Bla Bla

After so may times crossing by this city in last 2-3 years; about a month back I settled here with my new job! A new job.. yes! I have what I promised to find for me when I left Infosys. I have a job I like! In June when I came to Bangalore in search of work, it was more of a retreat away from home in search of the job I would like. And it is so satisfying today to say that today as an employed person (may be too soon to say, but still..) I eagerly wait for the Monday! :) In all this while needless to say I found myself infatuated towards the city. I say infatuated cause I am a one-city girl! My love will always be Jaipur - The Pink City! But then I favour open relationship and so I am looking forward to a short time affair with Bangalore! :) Perfect European-like weather. Timely and untimely rains! Streets that I walk on! People I meet! Places I go... I like it all. Everything ensures that fixed smile on my face! Including food! Yes... I have never ever anywhere experimented wi...

Internet has made impossible things possible! There were days when authors, directors were anonymous people or just a famous name. Today everyone is a celebrity and that fact has made their accessibility to the fans much simpler! I reckon this fact cause its almost unbelievable how easily I interact with one of my favorite author, Amish Tripathi , who has just shot up to glory as his first book is a bestseller and he has people anxious waiting for the sequel. All thanks to Twitter. This morning I read a note by him on his FB page about how he chose the color of his book covers. The explanation was partially scientific and partially spiritual. Reading that made me realize that writing in itself reaches high standards if its practised by highly intellectual person. Something I feel lacking in the writing of the likes of Chetan Bhagat . Not that they are any less of a work. Just that they are simplistic in nature. And such works are much required in the market. There is no doubt if it h...

Two weeks after I arrived in Bangalore, I got a chance of watching a play at a Ranga Shankara theatre here. After googling about it. I had planned to reach the place little early and spend some time alone there before the rendezvous with friends. Ranga Shankara reminded me of Jawahar Kala Kendra (JKK) for obvious reasons. Although area wise it is essentially a small place and is limited to theatre unlike JKK. Best part of such culture centric place always happens to be the coffee shop. Ambience of the open cafeteria and the energy exhibited by the art-embracing crowd gives a feeling of a parallel universe. A universe where Monday and Sunday are just like all the other days of the week; where words are not just uttered but are spoken; where every individual is unique; where meaning is more important than the reasoning…. Well in short a place where I can think anything i want, be anything I want and no one will judge me! Chai brewing my thoughts made it a perfect start to the ev...

Continued from Day 4 . Day 5: 25 th January 2011 So I got ready and went to attend the last day of the festival. I was already very upset about the fact that I had missed on the first two days, and then on 25 th I was standing at the venue for what seemed to me like the last day of fun! 10a.m. -11a.m. - The Reluctant Fundamentalist - Mohsin Hamid in conversation with Chandrahas Choudhury Mohsin Hamid is a Pakistani author who is known to have created characters in his novels which very shrewdly oppose the reader's stereotypes about a Pakistani national. The Reluctant Fundamentalist is his second novel with one such protagonist. Mohsin shared his difficulty of getting the approval of his editor on the first draft of this novel. His editor thought that the reader won't buy a story of a successful Muslim guy, feeling a strange tension in his life in America. A couple of months later after September 11 he said, "By the way, Mohsin , this book yo...

Continued from Day 3 . Day 4: 24th January 2011 11a.m. -12p.m.. - Indian Summer - Alex Von Tunzelmann in conversation with Karan Thapar Alex van Tunzelmann was interviewed by Karan Thapar about her book Indian Summer. This book is about partition and the end of British Empire in India and Pakistan. But it is more famous for it's insights into the affair of Edwina Mountbatten and Jawahar Lal Nehru. A movie is in production based on this book with the same title. Alex spoke at length about her research that went behind this particular case. She told us that there is no doubt that Edwina and Nehru were romantically involved and that at least Mountbatten family admits to it. She also talked about the letters that were exchanged between the two and are still held by the Mountbatten family. But she believes that Mountbatten family might soon make those letters public. Then Karan Thapar touched upon the most debated and sensitive aspect of the story, about which Alex wrote in her book as...

21st January to 25 th January was the week of literature at Jaipur. The city was overflowed by the who's who of the literature world irrespective of the language. But due to my personal commitments I had to miss on the first two days of the festival. The days which were pretty much marked by the presence of Javed Akhtar , Gulzar and Prasoon Joshi . I will here present my experience at the festival from Day 3 to Day 5. Day 3: 23rd January 2011 10a.m. -11a.m. - Boys will be Boys - Ruskin Bond I reached Diggi Palace sharp at 10a.m. to start my adventure of 3 days into the universe of books. The first session I chose to attend was of Ruskin Bond. He read a rare 'adult' passage from his book, Boys will be Boys. He had listeners in splits by read ing about a young boy being seduced by an older lady. Later he shared his experience of living in Mussoorie in the company of nature. He then asked the audience if they would be interested to hear his ...