Wildlife in Thailand

Thailand and elephants go together. They have lots of elephant shows. But Indians are blase about these, as we often see elephants on the road, or in a temple. So we took pics of other fauna from our trip to Thailand just concluded. Enjoy the variety that you can see in a day at the Safari park.

There were giraffes and many others too. By the way, while on the trip through the open zoo, a zebra crossed our road. So that gave rise to a ZEBRA crossing, automatically. Didn't get the name of the bird with a red eye. Help, anyone?

Unemployment and Solutions

There seems to be major unemployment threatening lots of people in India. Some of these unemployed (even ex- BIG BOSSES) and underemployed guys land up fixing matches. If ever the following find themselves in such a situation, here is what they could do.

Kapoors can start a school for putting on weight. With pics of all the male members of their clan, you don't need a hard-sell.

Khans can start their own version of the Cannes film festival. Pronunciation is almost the same, anyways. This can be held at the Kandivali fair grounds, to match with the name of the fest.

Madhuri can start a primary school to teach arithmetic, as in "Ek do teen.."

All bit role actresses of yesteryear can have an eatery called Bits and Pieces, which will serve variety of chats, or a cybercafe that is titled Bits and Bytes.

Nana Patekar could start a school for wannabe actors who will learn how to deliver fiery dialogue in a ghati style.

All other game-players can start a welfare league for themselves right now, as their earnings probably will not be able to support them even at the peak of their careers.

Finally, the commentators of cricket can set up the next edition of comedy circus, as they fit the requirements to a 'T'.

How about it?

Anopheles on Match Fixing and Other Important Things

My friend Anopheles met me again last night, with a question that had been bugging her.

"What's match fixing?" she wanted to know.

"You mean match-making? It's just arranging for a bride or groom for your daughter or son." I helpfully answered.

"No, no, match-fixing. What your papers have been headlining the last few days." she was emphatic.

"Oh, that. It's a player who has some black spots in his character. Then he goes and decides to bowl badly. So the batsman can score lots of runs. It's called spot fixing. " I tried explaining the intricacies of the deviant behaviour.

"Oh, so that's the new form that the gentleman's game has taken, is it?" she made me, actually my whole race, quite small with that scathing remark.

"The gentlemen that you speak of, are almost extinct," I had to admit.

"Well, there are one or two left, as far as I can gather," surprising me with her intricate knowledge of humans at large. "Rahul Dravid, for example."

I said, "He might be the last man standing, for all you know. The guys who are not yet involved in either spot fixing, match fixing, nepotism, or hanging on beyond reasonable retirement age encompasses almost everybody in the game."

I added, " The reason I moved from cricket to golf is that in golf, you are a bad player quite naturally. Most golfers talk much more than play. So naturally, there is no fixing possible. In fact, it is a great FIX for many of the ills of the present times. Such as stress, which match-fixing causes in abundance."

With that advocacy of the game, we parted till we would meet again, perhaps to discuss politics, women, or other important things in a man's life. I sometimes wished I were a mosquito, like her. But who knows, may be the grass just appears greener on the other side. Lead a dual life for a while and find out, maybe?

The Great Gatsby- Film Review

An old classic by Scott Fitzgerald set in the 1920s America, comes to life, well portrayed by its lead characters. It is a tale of obsessive love that a poor guy has for a rich girl, and he decides to make himself worthy by somewhat dubious means. It is too late, by then, and she is married to a rich guy.

So Gatsby traces her, buys a house/castle across the bay from her (in New York) and starts throwing lavish parties to which the social who's who come uninvited. But his lady love does not make an appearance. How he attempts to win her back and how it all turns out - not so well- is the rest of the story.

Narrated by a cosuin of the heroine, the style is paramount in this tale of love. The substance is quite on the expected lines, but the way it all unravels is unique. Definitely worth a watch for the presentation, the acting, and some snappy dialogues in a couple of scenes. Leonardo does a good job. But Toby McGuire is equally good as the anchor of the story. The period is well-captured, in the context of the story.

Humpty Dumpty

Dedicated to the fixers of matches, who increase entertainment value, TRPs of news channels, print runs of newspapers, and give readers respite from the same old news.

A Nursery Rhyme for Modern Times

Humpty Dumpty bowled a no-ball

The batsman who hit it was a know-all

He socked it, and it flew like a rocket,

And in the process he lined his pocket

Humpty went back and tucked in his towel,

 and came roaring back again

With the same result,

And lakhs worth of ‘gain’

Now Humpty adjusted his wrist band

And it was a signal to the bookie in the stand

Who used it to make bets he won,

To him it proved to be a magic wand

Alas, there was a cop in it too

Watching the funny things that these guys would do

And when it came tumbling out,

The game was over, barring the shout.

Spring in Arabia

Can Tunisia ever be out of tune?

What if there is a drought in Bah-rain?

If Arab winter comes, can Arab spring be far behind? (Apologies to a great poet)

I wonder...one of my seven wonders....Is it possible to stand on top of a pyramid?

Why are all the interesting crypts in Egypt?

Why was the Tomb raider Jolly (mis-spelt of course)?

Are there knights in the Arabian Nights?

Is there a Starbucks in Arabica? Or Arabica served in a Starbucks?

Vanishing Artists

Daler Mehndi, Alisha of "Made in India" fame, Ranjita Kaur who was a regular in several 70s/80s films like Taraana, Damaad, Ankhiyon ke Jahronkhon Se, Rameshwari of Dulhan Wahi Jo Piya Man Bhaaye and Sunayna, ...the list is long. The question is the same. Where are they? What are they up to?

And it's not just those from those days. Even recent ones are fairly infrequent in their appearance- or close to disappearance. Ayesha Jhulka, Amrita Rao after Vivaah (the film), Sadashiv Amrapurkar, Ashish Vidyarthi, and so on.

I saw Bombay Talkies the other day at Kolkata. Nice in a way, but the effect wears off pretty quickly after you leave the theatre. I liked the Dibakar Banerjee film the best, followed by the story of the kid who wants to be a dancer, directed by Zoya Akhtar.