Dilemma for Katya - Barack Obama or Mitt Romney? [Tales of Katya]

On the way back home earlier today, Katya informed me that the class was conducting a mock vote for the President today. Well, she added, the teacher did not have time for the vote today, so maybe she would do it next Tuesday. "Next Tuesday?," I asked. "No, I mean tomorrow," she replied.

"Appa," she asked, "who should I vote for? Mitt Romney or Barack Obama?"

"Well, " I answered, diplomatically dodging the question, "you should ask your mother."

Katya: "But who should I vote for? Who is the right person?"

I replied: "There is no one right person. If there were, why are they holding the election? They should just make the right person the President."

It turned out that Baab's class had also voted. So I asked Baab who he'd voted for. Barack Obama, was the answer. At that, Katya piped up, "Lexi and Amanda are voting for Romney."

"How about Salma and Sieana?" I asked.

Katya: They are both voting for Barack Obama.

"What about Katya?" I shrewdly threw in, knowing that the answer might just be lurking there, waiting to come out.

Katya: "I am thinking of voting for Barack Obama as well, but Giovanni said that Obama says bad things."

Now really curious, I blurted out, "What bad things has he said?"

Katya: "Well, Giovanni says that Barack Obama said that girls can kiss girls and boys can kiss boys."

At this point, I started to get the impression that if we were to waterboard Giovanni, all the truth will come out about how Barack Obama wants the following gifts from Santa for Christmas:

mothers who can kill babies
doctors who can treat patients for free
a Cruella De'Vil who hands out Halloween candy
Cinderella can ride only a pumpkin, and
Beauty cannot kiss the beast! ;-)

[Edited to add]: Thank goodness Katya is older than <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/obama-romney-little-girl-cry-145605083--election.html">this girl</a>!

How you start does not matter ...

... but how you finish definitely does. The game of limited overs cricket has gone through one complete rotation, one could say, since when West Indies lost to India in the 1983 World Cup. Yesterday, West Indies won the T20 World Cup. A format that is about as new as the one day format was back then, one key difference being that unlike the one-dayers back then when West Indies would be the overwhelming favourites, in T20 any team can win on a given day (or night).

And so it happened that the final game began yesterday, where though Sri Lanka started off as the favourites, there was always the possibility of West Indies winning. Or so it seemed until the game actually started.

Just like the West Indies of 1983 was by the time the Indian innings was completed (a score of 183 in 60 overs was hardly threatening), Sri Lanka was yesterday the overwhelming favourite to win by the time West Indies finished their innings at 137 off 20 overs. And even that total was achieved only off the back of a stupendous fightback by Marlon Samuels, after the team had reached a paltry 32 for 2 off 10 overs.

And why did Sri Lanka lose? Commentators, the Lanka captain Jayawardene and most others attribute it to pressure. Yes, there was pressure; however, the one aspect that no one appears to have honed in on was the lack of application at the top, and a cavalier, lackadaisical attitude while chasing what was, at best, a mildly competitive total on that pitch.

When you note that West Indies had scored ten runs less against the same team just about a week ago, and lost by nine wickets with about five overs to spare, you realize where that sense of overconfidence came from! Sri Lanka undoubtedly thought that this game would be a similar stroll in the park, given that the target was only about ten runs more.

Thoughts on a concert

Though I have been in the USA for over two decades, this was the first filmi entertainer's concert that I attended. Here are some quick thoughts <del datetime="2012-10-02T01:05:12+00:00">before I come back and update with</del> <em>and</em> a full review and sneak previews:

- why have a concert scheduled for 6 pm the next day if the concert ends only at about midnight on Friday? I understand that she is performing only for the three weekend days after a full rest during the week, but still, isn't it a bit too much to expect her to be fresh at 6 pm after she has performed until midnight the previous night at a city that is a time zone away, then flown over for the concert?

- why don't desis come on time (even though there was a very good excuse this time)? East or West, why don't desi concerts start on time? Maybe the first is the result of the second. But really, if the timing is inconvenient, the organizers need to work on it; but I doubt if that is really the case. We desis have a birthright of arriving late for anything and everything ... and expecting to be there before the program starts ... and being vindicated!

- when folks don't come on time, why do they try to get to their seats during a song? Why do folks leave in the middle of a song to get water, food and/or snacks? Seriously, as you will see in the videos I have shared below, folks are either coming in to their seats or leaving their seats to go get a snack. Folks, if you are that hungry, why did you come to the concert? Why not save that time and energy to watch a recording of a concert? You could even take potty breaks, drinks breaks and food breaks, and guess what? You wouldn't even miss a thing as long as you pressed the pause button.

- why do folks get snacks but forget to clear their area when they leave? I saw apple juice tetrapacks, leftover food trays, program schedules etc strewn in the concert hall. I assume folks think that the add-on price they pay for food in the arena covers busing of their sitting area too (wait, maybe in this specific case, they actually do! Our reputation in such matters is probably sky high).

- if you want to bring a three-year old to a concert, feel free to do so, but at least keep him or her in control when the artiste is singing. Now, unlike many folks, I am one of those who has absolutely no issue with kids making noise, crying, throwing a fit/tantrum, etc., when they are in a confined space such as a train or a plane. The purpose of public transportation is for you to get to your destination. So too all the other passengers including (yes) the kids. On the other hand, the purpose of a concert is for the audience to listen to the artiste(s) and enjoy it; the entertainment gets spoiled when you have a toddler trying to scratch your hand, clap while a song is going on, and generally being rude - and the parents have no inkling of what is going on, or do not care to admit it.

- I got a palpable 'growing old' feeling and a realization that maybe I should have attended concerts earlier when my favourite songs would have been in the majority, though I might not have like the "classicalization" of the song which was one of the reasons I had for not attending any filmi concerts earlier. It is too bad that for whatever reason - copyright, it comes across as insulting the original artiste, it comes across as trying to show up the original artiste, ... - folks don't sing songs that were originally sung by someone else. Whatever the reason, as the old artistes become one with the ages, the new ones will not sing those old songs (or at least, the established ones won't). So, there is a small window of opportunity where you (or I) can catch those songs sung melodiously live - on TV in shows such as Indian Idol or Star Voice of India or some such, or when a Sonu Nigam comes along and sings such songs in live shows around the world (note: I said Sonu Nigam, not Sonuuuu Nigaaam, an incarnation I don't much care for - and I missed the opportunity of watching the former, though he might not even have come to town in that avatar).

I have always maintained that (to me at least) it is much more fun attending a live Indian classical music concert than a filmi concert. The reason is that the quintessance of classical music is the ability of the artiste to improvise (even though my understanding of it all is limited). On the other hand, the purpose of attending a filmi concert is to listen to the song delivered live by the artiste, and when the artiste tries to improvise, it comes across as a showing off (again, this is my point of view - I am sure there are many who disagree). Not that I had a chance to ever attend a live performance by the greats of yesteryear, but I have listened to LP recordings of their concerts, and have been generally unimpressed. So, I kind of agreed with what a friend said "it is good that these artistes have a music director in the movies to kind of rein them in" :-)

- last but not the least, a note to myself: when I carry a digital camera around, I ought to make sure that I have a few spare batteries! I thought I had checked the batteries the night before, but not taking spares is a mistake I have done a few times before as well ... and I need to snap out of the habit.
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The concert started out very slowly with folks still trickling in nearly 45 minutes after the show start time. The stage was taken by a girl who had won some online contest to sing during the concert. I had never before heard the song she sang (or at least don't remember having heard it), so will withhold any comments!

Next up, the compere came on stage. I had not heard of him either, but apparently - as we all learned later in the show - he won SaReGaMaPa USA sometime in the recent past. He introduced the second singer on the stage for the day, Prithvi Gandharva. The first couple of songs that Prithvi sang were also ho hum numbers with not much audience participation. But then he gave an awesome high energy rendition of 'damadam mast kalandar' that snapped the audience to life. Here is a snippet:

http://youtu.be/VwSYgCvorIY

Shreya Ghoshal was, of course, just Shreya Ghoshal. Unfortunately for me, I had only heard a handful of songs that she sang, maybe about 30-40% of all. But here are snippets of the ones I knew (and had battery life left to record). For obvious reasons, I did not record any song in its entirety!

तेरी मेरी मेरी तेरी प्रेम कहानी है मुश्किल ...
http://youtu.be/kxrY_nayJFI

जादू है नशा है मदहोशियाँ ...
http://youtu.be/-83FZEcDO7c

तुझमें रब दिखता है यारा मैं क्या करूँ ...
http://youtu.be/tMFzgiOF_xk

Somewhere after the above song, I realized that I had not brought a spare set of batteries for my camera, and I was bereft of the ability to zoom. To be honest, I thought that I would not be able to take any more videos when the camera shut down just as I was about to record Katya's favourite 'teri or teri or' :-(

डोला रे डोला रे ...
http://youtu.be/NhHWpFFyr14

I was impressed by the fact that she did not appear to be using any cue cards to sing the songs. That was pretty impressive. I hope she was not lip syncing and even if she did, I was unable to detect it.

At the intermission, when Shreya Ghoshal and her troupe took a break, we were treated to Jeffrey Iqbal's singing of पर्दा है पर्दा from Amar Akbar Anthony. He did a pretty good job with it, and also shared a couple of wisecracks about his childhood as a (not) ABCD!

पर्दा है पर्दा पर्दे के पीछे ...
http://youtu.be/p8yeIXIP7-U

ज़ुबि ज़ुबि ज़ुबि ज़ुबि ...
http://youtu.be/zW5lkmsGkg4

Here is one song that Bollywood has recycled from Bollywood ... and it was previously copied from Tollywood or Mollywood or Kollywood or some such. Though both Shreya and Prithvi did a good job, I could not but help compare the song with the (Hindi) <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7P_AbrtAwQ" title="ui ammaa ui amma" target="_blank">original in Mawaali</a> sung by Asha and Kishore. And even though back then in the mid 1980s, with the Jumping Jack* Jeetendra and Baby Face Sridevi (OK, it looks like it was Jayaprada, not Sridevi) acting out raunchy lyrics, I had not liked this song, I have to confess that Asha/Kishore version was/is much better.

छूना ना छूना ना ...
http://youtu.be/PPVh87iwod4

चिकनी चमेली ...
http://youtu.be/yLwjVMXeYLQ

लग जा गले के फिर ये ...
http://youtu.be/3q6vqxm0Dj0

* - even to someone like me who is a level 0 dance critic, it is pretty obvious that Jeetendra cannot dance. His dance moves are akin to moves that school children probably did in PT (Physical Education) back in the 1980s!

Truth - stranger than fiction?

On most flights, I try to divide my time between looking out the window, watching a movie or two, or reading something. A few years back, I used to read this series <strong>Seat 22B</strong>Â in Continental's in-flight magazine <strong>Hemisphere</strong>. Please note that my memory is slightly hazy, so the magazine's name might be different, or it might be the same name, except that it is found in a different carrier.

Be that as it may, I am pretty sure that the series was titled "Seat 22B" (more or less). The idea being that the author(s) would write pieces related to travel - each story would revolve around the journey of the passenger seated in seat 22B.

Anyway, in the piece I am referring to*, the passenger in the seat is a young man, returning from a backpacking tour in Europe, when he finds himself next to an elderly companion. They get to talking and the young man recounts his latest escapades in Ireland to the older person thus:

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While travelling through the Irish countryside, he got caught in the rain. Thoroughly soaked and without a place to stay for the night, he found himself half delirious as he stumbled into this inn. The inn had a whole lot of Irish folks drinking and merrymaking, but he met this girl who was the barmaid. They got talking and within a few minutes were oblivious of the rest of the crowd. They talked about their childhood, their life growing up; she shared stories of how tough life was in the Irish countryside.

As time wore on, he had eyes for no one in the tavern but her. However, because of his current condition, he found himself slipping in and out of consciousness and the girl realized that he had contracted a fever. As they talked, the girl brought him brandy and wine and revived him. That night, having nowhere else to go and not being in any shape to go anywhere, he decided to stick it out in the inn. Like a typical Hindi movie of yore (say <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFcckZJ7y1E">Bobby</a>), the story does not go into any more details.

It turns out that the girl was the innkeeper's daughter. Over the next couple of days, she nursed him back to health over the next couple of days, and when he was well enough, he took leave of her to resume his (return) journey.

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All this information the young man tells his travelling companion, then also adds that he was probably in love with the girl but as she has made it clear that she was not too keen on leaving her admittedly tough life in Ireland, the relationship was not likely to proceed further. The young man was now torn by the fact that he had to come back to college to pursue his dream career; going to Ireland and living a tough life was not for him.

He then talks about how he had been excelling throughout his life, done this done that etc. and then shares with the older gentleman a piece of paper where he has jotted down his <a href="http://bucketlist.org/">bucket list</a> (this story was my first encounter with that term), and shows how many of them he managed to check off his list on his most recent tour.

The older man now gets to talking about how he has also accomplished quite a few things in life. It turns out that most of whatever the young man has done, the older man has done that and more. So, all in all, they have developed a mutual respect for their respective endeavors as they part to go their own ways, once they land in the USA.

A few days later, the young man receives an envelope addressed to him in a scraggly handwriting, but he recognized the names as one of the top businessman in the country. Inside the envelope was a tattered piece of paper that appeared to be a list of sorts, written in the same handwriting. Glancing at the list, he immediately realized that it was a bucket list as well. All of the items in the list appeared to have been checked off. However, upon closer examination, he noticed that one item was not checked off yet:

<strong>marry for love</strong>

Next to it, in what appeared to be a recent inscription, were the words - <strong>Will you help me complete my bucket list?</strong>

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I am sure you all are wondering what suddenly jogged this story hidden in my memory? Well, here it is - <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-19685982">the sequel</a>, as it were, to the above story that I read a few years back! And here is a response from an <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/canadian-man-in-search-of-irish-woman-we-shouldnt-encourage-creepy-behaviour-8175352.html">anti romantic</a>Â at heart! ;-)

* - <em>please note that this is my best recollection of the story (needless to say, I did not write the original). Though I'm pretty sure I have got the plot right for the most part, I am also sure that I have skimped on the details, and also might have mixed up some portions of it. It sure would be nice if the original story and author could be located so I could share a link to it for my readers here :-)</em>

jai ho Facebook maiyyaa kee!

Schools reopened after the summer break last week. Kiddo started in a new school. Middle school is somewhat different from elementary (primary) school, so parents had more than the usual number of questions after school in the evening. Kiddo had more elaborate answers than his typical range of "Good", "Fine","Yes" and "No" as well.

The topic turned to his Maths class. He said that the teacher had given out a difficult puzzle. More questions elicited the information that only one kid out of about 27 had solved it (kiddo was not the one).

Mom: So, what was the puzzle?

Kiddo: Well, we had to figure out the number of squares.

Dad: Was the answer 40?

Kiddo (wide-eyed): Yes, how did you know?

Dad: Did most of the kids get 26 or 28 as their answers?

Kiddo (laughs): Yes.

Mom now wide-eyed.

jai ho Facebook maiyyaa kee!! ;-)

Music Director Ravi - R.I.P.

This morning, I learned about the passing of octogenarian Music Director Ravi today via Vividh Bharati. True to its moniker of vidhva bharati (bestowed by a hostelmate of mine a quarter century ago), the station is playing tear jerkers all morning (night in India) long. I would rather celebrate Ravi's life. Here are some of my favouirite songs composed by Ravi:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJqkdDo3OrE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4iqCY8ChWs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2EznrCj7kU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoHFPA90hqI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Op5_FgMM_sk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1l52x3wXYw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVxCAwqONcI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBVccX9dSkU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avx1Rij2bkI

For a more exhaustive – but still by no means complete – list of songs by Ravi, please go to <a href="http://www.giitaayan.com/search.asp?s=Ravi&amp;browse=Music">giitaayan</a>.

Aaah! vividh bharati!!

Thanks to a friend on FB, I have been able to tune in to <a href="http://www.voicevibes.net">vividh bharati</a> after quite a while. The songs played on that station are still similar to those that used to be played three decades ago. After a week of intense catching up listening :-), I have rediscovered a few old favourites that I had forgotten.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgfqlWhP43Q">नींद कभी रहती थी</a>

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTNR9rhHoqM">यूँ ही दिल ने चाहा था</a>

Not only that, I rediscovered a few songs of somewhat dubious quality (hidden among some more gems) as well. These songs I like - without prejudice against the dubious ones - as they remind me of India of that time, an era when I used to be glued to the SLBC while studying for the plethora of entrance examinations right after Class 12th. Without much ado, here they are, good ones interspersed with the couple of dubious ones. I won't say which I consider dubious - YMMV! ;-)

<a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xlmmnb_laila-tu-jo-kahe-to-radha-banoon-re-tu-jo-kahe-lata-mangeshkar_fun">तू जो कहे तो राधा बनूँ रे</a>

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5mRql46SC8">गंगा तोहरे घाट पे</a>

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6cmpgWgKDU">और नहीं बस तुम से कहना, जीवन साथी</a>

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RF0MS3Pruos">मैं ने ये फ़ैसला कर लिया है</a>

A tale of a toenail ... and other related items

I have had a ingrown toe-nail removed. The growth in itself was not all that painful, though it hurt once in a while. But now that it is out, the bandage and related aftercare has resulted in a blister that hurts. While wondering about what ointment to put to relieve the blister, I thought of what I would have used, had I been in India right now - Burnol, of course. So, I googled it to see what it's active ingredient is, so I could get a similar local balm - it appears that <a href="http://marketingpractice.blogspot.com/2006/11/burnol-burn-specialist.html">Burnol</a> does not carry the influence in India that it once did. What had been brilliantly marketed as a burn salve was re-marketed as a general antiseptic, and that strategy failed to take-off.

While checking out other posts in the blog referred to above, my attention was drawn to a link about Gold Spot. I am (was?) a Fanta kid. When it suddenly out of the market along with the rest of the Coca Cola products, thanks to the Janata Party, I wondered where it went. <a href="http://marketingpractice.blogspot.com/2007/04/gold-spot-zing-thing-rip-1977-1993.html">Gold Spot</a> took some getting used to, but get used to it I did after a while. Now, sadly, it has gone out of the market also and Fanta is back. But, Fanta is nothing like what it was before, at least in the Indian marketplace. What is ironic is that by kicking Coca Cola out of India back in the 1970s, Janata Party seems to have ensured that at least some of the Coca Cola products won't carry the same reach they carried before (or maybe I am wrong, and I was part of the 49% - as opposed to the 51% - back then). But either way, it is sad that Gold Spot is gone for good. Hopefully, some entrepreneur can buy the franchise/brand back from Coca Cola and get it re-started.

The Rotting iPhone - Tales of Katya (series resumes!)

Mrs. and Mr. Porcupyn are sick and tired of Katya and Bob playing on the electronic gadgets. Having had enough, Mrs. Porcupyn got on her soapbox.

Mom (Mrs. Porcupyn): Can't you kids leave these gadgets alone? They do not help develop your brain. You know what happens when you leave something in a place and don't do anything with it? Like if you leave a leaf in the same place for a long time? It will rot.

Katya: So, the iPhone will rot?!!