Diwali Chronicles

 No match for Chronicles of Narnia. But significant for us. Spent a few days in Hyderabad with my sister, BIL and niece. Highlights were a meeting with Pratima for a biryani as planned, and a couple of outings for lunch (at Peshawar with a friend), and dinner. Also a lot of biryani at home too. 

And celebrated Bhaubeej/Bhaidooj. 

Soda swag, before Biryani at Peshawar, Lakdi ka pul.

Nawabi style. Chai with Pratima.

Fake News Generator

I propose to automate fake news generation. The FNG, or Fake News Generator, is an invention whose time has come. You simply decide on a few parameters, and the AI-based generator goes to work, generating fake news about the people, in tons of videos, Memes, print, or any other form.

For example, say I don't like a certain character in my office. I can generate fake news about his childhood, his dangerous liaisons, his secret trysts with non-veg. food while he proclaims himself a vegan, how he was involved with the Italian/Sicilian mafia, how he smoked pot when 18, and (if he was a U.S. citizen) dodged being drafted into the Army, and his being politically close to a secret group that is planning to overthrow the current government. This would ensure his downfall in no time.

The language to be used in the fake news (how unparliamentary) has to be specified by the user of this FNG. This can be sold by e-commerce companies as the best Diwali gift that one can buy for yourself..in this selfie-crazy generation, you usually buy gifts for yourself anyway. Methinks it will rock the festive season.

Diwali

 As always, Diwali this year came with celebrating by lighting diyas at home, and some lighting experiments by the family. An example is below. Above, my kurta day.

The flower arrangements also added to the festive cheer, as did the snacks that we call "faraal" in Marathi. Mr. Chitale, the famous vendor of some of these ran out of stock on Diwali day. Good for weight-control!

Rounded the week up by meeting two ex-students, Khyati Jha and Sirisha Adi. It was great chatting about the world at large, and some happenings in our lives.

Diwali in North Korea

During Diwali, there used to be an array of differently named bombs attractively packaged and named. Laxmi bomb, atom bomb, hydrogen bomb, lavangi, and so on are some I remember from my childhood. It is said that (male) children grow up to play with different toys. Country heads seem susceptible to this too-male ones in particular.

So North Korea gets into its own Diwali celebration act with its recent explosion that it claims is a hydrogen bomb. This has brought the usuually soporific U.N. to an emergency meeting to discuss what it should (or should not) do. Many countries have (politically correctly) expressed outrage. But what I don't get is why that outrage is missing when any random act of war is carried out by the ex-colonial or the new colonial powers.

Anyway, to express our own, maybe we can return a few awards. Anyone game for it? Criteria-

1. You must be outraged
2. You should have won an award

If not, find someone who can give you one, and then express your outrage. But careful, someone may be outraged at your receiving it.

Random Diwali Thoughts 2013

The small plane is more fun to fly in than the big one. The Wright brothers had the most fun.

The Chinese are better at making Diwali stuff for the masses than India- fact of life. And a few other things, like furniture that guys want to buy.

There is no whiskey like the single malts- some of them, at least. My list would include most Islay malts, and Glenfiddich.

Food tastes divine when you are hungry. This is akin to the words of the great Confucius ( a man with a misleading name) who apparently said, "When hungry, eat. When sleepy, sleep." I agree.

What makes for a great movie is the edit. Mostly, it has to do with removing the unnecessary.

There is no greater happiness than friends, family  and nature. Everything else is a burden which we carry.

Diwali

I hit a record of sorts by meeting 3 different friends, two old and one new, in the three days this Diwali. I usually shudder to drive in Bangalore (a phobia of sorts) due to the sorry state of the roads and even sorrier driving habits of Bangaloreans. Which is why this is a record.

The feelings evoked by Diwali are however, unique. It brings about the urge to splurge on everything- food, sweets in particular, sparkling diyas, or lights of any kind, consumer goods, etc. I restricted myself to a new music system cum many other things, made by an unheard of Japanese brand. But I am sure I would have bought something else if the holiday had been longer.

Also saw Blue, India's first movie with underwater action occupying a lot of screen time. I thought it was a good attempt at this, and action on the road. Only a flimsy story to take it forward, but the, which Bond movie has a great story? Lara Dutta makes a good Bond-style heroine, though that can't be said about Sanjay Dutt and Akshay, who are poor substitutes for the real thing. Shot in the Bahamas, which I visited long ago, was an added attraction, since we also dived there during our trip.