A negative vote

I don't think our politicians get it.

A debate on NDTV last evening led to a showdown of sorts between Shobhaa De and Jayanti Natarajan, Spokesperson of the Congress. Shobhaa continued to express her thoughts on Mumbai. Jayanti was understandably defensive, the constant blame being placed at the politicians doorstep starting to get to her.

In the end, Shobhaa ended up looking like the mature person while Jayanti lost her temper, was furious at Shobhaa's inclusion of Sonia Gandhi in the list of uncaring politicians and finally degenerated into making statements like "If Shobhaa has better suggestions then why doesn't she run for elections and become the CM?"

This is the defence our politicians resort to when asked simple questions. Questions that are on everybody's lips : Why wasn't the intelligence received acted upon? (Jayanti's reply: Has Shobhaa heard about 'actionable intelligence'? Not everything can be acted upon.)

Not even an indication that the Taj will be a target for terrorism, or that the terrorists will come by sea? How much more specific do you want them to get? Shobhaa was right in asking whether the CM was waiting for a phone call from the terrorists informing him when and where they were going to strike!

The frustration we feel is naturally targeted at our netas. We meekly elect them every time, hopeful that this time they will be different. They don't deliver. And what do we do? Elect them again.

I don't have an answer to this, except to propose the concept of a negative vote, a vote that is not in favour of any candidate, yet is valid and taken into account.

Our Indian electoral system presently has no provision for indicating that the voter does not find any of the candidates suitable to represent him in Parliament. We are forced to vote for someone - no matter how incompetent.

If you don't clearly choose one candidate, your vote is invalid. That's millions of votes lost because we don't have enough options.

How many times have you walked out of a polling booth, angry and frustrated because even the Independents are thugs in waiting? But you have to make your presence felt, otherwise, someone else will cast a vote in your name.

A negative vote will solve that problem. If I don't feel that any of the candidates are worthy, I will make my stand clear. I will not be forced to vote for the 'lesser evil' as most of us tend to do. The vote will count. The majority vote will still count. If the constituency registers a majority negative vote, an alternative will have to be found - I don't know what. At least the same thugs will not come into power over and over and over again (or take turns).

The more I think of it, the better the idea sounds. Any takers? Perhaps I should start a campaign and get the CEC to listen.

Support Raj Thackeray (not my idea!)

Apparently, I'm not the only one who has Mr. T on my mind. An email forward received recently tells me that others are thinking about him, too. Not all of it is completely accurate or makes sense, but you get the sentiment.

Here's what it said:

All of us should support Raj Thackeray and take his initiative ahead by doing more...

1. We should teach our kids that if he is second in class, don't study harder... Just beat up the student coming first and throw him out of the school.
2. Parliament should have only Delhiites as it is located in Delhi.
3. Prime-minister, president and all other leaders should only be from Delhi.
4. No Hindi movie should be made in Bombay. Only Marathi.
5. At every state border, buses, trains, flights should be stopped and staff must be changed to local staff.
6. All Maharashtrians working abroad or in other states should be sent back as they are SNATCHING employment from Locals in that country.
7. Lord Shiv, Ganesha and Parvati should not be worshiped in Maharashtra as they belong to north (Himalayas).
8. Visits to Taj Mahal should be restricted to people from UP only.
9. Relief for farmers in Maharashtra should not come from centre because that is the money collected as Tax from whole of India, so why should it be given to some one in Maharashtra?
10. Let's support Kashmiri Militants because they are right to killing and injuring innocent people for benefit of their state and community.
11. Let's throw all MNCs out of Maharashtra, why should they earn from us? We will open our own Maharashtra Microsoft, MH Pepsi and MH Marutis of the world.
12. Let's stop using cell phones, emails, TV, foreign Movies and dramas. James Bond should speak Marathi .
13. We should be ready to die hungry or buy food at 10 times higher price but should not accept imports from other states.
14. We should not allow any industry to be set-up in Maharashtra because all machinery comes from outside.
15. We should STOP using local trains... Trains are not manufactured by Marathi manoos and Railway Minister is a Bihari.
16. Ensure that all our children are born, grow, live and die without ever stepping out of Maharashtra, then only they will become true Marathis.

How does one get this across to Mr. T? Perhaps this needs to be translated into Marathi and sent on horseback...

India has no Obama

We get three papers at home during the week and add the Sunday Express to the basket on Sundays. Of course, by the time the paper makes its way from Bombay, the sun has set in Goa already, but never mind. It is a rare pleasure to read a paper fresh in the evening.

I like the Express. I like it because the writing is somewhat tight. The TOI has lost all its lustre and the local papers desperately need good sub-editors who can string a sentence together. I've heard good things about HT and of course, when in Bombay, I look for the Mint.

Anyway, back to the Express. In this Sunday's paper, Tavleen Singh comments on India's current obsession with Obama and whether we'll ever have a hero as inspiring as that.

For those of us not directly involved in politics, hope keeps us going. We believe that surely there is someone in this crowd of a billion people who can stand up and make a difference in Parliament. We haven't seen him/her yet, but the law of probability says that such a person should exist. But as Tavleen says,

...In such a bleak political landscape the only way to keep our spirits up is to hope that one day in the distant future things will change for the better. Meanwhile, we can amuse ourselves by watching our TV anchors speculate on whether our Barack Obama is Rahul Gandhi or Mayawati. The suggestion that either is anywhere close is so absurd that you can either laugh or cry....

Read the article here.

It's a shame our choices are so limited. What will it take for an unknown person to stand up and raise the nation to a frenzy of change? How do we get rid of our demons in white kurtas? Will we see an Indian version of Barack Obama in our lifetime? Or will our tryst with slavery to the party system continue well into the next century?

With state elections looming, the answer is in the ballot you'll cast. Make your vote count.

Obama v/s Thackeray - Jug Suraiya

Comparing Obama and Thackeray is like talking about chalk and cheese. The irrepressible Jug Suraiya has most eloquently put into words the difference between distinguished and desperate (my definitions).

Perhaps no two politicians could be more dissimilar, not just in stature but, more importantly, in the philosophy they represent, than US President-elect Barack Obama and MNS chief Raj Thackeray. Obama, the black American president, represents what might be called the politics of togetherness; Thackeray personifies the politics of otherness.

From today's TOI. Read the article here

With the kind of influence that the SS and MNS wield, they have the power to change the face of not just Maharashtra, but the rest of the country. With just one proclamation either from the Sr or Jr Thackeray's, corruption within government could be passé, the PWD could deliver top-quality work, the slums around the airport could vanish, education for every child could be a reality and the tiger (the SS's symbol, vanishing fast - oh irony!) could be saved from extinction.

Of course, none of this will happen. The T family is too busy burning cinemas, forcing flyovers to open before the tar has dried, targeting poor labourers struggling to make a living, preventing young people from sitting for examinations (if they focused on education, maybe the beleaguered Marathi Manoos would qualify for those posts without the shame of violence, but no.)

What makes a possible leader-of-the-masses (which either of the T's is certainly not) a figure to be despised, deplored, hated, pitied? These are not the Lalu's of Bihar - illiterate yet crafty. The T's are educated, intelligent even. Yet, their energies are directed toward stone-throwing, bus-burning and arson.

I cannot understand it. And I suspect, neither can the Marathi Manoos.

Under the carpet - soon it'll be IFFI season again...

With this year's IFFI round the corner, Panjim is in for its annual facelift. With just a couple of weeks to go, the eyewash whitewash has begun .Government buildings are getting a fresh lick of paint (no scraping, just slapdash over the existing coat), road dividers are refreshed, and calls for tenders went out last week (rather late, I'd think) for a quickie pavement and street-light restoration job.

If they could only clear the garbage (and not bury it surreptitiously), put dustbins for the public to use, get the municipal sweepers to sweep a little more diligently, that would be marvellous. This city/state can be so much more beautiful - if it can't happen in these next few weeks, we'll have a long wait till next November.

This year, IFFI expects over 5000 delegates and has a few 'open to the public' schemes as well. For about 100/- per film, the junta can see movies (up to 3 a day, I think), including in the new Indian Panorama section. Why restrict it to three is beyond me; perhaps that's a way of keeping the riff-raff non-delegates out.

Goa, like a lot of other places, tends to be rather elitist when it comes to so-called prestigious events. While many events are advertised, several others are by word-of-mouth only. The organisers possibly think that they've done a great job by limiting it to people they know (and they do get bums on seats because this is a small place - people attend everything). And then they wonder why more people don't come / take interest / learn the local traditions and customs.

So over the next few weeks, the hoi-polloi will scramble to get delegate passes and catch up with people who can get them seen at the events. It should be interesting to watch.

No booth-capturing, then?

As I write this morning, the long awaited results for the US elections are coming in fast. Obama, as predicted, is leading McCain by over a hundred electoral votes - which is terrific. Right now, Obama has 207 votes v/s 135 for McCain.

This election got me thinking about a couple of points. Firstly, as we've heard endlessly, history is being made. America is ready for change. Barack Obama's skin colour is important, but not as important as the fact that people are voting anti-Republican. This is an anti-Bush election. Everybody's had enough. The worsening economy and the administration's handling of the financial crisis was the last nail in the coffin. The Elephants need to go.

It's somewhat like what we tend to do in India. Our votes are very rarely for someone. It's usually anti-others. We'll vote Congress not because we think they'll be good for our constituency or nation, but because the option of having the BJP in power terrifies us. Any third party in the running is negligible. In frustration, I often vote for the Independents, but that is neither here nor there because these loners join hands with the enemy and defeat the purpose of being Independent in the first place.

Anyway, anti-Bush or not, this election will hopefully change the way the US looks at race. Reports from the Middle East and across the world are welcoming a new black president who thinks differently from the Bush/McCain camp. World Peace might not be possible in our lifetime, but the first whiffs of it are spreading with the euphoria of election night.

Secondly, I marvelled at the order of the voting process. People voted without coercion or violence. A sense of euphoria, excitement and anticipation washed over the US and touched us all. Isn't this is what democracy is all about - the power of the ordinary person to influence your country's leadership? Whether the leadership lives up to the hype is another matter altogether. For now, let us exult in the fact that a glass ceiling has been broken and new voices will ride in on the wings of change.

Maybe in four or eight years time, the country might be brave enough to vote for a woman president.

My thoughts on the US Election

How do these people sleep at night?

Raj Thackeray, for the sake of the Marathi Manoos, incites hatred, encourages looting, violence and murder.

Not to be outdone (and to stay in the news, I think) Bal Thackeray comes out in support of Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, one of the accused in the Malegaon Blasts. What? Did he run out of criminals in his own backyard to defend?

Mayawati stalls projects to antagonise Sonia, comes up with ideas for infrastructure that will destroy the Taj Mahal and pushes caste politics to the top of the agenda. In the meantime, UP's people (including her beloved Dalits) continue to be one of India's poorest.

The Maharashtra Government struggles to control the MNS, but rejects calls for banning them. Kissa Kursi Ka, definitely. Ditto for the Goa government. Issues be damned. Mud-slinging is the what keeps these netas in the news.

And lastly (this list could be endless): Our esteemed members of Parliament debate for over two years to pass the "Right to Education" bill. Latest news reports suggest that although the Cabinet has just cleared the bill, the Finance ministry is concerned about its implications on India's coffers. Never mind about those millions of children denied basic education who could have grown up to fill those very same coffers. We'll always need child labour.

Sleep well, India. As promised in their election manifestos, our politicians are looking out for you.

Yes, there is a God

and He doesn't work for the MNS.

So, the unthinkable happened. Raj Thackeray was arrested and sentenced to two weeks in jail (whether he stays there is questionable, though).

Now, if they could only arrest the rest of the MNS workers (and the SS and the BJP and the VHP while they're at it) or deport them somewhere (one of those islands made of plastic and other waste disposed in the in the middle of the ocean sounds good) with no way of getting back here, life would be good.

Mumbai, in the meantime, watch your back. Trouble's ahead.

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The Sensex rose 460 points today. The news says it's because of gains in IT and realty stocks. I think it's because of the arrest - it brings back some degree of hope in the law. If they keep him there (and manage to keep law & order in the state at the same time), the Sensex will go up a couple of thousand points - you'll see!)

4 things (not) to do in Goa

While the travel books and magazine features are telling you about how lovely Goa is and what to do this winter in the land of sun and sea, here are four things not to do while in Goa this holiday season:

1. Don't befriend Indian (Goan) boys/men on the beach: Here's a lesson for women, especially foreigners (Indian women learn this early) - 'friendly' strangers, especially men, must be viewed with suspicion. Indian men are not trained to be 'friends' with women. Any friendly overtures must be rebuffed firmly, but politely. Chances are that years of Bollywood has brainwashed them into believing that you'll come around sooner or later. Do not get flattered by the attention. Your life may be at risk. Whether you are 12 or 50, a Scarlet Keeling or a sullen teenager looking for friends, be very careful about who you befriend. Unlike the West, you cannot afford to be lulled into a friendly chat on vacation, knowing that at the end of the day you can walk away if you choose. An Indian man is likely to think you are leading him on.

2. Don't argue with hotel waiters : An Australian tourist was beaten to death last week in Calungute by waiters at a local hotel. Conflicting newspaper reports suggest that the Aussie had a knife, was drunk (at 8.30 am), boorish and made the first move. I ask, does that justify being beaten to death? If the waiters could get together and beat him, surely they could have as easily over-powered him and handed him to the police?

3. Don't complain/grumble about local politicians : Whether you know anything about Goan politics or not, keep your mouth shut. Complaining about local politicians could lead to severe injuries, perhaps death.

4. Don't complain about harassment : If a family member has been harassed, molested, even murdered, think twice before making a police complaint. You may be booked for negligence instead. In Goa, you are expected to keep a constant eye on your family - that is your responsibility. If anything should happen to them, you couldn't possibly blame anybody else but you (that's what you'll be told).

If you want the perfect holiday, I'd suggest you head elsewhere. Goa? Paradise Lost.

When push comes to shove

The shocking and shameful attack on Goan lawyer Aires Rodrigues and heritage activist Prajal Sakhardande has reconfirmed the public's view that politicians in Goa, like the rest of India, are a crooked and corrupt lot (to put it mildly).

In protest of the attack (where Rodrigues was attacked by masked men weilding swords and choppers and Sakhardande received head injuries), public rallies and candlelight vigils have taken place since yesterday. I'm glad that the people of Goa are swift to react and organise themselves in a matter of hours. This is something Mumbai cannot claim yet (except for the MNS and SS who are experts at impromptu riots and damaging public property).

This incident has shocked people unlike anything else in recent times. That such things could happen in Goa was unbelievable - this is not North India, after all.

The protests are loud and the message is clear. But will candlelight vigils and rhetoric change the world? When it comes to Indian politics, I'm cynical. I'm not sure anymore if *anything* we do makes a difference. Will these rallies and vigils motivate the police to take action? Will they give the ruling party the courage to do what is right? Will they teach the Opposition that playing the numbers game is not what they've been elected to do?

From what I've seen of Goa and its politicians, hope runs dry.

I pray that I'm wrong. Maybe this time, the tide will turn.

Politicians get into the system not to do any good for the people (but you knew that already), but to stay on in power as long as possible for their own sake. If this involves consorting with criminals and thugs, then that's the price one pays for power. They're not going to risk their precious legislative seat for the purpose of justice and human rights.

Principles have no place in politics. Not in Bihar. Not in UP. Not in Maharashtra. Certainly not in Goa.

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There will be a rally tomorrow afternoon at Azad Maidan, Panaji at 4.30 to protest against the incident.

Benazir Bhutto assasinated

Shocking news just in : Benazir Bhutto assassinated at a rally in Rawalpindi.

Read a report here.

Making of the Gandhi dynasty

The Guardian, this morning, has a picture profile on the Gandhi dynasty.

Another weekend gone

The problems you have when you marry a politically aware man......

We fell asleep last night discussing world politics and the tyranny of the West. What brought it up was watching 'Beyond Borders' on telly;a movie with Anjelina Jolie & Clive Owen in the lead. The movie is set in the world's 'hot's spots - from the deserts of Africa, to Cambodia, to Croatia. Jolie's character falls in love with a renegade doctor who flits from country to country administering to people in need. The chemistry between the two leads isn't palpable, but the images of the dying and destitute leave an indelible imprint on your mind. And this is what perhaps lead to our late night discussion...Fortunately today was Sunday and we could afford to steal a few extra hours, so I've forgiven Mr.R for keeping me awake with talk of politics.

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Mr.R took a break from his studying for exams by taking to the water. We are lucky to have a huge park in the middle of town with a little man-made water body that houses swans and ducks. In summer they rent out rowboats and that's what we did - took a boat out for half an hour and followed the wake of the swans and ducks as they swam out of our way. Mr.R insisted on doing all the hard work, while I did the navigation. Avoiding the ducklings that swam dangerously close to the oars was a task in itself, but nature provided them with an instinct to 'duck' (pun not intended!) under the boat/oars when danger presented itself. On one occasion, Mama Duck abandoned her three fledglings and hopped onto the bank while the babies hovered in terror in one corner praying hard that the boats gave them a wide berth. Once at a safe distance, Mama hopped back into the water, and the poor abandoned ducklings swam to her for reassurance. Quite selfish, I thought!!

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Something struck me at church this morning. No, it wasn't lightning! I realised that not many people wear red here. Even in the height of summer, the warm tones of scarlet are limited to manicured nails. One sees a lot of whites, browns and beige. The visible colors are pink, a lot of it and in every shade and then there are the blues and yes, the omnipresent black. Now that's a color for every season here. But no red. Wonder why.

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I can finally understand the English obsession for all things weather related. The past weekend has been gloriously sunny and one can tell the difference in seasons. The weekend though has been overcast, gloomy and wet. Thundershowers with abundant lightning all over the country has made the heatwave (33 deg C last Sunday!!) a distant warm memory. It's crazy how the weather changes by the hour. Right now the sun is out, like the grey clouds hovering around this morning were there just by accident. By evening, the sunshine might be a distant dream, but you can never tell. As Mr.R never tires of telling me, the only way to enjoy life here is not to let the weather affect your plans. If you let the wind, cold or rain decide for you, then you're likely to spend your life indoors waiting for the sun to show up. Wise man, that Mr.R. I should listen to him more often :)

Making a statement. Loud and clear.

So, the US is reviewing its decision to deny Modi any kind of visa. Buckling under pressure or a very clever game, perhaps? Whatever it is, the issue has snowballed into a matter of national pride with (disappointingly) the PM taking it up in Parliament and asking the US to reconsider. Modi on the other hand has successfully managed to turn the tables. He asks what right the US has to deny him a visa. He ponders (rather loudly) how they would feel if India denied a visa to someone from the US govt. Me thinks if India knew of a person accused of mass murder was coming into the country, I'm sure even we would have not granted him a visa. Why is the M man special? But I am only part of the aam junta - surely can't argue with his logic or thinking.

The case against Modi deserves a rude awakening - the kind that it got yesterday. Not only should the US stick to its guns and deny him a visa this time, but they should put pressure on the Indian goverment to take legal action, if not political against the man. The "Wanted" posters from the Coalition against Genocide group touch a chord. I sometimes wish we had a system of justice like the Saudi's have. Cruel. Barbaric. Instant.

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A whole new battle is now raging on the subject of investigative "journalism" - the term given to defend sneaking hidden cameras into celebrities bedrooms after setting them up for months. I admit that initially when I heard about the Shakti Kapoor and Aman Verma incidents and saw the Verma tape on telly, I was outraged. How dare they make promises for sex, I thought with anger. And then I thought, these are two adults. Apparently consenting. It didn't appear as if the girl in question was being forced to do something she didn't want to. If the undercover reporter could afford to take a flight out of the city, she could have told Verma to get lost when he asked her to meet her at his house late in the evening. I can understand if someone is desperate enough for money or to make a living and is prepared to go to such lengths. It wasn't the case here. And for someone who is willing to exchange a night in return for the possibility of work and fame, it shouldn't be anybody else's business as to what they do.

The Big Fight on NDTV tonight threw up some interesting questions : Mahesh Bhatt said switch your telly off if you don't want to watch something. Which is allright to some extent especially when he defends 'Murder' with the line that he didn't force people to watch it - they paid for their tickets and made it run for so many weeks. Point taken. We watch what we want to. But is it in the national interest to know that a telly actor or a creepy villian takes sexual favors? Why not focus on, like a lady in the audience said, on the men who distribute drugs to kids outside schools? Or on the politicians who buy a Merc with tax payers money when the state is in the red? Or the policeman who is notorious for greasing his palm for work done? Or the doctor, the postal employee, the clerk in Mantralaya who lives to make a profit from other people's misery? Why not focus on them and improve the quality of our miserable lives rather than run after minor celebrities and invade their privacy? What are the real issues then? Is this journalism or is it just a game for TRP's?

Atleast some good news

Narendra Modi has been denied a visa to the US.

This week gets better as the hours go by.

Loving the rituals

Loving the rituals that keep men close,
Nature created means for friends apart:

pen,paper,ink, the alphabet,
signs for the distant and disconsolate heart.

Palladas (4th century AD)
translated by Tony Harrison
from 'Poems from the Underground'

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'Closer' is not a movie I'd recommend you to see. Starring Julia Roberts,Jude Law, Natalie Portman and Clive Owen, this Golden Globe winning movie is frankly, a bit of a bore. I didn't really enjoy the dark, brooding plot, the hinted at violence within the characters, the messed up lives..... I guess my expectations of a JR movie possibly set me up for a fall. I associate JR films with 'fun' because that's what her characters usually are. This one was no fun at all.

My view entirely. If you happen to see it and like it, do let me know.

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So, where is Saddam Hussein?

Iraqis have voted in a historic election. The world watched as car and human bombs tried to dissuade the voters from moving out. A British chopper crashed killing possibly 15 troops. But in all this madness, everybody's forgotten about Saddam. I mean, does anybody know where on earth he is? In the US, in Iraq? The Americans have succesfully diverted everybody's attention from his capture and ongoing interrogation to other issues. Never mind that they haven't found any WMD's yet. In the meantime, the planet looks on and chooses to believe the American version of world events. And they are looking towards Iran now.

I'm sure each new Administration in the US has to come up with a country to attack/invade, oops, sorry, I'll rephrase that to ....... has to come up with a country to 'rescue from fanatic religious forces and to reinstate democracy and win freedom for the people' . That's the only reason why every few years a new country takes it's turn on the dart board. Perhaps the Oval Office has a world map at which they throw darts and say, voila! this year lets go to India (but they have proven nuclear capability, so we'd better throw again..) Half of Africa languishes under civil war and unbelievable hunger and poverty. Yet, the US chooses to ignore this loss of live and adopts a watch-and-wait-policy. Just because they would not benefit from going in. It's interesting to watch how they choose their battles, literally. Dubya continues to talk like a eight year old suddenly let loose out of his father's shadow. His inauguration speech was pathetic - the expression on his face, the smirk in his eyes - one doesn't know whether to laugh at him or feel pity for the idiots who voted for him. They've got what's coming to them, I guess.

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Ok, enough about madmen. Time for breakfast. And some serious work.

Happy Monday, you all.

A dream come true....only on TV!

Just watched bits and pieces of one of my all time favorite movies on TV (ok,don't laugh now!); it's 'Nayak' starring Anil Kapoor, an OTT fantasy of a TV journalist who gets a chance to be CM for a day and turns the city around. It's the kind of stuff I pray will come true some day. Paresh Rawal has some great lines in the film. When AK has his doubts about being a full-time politician, Rawal lectures him saying that "....everybody says that when they grow up they want to be doctors or engineers or accountants. Nobody says I want to be a politician. And then we grumble about the state of the country, the corrupt people in power ...yet we are not prepared to do anything about it..." so true, so true.

I like this movie for many reasons. It strikes a chord somewhere deep in me - it 'shows' a dream that I have for a change that rocks our lives, drags us out of our complacency, makes us accountable for our lives. This is a movie that I relate very deeply to; I just wish it were fact and not fantasy. Anil Kapoor isn't one of my favorite actors, but I admire his acting here - one is almost convinced that he means what he says. Or perhaps I'm just gullible :)

"Join politics" is on my list of 'things to do before I die'. I probably added it to the list in a fit of idealism but I know that it's not one of the things that I'm going to make happen. There are other ways to make a difference. I don't think I can (or want to)deal with the 'politics', the corruption, the expectations, the rivalries, the name-sullying, the character assasinations, the fake smiles and the hypocrisy. Life is just too short to be pleasant to people you don't want to be around.. There are other ways to make a difference....

We need more young, educated, literate people in Parliament. For those of you brave enough to try, you have my entire support, for what it's worth! If you have the thick skin to take on the Uma's, Mayawati's and the Laloo's of this world, then may God and the junta be with you! Good luck!

Some tears, some joy...

Arafat is dead.

It is an irreplaceable loss. And I don't care what the rest of the world thinks.
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After a long time, I actually enjoyed a train journey home. As the train moved from suburb to suburb, it seemed as if the whole world was suddenly celebrating something. Every building was gloriously lit up, some even decorating terraces in order to stand out from the crowd. There were fireworks all along the way to keep the train company - glorious lights, mysteriously breaking into a thousand stars and then disappearing into nowhere. It was lovely watching fireworks blaze into the sky, narrowly missing planes at Santacruz, shooting into stars over clear skies at Kandivili. At Diwali, the city gets transformed magically, especially at night, into a sort of mini-fairyland; lights all over, celebrations, diyas, sweets..everybody seems so happy. One only wishes that it were true.
And that this lasts.

One can almost forgive the noise in order to experience the lights.

What's new

Veerappan is dead. Congress-NCP has won the elections and the same crooks are back in power. Bal Thackeray has a growing problem on his chin - he swore he would shave his AB lookalike beard when the SS came to power. In the meantime, he raves and rants against journalists.

There's lots to do in the coming days in the city. The Annual Granth booksale is on at their store at SV Rd, Goregaon, upto the 24th. There is another sale by Butterfly books at Sunderbai Hall, New Marine Lines. Two bridal shows - Vivaha 2004 at Taj Lands End and Glitter 2004 at Santacruz. I'm going to see 'The Graduate' on Sunday.

Last date to file IT returns also approaching.

It's a good thing we have an extended weekend to fit in all this - Friday's a holiday for Dassera!