Ajith Nair

Ram didn’t remember too much about his village back in Maharashtra except for the face of his mother at sleep, the day that he’d decided to escape. The sparsely occupied room had stood mute while he packed a small rucksack of his torn shorts and shirts, two of them. As the sun rose, Ram was sitting atop a generous bullock cart which would take him to the nearest bus station 50 km away. 12 years passed, during which he had never written to his mother, he had never learnt how to. His only link back home was two hundred rupees that he sent her every month, without fail. The money might bring a smile to her face and tell her that all was well with her son. A Sunday evening when he had finished delivering all the courier letters, Ram stood next to the sea. He loved doing this, as among the thousands of people who thronged there Sunday evening, he was anonymous. He was not the son of the farmer who lost hope and committed suicide; he was not the brother of two sisters who had been married o...

Choice is always welcome, especially if it involves something that’s remained a monopoly for 80 years . In fact, it’s quite surprising that this didn’t take place concomitant with the liberalization of the economy. We had newer cars, the congress lost power regularly, more variety of soap (both TV and bathing) but the same cricket board. The problem with the BCCI, for ever and recently has been that non- cricketers have been taking decisions on behalf of cricketers. So you have an agricultural minister who runs both Baramati and BCCI, the man who preceded him was a seasoned baniya. Cricket some might argue is serious business; my contention is that is its cricket first and business later. So do we have genuine choice now, I don’t think so. Subhash Chandra is a shrewd businessman, don’t know too much about how much he loves cricket. He’s roped in the man who brought tears to eyes in 1983 and tears to his own eyes in 2000. The Haryana Hurricane is now an emotional whirlwind with a financ...

After Killings, Sense of Unity Surprises Newark

The Times carried a thought provoking article on which way the world could be headed. Our lives are increasingly governed by the principles of exclusion. Some of these examples readily come to mind 1. Our housing societies have multiple layers of security, not the smallest of insects could steal their way in. Have you ever noticed how any stranger who 'walks' into a society gets treated at the gate by the watchmen compared to say someone who drives in? 2. We have AC cars that shut the smells of the city out and tinted glasses that effectively color our view of dirty uncleaned streets and urchin 3. Even when we walk, we effectively use ear plugs of all kinds that dish out music to the ears... who wants to hear the traffic honk or the cacophony at the railway station 4. Ever noticed the ease with which people dismiss slums off when the make statements like these "I've just bought a flat, actually it's under construction. You know what, I got a steal cos there are sl...

Bobilli Vijaykumar has a lot to write everyday, considering that he seems to be the only spors journalist that TOI has. In today's TOI he typefies the Indian attitude to wins After running through the article, you'd probably think that the title doesn't do justice to the content. The first half is a diatribe, the second half eulogy of sorts. For me this typefies how journalists today are shallow opinion makers who don't have the conviction to follow through and play the long hard innings. Learned cricket lovers will empathise with Dravid, Vaughan being the first. For a team labelled poor travelers, this move was conservative yes, cowardly, no. The same journalist would have pounded Dravid to pieces if we'd asked the Poms to follow on and lost. Remember, we don't have a great record batting last, do we?. So the phrase BVK uses " A few scared minds and a defensive approach" does not do justice to the kind of cricket that we played through this series. Za...

Here's something from Yahoo on traffic cops in China wonder what is the red signal age for the Mama who stands grinding tambaku (tobacco) at Mumbai traffic signals and is a poster boy for making a quick buck? Maybe we do have the answer for his corrupt practices- bad salary, pathetic work conditions and a from what this article says short life span. Who wouldn't want to maximise returns? Would be interesting to see the link between the age of dead traffic cops and how corrupt they were. Two perspectives that could be examined 1. Did these guys know that they're short lived and hence they were most corrupt? 2. Or did the live a short life because they were so corrupt (the whole moral angle) We'll never get data on this one :)

A rainy day was a bad omen. I didn’t want to be standing wet and vulnerable in front of the Visa Officer at the US Consulate. In retrospect, the whole saga is funny and how. Arriving half an hour before my scheduled time, I thought I might be laughed at. Instead, what greeted me was a sombre looking line that threatened to make me back pedal at least half a kilometer. Parents and wards, husbands and wives and all genetic combinations possible had arrived with rain gear and mortal fear, hours in advance. Nobody spoke, just tentative glances, shuffling of feet and then tentative glances again, this time in the direction of the gates to the Consulate. Mumbaikars are an optimistic lot; else why would one of the gentlemen preceding me in queue not carry an umbrella, in spite of it having poured that morning. His feeble attempts at accommodating himself in the rear part of his neighbour’s umbrella ended with a feeble smile from him and a condescending stare from his counterpart. Interestingl...

I won’t post anything new until 1. The English pick the Jelly Bean that they threw at Zaheer and throw it at themselves (they’ll gladly do this if it makes Zaka bowl lollypops at Oval) 2. Sachin gets a hundred (not with Taufel around am sure…kidding) 3. Sanjay Dutt gets slapped with TADA (if wishes were horses) 4. Pratibha Patil smiles (now that she’s finally got to Raisina Hill) 5. Himesh-bhai takes his cap off (and shows he’s human and bald after all) 6. Amitabh goes farming (better this than some of his latest commercials) 7. Pronoy Roy comes back to anchor the 9’O Clock news (enough of sending the kids) 8. Contestants stop crying in singing shows on TV (and start singing ) 9. I stop seeing Harry Potter books and young readers who increasingly resemble him 10. I can come up with filler ideas like these while my writing takes an un-sanctioned vacation