Thursday, April 16, 2009
Aaja Re Pardesi
With our elections just around the corner, there may be reasons for the 58% or so of those among us who vote would have a momentary sense of alignment and self-congratulatory righteousness associated with participation in this massive exercise. Of the rest, most would get on with their lives unfettered by any feeling of remorse with the overall process or result seemingly able to absorb this non-participation. To his credit, Abhinav Chandrachud is not one of the group of the blasé masses.
Yet, his overarching sense of propriety and order that he seeks to imbue his arguments with and forlorn petulance at being systemically overlooked do little to present his case for according overseas Indian citizens the right to vote in a cogent light. In his article “Overseas Citizens-a horse with no name” , he arrays a motley group of sentiments and pronouncements attempting to bolster his side and comes away in the manner of a child who has had his lollipop taken away.
While one can appreciate the earnestness of his intent, his blind faith in “impecunious students” and “others who left only temporarily in search of financial fulfilment” seems misplaced. His invocation of legal underpinnings to the right to vote, and his comparing India’s position with those followed by countries such as Estonia and Luxembourg among others rob his position of the credence it needs. Towards the last legs, logic falls away in a flailing last throw of the dice as he returns to the time-tested “monetary returns’ angle that OCs are purportedly assisting the nation’s economy with.
Yet, his overarching sense of propriety and order that he seeks to imbue his arguments with and forlorn petulance at being systemically overlooked do little to present his case for according overseas Indian citizens the right to vote in a cogent light. In his article “Overseas Citizens-a horse with no name” , he arrays a motley group of sentiments and pronouncements attempting to bolster his side and comes away in the manner of a child who has had his lollipop taken away.
While one can appreciate the earnestness of his intent, his blind faith in “impecunious students” and “others who left only temporarily in search of financial fulfilment” seems misplaced. His invocation of legal underpinnings to the right to vote, and his comparing India’s position with those followed by countries such as Estonia and Luxembourg among others rob his position of the credence it needs. Towards the last legs, logic falls away in a flailing last throw of the dice as he returns to the time-tested “monetary returns’ angle that OCs are purportedly assisting the nation’s economy with.
Thursday, April 02, 2009
Butterfly strokes
A pub, according to the venerated Billy Bunter is an unsavoury place where victuals and beverages of dubious origin are served to shadier folks, and is not , not a place where the well-heeled go to.
A crawl, according to the even more venerated dictionary is To move slowly on the hands and knees or by dragging the body along the ground; creep.
But by Golly, a pub crawl according to the most venerated wikipedia is “the act of one or more people drinking in multiple pubs or bars in a single night, normally walking to each one between drinking.”
"Many European cities have public pub crawls that act as social gatherings for the local expat communities and tourists. These pub crawls focus on the social aspect of meeting new friends and being introduced to new bars in a strange city. The city that held the Guinness World Record for the largest pub crawl ever held was London, England (2,278 people) in an event organised by Tim The Tourman.”
Recently, a private pub crawl was organized in Bombay where for the modest fee of Rs, 500, one could be taken on a weekend pub crawl in a rented bus, saving one the trouble of walking from bar to bar.
“
Keen to introduce Mumbai's urban population to pub crawls that are common in Europe and North America, Aditi Shah (27) has decided to organise a similar event at different places in the city. However, the patrons who were initially supposed to walk from one pub to another will now be taken around in a rented BEST open deck bus. "Making the patrons walk should be avoided because once people are tipsy, they could misbehave on the streets. We are, therefore, organising a bus to avoid a law and order situation," said Shah. Patrons will be required to hand over their car keys to the organisers, which will be handed over to hired chauffeurs at the end of the evening to take the revellers home. For Rs 500, patrons will be given the bus trip, a ride home by a sober chauffer and a drink at each of the pubs visited. “
So, all things considered, for the uninitiated, a pub crawl is a Baar bar baar bar baar bar…..Hic Hic !!
