What India means to them

A San Francisco newspaper columnist, back from an India trip, raised in his column a cascade of questions he said readers wanted answered -  Did I get sick? Did I see God? Can you drink the water? Did I have sex on the beach? Did I find a yoga guru? Have I seen “Slumdog”? Cows [...]

Our man in Brazil

At our recent meeting in Chennai a blogger in our group (he didn’t wish to be named) came up with an idea – how about bringing out an anthology of selected pieces from the Mysore Blog Park.  As he put it,  we have a fairly wide group at MBP;  they write on varied topics of [...]

Leaving Dubai

Dubai is, perhaps, the last place with which I would have associated global recession,  had I not read Paul Lewis in The Guardian.  Excerpts:  At the (Dubai) airport, hundreds of cars have apparently been abandoned in recent weeks. Keys are left in the ignition and maxed out credit cards and apology letters in the glove box. 
Such [...]

I use a mini laptop

 Mini laptop or the Netbook,  as they call it, is light and handy, energy-efficient and cheaper than a standard laptop.  But would it really popularise computer usage,  the way cell phone did our telecom network?  There aren’t very many households in India that don’t use cell phone. 
Considering the value for money,  the market expects Netbooks [...]

‘Myrum’ is a state brew

Karnataka’s  state sponsored  liquor  made in Mandya sugar company would be out in the market by the time you get to read this post.  Chief minister B S Yeddyurappa would formally release the liquor (Feb13) at Mysugar factory in Mandya,  according to a report in Star of Mysore.  Mysugar, the state’s oldest sugar unit, has been [...]

Sudeep Banerjee, IAS – a flash-back

 Death of a friend, particularly the one with whom you have not been in touch for a while,  sets you on a flash-back mode.  Sudeep Banerjee, IAS, who died of cancer in New Delhi ,  retired as the top gun in HRD ministry under Arjun Singh. However  the Sudeep I knew most was a relatively [...]

A Jail monthly from Chennai

Speaking of in-house journals, Ul Oli (Inner Light),  sounds unique. It’s a monthly of, by and  for  jailbirds in Tamilnadu.  It can count on a captive circulation of 16,000 in the state’s 137 prisons. Ul Oli is not available at news stands.
As journalist Pushpa Iyengar put it,  the magazine may not be Pulitzer material,  but [...]

‘Incredible India’, incorrigible automen

 I’ve not had occasion to deal with women driving autos during my recent visit to Chennai, but then this post is about the incorrigible auto-drivers  in our  ‘Incredible India’.  I did spot an auto-rickshaw with a painted message at the back, saying ‘This is a tourist-friendly auto’.  A rare species, I believe. Tamilnadu tourism website [...]