MOMA(Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art),New York: 12.12.2008: Film: Herbert, Director: Suman Mukhopadhya.An adaptaion from a novel by Nabarun Bhattacharya. This film is layered and as the director himself said, he places the protagonist Herbert Sarkar as a prism reflecting events from 1950-early 1970's, Bengal, India. It is a film that deals with issues of cultural imperialism especially of the Babu's of Bengal and their respective colonization.

The film is in Bangla, with english subtitles. It is a very niched film and requires specific knowledge capital(for instance knowledge of the state of Bengal post independence, the setting in of decadence, the naxalite movements of the 70's etc.)What makes this film unique is that the protagonist does not receive any formal education so to speak. He bunks school to spend time looking at pigeons, people, aeroplanes and Buki, his love interest.Therefore, he is never really instructed in how to figure out this world. Yet through the short span of his life, he is subject to events and happenings that he must deal with. That he is literally thrust into these social events, that he unconsciously becomes a 'comrade', that he unconsciously ends up reading from the little red book, that finally he is accused of being a terrorist reflect the chaotic modern existence of the modern man.

Herbert is a failure, in every aspect, he does not have a profession until much later, even then he is accused of being a fraud, a cheat, he somehow rationalizes the death of his friend, Robi, as his fault, a failed lover, an uncle who is as trivial as Tristram Shandy. He is the local clown, the joker that walks like an Ostritch bearing a black overcoat, a mockery of the colonized mind. Suman's film is a critique of how we as modern human beings seemed to have failed miserably.

The most heart rending is Herbert's inability to deal with accusations of cheating people. He vehemently refuses allegations of having played around with people's emotions. The audience is acutely aware of Herbert's sincerity, because through 145 minutes, the audience has seen Herbert's life, his triumphs but mostly his failures.His inability to forge friendships, his pathetic destiny to run underpaid errands for his cousin Dhanna, to b

Would Herbert have been totally different had he received some sort of formal education, that would teach him how to rationalize? His reactions would have been more sophisticated, somewhere perhaps the society would have feigned respect for yet another madman. Is it inevitable to become part of systems? Or was it merely as Dryden had written:

"There is a pleasure sure in being mad, that none but the madmen know"

The colors used in the film were primarily shades of blue, the twilight etc.

Suman believes that India is more than Bollywood and Indian films lie in its regional voices and stories.

Sex and the City: All the cliches that you ever heard about New York are in this film. But I am in New York, I am a 20 something, I am single, and happy. So heres the lead into remaining single for a long time to come. Its not a rip from the film "how to lose a guy in 10 days": they stuck around for 10 days because each had something larger than their 'love interest' at stake. But reality is far more exciting and doubly so when your in the City of Angels. The following discourse maybe both invaluable and worthless:Dates upon a whim, which tend to prolong themselves from a drink to dinner at a diner to haunting some of the more cosier cafes around the corner to ofcourse the promise of a 'kiss at the end of an evening...' Its about 'love' and everything that it entails. The things that you could/could not do depending on where you wanna drive into.

1) Talk constantly. About anything and everything. You have to have an opinion about everything. You could tolerate their views, but its just a rebound phase and it does not really matter.
2)Talk about your past boyfriends and relationships. And how much you wish things had worked out, that you were with them even as you drink that Cocktail, but most importantly that you are a pathetic learner, you never learn from your mistakes...glee...glee.
3)Say that you hate the one thing that he likes. For instance if you know that his element is Wine or fish or the sea life, insist how much you think all wines taste the same, that you thing Fish have no emotions and that you get nauseous infront of the wide spaces of the sea.
4)Be a shameless tease. There is a very careful distinction between being a succesful flirt and being a tease. You know, tease him crazy, get ever so close, have fun and do the touching and feeling and then ask questions like 'are we a couple?", "Does it look like we are going around?", "Do you think the others who see us will think we are together?","But you know dahling, we are not! Its only eveident because I did not say 'Darling' I only said Dahling".
5)Get drunk: and act worse than you feel. So there is no way he is going to take advantage of you. He will be worried shit. If he says he never took whiskey because its too strong for him, you order your second shot deliberately-stubbornly pretending that you can totally hold your liquor.
6)Continue to be stubborn like an Ox. Dont listen to anything he says, although you know that he knows better. For instance its below freezing and you dont have a scarf. You simply will not wear his scarf. Then he will be forced to say things like"Its clean you know", just so that you listen to him and you look at him doubtfully-I mean we are still talking about adult dating here.
7)Steal Candies from a store and tell him that this is totally not your style.
8)Plan out his life for him. Tell him you would like to take a roadtrip with him in 10 years. And if he says he cant because he would have a wife and kids and that his wife might have trouble letting him go with a 'particularly attractive' woman-tell him you wont remain so in 10 years and fish shamelessly and persistently.
9)If he turns out to be a foodie-look at him incredulously. eat particularly less when he's around and make him concious that you hate food, anything to do with the kitchen, that after a good love making session you'll never be able to cook him bacon and Pancakes-rather he might have to do it for you.
10)Invite yourself over to his place, just to taste his tall claims at cooking and be openly critical about it. Ofcourse you're only being yourself when you say you hate it that there is no salt in the marinated duck.
11)Never explain yourself logically:You dont want him to take out his car because you hardly know him and it weighs down on you like a huge favour, tell him your worried about global warming. If he argues that all Pornography is not violent and you suddenly begin to see his enlightened point of view, still argue otherwise, and irrationally if the need arises. Warn him that nobody wins an argument with you and never admit that your wrong.
12)Finally when you have had a rollicking time, at the end of the night, just indifferently kiss him on the cheek and go home.Act as if you could have had as much or more fun with just about anybody else. Post this call up numerously at odd hours without leaving any messages, apologise franctically and furiously for the misdemeanor of the previous night, that everything was such a huge mistake.

And even before you know, you would have lost the man.

The point is that whether you chose to be in a relationship or not is entirely dependant on you. Just as its therapeutic to be single, to do things alone for yourself, its also important to fall in and out of love or something like it.

Dostana: Produced by Dharma productions, Karan Johar., Directed by Tarun Mansukhani

It opens with a fast paced song lasting for 3-4 minutes during which three things are clearly established. That such a story is located in Miami, US and revolve around two very eligible and hot guys. Moreover they see to be constantly hounded by girls of varying hotness. Distincly noticeable is John’s(…Kunal…) tush and Abhi’s( Sameer ) rag of a scarf .

The thing is that these two guys are not gay. The movie is hilarious, but also very reflective of a subversive Homophobia that exists in the Indian Society as well as in most parts of the world.

It makes fun of Homosexuality, it is meant to be taken as a light- hearted banter. But yet another addition to the same-sex relationship ridicule and reinstating of stereotypes.

From the very beginning it is made very clear that these two guys are not gay-they each wake up with women in their beds. They vehemently deny being a couple. They are eyeing their hot woman flat mate.

A single lie such as in the film has very serious and sensitive consequences. As was reflected, the lie just kept building, it was first the Fat Aunt, then Neha’s Boss, then the immigration officer for receiving a quicker residence permit. Moreover, Sam’s and Kunal’s attraction towards Neha was inevitable and proved three heartaches.

The question is whether its possible to apologize for wrongs that were done consciously? To what extent do the means justify the end? All Bollywood, commercial films aim very obviously at making money. People, the masses would in all likelihood leave the theatres happy that all strings and loose ends were tied up.

Its films such as these, that show a very definitive lack of sensitivity on the part of the director, help in convincing people of the negative stereotypes and encourage a kind of intolerance for loves of different kind. For any thinking audience to such a film, it leaves a bitter taste. Its ironical and tends to leave the audience confused. On one hand ‘being gay’ seems to have led them to gain friendships they would cherish, but at all points ‘being gay’ is seen as a reason to get larger things, like a splendid apartment and a quicker residency permit. Its almost as if those who are gay are so not by choice but out of some necessity. Its as ridiculous as wanting to belong to a reserved category just so one can get the benefits of quota.

What is heartening is that such films are made for mass consumption, basically if the masses have been thinking that ‘being gay’ was unacceptable in a society, this film shows the way to deal with such a sensitive issue-you either laugh at them and ridicule them, or you sympathize and find ways to justify their ‘deviant’ choice.

In India, Homosexuality is a Taboo. Its unacceptable in this conservative society and the oldest scriptures have not been very helpful either. Under section 377 of the IPC its still a criminal act to have “Carnal intercourse against the order of nature.” Films like Dostana suddenly seem to reverse many years of efforts against such a rigid ideology.

So what does a film like the above depict? Is it a satire of the hypocritically conservative Society in India? Should it just be passed up in the name of “freedom of expression”?

Newspapers are reporting such a film as “taking male bonding to a new high”, unfortunately, such an insensitive depiction is no new high, Indian people had always considered same sex relationships ‘abnormal’ Karan, using a very powerful medium screams out that they were right, they were never wrong.

We are moving ahead but in many ways are unable to keep up with advances and an open mind. Congratulations to Karan Johar. Its gonna be hard to break the ‘stereotype’!

So yeah I noticed the wailing kids everywhere. I started because their wailing is annoying, I cannot concentrate on what I am reading, its about being helpless, its not being able to whack that little tomahawk in the backside of his/her head and its plain attention drawing.

But heres what I think is crucial, its too damn passionate. They are persistent, they know they are annoying a whole bunch of people, given the stares and glares, and for what, its probably a particular bottle of juice, or for a book or for a pair of bright socks. Its nothing all that decisive, its not all that life changing or shattering its hardly a consequential decision/choice, but the passion....... man is undying, its unnerving, and yeah thats what we lose as we grow up!

So the more consequential our choices become, the less noise we make to be heard!

Increasingly my preoccupations with ideas of "style" and "fashion" are at once clear and blurred. I am after much thought beginning to understand that being "stylish" and being "Fashionable" are not interchangeable. neither is it a matter of preferring one over the other, it is processual. However having said that the movement is not linear. It could begin by a person being "stylish" and evolving into being "Fashionable" or the other way round.
Being "Fashionable" is a more all encompassing word. Because it entails a certain amount of knowledge, its based on the art of 'sprezzatura'-the Art of disguising Art, it requires a great deal of attention to details in order to create a complete being(or atleast one that you present to the world) and being precotious.

Once this process has been established, the next idea is to support the argument that 'Indians by and large may be stylish in their own unique ways(ref:http://dustyrain.blogspot.com/2008/10/stylish-indian.html ) but are painfully unfashionable.
To the above mentioned point there have been a few disagreements:

1) Most "Fashions" on the ramp are totally unwearable: I had previously given the instance of Galliano, and Warhol as icons of Fashionable because Fashionable entails exhibitionism, the pleasures of the visual etc. I will however give instances by well known designers and Brands who are churning out absolutely 'wearable' and 'fashionable' clothes fall after fall. Take for instance, Lagerfeld, Calvin Klein, Armani, Gucci, Guess, Valentino.
2) Understandably the above mentioned names would not have penetrated India but would surely have penetrated the growing number of people living in most urban cities of India. The statement made was that "Indians are painfully unfashionable" implying that even those that may aford being remotely fashionable are dangerously not.
3) Its been pointed out that many designers and connoiseurs of fashion have very often picked up motifs from India, from our own land of the ethnic. Yes Indeed, the spare kohlapuri's, the paisley motifs, the swastika, the bejwelling, the kaftan, the slimmer fitting Kurtis, the block prints, the duppatta, now the fashionable stole, some weaves aswell etc etc. Yes thats what being fashionable is: the sense of a global fusion, so you match a bandhni Duppata with a Lagerfeld designed short coat and your ready for work! Having said this please take note that the "fashionable" was not just created on that. Most of these are inspired accesories to complete an entire ensemble. So I argue that most Indians cannot put it together and believe me it not always has to do with affordability. As far as the hippie style revival/fashion trend from the east is concerned, that was a whole movement meant to overthrow dictates of Fashion"-it was essentially anti-fashion in nature and along with the long open hair afghans and kaftans-army combat shirts jackets no make up etc were considered fashionable. Some of these styles and fashions continue to remain in vogue even today and borrowing one influence or another from different parts dont really count in making that concerned part Fashionable in any way.

3) While "fashion" may threaten to burn holes in your pocket, I say that not quite so. Infact, whats wrong is really some glitches with fundamentals. For instance Yellow shirts and green trousers, the shade does not matter, but its an absolute no, no given all conditions(Govinda's continue to survive), if one is horizontally expanding its a crime to wear bold horizontal stripes in the light of day, its geometry! You dont attend your wedding in a Tassar dhoti and black old sneakers thinking that you could pass them off as formals somehow, if you have a baby ponch(the indian body type tends to), you avoid wearing synthetic materials that tend to stick and emphasize, if you dont know what kind of a bag to carry to that wedding, your 'little' school bag is not an option, just because 'kantha' work is fashionable you dont spend a fortune on one thats woven like the architecture in NY. There is quite frankly no dearth of people who can afford to be fashionable in India, but the basic sense of mixing and matching is totally missing among most. There are many value for money stores across the world where you have to be a smart shopper(about that later). Take some of the celeb started outlet stores, I have been to some of them and yes they are affordable(5-20$) and very fashionable. Its possible to collect almost an entire wardrobe in very reasonable budgets when one shops from places like H&M, ZARA, Forever21, Strawberry etc.

All I am saying is that one can be fashionable and stylish together without having to spend fortunes, but because its something that does not work all that well with guidebooks and how to's.....its a matter of talent. Its nothing vain glorious, just that, in a way that everyone cannot sing well or paint well similarly not everyone can be fashionable.

Finally Marx as outdated as he may be had mentioned to something as the intellectual Capital production within a superstructure. Essentially referring to the thinking lot of the society and he had said that they maybe produced only out of the surplus. So yes India has a long way to go before we can safely conclude that an Indian is fashionable, not in his/her own way, but in a very global way. And I favour no single way as the universal way....its all about mixing and matching it.

Location: UN, NY
Date: 17.10.08
Event: The international Day for Eradication of Poverty.
Its not half as shallow as it would appear. This is the day when the 'powerful' have begun to aknowledge the existence of 'powerlessness'. One could say that it is indeed hypocritical to commemorate a single day to a reality that has now existed for a very long time. Well, I am at this organization and its not as powerful as the world imagines it to be. Its sense of power derives out of the agreement from 193 nations around the world.
There is a symbolic Chinese Peace Bell here and most open air world events/international days are held in its proximity. Today the Broadway cast of "A Tale of Two Cities" performed three songs. The first being a solo by a character called Mrs Defarge-a poor old french lady, who sees a young boy die and her change becomes the impetus for the French revolution-the song 'Out of sight, out of mind"
To all who stood there in the cold, we pledged the following:
"We are standing now with millions around the world on this symbolic day, the International Day.....Poverty, to show solidarity with poor people everywhere and to renew our commitment to fight against extreme poverty and inequality.
We are standing because everyday 50,000 people die needlessly as a result of extremem poverty, and the gap between the rich and the poor is getting wider.
We are standing to call on leaders-from both rich and poor countries-to deliver on their commitments to meet the Millenium Development Goals.
We are standing here at the United Nations because we pledge to accelerate our efforts to achieve the MDG's, and to keep the campaign to end extreme poverty at the heart of our work.
Today, and everyday, we will stand up, speak out and take action against poverty. We are millions of voices standing in solidarity to say: Make it happen-end poverty now."
There are words out there that unconvince me, that I know form part of the official rhetoric.
Another morning,
a walk to the subway
the wait
the coffee
She sits at the exit begging,
Surrounded by tallest of them all,
the speed,
the stale early morning smell,
the smoke, the affluence.
Everyday she dreams bigger and better

The American Squirrels are bigger, they have a far more bushier tail, they are not really scared of people and they seem to remember where they hide their nuts. But I also think that they appear particularly viscious. As if they wont think twice before biting you.

6.10.2008,

Its a time of the year when the adage"once a bong, always a bong" cannot ring truer. If your a bengali from India, then Durga Puja is quite literally the beginning of the year. It does not matter that , by this logic, the bong calendar begins 10 months later as opposed to the Gregorian calendar followed by the rest of the world. Its a time to celebrate, enjoy, indulge, flirt-the puja lasts for four days, its carnivalesque time for most, suspension of disbelief, a beautiful song, a season that goes as fast as it came.

So upholding this certain tendancy, I decided to look for Puja celebrations in New York. The quest began three weeks before the Pujas were scheduled to begin. My only source at that point was a fellow bong. It was only much later that I realized he was ashamed to admit that he had not the vaguest idea of any puja celebrations in NY. My flatmate, who happens to be an Andhraite seemed to know more about this "Navratra' phenomenon. So she gave me an address.

It was Soptomi, I got out early in the morning, the nip in the air was getting worse, but I put on clothes keeping the near future in mind, ie, the evening, when I would finally reach the Puja Celebrations, smell the 'Dhoop', hear the Aarti, and perhaps meet kindred souls.

I reached work and could hardly sit still, I was excited, I felt I would meet other bongs, see how they have been living in this city, talk, hear stories that I now concede to missing terribly from back home. Discover older bong women/men alike discovering me, gauge their reactions, but my main interest was to find out about them. Yes I am absolutely lousy, I want to meet people because I believe some would give me stories to hang on to.

Since my excitement was growing as the evening approached, I had to take a check. Did the Pujas actually happen at the 'jain' temple my Flatmate had conveniently directed me to. Moreover, I dont want to be a bitch, but my flatmate does not know about the shops behind her house, she does not know the names of her neighbours although she meets them everyday in the elevator and she prefers to spend her weekends cooking in the Kitchen for food that would last her in the coming week! So I do, what I know best to do........I google! And as sure as my fears were correct, the jains were not celebrating Durga Puja! The Gujjus were......well not entirely correct, the Gujrat Samaj Hall located in Fresh meadows had rented out the hall to the ECDPA(East coast Durga Puja Association), which boasts of being the largest Bengali association in North America. Great, this sounded even better, so I took down the address, checked my map and figured out the route.

It should suffice to tell you that that evening I tried every possible means of Public transport that NYC has to offer. Not only was Fresh meadows, located in the god forsaken east of NYC, it was a positively daunting task to reach the venue itself. I changed three subways and after rudely staring at a stranger for two complete hours, I only reached Hill Side avenue. Thankfully I was told by a very helpful MTA guy that I would have to board the Q17. I did and after half an hour I was dropped of at 175 Horace Harding Expressway. It was night, I was cold, but very hopeful. The Hall was located at 173 Horace Harding Road.

And so my ordeal to find this street, this hall began. In 10 mins I was convinced that I was on the wrong side of the highway. There were clearly marked streets 174 and 172, and a road in between that had no sign atall. But I have learnt never to assume, how else do you work though??? So I assumed that all odd numbers must be located on the other side of the exppressway. The overhead bridge was one of the longest ever and could hardly believe the speed at which those long oil tanks were going. So if you feel perversely suicidal, then I thought this would be the place to take the jump.

Having made it to the other side, I spotted an appartment numbered 15, and it was on the 173rd....so although it looked so unlikely, I thought you never know. I knocked and after an eternity an old jewish man opened the window. I did not know how to tell him that I already knew that he could not help. So I asked him, he did not know and I left. I rushed into the nearby Deli, it was 8:30pm already and I could not look around much longer. The guy was an Afghan and seemed to know that some Indians were looking for the hall, but did not know where it was. A woman came along to help because she had some kind of a map thing on her cell phone, she said it was on the side that I had left. I was going to box her when she warned, 'Take care, this time of the night and all'.....I was this close!

So why was this Gujrat Samaj Hall so obscurely located, As a matter of fact, it was not obscure, it was right on the expressway. Its just that I could not believe it was in this appaling condition. I mean you have a Martial arts gym thats glowing, there is a neatly spaced but clearly marked Dr Bartelluci Centre, a small time magazine that probably runs on the community;s funds, but has an office thats spottable, but this Samaj hall is a ramshackled place. It was surrounded by skeletal scaffoldings, bins and bins of unused paint, dustbins and litter loitered around, moreover the entrance was all the way on the other side. I entered and I saw an empty podium. there were some who were packing up the idol.

Did I miss something, was Puja over? As a matter of fact it was. Apparently, celebrations in NY happen only on the weekends. Neither the people nor the city has time on any other days, not for concerts, not for broadway shows, not for Times square, religion or a Loaf along the Hudson.

I met a bengali man, a mechanical Engineer who has been living in NY for the last 30years. He said, "NY is our home, it has given us a job, a place to stay, money, standard of living, lifestyle and entertainment but we miss India, we are proud of where its heading, and we long to return someday soon"

By the time I reached I was exhausted, I sat alone, eating a spicy chicken wrap at Burger king, I watched the residents of flushing, hurrying home, a guy who sat behind me was preparin to ask out a girl, another adolescent could not get enough of her boyfriend, a girl with shocking pink hair was being scolded at the counter for giving the wrong order. I finished my wraps, I returned to the subway station