July 2009 - Posts - Life etc...

July 2009 - Posts

What price convenience food?

Posted by Manidipa Mandal at 
First, the disclaimers: I've got a packet of frozen parathas in the fridge, and there's often lots of little miso or stock cubes in the larder (I live alone, mostly). Some mornings, there's Maggi for breakfast (my husband seems to get garlic powder cravings from time to time, and no, we weren't pregnant last time I checked.) Now the...

More>>

Leave me the tweet alone

Posted by Arjun Jassal at 
140 characters can change the world. Ok, let me tone it down a bit. 140 characters can help disseminate information on political upheaval (Iran), natural disasters (China) and even terrorist attacks (India). They can help connect politicians, celebrities and sportsmen, to their dedicated fans, albeit in a ‘limited way’. They can help you and me, share...

More>>

Work-life balance...or work-life choice?

Posted by Elizabeth Eapen at 
A recent article in Mint quotes Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric Co, as saying "there's no such thing as work-life balance (for women) ..... there are work-life choices, and you make them, and they have consequences." Sounds rather ominous. Is it really as cut and dried and never-the-twain-shall-meet as all that? Surely many...

More>>

Is casual cruelty a peculiarly Indian trait

Posted by Vandana Vasudevan at 
Is casual cruelty a peculiarly Indian trait? I think it goes back to our feudal system where there was always some caste or community below one’s own, which one could deride and harass. Now, although the caste system has been officially abolished, it appears as though some primal gene is still active in many Indians. It suddenly gets activated, often...

More>>

Why India should root for the return of the Elgin marbles

Posted by Manidipa Mandal at 
"Both sides stand on shaky ground," prevaricates NYT critic Michael Kimmelman, in today's Business of Life lead story . The Greeks, never in fear of racial stereotyping, have been emphatic in their demands . (What's to worry about? Everyone just knows they are the guys with the big weddings, the voluble chatter, the long community...

More>>

As in cricket, so in tennis... yesterday once more?

Posted by Malavika R. Banerjee at 
After more than a decade of teen rule, men and women, as opposed to boys and girls, are once again ruling sports. I hasten to add that none of the men and women mentioned below are senior citizens in normal everyday terms, but they are veterans when it comes to the world of sport. Take the just-concluded Wimbledon as an example: Serena Williams, 27...

More>>

It's raining... or is it?

Posted by Elizabeth Eapen at 
The Met department says there will be less than normal rainfall this year. But then so many of these pronouncements are like dew in the morning. Briefly alive, and soon gone. And another, or rather many others, will take its place tomorrow. South-west monsoon reaches Delhi, is the Met’s latest. The time spent filtering all this information, whether...

More>>