Life and other weird things

I can't imagine a world without Tintin. Period.

That's possibly because ever since I have been conscious of the world, I have been exposed to the brilliance of Herge. My mother probably read out the stories to me when I was 3 years old, and they have been a part of my imagination ever since.

What is it about Tintin that continues to captivate me all these years ? Comic heroes have come and gone. I seem to have outgrown Phantom, Mandrake, Bahadur, Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse and so many others, all of whom I was pretty enamored by at an earlier age. But Tintin continues never to age. His adventures continue to throw up some new meaning, and some new facet which I had not thought of earlier.

I don't know what are the reasons for this. Maybe if I studied literature, I would know how to deconstruct Tintin.

Today, I thought of going through each of the Tintin adventures and take up one frame from every book which I think is a salient point of why Tintin continues to enthrall.

1) Tintin In America
I always crack up at this sequence where Herge, in a typical Tintin-deprecating moment, shows our hero in a confident moment breathing in the sea air (and advising Snowy to do the same), and a moment later getting drenched by the sea.If there was any adventure of Tintin's that could be filmed, this is it. This is an adventure par excellence, which throws the reader between the middle ages and the present time. Between the villainy of pirates and of present day hoodlums. Between the swashbuckling heroism of Sir Francis Haddock and the steadfast friendship of his descendant Archibald.

I spent the weekend delving in history, so thought of putting up a few pictures that I have taken over the years, of empires that thought they would last forever.

Sometimes I find going through this line of thought somewhat refreshing, as it reminds me that the things we spend too much time thinking about - like money, bills, traffic, office and such are terribly small considerations in the scheme of things.

Would even Marcus Aurelius ever have imagined that common plebs would walk into his palaces and defile them ? Would the Devaraja's of Kamboj ever tolerate feisty gaggles of tourists climbing up the ramparts of their sacred temples at Bayon ? How about the Rajas of Vijaynagar - what would go through their mind had someone told them that their powerful city, at it's time mightier than Rome, would be a city of ruins a mere four centuries later ? And I bet the price for telling a Mughal royal in the 1600's that common folk would walk around sipping range juice in the Diwan-i-Khaas would be nothing less than a sever flogging. Finally, who among the stalwarts of the Honorable East India company would believe that an Indian millionaire would own the symbol of their pride anytime before Judgement Day ?

So. The things that matter are almost certainly not power, money, fame and all that goes with it. What matters is there here and now. What matters is having support from one's family and friends. Death eventually comes to everyone and everything - individuals and empires. What matters is the peace of the moment.



The fortress built by the Nuraghi in Sardinia, sometime more than 5000 years ago. Most people today don't even know about it and it recieves minimal tourist attention in the beach resort island of Sardinia.



The Sarcophagus of Cleopatra, contemporary of Julius Caesar and Marc Anthony, now lying in the British Museum in the list of 50 'must-see' items.



The once mighty Roman Forum, now serves to satisfy millions of tourists who throng among its cobbled ruins trying in vain to feel the tinge of empire.



A section from the walls of the Chennakesava Temple at Belur; a structure clearly built to impress the viewer with a riot of art. The lady seems to be looking into a future in which she knows she will be forgotten.



The magnificent Vishnulok, built for the Devaraja's at Kamboj, lost in the dense jungles today.



The once glamorous city of Vijaynagar, home of the emperor Krishnadevaraya, now is a sprawling ruin with creatures like this carved in stone with listless eyes.



The most progressive of all kings, probably in the world, was Jalaluddin Mohammed Akbar, who lies in this tomb. He was a contemporary of Queen Elizabeth and Shakespeare. While Europe lay in the grips of fanaticism and turmoil, Akbar's court thrived in art, culture, discussions on land reform and progressive theology. To sit next to his tomb, at one time would require royal sanction.



The last great Queen of the last great Empire, Regina Victoria's shadow reminds us of the inevitable transition of power and time.



I guess, the right thing to do would be to not get overwhelmed by all the trappings of modernity. Time makes sure that everyone has their chance.

I've been off this blog in a while and have been thinking of putting pen to paper (figuratively of course - it's been years since I actually WROTE anything) for a while now.

Today, I stumbled on this website - http://whathappenedinmybirthyear.com/ .

This is what it had to say about me :

In 1980, the world was a different place.

There was no Google yet. Or Yahoo. Or Newtab, for that matter.

In 1980, the year of your birth, the top selling movie was Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. People buying the popcorn in the cinema lobby had glazing eyes when looking at the poster.

Remember, that was before there were DVDs. People were indeed watching movies in the cinema, and not downloading them online. Imagine the packed seats, the laughter, the excitement, the novelty. And mostly all of that without 3D computer effects.

Do you know who won the Oscars that year? The academy award for the best movie went to Ordinary People. The Oscar for best foreign movie that year went to Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears. The top actor was Robert De Niro for his role as Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull. The top actress was Sissy Spacek for her role as Loretta Lynn in Coal Miner's Daughter. The best director? Robert Redford for Ordinary People.

In the year 1980, the time when you arrived on this planet, books were still popularly read on paper, not on digital devices. Trees were felled to get the word out. The number one US bestseller of the time wasThe Covenant by James A. Michener. Oh, that's many years ago. Have you read that book? Have you heard of it? Look at the cover!

In 1980... U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. Nigel Short, 14, becomes the youngest chess player to be awarded the degree of International Master. The president of Sicily, Piersanti Mattarella, is assassinated by the Mafia. Israel and Egypt establish diplomatic relations. The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific railroad is ordered liquidated due to bankruptcy, and debt owed to creditors. Robert Mugabe is elected Prime Minister of Zimbabwe. The Silver Thursday market crash occurs. Spain and the United Kingdom agree to reopen the border between Gibraltar and Spain, closed since 1969. The Dominican embassy siege ends with all hostages released and the guerrillas flying to Cuba. Mobster Henry Hill is arrested for drug possession. Pac-Man, the best-selling arcade game of all time, is released. U.S. President Jimmy Carter signs Proclamation 4771, requiring 18- to 25-year-old males to register for a peacetime military draft, in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Ford Europe launches the Escort MK3, which ditches the traditional rear-wheel drive saloon in favour of a more practical and modern front-wheel drive hatchback. The St. Gotthard Tunnel opens in Switzerland as the world's longest highway tunnel at 10.14 miles, 16.32 km, stretching from Goschenen to Airolo. The Washington Post publishes Janet Cooke's story of Jimmy, an 8-year-old heroin addict, later proven to be fabricated. Digital Equipment Corporation, Intel and Xerox introduce the DIX standard for Ethernet, which is the first implementation outside of Xerox, and the first to support 10 Mbit per second speeds. The Staggers Rail Act is enacted, deregulating American railroads. The video game of the day was Space Panic.

That was the world you were born into. Since then, you and others have changed it.

The Nobel prize for Literature that year went to Czeslaw Milosz. The Nobel Peace prize went to Adolfo Pérez Esquivel. The Nobel prize for physics went to James Watson Cronin and Val Logsdon Fitch from the United States for the discovery of violations of fundamental symmetry principles in the decay of neutral K-mesons. The sensation this created was big. But it didn't stop the planets from spinning, on and on, year by year. Years in which you would grow bigger, older, smarter, and, if you were lucky, sometimes wiser. Years in which you also lost some things. Possessions got misplaced. Memories faded. Friends parted ways. The best friends, you tried to hold on. This is what counts in life, isn't it?

The 1980s were indeed a special decade. The Soviet-Afghan war goes on. Eastern Europe sees the collapse of communism. Policies like Perestroika and Glasnost in the Soviet Union lead to a wave of reforms. Protests are crushed down on Tiananmen Square in China. Ethiopa witnesses widespread famine. Nicolae Ceausescu is overthrown. The AIDS pandemic begins. The role of women in the workplace increased greatly. MTV is launched in the US. There is opposition against Apartheid in South Africa as well as worldwide. Heavy Metal and Hard Rock bands are extremely popular. The rise of Techno music begins. Originally primarily played on campus radio stations, College Rock enters the scene with bands like the Pixies, REM and Sonic Youth. The Hip Hop scene continues to evolve. Teletext is introduced. Gay rights become more widely accepted in the world. Opposition to nuclear power plants grows. The A-Team and Seinfeld are popular on TV. US basketball player Michael Jordan bursts on the scene. Super Mario Bros, Zelda's Link, and Pac-Man gain fame in video games. People wear leggings, shoulder pads and Ray-Ban sunglasses.

Do you know what was on the cover of Life that year?

Do you remember the movie that was all the rage when you were 15?Seven. Do you still remember the songs playing on the radio when you were 15? Maybe it was This Is How We Do It by Montell Jordan. Were you in love? Who were you in love with, do you remember?

In 1980, 15 years earlier, a long time ago, the year when you were born, the song Rock with You by Michael Jackson topped the US charts. Do you know the lyrics? Do you know the tune? Sing along.

Girl, close your eyes
Let that rhythm, get into to you
Don't try to fight it
There ain't nothin' that you can do
Relax your mind
Lay back and groove with mine
You gotta feel the heat
And we can ride the boogie
Share that beat of love
...

There's a kid outside, shouting, playing. It doesn't care about time. It doesn't know about time. It shouts and it plays and thinks time is forever. You were once that kid.

When you were 9, the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was playing. When you were 8, there was Willow. When you were 7, there was a Disney movie out called Oliver & Company. Does this ring a bell?

6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1... it's 1980. There's TV noise coming from the second floor. Someone turned up the volume way too high. The sun is burning from above. These were different times. The show playing on TV is Too Close for Comfort. The sun goes down. Someone switches channels. There's Magnum, P.I. on now. That's the world you were born in.

Progress, year after year. Do you wonder where the world is heading towards? The technology available today would have blown your mind in 1980. Do you know what was invented in the year you were born? The Compact Disc. Flash Memory.

It was the fearful night of December 8th
He was returning home from the studio late
He had perceptively known that it wouldn't be nice
Because in 1980, he paid the price
...

That's from the song I Just Shot John Lennon by The Cranberries.

In 1980, a new character entered the world of comic books: Bananaman. Bang! Boom! But that's just fiction, right? In the real world, in 1980, Christina Aguilera was born. And Christina Ricci. Venus Williams, too. And you, of course. Everyone an individual. Everyone special. Everyone taking a different path through life.
It's 2011.

The world is a different place.

What path have you taken?

Today was one of the best spent Sunday's in recent memory.

The morning started off with my 7th Chinese lesson. It's only the second time in my life I am attending a language class outside of a formal setting, the first being a course in French that I took on the insistence of my grandfather when I was about 13. It's amazing how fresh one's mind feels when one is doing something as a hobby, as opposed to something that is required for school/work. There is definitely something to the concept of 'doing what you like'. And even in the case of one's job, the moment I start 'liking what I do', the whole concept of 'job' turns into something totally different; something that at times even becomes 'passion'.

Anyways, soon after this, went down to watch Kiran Rao's debut film 'Dhobi Ghat' at our local multiplex. And what a debut it is. This is, by far, one of the best films to be made in India since Satyajit Ray crafted out his study of human civilization in 'Aguntuk' way back in 1991. And what a joy it is that someone of the caliber of Aamir Khan is associated with this. Films like Dhobi Ghat is the stuff what students of cinema yearn to master. It is the craft of motion pictures at its best. A well thought story line, well crafted characters, near perfect casting, a haunting background score, and editing that makes people forget they are in a movie theater.

The film takes us into the lives of 4 residents of Mumbai - an accomplished painter, an ambitious dhobi cum rat killer with aspirations of making it as an actor, a down-to-earth western educated daughter of a Parsee millionaire, and (my personal favorite) Hasina Noor - a lower middle class Muslim woman resident of Mohammad Ali Road. I am a fan of stories which take the approach of defying time lines and sequential storytelling, and was immediately drawn to Dhobi Ghat right from the opening scene - where the audience takes the vantage point of an invisible Yasmin Noor who is videotaping a rainy day out of her taxi window.

Khan plays the divorced artist who is a self confessed loner, with clear people issues, who, one night, finds himself sharing common thoughts with an NRI daughter of a millionaire builder who is on a sabbatical. Soon after she walks out on him after their brief encounter, he finds a few tapes left in the back of a cupboard in his rented apartment left behind by the previous occupant of the place. With Khan, we begin a crucial journey into the life of Yasmin Noor - as the tapes are her home videos, made as recorded letters to her brother back home.

We are also quickly introduced to Munna, the 'dhobi', who services the apartments of both our painter and our NRI daughter-on-sabbatical. He represents about 95% of the population of Mumbai - a migrant with hopes of making it big in the metropolis of dreams. He is a dhobi by day, and rat killer by night, with dreams of becoming an actor in this unforgiving city which he has chosen to call home. He is also the 'glue' in our story, and serves to swivel the screenplay from one life to another.

Dhobi Ghat is one of those films where one can interpret several layers, so I will stick to the things that appealed to me. To me, the film is largely about loneliness in a big city. It's the kind of loneliness that was depicted almost to perfection by De Niro in 'Taxi Driver'. It's the loneliness which can make a person lose his humanity, the loneliness which can make human beings lose touch with reality. And in my experience, the more crowded the city, the more lonely is the person in it. Just like Travis Bickle, the character of the painter Arun struggles to fight his inner demons, and shows a spark of his inner human being when he finally connects with someone. In this case, that someone is a person he has never met. Yasmin Noor, who exists only in the forgotten video tapes, is the only person who seems to be able to reach out to the troubled painter.

In two hours, the film takes us through a few weeks of these four peoples' lives, in such an adept way, that at times, we almost feel like a voyeur. We are taking a look at people at their most vulnerable moments, as well as at moments when some of them almost find themselves.

On hindsight, one of the things that I really liked about this film is that, it showed us, for once, regular Muslim folks who lead regular lives. Not the innocent guy who gets pulled into hardline politics, not the honest police officer fighting discrimination, not the terrorist fighting the never ending 'jihad'. Here we see regular folks - with the same aspirations as anyone else, and the same demons as well. Again, on hindsight, something that I really liked about this film was the fact that it leaves the audience to make their own inferences about each person. Nothing is 'dumbed down' with an explanation, or with some obvious hint. Just like life itself, nothing is black or white, it's all shares of grey.

Full respect to Kriti Malhotra for essaying the role of Yasmin so amazingly well. And more so to Kiran Rao for envisioning this masterpiece.

I just hope Kiran doesn't do an Orson Wells and disappear into mediocrity after this. Dhobi Ghat is a tough act to follow.

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The second film I watched today was 'The King's Speech'. This is another one of those films which is a rare find these days - one with a soul. though Dhobi Ghat and The King's Speech could not be set in more different surroundings, there is something that is a common thread between these two films. What that something is cannot be explained very easily. I guess the simplest way to put it would be to say that both films are about the ability of human beings to rise above themselves in their own small way. Only, in the case of the second film, the human being is a King - of what was then the largest empire in the world.

The King's Speech takes us into the private life of King George VI, or Bertie, as we come to know him in the film. We learn of his struggle with his stammering, resulting from childhood traumas, and the pressures of public life. We also look at the relationship between him and his therapist, played so marvelously by Geoffery Rush.

Very soon into the film, we stop seeing Prince Albert (later to be Geroge VI) as a member of the royal family. He is, like us, just a human being - with similar (perhaps more complex) mental anguishes, and similar shortcomings. His struggle with his stammer, leading to a near-total breakdown of self confidence is played to perfection by Colin Firth (one of the most underrated actors - watch Shakespeare in Love and Bridget Jones' Diary).

The final few minutes of the film, which show the newly instated king of the realm speak to his subjects over the radio at the onset of World War II, is the high point of the film. Watching Rush and Firth go through the King's speech almost like a tango is an absolute joy, and is sure to go down as one of the most finely crafted sequences in cinema ever.

In short, another masterpiece. The 12 Oscar nominations are not unwarranted.

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The icing on the cake, was that I was not alone in enjoying these films. The missus too thoroughly enjoyed them.

Sci Fi had never been my favorite genre of book or cinema. I have always had access to sci fi literature from as long back as I can remember, but people like Arthur Clarke never really made an impression on me in school or college. I always found the complexity rather meaningless.

Later on in life, I was exposed to the films of James Cameron, and the more I watched the first two Terminator films, and the Abyss, the more I felt the need to delve more into this genre. Then came Minority Report, which sealed the deal for me, and in about a month, I read everything I could by Philip Dick.

A few dozen books later, I decided that these kinds of stories required a particular breed of storyteller, and I don't think that there has been a better science fiction storyteller than James Cameron. Ever. Though Minority Report was a terrific film, reading Philip Dick made me realize the level of sophistication in the story which never made it to the film. Also, another film based on Dick's work - The Scanner Darkly, ranked way above Spielberg's work in my book.

Recently, I got my hands on a film of his that I had never heard of. Strange Days, written by James Cameron. The film was made in 1995, and it is, in short - a classic.
The film deals with the classic science fiction theme - that of a technology built by the government being put to questionable use. This time, it's the technology to record a person's experiences directly from the cerebral cortex, to prevent police from carrying wiretaps that gets out into the black market. And what better black market than the pornographic industry.

Cameron manages to turn this (rather) simple premise into a taut thriller, with one such 'SQUID' recording which shows rather sordid facts about the LAPD making its way out into the open.

Ralph Fiennes plays the ex cop Lenny Nero almost to perfection - with his every move showing his vulnerability and his nervousness. Fiennes plays a cop who was fired and now pays his bills by selling people's 'experiences' in the black market using contraband technology. His love interest is played by Angela Basset in what is most likely her best character role yet. Other people in the stellar cast include Juliette Lewis (of Cape Fear fame), Vincent D'Onofrio (brilliantly under rated actor who made Full Metal Jacket a memorable film), William Fitchner (who played the blind scientist in Contact) and Tom Sizemore (aka Michael Cimino of Heat).

What makes this film different from other works of Cameron is that there are no noticeable special effects. It's all about the story, camerawork, and characters. Not to say that other Cameron films are not about those things, but - what the hell, it bears mentioning.


This is one of those movies which have sunk into obscurity, but which deserve to be seen by everyone interested in quality cinema.

Back in April, I visited Rome, and in September I was lucky enough to visit New York.

This is a long overdue post, and I have been meaning to pen down (though the expression has become a bit of an anachronism) some of my thoughts about both places.

When I first entered Rome, after about a 20 minute drive on a rather rainy April Sunday morning, I was quite overwhelmed. The entry to the city is through between the ramparts of a wall built (I later read) sometime in the 3rd Century AD, apparently under the reign of the emperor Aurelian. So it didn't take long to get to grips with the fact that the city was going to be a paradise for a sucker for history.

Fortunately for me, my rooms in the city were located at a short distance away from the old Roman Forum. The city is a complete treasure trove of evidences of times gone by, of a city which was in its heyday the HQ of a superpower.


The imperial forum is littered with ruins with names like 'The Temple of Saturn' and 'Palatine Hill' - names which for many us conjure up scenes of 1950's Hollywood movies made in Technicolor, with actors like Richard Burton or Robert Taylor making their entry in purple dresses and metal miniskirts. But here it was - the reality - which was much grittier, where the foundations of important buildings in close proximity bore witness to the ongoing competition between succeeding rulers.

The market built during Hardian's time is still magnificently preserved, and it's a chilling feeling to know that the same roads in the market were used by common Roman plebians two millenia ago.

The highlight of old Rome was of course the Colloseum. It's one of those monuments to human achievement which have to be seen to be experienced. It's remarkable how well preserved the structure is, considering that it's estimated date of inauguration was sometime in 80 AD.

My visit was just long enough to include a trip to the Vatican, which was like walking into a treasure chest. Masterpieces from folks like Michelangelo, Boticelli and Rafael glare down at you from all corners, and it's crazy to think about the amount of talent which was housed in the region during the Renaissance years.

In some respects, a visit to Rome is like an earlier visit I made to the city of Angkor Thom. Both these places once housed ruling powers far in advance of their times, which made them undisputed superpowers. Just reading about the aqueducts of Rome, which was used to transport water to the city from tens of kilometers away is enough to make one dizzy. The perfection of the architecture of the Pantheon (built more than a thousand years before the Taj Mahal) leaves one open mouthed in wonder.

I came across some CGI recreations of what Rome would have looked like during the time of Julius Caesar, but something tells me all of it was very lame. I don't think we can begin to imagine the sophistication and grandeur of the city as it existed then. Someone interestingly described the erstwhile Roman Forum to be something like a cross between the powerhouse feel of today's Washington and the seediness of Times Square in the 1980's.

Besides the historical aspect of the city, Rome is a delightful place to be in. Lovely weather, warm people and the general laid back feel of Goa. Everything about the place is a bit lyrical, starting from the language, to the names to people and places, to the Tiber flowing between narrow roads playing host to thousands of manic drivers.

For me, the city will be a reminder to the impermanence of power. I wonder what the Ceasars would think of the idea of Bangladeshi trinket sellers wandering around selling replicas of the Colloseum and Pantheon, or the numerous Asian tourists wandering around what used to be their temples. Most of all, I wonder what they would make of the Colloseum, which for a long time was where thousands were entertained by watching 'heretical' Christians being impaled, burned and eaten by animals - and is now under the ownership of the Catholic Church !!

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My trip to New York, was in many ways like a trip what a common trader in the 2nd Century AD would have made to Rome. I was, in effect, trading in knowledge, and New York is - by far - the most powerful city the world today !

The trip from JFK airport into the city, is quite uneventful, as most of the ride is through the residential areas of the borough of Queens. Mid and Lower Manhattan can, in many ways be likened to the old Roman Forum. Both are littered with temples of their time. Rome had its temples to Juno, Vesta and Saturn, which served both religious and powerful political purposes - and New York has its own temples to Chrysler, JP Morgan, AT&T and Rockefeller.

The City (as I have heard most locals refer to it) is definitely infused with an overdose of 'life'. There are people everywhere - and not in the sense of being everywhere like in Bombay. Here, the people visible are often always moving with purpose. I am acutely aware that I did not get a chance to move around other areas of the City like Harlem and parts of Brooklyn - else I would have more comparisons of New York City to Rome - especially the areas of ancient Rome near the Aventine Hill. Two things are certain - I have never been in a city where I have heard so many languages being spoken on the streets, and I have never been on a train system which is as interesting. Just like in Bombay, one has to take a few rides on the New York subway on a working day to feel the pulse of the city. There's no easier way to see the different residents to this amazing place - from the iPad carrying I-banker to the weathered African American lady with her bag of groceries headed uptown - than to take a ride on one of the 24 hour lines of the subway.

The amount of hard work and determination which has gone into building this megapolis is experienced nowhere better than by walking across the Brooklyn Bridge - a marvel of engineering and innovation. Pretty much what New York is all about.

When we remind ourselves that even today the highest building in Bangalore is the 24 floor Public Utility building, and that New Yorkers had finished constructing the Empire State building in 1931, it speaks volumes about the grit, innovation and hard work of the people on that tiny island.

If there's just one thing one were to say about New York which leaves a mark (other than the skyscrapers) - it has to be the food. It's the best variety and I daresay the best priced food in the western world today.

While I was flying out of the city and looked back at it for a last time - the thought that (predictably) crossed my mind was what would happen to this place in about a thousand years from now. Would we have tourists from Africa, China and India walking through the rubble of what used to be 5th Avenue, and walk over to see the insides of the Waldorf Astoria ... a place which played host to the 'kings' of the times ?

On this boring Saturday, thought of writing down a few things I remember about some cities and towns I have visited or lived in. Was trying to see what was the first thing that came to my mind when I thought of each of these places. One of the many weird things about me is that I have no city/town which I can call home, and hence have an outsider's view of wherever I live.

Bangalore:
Twenty years ago, the phrase that would come to mind while talking about Bangalore was : 'Summer Holiday'. Today what comes to mind is 'Change'. Everywhere you look there is a new construction, a new flyover, a new road where there is a new traffic jam.

Pune:
According to me, best described as 'Intellectual'. Everyone here speaks like they have been there and done that. The true blue Pune-ites assume that the universe was created with them in mind, and that the rest of the world have a debt to pay to the city - what with sharing the same oxygen as them. At the same time, the city has a degree of culture which is fast missing from most modern metropolises.

Bombay:
The most lively, and the most dirty city I have ever lived in. The energy of the city is contagious, just as the filth pervading it is disgusting. The city is like the microcosm of India. It is even more contradictory that Bangkok, which I describe later - it's true that a train ride on the central line takes people through the most horrible living conditions imaginable, just as it's true that driving through South Bombay on a weekend is a remarkably beautiful experience. The most interesting conversation I had in the city was with a sweeper in the local trains at 1am, who told me that he works 6 hours cleaning trains at night and then works the whole day to sell pens at traffic junctions, and ends up making Rs 12000 a month. It was more than the starting salary of most IT firms. Given my rather mixed feelings about the place, the one thing that comes to my mind while trying to describe Bombay is 'hope'.

Goa:
To me this place symbolizes 'untapped potential'. Goa has the ability to make me feel happy and sad at the same time. Happy, because it would be difficult to find a place as beautiful and unique as this. Sad, because it shows pretty much everything that's wrong with India today. A government that does little for its people. A place blessed with abundance from nature, but with rulers without the will to use this for the benefit of the people. There are places in the world with a fraction of what Goa has, which make millions through tourism just by good governance, while the moneyed tourists of the world give Goa a miss. Yet, there is a magic about the place and the people which make it my favorite place in India today.

Calcutta:
Somehow, as much as I would like to, it's difficult to say anything that is very definitely positive about this city. A place with obvious past grandeur and majesty, it is simply 'depressing' to go there today. I'm sure residents of the city would disagree, citing many cultural aspects, but the fact that the people running the city managed to drive out almost all it's educated workforce all through the 1980's and 1990's is testament to the depression one sees in the place. Yet, in the last 4-5 years, there are pockets of the city where one sees real development, and one feels hope for the once great city. It just takes once CPM or MC led strike to get rid of that feeling.

Delhi:
'Regal' is definitely the adjective best suited to Delhi. Everything about the city oozes culture and history, whether it is the stately architecture of the Mughals or the glitzy malls of today. Undoubtedly the city with the best infrastructure in the country, it's fair to say it's the best place to live in India at present.

Singapore:
This city is an embodiment of 'discipline'. A place which was essentially a town in comparison to Bombay even in the 1950's, is today arguably south asia's most important and ultra-modern metropolis. The visionary leadership of Lee Kwan Yew and his team have not just borne fruit, it has probably exceeded anything they thought they would achieve. What makes one think, is that in the race to be modern and the most disciplined city - a model city - there is an extraordinary amount of history and culture that has had to be sacrificed. Now, with the first generation of Singaporeans who have never known anything other than extreme modernity in the workforce, this will surely start making relevance.

Bangkok:
Coming to this city is much like coming to an Indian city. A constant contrast between poverty and modernity. Fantastic infrastructure, fabulous tourist attractions with an equally dark underbelly, what comes to my mind when I think of this city is 'contradiction'.

Phnom Penh:
A unique city, by any standards. The smallest capital city I have seen, but with all the ingredients of a growing city. Full of activity and business, the city is filled with young men and women of all ages. Most men of the 70's and 80's were killed by the Khmer Rouge. Still, with the friendliness of the people in the city and way I was not ripped off a single city, I would describe this place as 'promising'.

Hong Kong:
Undoubtedly the most 'buzzing' metropolis I have been to. The beautiful thing about Hong Kong is the fact that one can go from totems to total modernity to a rustic village in less than an hour. The energy of the place is best experienced on Canton Road on a weekday morning, where one has to fight for space on the roads. Seeing the immense crowds, as well as the surprisingly clean roads they travel on, is a learning experience.

Jakarta:
Haven't seen much of the city, but it was exciting enough to leave an impression. One word - 'crowded'.

Zurich:
The thing I will never forget about Zurich is it's transport system. I have never been as amazed by trains, trams and buses before I visited this city. I used to take the number 10 tram from Felsenrainstrasse every day at 8:03am. I still remember the kick of seeing the tram take the bend at the end of the road every morning at 8:01am and stop in front of me 2 minutes later. Every day for the three months I was there. So the word I use to describe Zurich is 'precision'.

Geneva:
Again, didn't spend too much time here, but just about enough to set an impression. And that impression is 'multicultural'.

London:
Ah. London. Words are not enough to describe this city. Once the greatest city in the world, ruling over two thirds of the world's people. Today, is arguably one of the most happening cities anywhere. The museums, the theaters in Covent Garden, the art galleries in Kensington, the musicians in the underground, recognizable names like Baker Street and Whitechapel all around which we have read in so many books, people queuing up for anything and everything, the majesty seen in the City of Westminster...I could go on for a while. How do I describe the place ? Probably the best way is to call it 'cultural'.

Dubai:
A city which is testament to vision, in my opinion even more so than Singapore. Singapore was an important port from the mid 1800's, but Dubai was much less until very recently. To have the vision to transform a desert outpost into an ultra modern city with the biggest and tallest of everything (along with making it the transport hub for more than half the world ) is truly stunning. I think of Dubai as 'incredible'.

Rome:
By far the biggest tourist paradise I have ever visited. I doubt if there are too many places in the world where there has been a powerful city in existence for a straight four millenia. Cliched as it sounds, to me Rome is 'eternal'.

Houston:
Just one word. 'Big'.

Colombo:
A city in the center of a three decade long inter-communal conflict would not arouse much emotion in people visiting the place. Yet, a visit to Colombo feels like a happy misunderstanding. The place is CHILLED OUT. An inexpensive place with a vibrant night life, what comes to mind when I think of Colombo is 'relaxed'.

Frankfurt:
Again, not much time spent here, but the impression I got of the city and its people was - 'hardworking and industrious'.

Well, that was it. A small venting of thoughts. Will try to update this list when I visit new and interesting places.