In which country are people waiting all the time?

Which famous Italian is also considered the godfather of Kuwaiti milkshakes?

How would you describe a yellow journalist?

[Hint: in one word, an adjective]

I wake

I roll

I clean my pipes

I clean your panels

We roll out

as per plan

I leave you

(maybe out in the rain)

You rust and chew my butt

I leave you again

You decide you dont like my plans

I pick her up

You chew me up again

I give up

Either of you will call me again

Maybe I need another plan.

I roll

I plan and pet your panels at the same time

I polish your panels

open communication channels

I paint your pipes -

weekend attention thing types

etcetera,…

We roll again;

She dosen’t.

Why is non-veg food more popular than veg food?

The Killer Returns:

What was the favorite body part of Raja Harishchandra?

When not in office, I think…

Who would have opposed Rupali from switching on the fan?

Who would have distracted the team with killers?

Who would have connived with Priya to annoy Shalini?

Who would have given people a chance to crack gay jokes?

Who else would have laughed at what Arunesh said?

Who would have told Deb B that winters are still a month away?

Whom would Palash mentor?

Who would mentor Asif? (vested interests involved)

Who will gossip with Ranjit in Punjabi?

Who would persuade Vidya, Raji and Hammad to HOB? (Beware Saurav and Maheswaran.. u dirty minds.. there are more things common between them than just the gender.. both are new joinees)

Who would discuss winter vacation plans with Mayank?

Who would eat up Swapna’s lunch ? Oh no, many people are fighting for that!!

I am coming tomorrow.

It’s hard to find solace when your idols are cracking up. In my view, that’s exactly whats happening for many Indians who admired Tharoor.

The headline news across Indian media channels on 8th Sep, ’09 had one thing to talk about as breaking news – about India’s Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s ‘eviction’ order to the country’s two top politicians, Shashi Tharoor and S.M Krishna. They were allegedly ordered to vacate the 5-star suites they are occupying in Delhi for over 3 months. The media report stated that both the politicians have been occupying the suites for over 3 months.

Shashi Tharoor, who has been using Twitter to engage in dialogues with a staggering number of followers, found himself flooded with countless tweets. His followers wanted his views on the report.

Despite my admiration for Tharoor as an intelligent thinker, writer, and leader, it came as a real dampener to read how he dismissed the issue as a ‘non story.’ His rationale is that he did not spend the taxpayer’s money or use any government privilege.

When the Indian Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh is advocating austerity day after day, this act of ostentation, whether its Tharoor’s pocket money or property money, is insulting. Pritish Nandy rightly stated on Twitter that the issue is not where the money came from but why the act of ostentation took place.

Next, Tharoor’s excuse of not staying in Kerala House, on Twitter, was that it lacks two things – a gym and privacy.

You don’t really need to stay in a five star hotel suite just to get a good gym facility, do you?

About privacy, I feel outraged that someone like Tharoor lied. It’s a very private, exclusive space for celebrities and political leaders at Kerala House. The accommodation is truly king-size luxury at little or no price at all for the elite circle that stays there. The state’s most popular Ministers, actors, and celebrities enjoy their privacy there. It’s like living in royal grandeur and splendid isolation.

That’s what makes Tharoor’s statement such a blatant lie. The fact that he lied is what angers those who follow him with respect. Sure, politicians insult our intelligence all the time with the most creative excuses, its no big deal, really.

Maybe we would have respected Shashi Tharoor if he had been honest about the whole deal. Of course, no politician is perfect in any country but from Tharoor, we made the mistake of expecting a little more. We saw his entry into politics as a better chance to believe in the political high class once again, based on a mistaken belief that perhaps good, intelligent leaders are back. What we’ve got is suave lies, and that is not fair.

Like a consolation prize of sorts, Tharoor stated that he visits Kerala House to meet and talk with people. Maybe someone needs to remind him the only people in Kerala House are celebrities and Ministers. To meet people, Tharoor needs to step out of his 5 star suite with its gym and privacy facilities and visit his constituency for a change. There are a lot of people out there who are living in an unenviable state of austerity. Maybe Tharoor the suave politician needs to step out of his fancy political suit to recognize this fact.

A minute ago a white coloured government van appeared and some officials reprimanded children who looked like beggars standing near the corner of the street, what they said was unknown to me.

Location: K.G Marg (opp British Council) near a Juice Stall

Beggar one: Ab kya hoga (what will happen now)

Beggar two: Jo hoga dekha jayega (Let time decide our fate)

The Minister for Social Welfare, Law and Justice Department has vowed to make Delhi free from beggars by 2010. Keeping the Commonwealth games in mind, Delhi has to be a world class city and that is only possible after the eradication of these blots of the society. Two mobile courts now have been pressed into action to catch person found begging and citizens are also encouraged to help courts catch and rehabilitate them. Under the Bombay Prevention of Begging Act, 1959, the mobile courts heralded by a judge can punish serial offenders’ and/or up to 10 years imprisonment in one of the three remand rooms. Punishment to young children can be relaxed (they will be sent to juvenile homes or rehab), quotes a senior government official.

Twelve Vans are already at work in Delhi - to catch the beggars. After the catch, the destitutes are sent to about a dozen odd beggar homes- its capacity- 2200. Roughly there are about 60,000 beggars inside Delhi and around a quarter of them are less than 18 years of age. For Ankit it is hard to believe a beggar free city, ” not possible.” It should be noted that the Delhi government had started a DIAL 1098 save a child beggar programme for the citizens, but the veracity of the helpline is yet to be ascertained. Apart from a traditional practice in India, begging today is an organized industry which prefers to remain underground. True that some of the poor souls are naturally disfigured but others have the ability to cash-in-sympathy. A beggar in Delhi makes about 100 -200 INR per day whereas, more than what an unskilled laborer earns. “Catching the beggars on the eve of Commenwealth games is not the solution, driving poverty is.” Piyush says.

India is home to more than 1.01 million. The Social Welfare department promises to make Delhi - a beggar free by 2010, it still lacks a comprehensive scheme of sorts for their betterment. Priya says, “It is an industry, an organized one. I would like to see them selling stuffs on the roads.” Most of the beggars in Delhi come from the lowest strata of the society. Here education, literacy and health becomes a non-essential requirement and surviving with a hungry stomach becomes a little more important than kitaabi baatein (bookish read non-practical stuffs). According to reliable statistics 90% of beggars in Delhi are from our own self proclaimed BIMARU states (Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh).

Some NGO’s are working towards betterment of these poor souls but a cohesive plan need to be laid out. Rony believes that the beggars should start selling government made products. What about utilizing this huge manpower into a government sponsored self help employment schemes or even better turn them on to the list of unskilled laborers?

Arunesh gets sarcastic, “I have never thought about them.” True, all of us have never consciously thought about beggars we come across almost everyday. I get moved sometimes, when I see an aged man or a greying woman seeking alms. I wonder, where will the mobile vans take them away or for that matter put them?

Old is gold. The 66^th Venice Film Festival starts today and touted as “the world’s best film festival”. There is both good and bad news for us. The bad news first, Bollywood has limited movement in this festival this year (when did it do?). The good news, although not a part of the “Competition category” Rakyesh Om Prakash Mehra’s ‘Delhi 6′ and Anurag Kashyap’s ‘Dev D’ and Gulaal are among the four Indian movies that will be screened at 30126 Lido di Venezia. Amit Dutta an FTII passout will tell Aadmi ki aurat aur anya kahaniya - ‘The Man’s Woman and Other Stories’ through the 70 mm. What’s more, Anuraag Kashyap, an acclaimed Indian film maker also happens to be part of the prestigious six member jury of the festival.

DevD – inspired by Sarat Chandra Chatterjee’s Devdas, and Delhi-6 has tried to capture superstition, communal passions, dreams of the middle class, and urban malaise from the people living in the old part of Delhi, India’s capital. Gulaal is a classic cut on contemporary student politics.

More than eighty films will be screened cutting across 32 countries. Italy and America have record number of entries, 17 and 22 respectively. With Steven Speilberg tying up with ADAG, can we expect more Indian faces next year?

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