Posts from — January 2005

While most Indians are disappointed at the failure of Shwaas to make it to the list of nominees in the “Best Foreign Film” category, I wonder how many know that an Indian entry is still in contention for the Oscar statuette!

Little Terrorist, a short film by Ashwin Kumar has been nominated in the “Best Short Film (Live Action)” category. It’s about how a Hindu teacher helps a little Pakistani boy, Jamal, who strays into Indian territory chasing a cricket ball.

With a runtime of 15 minutes, no wonder people missed this little terrorist who sneaked under the radar tracking the Shwaas hype.

Best of luck to Ashwin Kumar and his team!!

Will it? … Won’t it?

We’ll know in a while!

But for me, Shwaas is a winner already… even before the nominations are announced! … having gone where no Marathi film has dreamt of going!!

Here’s wishing Sandeep Sawant and his team, the very best of wishes!!

Update: As it turns out, Shwaas misses out on an Oscar nomination. I am disappointed! I can only hope that the movies that have been nominated, are unbelievably brilliant pieces of film-making!

With Sania Mirza becoming the toast of the nation following her Australian Open exploits, there is no doubt she will be the apple of the advertisers’ eyes in the days to come! You’ll see much more of the confident 18-year old in print, TV and radio!

But Tata Tea seem to have stolen the march over others already… with bus-stop hoardings that show Sania slicing a backhand with the slogan, “Taste Kaamyabi Ka” proclaiming the arrival of a tennis star! And these posters have been put up much before Sania served her first service in the Grand Slam down under!

A recent Boing Boing post discovers the ‘delicacy’ that is paan. Tha author of the post waxes eloquent about the dual delights that a paan has to offer… as a digestion enhancer and a breath freshner.

The Mitha Paan (I didn’t try the tobacco variety) usually has betel nut, lime paste, almond powder, grated coconut, pistachio powder, and sometime a very sweet cherry jam or chutney. The combination of all these ingredients makes for a very tasty and refreshing after dinner treat; the plant enzymes, lime paste, and mild stimulant from the betel nut acts as a digestion enhancer and breath freshener.

Makes the mouth water, doesn’t it?! Aah the joys of chewing a Mitha paan after a heavy meal!! … delightful!!

But if the westerners are going to be lured by this sweet Indian after-meal fixation, then are we going to see them painting their cities red?! ;-)

In Corruption Regulation Zone, Yazad argues (quite rightly too, if I may add) that people living close to the sea are taking a risk and rather than make laws forbidding them from doing so, it would be better if people are made responsible for their own conscious actions

Anyone building in the first 500 metres of the coastline is taking a risk. Anyone living there is also taking a risk. In a free world people should be allowed to take the risks they want to. They would also develop mechanisms that reduce the risk, like buying insurance. Somehow the “intellectual-moral elite” who advocate these laws seem to think that they are the only ones who should evaluate these risks. I suggest we let those who will reap the rewards (beautiful view, easier access for fishing) also face the risks (storms, cylcones, tsunamis).

I’m in complete agreement with this line of reasoning. Anyone staying too close to the shoreline is playing a game of brinkmanship with nature. It’s a dangerous game and all these people can do is to hope for the best… at all times. So if people still want to stay there… let them! Only… they ought to realize that a Damocles Sword perennially hangs over their heads.

I think having a CRZ law may make reasonable sense in ecological terms i.e. conservation of mangroves, etc. But it makes no sense at all in dis-allowing construction within a specified distance from the shoreline. And that’s because, if you think about it, you’ll realize that it is no less absurd than the utterly ludicrous idea of constructing a sea wall along the coastline.

Lets say we have a strictly enforced CRZ law that states that no construction will be allowed within the first 500 metres of the shoreline. That’s great! Now I have personally witnessed this in Mumbai… and many others would have too… that at many places sea has come inland by more than a few metres in the last few years. In such a case… what do we do? … rework the CRZ boundaries and demolish buildings that now fall within the CRZ and are thus illegal??

I know this is a trivial argument. But then… that’s the point! The rationale of having a CRZ law can be easily rendered redundant by even such trivial arguments!

By the way, just as an aside… Yazad mentions that people living within the first 500 metres could develop mechanisms like buying insurance to offset the risk. But then… insurance companies all over the world run shy of insuring people living under the risk of a natural calamity by claiming it to be an “Act of God”… ‘god’ being a concept that Yazad does not believe in! ;-)