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Showing posts from June, 2011

Gaiety Theatre - A Step Forward

The restoration of Gaiety Theatre in Shimla couldn’t have come at a better time. During the last decade, the lifestyle of Indian middle class has seen a tremendous shift from the ‘earn and save’ mode to ‘earn, save, and spend’ mode. They can now afford to use their hard-earned money for recreational activities. There was a time, not too long ago, when theatre, art-exhibitions, and museums were thought to be the pastimes of rich and were never a part of our day-to-day lives. People have started waking up to the importance of arts and literature in the growth of a country. As a result, you can find more and more youngsters visiting art galleries, photography exhibitions, and dramas and studying these subjects as part of their formal education. But this change would have been pointless and self-defeating if the society and the Government had not supported it. And the restoration of the Gaiety theatre is a commendable step in this direction. When the Gaiety theatre opened for

How to make friends or alienate people in an English office...

...A lot can happen over a cup of coffee. Before I go any further, I should mention that the title of this post was my friend David Wadieh's idea. Coffee and tea are indispensible when it comes to offices. And in English offices especially, getting tea or coffee is an elaborate ritual. If you are going to work for an English office for the first time, this post may actually be a life-saver for you because I’ve tried to break the ritual down to three short and simple steps with clear guidelines of what to do depending upon whether you want to make friends or alienate people: 1) Ask people whether they'll like tea or coffee       To make friends - Ask everyone. Even go to the remotest end of the office to ask that grumpy dude you never talk to.       To alienate people - Don't ask that girl who always refuses anyways. This will be the one time she simply needed that cup of coffee. 2) If you do not already know how they like their tea or coffee, ask them.       To make

Dear Newcastle - I'll Miss Thee

And that is weird because I've never come as close to being banished from my home ever in my life. The toon (as in Geordie-talk) has given me some weird memories to ROFL about. If you do want to know more (I can't see why you would), read on at your own risk: Crows Nest To say that I love this pub will be an understatement. If I could, I would carry it with me to India. Staff, who are our best friends by the way, Decor, everything. It is right next to the Uni and serves superb food. Fish and Chips, Chicken and Bacon Sandwich (without Bacon if you like), Cod Fish Finger Sandwich, Tuna Melts, Diet Pepsi (not coke!) everything tastes wonderful here. But what makes this pub a winner is that it is 'reasonable'. And  this website confirms it. You can get a drink and decent amount of food within 5 GBP pp if you choose your food intelligently. And the pub also has a hygiene rating of 5 stars if you are as fanatic about hygiene as we weren't. Our frequent afternoon lunch

From the Editor - Getting the Most Out of Your Trip

Becoming a traveller isn’t easy. Just like any other hobby or profession, expertise comes with experience and one has to polish the skills over years. Some travellers have a natural talent whereas some work hard towards developing it. Some learn by making mistakes. But those of us who have made these mistakes know that most of the times these mistakes are very expensive. I mean literally. For example, choosing a hotel at an impractical location may result in you spending a lot of money in cab fares. Or shopping without research may result in you paying much more than the item is worth. And when we make such mistakes, we wish that we had known better. All experienced travellers have their own set of tips to make the most of a trip. And at Ghumakkar, we have no dearth of experience when it comes to travelling. Here are some lessons that I have learnt during my career as a traveller. Do some research Find out as much about a place as you can. Go beyond the standard ‘places to visit’

Dear God

Your Little Girl

In the fabric of time, if there was a tear, I'd enter and emerge the bright-eyed little girl. Her school bag and water bottle slung carelessly on her shoulders bouncing along as she walked, unworriedly behind, while you, her invincible hero, ran your last run to stop the school bus. When your hands were still smooth, the wrinkles yet to come, and your body could still bear the weight of her lying on your stomach. And you told the old stories, told and retold. while she fell asleep there, peaceful, fearless. When you were up, unblinking, the whole night through as she lay in the bed, burning with fever. Now and again you asked “How’s my baby feeling? May be a little better?” You kept your hand on her forehead and though the virus took its time, you’d make it easy to bear. How I wish it was there, this tear in time. I would enter and stitch it up, and holding your hand, go back to the cheery past, the place where you could run once again, with strong and healthy knees;

Kidnapped

2nd January 1996 – I was taken away on this day. Kidnapped, if you would like to use the word. I was only an hour old then. My mother had planned this long before I was born. If I turned out to be a boy, I would stay in the family, grow up with them, and one day help on the fields. One day I would bring in a wife and then help create a son to carry on the family name. However, if I turned out to be a girl, I could not stay. I had to leave. So my mother had arranged with the widow who lived at the end of the village to sneak me out and take me to the Mahila Kalyan Sanstha and then leave me there to find my destiny, to fight my own battles. And as the fate would have it, I was born a girl. My father did not want me. My grandparents did not want me. I was useless to them. And my mother knew this very well. She knew secrets that were thought to be buried so deep that no one could ever uncover them. She knew why so many baby girls were born dead in the village. She knew why after nine-mo