The Bollywood We Don't

Now that Bombay has officially reverted to being Mumbai, the big question being asked in nomenclatural circles is whether Bollywood too should be renamed Mollywood? The big hitch, of course, is that the Malayalam film industry already bears that name and will probably not agree to being called Kollywood (after Kerala) since that would conflict with the Kannada film industry.

Almost Heaven

Say what you want about them, but Americans really like America. And not just in the zealous, ‘this-is-my-motherland-and-I-will-lay-down-somebody’s-life-for-it’ kind of way. Nor am I talking about the patriotic hypermush that causes films like Independence Day and their subsequent triumphs at the Oscars. What I find really cool is the less lofty, more everyday kind of affection that finds its way into songs and on to t-shirts.

Not The One

I used to be able to point at a car from among traffic and sexistly pronounce, “That’s being driven by a woman.” Any ladies in the car with me would, of course, immediately assault me with cries of ‘MCP’ etc.; but in eight cases out of ten, I’d be right.

Diagonal in Delhi

I’ve had it up till here with people saying that Delhi’s drivers are a rude and uncultured lot. It’s simply not true. Well, ‘rude’ may be true, but ‘uncultured’ definitely not. Delhi’s drivers have, in fact, a demonstrably literary bent of mind. And as proof of same I point to the pervasive influence of Harry Potter.

Radio Daze

Ever notice how radio stations have this astounding property of cloning themselves? Of course you have. All of us experience their sameness every morning and evening on our daily drive. A 10% variation in the song selection and about 15% in the annoyance levels generated by the RJs. Half the time it’s impossible to say which station is playing without checking the display.

Deeperer Vision: Mobile Affixation

This Deeper Vision is a truly wonderful discovery. Ever since I’ve started practicing it, I’m learning new things every day.

Last Tuesday, driving dreamily along between thither and yon I spotted a very unfortunate person. He meandered across my vision encased in a purple Zen that seemed either to have a mind of its own or a broken steering. A closer look and a quick application of Deeper Vision soon revealed why the car was being driven so driftily:

Deeper Vision: Green Park Market

If you pause a while and see it the way I do, you’ll realize that in most cases the problem is in the way we see things. And it’s not the half-empty-or-half-full kind of thing I’m referring to. I’m talking about feeling disappointed that your pet giraffe isn’t growing any higher than two foot two, when all along he’s just been a tall yellow dog. I mean, didn’t the barking give you a clue?

Most problems are just problems of recognition.