Author: charukesi

You may have heard of Marlboro Country. The Marlboro Man. Ever heard of the Marlboro Horse ? Presenting two of the best anti-smoking ads I have ever seen. No scary skeletons, no threats of cancer….. pure subtle humour. But effective, stopping one dead in one’s tracks. 1. created by O&M (Piyush Pandey?) for the Cancer… Continue reading Heard of the Marlboro Horse ?

I lost my only uncle (mamaji) on Saturday. Heart attack. He was close to 70 and has seen a good long life, with children and grand children. My grandfather is alive at 90+. He had five sons, four of whom he lost as children. The fifth was this mama. To see one’s child pass away… Continue reading When is one’s child too old to be a child ?

Have just finished reading India Unbound. Great reading overall. Gurcharan Das speaks with the authoritative ease of someone who’s been there, seen that and done that. Unlike some others, Naipaul, for instance, who I believe have no clue what they are talking about. Having never been there, leave alone lived there. If there is one… Continue reading Who are they writing for?

Before I say more on this, a PJ. About a kid who came home from school and proudly announced, I learnt to spell banana in school, I just don’t know where to stop…. Ok, sorry. I was saying that the Indian blogosphere is fast turning into a banana republic. What with banana eaters and banana… Continue reading Blogosphere or Banana Republic ?

Who says the paper route is a thing of the past ? The girl who delivers the newspapers at our house every morning (here in Madras) is studying in college. I like chatting with her whenever I manage to catch her. She proudly tells me that she pays for her own fees and books. She… Continue reading Their future looks bright

Am reading India Unbound by Gurcharan Das. More on the book soon. But there is one particular passage in the book which has me really shaken. Das says that Lal Bahadur Shastri, India’s Prime Minister after Nehru was the first person to be aware of the pitfalls of the ‘controls’ regime set in motion by… Continue reading Forty Years of Liberalization ?

Finally, some kind soul has signed on my guest map – thank you, Ramanand! Having carefully cut-pasted the guest map, I open it every morning with the eagerness of a greedy child on Christmas morning (now, from where did such metaphors creep into my middle-class Hindu life ?!! Enid Blyton ?). Only to find Dave… Continue reading Finally !

Reader’s Digest has a new owner now : The India Today Group. Says the India Today Group Chief Exec, Aroon Purie “I look forward to continuing the Digest’s editorial traditions and providing the winning Reader’s Digest team any support it may need in reaching a wider audience in India” Sounds very ominous. To me, RD… Continue reading The future of Reader’s Digest

Why can’t the English teach their children how to speak?This verbal class distinction should now be quite antique… There even are places where English completely disappearsIn America, they haven’t used it for years!Why can’t the English teach their children how to speak?Norwegians learn Norwegian; the Greeks are taught their Greek In France, every Frenchman knows… Continue reading The Queen’s English ?

Did you know : Trivia means three roads in Latin. Wherever three roads met, the Romans put up notice boards with the news on.