP was going out on a date tonight and how we should all feel happy for him. We all joined in and started teasing him.

As soon as he hung up, he turned around and told another female colleague of ours 'You are just jealous because you are going to meet your mother-in-law'! Of course, the female colleague denied it saying that she wasn't going to meet her mother-in-law that evening. Apparently, she had other plans. Soon she was on her way out for the day and continuing with our playful banter, we both conveyed our regards to her mother-in-law. She said 'Sure, I'll tell her that two of my gay colleagues said hi to her!'

After she left, MVP told the rest of the colleagues about the story of my colleague's mother-in-law and her concept of homosexuality. Apparently, she had seen the movie 'Dostana', which had led her to believe that homosexuality was just a pretense to take advantage of innocent girls and to grab their attention. We all had a hearty laugh at the end of it all.

However, it struck me as amazing how such Bollywood slapstick comedies featuring stereotypical gay characters can negatively influence people and lead them to having delusions about homosexuality. This is one of the many reasons why gay movies that portray gay/lesbians/transgenders in positive roles should be made in Bollywood. Bollywood's impact is so huge that this is a must to help change the mindset of urban, middle-class India.

So Bollywood, can you please insill some serious sense into these Gujju mother-in-laws please?

Penning a queer-themed book

R. Raj Rao's latest book titled "Hostel Room 131" is a queer-themed book about a love affair between two boys (or young men as some people like to refer to them as) that occurs in a hostel in Pune in the winter of 1978. I came to know about it when I was invited for it's official launch at the Crossword bookstore in Bandra Linking Road and a book reading session at Aazad Bazaar, Mumbai's first queer-themed shop. The book launch is being chaired by Onir, the director of "My Brother Nikhil (Wikipedia)," the famous queer-themed Bollywood movie.


I didn't pay much attention -- either to the book or it's reading -- until I came stumbled on this review of the book posted at ibnlive.com. I thought the title of the article captured it all:"Hostel Room 131: the delight is in the detail." The graphic nature of the sexual content the book is further illustrated in the last couple of lines from the review:

"R. Raj Rao has a way with characters, and story telling getting it down to the delicious details. Even if means two male lovers basking in each other’s body fluids."

What sprang immediately in my mind was a very similar tale of a couple of young male lovers -- at story that shuttled between Missouri and New Delhi many decades back. I had heard it as an anecdote from one of the two (lovers) -- a recent acquaintance acquired after a near-one-night-stand. It was such a moving tale of lust, love, romance, and heart-break and was set in the background of the hostel of a strict Catholic college in the early '70s India. The "tenderloins" of the story was marinated by the spice of the necessity to remain under cover, were ravaged by the burden of forced straight marriage (on my acquaintance's lover's side), which eventually led to the couple's separation.

I sent my acquaintance an SMS asking him if he had heard about the book. He replied saying that he had seen the book at a local Crossword bookstore, had had not paid attention to it because he didn't think too highly of the author. I asked him whether he knew of the background of the book, and he replied saying that he didn't have a clue. I gave him a hint that the book was very similar to his past love affair. To this, I haven't received a reply yet.

I wonder -- I really do, having heard so many incredible tales of queer love affairs in the past from my fuck-buddies and acquaintances -- what will befall author like Rao if my friends sat down to write books based on their glorious pasts? I'm sure these books would be very interesting and non-cichéd. So would, perhaps, a book about my relationship with Vinokur or my early adulthood in Kerala be -- if I were to put it down that is. And maybe I should.

(Picture courtesy: Penguinbooksindia.com)

One further step forward

This must have caught at least half of Mumbai by surprise. A friend of mine, who wasn't even in Mumbai, made it a point to remind me about its significance. Yes. An article about gay marriage. Gay marriage in India. On the front page. On TOI. On a Sunday.

Talk about India progressing. Read the article here.

(Courtesy Times of India.com)

Microcosm of India

At work yesterday evening, I was informed that I had a new assignment with a close deadline in hours. I had to write something creative on India in a weekly newsletter that our company sends to our clients. It was weird. To work on a new piece at such a short notice. Since I had already been blogging about BEST buses, it was appropriate of me to write about our beloved trains. This is what I came up with.

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