Noggyisms

Just when you thought that  Subramanian Swamy was lost in the wilderness of politicians not in power, he lifts his head and writes an article that was bound to raise heckles.  First things first though. Who is Subbu Swamy?  A politician from Tamil Nadu, he first came into prominence during the Emergency when he protested against the same and then went overseas to garner global media attention on the same.  He went on to head the Janata Party and was a Member of Parliament and was at one point of time a part of the Planning Commission. Off late, having been sidelined because of no noteworthy support among the mainstream, he has had to come up with  startlingly tall claims to remain in the public glare.   The latest article ( Link ), however, does come as a surprise even by his standards. In brief, SS (Oh does it remind one of Nazi Germany?) dreams of an India which is a Hindu state. Not a problem with that, many others have demanded the same. Com...

Delhi Belly released to rave reviews all round and piqued (the promos did their bit not to mention the song, DK Bose) as we were, off we trooped to watch it. 90 minutes later we were out. The best way to judge a movie would be, IMO, the number scenes/lines quoted from the same once you are out. On this criteria, the movie rocked. It was laugh riot. From the time it started with the "ass crack" frame to the point it ended with Aamir Khan's faux hairy chest, there were abuses, laughs and comic timing in plenty. I guess this would be the first adult comedy in India on the lines of the immortal American Pie (the first one, since the later ones tend to degenerate into soft porn almost) and Austin Powers (Mike Myers with that unforgettable "Do I make you horny" line?). Brilliantly irreverent, the only well known lead actor doesn't steal the show but some of the others do, notably Poorna Jaganathan (I have always been a sucker for short haired women). Smolder...

TS Eliot called books "the still point of the turning world". He was right. There is nothing like a good book, beer and music for me to spend some much needed unplugging from the world. I read an article recently, ( link ), which talked about surviving getting distracted and realized how true it was. There was a time when I picked up a book and didn't put it down till I finished it or if it was long enough would wait to get back from work to go back to devouring it.  Today, there remains on my bed 4 unfinished books, 2 more beside the laptop and a couple more in the shelves. They have been picked up, started and then orphaned due to demands on time due to women, phone, FB, mail and office work (not necessarily in that order).  The act of reading, for me, meant an escape from the madness that was the world. When I picked up a book, all I could think of were the words, descriptions, language and waiting for the next moment. It is not that books have become worse. ...