rantlust

Posted by papi on January 23rd 2008 in Art, India, Movies
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Recently, I rediscovered a true classic – a movie that I’d watched and enjoyed several times in years gone by, but had almost forgotten. The movie is Mughal-e-Azam, K. Asif’s magnum opus of Prince Salim (later to become Emperor Jahangir), and his ill-fated love for the beautiful courtesan Anarkali. The legend of Anarkali (literally - pomegranate blossom) has been immortalized in art, but its historical authenticity is disputed due to the lack of official records corroborating the story. There is a tomb in present day Lahore, Pakistan which is generally believed to be that of Anarkali, but historians are not sure if that is indeed the case. Regardless, it is a story that has drawn painters, poets, musicians, and of course, movie makers.

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Posted by Suman on January 10th 2008 in Humor, India, Music, Raves
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A little late for the holidays, I know; I only just saw this (apologies for not being able to embed the video - my HTML is weak) yesterday, but I’ve been cracking up ever since! :)  Boymongoose, who appears to be the brainchild of a group of Australia-based Indians, has an entire album of re-worked Christmas carols, but as yet no further “videos”.  I’m looking forward to more!

Hat tip to my friend Joe for the link.

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Posted by crewcut on August 19th 2007 in India, Politics
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When I was in school and college, Indian politicians used to attribute their failures to the “Phoren Hand” (Foreign Hand). This most often referred to the Americans and the CIA. You hardly hear of it now and I guess that generation of politicians and journalists have passed.

The Indian left parties that support the coalition UPA government are threatening to pull the plug if the government signs the nuclear cooperation treaty with the US. Whether the government will stay in power or not is uncertain but what is certain is the fact that the nuclear deal is doomed despite US threats that it’s either now or never.

Who is the biggest loser? India as a whole, as we will miss our target of 20,000 MW of power generation coming from nuclear sources by 2020. Lack of electricity will put a slow brake on the growth of our economy and wouldn’t a certain neighboring communist Asian superpower like to see that happen?

Maybe this is why the Indian communists have been so busy opposing economic reforms of the Central government ever since the UPA government has come into power, while in their own playground of West Bengal, reforms are going at full steam turning the state into an economic powerhouse.

What’s sauce for the goose is obviously not sauce for the gander or is there a “Phoren Hand” stirring the pot?

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Posted by meerkat on August 17th 2007 in Animation, India, Television
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This is a video from Doordarshan, Indian TV station, made many years ago. This video is called “Ek anek..” in Hindi. It starts with a child trying to pluck mangoes from a tree but fails to do so. He is dejected and turns to his sister when the topic of what is one, many and unity begin through stories set with simple music. We learn it all. This is a well made simple 2-D animation in the 70s. Another favorite 2-D retro animation of mine set in simple times is “Triplets of Belleville“.

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Posted by anupcs on July 27th 2007 in Business, Comics, Humor, India
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Mike Peters, author of the daily cartoon “Mother Goose and Grimm” had this as his daily cartoon yesterday:

Even Gandhi is not spared these days.

[via SAJAforum]

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Posted by anupcs on July 08th 2007 in Geography, History, India, Society, Trivia, World
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I still don’t know what the real purpose of this exercise was but the new seven wonders of the world has been announced (on 7/7/07 no less) and they are:

1. Chichén Itzá, Mexico
2. Christ the Redeemer, Brazil
3. The Great Wall of China
4. Machu Picchu, Peru
5. Petra, Jordan
6. The Colloseum, Italy
7. The Taj Mahal, India

I have visited the first three and don’t know why the Christ statue is in this list. It’s definitely awe inspiring but surely there are more impressive “wonders” to put on this list in its stead? Angkor Wat? The Acropolis? The pyramids of Giza? In any case, I don’t think we can limit the wonders of the world to merely seven. It might have made sense in the ancient times but not now.

Curiously enough, I haven’t been to the Taj Mahal just yet.

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Posted by anupcs on May 03rd 2007 in Food & Wine, India
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This is big! Alfonso mangoes from India, arguably the world’s best, are now available in the US. No more stringy, dental floss requiring Latin American stuff that we get here normally. The USDA has approved the import of irradiated mangoes from India and the first shipment arrived this week. The typically finicky government agency had banned the import of Indian mangoes (hence the nasty questions directed at you by customs officials if you bring in any fruit from the motherland) because of the the mango seed weevil that is not found in North America. The irradiation that kills these pests occurs at a facility outside of Mumbai and is approved for import into the US. It remains to be seen if our neighborhood grocery store would carry these prized mangoes but one can hope.

[Source: The New York Times]

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Posted by john on April 04th 2007 in Commercials, Disasters, Entertainment, India, Sports
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A funny but rather true view of what ails Indian cricket today. Enjoy!

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