Delhi: 14 Historic Walks -- Swapna Liddle

In my last visit to London I came face to face with the best moments of my life when my son gave me a bunch of print-outs of the Jubilee Walkway. These come under the ‘Walk London’ program and encourage the locals as well as the tourists to discover this wonderful historic city by walking through its heart, liver, brain, kidney and all the other parts, euphemistically speaking. The print-outs were in great detail and had everything any stranger would look for, including the distance for a particular section. They had known as well as comparatively unknown details of the city, its architecture, its culture, its people, its history, and its savoury as well as unsavoury vistas.

The walks were enthralling, engaging, enticing and worth every huff and puff of my ageing lungs. I loved every moment of those walks. As much as I cherish the memories of the actual walk, I also keep with me the printed details that still take me back to each moment spent.

It is with kind of respect for walks that I began reading Swapna Liddle’s ‘Delhi: 14 Historic Walks’ and was in no time disillusioned, completely rattled. Later on I realised that I was actually slowly falling in love with the book and… wait, this part comes later. Let me first talk about why I felt I was rattled.

Yes, there was history sneering at me through the pages, facts and little anecdotes waiting to be read… and surely there is no harm in that. However, these history lessons could easily be had from a judicious mix of official pamphlets and other literature and any conventional book on the history of Delhi or even some travel websites and travel blog posts that are so well strewn all over the information highway.

Two questions bugged me:

One. Where are the walks?

Most of the walks mentioned just took you around one of the monuments, gave a nice warm history lecture and left you feeling cold and unloved. I strongly feel that the author should have included the areas surrounding the monument and included the monument as a value addition and not as the main dish. Take, for instance, the ninth walk: Red Fort. We are plunged into the Fort without taking us for a little walk around Chandni Chowk and all the old world charms of the area. We are simply taken for a graphic walk-through of this heritage site and that’s it… nothing more. Despite all the wonderful stories retold here, one feels any old pamphlet would’ve done the same job equally effectively. A more enterprising tourist could’ve gone a step further and talked to a few strolling old-timers there inside the Red Fort, spent a few minutes with a few of the pretentious guides, exchanged insights with some discerning tourists who were equally inclined… and emerged happier and more fulfilled.

Two. Where are the people?

The pictures included in the book are made to look as if they were taken at moments when the country was either asleep or away on a holiday. For instance, have you ever seen Humayun’s Tomb without the proverbial lovers astutely guarding their own tree and not allowing anyone to even come nearer? Have you passed in front of Red Fort and not seen the hulla-gulla there? Have you been to Purana Qila and not noticed the open lottery being played next to the lake? Have you walked the ‘Central Vista’ or been in and out of the Kashmiri Gate zone and not noticed all the commotion that is so powerfully present at all times?

Pictures need to say much more than what the old and crumbling walls are craving to whisper. Yes, history is necessary, but so are the moments that are consistently creating what is soon going to be a part of history. Therefore, pictures that don’t depict people have a strange habit of alienating themselves from whatever they are actually trying to say.

Would I want to buy this book?

Yes. Let me tell you that despite what I feel are the limitations of the book, it is actually charmingly done.

The monochromatic colour scheme chosen for the pictures is just right for the theme of the book. It is consistent and every picture is relevant and laid out well. The design and structure of the book is not just a visual delight but also makes reading and comprehension easy. The choice of text colour, the font, the font size and quality of paper chosen are all in line with what the book aims at.

The history included cuts out all text-book rubbish and focuses on the aspects any discerning tourist would want to know. The author has a doctorate on nineteenth century Delhi and has her facts and stories all correctly laid out. He language is indeed simple and avoids all non-essential rhetoric and college book jargon. We read and we love what we read – is the funda followed by the author.

The details preceding every walk mentioned in the book and the maps that accompany are all precise and error-free. I actually completed two of the walks before I sat down to write this review and found that the book did help me find my way around to the best features by helping me choose the most appropriate pathway.

Would I actually want more vibrant pictures that depict what modern India looks like and behaves like, in this book? No. Thus we have pictures that direct our attention to what we have come to get… the charming history of the place. The lovers, the local cricket team, the gamblers, the chaos, the litter, the garbage is all better left to another book that wants to talk about a ‘walk through the reality of Delhi’. This book doesn’t need any of that, and mercifully, plucks all of it and keeps the book focused.

I hope I complete all the walks with this book in my hands… and let me this book isn’t about just historic walks, it takes us for a walk through history lessons too!

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!

Arvind Passey
04 February 2012 

Zero Percentile - 2.0 by Neeraj Chhibba

Let me begin by three quotes from the book:

Quote 1

‘Salem was a frightful dog waiting to be unleashed and the lady, a financial wizkid. One was a doer, the other a thinker.’ 

Quote 2

‘It was heady. But this will be the only time,’ Nitin pushed her away, not knowing whether what they were doing was right.’

‘I want to go all the way,’ Tanya was adamant. 

Quote 3

‘Certain moments come very rarely and fleetingly. If you catch onto them they may have the power to change your destiny but if they pass, you rue them for all the great possibilities they held, yearning to have that moment back again for the rest of your lives.’

The first quote gives you an instinctive feeling that the novel goes deep into the murky world of business and dissects it well to reveal some intrinsic truths for you. Or maybe it dives deep into intrigue and comes up with some thrilling gems from the fermenting realm of corporate life. Neeraj Chhibba never thought of this aspect as the wholesome formula for his novel and gives us these racy moments of intrigues only towards the end. The teaser and the tech puzzles that one comes across after almost 200 pages of something else doesn’t feel so good. There are some brilliant touches here and there, particularly when Salem makes his entry with his heart-pounding tagline: ‘If you love you need to be a little evil. Good deeds will give you moksha. Evilness will make god give you a second chance at life.’ Such thrilling moments, unfortunately, are few and far between.

The second quote impulsively makes one think that there is a lot of steamy action in the novel. Nah! It is not there. Despite the alluring Priya and the dulcet Jaanvee, the pages sadly do not ooze with any sensual content. Unless, some reader wants Nitin’s proposal to use two condoms as something that is arousing and full of sex. The author has no incident, no dialogue that brings him anywhere near Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita… and not even anywhere near the kind of sensual content one read in ’11 minutes’ by Paulo Coelho.

The third quote raised in the urge to maybe classify this work as something that meanders into the abstractions of relationships, demystifying the intricacies of emotions… but it simply takes you and throws you into some garbage pit of mundane life descriptions and goes on to garnish all this with insipid and jerky dialogue that appears quite unreal and sometimes unfathomable.

So, if the novel is neither of the three types as mentioned above, what is it really? Let me quote the author himself from a blog post that he had written on November 8, 2009 titled ‘A storyteller is hidden inside all of us’: ‘A friend once told me that there is one good story hidden inside everyone. I am not surprised with this observation. All of us lead a life which has one or the other thing which is unique to us as an individual, as a community or as a nation. Someone is a brilliant achiever, someone else is the perpetual king of pain who courts tragedy all the time. There are many who have lived forever stricken with poverty. I know people whose life took a complete U-turn after they unexpectedly lost their young and healthy near and dear ones.’

The story is certainly good and makes you want to know what happened next though without one having gained much through reading it. That is, this novel actually is just a story without the magic of Dicken’s narrative, McEvan’s incisive analysis, or Hemingway’s simplicity disguising all the complex things life can ever offer!

The novel does have its good moments though:

Smooth character introduction.

There are no obfuscating and frustrating moments making a reader struggle with getting over the initial pages trying to understand the what and who and why and how of everything. The plot comes easily, the characters introduce themselves clearly, though limping a bit, and the story does chug forward though the author makes you hop, skip, and jump from one set of people to another.

Easy connect between the multiple lives that feature.

Yes, whether it is the Arjun-Muskaan-Diyaa tear-jerkers, the Jaanvee-San fiery-grilled combo or the Pankaj-Motu-Priya long-term romance stuff, the novel tends to keep the issues clearly demarked and doesn’t allow them to mix and mingle to confuse the reader. This, however, isn’t such a good idea, I feel, as the author did have a ready-made plot where he could have experimented a little more but neeraj chose to stay straight with the plot.

Issues taken up without making them seem like publicity.

There is the issue of AIDS picked up by the author and he does go about telling the readers a lot about it without resorting to too much sarkari lecturing and sitting on text-book kind of explanations. He does it with character development, weaving incidents and emotions rather thoughtfully.

The author also tackles the word ‘handicapped’ with a fair degree of sensitivity. Look at this conversation and you’ll know why:

‘She is handicapped and not normal. Can’t you see?’

‘I think she it is you who can’t see. She is not handicapped. She only has a disability and she has tried really hard over the years to not let the disability turn into a handicap…’ 

Business metaphors and technical intricacies tackled well.

Sadly, and I’ve mentioned this earlier in the review that the author does have a knack to build a great work around this theme but he has chosen not to… and has relegated this talent to the final fifty odd pages. I am again tempted to garnish this belief of mine with this rather juicy quote from the book:  ‘…we would need to do things very fast. In the process, we will have to step on toes, bruise egos, and kill competition. Don’t expect it to be fair all along.’

Obviously, there cannot be a mention of the good features of a novel without touching upon the bad or the ugly ones. Here are some things that troubled me a lot:

Unreal incidents, jerky conversations. The novel is literally over-flowing with them. There are pieces of conversation that don’t resemble two people talking lucidly and within the comfort zone of a colloquial expression because they appear to be two tutored morons bent upon using words that are not generally used when people converse. This makes conversations appear stiff and difficult to negotiate… a reader anyway plods through them. For instance, the gloom after the Alex-episode around Page 100 is unreal, pathetic, and amateurish… Yes, there are a lot of scenarios that cannot happen anywhere other than in some B-grade Bollywood movies or novels that fall in this genre.

Clumsy sex. This point is already discussed and I can only quote from what a character in the novel says to emphasize on the author’s inability to tackle sex:

‘Have you gone crazy! This is impossible.’ Well, maybe Neeraj just cannot handle this kind of masala in his writing endeavours.

Very few sentences that make a work memorable. Besides a few of the quotes that I have already spread around this review, there are a few others that do have a stand-alone value.

Pankaj’s theory: ‘…that love was not permanent and people who loved each other one day may not want to see each other the next day, was not wrong.’ 

Pankaj philosophises: ‘Before you leave, I want to say that all of us should continue with our karma and do it honestly. If, in the process, it hurts someone we should acknowledge it was strictly business…’

‘Let the world look at us not as a country of black magic or snake charmers but as one of intellectuals who can compete with and beat them at their own game…’

Neeraj Chhibba does write in an easy-going manner and without heavy words, but somehow loses track while crafting dialogues where he simply begins to stiffen and sound pedantic. His expertise, however, is certainly in deciphering the way things happen in the software industry and he does talk intelligently about it. In another review, the reviewer did admit to this fact: ‘Explaining how things work in the software industry would score him brownie points amidst those in that sector and I am sure they would be able to relate to it in ways more than one.’

To conclude, I would not have felt bad buying this book because it is worth the price at which it is available. Any amount more than that would have pained me as the author actually missed IIT and kissed Gurgaon! No wonder then that this book is devalued to its right level, as this pic from the net shows:

zero percentile - value slides!

Details of the book reviewed:

Title: Zero Percentile–2.0, Missed IIT kissed Gurgaon

Author: Neeraj Chhibba

Publisher: Rupa & Co.

Price: Rs 140/-

Arvind Passey
03 February 2012 

I have reviewed this book on video too and I’m sure you’d all want to see that before you go any further with reading this review. So, here it is:

This hard-bound book takes us deep into the history of devadasis, the evolution of bharat natyam, and the revolutionary instincts of a real artist… all written with an intimacy that makes the book MORE than a mere biography. The author, Douglas M Knight Jr, is himself an accomplished artist and is also the son-in-law of Balasaraswati.

The book is full of incidents that tell us how Bala debated and fought to ‘convert the corrupted image of traditional bharat natyam’… she ensured that this dance form adapted itself to the modern stage. The dancers thus understood bharat natyam better and were able to take it to the level for which it was intended. The author points out in the preface that ‘to visualize Balasaraswati’s significance today, we need to free ourselves of the limitations of our perspective, and see with bigger, more easily astonished eyes the world that embraced the tradition of hereditary bharata natyam.’ He writes later that being a part of the family gave him an insider’s perspective on ‘how a hereditary art form endures.’ This is one major reason why I feel this book is more than a mere biography… and because it doesn’t have the protectionist embrace of an autobiography, this book is more than that too!

We also get to understand that ‘in Balasaraswati’s style, as in the style of all hereditary dancers, the artist performs music and narrative dance extemporaneously.’ The author has taken a lot of pains to trace the history of the dance form, explained the finer nuances,  and connected all this with how this legendary figure managed to project it to the world as ‘most sublime a form of Yoga’…

The book isn’t about only the accolades and praises for Bala as even the unsavoury bits and pieces that happened in the press have been quoted. These range from personal opinions on the beauty of Bala to contorted and deliberately twisted remarks on her zeal to promote Bharata natyam as visualized by her. I quote: ‘During his distinguished career the writer K. Chandrasekharan referred time and again to Bala’s performance that July. On that first occasion, he commented, as did critics after him, that Bala was not particularly  beautiful, but that when she began to dance her eyes and pearl-white teeth dominated and transformed her face.’ What is important here is that the dancer continued unabated in her pursuit to put the dance form on the top slot globally. No wonder then that in 2000, ‘the Dance Heritage Coalition, an alliance of leading American dance performers and teachers, institutions, and dance libraries and collections, published the results of their initiative to identify “America’s Irreplaceable Dance Treasures: The First 100.” The only artist they included who was neither American nor European was Balasaraswati.’

There are then little anecdotes that any other biographer could easily have missed or may not have had access to them. Like the one where Ted Shawn welcomed her by assuming the pose of Nataraja and dramatically exclaimed: ‘I am Nataraja…’ This happened at the Jacob’s Pillow Dance festival and School in the US where, on the opening night, Ted Shawn also told the assembled audience: “Tonight you are in the presence of greatness.” Talented people the world over knew what it was that she was insisting for. Let me again take a quote from the book: ‘During the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, Balasaraswati’s art was at the center of a debate over the appropriateness of the narrative dance theme of human love, Sringara, on the modern stage. Had Bala stopped performing, the corrupted image of traditional bharata natyam as vulgar might have met no resistance.’ Even her daughter, Lakshmi, has been quoted as saying: ‘She had to fight to prove how wonderful the art is. How could we forget how she was transformed while performing – and moved the audience! How dancer and audience became one!’ The book deals with such facts and abstractions… and does it in an easy and flowing style. The language is never intimidating, nor does it have obfuscating metaphors that such biographies are so full of.

The Notes towards the end of the book are extensive and appropriate. The glossary is full of dance terminology made easy… many readers can actually know little intimate details of the musical instruments associated, and even the abstract terms that can be so open to misinterpretations are explained in their correct perspective. The author has followed all the definitions that Bala followed and stuck to in her own lifetime… and this is what makes the book as much immortal as the artist herself.

We also get to see a few glossy b/w photographs of the expressive Bala, some not so known characteristics of an artist (for instance, the studio photograph where she is posing with M. S. Subbulakshmi in 1937 and both asserting ‘their independence by secretly arranging this photograph of themselves dressed in Western-style sleepwear and pretending to smoke cigarettes.’), and a lot of other pictures that help the reader see the real person come alive.

This biography isn’t just about Bala and her relation with the dance form she embraced… it is also about a clearer and closer look at less known or almost unknown facts about her family, her extended family, her friends, and the little things that happen that never get to the press. It is an intimate and cosy peep into the real and the stage Bala… the Bala that performed and the Bala that made sure that all her protégés performed well. No wonder then, that Ani, interviewed when he was seven, said, ‘Balamma was strict with students. Her hands and feet were strong and she could still dance. She never stopped dancing; her feet kept patterns in her sleep. She was the greatest dancer in the world.’

I personally found the book as engrossing as many good non-fiction titles and also just as exciting as any good fiction… the pace never crawls, the words never wither and die, the connections never block and confuse… and by the time you reach the end, the size too starts appearing endearing! You start realising then that it isn’t just a story that you are reading but another chapter from the personal diary of ‘truth’… and in the preface, the author too writes: ‘Years ago I asked Lakshmi what she thought Bala believed was the most important part of her story, if it were told. Lakshmi responded without hesitation: The Truth.’

This book is in my collection… and will be read many times, I know.

Details:

Title: Balasaraswati: her Art & Life
Author: Douglas M. Knight Jr
ISBN: 978-93-80658-81-0
Publisher: Tranquebar
Cost of the hardbound version: Rs 599/-

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com.

Arvind Passey
22 January 2012

A grilling conversation with a fiery intent!

‘Hi there… can we talk?’

I looked around and was taken aback to find a fiery grilled chicken piece waving frantically at me.

‘You?’ I asked with incredulity clearly infiltrating my voice, posture, and even expression. This was surely one of those hard-to-believe moments that I had, as yet, only read in novels.

A conversation, a small discussion between a human and a fiery grilled chicken leg piece seems too far-fetched even to a person who regularly dives into imaginary worlds… if true, it did have the power to set everyone’s imagination on fire! This was the reason I first carefully looked around and then even discretely pinched myself before asking: ‘Is this real? Is this actually happening?’

‘Yes, this is as true as the words you’re writing right now on your new Samsung Tab,’ said the chicken piece enthusiastically.

Something told me that this could be the start of a conversation with the potential to either become immortal in all worlds including the world of bloggers or simply send me off into the thick of the twilight zone in the eyes of my friends and acquaintances. But I nevertheless asked apprehensively and more to myself, ‘What is it that anyone would want to discuss with a mere leg piece?’

The question, I said to myself, could have been dismissed without much thought as most would prefer to eat the leg piece instead of sitting and discussing politics and philosophy with it. The thought must’ve been blatantly obvious because this apparently live chicken piece immediately responded, ‘To eat, or not to eat is a question that is going on in your mind right now. Am I wrong?’

‘No,’ I managed to splutter and tried not to appear or sound confused, and then continued, ‘but it doesn’t make sense to keep a nice juicy fiery grilled chicken piece waiting to be picked up to be eaten… almost an insult to the culinary skills of the creative chefs at KFC.’

‘Your answer pleases me and I will love to be ultimately ingested by you,’ answered the chicken piece imperiously and rather snootily, before continuing, ‘But I wish we refrain from this thought for some time and discuss other interesting things that have been happening in the world in the past year!’

‘Sure,’ I replied, ‘what else do you know and want to talk about?’

‘Let’s start with the elephants troubling the election commissioner.’

‘No, I don’t think it is a good idea to talk politics right now. This topic,’ I reminded GC, or grilled chicken, my new friend, ‘can make anyone hungry for more and, therefore, has the potential to activate non-veg greed even in the heart of the most ardent vegetarian in the world. What else interests you?’

GC smiled and replied, ‘Other topics that interest me include words like gluttony, cuisine, spicy, grilled, fried, tasty, food…’

‘Enough,’ I said, ‘enough of this joke, GC. We really need to give this conversation a new turn if it is to become immortal… or you will simply end up entertaining gastric juices in my tummy sooner than you think it is possible.’

GC enacted an elaborate and vigorous tremor that made it seem as if it were some complex move of frenzied salsa and then sighed before replying, ‘OK, let me then tell you what I think of the year that has just gone by.’

‘Now that’s much better. Maybe your list of major events will make it to some international magazine… and you’ll be in the most-famous list yourself. This list might just set everyone’s imagination on fire!‘

The hullaballoo after the India-Pakistan World Cup match

The fiery grilled chicken talks about the only real cricket match!

‘You keep writing down somewhere, lest the list is lost because you were more interested in eating me up than listening to me,’ rasped GC and continued without paying attention to my gestures of protest, ‘A new world record in celebrating by bursting crackers, igniting the most elaborate fireworks, and dancing on the streets after the India-Pakistan Cricket World Cup match.’

‘You mean India’s lifting the world cup?’

‘No. I mean the celebration that followed the India-Pakistan match. That was really awesome and the entire nation was ecstatic… and this certainly surpassed the emotional displays anyone saw on the day they won the World Cup! It is this feeling of ecstasy that will be remembered long after the euphoria of lifting the world cup has weaned off.’ GC was correct. The nation does go into a dance-mode the moment their team defeats the team from our neighbouring country… and this celebratory zeal is apparently without limits. It is this display of emotions that surely deserves to be in the most-famous list.

‘Right, and what is the next ecstatic event in your list that shook the nation?’

The hullaballoo and the Gandhi cap

The fiery grilled chicken and his Gandhian thoughts...

‘That’s simple. MORE sale of the ubiquitous Gandhi cap during Anna’s legendary fast at the Ramlila grounds in Delhi as compared to even the pre-independence protest marches.’

‘Hmmm…,’ I said with some doubt in my voice, ‘that was a protest that went on for years…’

GC didn’t wait for me to complete my sentence and said, ‘And this agitation has MORE people and MORE people in MORE countries… and MORE caps per person were bought as there was MORE designer stuff being created continuously.’

I had actually seen people walking around with the Gandhi caps stuffed in their pockets. There were people changing their caps after each session with the ‘gimme more’ press corps of India. There were caps being given a unique appearance at artist camps, school painting competitions, at home, in the office, while travelling, and even sketched by the ‘mem sahib’ as she was being driven to the nearest rally point!

‘I am wondering how you know about all these events.’

‘Ah! To keep wondering is so human. A few minutes back you were also wondering how a mere chicken piece was talking!’ GC was obviously making fun of me and I was again left wondering if it was my gullibility that was a victim or it was the extra-ordinariness of the situation that had overwhelmed my sensibilities! GC meanwhile was smiling and continued  saying, ‘ Stop wondering so much, my human friend and get ready to note the next point in my list now.’

The hullaballoo and the art of shoe-throwing

The fiery grilled chicken practicing his shoe-throwing!

‘Right.’ I replied and readied myself for the next point in the ‘most-famous’ list of this grilled chicken piece.

‘Excellence in shoe throwing at people who consider themselves celebrities but the world thinks of them as being no better than sulking skunks,’ intoned GC.

‘So what is great about shoe-throwing and why would this qualify as a most-famous event or emotion of the year?’

‘Tell me something,’ asked GC, ‘do you like unnecessary arson, or violence that damages property, or people being forced to accept wrong doings of those in power?’ GC looked at me for a while and finding no resistance from my side, continued, ‘Shoe-throwing is a form of protest that has not just begun in earnest, it is an art that is slowly and surely going to rise to a level of perfection and is going to attract research scholars to debate and write tomes on it.’

‘Wow!’ I remarked, ‘Then even I must hurry up and register for a Ph.D in this subject before it gets too difficult to find guides!!’

‘I’m serious,’ replied GC, ‘and you’ll thank me later for having had the prudence to get this point included in the most-famous list of 2011! You see, shoe-throwing is a subtle art that aims to miss the person physically but makes a bull’s eye hit on the issue at hand. The shoe is always captured in mid-air by the press photographers and the accompanying news discuses the reason for the shoe being thrown.’

‘Ah! I get the point now. A shoe thrown is news that is just read and becomes past… but the issue it raises goes on for days as a hot debate! So the shoe-throwing does get into this dramatic most-famous list of yours!’

The hullaballoo on draping a sari

The fiery grilled chicken vs the SARI episode...

‘At this rate, your list of famous events is soon going to include the swami who draped himself in a sari to escape arrest!’ This was clearly meant as a joke and I was actually taken aback when GC looked at me and replied, ‘Bulls eye!’

GC then continued by way of explanation, ‘One sees a lot of male actors in Hindi movies who wear the sari and romp away without any inhibitions.’  He paused to compose the next part of his conversation to convince, ‘However, it is not Ramdev who gets to be in my list but the fact that someone could have escaped in a sari in real life that qualifies for this list.’

‘Cross dressers and trans-genders do this all the time,’ I said.

‘They don’t teach yoga to the world. They don’t have ashrams in Ireland. They don’t preach calmness of the subliminal plane of human consciousness. They don’t jump from a dais right into a circle of women and escape in a sari. They don’t have a flowing beard and yet escape attention. They don’t claim to fight corruption and then fear a mere political arrest. And anyway, I’ve already clarified that it isn’t Ramdev who is in the list…’ GC was by now all worked up and waved me to silence when I tried to say something. He then continued, ‘It is not the swami who has just been included in my most-famous list of the year… it is the episode that is there and is actively competing for the top position as well. Though that is something I leave to the discretion of my readers.’

‘One question is troubling me,’ I asked GC.

‘What?’

‘Whose sari did the swami pinch? That person actually deserves to be awarded.’

‘What’s wrong with you humans?’ protested GC, ‘Why can’t you guys simply focus on the essentials only? What is important is the sheer force of an original thought in the modern world. What is important is the way this thought is executed. What is important is the sensual connection of a preacher of sublimity with something as earthy as a sari! And this brings us to the next most-famous event of the year that actually transports us from the sensual to the sexual, from the national to the international.’

I could do nothing else than wait for the revelation.

The hullaballoo that connects Rajasthan, Australia, and the UK

The fiery grilled chicken with his cricket snippet!

‘Well, this event connects cricket, modeling, Australia, Rajasthan, and UK with the not-so-subtle art of philandering,’ announced GC, ‘I mean I obviously do not want to include any person in my list and, therefore, it is the way in which philandering was elevated to the level of an art-form that makes me include the affair between Shane Warne and Liz Hurley in this list.’

‘Have you noticed how Shane has warn in his name,’ I asked as I wanted to see if GC could turn this innocuous piece of information into something hilarious.

‘And despite his warning, Liz insisted on hurling herself on him!’ GC was undoubtedly unstoppable. I wondered if this was because of all the protein that it was filled with. GC was silent for a few moments and then said, ‘Philandering reached a new height in the year, crossed boundaries, jumped ethnicities, and gyrated on the social ramp toying with balls!’

I smiled at all the innuendoes and without uttering a word signaled GC to let us all have the next from its most-famous list.

The hullaballoo that rings in millions of pockets

The fiery grilled chicken and the sinister plan of the ring tones!

‘What is the first thing you hear when you reach office?’ asked GC.

I thought hard for a while and then hesitatingly answered, ‘Not my bosses voice obviously.’

‘Which means you aren’t observant at all,’ said GC pointedly and continued, ‘the first thing that you hear in the office is also what you keep hearing while you commute to work or are strolling in the park or are in a party or are having food in some restaurant… now can you hazard a guess?’

‘No.’ I said without even attempting to think as I knew GC would have an answer that was sure to be far away from whatever I may have in my thoughts.

‘The ring of a mobile! This has been steadily climbing the charts, so to say, and has reached the final list in the year as now you find almost everyone perpetually fumbling to take out a screaming mobile from his pocket or from her bag or purse,’ said a smiling GC and continued, ‘you hear the most sublime to the utterly silly ring tones today.’

‘Yes, indeed, GC,’ I said and I was now beginning to have a lot of confidence in this really off-beat list made by this chicken piece. ‘There are ring tones selling everything from art to education, promoting everything from sports to politics, hinting at everything from population control to social harmony…’

‘Yes,’ added GC, ‘ring tones are nothing but a way to permeate ideas into the human mind. It is ring tones that are actually used for idea inception by not just the crassly commercial inclinations of the corporate but also by the unscrupulous politicians of the world. Therefore, be very wary of ring tones as they aren’t mere simpletons entering my most-famous list of the year but are the potential carriers of the future of society that the coming generations will have to endure.’

The conversation was suddenly taking a rather sinister turn and was becoming more like a doomsday prediction listing for humanity… and it was because of this that I was hesitant to ask if there was any other inclusion left.

The hullaballoo of hunger pangs

GC spoke up even as I was vacillating between an urge to seek more and putting an end to the torture of building a sinister list. He said, ‘Steve Jobs asked us to stay hungry and this has become the most misunderstood phrase of the year.’

‘Really?’

‘Yes, look at the babus, the netas, the doctors, the engineers, the administrators, the bureaucrats, the students, the teachers, the philosophers, the technicians… in fact, everyone seems to be succumbing to their hunger pangs,’ said GC and then with a visibly saddened tone, added, ‘these aren’t hunger pangs for more knowledge and wisdom but for material gains. Now do you understand why I have included hunger pangs in my most-famous list of the year?’

‘Yes,’ I answered, ‘and it does make a lot of sense too. Hunger for favours and hunger for bribes has overtaken  what Steve Jobs meant when he said – Stay hungry, stay foolish’

Pick me up. Eat me 

The conversation between a human and a fiery grilled chicken piece had all the symptoms of a block-buster movie in it and I knew I was going to mull on all the thoughts that GC had given me in such a short while. I also wondered aloud if I could ever eat my friend now.

‘Oh yes, you can and you must,’ shouted GC, ‘and I can assure you that every time you pick any of my other brothers out there in the world, you will think of this conversation and maybe work for a better world.’

Thus the wonderful conversation did end with the energy and zest and gusto that normally accompanies the chomp-chomping of a grilled chicken piece… and I can assure you that I loved every moment of the conversation. I also know that even in future there will be many such fiery conversations with many grilled chicken pieces…

With the fiery grilled one inside me, I am obviously happy!!

This post is written for a blog contest on indiblogger.

Arvind Passey
12 January 2012 

Just step into the murky world of blogs and you will find that it becomes very difficult to find out something that is ethereally original, something that smells, tastes, and feels like it has been brewed or baked or cooked fresh… most of the pictures, texts, ideas, videos, graphics, reviews, and even poetry give you a feeling that you’ve seen or read it elsewhere. Sad but true. Most of the time, I said… not always. Most of the bloggers, however, fall in the shady and murky territory of the copy-paste artist!

No. I do not intend to lure the slick and slimy blogger amongst us into the energising daylight of the realm of original… let them drool and salivate in their own world as that is what they are destined to do and be. After all, if they weren’t there, we would never really appreciate the original! Not every reader can really digest the quality, the charisma of original phrases… they’d anyway hanker for the dark shades of what is familiar to them… it is the ease of reading copied stuff that gives them pleasure… so be it.

The HP-indiblogger Meet was harping on the original vs the copy! The ‘original’ has its own place everywhere but even copies do serve a purpose… they make the original stand out and remain attractive to those who need them and can afford to have them. The copy, as in the case of a piece of writing, goes only to the mentally impoverished… thus even in the world of economies, the copy serves to satisfy the ones who are unable to grasp the importance of using the ‘original’. This is what was highlighted during the presentation given by the HP team at the indiblogger Meet at The Park, CP, new Delhi on the 11^th of December 2011. In three words: LOVED THE MEET.

Dedicating this short poem, that I wrote a few minutes back, to the Meet…
Are bloggers bothered about being ‘original’? 

Bloggers, unlike writers and poets,

Love to meet and eat

Have fun together

Then calmly rob ideas, cheat.

Ideas that are not yours can

Hardly be expected

To grow and evolve

So they remain content to be also-ran!

Bloggers cease to be bloggers

When they begin to think

And create new ideas

With ‘original’ they then link!

No, the poem is not the only thing I will be taking out of my kitty bay. There is an enticing crossword too. Hope you will like it.

HP-indiblogger Crossword

1.     Bloggers used this to try and win the group game. (5, 5)

5.     How many seconds of fame was each blogger entitled to? (5,4)

6.     What makes a blogger happy? (7)

7.     Everyone there displayed this. (5)

9.     This group won the group game. (5,

11.   RR from indiblogger was there… what does this R stand for? (5)

13.   What parting gift was given to all bloggers? (3, 5)

16.   Which area of delhi did the bloggers come to? (2)

18.   A few lucky bloggers got this gift. (7)

19.   What was served there? (4, 3)

20.   Name of the Android App that was needed to participate in the game. (2, 5)

21.   The ranking system on indiblogger? (8)

22.   His push-ups are still pending… (6)

25.   The oldest blogger present was over – ? (7,4)

27.   This is what the bloggers searched for in the QR game. (2, 9)

28.   What makes a blogger REALLY happy? (7)

30.   What is it, if it isn’t a copy? (8)

2.     These many commented on the ‘New delhi HP Indiblogger Meet’ on the indiblogger site. (7,3,4)

3.     We blog, therefore we are. Who are we? (11)

4.     This is what fascinates the participants! (8)

8.     This is where you discuss concerns on indiblogger. (5)

10.   Did the ‘meet’ begin late? (3)

12.   The youngest blogger was under – ? (3)

14.   Where did the Delhi bloggers meet? (3, 4)

15.   First name of the blogger whose website is www.passey.info ? (6)

17.   Many lucky bloggers got this gift. (3, 5)

23.   Which other phone besides Blackberry, iPhone, and Android Smartphones was used? (5)

24.   This city became the name for one of the groups too. (10)

26.   Bloggers shared their opinions through their… ! (6)

29.   This animal too seemed to have his own blog! (3)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Answer Key:
(Note:  Select the area between the +boundary to make the keys visible.)

1.     SMARTPHONE—Bloggers used this to try and win the group game. (5, 5)

5.     FORTYNINE—How many seconds of fame was each blogger entitled to? (5,4)

6.     WINNING—What makes a blogger happy? (7)

7.     SMILE—Everyone there displayed this. (5)

9.     QRAZYBLOGGERS—This group won the group game. (5,

11.   RENIE—RR from indiblogger was there… what does this R stand for? (5)

13.   TEESHIRT—What parting gift was given to all bloggers? (3, 5)

16.   CP—Which area of delhi did the bloggers come to? (2)

18.   PRINTER—A few lucky bloggers got this gift. (7)

19.   HIGHTEA—What was served there? (4, 3)

20.   QRDROID—Name of the Android App that was needed to participate in the game. (2, 5)

21.   INDIRANK—The ranking system on indiblogger? (8)

22.   VINEET—His push-ups are still pending… (6)

25.   SEVENTYFIVE—The oldest blogger present was over – ? (7,4)

27.   HPORIGINALS—This is what the bloggers searched for in the QR game. (2, 9)

28.   WRITING—What makes a blogger REALLY happy? (7)

30.   ORIGINAL—What is it, if it isn’t a copy? (8)

2.     HUNDREDANDNINE—These many commented on the ‘New delhi HP Indiblogger Meet’ on the indiblogger site. (7,3,4)

3.     INDIBLOGGER—We blog, therefore we are. Who are we? (11)

4.     BLOGGING—This is what fascinates the participants! (8)

8.     FORUM—This is where you discuss concerns on indiblogger. (5)

10.   YES—Did the ‘meet’ begin late? (3)

12.   TEN—The youngest blogger was under – ? (3)

14.   THEPARK—Where did the Delhi bloggers meet? (3, 4)

15.   ARVIND—First name of the blogger whose website is www.passey.info ? (6)

17.   PENDRIVE—Many lucky bloggers got this gift. (3, 5)

23.   NOKIA—Which other phone besides Blackberry, iPhone, and Android Smartphones was used? (5)

24.   JALLANDHAR—This city became the name for one of the groups too. (10)

26.   TWEETS—Bloggers shared their opinions through their… ! (6)

29.   DOG—This animal too seemed to have his own blog! (3)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I have uploaded most of the photographs on my Facebook profile. You can find them if you care to click on this sentence: indiblogger ki jai!!

A few photographs are, however, so precious to me that I want to include them right here too. So here they are:

With Renie Ravin

The updates were all there for all to read...

The QR code winning team: The Qrazy Bloggers!

Making the Meet memorable...

The messages that I got!

Almost everyone won HP 4GB pen drives...

Waiting for the HP Printer that I won... hope it is a Laser printer!

Everybody got a TEE-SHIRT of their selected size.

Arvind Passey
14 December 2011 

The Muddy River. By~ P A Krishnan

SCAM.

Yes, this is what I wanted to call this book. No, not because there is some writing scam that I’m trying to expose, but because there are four key words that weave this novel by P A Krishnan. The acronym SCAM, in this context, means: SENSUAL | CORRUPTION | ASSAM | MILITANCY.

Though this may surprise readers, but yes, the sensual and the sexual content is gently meandering within the anguish that corruption erupts into… it marches boldly with new definitions with the moments of radicalism and the anti-establishment fervour… it also silently meditates with the inner and outer eye of an aware tourist… yes, this is surely the way I’d describe this work.

There is inspiration, disgust, investigation, insurgency, politics, bureaucracy, scams, passion, Assam, excise, corruption, and beauty played out in the best possible words and in simplified layers to make a part of the complexity of India readable and understandable.

Before going further, let us have the details of the novel that is being reviewed:

Title: The Muddy River | Author: P.A. Krishnan | Publisher: Tranquebar | Pages: 248 | Genre: Political fiction

To Reema Sahay, in her review of this novel, this book ‘almost seems to be a real story – multi-layered, multi-dimensional and complex’… and if such comments don’t make you want to know what the novel is all about, probably a few quotes will… let me attempt to reveal the essence of the novel layer by layer making use of the acronym that I have already talked about: SCAM.

However, a few sentences about the story first. The story is about a bureaucrat who questions and investigates, a manager who gets kidnapped, the manager’s wife who shapes trust in her own aggressive way, a police officer who has cynicism written all over his uniform, a Gandhian who seems adamant to connect everything with a doctrine that seems to groan, a wily CM, and a local assistant who keeps balancing between the world as her eyes see and the world as her mind wishes it to be!

Quite a handful, right? Yes, all these characters tell us a lot about the way the human mind functions, the way scams happen, the way investigation can or cannot happen, the way money interacts with personalities and moments to create what we call life.

SENSUAL

The sensual elements that the writer touches upon range from the basely human to the divinely cosmic! He pretends to be coy about being very transparent about the sensual and is constantly finding out means to talk about them in a not-so-clear tone and language. Here is an example:

‘Let him complete the story, Ramesh.’

‘As I said, Shiva was wandering all over the universe with the body of Sati on his shoulder. The earth froze as the sun lost its sting. Apprehending the end of the cosmos, the Gods approached Vishnu who flung his discus, which cut the body of Sati into fifty-one pieces. The part that included Sati’s… mmm… Sati’s private parts fell here and this temple was built on that site.’

‘This is the site of the Cosmic Vagina, Sukanya. Her blood turned blue and coalesced into this mountain.’

The metaphors that Krishnan picks up are local, to say the least, and don’t seem blatant nor annoying. They do appear a bit childishly gleeful, though. Whatever they appear to be, they do tickle the gonadal region rather well and are, importantly, not keeping the main theme of the novel from floundering into a sexual escapade! The writer simply stops and goes on as if breasts that are the size of wood apples have ceased to matter and that there are more important things to talk about.

Anupama Phukan arrives late at night, drenched in rain. She has the breasts of an adolescent, firm and the size of wood apples. They peer defiantly through her wet blouse. She is unconcerned that I am staring at her. She introduces me to Bura.

The sensual does take a couple of unintended turns into the explicit domain… that is, the writer does create space for them, but then characteristically, swerves away before he falls headlong into it! Rather sad, I’d say, but then it is entirely the writer’s choice when he decides to stay away very valid lures.

I am a voyeur after all. I tiptoe my way back to the window and gingerly part the curtains a few inches. The other window neatly frames an elderly couple. The man must be on the wrong side of seventy. The woman appears to be in her sixties. Both are naked. The man is kneading her flappy breasts and the woman is coaxing his manhood to respond. Her face brims over with happiness.

I don’t have the heart to watch their congress. I come back to my bed. One of the ugliest sights in the world must be a man humping a woman.

Notice how the writer chooses to use a word like ‘congress’ in its less known meaning… loved it. The last line quoted above does take us deeper into the mind of the writer and will surely quiz a lot of people all over as many would consider a ‘man humping a woman’ akin to watching ‘art in real life’!

CORRUPTION

The writer does have a nice story-telling mode for implying the menace of corruption that is plaguing society at all levels today. And he does this with a lot of aplomb. The first example given below is vastly different from the one given later, but both highlight intimate anatomical facts of corruption!

Within fifteen minutes, the guest house is crawling with policemen. The superintendent of police comes in and smartly salutes the patriarch.

‘Had we known about your visit, sir, we would have made foolproof security arrangements.’

‘Officer, this is not the first time I am coming to Kokrajar. I think it was meant to scare away our friend here. Are you sure this is not the work of one of your men?’

Description such as the one that follow may appear to be be-fuddling at first but have a tendency to simplify the complexity that surrounds corrupt practices. This also tells a reader that the writer has indeed either done a lot of research or has had a first-hand experience of such social inconsistencies…

‘Front-loading? What is front-loading?’

‘Transmission line construction has three distinct stages. You cast the foundations, erect the towers and string the lines across them. If the a project costs one hundred rupees, the casting of foundations will cost you approximately forty rupees and the other two stages thirty rupees each. The ratio is roughly 40:30:30. The contractors usually quote very high rates for the first stage and unreasonably low rates for the other two stages.’

‘I am beginning to understand now. These fellows try and make a load of money at the foundation stage itself, don’t they?’

ASSAM

As the car swerves away from the river front I catch a fleeting glimpse of the Brahmaputra.

‘This is an amazing river. I don’t think I will ever be tired of it.’

‘That is because you don’t have to earn a living here,’ says Anupama. Her eyes are amazing too. They are limpid, flashing almonds. ‘Ask the people who live by the river. They will gladly change places with you.’

Yes, there are many sentences and paragraphs that simply go off the main theme of the novel to bring to us the beauty of the region, its people, the way interactions take place and so on.

MILITANCY

Consider the four passages taken as examples of the chilling factor that accompanies militancy of any kind. The writer knows very well that militancy is not uni-dimensional and that there are connections that come from all directions.

Example 1 connects militancy with the way the government interacts with it… and the novel has not just this but a lot more to take a reader deeper into this relationship.

He pauses for breath. ‘I am explaining the violence and not condoning it. I have no doubt that we must resist the militants. But the government’s methods are not right.’

‘Which other method then? The Gandhian method?’

‘I don’t know. But I am certain that the bulldozing techniques of the central government are not the answer.’

Example 2 uses minimal words to set the chill-factor deep into psyches… what happens before the old man grins and what happens after are what connect militancy to his advice.

‘I am not sure, young man,’ the old man grins. ‘Ramesh, sleep with your windows closed and the door firmly locked. It is hardly two in the afternoon now…’

Example 3 talks about the basic assumptions that most of us have about the machinations of militancy.

‘What is a humble engineer’s ransom?’

‘I know what a businessman’s ransom is, sir. It varies between…’

‘Let me tell you what a humble engineer’s ransom is. It is zero. Tell them that government companies don’t pay ransom. We are prepared to start developmental activities in and around Ranikhata. We shall…’

Example 4 simply unravels a part of the mystery of insurgency… and tells us what may lie at the bottom of all that pretends to be an ethical dogma or a salvation doctrine.

‘You have been lucky, Mrs Ghosh. Things could have taken a different turn. They could easily have sent proof that he was no longer alive. It was not a good idea to irritate them.’

‘What irritates them is lack of money, Mr Chandran. Please give them the money they have demanded.’

WHAT ELSE?

A few other important aspects of this novel include the choice of narrative and the choice of fonts used.

One reviewer wrote: ‘The language is illustrious.’ This is ridiculous! The language is simply trying to imitate the region and the theme it is describing and does this without many blemishes. It isn’t brimming with memorable quotes or turns of phrases that will linger on…

The narrative that tries to symbolise the real and the virtual does it with a rather innovative use of fonts chosen… and one does tend to fall in love with the font as one reads on though the novel at first appears like library documentation that simply has a colourful cover for a change!

With a tad bit of reluctance I must admit that I liked reading the novel… though I may not re-read it like I did, for instance, ‘Life of Pi’ by Yann Martel or even ‘Great expectations’ by Dickens. This one isn’t in the league of the great writings though if the writer really gets down to it, he may give us something better and more lasting.

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com.

This is the main font chosen

Arvind Passey
14 December 2011 

Right now in this post, I am dedicating a crossword that I have created specially for the warm and friendly Samsung officials as well as all the mobilers who were there from different countries.

You can PRINT this crossword and attempt to solve it… it will surely take you back to the magic of the time spent in Seoul and will rejuvenate the freshly scientific aroma of Samsung within you. For those who are confused about the answers, the key is given right here in the post… and you just have to discover it.

Have fun with this Samsung Crossword teaser… and wait for my other posts…

The Samsung Crossword

2.     The three key words at the S K Telecom Ubiquitous Museum. (3, 4, 3)

4.     The airport at Seoul. (7)

8.     ‘I love you’ in Korean… (6, 3)

10.   This Russian mobiler has a name that resembles a global alcohol brand. (11)

12.   The capital of South Korea. (5)

13.   Name of a beautiful mobiler from Russia. (5)

15.   The last sight-seeing stop before the departure day. (5)

17.   One of the Greek mobilers. (6)

19.   Korean currency. (3)

20.   Didn’t we all love this Japanese mobiler? (8)

21.   Place where the Samsung Digital City was located. (5)

22.   Our mobiler friend from Turkey! (8)

25.   The brilliant Romanian mobiler. (7,5)

27.   ‘Hello’ in Korean… (8)

28.   A food and also a word used before the final click! (6)

29.   The Samsung official we all loved. (4)

1.     Name of this Yorkshire mobiler from UK. (4)

3.     Shopping area in Seoul. (10)

5.     A tab in your pocket and a camera in your pocket. (6,4)

6.     The floor at the samsung office where we had ourpresentations! (6, 5)

7.     Hotel where the mobilers stayed. (4, 7)

8.     One of the main dishes at the Tower Korean Buffet Restaurant. (9)

9.     The shopping area near Ritz Carlton in Seoul. (7)

11.   One of the two mobilers from india. (6,6)

14.   The friendly mobiler from Germany. (8)

16.   Used by us to commute from the airport to the hotel. (9)

18.   A global company in Korea. (7)

23.   The photographer hired by Samsung. (4)

24.   We all had a lot of this to eat. (3, 4)

26.   The key word that describes us all. (7)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Answer Key:
(Note:  Select the area between the +boundary to make the keys visible.)

2.     TUMTKEYTME—The three key words at the S K Telecom Ubiquitous Museum. (3, 4, 3)
4.     INCHEON—The airport at Seoul. (7)
8.     SARANGHAE—’I love you’ in Korean… (6, 3)
10.   SMIRNOVA—This Russian mobiler has a name that resembles a global alcohol brand. (11)
12.   SEOUL—The capital of South Korea. (5)
13.   GALYA—Name of a beautiful mobiler from Russia. (5)
15.   TOWER—The last sight-seeing stop before the departure day. (5)
17.   MARIOS—One of the Greek mobilers. (6)
19.   WON—Korean currency. (3)
20.   KOICHIRO—Didn’t we all love this Japanese mobiler? (8)
21.   SUWON—Place where the Samsung Digital City was located. (5)
22.   MUHAMMED—Our mobiler friend from Turkey! (8)
25.   TUCHLEIMIHAI—The brilliant Romanian mobiler. (7,5)
27.   ANNYEONG—’Hello’ in Korean… (8)
28.   KIMCHI—A food and also a word used before the final click! (6)
29.   TORY—The Samsung official we all loved. (4) 

1.     EMMA—Name of this Yorkshire mobiler from UK. (4)
3.     MYEONGDONG—Shopping area in Seoul. (10)
5.     GALAXYNOTE—A tab in your pocket and a camera in your pocket. (6,4)
6.     THIRTYSEVEN—The floor at the samsung office where we had ourpresentations! (6, 5)
7.     RITZCARLTON—Hotel where the mobilers stayed. (4, 7)
8.     SABLEFISH—One of the main dishes at the Tower Korean Buffet Restaurant. (9)
9.     GANGNAM—The shopping area near Ritz Carlton in Seoul. (7)
11.   ARVINDPASSEY—One of the two mobilers from india. (6,6)
14.   JOHANNES—The friendly mobiler from Germany. (8)
16.   LIMOUSINE—Used by us to commute from the airport to the hotel. (9)
18.   SAMSUNG—A global company in Korea. (7)
23.   MOON—The photographer hired by Samsung. (4)
24.   SEAFOOD—We all had a lot of this to eat. (3, 4)
26.   MOBILER—The key word that describes us all. (7)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Arvind Passey
12 December 2011

Will be playing mixed doubles tomorrow. My partner and I were the winners for this event in the last tournament. This time I had to change my partner as my earlier partner has been transferred to another department and the rule says that for doubles the partners should be of the same department.

Hoping to win the mixed double title this year too!

Table Tennis

Sangita Passey
28 November 2011

‘That’s it? That’s all there is to washing clothes?’ I asked feigning an incredulous expression.

‘Yes. This wash cycle will last for a couple of hours after which the clothes will need to be put out on the clothesline outside for their final spell of air-drying.’

This was when I asked for some Surf powder, placed it on the white palette that I had and looked at it intently.

‘You have two hours,’ she said almost challenging me, ‘can we have a photo-session with this detergent?’

I brought out my palette and poured some of this powder on it. I touched it and even smelled it.

‘Your camera,’ insisted my wife. Her focus is always one step ahead of my inquisitiveness.

‘Both these pics look so different even though they are of the same thing and were clicked at almost the same time,’ mused my wife.

‘Hmmm… the particles look so calm, undisturbed in their own silent world of light and shadow…’ I paused for a moment to watch my wife nod thoughtfully, and then continued, ‘See the light and the shadows. Doesn’t it appear like the play of good and bad in real life?’

Thoughts on a detergent - 01

I then looked closely at the next picture that i had clicked and wondered at the texture that I saw. I also noticed that it was the presence of colour there that seemed so much like a city as viewed from above. A snowed in city with houses having rooftops that were blue and orange. The snow in mounds in some places and the short pathways that told me of neighbours having stepped out to meet another. I told my wife about this fantasy of mine.

She said, ‘Hmmm… yes, and it also tells how lifeless everything is from a distance. Silence everywhere. No people singing, no children playing games, no dogs barking, no radios blaring away some melody, no…’ and her voice seemed to trail off as if she too was suddenly under the spell of this thought.

I smiled and thought: ‘A mere spoonful of detergent has given us some really deep moments of introspection.’

Thoughts on a detergent - 02

It was at this precise moment that my hand accidentally pressed some key and the next picture popped up on the screen. my wife simply gasped at the picture and said, ‘This is amazing!’

‘Amazing?’ I wasn’t so sure of that judgement.

‘Yes,’ she seemed confident of her pronouncement, ‘look at the picture in continuation with the earlier one and you’ll know how life seems so complete, so endless… and then this picture throws that feeling out of gear. This immediately tells me that there are ends, there are shores, there are boundaries, and there are worlds other than the one we are aware of.’

I looked at the picture closely, thought for a while and nodded an agreement.

‘Yes, this picture probably also tells us how much there is to be discovered. How much there is that is not evident and that…’

‘Well,’ interjected my wife, ‘we are all genuine islands like a spoonful of detergent spread on a tiled floor!’ She looked triumphantly towards me and I smiled a smile that clearly meant that she did have the ultimate creative slogan to this picture!

Thoughts on a detergent - 03

The next picture that we opened seemed to echo a similar thought. What appears so consuming at close quarters seems so lonesome, so alone, so isolated when seen in a bigger perspective! Some detergent in a glass was actually like watching an entire galaxy… or maybe a part of the universe…

‘And what I like in this picture,’ said a thoughtful wife, ‘is the hazy hand that is holding the glass. God really doesn’t have a definition as yet and we don’t not know what there is beyond our immediate vision.’

How true. We keep presuming that the entire universe has certain similar or familiar structures… but look at this picture. Doesn’t it tell you how wrong perceptions could really be? All you need is a little detergent in a glass to open your mind to a futuristic vision that is non-existent right now!

Thoughts on a detergent - 04

The next few pictures seemed to be going all out to agree with us. We saw islands, we saw islands trapped in a perspective that seemed familiar, we saw islands that could be shaken into a different shape or size by a mere flick of the hand… we saw how vision must really go beyond what is obvious, we saw how minds in a different thought-set could conjure up conclusions that would be true and yet so untrue.

We actually sat down after some time to wonder if we had ever gone so deep into philosophy earlier… and if not, why?

‘I know the answer to that last query…,’ I said.

‘No big deal,’ replied my wife, and continued, ‘it is because we never had surf excelmatic to give us some exclusive moments of thoughtfulness!’

I smiled. She smiled.

Thoughts on a detergent - 05

We then thought of giving captions to some of the other pictures that followed.

‘Let us call this one “A Mini Guide To The Universe”, I said.

‘OK,’ came the prompt reply.

Thoughts on a detergent - 06

‘Wait,’ warned my wife, ‘let me think of a caption for this one.’

She thought for a while and wrote: The bubbles that live.

‘Seems good,’ I said, ‘ now we are philosophising on not some detergent but a detergent powder that has gone and created an entirely different form of existence with water.’

‘Quite appropriate, as hydrogen and oxygen are indeed the basics ingredients of life!’

Thoughts on a detergent - 07

We spent some time admiring the way bubbles behaved, the way they appeared in direct light. Life did seem so pure, so unadulterated, so transparent…

Thoughts on a detergent - 08

Even when all around was dark, it was this picture that made the two of think of the wonderful opportunities that were still possible.

‘Darkness isn’t really something to be feared.’

‘Yes, as there is always a source of light that will come to rescue sooner or later,’ I hesitatingly added.

‘Do sources of light really come to rescue us?’ wondered my wife.

I kept quiet but did tell myself to resume such thought-debates every time that was washing to be done.

Thoughts on a detergent - 09

This picture below seemed so much like people getting closer to one source of light.

‘Is this why we take up religion? Is this why we want to read the scriptures? Is this what the wise men are always trying to tell us?’

‘Sort of….’ said my wife.

Thoughts on a detergent - 10

‘What is this space for?’ I asked.

After a lot of discussion we concluded that gaps were a natural phenomenon. Gaps or spaces were the only entity that made life possible. Gaps were the catalyst that made creative conclusions possible. Gaps were meant to be filled… and yet, there were gaps being created everywhere, all the time. Gaps and spaces were not life itself… but their absence would not possibly be very healthy for life as there would no longer be much left to find and discover.

‘Almost like having clothes that never get dirty.’

‘Now that’s a good analogy,’ I said.

Thoughts on a detergent - 11

This one was a monochromatic version of the philosophy of bubbles and we looked at it for a long time before reminding ourselves that it isn’t colour that is everything in life. Depth can be seen and felt even when colour cannot be perceived.

Thoughts on a detergent - 12

‘Let us call this picture… Curious Lives,’ I said, almost in a whisper.

Seeing my wife not able to understand, I continued, ‘I had put in a drop of red ink in this detergent solution and then the same source of light that we had been seeing in earlier pictures turned into something that the mind could never have thought of.’

‘OK, so it reminds you of curious lives,’ she asked, ‘ does it?’

‘Yes, because when I saw the result, I had forgotten that I had dropped some ink… and and was curious to know why and how this effect came by.’

‘That explains.’

Thoughts on a detergent - 13

‘So did you drop some black ink here?’

I smiled and replied, ‘ No, this is the same picture in black & white mode.’

‘So it is obvious that what we do and how we behave can affect our own conclusion.’

I was amazed at this conclusion, I must say. I looked admiringly at my wife and said, ‘This is an amazing answer. And this is certainly true.’

Thoughts on a detergent - 14

By the time we reached the last picture I had clicked, the philosophical juices had been converted into an animated discussion on the role of different colours being mixed in a detergent solution.

‘See this picture,’ I said, ‘ even though there is colour mixed in the bubbly solution, does it really affect the shape, the size, the behaviour of bubbles?’

‘Yes,’ said my wife, ‘ and it doesn’t affect the way they seem to be converging upon some solution for their own existence. This probably tells us that language, region, and any other form of difference added to life cannot really change the basic search patterns of a human mind.’

‘Well said.’

Thoughts on a detergent - 15

We had spent almost two hours photographing surf excelmatic powder and then discussing life and its intricacies as they appeared… and this was exciting. We were convinced that we would repeat such exercises every time the washing of clothes allowed us that liberty.

Arvind Passey
25 November 2011

The flowchart of excitement!

Yet another flowchart of excitement!

The only explanation of the chart that I will prefer to give is that one really must take care not to step into the ‘boring’ zone ever… and one sure way to avoid it is to explore and understand the virtues of a good, robust, safe, creative, and full-of-options online store that caters to your needs.

One such fashion store is Qvendo. This online store isn’t just a store; it is a real luxury private shopping club. The inventory here is not just impressive but changes often to make sure that the best in the world of trends is never far away! This policy of keeping an exclusive and limited inventory ensures that:

1. You don’t go to a party to discover to your horror that you may want to avoid your best friends as they were all wearing the same dress
2. Cheap clones happen when a fashion product remains in the buy-zone for longer than necessary, which also means it isn’t as attractive as it is being made out to be

Before we leap-frog onto the next part of this post, let me add a couple of impressive pluses for Qvendo:

1. You get hold of the top international brands at a price that is any day considerably less than any offline store can offer. That’s priceless value, I’d say!
2. The registration, browsing, payment, and the delivery dynamics involved are not just easy and breezy but also free of any expected or unexpected glitches. Click yourself into moments of sheer luxury!
3. From ‘authenticity guarantee’ to a ‘100% insurance from door to door’, this luxury store online has a considerably reduced flat shipping charge. Relax and wait for the best!

Online shopping, we already know, is fast capturing hearts… but this isn’t any online store for anybody. This is an awesome store for awesome personalities. Talking of personality, I really need to mention this short conversation that I recently had with a friend…

‘Why do you buy online?’ asked my friend, ‘Don’t you miss your trips to the market?’

‘Trips to the market,’ I replied, ‘mean staring at tail lights for hours when you’re stuck in traffic jam, waiting to get the attention of ill-informed sales people, having to walk from one store to another just to see the complete range, queuing up even to make payments…’

‘OK, OK,’ said my friend, ‘I get the drift. Now tell me another thing…’ and after a thoughtful pause he added, ‘who do you buy for?’

For a moment his query flummoxed me but then I nodded and said, ‘Interesting question. I buy for myself.’ And before he could say anything, I hurriedly continued, ‘I buy for all those that are within me.’ Seeing his confused looks, I tore a page and made a diagram for him. The digital version of that diagram is what you see below… the picture, of-course, was added later:

Discovering the real person within the self!

‘This is indeed interesting,’ and the twinkle of excitement in my friend’s eyes told me that we weren’t far from actually going online and proving all that I had just told him. So that is precisely what we did. We logged on to Qvendo and went on a fairy tale trip through its pages… the pictures that you see have actual products that we chose though the way they are represented is simply a symbolic way of telling you that we decided to buy the five things for the five different persons within me.

The ARTIST within me…

qvendo_the artist within me

The artist within me simply fell in love with this ‘Pink Poodle Bag Funkyline-Jungle-Tuesday-Green’… I was simply sure of my wife appreciating this superb bag with its two open pockets inside, and the sealable bag with magnetic room divider with integrated zipped compartment and two outside pockets with zip fasteners! The size, the look, the material, the price… everything seemed more than just charming.

The POET within me… 

qvendo_the poet within me

This ‘Replay Brass, Nacro Stones Chain’ is a 4 nacrostones brass chain of 22 cm and the poet in me immediately visualized it in the most appealing neck in my dreams and penned these lines:

What are colours if not in stones? 

A stony look
Looks more dashing
When a coloured iris stare out.
Colour can make everything smashing!

A stony heart
Even when bashing
Innocent emotions can make cheeks
Flush with colours racing!

Every neck
Needs coloured stones
To tell the world how
Much it loves being thought of as amazing!

The PHOTOGRAPHER within me… 

qvendo_the photographer within me

Imagine the photographer’s instincts with me being tickled with this ‘Pink Poodle Bag Celebrity-Vanessa-Dim Grey’… a masterpiece made from 100% fine lamb leather, having high-quality metal rivets, a pocket with zipper to close, elegant jacquard lining with woven logo, a compartment closed by zipper, and two more open inside pockets!

I love this one also because my wife never prefers to carry the sort of camera that I prefer carrying – my massive Nikon SLR – she prefers the petit ones that are sleek but powerful enough to capture her favourite shots even inside a room! This is precisely what  this 30 cm x 18 cm x 10 cm is very capable of.

The WANDERER within me… 

qvendo_the wanderer within me

Wanderlust is what keeps the roving spirit resident inside me alive. I really need to be out every once in a while… and this product somehow reminded me of that instinctive feeling of outdoor adventure! The ‘Pink Poodle Bag Celebrity-Challenge-Jade-Ocean’ is a Lamb leather marvel with celebrity plaque, two screw-ring rivets, zip-up pocket, two open interior pockets, strap length that is adjustable, handle mounted on one side with carbine with gold and silver coloured pearls… ideal for times when Specky (my wife) and I would decide to go out for our long drive to nowhere… this is what life is all about!

This wanderlust is exactly what gives us a sense of purpose, and a spirit of excellence. And this bag does seem so representative of an adventure, a challenge and even entertainment!

The FRIEND within me… 

qvendo_the friend within me

One inseparable part of me that I am quite proud of is the friend that is quietly present within me at all times… it is my philosopher and even my guide. This guide gently nudges and suggested me to go ahead and choose this ‘Replay Jeans Blue, Silver Bracelet’ for the greatest friend in my life, my wife. This 18.5 cm Jeans optics bracelet is a heavenly combo of denim, stainless steel, leather and also silver.

Conclusion

Benjamin Franklin once remarked: ‘There are three things extremely hard: steel, a diamond, and to know one’s self.’ However, if you just have the patience to sit down in front of your PC and browse the Qvendo website, knowing you own self is not going to remain all that difficult.

However, to begin your own adventure into your own self you’ll obviously need to first click here and reach the invitation-only Qvendo site with a special VIP invite!

Arvind Passey
14 November 2011

Image credit: Product images from Qvendo and merged them with artists working.