22 Crossroads

An Open Letter to the Scholar’s Avenue Team (In Response to your cover article in Feb 24 Issue) since an e-copy was not available I could not post a link Let me begin by saying that, on the face of it, I am both saddened and upset by this article. Upset by the twisted interpretation of the facts. Saddened because the article portrays the Soc-n-Cult GC as demon that it certainly isn’t. LOST IN SPIRIT – the title of the article offends me – both as a participant and as (perhaps) the most hated face in gymkhana sub-coms. As a participant I have seen examples of this very spirit being upheld on many occasions. I have seen the entire Netaji Auditorium applaud a performance, not once – but twice. I have seen actors and performers being the first ones to go out and congratulate their opponents after a good show. I do not disagree with the fact that the GC is witness to its fair share of chaos. What is baffling is that the author has assumed a moral high ground without checking the facts. You...

You watch a movie like Love Actually and it makes you wonder. We, here in our country, need a celebration like Christmas – we really do. After all, what other occasion do we get to profess our love for our best friend’s wives (not girlfriends – wives). And then that very wife ends up kissing you. We really need a Christmas of our own. And not something like the Valentine’s Day – something more local, closer to our heart. Just imagine how wonderful it would be to be able to cheat on your wife of 20 years and say, “Hey It’s Diwali!!!” This movie also puts a few things in perspective. If you grow up in a conservative environment watching classic Indian romantic movies (like I did), there are a few notions you have about the phrase true love . Now I never say it has to be platonic and/or metaphysical. But I had a few notions corrected anyway. Like: to fall in love with your exotic foreigner girl (read Portuguese) you need to see her in her bare minimums. Surely, beauty lies in the eye o...

Foreword: The following piece was written on December 22nd 2006, but wasnt posted due to lack of internet connection. So it goes here *** Well, it is the end of the year and almost everyone is coming out of their winners of the year in weirdest conceivable categories. So while it may be the recipe of the year or the best and the worst dog owners of the year, some more cliché categories are still more fun. NDTV is still in its pursuit towards finding their Indian of the year to succeed a certain Mrs. Sonia Gandhi (yeah right) ... but they have already come up with their song of the year. And that is what has gotten me started on this column. They have chosen "Masti ki paathshaala" from Rang De Basanti as the most defining song of the year ... or at least I guess that?s what the title means. Had it just been popularity charts a certain smoking number (pun intended) called beady could very easily have upstaged the winner. So is Paathshaala the song of the year. On first no...