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Minor Annoyances – On Bargains and Cheap Thrills

I possibly am guilty of what I am going to moan about.
You know how when you compliment someone on their shoes/ shirt/ earrings/ table lamp, and the other person jumps and tells you, “Oooh – I got it for 3 pounds/ 40 rupees/ 4 dollars”, or some other such mindnumbingly small figure, do they realize [...]

A song from Dev D

I think Dev D is possibly one of the most engaging films I’ve seen this year. For one thing, it shows you that the whole idea of Devdas is just a skeleton. You can fatten it up any way you like. But this film had me near tears a few times, and dazzled at the [...]

Poem: Like on a swing

This is how we must love,
like a child on a swing.
Tethered to nothing,
but the constant rhythm
of movement. To and fro.
We meet like this,
every once in a while.
A sandpit to save us.
Even if should fall.
Which we will. Ultimately.

To strangers

I survive the day thanks to the random acts of kindness of absolute strangers.
Like when I run into the station, and I know that if I miss that train, I am going to miss a meeting. And a young man, his head throbbing with the music from his iPod, waves his hand and let [...]

Trains and the landscape

What an insignificant photograph. The emptiness of the landscape swishing by as you stand near the door of the coach of the train.
This is what I remember. The annoying families constantly littering peanut shells on the floor. A young man leching and me running to the safety of the coach door. The dangling, noisy [...]

Hotel Kerala-Fonia

I can’t tell you how happy I am. I just found Hotel Kerala-Fonia thanks to Praveen. As some of you know I can get quite enamoured by the fabulous Mallu accent singing parodies of all kinds. Am so thrilled. So so so thrilled.

Right click and download for the mp3.
And such fabulous lyrics. Some brilliant [...]

A Raatafarian

So two young girls on the train back to London chat with everyone. And somewhere this gentleman comes along and sits.
The girl insists that his hair isn’t really like that and commands him to take his hat off. He refuses.
They place a bet for ten pounds and he tells her to give me the money [...]