Que Sera Sera

I attended my school concert yesterday and came across a song which all of us must have heard somewhere in our growing up days but forgotten in the Rock and Roll and Hip Hop era ... its called Que Sera Sera (from the Hitchcock movie - The Man who knew too much). Its a simple song but a powerful one. When life is in flux and the direction is not clear, when things are not in grip, this song easies you out a bit.

"Ek pao past mein, ek pao future mein, aur present pe moot rahe rahein hai" ... thats what so many of us tend to do. The present is all we can control.

Alternative Uses of Orkut

It happens only in India!! How many of you thought about this - Orkut is playing an important role in match-making in India. Forget about www.shaadi.com and www.jeevanjaathi.com ... here comes ORKUT !!

Well its quite simple and in fact extremely effective. You as the potential bride/groom come across a CV/Bio-Data which your parents ask you to consider. Immediately, you look up the name on ORKUT and lo! you get the full details of the guy/girl. You get to see his pics which aren't posed for (if the person has not put pics then its safe to assume that he doesnt look that good or doesnt know much about technology ;)), judge his popularity by how many fans hes got, his coolness by the coolness meter, his sexiness by the sexiness meter and all this is authentic as its' voted by the person's friends. Plus, you have the testimonial space to know what kind of a person he/she is.

The profile gives you a through peek into the persons life and personality which a normal 1 hour meeting probably won't. In fact that meeting would be more useful after you look up the person on ORKUT, see his scraps etc etc and know what to ask him.

A word of caution, turn off the 'profile visitors' in your settings else the other person will know u have been snooping on his/her profile.

Govt. Turns Land Traders, Land Mafia Prospers

The SEZ/land acquisition story is not news to anyone anymore. Briefly, Govt. acquires land through a law in force and then re-sells it to the industry or creates townships.

In search of land for my own project, I have first hand experience of the mess the govt. has created and how its minting money. Land is acquired at dirt cheap prices from farmers who have no idea how much to sell their land for. Their is no negotiation with the farmers and the acquisition price is just announced, in fact the law states that consent from the acquirees is not required. As soon as the land is acquired for industry or township, the surrounding land becomes prime property. Land brokers cheat farmers by buying this land at slightly higher prices than the acquired land. In fact, they dont even pay the full amount but a margin money to lock in the land which they later list in the market. Brokers tout these lands by talking about the projects sanctioned around it, the new roads which will be built etc etc and put up a selling price which is 10x the times they bought the land from the farmer.

The farmer somewhere realizes down the line that he has fallen into the trap but there is no legal recourse as he is already bound my legal agreements with the broker. The broker also wields her muscle power, beating up any farmer who tries to raise his voice. The farmer tries to remain content with the sudden windfall of cash, it is anyway more that ever he had dreamed off !The small size of the land holdings makes it even tougher. To buy an acre, u probably might have to have the signatures of 20 farmers! Litigation after the purchase remains a risk as u never know which relative may file a suit against u alleging denial of share as land titles are not clear.

The Govt. doesnt make it any easier. Acquired land maps are hard to get, u need to bribe for it. On top of that, they retain the right to acquire additional land if required. So u many cross all the hurdles to buy a tract at say Rs. 3 crores an acre and then suddenly the Govt. will come in saying, "hey! I require ure land for a bus depot we didnt factor in earlier ... heres ure Rs. 30lakh cheque" ... U are so screwed !!

Acquired land is of course put for sale, maybe at 3-5x the price govt. acquired it for. Getting an allotment is a nightmare. U need to grease everywhere, the bribes equal the official price of the land ! There is just no transparency !

When UN ranks India 134th out of 175 countries in its report "Doing Business Report 2007" ... its not kidding anyone ...

Category Global Ranking (out of 175)
Ease of doing business 134
Starting a business 88
Dealing with licenses 155
Employing workers 112
Registering property 110
Getting credit 65
Protecting investors 33
Paying taxes 158
Trading across borders 139
Enforcing contracts 173
Closing a business 133
(Source: Doing Business Report 2007: India Highlights)

Acquired Land, Rajarhat/New Town, Kolkata, West Bengal

Almost Perfect Valentine's Day Restaurant

I think I found the ideal valentine's day restaurant. Its called "Aqua" and located at the The Park Hotel on Park Street, Kolkata. Here is a review:

The restaurant is in a 5 star hotel so u have the facility of a valet (its an invaluable service considering parking is a pain in park street). Infact the valet refused to park my car, not that it was an ambassador made in 1930s, but cos there was no parking available. A call to the Lobby manager was enough to solve that. The way to the restaurant is rather conspicuous, u might feel ure on the way to the maintaince area rather than a restaurant. The restaurant is a part of the SPA of the facility and as you step into the area, ure face will light up and so will your valentine's.

As you enter the area, you'll find an open-air pool and the restaurant surrounds it. The seating is quite different, you have a few wooden private chambers with white curtains and swings on which u could sit and enjoy the weather. There are small shells too, shaped like eggs with a mattress inside so that you can spread your legs out and enjoy the view of the pool. Then there is the conventional seating of '4 on a table' on the other end of the pool. The candles floating in the middle of the pool made the evening even more romantic. Of course the mushy songs were playing too, john denver, michael bolton and the likes ....

That was the open air seating. They also have a indoor seating with glass walls. Its in the format of a lounge, sofas arounds tables.

Now about the khana peena. The wine list is extensive, running some 15-20 pages with wines classified according to origin countries. All your favourite spirits are available, from JDs to Grey Goose to Bacardis. I'd rate this place as No.1 for its extensive - extensive stock of spirits. The best thing, you could order a pitcher of your favorite cocktail at a discounted price. My pitcher of long island ice tea cost me Rs. 1500 and i got 4 glasses out of it.

The food is actually very limited but well done. It is multicuisne with indian as well as continental stuff like pastas, dal naan aalo dum, fish fry with tartar sause and fries, grilled tenderloin etc etc. Infact, the drinks list is more extensive than the food here.

Dinner for a couple should not exceed Rs. 2500 which would include two drinks, a starter, main course and a desert.

If anyones visitng Calcutta anytime soon, this place is a must visit !!

Kolkata Book Fair

Till Buddhadev Bhattacharya gave the Tata Factory to West Bengal, and apart from the Bandhs and Strikes, Kolakata in known for its love for books. The fair started sometime in the 1970's and continues till today. But this year its different. Its traditional venue has been snatched away from it, forcing it to be held in the compound of the Salt Lake Stadium. Reasons ... pollution. It used to be held in the lungs of the city ... known as the maidan. Lots of parties got involved - The Chief Minister, The Defence Ministry, The High Court, The Army ... ultimately the courts ruled that the fair was damaging the ecology and had to be shifted out.

OLD VENUE


The new venue is a gift from the sports minister, he even waived off the Rs. 2.5lakh a day rental charges for the large stadium. However, The start at the new venue has been pathetic. The inauguration was done about 2 days back yet the grounds are occupied with half built stalls and practically no books. Usually the fair is filled with books, people and dust. At this cultural fest, you will find street plays, artists painting portraits, chilli chicken stalls, book readings and long, really long queues to enter into the popular stalls. People come not only from the city but from all over the state to catch the attractive discounts on offer and the huge variety of books on all conceivable subjects.

NEW VENUE


I haven't been visiting the fair since quite a few years as I was never in the city those times but I have my memories in place. Most prominent of them are the long queues at the ticket booth and the hunt for the car in the parking lot. This time, the fair is right opposite my office but I hardly see any crowd whatsoever. Its quite a damp start and no ones talking about the fair.

I plan to make a visit soon, but only after I hear that the stalls have been built and the books have arrived.

Aisa Ganey Wali Aajkal Milti hai kya?

Sajnaji Vaari Vaari - Honeymoom Travels Pvt. Ltd.

Sajnaa Ji Vaari Vaari Jaaon Ji Mein
Tu Hi To Mera Sansaar Hai
Aisa Mera Pyaar Hai
Charno Mein Jo Na Jagah Paanu Ji Mein
To Mera Jeena Hi Bekaar Hai
Aisa Mera Pyaar Hai

Mera Maan Hai Tu
Abhimaan Hai Tu
Meri Pooja Hai Tu
Mera Dhyaan Hai Tu
Tu Devata Mein Pujaaran
Sanjnaa Tujpe Mein Arpaan
Tere Gungaan Hi To Gaanu Ji Mein
Oh Tere Gungaan Hi To Gaanu Ji Mein
Tu Hi To Mera Sansaar Hai
Aisa Mera Pyaar Hai - 2
Sajnaa Ji Vaari Vaari Jaanu Ji Mein
Tu Hi To Mera Sansaar Hai
Aisa Mera Pyaar Hai

O Meri Dhadkan Mein Tu
Meri Tan Mann Mein Tu
Meri Saason Mein Tu
Mere Nainan Mein Tu
Tu Hai To Chamke Kajra
Tu Hai To Mehke Gajra
Tere Bina To Na Jeene Paanu Jee Mein
Haan Tere Bina To Na Jeene Paanu Jee Mein
Tu Hi To Mera Sansaar Hai
Aisa Mera Pyaar Hai - 2
Sajnaa Ji Vaari Vaari Jaanu Ji Mein - 2
Tu Hi To Mera Sansaar Hai
Aisa Mera Pyaar Hai - 2
Charno Mein Jo Na Jagah Paanu Ji Mein - 2
To Mera Jeena Hi Bekaar Hai
Aisa Mera Pyaar Hai - 2

P.S. - The opinions expressed in the song are solely of the lyricist and not a reflection on the author of this Blog. He may or may not subscribe to the view expressed in the above song ;)

The Eden Fiasco

The day was Thursday, fag end of the week but not yet a weekend. But does it matter? Eden Gardens was loaded to full capacity, almost 90,000 people were there to watch India Vs Sri Lanka, a match scheduled almost after 15 months. We Calcuttans would have lost out on this one too if Mr. Prasun Mukherjee wasn't elected as the CAB president after Mr. Dalmiya was ousted from the BCCI. The re-scheduled venue was a gift from Mr. Sharad Pawar and he was there personally to grace the occasion.

The forecast for the day was always gloomy with rain being predicted for the last 2-3 days in a row. Murphy's Law worked again ( i guess thats why its called a LAW), it didn't rain the previous days as much as it rained on the match day. It poured for 45 minutes. It was enough.

I was there as a spectator, paid 2000 bucks for a good view and parking stickers came free. Was all set but the rain god had different plans. It was surprising to see how ill prepared the CAB authorities were to tackle the situation. The ground had just 1 super sopper, while the other was parked 20kms away in a university ground. If rain was predicted all the time, why wasn't it transported back to the main venue? The lone super sopper had no chance. While waiting in the stands, an image flashed across my mind where helicopters were used at a ground (not indian) to dry up the field. I was wondering aloud why couldn't BBCI & CAB do the same? After all, we are the richest board in the world. If nothing else, we could have even got a sponsorship for it !!

Before the last inspection at 8:30pm, the ground looked quite dry and the covers had been removed. Looked like we have an match on our hands. But then Rahul Dravid took a round and shook hands with the umpires, thats when I knew it was all over. But I wouldnt move yet, I wanted to see it written across the big scoreboard till I budged, and the still 60,000 strong crowd thought the same way. When it was flashed, we walked out chanting "Prasun Mukherjee Hai Hai". I didn't feel it was his fault, but it was my small redemption, some solace to my broken heart.

What others couldn't have seen on TV was the patince the crowd had while it waited 5 hours in the rain. We did our chants, we made those spell bounding Mexican waves and clapped for ourselves when it went like a current across the stands. Some eat desi pizza, some spat out paan, some chanted "Sania, Sania ...", some just cursed and cursed.

After I came back home, i was ambivalent. I couldnt see the match but somehow I had a good time :)