Annie Zaidi's Blog, page 40
November 18, 2012
Buy, buy, buy
Here's the new book out there. It is called Love Stories # 1 to 14. There are (obviously) fourteen stories of love, some of it dead, some undying, and some of it involving dead people.
Readers, friends, detractors (especially you), curious onlookers, I would encourage you to pick up a copy. I will be doing signings in some stores, wherever I can get down to the task without bankrupting myself
Readers, friends, detractors (especially you), curious onlookers, I would encourage you to pick up a copy. I will be doing signings in some stores, wherever I can get down to the task without bankrupting myself
November 11, 2012
Growing figures
So it is being said that India’s economic growth is “likely to drop to 5.7%”. The report pointed out that the current growth is lower than the 6.5% figure from last year, and 6.7% in the “crisis-hit 2008-09”.For the lay citizen, these percentage points and ominous hints of a ‘slowdown’ or a crisis are meaningless. We experience a crisis economy in three terms: Is it hard to find jobs? Is food
November 4, 2012
All our filth
I saw this film recently, A Royal Affair, set in eighteenth century Denmark, and based on
real events during the reign of Christian VII. Across Europe, there were
changes in people’s ideas about religion, science and civil rights. There was
talk of peasants or ‘serfs’ actually having rights, like the right to not be
tortured. There was talk of vaccination. And yet, the streets of Copenhagen
real events during the reign of Christian VII. Across Europe, there were
changes in people’s ideas about religion, science and civil rights. There was
talk of peasants or ‘serfs’ actually having rights, like the right to not be
tortured. There was talk of vaccination. And yet, the streets of Copenhagen
October 28, 2012
A belated happy birthday note
A young man recently visited us and noticed a sketch of
Gandhi up on my wall. He asked if I liked the man. I said I did. He said he
didn’t. I asked why. He said, “We were better off under the British”. So I
said, “Do you know what it was like with the British?”
He changed the subject, hopping from one general statement
to another about how Gandhi didn’t work. I was about to argue, then I
Gandhi up on my wall. He asked if I liked the man. I said I did. He said he
didn’t. I asked why. He said, “We were better off under the British”. So I
said, “Do you know what it was like with the British?”
He changed the subject, hopping from one general statement
to another about how Gandhi didn’t work. I was about to argue, then I
October 21, 2012
Of rice and ministers
What do Kashmiri militants, traditional caste-based panchayats in Haryana and the Chhattisgarh police have in common?No, not various kinds of illegal violence. (Well, who knows?) But today, what I’m talking about is a hatred of denim pants. Jeans. That is, women wearing jeans. We’ve heard of girls getting shot at for wearing jeans in Kashmir. And now there are reports that the Chhattisgarh
October 16, 2012
Five reasons I am angry this bright Tuesday morning
I live in a country where a woman chief minister can attribute the awful, unforgiveable crime of rape to men and women, boys and girls actually acknowledging each other's existence on the same planet, and she can remain in office. This leader seems not to know the difference between violent assault and voluntary holding of hands, and she is expected to make and enforce laws.
I live in a country
I live in a country
October 14, 2012
Baby blues
I wonder who decided to name her. As a baby name, it isn’t one of my favourites: Ahuti means sacrifice. There she was — three months old and beaten to death. And nobody really knows why. Ahuti’s mother has been arrested. The police say she’s admitted to beating the baby, and being unable to cope with the child’s constant crying.I think about Dharmishtha Joshi too (Who named her? What sort of
October 8, 2012
Try growing your LPG
A family outing was spoilt recently after we got into an argument about prices, economic policy and so on. It started with a comment made by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, to explain the new LPG and diesel prices. He reportedly said that upping prices wouldn’t hurt the poor directly, since LPG wasn’t meant to be the poor man’s fuel anyway.Which brought me to that awkward question — what is the
October 5, 2012
Made of words
In the beginning, there was probably no word. More likely, it was a sound, or a tiny movement. Perhaps, it was no more than the invisible blink of a formless divine eyelash. Perhaps, it was a rogue electron. Perhaps, the 'beginning' as we know it, was the moment when we decided to be us - speaking animals with words as their primary currency.
And perhaps that is why we tip-toe around words.
And perhaps that is why we tip-toe around words.
October 1, 2012
Fish-eaters enclave
Blurbs that promise oddities – ‘a
manipulative-philanthropist ghost of a chairman’s mother; a footless whore in
Siberia…’ – make one nervous these days. An outlandish cast of characters and wild
leaps of fancy are no longer novelties in modern fiction. But there is a risk that
the fantastical elements plucked out for the back of the book might be the most
interesting thing about it.
Happily
manipulative-philanthropist ghost of a chairman’s mother; a footless whore in
Siberia…’ – make one nervous these days. An outlandish cast of characters and wild
leaps of fancy are no longer novelties in modern fiction. But there is a risk that
the fantastical elements plucked out for the back of the book might be the most
interesting thing about it.
Happily
