Rumour has it that the last two days were holidays, a weekend even. For a lot of south Mumbai, however, there was no rest because inquiring minds, who have become addicted to the phrase “Breaking News” by the news channels, now need to crack the case, especially since the Deccan Mujahideen has sent a second […]

…it’s over.
At approximately 7.30am this morning, the Taj operation finally came to something of a close. Reports are that one terrorist has been caught and three have been killed there. There have been some casualties among the NSG and the NSG chief JK Dutt has urged guests in the hotel to part their curtains so […]

10.45am - There are still 50-odd hostages inside the Taj. The Trident also continues to be under siege. The Taj has about 5 terrorists inside. A navy officer said that sniffer dogs are being used to check whether dead bodies are booby-trapped. Media are being told to not play up things and to not expect […]

And no, the lyrics of the Pearl Jam song will not be part of this post.
If there’s one thing that I didn’t think I’d ever do when I took to blogging, it’s live-blogging during a bombing/hostage situation.
Today was the premiere of the movie “The President is Coming“. While we were drinking free white wine, courtesy […]

I don’t read the papers in the morning. I don’t switch on the television to watch the news. All I do is check my email, have breakfast and then plug into my iPod as I trudge into work. It’s pretty dull. Today was a bit different because last night, at midnight, the Mumbai police arrested […]

The Turner Prize has something of a reputation for picking up future hotties of the world of art. In the past, winners have included Howard Hodgkin, Anish Kapoor, Antony Gormley, Damien Hirst and Steve McQueen. This year, however, Jonathan Jones of the Guardian is not happy with the Turner Prize nominees and if Runa Islam […]

2001, Somewhere in England. 2300 hours approx. While trying to un-encrypt Homi Bhabha, I kept myself awake by concocting a story about a bomb blast and I remember clearly thinking to myself that, despite the undisputed genius of my story idea (one which a million wannabe and honest-to-goodness writers have thought of and discarded), the […]

And the medal goes to Anthony Lane for his mammoth and brilliant diary of the Olympic fortnight in the New Yorker (week 1 and week 2). Over 10 pages (or 19, in case it reaches you as a Word document), Lane records how he watched everything from athletics to shot put, does some joyous China-bashing […]

Among the many things I’m thankful to Maike Kollenrott for, one is the Moleskine. She was the one who got me my first somewhat overpriced but entirely gorgeous Moleskine notebook and I’ve been a Moleskine junkie ever since. When I got the first one, I thought the best thing about a Moleskine was feeling a […]

This is the cover of the New Yorker for the issue dated July 21, 2008.
Barack Obama, it has been reported, has no comment. David Remnick, editor of the New Yorker, says it’s a satire so can everyone please grope their elbows and find their funny bones. John McCain’s spokesman has said the cover is “tasteless […]

What I’m going to write about happened yesterday so I’m a little late in writing about it. Actually, it happened day before yesterday because it was in yesterday’s newspapers. While I’m fully aware that in the world of internet reporting it’s better never than late, this is not an e-paper (hallelujah). Therefore, let me tell […]

On Thursday May 8, after negotiating a few road bumps along the way, the Olympic torch reached China and was planted atop Mount Everest. It was a good idea to plant it there since it was unlikely that Tibetan independence protesters would come together more than 29, 000 feet above sea level. Interestingly, to ensure […]

Burma is disappearing, like Atlantis; sinking under the weight of bloated corpses and greedy governments. We can thank the inimitable junta and Cyclone Nargis (which macabre twit named a cyclone after a flower?) for giving the country the mystique of Greek myths and making sure it doesn’t last into 2009. One million people are […]