Thursday, April 30, 2009

Flyyoufools.com

Came across this really funny website while trying to distract
myself from the fact that I have exams in about 3 days.
Humorous, sarcastic and totally random, www.flyyoufools.com provided
me with much comic relief!


Check it out:
http://www.flyyoufools.com/gay-discrimination/

Friday, April 17, 2009

New avatar!

My blog has a new avatar!
Picture courtesy- the very creative Simran Sahi!
Check out her blog:http://aloosepage.blogspot.com/

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Kiddie talk



Overheard this in a swimming pool the other day:

Boy #1: Aye moti! You'll fall off the float!
Girl #1: Chup bet, tu kala.
Girl #2: Kala! hahaha! Kala , kala Barrack Obama!
*General laughter*

It made me cringe, smile and raise my eyebrow all at the same time.
Cringed at the implication,
Smiled at the innocence
and raised an eyebrow ( 7 year old kid-Barrack Obama?!?!)

Didn't know I was capable of reacting in multiple ways.
Raised with complexes of 'fair and lovely' ever since our childhood,
do all Indians have an unconscious racist streak in them?

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Sound observations


Shooting a documentary really makes you aware of your surroundings.
Is the light okay?How quickly is the sun going to move? Does the colour get balanced out somehow in the frame? Is that too dull a background?Are the sound levels okay? Wait a minute!
What's that humming sound ? Do we have to wait for it to go?

Wherever we went,no matter when and where we were shooting, this
humming noise seemed to follow us.There was nothing we could do about it.All we had to do was just wait it out.Eventually, we figured out what it was- A construction drill.

They say every city has its distinct sound and smell. For Mumbai, that
sound would definitely have to be the construction drill. The sign of the city's desire to grow bigger, better, bolder and possibly more efficient.

At first we thought we had bad luck, but then we realised that this sound was pretty much everywhere.Take a look around you.Construction sites are springing up around every corner and in the suburbs,there's a new mall practically every week, not to mention the mess that the metro digging and construction is causing.

Now one could look at this from different angles.
1.Where is all this money coming from?
2.How are real estate, infrastructure projects sold and bought in Mumbai?
3.Shouldn't there be restrictions on the number of drills going into the earth at the same time?
4. What are the noise pollution levels like in the city?
5.Is Mumbai planning it development?

While all of the above are running through my mind, the question I'm asking, is
How sustainable is this?

Most of Mumbai consists of reclaimed land anyway and every year we get a friendly reminder from mother nature about how 'planned' this ' 'development' is. The monsoons wreck havoc across the city, leaving parts of the city submerged for days.There aren't enough water outlets to allow excess flood water to flow back into the sea and every year they seem to be getting narrower and narrower. All this in the name of infrastructure and making Mumbai into a 'global city'.( whatever that means)

As cliched as it might sound, isn't this going to come back to bite us in the ass?
Why do we as a city not seem to learn or care about past mistakes?
In the 'fast pacedness' of city life, I don't know if we seem to be caring enough about the things that really matter.

What are the things that really matter anyway? Feel free to let me know.