This is Earth. You know that, right?

It's bad enough if you tell me that you know of nothing else to see in Paris except the Eiffel.

Then you go on to insult years of education you received at the hands of, hopefully, competent teachers by claiming to have never heard of the French revolution, or Marie Antoinette.

You haven't heard of the Louvre. The lesser said of Orsay or Georges Pompidou or Orangerie, the better.

And need I even mention the Renaissance to you, if you have the gall to ask 'Florence means what?' in that ridiculous accent?

You, who have dared enter this charming town without having let the hallowed name of Galileo enter your sphere of existence.

May I ask you just one thing?

What well were you hiding in, for however long you claim to have existed?

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?

:)

Two Indias?

I'm remembering the Amitabh Bachchan ToI ad today.

Far be it from me to echo jingoist statements -- particularly any endorsed by ToI -- but as I read the news coming out of India in the past few days, I can't help but say I agree.

One set of headlines says 'Riots in Bombay'. Another says, 'India sends craft to Moon'.

I can spin the contrast out to kingdom come, but hopefully you can do that yourself.

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.

Khuda Jaane...

... ke yeh locations kahaan hain!

Saw a Hindi film, Bachna Ae Haseeno.

Film borders on the bearable. But mainly because of the excellent locations. All I wanted to know at the end was the list of locations. Especially ones within Italy, and therefore a 4-8 hour train ride from me :), where the songs were shot.

Switzerland's GoldenPass Panoramic train, I've been on. Rome (the entire Pantheon, Piazza Navona bit) of course. Venice (Piazza San Marco and the canals) , really obvious too. What about all the rest?

This film makes me realise I haven't seen so much in this country yet!

Question

Q: What connects a person from coastal Karnataka (India) and a person from Haute-Savoie (France)?

A: The way they say 'Yes'. Vay Vay*

:)

----
* Oui is almost pronounced as 'Vay' , or 'why' up in the Alps :)

A year ago...

... (by the Hindu calendar) on this day, Ganesh Chaturthi, I was in Bombay. Like every year, last year too, I visited different relatives who had installed a Ganpati in their houses. But unlike any other year, I was hurrying from place to place. Because my bags were packed for my first ever step out of India.

As a pukka Bombaywalla, I probably love Ganpati more than any other festival... probably because of all the family and friends you get to meet over the 9 days. (Last year especially, that was a big plus. Being able to say goodbye to a bunch of people at one go, as opposed to having to go to each one's house indivudually is a huge blessing -- in Bombay, atleast!)

352 days, and counting... this is the longest I have been away. Ganpati Bappa Morya! ( whatever happened to my pudhchya varshi laukar ya? )

Chamonix, and the UTMB

Just got back from Chamonix last evening.

On a single trip lasting 4 days, I:

1. Volunteered at Europe's toughest marathon -- 2300 people running a 166 kms, with over 9000 mtrs of elevation changes ! The line between dedication and madness is certainly thin :)
2. Saw this unique corner of the world where people of three nationalities (Italian, French, Swiss) share the same mountains. -- A 'Frenchman' from Chamonix is likely to feel closer to an 'Italian' from Courmayeur (25 kms away), than to a Parisian, for instance. Truly awesome experience.*
3. Ate tons of awesome food -- the croissants at the Patisserie Richard are to die for, and the less one drools over all the cheeses the better.
4. Trekked to a glacier -- the Mer de Glace. Other nimbler, alpine-shoe-equipped people took an hour and a half; I took 2 hrs 45 mins with my Bubblegummers!
5. Took a cable car to a point 3864 metres above sea level -- and experienced snowfall for the first time. Some demented souls took off from that point with their skis and alpine equipment. I wisely took the cable car back down!
6. Had long chats with Kevin, a British writer, who once interviewed Lord Mountbatten.
7. Walked through a pitch dark forest -- and ended up befriending Pete, a sailor from England who'd spent the previous 12 days trekking all the way from Zermatt in Switzerland to Chamonix.
8. Met more British people than I've ever met before - and was told on atleast three occasions, by various surprised Englishmen, that " You speak English so well!". I'm still wondering why it surprises them that the natives now speak the Queen's English better than they do :)

All in all, to say that it was a wonderful experience would be the height of understatement. The pictures, both from the UTMB, and my own wanderings, are up here.

-----------
* For instance, as soon as you enter the northernmost region (state) of Italy, called Valle d' Aosta, all road signs are in both French and Italian. Roads are called Via- Rue XYZ. Towns have names like Pont St. Martin.

Europe on a shoestring? Try dental floss!

Last week, as I was packing bags for Chamonix, my classmates decided to head to Switzerland on an impulse (my wicked influence at work???). Which is all very good, except that Switzerland is expensive to begin with, and last minute bookings = no savings.

A ticket for a 3 hour train journey from Milan to Geneva (19 EUR each way if you book a couple of weeks in advance) costs 45 EUR if you book a day before leaving. And, not being price-watching Sindhis, my friends went ahead and booked too!

Add to this a Swiss Pass (EUR 141 for 4 days unlimited travel by train, boat, and bus), and food and stay, and these guys were all set for atleast a 300 Euro phatka.

Enter yours truly.

I love picking up anything in print, and end up saving it like a pack-rat, so I had a zillion SBB brochures from the May trip.

Hidden deep in a corner of a map was a funny bit of info. SBB has two panoramic trains (covered in the Swiss Pass) that don't quite end in Switzerland. The Glacier Express that ends in Chamonix Mont Blanc (France), and the William Tell Express that ends in Chiasso, Italy.

As it happens, Chiasso is an hour (and a mere 4.2 Euros) away by regional train from Milan. So, if you're buying a Swiss Pass anyway, it technically kicks in from Chiasso.

It sounds too good to be true, but my friends tried it (and saved 90% on tickets!).

Now I'm thinking... I saved 240 ( 3 * 2 * 40) Euros by reading a brochure... I would do well in the travel business, what say?

Am I still a vegetarian?

Serves me right for not reading ingredient lists more closely.

Today, I just felt like having a Piadina Romagnola ( a roti-like bread from the Emilia Romagna region in Italy), so I went off to the supermarket to buy some.

I've never bought any in the past, though I certainly have eaten the odd piadina at friends' homes (my friends eat these every day -- simpler than making rotis, certainly). Anyway. One of the brands in the supermarket had ingredients listed in English too, and one of the ingredients was -- lard (called 'strutto', or 'strutto di suino' -- swine's lard -- in Italian).

Swine. i.e. pig. Sheesh!

While I'm not exactly throwing up (what's done, is done after all), it makes me wonder how many other times I have consumed something non-vegetarian unknowingly. And whether I am technically a vegetarian any more.

Must certainly read ingredient lists more carefully from now on!

Chrome

Just got back from Mont Blanc, to some rather unexpected news. Google launched a browser called Chrome. (Thanks for the update, U).

Well, till they don't release an Ubuntu version, that's the last you'll hear about it from me!

(Seriously G, what's with releasing only Windows versions of everything at first?)

Rats!

You have to hand it to GMail's Webclips.

Just today, it came up with

, a story about famous Beverly Hills cupcake bar Sprinkles (who one hadn't heard of till that point) suing another cupcake bar (they're apparently all the rage in the U.S. now) for copying something in the icing design.

Intrigued by the existance of multiple cupcakes-only places (and famous ones at that), one looked up Sprinkles' website, and found a load of TV interviews where the owner justifies charging US$3.25 for a cupcake. (The cupcakes have even been on Oprah - that's how famous they are).

Phew!

As if stories about $3.25-cupcake-wallahs weren't enough though, Webclips followed-up with this gem an hour later

'Ah!', one thought. 'There go the Chinese again, eating something one wouldn't classify as edible'. Another surprise this time round. It was actually a story about how Indians (Biharis, if you want to get specific) may be eating rats soon, because food is getting costlier.

The perspective-shift one had to between reading the two stories was seriously scary.

One part of the world queueing up for cupcakes that expensive, and the other part unable to afford basic rations.

Can these two events be happening in the same world? The mind boggles!

Gender-selection online ads in India. Issue or non-issue?

One just read about this piece of litigation. The Supreme Court of India issued notices to Microsoft, Yahoo, and Google for violating a law that prohibits the sale or promotion of gender-selection kits in the country.

Now, one is fundamentally against gender selection, and believes any reasonable human being would be against gender-selection, female feoticide, and female infanticide.

However, one wants to give these companies some benefit of doubt here. Here's why:

1. All these companies are sticklers for doing the right thing. They maintain a list of things you cannot advertise on their networks, and stick by it. These aren't exactly shady people willing to lay their grubby hands on every last paisa that comes along. Google's list, for instance, is up here, and worth a look.
2. Also, their terms and conditions state that you can't advertise for anything that's illegal. (eg, Google India T&C here -- states "Customer shall not, and shall not authorize any party to, ... advertise anything illegal or engage in any illegal or fraudulent business practice." Clear enough.)
   

All-in-all, in the interests of fairness, one believes:

• this happened because some operations person on the ground didn't have 'gender-selection kits' on her blacklist, and approved the ads to be shown. And it didn't go on that blacklist because someone probably did the lazy thing, and created their India blacklist by copying that of some other country.
• MS/ Y!/ G would do well to add 'gender-selection kits' to their not-accepted blacklists -- and review those lists completely for other such gaffes, while they're at it.

So: Legally, is this an issue?

Certainly. By allowing such ads to run, these companies have violated the laws of a country they do business in -- something their well-staffed legal departments are there to prevented them from doing.

But: Does my Supreme Court need to get involved?

IMHO, No. This could have been solved by sending a polite "I see you're goofing up legally" letter to Y!/G/MS instead of filing petitions. The justice system of the country is already overburdened, without having to deal with Pesticide-in-soda variety litigation that is more drama and less substance.

Let our tax money be put to better use, guys!

Off to Chamonix!

The Internet is a wonderful place.

Just this morning, random surfing led one to read about the Ultra Trail Tour du Mont Blanc (or UTMB) -- supposedly Europe's toughest marathon, with people running over a 120+ kms of trails circling the Mont Blanc* Massif. Its 2008 edition is happening in a few weeks.

"It'd be interesting to see", one thought. A bit more surfing, and one was deep within their site, reading a page where they were looking for volunteers.

On an impulse, one signed up, and was accepted into their tech team. Ergo, one is getting an insiders view at a sporting evant, and as a nice little bonus, an all-expenses-paid trip to one of the world's poshest ski resorts, Chamonix (in France), from where the UTMB sets off on the 28th.

Can't wait !

* Mont Blanc, or Monte Bianco in Italian, is Europe's highest peak and is 'shared' by the French, the Swiss, and the Italians.

Holy Ganga beds!

One recieved a 'patriotic' forward a while ago - an article from yesterday's Indian Express about an IIM-A* grad who chose to go back to hometown Patna, and sell vegetables. We are so cool/ different/ great now. Unusual choice of careers. Think big. Give something back. Nice.

Not! One doesn't know who's weirder here - the writer or the subject, but they're both trying really hard...

Some gems:

• 'We are perhaps the only country that grows vegetables in the holy Ganga beds.' : Well, that could be because we're the only country that has a 'holy Ganga', could it not?
• 'Our fertile land boasting of rich history with Lord Buddha and Nalanda would only add to the marketing of Bihar vegetable': Land fertility is connected to history is connected to vegetable marketing? I'm sorry... What?
  
• 'A cart comes for Rs 45,000-Rs 50,000': Bombay Hindi-to-English, translated word-for-word. Writer needs English lessons.
• 'brand name “Samriddhi” (progress)': Writer needs Hindi lessons too (Samriddhi means prosperity not progress).
  
• 'a digital weighing machine assuring of correct calculation' : Weighing scales that calculate? Holy ganga beds!

Appalling ideas (one isn't doubting the nobility of the 'Brand Bihar' aim, just that the guy has no clue how to get there) and writing that reminds one of a line in a Penn Masala song -- 'I failed Inglis, but that OK, baby'.

Sigh!


-------------------
* IIM-A: Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

I'm sari... *what*?

U sent me a link about this Satya Paul creation called the Ooogle sari.

Purely one's personal opinion here, but would anyone in their right mind actually buy this? Especially given that, at Rs. 11,000 (US$299), it is the most.ridiculously.overpriced., not to mention tacky, bit of pseudo-Google-advertising* one has ever seen.

Only Aditi Govitrikar could get away with wearing that, and not look geeky or weird :). Then again, she was being paid!

Pic (c) Satya Paul.

* Yes, the print says Ooogle, not Google. But hey, even Cory Doctorow thought it said Google at first. So will everyone else.