Yet Another Point of View

Happy Teacher's Day! Math, science, history - all that is fine. But my teachers also taught me some critical 'life lessons' which I never realized when I was younger. It’s time to appreciate them now. For a few early formative years, I had a typical 'girls convent' education. Go on, draw all the devilish conclusions that piece of information warrants. Most are bang on. My class 2 teacher taught me patience. Sister Benny figured I was no good at sports when I stumbled for the 3rd time in the practice sessions for the lemon and spoon race. But I really wanted a medal. So, at the last minute, she signed me up for the needle and thread race. Guess what, I was skimming towards the finish line even before the rest had focused on the needle’s eye. So, I learnt that it may not be very glamorous but your true calling is out there. Just look around. I am not very sure what exactly my class 3 teacher taught me but I think it was – If you have it, flaunt it. If you don’t, stay ...

Sarah Palin, the American Republican Vice Presidential candidate, is a show-stealer. I caught snatches (over Internet video clips) of her superb performance at the Republic National Convention last night. Since everyone is anyway going ga-ga over the ' well-delivered' speech, I will admit I felt like tipping my hat to her as I watched the clips. She sure knows how to draw in the various vote banks she was playing to, and that too with emotion. I thought she had it down pat - the right tones, the stresses, the pauses, the cadences, the proud-to-be-American-at-war thing, the hockey mom thing..perfect. But here is something I had been mulling over the last couple of days (and I can see its a hotly debated issue out there). Five children, one four-month-old infant with Downs Syndrome, a 17-year old unwed, pregnant daughter and a full-time job as the Vice President of the USA... wow, I sure think even the 'lipsticked pit bull', as she refers to herself, is gonna need loads o...

Some time ago, Sony TV's game show Dus Ka Dum , hosted by the incorrigible Salman Khan, had Ranbir Kapoor accompanied by his girlfriend, Deepika Padukone, as guest. If I remember right, he goofed up big time. He had crossed the 10 lakh milestone and then took a chance on the 1 crore question. He guessestimated the % range wrong and promptly lost all his earnings, save one lakh. Salman Khan laughed hard (for some inexplicable reason he mentioned in a following episode). Anyway, that’s beside the point. What I noticed was the way chocolate-boy Kapoor conducted himself on the show. The guy was the epitome of sharaafat . He dared not raise his voice, wouldn’t even laugh out loud and almost bent over backwards addressing Salman Khan as Sir. I am not sure if that’s his real act, but it was like watching an obedient school prefect in the headmaster's office. Well, Ranbir Kapoor sure seems to be taking lessons from Salman Khan, at least in one department - dropping his shirt. In Bachna...