Darshan's Hoop on the Net(s)

'TRY'ing to get it?

2009-06-18T05:47:00.000-07:00

WOKAY!i do not know if this is even true...be that as it may it surely beats the @#$& out of swimmingm biking and the running!had to be a "bawa" wearing this Tee... and to wear it in broad daylight in public. Not that Pune is conservative or anything... but this was a bit much. ;-)

Jago Re!

2009-02-18T20:43:00.000-08:00

Literally means - wake up! A brilliant ad campaign launched well ahead of the general elections facing the indian populace later his year shows a youth calling upon other youngsters to "awaken"... his point-of-view being that if you are NOT voting, you are sleeping... the metaphor for sloth/indifference and dereliction of a constitutional duty to vote and elect a suitable representative is well

'Coz PINK! is my color...

2009-02-18T20:40:00.000-08:00

Aerosmith's colorful song... and bordering-on-hoarseness vocals make this one of my favorite songs... events in the last month seemed to bring out the true hue (as it were) of the varying shades of pink. Valentine's day was celebrated the world over... in India (a country of culture and old traditions) the trend to celebrate your "love" slipped into the mainstream a little over a decade ago. This

Ending on a "high" note

2009-01-19T09:17:00.000-08:00

It has been a roller coaster year by all standards.The indian sensex roared to 20,000 last Jan and ended the year tamely -50%. the big economies are facing recessionary times. huge corporate houses and financial institutions - once success stories and the envy of many - bit the dust. strife continued to rip apart the fabric of life in iraq, afghanistan, kenya, and sudan to name a few... mumbai

What is the Difference –II

2008-12-19T03:43:00.000-08:00

What is the DifferenceBetween living a life that seems ordinaryAnd meeting death in blazing gloryWhat is the DifferenceBetween me and youOnly our skin being a different hueWhat is the DifferenceBetween a pauper with nothing to looseAnd the king’s dilemma – what to choose!

What is the Difference – I

2008-12-19T03:41:00.000-08:00

What is the DifferenceBetween the pious And the religiousWhat is the DifferenceBetween the rich and the poorAre they not humans, both?

On Death

2008-12-19T03:36:00.000-08:00

Is death a great leveler?Is death a part of the journey?Or is it the destination?The End.Will I be able to greet the end of lifeWith a smile, or worse, with strifeAll the while clawing -Clutching to even a straw of hayIn the misplaced desire -To live another day.

2008-12-12T22:47:00.000-08:00

Some of us who were part of the winning team at the State Championships... those were the days...It felt great to be champions and to captain the team was the icing... great guys all...

The Vagaries of Life

2008-12-12T22:44:00.000-08:00

Early in the morning i went for my usual game of tennis. The started well. Pune's winterchill, now well and truly set forcing me to tear myself away from the warm blanket... thegame was not too bad either... i came home, chatted with parents and we ate breakfasttogether after i had a chilled bath. One of those days when you feel all is well with theworld... you start early... everything is

Terror in Mumbai

2008-11-30T23:51:00.000-08:00

It has been an unprecedented time in our history. Never have we seen so many armed personnel in action and such fierce 'gun battles' in living memory. Kargil is still fresh in memory but that qualified as an all out war. The theatre there was a 'battle front' in a far off region... not in our very own backyard! As the common citizen comes to terms with this horrendous reality - for it surely

Just a Thought in passing

2008-11-27T10:31:00.000-08:00

I think Gandhiji said - " an eye for an eye will make the world blind"it counters the very common hindi/urdu saying "eent ka jawab patthar se"why can we not learn to live in peace and harmony?why can man not be left alone to simply go about the task of LIVING (or making a living) and leading his LIFE...What happened in Mumbai over the last 24 hours has been a very sad day in our history... i wish

MANTO SAYS!

2008-11-25T05:06:00.000-08:00

A few excerpts from "Bitter Fruit" the very best of Saadat Hasan Manto... an urdu author beyond compare... reading some of his short stories left me feeling very disturbed... and some gasping for air for their sheer brilliance and emotional impact. Perhaps being an indian i can identify more with the stories... all the same the devastation of the times that he captures is peerless... and offers

Music and Lyrics

2007-03-27T09:17:00.000-07:00

Was a nice movie. Perfect 'popcorn fare'. What I notice though is that the recent spate of bollywood music is strictly passable and most lyrics so-so. Of course I am not considering the crass junk that is churned out regularly by the industry'wallahs'. Old lyricists and musicians win hands down on emotional content and arrangements that are often simple and yet maintain a melodic quality. Maybe

CARPE DIEM!

2007-03-27T09:13:00.000-07:00

Seize the day...Simple. Succint.

A Taste of our own medicine

2007-01-18T09:31:00.000-08:00

I told a friend to have a cough lozenge for her cough. She did and found it effective – not without me getting a scolding for recommending a foul tasting remedy. That set me wondering - Why are medicinal products so antagonistic to taste… is it really a mystery? I should think that some pediatric formulations are sweetened and cough syrups are tolerable, but

New York by night...

2007-01-08T10:39:00.000-08:00

A view from the Empire State…

Grapes of Wrath

2007-01-08T07:02:00.000-08:00

John Steinbeck won a Pulitzer for this masterpiece in 1940. I am no literary critic and hence cannot claim to dissect it, but I can recall very few books that drew me into the story as much as the saga of the Joads did. An open ended story - not a happy tale by any standard. No inkling of what happens to the Joads and their future as the story draws to a close. The brash remarks by the preacher

On New Year's Eve

2007-01-02T09:32:00.001-08:00

I went to the racecourse and ran seven kilometers. I just felt the need to get it out of my system. My cousin had decided to have a stall selling sandwiches, pop, dhoklas and kulfi. This was on Main Street. Not a bad idea considering that hundreds of people would saunter through – especially since the whole street would be a walking plaza. I thought it bit quixotic. I mean we didn’t need to

It is a brand New Year!

2006-12-31T11:35:00.000-08:00

(ANYONE AND EVERYONE THAT READS THIS BLOGSPOT) WISHING YOU A HAPPY NEW YEAR! Devil-in-me: I guess there aren’t too many in this category are there? Angel-in-me: It is the thought that counts! Me: (Disclaimer) Even if things don’t go as planned and your life doesn’t pan out as you envisaged… I had

The Centre of the Universe

2006-12-31T11:34:00.000-08:00

Our old place is located in M G Road in Pune. The ‘main street’ of town for ages. No more… Pune has expanded at a rapid clip in the last five years. The burgeoning growth is driven by the IT, BPO, and manufacturing industry. It is being touted as the next “Detroit”. Quite a makeover from the erstwhile “Oxford of the East” and pensioner’s paradise it was. Of course education is more of an

The death of something beautiful…

2006-12-31T11:32:00.000-08:00

A really close friend formalized her relationship with this guy. I have known her for donkey’s years. Not quite a decade yet, but just. Come to think of it— it is. All these years we have managed to stay in touch. In spite of her choosing a completely different course of study (commerce as opposed to my choice of medicine) and my being away from home

Just a link...

2006-09-15T18:09:00.000-07:00

I have been away for quite a while... busy with many things... one of which includes going in a certain direction with my life ;-)anyway... I have a link to some photographs that I have taken in the past... feel free to see them and to send me comments or suggestions!http://flickr.com/photos/darshanparikh/

Reserved anyway!

2006-06-16T09:30:00.000-07:00

The government of India has decided to go ahead with the reservations in higher educational institutes. The fact that such a large section of the country – especially the youth – is against the move does not seem to perturb Arjun Singh at all. The action reeks of an autocratic behavior. Manmohan Singh’s quiet stance is disturbing. More so the usually vocal president Kalam too, hasn’t made his

“Maha”jan?

2006-06-16T09:26:00.000-07:00

A lot was made of Pramod Mahajan’s death recently. One of the top functionaries of the Bhartiya Janata Party and he maintained a high profile ever since his ‘rath yatra’ days with Advani. His meteoric rise to national level politics from a humble back ground was the stuff dreams are made of – the typical rags-to-riches story. What was intriguing was the way he went – shot by his brother four

Quote

2006-05-26T07:18:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite quotes"The greatest art of the devil lies is convincing us he does not exist" -Baudelaire

Y-A-Y-!

2006-05-26T07:13:00.000-07:00

It rained for the first time this evening...the smell of wet earth...the cool breeze...the change in the entire surroundings...and within...If i had my "gum boots" i sure as hell would go plodding into all those little puddles...Life seems good right now!PS: if Vivaldi would have been lucky enough to experience the magic I am certain we would all have benefitted from a work of his which he would

2006-05-22T10:17:00.000-07:00

FROM WIKI... I CAME ACROSS INTERESTING TRIVIA ABOUT MY ALL TIME FAVORITE ROLE MODEL AND IDOL (LIKE - IT WAS POSSIBLE FOR THERE TO BE ANOTHER!) m j ! ONE OF THE MAJOR REASONS I LOVED PLAYING BASKETBALL WAS HIM. HE SURELY MUST HAVE BEEN AN INSPIRATION FOR MILLIONS.Jordan liked interacting with hecklers, unlike most NBA players. After slam-dunking on 6'1" (1.85 m) John Stockton, Utah Jazz owner

We are family!

2006-05-21T11:26:00.000-07:00

My eldest bhabhi and the 'latest edition' i.e. youngest bhabhi.My sisters - in - law... LOL! actually discussing some mundane matters and caught unawares... It can so easily be misconstrued to add fuel to a long standing joke anywhere in the world, how two women can'not' get along.The way things are looking... literally... percipient me?Well far from it... our family is well-knit and we love each

ACHILLES!

2006-05-21T11:14:00.000-07:00

Looks like a Greek Helmet or something? Maybe my imagination was kicked as I am currently reading the Iliad. The upturned skeletal remains of a boat... its frame from the front... taken at COEP, boat club, Pune.

String Theory

2006-05-21T08:06:00.000-07:00

My brother was down for a vacation recently… he used to floss practically everyday. Whether it was because he had to undergo a bad time on account of his oral health previously & was advised to or – and this is more likely – he wanted to maintain optimum hygiene, lest I (as a licensed dental practitioner) work on him which probably is a terrifying idea for him; I could so easily extract (pun

Mother’s Day

2006-05-21T08:01:00.000-07:00

An exquisite quote… I could not possibly have anything to say after (that’s why I wrote these lines before! ;-)“God could not be everywhere and therefore he made mothers” – Jewish Proverb.

Divide and Rule.

2006-05-11T10:30:00.000-07:00

History repeats itself, we’ve heard that before. One of the greatest teachers probably is history. What matters is what lessons we take from it. The recent controversy of reservations in higher educational institutions has kicked up a minor storm of its own. What is discouraging is that no politician worth his salt (I mean that sarcastically - salt comes pretty cheap these days! It is an easily

I, Blog.

2006-05-11T10:29:00.000-07:00

I like the sound of that. It also rhymes with the earlier post. I’m a poet – and I know-et… :-) So I have been blogging for a while now. I have shared some crazy real life incidents and other observations. So why do I blog? Does it serve as a cathartic experience? Do I see myself transforming a la Kafka as I write and let off steam? Am I writing merely to impress some random reader… when this

Why Blog?

2006-05-11T10:27:00.000-07:00

I was introduced to blogging by my elder brother (Hirak – Google him) and it took me an age to get started. I have read very few blogs to be in a position to comment but there is the fundamental question to ask – Why blog? Some do it plainly for the outlet of creative expressionism. From the looks of it some don’t really care, they’re probably just doing it and then there is the class that tries

Welcome home…

2006-05-11T10:22:00.000-07:00

I returned home after a long period of five years…I am in Pune – a city with pretensions of being the next big thing – home to industries, IT hub, educational Mecca, pensioner’s paradise, etc.As is my wont I went to the club early in the morning for a swim and workout. I come back home to find that the lights were out. I open the tap to realize that taps were dry; water supply cut due to some

KACHRA

2006-05-01T10:30:00.000-07:00

Rubbish. It stands for garbage in Hindi. Or it may imply anything dirty or useless. A paradox in India is the high regard we have for cleanliness to be maintained in personal hygiene matters and at home. The problem is that it is done at the expense of the surroundings. The house is swept and the dust thrown out of the window. The soiled water from ablutions or washing is allowed to drain to the

Spittle…Spittle… here there everywhere!

2006-04-30T07:06:00.000-07:00

An unseemly behavior is gripping young India. One would normally associate old fogies on their charpoies in the idyllic rural setting, as they sit smoking their hookahs and discuss all manner of sundry matters, chewing on tobacco - very much like the forever mulching cows they own. Yet this phenomenon of exercising the masticatory apparatus with such fervor seems to have a new fan following. The

Jumbo VADA-PAV!

2006-04-15T10:24:00.000-07:00

Eat your hearts out! Vada-pav might as well go global! An enterprising couple from Mumbai has started a chain of small eateries that sell vada-pav. The staple diet of millions – the Indian answer to burger. Fast food was never faster… They have set up quite professionally and serve VP with ‘Lassi’ or ‘Tak’ (liquid dairy products – yum too! And even offer a healthy brown bread option. What’s

Topaz

2006-04-15T10:22:00.000-07:00

A friend and I went to a dance bar. With a name that suggested a kind of peerless stone; since I’m no gemologist I won’t tell. It was a dance bar – one of a ubiquitous phenomenon in Mumbai till the state government banned all of them – of the more sophisticated sort. Not at all that seedy. With 3-4 rooms to choose from and plenty of girls in all of them. They dance to the latest film hits from

A Knight’s Oath

2006-04-15T10:17:00.000-07:00

A knight takes the following oath. He kneels prior to his investiture and then rises a Sir Knight. I thought it was extremely fine and worth sharing. It is so simple in wording and perhaps therein lies its beauty and inspirational worth. If only we could all strive to do the same! Be without fear in the face of your enemies, Be brave & upright, Speak the truth always

ABCD… A Sequel

2005-12-17T09:01:00.000-08:00

This is because, at times, I am confused about my identity too. This is not as serious a matter as detailed earlier. Thankfully metaphysics is on hold at this point of time in life. It stems from a lot of writing and over-writing on the tapes in my mind due to the many varied spools that dad keeps playing from time to time.This is more or less a really funny look at the way my father describes

ABCD...

2005-12-17T08:57:00.000-08:00

Thought I would utilize the term ABCD for this blog. The term itself is an acronym – ‘ABCD’ standing for American Born Confused Desi!Anyway this is not so much about that. It is probably that all of us have our fair share of confused identities.We grow up and are taught a certain code of conduct.Always a “don’t do that!” or “what have I told you about … “ or “now, now Johnny is that how you

SEXPERT

2005-12-08T10:25:00.000-08:00

A sexual revolution sweeps across India and everyone wants in! Not a week goes by without some report on the arrivestes in the sexual landscape of modern, cosmopolitan India. From the widely read India Today to the serious Outlook and the run-of-the-mill magazines; all have their take & claim to get under the skin of the youth with their “exclusive” surveys a finger on their pulse (tell us the

Mumbai—B(a)had mein jaein!

2005-12-01T08:56:00.000-08:00

27th July was probably a remarkable day in that it was probably the first time in years that the city came to a halt—and how! It perhaps did not in 1993 … it doesn’t completely for those “strikes” courtesy the Shiv Sena, and hence enforced more or less completely. So obviously there is one thing that one can be sure of—no matter what… the city never stops. For anyone. Ever.The title for this post

Good Night... Sleep Tight...

2005-11-22T10:46:00.000-08:00

Don’t let the bed bugs bite… Ha - to that! It is easier said than done as far as I am concerned. I have been studying in Mumbai for the last five years now and I have been living at this hostel for most of the while. It is a great place on account of the location and food and everything. It truly is a blessing… but there has been this one problem that has crept in – quite literally – since the

SWADES

2005-11-08T09:22:00.001-08:00

This is a speech i delivered whilst in college. it was for a debate... for your perusal... At the stroke of midnight, India awoke to freedom… the soul of our nation long suppressed found utterance…. We began our tryst with destiny. For aeons the hallmark of the Indian people has been acceptance and accommodation. Since the Aryan times to the British this land has been besieged time and again.

Neeta—a new breed of swine? Or alternatively ‘Volvoed…’

2005-11-06T03:05:00.000-08:00

Remember Dolly, the cloned sheep? Well this is about a breed of swine… it is a matter of routine for me to commute between Mumbai and Pune. This time I took a private operator “Neeta Volvo”. I usually do so by train or the state government transport buses. I have never had a complain against either because they are regular, rarely late and good value for money. The only drawback of the train

The De(o) - M(o)an

2005-10-30T20:47:00.000-08:00

Perhaps this is worth reporting. It might not be on the other hand, for fear that some lissome lass reads the following account and it affects my chances aversely (if there were any to begin with in the first place!). There was this patient of mine, who I treated whilst in college as an intern. All I actually did was a root canal for her and I guess I did a pretty good job for

King Midas

2005-10-27T11:14:00.000-07:00

No this is not about that mythological character, rather it is about the state that we make out of our sport. In a leading English daily the front pages had splashed the photographs of Dravid (Captain) and Tendulkar (Demi-God) with the heading ‘the king is back!’. On the inside the write up sang paeans about his return to form and how Dravid could do no wrong. This state of affairs is such a far

“A-Bridged”

2005-10-27T11:12:00.000-07:00

Wise men say –A fool and his money are soon parted.An abridged version means a condensed version of the original. The term is used as an adjective. From this blog though it emerges that its use as a verb may be permitted. How? Well… to cut a long story short… (here the irony doesn’t escape me)The incident took place a few days ago. As is my habit I walk back to my place of residence

finally...

2005-10-23T10:47:00.000-07:00

i think i finally made it here... after a good three years or so. looking forward to posting often and hope to proove my elder brother wrong - he was afraid that i would let my verbose self loose on the net. for a homie like me who got game - its going to be all "swish" from now on!;-)