Dog's Day Out

It happened earlier too. When Satyajit Ray made his films and certain sections of Middle and Upper Class Indians commented adversely on his depicting poverty. A percentage of people in these segments of society just cannot bear the sight of poverty and dirt and gloom. I remember somebody commenting negatively when a foreigner was clicking a photograph of a beggar in Park Street, Kolkata. He rather clicks Victoria Memorial. Maybe he has? And what stopped my friend from visiting Ethiopia and clicking some shots of the hapless victims of famine?

So when educated (sic) India comments about Slumdog Millionaire being opportunistic it’s a sad commentary of the mental state of those people. We at our cushy homes forget that the rural uneducated India is still waiting to catch up. They want to catch up in terms of prejudices, rituals, bad traditions and they want exposure. So let’s show it. The maid servant working in Arindam Chaudhuri’s house perhaps stays in a slum that the latter never visited or would dare not look at.

The morning view from a high rise building in Mumbai is terrible where you see hoards of people on a field for the morning natural needs. They don’t have a place to go. We of course take refuge in the ostrich like behavior of closing the window. So when Danny Boyle exposes the slum, suddenly people are busy denouncing him. I for one don’t want to be always fed with lies on the big screen. It’s not always a fairy tale that we are running after. So, what's wrong with a realistic fairy tale?

We are sometimes so small that a journalist asked Danny Boyle as to what did he do for the slum actors that acted in the films? His answer his immaterial for my piece, but that’s what the media is all about. But then that’s another topic. Sphere: Related Content

Bait Al Mandi, Dubai

This is in AL Rigga Street. Try out the Chicken Mandi. Its excellent. The mutton one is not all that good. The rice in the Chicken version is better too.

Mandi by the way is a sort of Pilaf that I am told originated in Yemen. It's a base of flavoured rice with nuts and spices and chunks of meat. The chicken is served whole.

Try it. You will like it. If you want the chicken a bit more spicy, then at home you coud fry up the chicken in ghee with some more red chilly or black pepper and dash of lime would do good. Sphere: Related Content

Shameless Truth

Indian companies are prone to fraud and do succumb to unethical practices at different levels. So when Narayan Murthy said that it was a shameful affair referring to the Satyam case, I was not really amused. Either NM lived in a world of his own or perhaps I am plain stupid. The latter perhaps is not so true.

By the way, and why should I pin point only Indian Companies. This is a global phenomenon. Frauds are invented and implemented by intelligent people whether company executives, owners or bankers or the small trader down the lane. What about us? We are also into it. That extra bribe to get a passport quicker, Mr. Devil is ever ready to extend his hands and we gladly embrace them.
I am not sure what dawned on Mr. Raju to confess his deeds. Was he threatened by somebody? Did God appear in his dreams? Was he in the brink of a mental breakdown? The answer to these question can be answered by none other than him and no amount of investigations would able to resolve the questions we have in mind.

Do we expect more such confessions? Who knows? Till such time we will keep exclaiming about the blunder Raju has made.

My question is - When will YOU the reader, confess about your own sins? Or perhaps resolve to be truthful and act where there is no shame attached. Sphere: Related Content

Rolls - Dubai

The pronunciation is quite the same as the much renowned car but here we are talking about food. I am talking about Kabab Rolls a small nice humble dine in cum take away joint off Al Wasl Road. Gourav from eatingoutdubai.com would direct you like this:

Heading towards Bur Dubai on Al Wasl Road cross the Safa Park Signal and you would come across the Emarat Petrol Station on your right. Take the next right (Emirates Post Office at the other side when you turn) and then again take the first right. Carry on and you would come across a small market place amongst the villas on your left. The joint is on the behind. Instead of stopping here you could also go along further on the road, the road curves left and then you take the first left and you are at the back of the market.

Try the Bihari Rolls or the other varieties. The Biryani is good, the sheekh kabas(ask them not to burn them up) are nice, the keema very good and so on and so forth. Try it. You will come back for more for sure. 7.5 out of 10!!

(A Parantha is wheat flour dough flattened (round shape) and pan fried before roasting them a bit. Place the kebabs and some onions, lime juice, small shredded green chillies on the parantha and roll up into a cylindrical shape). Sphere: Related Content