Delayed updates

I just noticed that I've made no posts in a long time. Well, I'm not happy about it...that's all I have to say.

Have been feeling really down of late...totally swamped in work, checking all these annual exam answer scripts...the same answers, with all sorts of ridiculous variations in spelling, logic and creativity (not meant to be taken constructively)...pain in all my joints...dreaming of white sheets with blue and red writing on them instead of human subjects...meals and sleep becoming a painful but necessary interruption in my dreary routine...you get the drift.

On top of that, I've had to apply for permission to take my Spanish language exams at a later date because I was 1) not prepared for the exams, what with all these annual scripts and 2) the 4-7 pm time slot being inconvenient as my school timing is 11.30-5.30 pm. I wanted to sit for the exams on the first set of dates like most of the other students (although a sizeable number would be appearing at a later date, along with me, thanks to end-sems at college) and basically do the right thing at the right time. Plus, in the meanwhile, if I get out of practice, I'd have to struggle on my own, not having my Spanish teacher to guide me :-(

On a brighter note, people at the first floor staffroom (where I shifted after the puja vacation) have been very warm and welcoming. Of course, I have known some of them for a while now, being an alumnus as well as having taught there on a leave vacancy in mid-2006, but there were a lot of new faces this time, too. We went to a senior teacher's house for a scrumptious lunch one day and after that, it seems like we're one big family. Don't know about the future but right now, I look forward to going to work each day, thanks to my colleagues. Not everyone can boast of that, I'm sure.

We watched 'Tintin' and 'Breaking Dawn'. Well, yes, I did manage to make time for them. The counter attendants at Fame, Hiland Park, looked blank when I enquired about the Twilight sequel about a fortnight before it was actually released in India (a week later than the world premiere, as far as I can recollect). Well, maybe I was more enthusiastic than others might have been but that doesn't speak much of their ignorance either.They need to be updated in their knowledge database, methinks. Anyway, I personally think 'Tintin' (3D) was good but not great, The 3D experience is overhyped in most cases. Th edges of the screen seemed black both with and without the specs and the close-ups of the characters made them look strange. I think the 2D print might not have made much of a difference. in terms of viewing pleasure. But yes, I simply loved the animation that accompanied the opening credits, haven't watched anything like it in a long long time. The film was a spectacle of sorts. Shall later try watching it on my parents' huge Smart TV...hope the 3D does show up better over there at least. As for 'Breaking Dawn' , I do think it's the best of the four Twilight films we've watched so far. I don't claim to know much about direction but I do understand that the ability to translate a bestseller book into an equally compelling film would require genius. That touch is definitely there in this film. The vampire-wolf story is there but takes a back seat to the miracle of love, an inexhaustible theme. Bella's make up artist deserves to receive all the awards that 'Alice in Wonderland' won. And I had been curious to find out how part I of 'Breaking Dawn' would end. It was brilliantly done. I've tons to say on this film, but I think it merits a post by itself. Amen to that.

We bought a few DVDs at a decent discounted rate last weekend from Starmark. We watched 'Doubt' and 'The Reader', bleary-eyed, into late night, but they were totally worth it. More on them in another post. Shall just give you a list of the other titles :

• A collection, which apart from 'The Reader' contains 'Milk', 'Michael Clayton' and 'Babel'



• 'The English Patient'



• 'Seven'



• 'Requiem for a Dream'



• 'Saat Paake Bnadha'

Well, that's about it, for now. Hope to resurface soon. I do have a lot to say about 'Breaking Dawn' and the films we've been watching...oh, and quite a few observations relating to people and events in my totally non-filmi life, as well :-D

Bad News

Just as I was begin to hope I'd be more regular in my posts, I end up with a dislocated wrist joint. And the final exams are less than a month away ! :-(

Back to Blogging

Well, yes, the BEd practical exams are over and now I have more than a month to prepare for the 600 marks' theory exams. So I'm back !

There's so much I should have been blogging about that I hardly know where to start.

For instance, India won the World Cup. I should have been studying but it was an impossible task, considering that the cheers or boos of the neighbourhood could hardly escape normal audibility. So I gave up the idea (I'm practical enough to know when something is impossible) and tuned in, with a packet of Lays. K went off midway through the match to join his friends at the Hazra Road Silver Oak (now renamed a bizarre 'Tandoori Nights', I hear). We kept on exchanging notes throughout the match and K went off to celebrate at Park Street after that win later that night, losing his voice in the extremes of celebration (it was an anticlimax that the endless traffic jams cut their celebrations short !).

Park Street after the World Cup victory

K and his friend Rajiv

MIL and I celebrated on a more quiet note, calling up friends and family to congratulate. Rashi was ecstatic on discovering that she had been born in the year India last won the World Cup and that her baby was to be born that year. The Telegraph made the most of the moment, even going so far as to interview parents whose children were delivered on the day of the momentous victory !

Recently we attended a birthday celebration of a friends' son. It was in the form of a river cruise. K bought me an amazing jewellery set that morning to impress the gravity of the occasion upon me (he's always terrified that I'll end up wearing pearls with every saree, however respectable). The cruise was mostly a monotonous event except that 2 and a half year old Nemo did complete justice to his age by wetting his shorts even after two consecutive trips to the toilet and two of the hostess's colleagues contributed to the climactic event of the evening by throwing up all over the place (and a nattily dressed elderly gentleman's attire) after a biriyani dinner. Later, we discovered that they had smuggled in vodka through their handbags and had it neat before they vitalised the upper deck by poledancing in a group (I'm sorry, but it just wouldn't have been polite to take snaps, however great the temptation). All that movement combined with the bracing evening air must have accelerated the undesirable barfing. Unfortunately, I only caught the end of the episode, having spent almost 20 mins after dinner on the outer deck, attempting to photograph the intermittent flashes of lightning at lightning speed (quite a futile endeavour with a point-and-shoot camera, I soon discovered). Nevertheless, I always enjoy water-trips and this one was no exception. My only regret was that my solitude was short-lived since other people discovered the place and it beauties too soon.

Baby Riju with K

Lower deck

On the upper deck (that's little Nemo)

Vidyasagar Setu

We participated in the Chatterjees' Rabindra jayanti celebrations last Sunday at AA block community hall in Salt lake.

Rabindra Jayanti at home

Ready to attend the function :-)

Abir's cousin Maman (her real name is Monalisa) once again impressed with her singing and dancing skills. What most shows through is her passion for self-expression and her spontaneity in the creative media."Bodo bedonar moto" came to spiritual life when she sang it.

Monalisa dancing to a Rabindra sangeet

We were forced to abbreviate the function however since FIL had planned a takeaway dinner at home that night. Titai, Abir and K collectively downed a whole bottle of Australian white wine while I played safe with a Cranberry breezer. Abir however insisted on declaring me drunk especially when I (i) could not find my slippers anywhere and (ii) insisted that the number of glasses in our current possession simply would not total 4.

The 4 wine glasses ;-)

The high point of the evening was K passing off a lime breezer as a 'cold drink' to MIL and her totally falling for it. Titai almost aroused her suspicions though by periodically calling her over to our bedroom and accounting for it by saying that she had been missing her (every 15 mins ? !). The Sanjha Chulha kebabs were so awesome that Abir insisted he'd skip dinner if only to retain their taste. Dinner was tandoori roti and mutton biriyani with zafrani chicken, shahi paneer, salad and alur dom. MIL was naturally not very pleased when the cold drink secret was let out the next day and declared that she'd never trust her children again. However, she did concede that she had been feeling very languorous and sleepy but had failed to trace that back to her beverage. So game, set, match !

Enough of updates for today. But I'll be back soon !

Updates

Those which come to my mind right now :

The BEd pre-test is due and so is the final teaching day. Breathing down my neck, night and day. So I'm working and studying on a regular basis. Hard work is a shortcut to success, I've always found.

I finally made a perfect omelette last night. Unfortunately, there was no witness and I ate it before I could photograph it. Very me, of course.

I'm planning to learn Spanish. At the beginning of the next year.

I can manage the household entirely by myself without losing sleep over the whole process. Of course, that excludes the cooking and cleaning bits. Come to think of it, work never ends.

I'm back to brushing up my proficiency in my mother tongue. I must be one of those rare specimens who think in English and then translate, most of the time. And no, I'm not proud of it.

I've finally lost enough weight to garner compliments most of the time. Of course, I too have those 'nothing fits me !' days once in a while. But Priyanka in 'Anjaana Anjaani' has given me enough motivation to remain in shape for the next few months ;-)

I'm finally looking forward to watching Bengali films. Of the 'Autograph' type. Even unexpected, I'm humming lyrics from contemporary Bengali film songs.

I've a career plan in place. Well, a few. There's the Gemini in me speaking ;-)

I discovered that I can still lose sense of time and place when reading a Mills & Boon.

I'm back to my culinary enthusiast self. Planning to cook something new this weekend.

I finally have some girlfriends with whom I can go holidaying alone. Although our pre-test dates seem to be hell-bent on messing up our winter vacation plans.

I'm planning to revisit my poet alter ego. Soon.

I've re-connected with my roots after a visit to my paternal grandparents' ancestral place and my paternal grandfather's sister's place in Shantiniketan. I feel somewhat sorted out and stable now. Freud was right when he emphasised that it's our childhood that determines the person we later turn out to be.

I feel I have a better understanding of the members of our apartment. I might be wrong, of course.

I feel I'm happily married, after all ;-)

Ad Noise-eum

I was proud and pleased to spot the following ad (please click to enlarge) in the 'Metro' supplement of today's 'The Telegraph, Kolkata'. Having freelanced for the newspaper for about 5 years now, anything worth eulogising in its pages always helps make my day. Besides, it struck a chord with me because of a previous post I had made recently on somewhat similar lines.


It's nice to see the media doing its duty. Now, if only we would follow suit.

Explanation

For all those of you who have been wondering why on earth I've gone into hibernation - I'm here, alive and in perfect health. The LCD of our laptop had gone so white that it was not possible to read anything on its surface without giving it a makeover. It came back with a new display attached. But soon after, the screen began to flicker intermittently and there was a problem with the brightness of the LCD. So it was sent to hospital once again ;-)

But it's back today. And(un)fortunately for you, so am I :-D

HOMEWARD BOUND !

We're finally going home, early in September. No, the date hasn't been finalised yet, although it'll probably be on a weekend so that K can get some rest before he joins the TCS Kolkata office on Monday. We're in a mad, chaotic situation now, selling off furniture items and the car. My last few days have been and the coming few are likely to be occupied mostly with frenetic scrubbing and dusting and packing and planning. You'll find me on my knees, armed with latex gloves most of the time now, trying to get the apartment back to its former pristine condition, which is proving to be a feat of sorts as we've been here for a year now and have definitely 'used' it. My principal areas of jurisdiction include the gas range, the refrigerator, the kitchen floors, the kitchen walls that loom above the gas range (spotted with yellow from our turmeric-heavy Indian cooking), the window frames, the bathtub, basin, commode and floors and the display rack in the living room. Yesterday, I spent the entire morning trying out numerous solvents and cleaners on my turmeric-stained kitchen walls without any success whatsoever, until I returned to my faithful original, the Vim Dishwash liquid. It lived upto its record of conquests, once again, although a whole year of stains meant I had to strain my back and waist muscles for over half-an-hour, eliminating the incriminating marks. But at the end, the result was marked. The impression from half a feet away was that of a white and not yellow-splotched wall. Vim Dishwash liquid ke jai ho !

Besides this, of course, I'm checking the email every half-an-hour, replying to responses - of ads put up on craigslist.org and sulekha.com - from prospective buyers of our furniture etc, half of whom are not even remotely serious about the entire deal, and mostly just end up wasting our time and wearing out our patience. There's this one guy, an Arun from Woodbridge, who called up thrice about the sofa set and center table and car, but hasn't been able to make it yet thanks to the lack of availability of his friend, whose car was supposed to convey him here. The very first day he called, he sneezed thrice on the phone, straight into K's ear, much to the former's discomfiture and the latter's disgust and even dismay, who was seriously convinced that the said Arun might have swine flu. It was too much for me when he even suggested calling off the deal because the guy might infect us. I couldn't but rubbish that and told him firmly that he was to ask the guy to come over at his convenient earliest, although I did commiserate with K on the affront to one's hearing if one was sneezed upon so loudly and so many times in one phone call. That certainly would have been a novelty for most and not in a happy sense at all !

This afternoon saw us embark on a shopping spree for the folks back home, that ran its course right through the evening, interrupted once in the middle only for a small evening snack and marinating the chicken that is to be our dinner tonight. The weather has been dismal today, raining non-stop since 1 am early this morning, when the thunder and lightning was as bad as it could possibly get, the entire sky a grim yellow and the extreme flashes of light & sound not in the least conducive to a peaceful weekend sleep. That continued into this morning, after stopping in the afternoon for a couple of happy hours. Having checked weather.com before we left home in the afternoon, I was to discover to my chagrin that the forces of nature are after all as unpredictable as they're reputed to be. We made a trip to Bridgewater Commons Mall to check out the formalities of disconnecting our T-mobile connection but were re-directed to a direct sales outlet of the company concerned, a few miles in a totally different direction. Rather annoyed at this unexpected disruption of our list of things to do that day, we pondered for a few mins, before cheering up and deciding to go ahead with at least our shopping plans for that day.

K waits for the rain to subside :

Poor visibility :

However, as I hinted at, the weather gods played havoc with our intentions and we actually had to pull up along the wayside, for the rain became so torrential that visibility at a distance of more than half a foot was nil. After 15 mins in the car, K rebelled and announced his determination to drive on, braving the odds. I gave in, also annoyed. So we drove on to 'Marshall's' and 'Bed, Bath & Beyond' at Bridgewater Promenade and later to Walmart, to indulge in some hardcore shopping till my feet went to sleep and we had to give up and go home. The shopping saga continued late into the afternoon on the next day, mercifully a Sunday and what's more, one boasting better weather. In between, K's college batchmate Jhuma called to enquire if we could possibly return via Heathrow, since I've become really pally with her via orkut, but am yet to meet her in person. So now, we have a total of 3 invitations from friends to make a stopover at their places via home. The others are from Shobhana, my happily married and dearest school friend in Singapore and another dear friend of K and mine, Ayan, who's based in Bangalore. Now that I think about the invitations, it strikes me that we've actually gone global !

Btw, I almost forgot : we spent a most unpleasant 15 mins - hot and bothered, with menacing drops of rain leaking onto us from a grim black-grey sky - in one of the several parking lots of the Bridgewater Commons, hunting for our car. After we had almost given up, K noticed that there were two entrances to Bloomingdale and we had parked our car near the other one. I was too disgusted at my poor observation skills to experience even a passing sense of relief.

More updates soon...

ENVIRONMENTAL OVERHAUL

From : THE TIMES OF INDIA, 31-07-2009

RIGHT TO CLEAN AIR

Vision of pollution -free Kolkata

Subhro Niyogi TNN

What will happen if the high court order is followed in letter and spirit and all polluting vehicles are booted out. You will live four years longer. Babies will be born healthier. And Kolkata will no longer be the asthma and lung cancer capital. Automobile engineers and experts are confident that air toxicity, which is at alarming levels in Kolkata, will dip sharply once the old smoke belchers are gone. There can be only one outcome the city's air will become cleaner. There will be a perceivable drop in carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, polyaromatic hydrocarbons and other toxic elements , state pollution control board chief scientist Dipak Chakraborty said on Thursday , just two days before the blanket ban on pre- 93 commercial vehicles, including twostroke non-LPG autorickshaws.

Clean Technology

Kolkata's air quality is among the worst in the country, which gets even more dangerous in winter. If the government cracks down on 15-year-old vehicles, there will be a remarkable change from day 1 itself , said automobile engineer Prabir Kumar Bose, director of the National Institutes of Technology in Silchar and Agartala. New vehicles have more fuel-efficient engines. Not only do they use less fuel for combustion , the process is more complete. Hence, there are less pollutants in the emission, he explained. The vehicles that face the phase-out axe were built at a time when engines in India did not incorporate lean burn technology . They emit a lot of particulate matter because of incomplete combustion of fuel. Technology has since advanced manifold. Now, the amount of fuel to be fed into the combustion system is electronically controlled . It is much more efficient, Bose said.

City Livable Once More

The epidemic-type situation, specially with regard to child asthma and lung cancer , will change. Kolkata will become a livable city once again with a better quality of life, said Centre for Environment director A K Ghosh, pointing to a National Cancer Research Institute-Calcutta University research that showed how lung cancer among non-smokers was at an alarming level in Kolkata due to vehicular pollution. The study had conclusively shown that the so-called lifestyle diseases heart attack , kidney failure, lung disorder, impotence and memory loss could also be triggered by air pollution. Researchers found evidence that foul air is responsible for rise in morbidity and mortality. Pollution is the catalyst that triggers cardiovascular and respiratory diseases in Indian cities. Urban stress, sedentary lifestyle and genetic disorder compound the risk, acting as a fatal cocktail, says Twisha Lahiri who was the lead author of the study. The team had initially focused on high incidence of lung cancer in Kolkata (a shocking 18.4 per 100,000 against 11 per 100,000 in other metros). But it soon discovered that while lungs took the first hit (45% people in Kolkata have reduced lung function), nearly all vital organs were subsequently affected by pollutants.

Now Or Never

Ultra-fine particles (0.1 micron) slip into the bloodstream, and invade the heart, kidney , liver and brain. During autopsy in unnatural deaths, we have found that pollution affects the brain. It causes transient loss of memory, an Alzheimers-like disease. Continuous exposure to high levels of pollution, as we have in Kolkata, could even effect the gene pool. Already, a lot of congenital problems are being detected among children in this city. Since it takes 15-20 years for a disease to manifest , it will take a while to know how bad weve been hit, said Lahiris co-researcher Manas Ranjan Roy. Alarmingly, nearly 50% of children in Kolkata suffer from respiratory diseases like asthma among the highest in the country.

Live Longer

But doctors are confident that if the polluting vehicles stop plying, average life expectancy can go up by at least four years. If we dont act today, life expectancy will dip further. Pollution is gnawing at life, corroding organs and even affecting babies in the womb. It is responsible for rise in pre-natal diseases, said Institute of Child Health professor and National Neonatal Forum of India secretary Joydeb Roy. An hours stroll in Kolkata is equivalent to inhaling particulate matter and toxic gases in 20 cigarettes. If the foul air is cleaned up, healthier babies will be born and they will grow up as healthy children, said Roy. Neurologist Sandip Chatterjee is confident that the increasing incidence of Alzheimers and brain stroke will be checked once pollution subsides. Pointing to a Dutch experiment on the effect of diesel emission that was nearly 70% less polluting than the fuel in use in Kolkata, he said a half hour exposure had led to significant changes in the brain. A series of experiments in Mexico City showed that pollution led to collection of peptide AB42 that causes Alzheimers . In Taiwans Kaohsiung, a study of 20,000 hospital admissions showed incidence of brain stroke was higher when the city recorded higher levels of pollution. In California, there were several cases of firefighters suffering from brain cancer due to inhaling diesel fumes. Since all these cities are less polluted than Kolkata, that is what is happening to our brains too. Hopefully, everyone will understand the need to cut down on pollution and act responsibly, Chatterjee said.

How Pollution Is Affecting You

LUNGS:
Macrophages a vital defense mechanism against bacteria and virus get so busy fighting the pollution that they forget the real function, leaving the lungs vulnerable to bacteria and virus attacks. During this, an enzyme called elastase is released which degrades the lungs elastic tissues.

HEART:
Ultra-fine particles (0.1 micron) break down low density lipoprotein measure, forming a plaque on the arterial wall and reducing the space for blood flow. This triggers heart attacks.

LIVER:
They stimulate blood clotting mechanism, causing thrombosis or cardiac arrhythmia.

DNA:
Gene pool could be affected. Congenital problems are being detected among kids. It will take 15-20 years to know how badly we are hit Lung cancer is highest among metros at 18.4 per 100,000 ( national average 11 per 100,000 ). 45 people have reduced lung function. 50 % children have respiratory problems .

(* National Cancer Research Institute-Calcutta University research)

From : THE TIMES OF INDIA, 01-08-2008

GREEN LETTER DAY

City Breathes Easy As Pre- 93 Vehicles Comply With Order

Team TOI

Kolkata: A new Kolkata was born on August 1. Or should we say the city of joy went back to the golden days of the early 1980s ? It certainly felt that way. Minus the toxic fumes, minus the smoke-belching buses and autos, Kolkata was sheer delight on Saturday.

A survey done by Saviour and Friend of Environment (SAFE) and commissioned by The Times of India confirmed that the air the city breathed on Saturday was never this clean in the last two decades, thanks to the enforcement of the high court order to ban pre- 93 commercial vehicles.

It was as if Kolkata had travelled back in time, to the days when cars didnt jostle for every inch of road space, buses were fewer and autos were yet to arrive. Commuters, even though inconvenienced by the withdrawal of autos and older buses and taxis, loved the transformation. At Shyambazar crossing, where the hydrocarbon count plummeted to just 1 ppm from 19 ppm, people stood on the road in disbelief. Many got down from cars for a breath of fresh air.

Readings taken by SAFE at Dunlop crossing, Shyambazar five-point crossing , Park Circus and the Rashbehari Avenue-SP Mukherjee Road crossing revealed that hydrocarbon levels (which cause liver, kidney and brain damage, and even cancer) dropped by more than 50%. Oxygen count shot up by around 15%, leading to a drop in the percentages of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. Suspended particulate matter which causes bronchial diseases and is chiefly responsible for making Kolkata the asthma capital of the country nosedived by 50%. The findings vindicated the green activists stand against older vehicles.

"This was bound to happen. The sharp drop in the hydrocarbon level proves that older vehicles are the major culprits. They emit unburnt fuel into the air that pushes up the hydrocarbon level to dangerous levels. Let us hope that Kolkata will breathe freely like it did on Saturday ", said green activist Subhas Datta, who had filed the petition seeking the withdrawal of 15-year-old vehicles.

After a decade's struggle against pollution , it was a green letter day. As many as 32,000 non-LPG autos, 3,000 buses/ minibuses and 6,000 taxis of pre-1993 make as well as 22,000 trucks stayed off the road. Chief secretary Asok Mohan Chakrabarti confirmed that there had been near total compliance by transport operators in Kolkata and there were no major flare-ups . Transport secretary Sumantra Chowdhury admitted to some violations on the outskirts but assured that the drive against polluting vehicles would continue unabated.

The 3,000-odd green autos usually crowded out by the black & yellow cousins that use adulterated fuel and spew toxic fumes ruled the roads on Saturday . Though there were no autos on some routes, commuters didnt seem to mind.

Brand new LPG autos cross the second Hooghly bridge while entering Kolkata on Saturday

I can't help saying it now : " Jai ho !"

LUCK (2009)

I'm really looking forward to Luck (2009). Of course, it may prove to be quite a dud, after all. But it doesn't hurt to be optimistic. And then, there's Imraan Khan, who makes my heart flip with ecstasy every time I spot him. Aamir was quite the chocolate hero at this time of his own career, but Imraan is quite the package, I feel. The looks, the intensity, the voice, the understated acting, the vulnerability, the physique...well, I could go on all day. But in short, I'm really hoping 'Luck' proves lucky for him !

And then, there's debutante Shruti Haasan, Kamal Haasan's eldest daughter. Quite a headturner, if we go by her photos, having inherited her father's angular face structure and dark good looks. Looks like she's got potential, combined with her soft, vulnerable features and refined, subtle expressions (judging from the promos, of course). Well, no harm in having expectations, I suppose, being born of such illustrious parents. Also a trained music artiste, from what the net news articles claim. Her sister Akshara, looks equally if not more promising, from the several photos I've chanced upon. Vasundhara Das-ish looks with Sarika's eyes and face. Reminds me of the teenage Kareena. No idea whether she'll be walking the film road too but yes, in the photos there is a certain poise and keen-ness about her that struck me. An interesting prospect.

Mithun and Sanjay Dutt seem to be getting typecast, however. The 'bhai' or 'don' or 'villain' or 'evildoer' or 'antihero' or 'bluff big brother' or 'bitter-not-so-young-man', you are welcome to your choice of term. I mean, you might love or hate them, but then you are also comfortable in their doing those roles, simply because you know you've seen them being there, doing that. Nothing very original or promising, I suppose, but goes down well with the filmgoing crowd, who are sure to cheer or whistle at their respective entries on screen. A pity, though. They are fine actors and need to land better deals than they are getting meted out at present. I'm not too sure about Ravi Kissen though. Big Boss made me sick of his general coarseness and in-your-face body hair and I'd have preferred someone else, although anyone as a rapist could seem equally revolting, I suppose, after all. Danny is always welcome and Chitrashi Rawat sure to prove refreshing, post Chak-De.

The action scenes in the film had better live upto the hype. All those sharks, blind shots and train/helicopter jumps do sound exciting, but we're so used to rip-offs from originals that the Bollywood remakes always seem considerably bland and dilute versions, after all. And there are so many reality shows out there anyway that a film premised on that doesn't sound too promising, in any case. Of course, you never know when an underdog vindictively turns up trumps all of a sudden, but I'm not too sure that's going to happen soon.

Here are a couple of promos of the film : have a look. The second one is a novelty.





And don't forget to check out 'Khudaya Ve', it's the best song of the lot.

RANDOM LIFE

The newspaper is getting increasingly interesting by the day. Take the TOI, for instance. It is finally reducing sensationalism to the span of its city supplements and producing some 'real' news. Check out a random selection of news items here :

1 ) Effect of Mamata's annual rally on the routine of the citizens

2) The sorry side of the above story

3) How greed might prove to be one's undoing

4) The actual, insidious effects of increasing pollution

5) How airlines are trying to be indiscriminately careful

6) Making a mountain out of a molehill

7) How the needs of women are currently being capitalised on

Whew, quite some variety, I must say. Makes one regret that one can't really somehow manage the time to read the newspaper from cover to cover on a daily basis. It would evidently prove be both informative and entertaining. Of course, a lot of people don't like to read real news, just the relevant gist. But I find the whole rigmarole as absorbing as that of a good crime thriller : a lot is said, a lot is left unsaid. It's upto you to fit the bits and pieces together to decipher what the current state of the nation is like. Often it's painful, cutting you yourself to bits and pieces before you manage to desensitise yourself to emotions and indignations and just watch and wait. For the reality that is more a solution than a problem in itself. Which might mean waiting for a long long time, really.

On a lighter and more random note, you might, like me, prefer to watch other people wait for irresponsible others who leave them locked out of their own home. My lunch was interrupted yesterday by the most awful hammering and shouting possible, almost precipitating a heart failure. It turns out that a couple opposite were unable to enter their own house, since a certain 'Henry' was not answering the door. They screamed the whole neighbourhood down in his name, peeped through the animal entry/exit slit lower down on the main door, banged their fists against the former (it's a wonder it didn't collapse under the assault), went down the back stairs into the parking lot only to return in a moment or so (just when I had been about to feel relieved and jubilant at their departure) ; in short, they did everything to arouse the curiosity and annoyance of the entire residential complex.

Pre-Henry :

I just didn't get it : was it a child they were calling out to and who might have fallen asleep or who was ill and who therefore they shouldn't have left alone at home in the first place or a guest or family member who was taking a shower perhaps and therefore simply couldn't hear them ? I mean, why couldn't they just sit down on the steps and wait for for a little while for the person in question ? By the time the two were done, exhausted, I was too. My audibility limits had been severely challenged and to top it all, it had worsened a migraine attack which had started that morning. By the time the said Henry turned up on the scene - a 30 something hefty young man with a very red face, an unassuming, cheerful voice and a receding hairline - wiggling his way fast to the source of all the chaos with a huge soda in his hand, I was ready to beat the hell out of him for making all our lives collectively miserable by his unexpected and untimely disappearance from the scene.

Post-Henry :

In fact, I wonder what we'll do back in Kolkata, after all the tranquility we've become habituated to here now. This place is definitely a quiet, picturesque residential locale, and we often speak in whispers or at least hushed voices in our bedroom or over the phone or lower the volume of the TV at night, fearing that even the normal pitch of our voices or the latter might sound loud to neighbours because of the extreme quietude of the neighbourhood. Although this is much more peaceful than what I myself have been used to all my life in my own locality at Salt Lake, it's not half as cacophonic as our current home, post-marriage, at Kalikapur, where rickshaws, autos, taxis and whimsical microphones seem to own the place, rendering us residents an intimidated and even apologetic (!) lot. Add to that my extreme edginess and irritability after facing all the honking, hooting and hawking on the busy intersections of Gariahat and Ruby General and there you have a very jittery me, contemplating the distinct possibility of not being able to pen a single line of poetry for the rest of my life. Talk about stark contrasts and bleak prospects. I'm beginning to feel quite sorry for myself, after all.


Our neighbourhood (photo : courtesy K-Factor)

AWARD CEREMONIES

A few months back, we had been watching the 15th Annual Star Screen Awards 2009 on Youtube. Later, we watched the 81st Academy Awards on the ABC Family channel, here, in USA. And not to mince words, the contrast between the demeanour of nominees and participants at the two awards ceremonies could be best summed up in the adjective 'stark'.

When I contemplate the Star Sceen Awards, I cringe at the way Ashutosh Gowariker publicly insulted Sajid Khan at that occasion, paving the way for the media to mire the incident in controversies that leave a bitter taste in the mouth. Ensuring one would remember that ghastly moment first of all when one recalled this year's function. Not others that had eminently more recall value, such as Akshay Kumar's abdication of his most popular actor's trophy in favour of Aamir's role in 'Ghajini' (however cynically detractors may dismiss or decipher that) or the sensation that a relatively low budget (and certainly less hyped) film like 'A Wednesday' created by director Neeraj Pandey getting to share stage space and acclaim with the best director of the best film 'Jodhaa Akbar'. Or how 'Rock On' really did rock the Bollywood community, sweeping off several successive awards (Best Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Most Promising Male Newcomer, Best Male Actor in a Supporting Role, Best Female Actor in a Supporting Role). It's a different issue that Sajid's jokes did often sound forced or insipid and even seemed to border on the inane or farcical at times, but even an audience of laymen would vouch for his disarming non-malicious good humour at any point of time. If you are part of the 'acting' industry but cannot laught at jokes directed at your actor's persona, then you're in the wrong place at the wrong time and need a reality check pronto. It was all fine when Gowariker, coming up to accept his prize for the best director, began to express his grief at how he felt Sajid and Farah were capitalising on box-office collections as a means of dismissing films like 'Love Story 2050' or 'Tashan' that saw a whole film crew's vision falling flat on its face. But those in the audience secretly lauding his representative humane side received a rude jolt when he threw a crude "shut up" at Sajid and proved to be as bad as Sajid, if not worse, using the podium to make a mockery of the sponsors' goodwill, effectually jeopardising the reputation of this annual event. The trepidation on the face of Suzanne Roshan or Hrithik or Priyanka Chopra sufficed to suggest that Gowariker would do better to limit his philanthropism to directing films.



I couldn't but help compare this bizarre turn of events to the poignant cameraderie that bonded nominees for this year's best actor and actress awards at the Oscars. It was a moving moment when yesteryear's awardees were called on to announce and accolade this year's shortlisted few. Be it Anthony Hopkins on Brad Pitt, Nicole Kidman on Angelina Jolie or Sophia Lauren on Meryl Streep, the warmth and emotional connect in the film fraternity was evident from the body language of everyone present. The actor giving away an award seemed to be as proud of his role at that point of time as the awardee him/her-self . Everyone seemed to subtly sense that the occasion was one that highlighted the entire Hollywood film industry and was more about them all than any particular winner as such. Their behaviour happened to be commensurately classy.

And now this , this , and this !



Bollywood, er, Ashutosh Gowariker I mean, is getting bizarre by the day. And I so agree with Subhash K. Jha's conclusion, although that could be applicable to himself too. On mumerous occasions, he has received verbal brickbats from newspaper readers for dismissing /dissecting/ detractive statements on actors of known stature and calibre, which have indeed called his integrity as a critic into question. But let that rest for the moment. The question is why AG needs to portray Bollywood as a squabbler's h(e)aven to the rest of the world. At the rate he's endearing himself to the film fraternity, he might soon have to contend with a premature termination of his career due to all the lead actors making themselves scarce to him !

DISASTER DRAMA

This is the incredibly sombre, sobering forward I discovered today morning in my mail-box :

"Subject: A330: AIR FRANCE CRASH PHOTOS, AMAZED BY GUY'S INSTINCT......2 photos after Collision and before Death....


Feel so sad for all the passengers including the extraordinary photographer, who kept his cool even in his last moments of life and took this photo. Hats off to him !!!

Yesterday the world saw the disappearance of an A330 Air France during a trans-Atlantic flight between Rio and Paris. Very ironic that a day before, I got a mail of the photos taken by a passenger on a flight mins after a mid-air collision, and mins before the crash of the said aircraft : two shots taken inside the plane before it crashed. Unbelievable!

A B737 had a mid air collision with the Embraer Legacy while cruising at 35,000 feet over South America. The Embraer Legacy, though seriously damaged with the winglet ripped off, managed to make a landing at a nearby airstrip in the midst of the Amazon jungle. The crew and passengers of the Embraer Legacy had no idea what they had hit. The B737however crashed, killing all crew and passengers on board.

The two photos attached were apparently taken by one of the passengers in the B737, just after the collision and before the aircraft crashed. The photos were retrieved from the camera's memory stick. You will never get to see photos like this. In the first photo, there is a gaping hole in the fuselage through which you can see the tailplane and vertical fin of the aircraft.



In the second photo, one of the passengers is being sucked out of the gaping hole.


Photos taken inside the GOL B 737 aircraft that was involved in a mid air collision and crashed.....

These photos were found in a digital Casio Z750, amidst the remains in Serra do Cachimbo. Although the camera was destroyed, the Memory Stick was recovered. Investigating the serial number of the camera, the owner was identified as Paulo G. Muller, an actor of a theatre for children in the outskirts of Porto Alegre. It can be imagined that he was standing during the impact with the Embraer Legacy and during the turbulence, he managed to take these photos. Just seconds after the tail loss, the aircraft plunged. So the camera was found near the cockpit. The structural stress probably ripped the engines away, diminishing the falling speed, protecting the electronic equipment but not unfortunately the victims. Paulo Muller leaves behind two daughters, Bruna and Beatriz."

Last words : Sukanta Chaudhuri, one of our most respected professors at JU, once told us when teaching 'Macbeth' : "Disaster is what we think always happens to others. Until it suddenly dawns on us that tomorrow, we may be the others." I just remembered that.

What else, in the name of CPM ?!

I've been struck speechless ever since I read this article today morning...what hope or scope of improvement is there in a country where people are more concerned about milking the poor and sick for their own private monetary benefits rather than happy to witness them being provided for medically by people as selfless as this particular couple ? And where political parties exist only to fuel such selfishness instead of curbing it ? None, methinks, none at all.

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JS00vMjAwOS8wNi8xNCNBcjAwMjAw&Mode=HTML&Locale=english-skin-custom

Doomsday

"I'm tired of hearing it said that democracy doesn't work. Of course it doesn't work. We are supposed to work it. " ~Alexander Woollcott

Source : THE TIMES OF INDIA, 05-06-2009 (HEADLINES)


Diarrhoea grips Sunderbans

70% Aila Victims Suffer, Govt Sees No Crisis

Prithvijit Mitra TNN

Kolkata: Sunderbans is in the grip of the worst diarrhoea epidemic to break out in south Bengal in three decades. Nearly 70% of Aila-affected people are suffering from the disease as they have no choice but to consume contaminated water.

The sachets of water being supplied to the mangrove islands are but a trickle for thousands of thirsty villagers. And a poor distribution system has prevented it from reaching villages in the interiors. Voluntary organizations working in the cyclone-ravaged areas have come up with shocking data and warn that things could get worse.

The government, however, paints a completely different picture. It says the situation is under control and not more than 5% of the population has been affected.

Doctors, voluntary workers and paramedical staff working in the area say the disease is spreading very fast. Figures compiled by the South Asian Forum for Environment (SAFE), an NGO, reveal that 67% villagers in the Sunderbans are suffering from enteric infection and diarrhoea. A further 18% are victims of snake bites, dog bites and accident injuries, 9% are suffering from skin infection and 6% from other diseases. Which means there is hardly any healthy individual on the storm-struck islands. And less than a dozen doctors to treat them.

A team of doctors from the Medical Service Centre (MSC) — a voluntary organization — confirmed the figures. It could be even worse, they fear. “There is not a single safe water source left there. Millions of gallons are being supplied, but they are either diverted elsewhere or do not reach the people at all. Medicines are sent but unless steps are taken to provide potable water, the epidemic cannot be curbed,” said Angshuman Mitra, who led the MSC team. No more than 30-35% of the victims have access to relief support system, the NGOs said. The only drinking water sources in the Sunderbans — tubewells and PHE pipelines — have got contaminated.

A Sandeshkhali resident fetches water amid the debris on Thursday

How about us all pitching in for a change, instead of playing the old blame game all over again ?

Election results

It's scary when there's no strong opposition to pose a serious threat to the ruling party, I've always thought. It makes the govt complacent and socio-eco-political conditions moribund, people secretly rebellious and optimism about the future difficult. The election results in West Bengal especially reflect the common man's opinion : it's time for a change. It remains to see how effective the change is, for mere histrionics (I refrain from mentioning the MB name) do not constitute a revolution.

Prioritisation

From :

The Times Of India, Kolkata
22 April 2009


Power staff put on poll duty in midst of crisis

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Kolkata/Durgapur : It was a freak technical snag that blacked out Kolkata on Sunday. On Tuesday morning, in the middle of a power crisis in the state, two units of the Mejia thermal power plant under Damodar Valley Corporation had to be shut down for five hours because 150 employees from the crucial generation stations were sent for election duty. Employees of emergency supplies, like power utilities, are generally exempted from poll duty — a fact chief electoral officer Debashis Sen confirmed to TOI — but for some reason, the district administration ignored this. Amal Sarkar, chief engineer of Mejia, DVC’s biggest power plant, said Bankura DM Sindar Majumdar had ordered the release of the employees for training as election ‘microobservers’. West Bengal Power Development Corporation managing director S Mahapatra said he had heard nothing like it during his career. As the 150 employees duly reported for poll duty, the second and third units of Mejia that each generate 210 MW were shut down at 8 am. Later, the DVC brass intervened and secured their exemption. With 420 MW out of the system, the crisis that had developed following a transformer blast at the national grid in Durgapur on Monday night deepened. Seven DPL units went out of commission at once. By Tuesday evening, two smaller ones were back on track but two others with combined generation capacity of 460 MW remained inoperative. A DPL spokesman said the seventh unit, DPL’s biggest at 300 MW, would take at least three days to restart. That’s really bad news when unrelenting weather has pushed demand in Kolkata — which endured a sweltering blackout on Sunday and is still facing intermittent power cuts — to a record 1,528 MW. Across the state, it peaked to 3,600 MW. A demand that the state power utilities are not capable of handling. Anger over the power cuts led to protests and road blockades in Kolkata.





Protests in city over power cuts


Kolkata/Durgapur : The shutdown of two units of the Mejia thermal power plant — thanks to the staff being roped in for poll duty — made its effect felt quickly. Kolkata, where demand had peaked to a record 1,528 MW on Tuesday, ran short of 188 MW in the evening. For the state, the shortfall was a whopping 450 MW. It led to intermittent power cuts in Kolkata and elsewhere. Unable to watch Kolkata Knight Riders play for the second time, angry citizens blocked roads at Dum Dum and other places in the city. The state power department may argue on whether it was a “load shedding” or a technical snag in the system, but it means little to citizens who cursed the government for power cuts. With Lok Sabha polls a week away, chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee gave a piece of his mind to power secretary Sunil Mitra who called on him to explain Sunday’s blackout in the city. The technical snag apart, state power utilities are suffering from a shortage of good quality coal. State power department officials are in touch with Coal India and have ordered for additional 2 lakh tonnes of coal from Indonesia. However, the amount is too meagre for the huge demand. “It will keep the Kolaghat thermal power plant running for not more than eight days,” a state power official said. But poll managers won’t listen to such excuse. They want power minister Mrinal Banerjee to act in time before public resentment goes out of control. Pushed to the wall, power officials are looking for options to import power during the evening peak hours, even at higher rates.


Opinion : To me, it's very simple. The election enables us to choose leaders who'll help run the country better. So it's ironic that we are actually choosing politics over the people. It's all about priorities and one would assume there would really be no choice involved in this occasion, at least, not when Kolkata is suffering one of the worst summers ever. It's shameful. Shame on us.

Chick-Chihuahua

Awwwww. Now this is really sweet, don't you think ?

At Last !

We were almost dying of anticipation but this just revived us...what fun !

Global Warming

Publication: Times Of India, Kolkata
Date:Feb 15, 2009;

(Section: Times City;
Page Number:5)

Missing chill signals Danger: Study Research Says This Could Be The Beginning Of A Drastic Change In City’s Weather Pattern

Prithvijit Mitra TNN Kolkata: The missing winter chill this year and the unusually mild monsoon last year could be ominous signs for the city, warn experts. These could be the indications of the beginning of a dramatic change in Kolkata’s weather pattern, predicts a research based on the findings of NASA. The study reveals that the carbon content in the mid-tropospheric level above Kolkata is unusually high. It is getting worse and the damage is permanent. Drastic changes in the weather pattern are the most likely fallouts of this change that has set alarm bells ringing among scientists. From 372 ppm in 2002, the carbon content in the layer has gone up by 4% till 2008.

“It was already high in 2002, which is the base year for the data. It has been steadily rising ever since, making the layer warmer. The warmer and thicker it gets, the heavier will be its impact on the local climate. It is still too early to predict the extent of the impact, but the bad news is that the damage is permanent. Even if all foul emission is stopped now, it will take hundreds of years for the carbon content to reduce,” said Gautam Sen, who is doing the study.

The dominant part of the carbon in the layer is believed to be carbon dioxide. It is also suspected to have some black carbon, which is worse. The layer also has particulate matter that might have percolated from the lower atmospheric layers.

“We are still not very sure about the nature of the carbon content. But if it has got particulate matter, the impact on weather will be even greater. They could lead to radiation and make the weather warmer. Once they have infiltrated the mid-tropospheric layer, particles tend to get trapped there and keep floating for hundreds of years,” explained Sen.

A hotter mid-tropospheric layer could have far-reaching consequences, said experts. It could alter the temperature-pressure balance in the region, which is important for maintaining the regular climatic cycle.

“There is no doubt that we are witnessing a climate change in the region and the change is irreversible,” said S S Bala, regional in-charge of the Central Pollution Control Board.

“Rising water levels and increased salinity is playing havoc with the ecology of the Sunderbans,” said environmental researcher Subir Ghosh.

Weather experts, however, also pointed out that rising carbon levels is a global phenomenon.

BEGINNING OF THE END?

ATMOSPHERIC LEVELS 0 - 1.5 KM: Boundary layer 1.5 KM - 8 KM: Midtropospheric layer 8 KM - 15 KM: Upper tropospheric layer 15 KM - 32 KM: Stratosphere

LIKELY IMPACT OF RISING CARBON CONTENT

Disturbed temperature pressure balance. Heat generated at the mid-tropospheric layer could radiate back to the lower layers making them warm

Higher temperature might raise pressure and lead to high rainfall

It could also melt ice faster in higher altitude and raise the water level of rivers and the seas. This has started happening in the region."

Should complacence still be our mood of the day ?

ARE WE NEXT ?!

FROM THE TIMES OF INDIA_10/11/2008

No one to rein in 3-wheeled menace

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Kolkata: Aniruddha Guha was sitting on the driver’s right side on Saturday afternoon when he was thrown and run over by a truck. Had police cared to enforce the law, a young life would have been saved. For, it is illegal to seat any passenger in the front seat of an auto. That’s only the beginning of the long list of law violations by auto drivers who are a law unto themselves. From using the carcinogenic kaata tel to fixing fares on their own, a large section of auto-wallahs breaks every rule in the book. The highly unionized auto drivers challenge the government and get away with it. Police officers admit the threewheelers are the most unsafe passenger carriers in the city. The anarchy is largely driven by economics, says transport economist Barun Sarkar. There is no regulation on how many autos should ply on a particular route. The result: terrible competition in a swarm of three-wheeled menaces that cares nothing law, or life and limb. Hence, the cut-throat brazenness of auto drivers. Each of them takes risks to pick up an extra passenger. So, overspeeding, lane violation, over-loading have all become endemic with the city’s auto-fleet, Sarkar said.

The driving skill of auto drivers is highly questionable. “A couple of years ago, we did a drive against illegal autos. We were shocked to find that at least 25 per cent do not have licence. Most learn on the job, which is dangerous. They do not know road regulations. So they do not even understand, if they violate any traffic rule. The moment we prosecute them, they burst into anger,” said a traffic sergeant. The biggest violation is taking passengers on the right side of the driver. In the front, there is hardly any space for an extra passenger, let alone two. “Once you take a passenger on the right, the driver gets no elbow room. This cramps up the driver and is in itself dangerous. Besides, the passenger on the right gets exposed to being hit by vehicles,” said a public vehicles department official. The administration’s reluctance to act against errant auto drivers has only emboldened them. “In 2003, police and the transport department tried to put holograms on the legal autos so that action can be taken against illegal ones. We were stunned when we found that a large number of autos, which were illegally brought from Delhi, were given registration after changing their chassis and engine number. But we had to retract under political pressure,” said a former assistant commissioner of police.

“Despite several attempts, autos have largely remained untouchable for law enforcing agencies. Even though most of the autos are illegal, they thrive under Citu patronage,” said Sarkar.

FOR DETAILS, GO TO :

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Daily/skins/TOI/navigator.asp?Daily=TOIKM&login=default