Travelling Times

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.  Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. It's been a couple of months since my last post, and there have been a few additions to our life over this period. Our Figo and my new Nokia Lumia 720 grab the headlines. With every new phone (with a different OS), the first challenge is in identifying the relevant apps. And, that's where WeChat came into my life. In our busy day-to-day lives, we miss a lot of calls from friends and relatives. We haven't moved to the voice-mail era yet (surprisingly, with our ability to ape Western cultures for anything ranging from accent to toilet paper). And most of the times, the message goes across to the other person as feigning ignorance. WeChat gives us an option to leave a voice message, and som...

“For most of history, Anonymous was a woman.” ― Virginia Wolf 33% reservation. 1 day in the year. When God proposed the creation of women, probably this was the best deal he offered them. And it would be injustice to deny them adulation on their special day. So here’s a tribute to the special ones in my life. “…the designation of a wife in India, of the Hindu wife, is higher and grander than that of an Empress. She is called Devi” ― Virchand Raghavji Gandhi Marriage is a convenient compromise for men. We continue to expect our laundry cleaned and ironed, hot meals served at the table (apart from the occasional breakfast in bed) and the remote control resting in our palm. Probably this is my one opportunity to thank my lovely wife, Sneha for bearing with me on all of the above. We do have our occasional disagreements, but it helps our bond grow stronger as a husband and wife. Sneha has been an integral part of my life over the last 4 years, and a p...

“You have to know your enemy, Alfred. I'd never use one, but even I can appreciate the attraction of a gun. The heft. The sleekness. The cool steel. The precision. And the power. The power to change lives, history. The power of God.” – Bruce Wayne, The Dark Knight Restless in his grave. Samuel Colt. The world (for now) seems like a highly magnified version of Angry Birds. All the guns, explosives and bad piggies (or at least touting them as bad) are part of a well-scripted frame; and we have enough birds to sling and cause damage. My immature viewpoint may ruffle a few orthodox feathers who estimate the happenings of the world as the road to Armageddon (it is a new movie that stars Bruce Willis, who ends up fighting humans for survival). For once, the people of the world are united in their relentless stride towards murdering, molesting and pilfering their own kith and kin. I hope this post goes on-line before the dreaded 21.12.12, when the weather forecast will be “c...

Disclaimer: I don’t qualify as a critic, for movies or books (by any stretch of imagination) primarily for two reasons. 1. I do not take a neutral stand for my likes/ dislikes (rather than terming them good or bad), preferring the good old binary method. 2. I am not an expert on either books or movies. I watch movies for entertainment and read books to improve my language. Any views mentioned on this blog are totally personal and not meant to question or demean the work of the artist. “The rain fell alike upon the just and upon the unjust, and for nothing was there a why and a wherefore.” – The Rain I love watching movies. I watch movies across various genres, in various languages; English, Hindi, Malayalam and Tamil (specific to actors/directors and with sub-titles). In this post, I have decided to stick to my roots, and talk about Malayalam movies over the last couple of decades. In the early 90’s, most Malayalam movies were of primarily two categories; movi...

“FOUR LEGS GOOD, TWO LEGS BAD.”   The Matador moved gracefully, clothed in red. He watched the bull line-up the target and charge towards him. All of a sudden, a haze seemed to settle in. The bull started to shrink and its ominous horns seemed to dissolve into incisive canines. The Matador seemingly followed suit, transforming into a biker (on a red bike adorning a red helmet – just like me). As the mist cleared, realization hit me (rather bit me) as the bull (now a street dog) leapt at my ankle and sunk its teeth in my flesh (Readers, ignore the slight exaggeration). Like a streak of lightning, the pain registered in my head and a Wikipedia page seemed to open (in a slow browser) titled “Rabies.” Friends, fellow victims and dear “Animal activists.” Is this the way the world is supposed to end (as per the Mayan calendar)? Where Animals overthrow humans in the race to survival? No offence meant but I just finished reading George Orwell’s “Animal Farm,” and the ef...