It Really Socks!

Amidst many of life's mysteries that man has tried to solve over the years, a significant one is that of the MMS, or 'missing matching socks.

Consider this. How is it that no matter how many pairs you have, you can never find a matching pair in the morning when you're getting ready to leave home. No matter how many new socks with different colours and designs you buy, once they come home, they all get lost in the socks black hole!

I think it's the price you pay for being clean. Think about it. You buy a new pair, it's wrapped in plastic, stuck together neatly with a clip. It waits smilingly in the cupboard for your first date, ready and easily available in the cupboard, lying innocently in the drawer with a big sign on it saying "pick me, pick me". It comes with the promise of a new beginning, a new start to sock fate, a final breaking of the curse of the missing matching socks, a readiness to being a new you... a new era where you will find the socks you want to wear in the blink of an eye, where you will not spend more time digging through the drawer than you do on making big business decisions at work, where every sock will have its partner together, where you will never wear a sock with a hole, ever again... to boldly go where no man has gone before...

And then it happens... it goes into the wash after its first use, and that's the end of innocence, the breaking of the ambition, the return of the disappointment, the shattering of the dream... after that fateful first wash, the new pair of sock returns as a single, never to be paired ever again with its partner... resigning you back to your fate of the extra half hour of trying to resolve the riddle of the missing matching pair in the morning, back to choosing between a hole-in-one or a hole-in-two, back to the incomplete life you knew before, the dissatisfaction that your feet have to suffer every morning...

And as you walk out of the door every morning, your shoes covering your sock fraud, you think to yourself, "this really socks!"

Sea of Poppies

Disappointed Mr. Ghosh, will be the one line response after living the book for the last few weeks. I remember excitedly picking up this book, craving to read it, but 500-odd pages later, I am less than thrilled.

The plot has a lot of potential to offer, which is seen in the richness of the beginnings of the book, where each of the characters are introduced and their lives painted against the East Indian canvas of the days of the Raj. Deeti's caste-based village & circumstances that forces her to walk down the forbidden path. Neel's stately but bankrupt zemindary, that is both better and worse for having dealt with the British. Paulette's mem-sahib to maid life change. The ruthless-but-clever English business-men, the spiritual & eccentric accountant, the nigger-to-sailor second-mate of the ship. And all of their fates linked to each other around the addiction & business of opium.

But, the book quickly unravels into a series of incidents that seem to prolong a story that could have been told in half the pages. Some of the details seem unnecessary and indeed just distasteful. For instance, the sexual fetish of Mr. Burnham as a reason for Paulette to escape, seemed utterly distracting and irrelevant. Her desire to escape would have been just as strong because of who she was. The exaggeration of the corrupt English-men (all or most Brits in the story) seemed a bit too uni-dimensional and un-real. Again, some of the details of the journey on the ship, Baboo Nob Kissin's obsession with the prophecy, and various bits of gloom, doom and oppression felt completely unnecessary and at times annoying.

There are still lots of things that connect and remind you of the reasons you pick up an Amitav Ghosh book. Raja Neel Ratan's transformation from the erudite Indian landlord to a convict on the Ibis is a touching journey, with loads of rich emotions; Deeti & Kalua's un-sophisticated yet the most progressive relationship and Paulette's more-Indian-than-foreign identity. The fabulous insight into the British Raj of them using the multiplicity of castes, cultures, languages & religions to their advantage, by playing "divide & rule". All of these work and evoke a connection with what these characters are going through. You can feel what they feel. You can see life through their eyes. You can see them as real people.

And it is these few and far-between glimpses in the book, along with the simple curiosity of what happens next, that will make me still want to read the second part of this trilogy. But, I will be praying for the magic of Shadow Lines & Hungry Tide in them. You're allowed to make one mistake Mr. Ghosh, but not another one...

Rajiv Gandhi Awards 2009

New India... Old India...

The fact that we use these phrases separately always feels strange, as if the two are different countries, that are just sharing a common past but not a shared present or future, like Pakistan & India.

And yet, watching the Rajiv Gandhi Awards 2009 on Sony TV today just brought to life the paradox of the New India & Old India co-existing besides each other, and a little awkwardly.

The event had all the faces of new India - the young achievers, awards for some real modern India achievements to be proud of, new age Bollwyood stars (aka Shahid, Hrithik, Priyanka, Katrina), Raju Srivastav (cracking jokes at everyone), slick choreographed performances, dazzling & psychedelic lighting, MCs with a script that was actually engaging, and even Vishal-Sekhar doing a 'rock on' show walking amidst the audience & getting them to sing alongside their loud, impactful (yet terrible) voice.

And it had all the faces of old India too - the politicians in their kurta pyjamas, the very-doordarshan sets, the calling out of 'women' achievers in a separate category (and worse, referring to them as 'modern women'), the jai-hind/independence day celebration mode of the speeches, the VIP front row, the rajiv gandhi photo on the award stauettes that were being given away.

But, it was clear that the old and the new India didn't really come together as one being. Despite best intentions, it felt like a forced bringing-together of what IS India 2009 & what IS ALSO India 2009 (& thank god isn't all of it). It felt like the public sector India that is trying to show that it can be 'modren' too.

It felt like SBI with internet banking facilities, not ICICI Bank. It felt like Doordarshan with DTH, not NDTV. It felt like MTNL with Dolphin mobile services, not Airtel. It felt like Maruti Esteem Vxi, not the Santro. It felt like Swades, not Lage Raho Munnabhai. Like Roohafza with a new sexy ad, not Real Fruit Juices. Like Air India with business class & online check-in, not Jet Airways. It was new (-ish), but still anchored in the old. It was the old India trying to say 'look everyone, I'm wearing new clothes'

It is true that the new India has emerged out of the old. But, it is fascinating to see the two still existing side-by-side in 2009, without really mixing with each other... just about recognising the presence of each other, acknowledging their similarities, ignoring their differences, and together evolving into the next decade...

Hannibal - Thomas Harris

The Name that sends shivers down your spine.

I think 1991 changed what we called scary. A whole new world of terror opened up when Anthony Hopkins stared at the camera. This was something that stirred inside you that was both profound and horrifying at the same time. Even today when I think of Dr. Lecter completely tied with the face mask, standing in front of the woman politician complementing on her dress, I feel a chill

And yet this sequel to the masterpiece disappoints immensely. It feels like a Hollywood movie that is hurriedly written into a book. The plot revolves around the gross and gruesome more than the mind-scare. Thomas Harris seems to have forgotten that the explicit stuff of the first book/movie was something that built on the basic psychological plot and made it scary. But the core of the fright was still in the mind, not in the blood. But, between pigs, revenge, brutality & a few sob stories, Harris seems to have completely lost the plot.

What is good about the book is that it builds both Dr. Lecter and Clarice further as people. I definitely got to know them much better by the time I was through with the book. I got to know them as well as they get to know each other in the book. But, beyond that there is nothing. A melodramatic past sob story of Hannibal (almost as a reason for why he is the way he is), becomes a bit too much to take.

Towards the end, it seems that Thomas Harris remembers that this was supposed to be a psychological nerve-wrecker, not a Wes Craven movie and he quickly builds in some strange, un-connected mind-games that Hannibal plays with Clarice and with the reader. But, by the time I got to that stage of the book, I was so keen on finishing the book, that I had stopped caring. I just wanted to the book to end... But end, it doesn't!

Yet another sequel that goes kaput. I may still watch the movie (since Hollywood is what the book was anyway), but I may take some time before I begin Red Dragon, Mr. H.

Rene Barbier Classic 2007

Bought this one in a neighbourhood shop in the alleys of Barcelona, next to La Ramblas for under 4 Euros and must be one of the best 4 bucks I spent in a long time.

Hailing from the Penedes region of Spain, this 2007 Vintage has an aroma that captures your attention from the first sip. It's the aroma that sets the stage for what is to come... a soft, low tannin, easy drinking wine... yet a deep, involved, flavourful experience. It's one of the few wines I've had that balances the apparent contradiction of light and deep. It's light in the mouth, yet deep in its taste. It's light on the aroma, yet deep in its soul. It's light as it flows into you, yet deep in its effect on you.

75cl bottle, 13% volume and 100% Spanish. Rioja may be the most famous region, but Penedes is what seems to appeal more to my Indian soul. And the new grapes I've now tasted have whet my appetite for more. 60% Tempranillo, 30% Grenache, 10% Monastrell, this wine is a must have.

Rene Barbier (www.renebarbier.com) has won my pallette and there's more to have where this came from...

Piccini Gran Selezione Oro Chianti Riserva 2005

This flowing gorgeous red has as long an effect as its name. If I were to describe what Tuscany life would be like (not having been there) based on this wine, I'd say happy, relaxed, easy, slow, flowing and looking forward to what the next day, month, year will bring.

Had this light wine with a cheese & tomato thin crust pizza and the 2 Italians got along really well, coming together like long lost lovers meeting after months of separation. One of the best Chianti's I've had, the bottle only has this to say"Riserva Gran Selezione Oro is an excellent and elegant wine. The Piccini family, now in it's 4th generation, devotes special care to the wine reserving and uses only the very best grapes. Scrupulous and meticulous ageing enhances its characteristics producing the complexity, equillibrium and smoothness that are the essential requisites for a great wine" (13.5% vol)

The Piccini family don't seem to have much of a writing streak, but they sure know how to make good wine. Cheers Amici!

Casillero del Diablo Cab Sauv Syrah 2006

Fruity, sweet, aromatic, this one comes with both the reassurance of faith in Chilean wines as well as surprise in the flavours that the Maipo Valley delivers. A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah grapes, this wine is sweeter than you would expect, but has the smooth, fullsome, all-consuming experience that a lot of Chilean wines have come to be known for. Not one to mess around with Indian food, this one is best to have by itself. I think it's safe to say that this belongs to the "see you again soon" category.

"Casillero del Diablo Reserva Privada is an assemblage of selected grapes from Pirque and Peumo vineyards. Essentially Cabernet Sauvignon from Pirque, the origin of Casillero del Diablo, in the Maipo Valley, the wine also contains Syrah from Peumo hillside vines in the Rapel Valley. Casillero del Diablo has been aged in French oak for 14 months."