Weekend Contemplations on Love and Beauty beyond 40...

This time in London, I had kept the weekend free to catch a show on the West end. People I asked for recommendations talked about the latest production at Wyndham’s – Madame de Sade – starring Judi Dench, tho’ they themselves hadn’t seen it yet. (Click here)

Heaving bosoms and washboard tummies`

The play is based on Yukio Mishima’s famous Japanese novel on the life of Marquis de Sade (a decadent aristocrat imprisoned in the Bastille for his lurid sexual escapades) as told from the perspective of the many women in his life. But, despite the salacious blurbs the lukewarm reviews on the free papers I picked up on the tube – left me cold. But then, I am also not a great fan of bosom heaving period and costume dramas in the first place.

So, I gave up the idea of a play and wandered around aimlessly in the Covent Garden – Leicester Square area on a pleasant 14 º C afternoon. After a satisfying pub lunch (pie and mash with a pint of good ale) at the Nags Head, I headed out towards the Odeon. But old age has an uncanny knack of sending untimely reminder slips . Earlier – I could have traversed Central London for hours occasionally hopping into a bus or a short ride on the tube. Wrapping up the day - quite literally - with a satisfying meal of crispy aromatic duck pancakes in Soho China Town. Before long I felt totally drained and even a shot of double espresso at the new Costa’s round the corner couldn’t pick me up. Exhausted, I found myself taking the escalator up the Trocadero Cinemas near Picadilly Circus, buying a ticket for the new Julia Roberts flick – Duplicity, which was showing next.

Due to the effect of the beer or the walk, I am not sure which – I shamelessly dozed off even before the trailers had begun to roll. I don’t know if I was snoring too, since in a near empty theatre there was no one on the next seat to poke me. When I woke up a good 30 minutes into the film, Owen was dropping his signature pick-up line "I excel at remembering people I have slept with; that's been a traditional area of strength for me". The film is at best a slick entertainer about 2 con artists – Roberts and Owen – trying to outsmart each other in their own game of gypping a major drug company with the fake formula of an over-the-counter cure for baldness. Smart cinematography and sharp dialogues are the mainstay of the movie banking heavily on the glamour quotient of the 2 lead actors (tho’ Owen struts around with his bare torso, Julia barely shows any skin at all – but more on that later).

Adolescent fantasies

Duplicity reminded me of another film in the same genre from the 70s – Thief who came to Dinner, Ryan O’Neil played a high-society jewel thief and Jaqueline Bisset was his partner in crime. It’s easy to understand why Bisset, more than the film, had made a deep impression on a teenage mind, which was further indelibly re-engraved in movies like the ‘Deep’ that followed with its stunning opening sequence of Bisset scuba-diving in a wet T-Shirt. That brings me to the all important question – is Julia Roberts really HOT or simply 'pretty'?

I personally think that her looks have been grossly over-rated. She definitely isn’t beautiful in a classical sense – like say Audrey Hepburn of yore, Nicole Kidman, Natalie Portman or a Keira Knightly of more recent vintage. She doesn’t have the heady blend of understated sensuality and over-pouring oomph of an Angelina Jolie. In Pretty Woman, it was her freshness rather than her sexiness and unaffected charm that made her so appealing and caught people’s fancy, than probably the more natural consummate tartalinas such as a Katherine Zeta Jones, Penelope Cruz or a Cameron Diaz would have.

But, then what is it about her that I liked in this movie ? It couldn’t have been her acting – for which she had little scope to display her prowess. Yet, had it not been for her I would have happily slept thru the movie (and still felt that I have got my money’s worth for the £7 I spent on the ticket ) and, most certainly, the images wouldn't have been lingering in my mind even after a month. There was something mesmerising about her character -for which, I savoured spending those 2 hours with her in air-conditioned comfort that was beyond giving my tired feet some well deserved rest.

Magical Menopause or Mid-life fixations

I finally chanced upon the answer in the recent issue of TIME – in which Mary Pols analyses her …… (Read Full Article by clicking here)


“Claire would like Owen to love her, but it’s clear she’d survive without him. Their relationship is not a road to an altar; it’s about being with someone who gets you. It’s mature love in short.

What about being mature in years ? Forty or thereabouts is often the most attractive age for women, when you are old to really appreciate, understand and know how to flatter yourself. But in Hollywood it mostly leads to unintentional vanishing acts or inspires unfortunate experiments with surgery.

Motherhood, by the way, looks good on her. Onscreen – she’s lush and full: any woman who has breast-fed will recognize the source of her Duplicity cleavage. Her Claire makes Owen’s Ray even more swoon-worthy, we know he appreciates a real woman.

If you are nostalgic for the pretty woman in pink-and-black spandex, too bad. Robert’s isn’t shoe horning herself back into a prostitute’s work outfit. She’s too sensible to even try.”

In real-life I know some women above 40 – who fit Mol’s description of Roberts almost to a tee (and, I'm not talking of cleavage here). They carry age, marriage and motherhood on an even keel with a great deal of panache and elan. But, I can’t think of any examples in Bollywood of actresses who have been able to make such seamless transition with age. But we are an evolving lot and I would still place my bet on Priyanka – tho’ I wish she wouldn’t succumb to peer pressure and try getting to size-zero. Well, I may not be a Marquis or an Owen - but at way past 40, I am beginning to understand a thing or two about women, love and beauty.

Bouillabaisse on the Corniche and 'Hindi Food' in the skies

Often the image of a place is romantically etched on the mind from something one has read or seen. And, very often it leads to disappointment when reality confronts imagination. This has happened many times over in my life.

The picture of Marseilles for me was encapsulated in the reproduction of a Paul Cezzane masterpiece, I had come across in a magazine long ago. So, on this trip when I decided to venture out of Paris over a free weekend – I took a TGV ride down south to Marseilles. I would have been disappointed had it not been for a kind colleague at the company HQ, who recommended a small inn away from the bustle of the port town – yet not too far from the heart of action – on Corniche John F Kennedy.

The corniche, which is really a split level stairway extending over 2 kms is sometimes referred to as the longest bench in the world, opens out to a magnificent view of the Mediterranean. The small ships ferrying passengers to Portugal, Spain, Morocco and Tunisia going past against the backdrop of the Frioul islands make a beautiful mental snapshot.

Buwee-a-bas

The Bouillabaisse (pronounce buwee-a-bas) - once a poor fisherman’s stew made of discarded fish, has now been elevated to the ranks of fine food - is the signature dish of Marseilles. True to French tradition for exacting culinary standards, only restaurants that have signed the “Bouillabaisse Charter” are accredited as serving the authentic stuff . But, at a price tag of Euro 60 per serving – Chez Fon-Fon or Le Ruhl (of Jacques Chirac fame) it was well beyond the shoe-string budget of the humble keeper of this blog – who chose to settle for the more affordable fare at a mid-town café, leaving him appropriately under-whelmed.

'Paise Hotel' in Paris

Brought up on a staple of clichés and stereotypes, one always associated French Cuisine with Fine dining and Parisian Cafes – until I discovered this little hidden treasure in the by-lanes of the St Germaine area called Polidor (Cremerie Restaurant Polidor at 41 Rue Monsieur-le-Prince – near Theatre d l’Odeon). Near rustic in ambience, it can be described roughly as a French equivalent of a “paise hotel” in Calcutta – with no exclusive seating, sharing long tables with other guests who are accommodated as they come, waitresses almost throwing the plates at you while placing the bread-basket and pitchers of vin-de-table from casks.

Being an incorrigible creature of habit, it has become my regular haunt ever since I was introduced to it by a friend – so much so this time around I chose a hotel next to it to stay in. But, serving traditional fare it is a place for serious diners – typified by two old asterix look-alike Frenchmen seating next to me, who went through all the courses from the Fish Terrine to the Beef-tongue Piquante wrapped up with a rich Crème Brulee and Espresso. When I am not in a mood for the pickled duck roast or veal in lemon sauce – I fall for a little taste of home in the Pork Madras Curry, obviously transported from the Pondicherry connection. (and, btw - they don't accept credit cards)

Gender Matrix on Air

Airline food is generally bad and some are ‘more bad’. But occasionally one is pleasantly surprised. One meal I look forward to is the Indian selection on the Jet Airways London – Mumbai / Delhi sector. Catered from the Bombay Brassiere – it is one of the best ‘Hindi food’ ( as a friend’s young son, quite appropriately – I think, calls North Indian cuisine) I ever had – be it up in the air 35k feet asl or with feet firmly on terra firma. It could well be that, after days of Continental food the taste buds crave for some spicy titillation. But, by the same token, how come I don’t find the ‘desi khana’ on other international airlines as appetizing ?

Somehow, on Jet I always prefer the vegetarian option – which is usually more innovative in comparison to the “chicken tikka masala” variant in the non-vegetarian menu. This time I really relished the ‘Lauki ka Kofta’ with real home-style Arhar ki Dal. The desserts are a treat – tho’ I usually pass the Rabdi or the Firni for the irresistible Haagen Dazs Belgian Chocolate Ice-cream.

Moving on to another 'in-flight' experience - tho' not of the culinary kind, on this trip – I came across a lady in a business suit moving around the cabin, who distinctly looked like a staff in mufti. Upon enquiring, I learnt that she was an ‘in-flight auditor checking on the quality of service. A short conversation later, she told me that recently the airline had a high turnover of staff – and they found such on-the-job training really useful for the new recruits. She taught me another new term “gender matrix” , that is apparently skewed a wee bit in favour of the male crews on international sectors and which they were trying to correct by inducting more women on board.

It is for these continuous innvovations and attention to details of customer service, Jet gets my vote for sheer professionalism – on ground or high in the skies.

Masti ka Pathshala

We were late parents. So – the kids of many dear friends and contemporaries are either well into college enjoying their share of young adult-hood or preparing frenetically for their school leaving examinations. And, the slightly older ones are getting ready for their nuptials – while our darling daughter is just about beginning to discover the joys and tribulations of her early teens – tucked away in the pristine preserves of the Sahyadri hills .

It’s examination season and with nearly 15 lakh kids appearing for CBSE alone, the TV Channels and Newspapers have been whipping up a frenzy for anxious parents – to fill in their prime time slots before Election fever grips the country. We had none of this in our times - so it’s all quite alien to me anyway. But, at a very different level, I have been drawn in over the past few weeks into a conversation on a fellow bloggers site (Cuckoo's Cosmos….click here to read ) between parents who are contemplating putting their children into Rishi Valley – the original Krishnamurty (KFI) institution. The obvious question – which we are asked very often in the context of our sending Jaya to Sahyadri – is, whether children studying in such “non-conventional” schools lose their competitive edge, which most parents – justifiably – believe is so essential for surviving in today’s cut-throat world.

Frankly, I don’t have a strong view either way – each I’m sure has its own merits and downsides. Neither Nina nor I come from a boarding school background. Apart from the children of a few close friends, the only ones in our extended family circle who have studied in a “public school” away from home are my dear cousin (2nd – as she never fails to point out) Tush and her brother Papu. We known a few Rishi Valley “products” – but that was just about it. We were also not steeped in Jiddu Krishnamurty’s philosophy or his ideas on education. But, when we decided to send Jaya to a boarding, we were very clear in our mind that it had to be a school like Rishi Valley.

In what appears like serendipity now in hindsight – we had visited Sahyadri soon after the school was set up in the mid 90s at the behest of a senior colleague of HLL. We had come away very impressed with what we saw. Jaya had just about come into our life and we had no clue at that point that we would ever consider sending her to a boarding. We wanted Jaya to be in a “non-pressure” environment. So Sahyadri was a natural choice. (Read Back to School by clicking here)

For us it wasn't a giant leap of faith (unlike an uncle of mine who pulled his two sons out of school on the instruction of their spiritual 'guru' and taught them at home. Both kids, incidentally, have done extremely well in their chosen fields of academics). We put Jaya there for our own set of considerations which we recognize may not apply to others. Though I’d be less than honest if I were to say that, we don’t have our moments of doubt.

Such moments of self-questioning arise – especially while visiting friends around the time of their children’s exams (not necessarily those in their last years of school but also those in the junior classes) when the atmosphere of tension is almost palpable in the house. Similar thoughts also cross my mind at the Parents Teachers Meeting – when I compare by distant recollection what I studied at her age and worry if they are being taught at a level – that’s a notch lower than what the Board syllabus would warrant for the class.

But then, I also think of the myriad other things they are learning - that we never had the opportunity for in a city school. The results of the previous batches – which though not skewed towards the high nine-tees are not at the bottom of the scale either - also bolster confidence. So they must have cracked the code somewhere and built a method into their system - otherwise, it’s not for nothing that the KFI schools have been around for over 75 years now with alumni straddling different walks of life.

The kids, of course, love it once they get over the initial joining pangs. Till the 7th Standard – it’s virtually a ‘masti ka path-shala’. It is only in the 8th when the hormones and exams kick in – does one notice a few spells of blue that come with the first intimations of reality. But then, like the hormones I am told this too is a passing phase.

But I think it is not just English and Maths or Physics, Chemistry, Bio that matter. Nor is it the Games, Arts and Music. It goes much beyond studies and the extra-curricular add-ons. In fact, the high-end Boarding schools have much more to offer in comparison.

I remember – the time we had gone for the interview the parents sat around the matted floor of the assembly hall for an open question and answer session with the Principal. One of the parents remarked – “But Sir, you will agree that the ultimate test will be ICSE”. The young Principal chuckled a little and said with a smile – “ICSE is an important test – but I am not sure if it’s the ultimate test. They will have to face many other tests in life and hopefully we prepare them for those in some small way”. He couldn’t have summed up our expectation better.

When is CSR Sexy?

Being a born drifter, after sailing through some choppy waters in the last few years – I floated into the world of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) sometime back. I saw in it an opportunity to dip my toe into the social sector – something I had been contemplating for long as a post retirement career option. Unlike some contemporaries who took a plunge into the NGO world only to jump out with a start, it has been – thus far - a rather fascinating journey for me.

Over the years – a veritable industry has spawned around CSR. Now with all brouhaha over Climate Change, Carbon Emission and Sustainability – it is mega business really. Not a single workday passes without my receiving a call or invitation for sponsoring or participating in a conference or seminar on CSR (paid, of course). Consulting firms have also jumped into the bandwagon starting their practices – to advise companies on how to develop their own CSR Strategy and roll out CSR programmes. NGOs big and small come up with proposals for “partnerships”.

Green-wash, Blue-Wash or White-wash?

Without a doubt CSR has come a long way from the days of Merchant Charity and Gandhian Philanthropy to responsible corporate citizenry. It is – understandably – still largely driven top down by the CEO or the owner-promoter, often goaded by a conscientious Board of Directors. Much of it, many would argue, is just lip service for the purpose of publishing in Annual Reports or for making presentation to industry bodies and the government. At times, it is also with some collateral motives - what has come to be known as “Blue-wash”– (where companies aim at distracting attention from the social and environmental consequences of their production and products) or “Green-wash” (polluting industries trying to buy their ‘license to operate’).

Of course, the UN Global Compact and MDG (Millennium Development Goals) have been pushing corporations towards re-organsing their businesses along sustainable lines. But, even otherwise, the movement is beginning to gather steam across the world. A lot of this is because of pressure coming laterally from external stakeholders (Communities, NGOs, Government and share-holders in some instances) and also, very often, from below – i.e. the employees.

The Satyam Effect

Increasingly employees – especially the younger ones – are becoming conscious of the kind of organizations they join and work for. Though’ the discounted head-count of Satyam is still a whopping 40k, socially responsible organizations like Infosys and TCS still command a premium in the employment market. Another phenomenon , which seems to be catching up is employee volunteerism – with more and more people within the organization wanting to contribute their skills and time to the community. Earlier this used to be just a few good souls wanting to do their bit for society, putting in some work for charities in their spare time. Today it is happening in a much more organized form - with groups of employees coming together to help communities around their immediate sphere of activity using their own and the organization’s core competencies. Overseas many organizations have a clear policy for employer-supported volunteerism – where companies encourage its employees to do volunteering work by giving time-off or by making matching monetary contributions for their efforts etc. In India too this trend is picking up. A band of young, passionate social sector professionals are making the difference.


Just Hot Air ?

It’s fashionable these days to try and make a business case for selling the concept of CSR. The standard line is ‘why CSR is good for your business ?’ and the common arguments used are CSR helps in creating employee motivation, brand premium, consumer loyalty etc. While these can certainly be incidental benefits – the logic is far too tenuous to hold water for today’s CEOs who being hostages of the ‘street’ can’t look beyond the quarterly numbers. Therefore, you can’t quite fault Stefan Stern who in a recent column in the Financial Times (Read "The Hot Air of CSR" by clicking here ) writes “now that recession’s here we can forget all that nonsense about CSR and get back to making some money”.

But, CSR need not be through Cheques alone. In fact – some of the best CSR programmes have a very small monetary component, if at all. Good corporate governance, taking care of minority shareholders, promoting work-place diversity are by themselves good CSR.

Much before the term CSR gained currency – way back in the early 80s, Hindustan Lever (not HUL!!) had a Rural Training Program under which every Management Trainee of the company had to compulsorily spend 2 months in a village, in the very backward District of Etah in UP, where the company had a Dairy Unit. During this period the trainees (“Manager Saab” as they were lovingly referred to by the gracious villagers) were expected to provide managerial inputs for the development of the villages. The motive was not entirely altruistic. The visionary Chairman of the company had seen that the survival of the Dairy Unit and economic upliftment of the District were closely inter-linked. A collateral benefit was the solid “grounding” it gave the Management Graduates in the basics of rural marketing.

Often tiny innovations make for great CSR. A chain of Cafes in Kathmandu employ only speech and hearing impaired waiters. Many years back – I remember a small snack bar at the end of Prabhat Road in Pune used to engage needy students. A placard on the table requested customers not to hurt the dignity of the boys by offering them tips. But, instead – if they wished – to put in their contribution into a box, the collection from which would be used for subsidizing the cost of their books and tuition fees. I wonder how many Corporates would think of engaging physically challenged individuals in their pantries and canteens – jobs they can easily do.

Heart, Head or Condoms ?

But, CSR is not just a matter of the heart it’s a function of the mind as well The real answer to Stefan Stern’s provocative thesis, therefore, lies in how CSR can be woven into the fabric of the organization – where it is not an ‘add-on’ or ‘stand-alone’ activity but an integral part of the operations to yield visible and tangible benefits. Strategically conceived, good CSR practices can actually help companies deliver better bottom-line results – which can look especially attractive, when the chips are down. HLL (sorry, HUL)’s Project Shakti and ITC’s E-Choupal are 2 such examples , – which even after discounting the ‘hype’ have significant top-line potential for the 2 companies. The ICICI Foundation’s foray into Micro-financing and Social Entrepreneurship is another good model to emulate.

In the 70s and 80s, consumer product companies like HLL and ITC used to sell Condoms (marketed under the Government's Family Planning Programme) through their Distribution Channels – which, to my mind, was also a form of CSR. So, when CSR is not just ‘good for business’ but it becomes a part of doing business, does it begin to look sexy !!

A weekend of awards

Suddenly Omar Abdullah has become the poster boy of Corporate India. He has certainly got “star appeal” and India Inc, as it has come to be fashionably called, seem to have made this great ‘post-Obamatic’ discovery of “younger politicians” as potential agents of change (keeping the butter warm and soft, ready for application on another scion in waiting – should the contingency arise after the forthcoming general elections, à la circa 1984 - if you understand what I mean!!). Otherwise, it is difficult to explain the choice of this third generation Kashmiri “lion” cub as the Chief Guest for an award function of a respected Business Weekly, in Mumbai last Friday (which I had to attend on a call of duty). His only tenuous link with the city, we were told, was that, he went to college at Sydenham and his “corporate” credentials come from his having been a trainee at ITC and a Manager at the Oberois (who then ran a property in Srinagar, by the Dal Lake)before he took his plunge into the family business of Kashmir politics.

The corporate brass turned out in full strength – including a few odd numbers like a leading Urologist, who probably holds some little secrets of their inside tracts. And, strangely young Omar arrived not just with his wife (which would be understandable) but also his father in tow – like protective mothers of young starlets, who accompany their nubile daughters on out-of-town shoots, presumably to keep predators at bay or to ensure that they are not short-changed on pay and perks.

the Pandit and the Sheikh

Personally, I was never enamoured of the Abdullahs. I find them a bit like the Koirala family of Nepal – on whom successive Governments in Delhi (I am advisedly refraining from saying: the ‘Indian Government’) have over-invested in the past 60 years. Until very recently, New Delhi always thought that the Koiralas were our ‘best bet’ – and continued to back them covertly and overtly through the years. But, everytime the Koiralas came to power - Delhi became a distant friend and they found virtue in other neighbourly and regional ties – be it across the Himalyas to the North or a bit further beyond the western borders of India. The Indian establishment tried to retro-justify this ‘lack of reciprocation’ as compulsions of local politics – only to repeat the folly again in future.

Politics on the Golf Course

The long saga of the Nehru-Gandhi family’s fraternal foibles with the old Sheikh is well known. And, one still remembers the National Conference’s minor flirtation with the BJP and NDA. The ascent of the motor-biking Farooq was greeted with as much enthusiasm as we now see over his son – only to realize in no time that, he is a better partner on the Golf Course than in the political mine-fields of Kashmir. Therefore, I am a bit skeptical about this euphoria over the anointment of Omar as the heir of the ‘riyasat’ and was not in the least surprised, when he declared at the same august gathering ( in the course of an otherwise very impressive speech) - “Pakistan is not an enemy of India …but there are elements within Pakistan ( comprising about 99.9% of the population, I would reckon) who do not want normal bi-literal relations with India”.

The Corporate ‘Dada Saheb Phalke’

If the choice of Omar Abdullah as the G-o-H was intriguing, the selection of Bikki (P.R.S.) Oberoi as the “Businessman of the Year” was equally baffling. I wouldn’t have had a problem if he was awarded a “Dada Saheb Phalke” equivalent award of the Corporate world for his “Lifetime Achievements”. But what was his special achievement in the last year to merit this recognition ? I couldn't simply get it. From the various laudatory speeches, one almost got the feeling that he was being honoured for the 26/11 attack on his flagship property – which, by their own public admission, was the favourite haunt and watering hole of many of jury members (some, infact, had their offices and homes right next to it and, so, had witnessed first-hand the events of those 3 fateful days). By the same token Ratan Tata should be nominated for Bharat Ratna for the onslaught withstood by The Taj.

But, the real entertainment of the evening was 6 top businessmen coming on stage to offer their prescription on how to tackle terrorism. It was hard to believe that, people of their stature with extraordinarily sharp minds could come up with such puerile analysis of and even more banal suggestions. I thought, 6th grade students would have done better if they were asked to write an essay on the subject. The first – an young steel baron – talked of how industrial development was the only way to solve the terrorist problem and offered to fly down with some of his business cronies to suggest ways of industrializing the state. (In his speech – Omar was quick to point out that, he hadn’t come to invite people to set up industries in Kashmir – as his state couldn’t offer the infrastructure and skilled manpower required for it. He would, instead, like them to provide vocational training that would help Kashmiris find jobs in main-land India. A sure conduit for Pakistan to export terrorists from across the border and infiltrate our industries – some security experts might argue!!)

This reminded me of an apocryphal anecdote that used to do its round in my old company. A project team had gone to Srinagar – at the behest of the GoI – in the early 80s to explore the possibility of setting up a Detergent Packing plant in the Valley. On asking about the security situation – it seems a government official told them nonchalantly (he was joking - I’m sure) – ‘what’s your problem? You are a multi-national – so your plant will either belong to Hindustan Lever or will go to Lever Bros Pakistan”.

Tackling terror with paranoia and wazwan

The second was a top banker – who provided a brilliant 3P formula for tackling terror: Pillars, Paranoia and Pakistan. First – he said we need to strengthen the ‘pillars’ of society (very original !!), then we need to create enough “paranoia” and finally tackle Pakistan. Tauba, Tauba !!. ( For a moment – when he mentioned 3Ps – I thought he was referring to the Pakistan Peoples Party).

Then came the flamboyant liquor baron turned air-line tycoon and part time politician (who, incidentally – as I gathered from an impeccable source - had just returned from a ‘self-financed’ junket to Srinagar and Gulmarg – gorging on the fabulous ‘Wazwans’ - to celebrate the accession. Some say, he is angling for a rajya Sabha ticket from the state). Speaking with his familiar élan, he didn’t miss the opportunity to plug his airline and spent some time discussing the problem he has in docking his yacht at the Gateway – from which he surmised that the terrorists couldn’t have landed there without the complicity of the locals. He also shared his worry on the very ‘real’ possibility of one of his airliners being hijacked or blown-up. Both fair points – but not particularly luminescent in my limited view.

But that’s all that I could take. I decided to make a quiet exit (seated on one of the last rows being the habitual back-bencher that I always was). While walking out - I reflected that it’s not the business of corporate honchos to hold discourses on terrorism, just as politicians should desist from lecturing on Corporate Governance.


Part II: 'Scams' accha hai

Yesterday was the mother of all corporate awards – the ET(Economic Times) Excellence Awards (which was originally scheduled for October 28th – at The Trident) for which the Prime Minister had flown down. Needless to say that, anybody who is somebody in the corporate galaxy was there. Obviously, I was not one among them. Have been to some of the earlier ET Awards by default - and found them to be exceedingly boring affairs (like most corporate award functions usually are) despite getting the 'glam-quotient' up with the likes of Katrina Kaif to making star appearances (don't forget VJ's clout in Bollywood and the Glamour world) as Corporate 'item numbers'. In this mornings newspaper I read, the PM spoke at length on Corporate Governance apropos Satyam and Corporate India listened in "rapt attention". I'm sure he must have made some very pertinent observations and recommendations (not for nothing Raju Narisetti - former Editor of MINT and now Managing Ed of Washington Post - had written that he would make an excellent 'op-ed writer). But, Singh is not the most inspirational orator even at his best - so I wondered how many in the audience were actually listening.

It was a wonderful gesture - though, on the part of ET to honour The Taj staff - Karambir, Kang, Hemant Oberoi , Raymond Bickson and Mahavir Rathore (the Head of Security) for the 26/11. On behalf of The Oberois, I believe, the award was received by - who else ? - P R S Oberoi himself. But, it was quintessential ET to claim that, Oberoi had specially flown down from Delhi only for the awards !!


Instead, I went for a very different kind of award function in the suburbs billed as the ‘Product of the Year (POY)” Awards. It was more of lively, 'high-voltage' entertainment and the awards were almost incidental. POY works broadly on these lines. They run some kind of a market research (totally “independent” and “not rigged”, Charu – who heads POY in India, assures me) for the Brands that register and on topping the category they are awarded the “Product of the Year” certificate – which the company can use on the payment of a “fee”. (Click here to read the concept) I asked Charu - "isn’t it a 'scam'?". A ‘scam’ it may be – she threw it back at me with her signature laughter - but a “scam that works”. It seems that, empirical evidence has shown, on an average the winners witness a 10 per cent to 15 per cent upwards increase in sales. “Come for the awards”, she told me, “I promise it will be fun”. And, fun it was for sure.

While driving back home I concluded that, 'scams' are far more interesting than the real awards.

A Road Much Travelled

When I first travelled on the Bombay-Pune highway sometime in 1985, I had no idea that it was to be the ‘road most travelled’ in my life. That road has given me many lovely memories - from very romantic rides to a life-changing journey when we took Jaya home ( read Kats, Rains and The Woods by clicking here). Of course, it was then the old highway - winding steeply across the Lonavala ghats (traversing some 2000 feet in just about 7 kms). There was that mandatory stop at Ramakant in Khopoli for Vada-Pavs and occasionally a beer or 2, when one was not travelling on work.

In the monsoons driving through the ghats was a near surrealistic experience. At one level it was the sheer beauty of torrid rain tearing the veil of low-hanging clouds – like the gushing waterfall guarding the entrance to Phantom’s cave. And, there was that edge-of-the-seat tension – as the rickety old Fiats and rattling Ambassadors struggled to negotiate the bends and curves, their frail wipers flapping feebly - wilting under the force of the downpour and the driver leaning forward with his nose almost touching the windscreen in the mistaken belief that, by doing so he could see the road ahead better.

Aati kya Khandala

By the time we left Pune in 1996 – construction of the new “Expressway” had just begun. Only the small link stretch from Pashan to Dehu Road had been completed – which was generally unused except by lovers for a long drive on a moonlit night. Not for once did I think then - that I would have to keep going back on that route in the years to come.

But exactly 10 years later, the road beckoned me again. On a wintry Feb morning in 2006, I drove up the new Expressway for the first time to check out – what would be Jaya’s new school, nestled in the Sahyadri Hills on the way to Bhimashankar, off the Pune-Nashik highway (Read Back to School by clicking here). Since then, I have been travelling on it – practically once every month, sometimes even twice, more than I do (or have ever done) on any other highway.

Of course – what now appears like a ribbon-like path has been forsaken for the 6 lane racing tracks. The old Ramakant has been replaced by giant Food Malls. (There’s only one outlet that sells decent Vada-pavs – Shree Datta – on the down lane just before the Khalapur Toll-naka). Romance has given way to the thrill of speed.

Earlier it used to be said that, the time taken and cost of travel were roughly the same – no matter which mode of transport you chose – Road, Rail or Air. I remember the fare on the Avro Shuttle flights was then Rs 145 and a first-class ticket on the Deccan Queen Rs 105. The shared taxi was Rs 90 – I think. The travel time on the DQ was three and a half-hour and by road it was a little over 4 hours. Though the flying time was only 20 minutes – taking into account the time spent in traveling to / from and waiting at the airport – it still added to around 3½ to 4 hours.

While the cost equation has gone terribly awry (air tickets now cost nearly Rs 3k and the AC Char Car fare on the humble DQ is Rs 250) – surprisingly, there hasn’t been much improvement on the time factor. Point to point, from one end of the Expressway to the other, one can comfortably reach in an hour and a half (between the 2 toll-nakas of Khalapur/Khopoli and Talegaon - a distance of about 70 kms – I clock an average of 45 minutes). But the entry and exit at both Pune and Mumbai have become a veritable nightmare – of course, Mumbai more so. Getting to Panvel from anywhere in Mumbai can take up to 90 minutes even on a good day. The return traffic can be far worse - Sundays and weekends are no exception. So, all told, unless you are travelling early in the morning or returning very late at night – it still takes nearly 4 hours either way.

Sadly, something else hasn’t changed too. Overturned trucks and tankers were always a common sight on the ghats. Inexperienced drivers of over-loaded vehicles often lost balance on the sharp turns. Frequently one also saw crumpled evidence of some major collisions from the night before. These would generally be found on the Lonavala-Pune stretch where the road was broader and the traffic thin – tempting drivers to step on the gas.

Cousins of Shumacher

Actually, in my opinion, it is the close proximity of Mumbai and Pune – which is the main cause of accidents. Because of the relatively short distance between the 2 cities, many motorists – who would have otherwise not ventured on a highway are lured by the road. This culture of highway adventurism has further increased with the new Expressway. Most people think it is the Indian equivalent of German Autobahns where there are no limits on speed. Probably, at a subliminal level they fancy themselves as distant cousins of Michael Shumacher – and have this irresistible urge to hit the road and burn rubber for vicariously experiencing the joys and highs of Formula One racing .

The official ‘speed limit’ is 80 kmph for the greater part – but most people never drive at less than a 100, often going beyond to 120 or more. Even on the ghat-sections – where the recommended limit is 30kmph – very few drop the speedometer below 80 or a 60 at best. With no idea of the rules of highway driving, let alone etiquette, lane cutting and overtaking is rampant. Staying on your own lane is no guarantee – as vehicles that come hurtling at monstrous speeds would either chase you off the track or overtake dangerously from the left with every chance of your losing control in a momentary lapse of concentration or reflex.

While the long-distance buses and over-loaded Sumos ferrying passengers are a menace, the real high-risk category are the small cars – the Altos, Swifts, Santros and their clones. Apart from overturning easily, these lightweight cars are prone to tyre-bursts at high-speed, which is almost always fatal on an Expressway. Therefore, it is easy to come-by the crushed remains of a car that was flung across the divider and hit a vehicle coming from the opposite direction.

I can understand that, it may not be possible to control lane cutting without highway patrols with their own fast cars as they have in the West. But, why can’t we impose speed control with the help of cameras that are now easily available and eminently affordable. If we wish to catch up with the developed world by building such arterial freeway , we should also adopt some of their good practices too. Basic safety should be a matter of right for the users of a toll-road. The toll operators should be made to compulsorily install speed-control equipments – such as radars and cameras - as a pre-condition of their license. Equally, the state authorities are duty bound to enforce regulations that they themselves have set. But then, human lives always come cheap in our country – be it in terrorist attacks or road accidents.

Vada-pavs on the bend

Without such safeguards, every trip is a test of nerves for which I routinely tank myself with caffeine – at the first gas-station immediately upon entering the Expressway. On occasions when I feel energetic enough to drive right through – usually on the return leg of the journey - I definitely stop for a break before the exit toll-naka – either for a coffee at the new well appointed CCD or tea and Vada-Pav at Shree Datta. But then, I was not cut out for living life on the fast-lane anyway.

Collateral Benefits

The term “collateral damage” has become popular after 26/11 – but there have been also some ‘collateral benefits’ too, if I may call them so.

One among them, is the introspection it has set in motion within the media (we saw a bit of that earlier after the Arushi Talwar case) about their role in covering the event; For the first time perhaps there has been such a public outcry over the TV Channels making a spectacle (some called it a “light and sound show”) out of a national tragedy. The security agencies and the government too have come down with a heavy hand (ham-handedly some might say) to chastise the channels for what they thought was rather “irresponsible” coverage often at the risk of compromising the operations. Advisories are being issued by the I & B Ministry. And there is serious talk about a Code of Conduct being prescribed (one hears - a PiL signed by 19,000 people has been filed to that effect) and mumblings about “self-regulation”. This has put the leading channels - and their star editors – for once on the back-foot, if not veritably on the mat.

So we have NDTV running a scroll challenging ‘unsubstantiated allegations’ and threatening action. Barkha wrote a lengthy defence on the NDTV website (read by clicking here) and Rajdeep valiantly argued his case (and that of his fellow-broadcasters’) on CNN-IBN’s sister channel CNBC-TV18 (in a special edition of “Storyboard” - brilliantly moderated by Anuradha Sengupta).

If there was one up-‘anchor-ship’ among the channels there was also up-commando-ship among the security agencies – each more keen to speak to the camera about the success of their operations only to be proved wrong a few minutes later. Therefore, Rajdeep made a valid point when he said that our establishment must also learn how to manage a 1000-pound Gorilla that 24/7 Television News can be. Our authorities – be it the police, security forces or politicians – need to be put through some basic media training. As the Reuters South Asia correspondent Phil Smith pointed out – you can’t blame the ‘twenty something’ reporters who saw this as an opportunity of a lifetime to shoot into fame a la Christiane Amanpour in Kuwait and Iraq or even our very own Ms Dutt of Kargil fame.

I found Meenakshi Madhvani had an interesting take on all this. She thought what would finally buck the trend is advertisers turning away from channels which sensationalise news – realising that editorial environment is as important than as TRP ratings.

However much we flay the electronic media for sensationalism and over exposure – the nearly 60 hours of non-stop TV coverage that gripped the world across geo-political fault-lines has undeniably played a massive role in rallying the entire nation in our own ‘desi’ version of war against terror.

In all this chatter, here’s one earthy first-hand account of that fateful night (Click here to read the article)

Light and Sound Show on TV

For me personally, 26/11 was in some ways a replay of the Kandahar Hijack of the Indian Airlines plane IC 814 and the Royal Family Killings that followed. I was based in Kathmandu then - so I happened to see them from very close quarters. Though both those incidents were of a very different order of magnitude, there were similarities in the manner of their unfolding. Particularly after the Palace Massacre, I remember the kind of public outrage there was in Nepal about the ‘insensitive’ coverage of the Indian electronic media, who had landed up within hours of the incident (some of them were accused of “stage-managing” public protests against King Gyanendra). One very respected Nepali voice pleaded while being interviewed on a channel – “why don’t you realize, for us it’s a national tragedy – please let us mourn in peace.” (Read “A Kingdom Mourns”)

This time round – I just happened to be in front of the television when the story broke. But, thereafter, by a certain quirk of circumstances (a visiting overseas colleague was holed up in The Trident), I was glued to the flat screen for nearly 36 hours without a break. So, I saw the coverage ‘grenade by grenade’ and one gun-shot at a time, as it were, right from the start.

It began with TIMES NOW carrying a footer of the PTI Flash about firing inside a Colaba restaurant (Café Leopold), followed in quick succession by another ticker on the shoot out at the VT Station. The first was billed as a fight between Nigerian students and latter as possibly a ‘gang-war’. In a few minutes, CNN-IBN had picked up the news. Their reporters were screaming about firings at “The Taj-Oberoi” – without making a distinction between the two hotels. Soon they had Suhel Seth on the phone from Bombay. He had come to attend a wedding and was staying at The Taj. The hotel had pro-actively called guests who were out - asking them not to come back immediately. Suhel was venting his spleen at the nincompoop politicians who can’t offer basic security to the citizens. Like many of us, I don’t think he had realized till then the seriousness of the situation. There was another young lady, a fashion journalist, who was partying at the Indigo, calling in to say – they were stuck inside the restaurant, which had pulled down its shutters and turned-off the lights – because of firing going on in the vicinity. In a little while, Vikram Singh Mehta (Chairman of Shell India – who, when in Mumbai, stays at the NCPA Towers right behind the Oberoi) was on the line giving an eyewitness account of fire belching out from The Oberoi lobby, which he could see from his apartment.

During this time – NDTV, or at least those watching the channel, were blissfully unaware of what was happening in Mumbai and they continued with their show “Cricketing Matters” where Sonali Chander was listlessly chatting away with Ajay Jadeja about the amiable nature of Sachin Tendulkar on and off the pitch. At 11 – they brought on the eyelash fluttering Sunetra Chaudhury “breaking news”.

By then, TIMES NOW was already airing live footages of the encounter at VT Station borrowed from the STAR NEWS OB Vans. At CNN-IBN Anubha Bhonsle held post till Bhupendra Chaubey came on air and their cameras reached the scene of action at The Taj. But when Srinivasan Jain took charge of the NDTV telecast, between him at the studio and the Shivnath Thukral-Shaili Chopra duo on the front-line at the Gateway of India - they were easily ahead of the rest (that I am partial towards Chopra women – in this case not Priyanka but Shaili – is well known!!).

Paratroopers
However, things changed once Ms Dutt parachuted into Nariman Point the next morning. Around the same time Rajdeep appeared in front of The Taj. Much before that, since the night infact, Arnab was firmly ensconced at the TIMES NOW desk. But, from then on it became a battle for the “eye-balls”.

TIMES NOW – stuck to a no frills coverage for practically 72 hours non-stop. One must hand it out to not only their tenacious Editor-Anchor but also their team of feisty young reporters.

Once their ‘star’ arrived on the scene, NDTV all but pulled out their previous night’s team of Vasu-Shivnath-Shaily. After trying her signature high-pitched ‘ball-by-ball’ commentary for a while – she quickly shifted gear, taking a ‘softer’ line - talking to family members of hostages waiting anxiously outside the hotel. Soon she was interviewing Shobhaa De. By the evening she was hosting a chat show with the so-called Mumbai “intellectuals” (if the city had any in the first place) in a program emotively titled “Enough is Enough”.
s-O-tainment

CNN-IBN struck a middle ground between the fact-based, non-hysterical reporting of TIMES NOW and the high emotion-packed coverage on NDTV. Overall they were much more balanced (barring some shrill anchoring by the lady who shares her last name with me - spelt exactly the same way with an ‘e’ at the end). Well, I suppose, you do need product differentiation even in TV News coverage.

In my view, TIMES NOW carried the day with Arnab playing a marathon Test Match style innings (much like the double century of - Rajdeep’s Dad, the redoubtable Dilip Sardesai, at Kingston in ‘71 – the same series in which Gavaskar had scored his first double ton in Port of Spain). He never left the studio and was, therefore, able to control what was being aired - unlike, I suspect, some of the other channels whose editors were busy on the field.

Of course, I didn’t watch the Hindi Channels – which I am told were dramatised to the point of being pure paranoia arousing “news-o-tainment”.

India's Apocalypse

Everything about the Bombay apocalypse has been shown incessantly, spoken untiringly and written endlessly. So there is precious little I can add – even as an ordinary citizen or resident of this fantastic city. In any case, the experience was too gruesome for words.

Faulty DNA

As a nation, we are far too stoical – coming to think of it, even a tragedy of such enormity failed to rattle us completely. It already seems like business as usual (not just in Mumbai – which has this ‘indomitable and indefatigable’ tag of its own making attached; but, also in rest of the country). Perhaps, repeated tragedies over the ages - both man-made and natural - have engineered our DNAs to make us immune to collective pain.

Sure, we don’t have to rush to hospitals for panic attacks, run to shrinks, reach out for Prozac and Anxiolactics as the Americans did after 9/11. Neither did one expect to see a dignified display of national solidarity by wearing the tri-colour as they did in the US (where – Jay Leno joked - 300 million pin-up lapel badges of the US Flag had to be flown in from Taiwan).


Made-up faces and endless chatter

It’s also not surprising, that a series of chain SMSs failed to make people wear black (or white, as the case may be if you were in the South) or bring out people for candle light vigils or silent marches in the large numbers, as New York was in September 2001. But one didn’t evidence any shock and horror on the face of the common man on the street or the well-powdered visages of the usual suspects on TV panel discussions – Alyque Padamsee, Anil Dharkar, Shobhaa De, Simi Garewal and now also Rahul Bose.


We are also very talkative as would be evident from the endless chatter on all 24 hours news channels. We don’t mourn and grieve in silence – nor do we allow others to. We have a compulsive need for verbal regurgitation on every issue with little action to match.

So do I believe anything will change? Cynical as I may sound, I don’t think so. How many times before have we heard the term “intelligence failure”? Or the assertion that Intelligence Agencies had warned about the possibility of the attacks much in advance - but the police or state authorities did not act upon it. It was said after the Bombay train blasts of July 05, the Kabul Embassy bombing (which was true by the way – apart from RAW, the Afghan and American Military Intelligence had passed on information about an impending attack with almost precise details – including the make of the car etc), the recent Delhi blasts and practically every other terror attack in the past.


Wake-up call for the Decendants of Kumbhakarna

Is there any reason to believe that now things will change for good - the nation and political parties will stand together as one – leaving aside considerations of their vote banks – to pledge that we won’t let this happen again? I think it’s utter bull-shit that, last week's national ordeal would prove to be a ‘wake-up call’ (if we didn’t wake up even after the repeated terror incidents of all these years - then, as a race we must be descendants of Kumbhakarna). The theory that, this time terror has struck the under-belly of the ‘rich and powerful’ who will make the establishment act – is based on an erroneous premise.

The rot has set in far too deep. The sacking of a Shivaraj Patil (who had no business to be the Home Minister in the first place – I wouldn’t therefore blame his incompetence rather that of those who gave him that all important portfolio to begin with – as a tool for their own self-preservation – by providing them with political intelligence and leaving the real job of managing internal security to the PMO and the NSA) or sacrificing a Vilas Rao Deshmukh and R R Patil at the alter of electoral expediency wouldn’t make any real difference either.

Nor will the creation of a Central Agency for National Security a la the US Department of Homeland Security or introduction of more draconian laws to curb terror – serve any purpose unless it is backed by political will and bi-partisan and unanimous support across the political spectrum.

What is required is an over-haul of the entire system – which is beyond the capacity or comprehension of our present day leaders who are too busy with their internecine fights to bother about fundamental structural reforms. A discerning friend questioned rather incisively - in an age of specialization in every field how can we have service aspirant from every academic discipline appear for the entrance exam not knowing whether he / she would be joining the IAS, IFS, IRS, IPS, Railways or Indian Posts? At another basic level – another friend in the intelligence establishment admitted that, age old tried and tested systems like the ‘beat constable’ as the primary source of gathering ground-level intelligence has been systematically dismantled and the humungous investments in hard-wares such as metal detectors, CCTVs, Radio interceptors gather dust. Even today – I was allowed to walk into the airport without having to pass through the metal detector.

We will continue to hear only pious platitudes (such as “the guilty will be punished” and “such attacks will unite us rather than divide us”) or indictments from the opposition trying to make cheap political capital out of a national tragedy - until the next one hits us, perhaps with even greater ferocity.

The Last Men Standing

The armed forces remain the last surviving institution in this country. God forbid if even they are politicized, it would mean the end of India as we knew it. That would be even more dangerous than the much-prophesied disintegration of Pakistan into a rogue-state, which probably it already is. A dismembered and beheaded behemoth like India can be many times worse than a hydra-headed monster.

Sailing with Priyanka on the Ibis

(Picture above - Priyanka Chopra, Kangana Ranawat and Mugdha Godse - stars of the new movie 'Fashion')

I haven’t seen Madhur Bhandarkar’s ‘Fashion’ yet – but, I am sure that I’m not the only middle-aged man salivating at the bill-boards of the ravishing Priyanka Chopra with her ‘come hither’ look (she’s coming out more sharp and confident with every passing movie click here– tho’ I'm told, in Fashion it is Kangana Ranawat who steals the show with her acting and dagger looks. See her pic below).

Vinod Nair – the dapper and charming “Fashaan Editor” of Echtee has commented on his Facebook ‘Wall’ – “ Fashion not so FASHIONable” (and, you thought I give bad titles !!) pronouncing it as a ‘shallow’ portrayal (thought it was all about being shallow and hollow in the first place, but who would know better than Vinod - see pic below). Critics like Rajiv Masand have trashed it for similar reasons. Our mutual Facebook friend, Mrinalini, is more pointed in her observations. “Isn’t it Bhandarkar’s modus-operandi, where he pretends to expose the under-belly (like that term – apropos PC baby !!) of society… whereas in reality it is simply sensationalism and titillating movie making” ? she asks very pertinently.

But is it only menopausing males like me – who are making a beeline for the movie to pander their sagging libido? I suspect not. Some argue that - Page 3, Corporate and Fashion represent a new genre of Bollywood films. What do we call it - “Neo-realism” ? I won’t put these films any where close to the category – of, say, the cinematic versions of Arthur Hailey’s - Airport, Hotel – which tried to demystify the aura of those establishments – giving us a glimpse of the real ‘goings-on’ inside the corridors, kitchens and control rooms – even while weaving a thrilling plot around them. I remember another such movie while in college – ‘Network’, about the dirt and muck of TV Newsrooms and how TV personalities like Barbara Walters and Larry King are created. Nor is it a Bollywood version of Satyajit Ray’s 'Nayaak' – digging beneath the skin of a super-star.

These films – I think, reflect another social phenomenon – which, I believe, is largely the creation of our media. This is different and distinct from the yellow journalism practiced by the film magazines of yore fabricating gossip about the lives of movie-stars. That was a game of selling fantasies to a socially and economically deprived (occasionally, depraved) class. Whereas today it’s all about selling fake dreams. By the relentless chatter about the ‘life-style’ of the so called 'glam-set' (being simply rich and famous is passe these days) – they make believe that success and fame are just a hand-shake away. All it requires is a minor bending of morals – but the glamour and glitz that follows is more than worth that little compromise be it on the catwalk, corporate ladder or the proverbial casting couch. (Picture on the left - Bipasha Basu in a scene from 'Corporate').

Sociologists (or social anthropologists) can tell us what is it about us and our children (more than the earlier generations) that we crave for such vicarious existence. But, those who think that, this is purely an urban middle-class affliction are mistaken. Only this weekend I met a gentleman – who has done a research amongst farmers of Punjab about the kind of content they would like in a newspapers designed specifically for them. Apart from the expected news about politics, economy and trend in commodities – he was surprised by their overwhelming demand for a full feature life-style section. I don’t see why it should be any different in UP, Bihar or even West Bengal. ( On the right : Priyanka - when she was a little less 'evolved')

And, here I am not being judgmental for I do like Priyanka. Be sure, I will go see FASHION very soon. Because, that’s the closest I can get to a ramp.

Jumping off the ship

Meanwhile, on its way to Mareech ( Mauritius) the IBIS has pulled in her sails to weather a storm in mid-ocean ( Read earlier blog: 'In Bed with Ghosh' by clicking here). Five jump ship – the head serang, a lascar, the two convicts and a condemned migrant (girmitya), - and take off on a long boat to seek their fortunes eastwards – to Singapore and China. The Sea of Poppies -first of a new trilogy - certainly has the scale and sweep of an epic. Each of the characters have a story of their own to tell (product of rigorous research, undoubtedly). But, to what effect I am not sure. The strands loosely plied together into a thick rope - but separate all the same, often appearing disconnected and ready to come apart. In parts it reads like a very literal translation of a historical Bengali novel –of a genre reminiscent of Sunil Gangopadhya’s “Shei Shomoy”. The book picks up pace towards the end just as the IBIS gathers wind in her sails. That’s when, perhaps, Ghosh also decides to dispense with his voluminous tomes - Dictionaries and Reference books. (My uncle from London wrote: “ I am reading the Sea of Poppies. I wish there was a glossary for the now forgotten terms of various dishes and other slangs”).

The Booker may not be the ultimate recognition for an author (I think it's a huge marketing scam engineered by the publishing community - that's why I won't read Adiga's White Tiger) but it gives me the re-assurance that I am not in the minority of one. And, while the Booker may have eluded Ghosh, I don't see why an author of his stature and standing should put a whole list of minor awards - such as the Hutch Crossword or the Frankfurt International e-book Prize - as testimonies on the cover.

A friend had accused me of being a lazy reader who doesn’t know how to engage with a demanding author. I worked hard with Ghosh in bed and on planes during my trips. Perhaps, I too should have taken a whiff of that magical substance made from Poppy flowers to have appreciated it better. But, in the end - I feel as wasted as the rest of the human cargo on board after days of a tiring and turbulent voyage. So, now I have turned to Le Carre’s latest : A MOST WANTED MAN. Somehow, I get a feeling that, I will enjoy this one more. Tho' my ultimate fantasy remains - sailing on a schooner with Priyanka !!