11th September

M sent me this link to Vivekananda's 'Brothers and sisters of america..." speech on Youtube.

It is an impressive speech. A passionate call for secularism and world peace.

Vivekananda ends with "... I fervently hope that the bell that tolled this morning in honor of this convention may be the death-knell of all fanaticism, of all persecutions with the sword or with the pen, and of all uncharitable feelings between persons wending their way to the same goal."

One can't help but note that these words were uttered on the 11th of September, 1893. Unfortunate coincidence then, that the date stands for the quasi-triumph of fanaticism, and not its death.

The countdown is on...

Ticket's been booked.

Leaving for India early next month, and will stay for quite a bit.

Now I get to repeat last September's experience. Too much to do here too... too much that needs to be experienced... or experienced again... Rome once more, perhaps?.... Cram in some more travelling?.... Pizza at Andrea's.... Finish all the food in the house.... Shop (for gifts, this time round, luckily)... give up the house... instruct the bank... pack, pack , pack.... all of this while you're already on the other side of the earth mentally, and can't wait to get there physically.

You can't be in two places at once, but I'm damned if I'll ever stop wanting to be.

When you find yourself...

... dreaming of people you last saw a decade ago.
... forgetting the name of the Bandra pizza place you used to order from everyday.
... looking at buildings in Valletta and being reminded of Baroda.

Its time to go home.

Malta

I loved the island.

Despite the fact that my wallet got lost/stolen there.

It is 19 miles by 6, has shops with boards that belong to another century perhaps (oh the joy of seeing haberdashers, ironmongers and greengrocers, in this age of Carrefour and Walmart). Plenty of sunshine (In november, mind you), lovely sea, and very friendly people.

It even has temples that look like Stonehenge, but are older.

Basically, imagine England with perpetual sunshine, siestas, and a lower cost of living, and you have Malta. I was half expecting the famous five to walk out of a tea room or a confectioner's or something (Yes, they have confectioners. And tea rooms.) after having bought food for their next picnic.

What's not to like about such a place?

:)

Frankfurt...

... was awesome.

My legs hurt, with all the walking. And my hands hurt because of all the books I've been lugging around.

But it was worth it.

As a reader, this is one side of books you never see. And it is a complex, many-sided business with a million things happening every moment, all thanks to the Net.

A much-needed eye-opener.

Not to mention, much needed books :). and pre-release ones at that.

So you're reading "Girl with dragon tattoo"? I'm reading the sequel that releases in 2009! :)

Basta!

Some friends (Indian) tried making spaghetti last night. God alone knows what they ended up making, but it was different enough for their Italian roomies to say "Dont KILL Italian food!".

Reminds me of a pasta-making experiment from the Gurgaon days, when I happily added some indian spice (chaat masala probably) to standard arrabiata sauce. After eating which, J commented "This is not pasta, it's basta".

---

P.S.: basta! (rhymes with pasta) is Italian for 'enough!' ... somewhat like our Hindi 'bas!'

Art?

An artist in New York is having an exhibition of photos that'd remind us all of bio lab in school. Its called "Product Dissections", and is basically photos of toothpaste tubes cut up, and pinned...

The logic behind it? According to the artist, "Toothpaste lent itself to be a perfect starting point, because the extremity of its marketing these days has gone into bizarre realms of colors and flavors to attract the new consumer with the bright and shiny and the new and improved. The tubes are also quite anatomical."

Good to see someone trying something different, and trying to make statement against over-hypey 'product innovations' that mean nought, but if this is art then I am Michaelangelo and Monet put together :)

Img (c) Erik Boker.