The Great Ganesha

If you’re Indian and were at a reasonable age in the ’80s (4 years and up) then it’s most likely that you remember the 1982 Asian Games that were held in Delhi. You probably even remember the mascot - an elephant named Appu.
Well, the other day, I was having a coffee at Ritual Coffee Roasters [...]

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Durga Puja in Calcutta is like Ganesh Chaturthi in Bombay. A several-days-long religious festival, filled with increasingly complex and creative idols of Durga (a.k.a. Temple of Doom’s Kali) for the former and, as I had posted earlier, Ganesha for the latter. It’s a huge event for Bengalis, whom urban slang refers to (affectionately, of course) [...]

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A little late in posting, but here goes anyway. Last Sunday’s NYT had another feature on India, this time on its burgeoning art scene:
… the air is heavy with the smell of gasoline and flowers, you are approached by women begging for money and food. Men shout invitations to enter their carpet shops or purchase [...]

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And this time, it’s not even a cause, dammit! Well, unless you’re Brain from Pinky and the Brain or Stewie from Family Guy. Though the acting skills of Shah Rukh don’t even come close to either.
Let me just say this: “Do” watch the video. “Do” keep a bucket handy (to puke in). And “do” [...]

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Now, I’m the last person to talk politics, and especially Indian politics, other than the occasional snide remark. And maybe it’s because I have abysmally low expectations from Indian politicians, but I have to say that I found this interview quite engaging. Mukherjee says nothing substantive or specific, talking only in general terms but what [...]

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Just came across this tidbit yesterday, from the SAJA blog forum:
Two young brothers, one of them still in college, have put Kolkata on the world?s Internet map by building the hottest online game on social networking phenomenon Facebook.
Jayant and Rajat Agarwalla have built a free online scrabble game that has 800,000 registered users on [...]

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What do Jessica Lange, Naomi Watts and Ganesha have in common? This question has plagued humanity for centuries. In fact, it kept me up for practically the entire night just a few days ago. But that was before I was alerted by ChapatiKid to our friend Ravi’s pics. Then - and only then - was [...]

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Well, the Ganesha Festival fervour is on in full swing (but thankfully, tinny music playing is still banned at night) and the ten-day visarjan date is only a few days away, on September 25th. While the statues get bigger, more elaborate and quite creative, the Arabian Sea gets more polluted.
Picture via Flickr user chinese_fashion

A “creative” [...]

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“O Mighty Lord Ganesha, will you accept this can of generic diet cola nestled in my crotch, in return for just one box office hit? Please? Pretty please?”
A buff Bollywood actor (whose half-naked pic I have gratuitously posted for the viewing pleasure of our thus inclined readers) decides that he wants to visit a Ganesha [...]

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Was in Los Angeles for the weekend, and it’s mandatory to lunch at Pioneer Blvd in Artesia, and raid the well-stocked cupboards of Surati Farsan Mart after that. For the uninitiated, that’s where LA’s ‘Little India’ is located.
So, after doing the rounds, we start walking back to car. While waiting for the signal, [...]

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