Yet Another Point of View

People say the darndest things on TV. The whole of Thursday 27th Nov, the news channels have been covering the Mumbai situation almost round the clock. Early in the day, one of the channels (I forget which one) showed a snippet of foreigner responses to the attacks. A guy in New York was condemning the attack and saying this to the reporter - "We know life is cheap in India but this time they have targeted foreigners." I couldnt believe the guy actually said that. Shocked and outraged as I am by the Mumbai attacks, I have been glued to the TV all day, but they havent repeated that clip again. And I am very very sure I didnt dream that up. He said that!! And people brave a lot to get on TV too. Some IT yuppie living near Colaba went out onto the streets soon after Wednesday night's blast, took pictures and posted them to CNN's ireport. They interviewed him on the CNN news. He came on BBC World News too. I am all for the concept of citizen journalism...I just hope no ...

This whole month has only reconfirmed my belief that most of the problems in this world are due to poor communication. People don’t or can’t express themselves appropriately. The right words elude them. They don’t say what they actually want to say; they blurt out what was best unsaid. And what’s worst is the torrent of words that they let loose when in a tight spot (so not the right time to say anything!) As a species and after all these centuries, we simply don’t seem to learn, do we? What to say and what not to say. Earlier this month, I had a little accident. You know, of the crazy-Bangalore-traffic variety. In retrospect, it was just a stupid, freak collision, of an auto, a biker and me on a scooter, in which nothing was damaged and no one got hurt. Save me. I hurt my leg. Of course, the pain and blood annoyed me. And, in the bedlam, the smart-ass biker peering into my helmet-clad face, saying, "Sorry, madam. But not my fault. That autowala..oh ..he has gone..he ran away..sor...

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...

That's it? They brought him all the way to Beijing just to stand atop that double decker bus and then kick a ball into the crowd of athletes? At least, I was disappointed. London could have come up with a more exciting 8-minute presentation during the closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games. They could have used David Beckham a little more innovatively. Otherwise, the rest of the ceremony was quite spectacular. Hats off to the Chinese on that one!

The Olympics close tomorrow and the host nation put on a great show. They top the gold medals tally comfortably ahead of the Americans though the later have the most number of total medals. I think India has also put in its best ever Olympic performance with an individual gold and two bronzes. At least our young boxers went down fighting. I loved it when Virender Kumar said after his final loss " abhi bhook hai...Aaj mazaa nahin aaya ." Hope to see these guys in London in 2012. So, everyone is happy. The USOC is thrilled . Indian governmental or sporting bodies are going ga-ga . And of course, the Chinese Communist Party will be very happy this Sunday when festivities mark the end of the Beijing Games and a reassertion of Chinese domination in the sporting world. Still, many think it was not such a "fun" Olympics . I hate to admit it but I am inclined to say so too. I mean, Michael Phelps made history but he only makes me look up at him in stupefication and awe at t...