Mangu Maamu go to Foreign

Sang my brother all day (Maamu would be Mama=Uncle=what my sister's kids call me by), and now since it is 3.30 am I can safely assume I am Officially on Holiday!

Head tomorrow to London and then from there to America, my first visit since 1990. I don't remember very much of my last visit so this time I plan to take my Digicam to ensure the same does not happen. The exciting bit is, as always, the restaurants and favourite bits of London that I always have to visit. Since this trip to London is so short, have had to book meals from Bombay and here is the tentative meal plan (I can't wait):

Saturday Dinner: Quiet meal at home, takeaway from Beirut Express. That chili sauce always gets me excited

Sunday Lunch: Good Earth, Knightsbridge.
Sunday Dinner: Sirena, James Street. The old favourite local Italian restaurant.

Monday Lunch: The Big One. Three Michelin Stars and all that - Gordon Ramsay, Chelsea. Enough Said.
Monday Dinner: (tentatively) Sushi. Probably Itsu No not the one where Russians get poisoned.

Tuesday Lunch: Pizza at St. Katherine's Docks. Just hope the weather is nice!
Tuesday Dinner: The best / only Swiss restaurant in town - St. Moritz, Wardour Street. I can already taste the Raclette!

Wednesday Lunch: (tentative) The even bigger one. Again, Three Michelin Stars - The Waterside Inn, Bray. And a copy of the Sunday Times to keep me company. Might end up meeting Symbian friends at a local eatery instead.
Wednesday Dinner: Cafe Creperie, James Street. Asparagus and Cheese, can't really go wrong there.

Thursday Lunch: Either Paul or Jeff's (local fry-up near Symbian)
Thursday Dinner: Open. Probably a quiet last meal before I fly to NY on Friday.

I've got Nobu Fifty Seven lined up for NY so far, but really have to plan that leg of the holiday. And don't you judge me, I really should have become a food critic instead.

Photography Exhibition: Versus

When: April 16-22, 2007
Where: Hacienda Gallery, Kalaghoda
Who: Jimit Shah & Adil Jain
Website: Inayaart (You can order prints online)

I've always been fond of photography and currently prefer it to traditional art, mostly because I have yet to really appreciate the skill and thought that goes into paintings. I much prefer photos because they capture a moment of time and an event or a place that is real, that may not ever happen again. And usually the best photos require an eye for noticing unique things that normally one would not capture (cheesy tourists smiling anyone?). So far on the downside have not been able to see as many exhibitions as I've wanted. Best one probably being Yann Arthus-Bertrand's exhibition of pictures of the Earth from the Air. And the occasional exhibition at the Tom Blau gallery.

This Sunday Jimit (in my friend's Family) and Adil Jain held a preview to their exhibition and it was really good, both had the common theme of deserts. Jimit's photos were of Rajasthan, and covered mainly architecture which make it look like a place worth visiting. The most stunning I thought were a quartet of photos of Blue Houses that were absolutely gorgeous, the only downside being you really need to buy all 4 and put them up in a row or at least 2. However, my favourite had to be the landscape photos he took at 5.30am in low light with some camera tricks (no photoshop effects) which produce a spectacular blur of colours. See what I mean here, but really you want to see the full blown version to see it how it should be.

Adil Jain put up photos of the Namibian desert, all landscape. They were all stunning, but my favourites were the black and white photographs at the entrance. I loved the way the clouds and the dunes had a shadow effect that was mesmerising. Honestly, just go see it (I can't find the photos on the Inayaart website.

All in all the prices are attractive too (15-25K), but sadly I need to save up to afford that. Lets see if Jimit can cut me a deal, if anything remains unsold after the exhibition. Unlikely.

DVD Library: Update

Added:

Delicatessen - Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Stalker - Andrei Tarkovsky
Bad Education - Pedro Almodovar
Talk To Her - Pedro Almodovar
All About My Mother - Pedro Almodovar
Live Flesh - Pedro Almodovar
Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! - Pedro Almodovar

Lets hope Amazon UK delivers to India without any hassle!

Updated List: Here

2am And All Is Quiet

All is calm as my house is empty of the "elders", parents having gone on holiday and grandfather back at the retirement village that is Pondicherry. Well, relatively anyway, seems as my brother and me played gracious hosts to friends over for dinner two nights in a row. Of course his plan included Poker, always a crowd pleaser.

I've always hated the months of March-June, as a kid because they've always been boring and pointless, and when in London because I would be too busy working on exams and coursework to enjoy Spring. This year seems the same, just really not very fond of March and April so far. I think I need a holiday for some change, have not been on one since June '06 (well a proper more than weekend holiday).

Been travelling locally a fair bit, but thankfully no more than a couple of days at a time. Went to get dinner at Bangalore last week which was fun as I caught up with a few Symbian friends. Well not for too long (the Symbian bit, hopefully not the friends bit). And now that the house is comparatively empty am quite happy to stay at home for a change, lounging about doing absolutely nothing. Wake up at odd hours and then hunt for food etc. I suppose a guy never loses the slobbish student behavior ever.

Anyway, nothing really to report. And am loving every bit of it.

Photos: Halloween 2005

Location: Edinburgh

Facebook Link

Sex vs Education

To be fair the news of Maharashtra banning Sex Education in schools was a bit refreshing, a good change from the daily news of deaths in Iraq and Iran being naughty. I thought i've been back in India long enough to deal with most shocks - including the recent two month ban on FTV for being too raunchy (Well.. isn't that the point?). So anyway the Maharashtra State Government goes on to out-do the Central Government by banning Sex Education in schools due to - wait for it - the belief that it will pollute childrens minds.

Right. And unprotected sex won't pollute their genitals with STDs? But really, banning Sex Education is just ... Stupid. I know people can see government policies sometimes as disagreeable or perhaps against their beliefs, but this one is just plain Stupid. How could one ban something that should be so core to a modern education system, and is frankly needed desperately in a country of over 1 Billion inhabitants.

Now normally I'm not of the belief that the state should take responsibility for personal things - really parents should educate their children to grow up to not be complete screw ups. But clearly that is not happening regarding sex education - not in India, nor any other country I know of. But especially not in India. It's taboo enough to talk about sex, so why leave children without information they need in order not to get pregnant or worse, a fatal disease. Don't get me wrong, I did quite fine without Sex Education but the difference is that I had access to information quite easily (not just friends at school) - not to be elitest but not every schoolkid has the internet at home, and also when I was in school really sex wasn't very common at that age.

Their reasoning seems to be the graphic representation of male and female anatomy and offending text would pollute childrens minds. So really the naive thinking is that kids are going to think about sex and presumably consider doing it only after looking at some textbook? Unbelievable. Stupid, and Unbelievable.

But there lies the difference between the ban between FTV and Sex Education - both stem from just backward, ignorant views and a presumption that people are not able to make their own decisions. But the difference is the latter might affect some childs future.