Petals!

I've never picked up a book by Michael Connelly before but when I read these first lines from his novel, The Brass Verdict , I knew that its a book I would enjoy reading. The first lines are: " Every body lies. Cops lie. Witnesses lie. The victims lie. A trial is a contest of lies. And every body in the courtroom knows this. The judge knows this. Even the jury knows this." My thoughts: As some one who studied law, I began my life with great expectations of finding justice for victims. Maybe reading a lot of John Grisham novels had touched a chord, I am not sure. I remember feeling thrilled about the characters and their struggle for justice. However, in real life, it is really different. In India, justice is a beautifully marketed concept that is never fair. Justice, its concept and execution in India, is so blinded by the weight of so many lies, negotiations, media moves and illegal manoeuvres that the public can never begin to suspect how murky it really is. Truth, i ...

(President Kaunda Dancing with Margaret Thatcher, resource: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5099962.stm ) If there's one thing I love doing apart from writing and listening to music and dining out, it's shopping for gifts, especially for loved ones. It can take me a whole day to do that. Of course, whoever has the misfortune to accompany me is ready to jump off a cliff by the end of the day but I'm ever ready if and when it is shopping we do. Today, I went shopping the whole day and thought why not write about it. On the way, I picked up Outlook magazine which featured an exclusive interview with India's most talked about dynastic icon, Priyanka Gandhi, grand daughter of the late Indira Gandhi. The interview excerpt was very interesting. She talked about how she tries to live an ordinary life with her kids by taking them shopping or going to Khan Market to buy them cupcakes. Somehow, reading that reminded me about two incidents when I was growing up in Africa. Look...

As some one who loves exotic wines, it is thrilling to see how wine boom is not confined to the Danielle Steel novels one gets glued to. At times, I used to read parts of her novels again and again to read about the wines she described. Another famous writer who loved wines was Ernest Hemingway, who said, "Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been brought to the greatest perfection, and it offers a greater range for enjoyment and appreciation than, possibly, any other purely sensory thing." Let's face it. It's one of the most flavor filled and fulfilling naturall things in the world today. But I am not sure how many Indians really appreciate the exotic tones and textures of wine. Maybe price is an issue or maybe its pairing with Indian cuisine hasnt been in great favor. Whatever it is, there is such a small group of wine lovers that it's just recently that wine has soared in demand. Also, fi...

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has definitely been on all the TV channels and news headlines as his visit came right on time when Pakistan has alleged that Indian air force violated its airspace. Of course, India has denied this. What interested me more was that Gordon Brown asked India's permission to allow British cops to question Kasav, the main suspect and Pakistani terrorist who survived the Mumbai militant attack. Somehow, it struck me that the request has nothing to do with the Mumbai attack. After all, there is so much to read between the lines when the talks are about terrorism. Every country seems to be talking a different language on this, particularly Pakistan. It is not just India that has blamed the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) for the siege and assault that took place in Mumbai but Kasav himself confessed that he had been trained by LeT. Perhaps the reason why Gordon Brown made the request for British cops to question Kasav has nothing to do with India at all but has e...

The whole world was shocked by the ruthless terrorist attacks on Mumbai's premier hotels, Taj and Trident. What shocked me as an Indian is that the so called Indian government failed to take adequate action, apart from the PM's robotic speeches and other politicians frothing with dignifed verbal gymnastics. Meanwhile, cops, encounter specialists, hotel staff, police constables and top army officials put their lives and famillies at risk to save hundreds of Indians and several foreigners who were trapped in the hotels. I totally agree with an angry Shobha De who lost her temper about our politicians and their ridiculous speeches to stay calm and peaceful when the city of Mumbai was under siege for over 30 hours. It is sickening that our President (by the way, who is the president of this country-do we have some one in charge???) was touring some foreign nation and was gracious enough to send a few lines expressing her sadness about the situation. What is happening to this count...

One of India’s most celebrated writers, Anita Desai visited Delhi on 1st December 2007. Taking part in the brief talk on her novels, Anita Desai made a rare appearance amidst enthusiastic fans and readers thanks to the well organized function that was put together by Random House. As most of us already know, her name was nominated thrice for Booker Price but it happened that her daughter Kiran Desai won it for the book Inheritance of Loss in the year 2006. But coming back to Anita Desai, it has been a long, interesting journey for her because she recalled how it felt to be a writer in early post colonial India. When her American publishers asked her how it felt to be a writer in India, she recalls telling them, “It is like writing in a cave.” The reason, she explained, was that she kept on writing and writing but didn’t get feedback on her writings for several years. It pained her that while her novels were studied in Universities abroad, it hadn’t been the same in her own country, Ind...