30 Mar It was a shame that Viswanathan Anand lost the World Championship title to Magnus Carlsen, but it is nice to know that he is going to have a rematch soon.
30 Mar I have linked this article in my Food and Drink post. I am linking it here as well so that more people have more ready access to this important article about getting better food on trains.
31 Mar I love history and always try to incorporate such articles into my posts. The newspapers often make it easier for me by providing fascinating articles about little-known events or tidbits of history. This one is about Indians who fought in World War I.
30 Mar I have linked this article in my Food and Drink post. I am linking it here as well so that more people have more ready access to this important article about getting better food on trains.
31 Mar I love history and always try to incorporate such articles into my posts. The newspapers often make it easier for me by providing fascinating articles about little-known events or tidbits of history. This one is about Indians who fought in World War I.
3 Apr I have similar articles about peculiarities and obstacles to health in Kolkata and India in my Health post. I could have placed this article there but I decided that I had a sufficient number of links there and wanted this to be somewhat timely. In any case, if you come to Kolkata or anywhere in India then be sure to take proper health precautions.
3 Apr This is a fascinating article about the little-known Toto tribe in India, forgotten and neglected by an uncaring government (yes, a redundancy, but I am using it foremphasis).
5 Apr I have always admired David Letterman and preferred his shows over those of Jay Leno (although the latter's Jay-walking skits were always fun to watch). It is a shame that he is now retiring.
7 Apr In another post, I wrote that Bengali music often reminded me of Mexican or Hispanic music as there always seemed to be guitars playing. This article seems to confirm that and to give a brief history of it.
7 Apr After working last evening, I went home. The great thing about India is that even if you do not have a TV you still have a TV. On the way home, I encountered 4-5 places along the footpaths that had televisions, showing the World T20 Cricket Championship between India and Sri Lanka. I was very hopeful for the Indian team. There are apparently three different cricket championships each year, and India had already won two of them. If they had won this game then they would have been the first to win all three in one year.
I still do not understand everything about cricket but I do have a much greater appreciation for it. I now like it much more than I do baseball. There may be as many balls thrown in the game (in T20 cricket matches, there are usually 240 balls thrown (bowled) by both teams, together. However, baseball seems to be far slower and less exciting. The pitcher often throws not to the batter but to the man on first base. The pitcher takes an inordinate amount of time in throwing to the batter, and when he finally does, usually nothing happens. Even if something does happen, the batter often goes nowhere. In cricket, the balls are thrown in quick succession and something almost always happens. On the other hand, there are commercial breaks after each over (six balls thrown).
While watching the game, I noticed that the Indian team hit few 4s and 6s (home runs). This did not bode well. I left for home after watching a few overs.
The next morning, I sensed melancholy in the air. I walked along the same path as before and came across the scoreboard indicating that India had indeed lost. Of course, 2 out of 3 titles is extremely good as virtually all teams do not even get one.
Other articles: When Yuvi cut a sorry figure Kohli, the last man standing for India
9 Apr 40 years of ABBA! Wow, how time flies! I enjoyed listening to them in the 70s-80s, and was re-introduced to them by Caroline who said that she enjoyed listening to them. She also introduced me to Boney M who had a similar style and rhythm to their music.
9 Apr I have a fascination with not only history but also enclaves in India. These are Bangladeshi tracts of land in India, and Indian tracts of land in Bangladesh. I thought that this issue was resolved a year or so ago, but I guess that this is further proof that what the government says is different from what the government does (or does not) do.
Regardless, the article is a fascinating description of the history and current status of the residents.
10 Apr The news is not the news; the description of the news is the news. The article relates how a 51-year old woman was brutally murdered. An investigating officer said that "She was elderly and ailing". She may have been ailing--people can be in ill health at any age, but elderly???????????????
I remember watching the wonderful film Barfi. The bulk of the film takes place in the early-to-mid 1970s. Barfi, portrayed by Ranbir Kapoor, is shown to be a young man in 1972. I think that I would be accurate in saying that Barfi would have been born in 1950. The beginning and ending of the film takes place in the present day (2012, when the film was released) showing Barfi to be a decrepit old man, barely able to walk. Paresh Rawal was also born in 1950 and he is probably more fit, active and healthy than I am even though I am many years younger than he.
It is true that few Indians live to be 80 years old. However, if people are unable to live that long then it should not cause people to be mentally incompetent, as well, and believe that 51 years is "old".
11 Apr I have linked this article in my GaC post, as well, but I feel that this is too important for just one small link. The article shows that the pathological liar (also known as "politicians") Abu Asim Azmi is the new A.P. Singh, the new cockroach that ought to be stomped out of existence.
13 Apr I read this in the 13 Apr Indian edition of the Telegraph, but could not locate it via Google or even its own website. Regardless, Caroline and her father always admired Charlie Chaplin. I watched his film The Circus and found it to be brilliant, ahead-of-its-time, and very funny.
13 Apr I have known for a long time that Shah Rukh Khan is (or was, during the 1990s) famous for playing characters named Rahul or Rohit. I then saw this linked article and saw that Amitabh Bachchan has played many characters named Vijay. Through imdb.com, I counted 17 films in which he played someone named Vijay, including 3 films in 1980!
13 Apr Every Sunday, the t2 section of the Telegraph has an article about very popular videos. I read and watched the video of Thai Life Insurance, greatly admired and appreciated it, but had difficulty in placing it in my blog (where I thought it belonged). I thought about placing it in my upcoming Indian TV Commercials (2014) post, but it was not an Indian commercial. I thought about placing it in my Favourite Other Songs post in which I have songs in languages other than Hindi and English, but it was not a song. Finally, I realized that it was best and most appropriate to place in here.
One thing that I do not understand about it is the number of dislikes. I understand that people's tastes are different. I feel revulsion whenever I hear the songs Why This Kolaveri di and Tum Hi Ho even though these songs were extremely popular in India. On the other hand, there are about 1,200 dislikes (as of 21 Apr 2014) for this commercial of Thai Life Insurance. How can anyone not love this video? Are these 1,200 people so evil that they work as Thieves & Sexual Abusers or as cops in the United States who routinely kill 3 people each and every day?
I hope that you love this commercial as much as I do.
14 Apr What is the matter with Indians???? Government agents saying and doing stupid things are things to be expected, but normal people like journalists??!!! On 10 Apr, an FCM (fee-collecting murderer--formerly known as "police") said that a 51-year old woman was "elderly". In this linked article, it is the journalist who describes a 58-year old man as "elderly". Who are these people? 5-year old children?
15 Aug I have always wondered about actors who dub for films; they never seem to get any credit or recognition for it. This article is about Sonakshi Sinha who apparently has dubbed for Anne Hathaway's character in the film Rio 2
16 Apr I included this in my GaC post, and am including it here because of a personal experience. My wife experienced numerous hardships and delays in selling the home of her deceased mother. To overcome these difficulties, she enlisted the help of the Inspector at the Ekbalpore Police Station. In one of our first meetings with him, she whispered that I ought to give baksheesh (bribe) to him. When I did so, he refused it. Perhaps there is a new Inspector or perhaps the "Officer-in-Charge" title (as mentioned in the linked article) is different
16 Apr Transgenders may have gotten the right to be called the third gender but do they have the right to be the third gender? They could be considered to engage in "unnatural sex" as defined(?) by Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code and which was recently upheld by the Indian Supreme Court.
17 Apr As always, I am interested in the unique and the unusual. Indian land in Bangladesh, and Bangladeshi land in India is unusual, so I often provide articles about these enclaves. It seems, though, that I read about them only during election time. It may be another five years before I read another article. I thought that I had read that these problems faced by the dwellers were resolved, but I guess that government "solutions" never materialize.
25 Apr The mere fact that New Market was photographed as being virtually desolate should be news enough.
29 Apr In previous posts, I wrote about famous Americans (primarily) who visited or planned to visit Kolkata or other places in India. I have not done this recently. However, here is an article of Martin Sheen coming to Bhopal. I hope that he does not drink the water. Even after almost 30 years, the water is still contaminated.
29 Apr People know that India gained independence from Great Britain almost 70 years ago. Some people know that the Portuguese also had a large presence in India, originating in the South, and ruling Goa until 1961. People who read my posts may be aware that Bangladesh still has enclaves within India, virtually all of which are in the Cooch Behar district of West Bengal, making them virtually stateless people and prisoners of the enclaves. People who watched the film Life of Pi were aware that the French also had a presence in India. The French government, like that of the Portuguese, also left in the early 1960's.
I, however, was not aware that they ruled Chandernagore, which is a town not far from Kolkata, until the early 1950's, until I read the linked article.
30 Apr The story behind the story to Oprah's Chai Tea launch.
30 Apr I have included similar articles of the Celebex ranking of Indian actors and actresses in one or two previous posts. I am including this one because it seems to confirm a few beliefs of mine.
1) There are a lot of Khans as actors: Salman, Shahrukh, Aamir, Saif Ali, Irrfan (and who has appeared/starred in several Hollywood films, as well), and Imran.
2) There are a lot of Kapoors: Ranbir, Arjun, Shahid, Anil (one of the stars of Slumdog Millionaire), Rishi, Ram, Tusshar, Soonam, Karisma, and Shraddha
3) There are a lot of people with the initials of "A.K.": Aamir Khan, Ayushmann Khurrana, Akshay Kumar, Anupam Kher, Arjun Kapoor, Anil Kapoor, and Ayesha Khanna
4) There are a lot of "K.K." (all of them females): Katrina Kaif, Karisma, Kirron Kher, and Kalki Koechlin
5) Several famous people are known by one name: Rajinikanth, Govinda, Kajol, Sridevi and Rekha.
6) Some people fit into two of these categories. One person fits into three: Kareena Kapoor (her birth name), Kareena Kapoor Khan (the name she is sometimes referred to after marrying Saif Ali Khan) and "K.K."