Counter – Reaction

RGV has said he was at the Taj hotel by chance and the Maharashtra chief minister had not invited him. So tell me, do film personalities go visiting terror sites just a day after the attacks by chance? Or is it that poor RGV did not have a TV/radio at home and could not afford a newspaper since his Aag days, that he does not know what is happening in the world, around him.

Shivraj Patil claims he was at the hospital, and the terrorists had left by then. Since you are so keen on meeting them, Mr. Patil..please go to POK for a trip in solitude, and you can meet as many as you want.

And for the Mr. Patil who claimed the terror attack in Mumbai was a small incident, maybe he expected the entire city to be wiped out, and it was just a sincere expression of the relief he felt when that did not happen.

The political entourage which came to Mumbai even before the attacks were over…the people in the hospitals and the dead in the morgues want to see you again and spend a week with you. Will you come down please and give us your undivided attention, without ushering in the media with you?

All you mediamen, who sensationalized the stories and drove in more fear into the citizens minds in the name of freedom of press..some of the dead are calling out hoarsely for you. They miss your company in after life. If not for your mindless coverage, some of them would have still been alive today.

Fishermen who brought to the notice of the competent authorites, the security breach in license issue to the Gujarat boatman…next time, please use a loudspeaker and give a shout to the common man about such matters. Maybe they can do something about it. The authorities, naturally would not give a damn as there is no scope for earning a quick buck here.

Politicians who offer 1 Crore and more, to the slain…we, the living, want to take it from you to provide our forces with better training, and equipment to deal with such emergencies. And no, we don’t want you to take that huge responsibility again. You are worth only the rubber stamp on the electoral sheet, nothing beyond that.

My first impressions

Europe	U.S.A
You get veggie food everywhere in Italy	Struggle, search..if you can communicate what are the categories of food that fall under the vegetarian category, you are lucky
People may cast disapproving looks at brown Asians, but will not refuse you directions	People walk faster on sighting brown Asians
You can travel everywhere by cycle/train(metro)	You need a car or a helpful colleague/friend/family
Crowds everywhere	Crow sighting at best
Dirty restrooms	Amazingly clean restrooms
Tourist spots – can get cheated if you are not careful	Tourism department is very precise, correct and friendly
Options to be thrifty as well as splurge	Take it as it comes
Real history and architecture	Concocted or very recent history, the best of which is the JFK story
Museums are filled with age old wonders	Museums are filled with science fiction
Fresh air and lush greenery everywhere	Technically fresh and green
Can’t shop heavily for memorablia	Cheap and delightfully “foreign” stuff to take back home

P.S. These are personal thoughts limited to the very few places that I have visited in both the continents, and also limited to the short stint that I spent there. And as always, I reserve the right to change my opinion at a later date.

P.P.S. If you still did not notice, I re learned how to use the HTML table tags. Once upon a time, I did think this was going to be my bread and butter, Thank God for better fortunes !!

The HHH or simply, handy-household-hints

1.To keep your silverware sparkling, pressure cook a potato, and leave the tarnished silver soaked in the water remains of the cooker.

2.To prevent your in-house plants from dying, empty used tea leaves/lime peels/apple peels and seeds from dates/guavas in the pot.

3.To keep collars of cotton kurtas crisp, use a brush of toothpaste on it before washing.

4.To remove dal stains from the front of your shirt while at office, add a teaspoon of sugar mixed in 2 drops of water to it, and rub it vigorously with the toilet tissue.

5.To treat shoe bites, powder any paracetemol, mix with a few drops of vinegar. Dip cotton into this mixture and leave it wrapped around the ‘bite’ parts of the shoe overnight.

6.To keep hair from frizzing out, make a paste of cornflour, lemon rind and cumin seeds (1 tablespoon) and apply on hair every 2 days. Wash with plain cold water after 10 minutes.

7.To remove dark circles from under the eyes, make a paste of cooked basmati rice and egg whites, and apply it on the darkened area every night before going to bed. Rinse with rose water the next morning.

8.Make a glue of some maida, paste several sheets of magazine paper together, dry them in the sun, and you have attractive table mats to use.

9.Polish black/brown shoes with newspaper dipped in olive oil once a fortnight. This shines the leather, and keeps it healthy even when moist.

10.And now for the last…
If you try any of the above, and end up positively thrilled about the results, please spread the word and let the world benefit.

(Dedicated to all the mommas, maamis, mummys, paatis and naanis of the world who keep urging you to put edibles on your head for healthy hair, inedibles in your mouth for shiny skin and re use of discardables for that sparkling home)

Tribute to Venice, and the shoefiend

While writing my travelogues on Italy, I postponed writing about Venice….for lack of confidence on whether I can justly describe what I had seen and experienced. It was indeed, the highlight of my trip, the best of the 10 days that I spent in Italy. I might have exhausted my last Euro while here (the place is mighty expensive), but am glad that I did..for there is no place like the magical Venice.

And then I chanced upon this.

http://shoefiend.blogspot.com/2006/01/in-love-with-older-woman.html

The writer here describes it beautifully, and she (he?) seems to capture almost all that I felt whilst there.

Would I go there again? Definitely not!! Did that take you by surprise? Yes, I would not want to go there ever again, just to preserve the first glimpse I had of Venice. It is over 6 months now, but I still remain enchanted.

My take on plagiarism..

I hate having to edit plagiarized stuff for grammar and spelling.

Why is copying fashion called a trend, and not plagiarized clothes/looks?

Plagiarism Law : Carbon paper is the original offender; Copier and scanner machines are the sophisticated criminals.

Why copy cat…and not a copy dog or a copy cub…haven’t you seen little puppy dogs do exactly as you do?

Google promotes plagiarism, besides knowledge and ease of information sharing.

Referencing is the baptization for plagiarism.

If we act like our parents/siblings as we are often accused of, are we all plagiarized souls?

Inspiration is vodka, just as plagiarism is tequila.

My day begins

This is one of those days when I reached the office before the sweepers came in. I am ashamed. I am not equipped enough to do that job, yet I am here early. So I log in..it is quite a feeling when the swipe machine shows the time. And then there are puzzled faces all around..from the walls, the computers, the silent yet persistently ringing phones and the security guards. It is ominous. I vow to myself that I shall be early to bed early to rise, but shan’t come in early, I shan’t go late from office.

Then, as if on cue, there is a meowwwwwwwwwww….black cat with green eyes, disturbed from its slumber in the high security – no cell phones with cameras – no storage devices – body check every time you are in and out of even the loo, air conditioned to suit the Eskimos- office. I am phoonked.

No more early to office for me.

Ps: You really believed that I could be early to office?! Okay..I add this post under the fiction category.