I remember walking into the Great Court of the British Museum and being mesmerized by the structure. A fascinating piece of design, all encompassing, covered yet with a sense of space, weirdly it gave me a sense that i was free, of what? don’t know, maybe mediocrity in design?

The Potsdamer Platz in Berlin is another visual experience that dazzles the senses. Renzo Piano’s effort to restore the heart of the metropolis to its glory days is without parallel. New York City and its magnificently iconic buildings 40 Wall Street, Flatiron building, Chrysler Building. The rejuvenated Times Square is crassly commercial but definitely iconic.

Structures such as these not only give the city its identity but endow on the viewer a sense of possibility, that we can actually create things of beauty from nothingness by sheer force of will, brute strength, tempered with extraordinary vision and design.

So imagine my shock when i sat idling at Worli Naka and spent my time staring at possibly the ugliest building in this city. A giant cluster f**k of neo-classical, gothic and baroque architecture. We all know who the architect is, don’t we.

It got me thinking as to how many truly attractive or iconic buildings does this city really have? Discounting the pre independence buildings there are very few modern structures that actually standout and have a personality.

The last three decades of frenzied buildings the imagery is much the same. Lately its the all glass and concrete look, which while attractive, is just lost in the myriad of similar looking buildings everywhere (just a drive around BKC will give you a sense of a glitch in the matrix)

Bombay has so much construction going on its crazy, however no one is striving to build something beautiful. The buildings are cosmetically pretty but there is no soul. Its just a case of generic looking buildings offering a generic living experience. Bloody Boring.

Buildings with Soul
Charles Correa designed Kanchen Junga at Pedder Road
Prithvi (an old residence) at Altamount Road
Sterling Apartments at Pedder Road
The Taj Wellington & Mews at Cuffe Parade.
Imperial Towers, Tardeo (looks like something straight out of Fritz Langs 1929 classic Metropolis

What is with BO and us? Is it like a national competition with each trying to do the other in the odour stakes? I know this is a tropical country and we are hot blooded people but Christ! have a little mercy on your fellow man.

I walk into my bathroom on a lazy Sunday afternoon for a relaxing shower and find its been desecrated by the chap who washes the bathroom. I mean it was almost as bad as the Seinfeld episode with the Valet, the BO & the BMW.

Since then i remember an incident from Freshman year, i and this other kid from Bombay were on the same floor. He was quite a lad, he took no showers to my 2, did laundry once a month to my once a week. Quite a filthy lill chap (cept he was not so little) I then realized a score of other kids from all over the country (not all but enough) seemed to follow a similar regimen which amounted to ominous odours.

Since then i have come to the conclusion that we as a nation are not aware of the desperate need for deo-education, a class which should be made mandatory in all schools(preferably right after the class on sex education)

I have seen quite a few bad movies but Shootout takes the cake. I am glad i didn’t go to the movie theater and encourage idiots who participated in the making of this monstrosity.

Surely its not the worst!
Oh Yes it is. The Film had so much potential, they have the budget - a shot at good casting, a true life incident which could have been approached in a myriad of ways. Character study or action film. Instead it turns out to be nothing other than a good reason for lobotomizing the production team.

The film works in split narratives with Sanjay Dutt and his team of cops (Sunil Shetty & Arbaz Khan) being grilled by a lawyer named Dhingra being questioned in a commission but they aren’t. He is their lawyer so why is he portrayed as if he is a prosecutor until the climax.(WHAT AN UTTER CRAP IDEA) this is then split with the gangsters and how their story unfolds.

The whole set up is lame, instead of doing research and setting up some level of authenticity you have a poorly researched typical gangster flick filmed in an even poorer manner. Is using some sort of sepia tonish lighting scheme with washed out dull colors supposed to make me think this is 1989?
How about just putting some random fiat, marutis around, posters from then new films??? some period specific songs playing (only one instance), geez, man hire a production designer for chrissake, Or ask Madhur Bhandarkar on doing the 80’s on a budget. Do that instead of spending money on foreign DVD’s to rip off

And rip off they do. a scene from heat, (excuse me THE SCENE) where Al Pacino and Bobby D face off in a diner. Except in the rip off there is no tension, no suspense. nothing. the whole thing just falls flat on its face. It worked in the original film only because it was the coming together of two gods in the same screen space and was filmed brilliantly. Another scene from Tony Kaye’s American History X replicated here (not to bad effect though)

The breaking into song and dance every few mins is absolutely unnecessary, the “we are the Bhai’s” track (we have hit a new low) is so lamely filmed, you have western women gyrating and mouthing the words along with the gang who couldn’t shoot straight on a truck. How original, how true to the period.

and yeah, WHAT the f**k was Abhishek Bacchan doing in the film? he runs along, gets shot like a dog. thats it. wow , what a cameo.

Performances
Sanjay Dutt just seems like a man in a perpetual crisis. His wife seems too dumb to understand and accept his job. Sunil Shetty mouthing F words (yeah, i bet the cops who shot them guys were this urban) and Arbaaz Khan playing an intelligent, well educated but loser cop (the weirdest characterization ever) he does a dignified job.

Vivek Oberoi is so over the top with his Maya Dolas character, everything is large, loud, glaring. Tusshar Kapoor is not convincing but you can tell the guy is atleast sincere in what he did. The other two one the long haired gangster guy with homosexual tendencies and the stereotypical muslim with the cap and the kajal. Amrita Singh comes on very strong as Mayas insanely nihilistic mother. Aarti Chabbria looks good, thats bout it.

The action scenes are poorly filmed, have no heat or intensity to them, the climax is a hum drum with no buildup and the execution of the final showdown is the worst i have ever seen. Just for once i wish Lakhia had rented Butch Cassidy.

I think Lakhia could do well by watching RGV’s Company to see how a narrative should be stitched together. He could also watch and learn a thing or two in VVC’s Parinda and learn a thing about presenting strong characters. Once he finishes learning his lessons here he can move onto rip off Hollywood 101 (for pacing and tension rent Assault on Precinct 13)

Frankly i think its easier to copy foreign flicks and replicate the frames because it saves you the time and the energy of sitting down and having to create a film and its world, worrying about its visual narrative. But when stuck in a situation when the story is your own and you have nothing to rip off you end up with crap like this.

The film has been declared as a hit, which means more of this kind of crap will continue out of the ‘creative’ minds behind this film.

I guess its true, we get the government and films we deserve.

A short list of films this film ripped off -

Heat
Goodfellas
Saving Private Ryan
American History X
Untouchables

Chinese has been King cuisine in this town ever since i can recall. Most meals when going out were a toss up either between Indian or Chinese. Once in a while you would sneak into New Yorkers but not that often.

China Garden was THE place to go for a bite. Everyone came by even the dreaded suburbanites. There were a couple of other places around like the old Chung-Fa at Breach Candy, Chinese Room at Kemp’s Corner, Lings Pavilion in Colaba, Chinese Palace at Tardeo, Oriental Blossom (a lot later) All Stir Fry, Five Spice and of course the once in a while treat at Golden Dragon. Everywhere you went Chinese ruled - always.

Initially European cuisine wasn’t the most popular for regulars or occasional meals out.It wasn’t even very well known in fact European usually meant pizza or pasta (that too at the Gujju-American version dished out at New Yorkers etc)

It was not until the advent of Indigo that the city really took to eating out in a restaurant which was not only NOT Indian or Chinese but would have actually fit very nicely in Manhattan. I remember an extravagant meal sometime in late 1999 on a break from college in NY. It cost three of us 1500 bucks (huge deal then) but the meal was great as was the ambiance. I thought it fit in perfectly with most of the places i had been visiting while living away.It was so completely different in every way from anything available to you that it just had to succeed.

Due to Indigo becoming such an haute location there was a distinct paradigm shift in the way the cuisine was perceived in the city.

Chinese was not abandoned but it took a distinct backseat and the change in direction was evident in the opening of numerous European - semi European themed restaurants around then. The very successful if very filmy Olive in Bandra, Belissima and Salt Water Grill both at Chowpatty, Monza at Phoenix, the very Mediterranean Cafe Basilico, Cellini at the Grand Hyatt, Vetro at the Oberoi and one of my favorites Moshe.

However it seems over the last year that the tide has turned again and it is now European that is in the backseat with Asia taking over. A lot of new Oriental restaurants opened doors China White nee Royal China, Vong Wong, China House, the new-old China Garden or CG83, China Gate, Flamboyante. In addition to this other Asian cuisines snuck into the door with Sala Thai, Tamnak Thai, Lemon Grass, the pan Asian East and of course Sushi became cool Tetsuma, Wasabi and the dreadful Japengo.

The restaurants have become classier, the cuisine more complex and experimental. The people who visit them have become braver in their choices (chalk it down to more travel and international experience). Overall the new innings of Chinese / Oriental restaurants seem to be a better experience then the older guard.

Where do we go from here? I dont know. I reckon a few more Pan Asian restaurants would not hurt us at all but it would be fantastic to see at least one proper Tex-mex joint in the near future.

Edit : All the crap in this article is purely opinion based on my experience. I am not spouting any polity or pretending to know whats going on, so don’t bite my head off.

I can dig the whole city on the verge thing, i can dig the commercial center of the country thing, hell i can even dig the Bollywood thing (long as they stick to their part of town) but what i cannot dig is the total and utter lack of manners in people.

Examples from just this morning. I get into the gym and i want to use the bench, i ask the person using it if he is done and he replies in the affirmative & then gets up and walks off without so much as wiping down his nasty stinking sweat or replacing the puny weights .
Is it really that hard to just wipe down? i mean i know we are all Billionaires and used to having serfs hand us ivory paper to wipe our behinds but when one isn’t around, lets do our own work.

On my way out, i am about to get my shoes out of my locker when the gentleman with the locker above, continues to struggle with his lock, forgets to put something, so instead of moving out of his way, he blocks the way so i don’t get in and start getting on with my life, instead the jackass continues without even the hint of an embarrassing smile.

At the door, i am about to walk out when i see a lady approach and i hold the door for her, she walks in, without so much as a smile or a thank you. Now granted, i am not the prettiest between 7-9 am, i dont think i looked like a doorman.

so here is what i think, next time the punk leaves a sweaty bench, i am going to call him to call him back, loudly to wipe his ooze of my bench, next person that gets in my way is going to get shoved out, i am not holding any more doors for anyone, unless it is to smash their head in.

hows that?

well, not really, i don’t think i could ever be that rude!

So, recently we had a lot of computer trouble at the house of Gaurav. Viruses, lost drivers, computers disappearing of the LAN, portable hard drives not being compatible anymore. Whole thing was made especially worse due to projects that were due over the last two weeks.

Deadlines having been met we sat down with a new IT manager to sort out a process to get the systems back in the best condition and to ensure no problems will creep in later.

Some of our solutions for small Offices -

- A complete format and re installation of the original OS. For Laptop users you can just restore to factory settings by pressing F10 (varies) at start up and following on screen options.

- Minimal programs installed i.e. only essential work related software.

- Installing a strong, anti virus package and updating it every day with the new virus definitions. I would recommend the Active Virus Shield by AOL created by Kapersky who create the Kapersky Anti Virus which is one of the highest rated Anti Virus proggies out there. It is free and what we use on our PC’s at present. You can also go for Norton Anti Virus 2007 which is about 2100 Rupees, though we don’t like it anymore due to system slow down.

- Firewall, A firewall program is a must nowadays, it all seems excessive but trust me its worth it, especially at work. Prevention is always better than cure. I would recommend the built in windows XP firewall or Zone Alarm.

- Additionally a basic package of non-work related software to keep things smoothly functioning. Adobe Acrobat Reader, Apple Quicklime, VLC media player as it plays most codecs, Open Office from Sun Micro systems for Word Processing - Fully compatible with ms office 2007. GIMP as an alternative to Photoshop. All these packages are completely free.

- For small offices, set up an internal back up workstation. 180GB hard drive, partitioned 3 ways. 20GB C drive. 120GB Main Back up Drive and a 60 GB smaller back up drive. Install Second Copy (INR 1200 a copy) and it will back up all your data. Simple to install and manage.

- Avoid Peer to Peer download software like Kazaa, Limewire they are a major source of trojans and other spyware.

- Institute a best practices program

Any data introduced into the computer systems must be approved and scanned for viruses.
All data is stored in the back up server along with individual PC’s
User PC’s do not access each other, only the server.
Password protected access to back up folders.
Virus Scan before shut down.
Final Back up before Shut Down (auto)
Clean wipe of Back up Servers once project is over
Periodic Data Dumps on DVD or HDD.

Any other advice or ideas from others?

PS. I would love to say guys, don’t surf for porn but ….

I, along with my family am a huge movie buff. I watch at least 3-4 movies every week, out of which one is at the movie theater. Since the inception of Inox it is the only theater i have been to barring two occasions when i went to Metro & Sterling. Both which i found below par when compared to Inox.

However last week i had a problem with the food services where they served my dad a stale sandwich. He was unhappy about that and we wrote a complaint to Inox management yesterday. Since then i have received calls from the General Manager Mr.Bhatia, Regional Manager Mr.Basu.they spent a lot of time explaining the situation and what they had done to remedy it as well as how apologetic they were that such an incident happened.

They were very keen on retaining me as a customer and asked me to come down to the theater and give them a call. Funnily i ended up there last night itself yesterday and it was a pleasant experience to deal with Mr.Savio and others at the theater.

It was amazing to receive such a quick response to my email (within 3 hours) especially from the different levels of management. One person calling was plenty but three different managers in increasing level of importance, shows to me how seriously they took this.

Mistakes do happen, such is life and it is very easy to lose customers with a not caring approach. However the Inox management has taken in a very solid approach and they have a lifelong customer in me.

As an aside, i had a positive experience with Omega as well. I bought a watch from them in Feb with the advent of the monsoon i Ihad a few queries which i directed at Omega Switzerland.

I had emailed them and i guess they could have been handled over email. However the email contained my mobile number and i a gentleman from their customer service end called me to answer my query (regarding water proofing and monsoon)

Fantastic stuff, would be amazing if this country could see more such people pushing to satisfy their customer.

Now a friend is looking for his first real watch and we have zeroed in on another Omega.

I see a whole slew of radio, print and television geared to ask for people to vote and send in their SMS’s to make the Taj a part of the new 7 wonders.

I wonder how many people actually know of the condition of the Taj and its surrounding. One of the chief visual representations of our country, had all kinds of trash and garbage over flowing all around the outside of its complex. I bet i saw Shah Jehan rolling in his grave.

Inside a different kind of garbage reigns. If you are a white or a non-brown visitor you can actually pay a small price and be able to take pictures inside the structure, something which is forbidden in regulations. However nothing a few Mr.Gandhi’s cant resolve. Funny how we got freedom so we can be discriminated against by our own folk (but that is another argument really)

Walking around the structure i saw the biggest beehive ever, ON the back wall ( i kid you not) i bet them bees treated the place like their own and not like a money making w****e.

I am not against the voting or what the Taj may represent, the first time i saw the building is burnt in my brain, the only thing i cant stand is all this brouhaha about how it means so much to us when it means nothing other than a shiny image on a postcard to sell to the next white bloke in line. Instead of treating it like our precious, they pimp her out and put nothing to her upkeep.

So lets take a minute and start treating the Taj like it should be and not so it can get on some silly list but because it deserves to be, because it is part of our history and our heritage.

Theatre :Oceans 13 at the newly renovated Sterling Cinema. Sterling was one of the best movie going experiences in the city until the Inox opened up at Nariman Point. The lobby of the theater has 6-8 fast food options from Wraps & Rolls to Subway, however you cant carry the food up from what i saw.
The film starts at 8pm and you are only allowed up after 8pm besides that the staff isnt the most polished or polite. The whole process of climbing up three wide was quite not what i expected. Later during the movie we were wondering what happens in case of a fire, with only one exit on either side of the auditorium. The screen itself was big but the seating was terrible. The seats were uncomfortable, and if one person sits the entire adjacent seats quake (The idiot family behind me that kept asking who was who and what was going on was later taken out and shot) Sterling in every which way isnt a patch on Inox and isnt worth the 120 bucks a pop. I would much rather pay my 220 at Inox any day.

The Movie - Oceans 11 was a good caper flick, the characters were funny the bad guy was a worthy adversary and the camaraderie of the characters bore the film through. Add to that some slick production values and witty dialog giving it some good box office performance as well as decent reviews ($450million worldwide) Oceans 12 on the other hand was again an interesting premise but it lost its way (box office $380million worldwide) Oceans 13 again goes back to its caper roots, making the heist look impossible but everyone having their part to play. In this film you have the other members of the 13 playing to more footage which is good. However the film is overall weaker in terms of the writing. The story is good, the setup is good, the execution is just not entertaining enough. The odds are just too easily overcome and it seems like Sodeberg had other things on his mind. The film is slightly entertaining with plenty of inside jokes.

Not the best of movies but not the weakest either. I wouldn’t recommend against it.

Dal Makhani is one of the cornerstones of Punjabi cuisine and is quite a popular but heavy dish. It goes down fantastically well with some soft butter kulchas (best at Masala Kraft,Taj) and some Kingfisher on the side.It is a simple dish with a ordinary ingredients but a true dal makhani like other well made Punjabi dishes has to be simmered for up to 8 hours to get it right

When you taste a well made Dal makhani you bite into the taste of the dal accented by the taste and smell of gobs of butter which goes right to your brain. Best places for Dal Makhani - Moti Mahal at Cr2 / Dum Pukth at ITC Grand Maratha / Masala Kraft at the Taj.

Dal Bukhara is an elusive cousin of the Dal Makhani. Bukhara is a town in modern day Uzbekista, not sure how well the two are connected. I would reckon that the Bukhara dal is a North West Frontier province dish and somehow traveled to India via the silk route.

However it is pretty rare to find Dal Bukhara on the menu in the myriad restaurants around the city. Usual preference for dal has been Dal Makhani, even in the upper end restaurants. So the chances of you having a well made Dal Bukhara is just slightly less than finding a regular Dal Bukhara for a meal.

It is sort of the like the Dal Makhani but complicated by the use of a red tomato gravy as the base for the cooking and the taste of butter not being essential to its experience. The tomato adds a tang in the daal and gives it a taste and look (reddish, brownish) different from the black Dal Makhani.

The best example i have had has been at the Royal Challenge restaurant in Goregaon W on the way to Film City.

One of the worlds best restaurants (ranked 37th) The Bukhara at the ITC, Delhi also does a version, apparently simmered for 24 hours on a slow flame. I have a trip to Delhi planned later this year, which is pretty much built around sampling the cuisine of this restaurant, chiefly the dal bukhara.