Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Importance of accompaniments

Pizzas should always served with Cold BEER – I am talking about the American variety of Pizza here! I dare not insult the authentic Italian pizza; I am big fan myself J. It’s funny how many times it’s the side dishes that make the main course more succulent. Or to generalize it further, how accompaniments make the central item more enjoyable!

Ever observed how beer tastes better when head banging to your kinda music? It ain’t just the beer – you could kiss anyone at the instant when the perfect rock ballad comes along with a chilled beer! The entire atmosphere changes in front of your eyes and place suddenly earns its respect in your opinion. That is why it is so critical to find your kinda pub – the music, the drink, the people – everything has to be complimentary to make the whole package worthwhile.

I wonder –
Why does a hero need a side-kick,
Why wine and cheese go together,
Why Tom and Jerry will never be the same by themselves,
Why the river always flows to the sea,
How a symphony would sound without the drums,
Why a man loves a woman?

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Current Reading

Finished Arthur Hailey’s The Moneychangers last night. It is a book about bankers and the frauds of high finance, definitely not the Wall Street and Trading types. Found it a bit on the slower side, perhaps because it is an old book. All-in-all Hailey did not impress me that much.

What I certainly am impressed with are the first few pages of Suketu Mehta’s Maximum City. This one’s about the enigmatic city of Mumbai/ Bombay/ Bambai – call it what you want. Mehta’s family migrated from Kolkata to New York, with a decade’s stopover at Mumbai. It was enough to hook Mehta to the city for the rest of his life. The book takes a first person look at the dreamland and succeeds in creating a true-to-life mural resplendent in its myriad hues.

Also read Michael Lewis’s Liar’s Poker sometime back. This one’s an out and out Wall Street drama, fed live from the 41st floor of Salomon Brothers in its heydays – when bond traders were the kings and equity departments relegated practically to the backrooms in faraway Atlanta.

On the radar for the immediate future – India: A wounded Civilization by VS Naipaul, Against the Gods by Peter Bernstein.

Monday, June 26, 2006

The Great Indian Middle Class

If you want to see the great Indian middle class at its most colourful and nosiest, where would you go?

Well, I suggest you try one of the various low-cost airlines flight or the airport of any major Indian city/ town. The signs of new-found wealth are unmistakable. Not many years ago, air-travel was a luxury affordable to the rich or to the high ranking executives whose travel was borne by their organizations. Not so anymore. Increasingly more middle class youngsters are opting to save the tedious hours spent in a train journey and instead hop to their destinations in less than half the time – all courtesy of the budget airlines. The laptop swinging IT brigade is ubiquitously present at every airport and in every flight. But more and more families are taking the aerial route for their pleasure trips. And the more the merrier.

As I occupied the last row Aisle seat in an Air Deccan flight to Kolkata, I couldn’t help but hear an unmistakable scratching sound. A sideways glance revealed my neighbor playfully engaged in making the best use of his pen in dowsing the itch in his armpit… gross! A few minutes into the flight and the rush for the restrooms were palpable. I simply could not ignore the queue right behind and around my seat. Multiple seatbelts-on warnings were conveniently ignored as ladies, gents and kids suddenly had a simultaneous urge to relieve themselves. Two boys, traveling with their mom, were creating a ruckus a couple of rows ahead with all the toys they had brought on board. Some of them looked like they had been picked up from the neighbourhood mela when they had been visiting their mama or tau or mausi or chacha. And of course there were the beetle-nut chewing babus at their shining best in starched white shirt and trouser, further accentuated by their flapping Bata slippers!

It is a sign of the changing times. As the 400 million strong educated Indian middle class grabs an increasing share of the new jobs and as the Indian polity embraces Capitalistic Socialism, you can only observe this scenario in other areas. Check out any new shopping mall, multiplex theater, restaurant, etc – and you cannot miss the vibrant Indian Middle Class.