I have been born ad brought up in Kolkata. Despite being a Marwari, I have had the good fortune of having a lot of friends who happen to belong to the city. For one thing, Calcuttans (pardon me – I prefer ‘Calcutta’ to ‘Kolkata’), LOVE food. I have been privy to some amazing food at Bengali Weddings. (Read: )
I am back home for a week now – before I head for my MBA at IIM Lucknow and had the pleasure of trying out Bengali Cuisine at the 2 places that first strike one’s mind when looking for Bengali food at Kolkata:
- Oh! Calcutta – Managed and run by Specialty Restaurants – the same group that owns Mainland China, Sigree and Machaan
- Kewpies – Owned by Rakhi Purnima Dasgupta
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AMBIENCE
Kewpies was good – In the sense that it was very “traditional.” The decor (look and feel!) of the place is almost like a Bengli house-hold and it reminded me of 6 Ballygunge Place – another popular place for Bengali cuisine – which by the way, has recently opened a branch at Bangalore! Lathe wooden doors, large windows, a high ceiling with old fans which move slow – perhaps it is intentional. Low-seating tables and cutlery made of earthen mud, with a Banana Leaf on top. Oh! Calcutta - on the contrary – has amazing decor, is pleasantly lighted, has great service staff and has some wonderful traditional bengali folklore (soft) playing inthe background.
To the contrary, the ambience at Kewpies was below average – the air-conditioning was not affective, the toilets were a tad unkempt (which, again, could be intentional to give the place a “homely” feel) – but I’d rather not comment.
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FOOD-WISE:
Kewpies was very average. I was very disappointed with the food. Especially, the “Aam Pora Shorbot” (popularly known as “Aam Panna” in North India) – which we started our meal with – was not well-made, one-sip full in quantity and unfortuantely, set the tone for the near-torture that was about to follow. The “Luchis” (bengali word for “Puri”) were small and wafer-thin as compard to the ones at Oh! Calcutta. The spread on the whole was very average at Kewpies. Not something we had expected from it after the reviews in The Telegraph and elsewhere. I am disappointed – I could have better utilized my time, money and a special afternoon with mom!
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THE VERDICT / RECCOMENDATION:
Oh! Calcutta – If you want a nice, memorable introduction to Bengali Cuisine amidst a great ambience and savour a truly professional experience!
Kewpies / 6 Ballygunge Place - If you want absolutely “authentic” Bengali food – the sort that you are likely to get if you gate-crash into a regular “Bangali” household on a normal day – no special cooking. In fact, I remember having tastier food at the homes of some of my Bengali friends!
Bhojohori Manna – For Bengali fast-food – if you want “Bong” food on-the-go and do not have too much time to spare. Bhojohori Manna is almost like a CCD for bengali cuisine!
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For those who are wondering if this is intended to be a GUIDE to eateries / restaurants in Kolkata, is is not. This is merely meant to be an attempt at expressing my dissatisfaction over Kewpies and delight over Oh! Calcutta!
Burrrrrrp! 
Building 43 – I wonder what this is!
Everyone from Robert Scoble to Seth Godin seems to have mentioned it somewhere, somehow! .. The caption says – “a place for people fanatical about the internet.”
Anyway, I seem to be having a lot of Web 2.0 up my sleeves these days – I even went to Crossword and bought a book about Internet and New Media. It’s called “What Would Google Do?” .. abbreviated “WWGD” – by Jeff Jarvis, a journalist and blogger at BuzzMachine.
Will post a review soon! 
We are all in search of Success – Success in our lives, Success at the workplace as well as success in our personal lives. We know that success is acheived through a combination of factors and relentless effort. However, whenever we speak about or look at the lives of succesful people, we tend to atribute their success to one (or sometimes 2 factors). For instance:
- Sachin Tendulkar is what he is because of his determination and exceptional talent!
- Aamir Khan is a brilliant actor!
- Dhirubhai Ambami had the vision and guts to execute his ideas at any cost
We sometimes tend to forget that these “success stories” are about ordinary people with sometimes extra-ordinary perseverence who were fortunate to be gifted opportunities and had the insight to make most of these. OUTLIERS: The Story of Success is a book that talks about how extra-ordinarily high acheivers are bred out of not a single reason, factor or circumstance – but often a combination of a huge number of these.
Malcom Gladwell, a British-born Canadian journalist and author - (though I did not enjoy his earlier books “Blink” and “The Tipping Point” too much) – has come up with a landmark book. Outliers is about how success can be acheived in everyday life provided we are working hard and can spot the opportunities life presents us. Outliers is about creating more such opportunities – so that there are even more extra-ordinary people – and society, at large, can benefit.
Any well-written book gives you certain “take-aways”. My “take-aways” from Outliers are these 2 ideas that have stuck on to my mind and will probably remain there for quite a while:
1. The 10,000 Hour Rule:
According to this rule, if you want to “master” anything.. (like Mozart-level master), you have to give it 10,000 hours. Gladwell thinks 10,000 is the magic number for success at anything. He also refers to a research study which proves the hypothesis. And he goes on to state that the sooner you complete your 10,000 hours, the sooner you become a “master” at that particular activity. With examples ranging from Bill Clinton and The Beatles to references from lesser-known American folklore, Gladwell brings this point alive in ways that you cannot even imagine!
2. The Ethnic theory of Plane Crashes:
This chapter in the book talks about the other “flip” side. If success is a combination of many factors, well so is failure. Gladwell refers to an in-depth analysis of airline crashes and brings up stories from global aviation history. He brings forth the point that plane crashes are not because of the ONE BIG technical snag, or JUST that there was no fuel or a SINGULAR reason. Planes crash, Gladwell says, because of a series of failures which could be as unrelated as:
- A pilot who has had a more-than-long stint at the cockpit
- Tired air-hostesses who spilt water on the floor, was busy cleaning it and did not adhere to the captain’s instructions
- A passanger who did not follow safety regulations and had inadvertently switched on his cell phone
- A co-pilot who, due to a “communication gap” with his superior could not apprise the captain of the situation and raise an alarm in time
When 4 such factors strike at the same time, we have a disaster waiting to happen. Interestingly, the rules of success are the same as the rules of failure.
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At times, it is hard to make out exactly what Gladwell is trying to say. Nonetheless, the book is very anecdotal, every statement is backed by data and an attempt is made to ensure that every insight shared has reason, rather than rhetoric. Throughout the time that I was reading this book, I kept wondering – “What exactly is he trying to say?” – That success is bred within the person? .. Or is it the function of the oppurtunities (including luck!) that are external to oneself? … It is only towards the end that I started getting the idea behind the book and that idea is not better summarized than this excerpt:
“It is not the brightest who succeed. Nor is success simply the sum of decisions and efforts we make on our own behalf. it is, rather, a gift. Outliers are those who have been given opportunities – and who have had the strength and presence of mind to seize them.”
Those of you who have been following by my status message on GTalk (I dont tweet — sadly, not yet! 
) would have either been wondering or knowing what Ninja means! There are 2 levels of explanations – to find out how / why the word “NINJA” applies perfectly to me right now! .. But we need to take each of the levels, one at a time.
LEVEL # 1: What is NINJA?
In Japanese history, a ninja (忍者 ninja?) is a warrior specially trained in a variety of unorthodox arts of war. These include assassination, illusion, espionage, and various martial arts.
Let’s take a look at NINJA etymology, according to WIKIPEDIA:
Ninja is the on’yomi reading of the two kanji 忍者 used to write shinobi-no-mono (忍の者), which is the native Japanese word for people who practice ninjutsu (忍術, often erroneously transliterated as ninjitsu). The term shinobi has been traced as far back as the late 8th century . The underlying connotation of shinobi (忍) means “to steal away” and—by extension—”to forbear”, hence its association with stealth and invisibility. Mono (者, likewise pronounced sha or ja) means a “person.”
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LEVEL # 2: What are NINJA Loans?
Investopedia explains - “A NINJA Loan is – a slang term for a loan extended to a borrower with “no income, no job and no assets”. Whereas most lenders require the borrower to show a stable stream of income or sufficient collateral, a NINJA loan ignores the verification process.
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LEVEL 3: ME == NINJA?
This is my last day at work. I resigned oer a month ago. For the last 3 years, I have been getting a salary cheque at the end of every month – which shall suddenly stop from this month! I am, now, officially, a NINJA – No Income, No Jobs, no Assets!
And, I hope my bankers aren’t reading – I need to take an edeucational loan soon!
Few blogs have captured the imagination of the “masses” as much as the Fake IPL Player (FIP). I have been following it on and off and I find his writing delightfully entertaining.”its been 4 weeks, 43 posts and over 17000 comments till now!” It is hard to ascertain whether he is “an insider” or “an outsider.” And eveyrone seems to be talking about it / him / whatever! GreatBong recently wrote about the blog (& the blogger) on CricBuzz.
Fake IPL Player - Screenshot
In a poll conducted by FIP himself (which has not been taken “off the blog” – Does anyone remember the results?), FIP highlights the mystery / intrigue that he wants ot be sorrounded by. Some of the inferences that can be drawn from his (recent!) apparent self-revelation in the FIP RIP video (though they could be completely misleading) are:
- “Grew up in Delhi – that’s where I learnt my art”
- “Traveled and worked almost all over India”
- “One of the earliest memories – Kapil Dev running back to the pavilion after beating England in the 1983 World Cup semi-finals”
- “Skipped my IIM Interview in order to watch India play Australia at Ferozshah Kotla – a match that, by the way, we lost!”
- “As to my fascination for the city of Kolkata – I love the people there!”
- He speaks flawless English, Hindi and Bengali.
- He says something about “writing a book” … “sometime later”.. or “perhaps not”
Let me randomly speculate. Not that I have anything to lose or gain by doing this. But I guess that’s what you do when you are idle – chew on loads of fodder and digest your own predictions – knowing that they might be as far away from the truth as pigs flying!
HYPOTHESIS #1: - “Earliest Memories” in 1983 – A child’s earliest memories happen when he is about 4 years old maybe? (+/-1) .. So between 3 – 5 years old. If we assume this to be true, then FIP is probably born between 1978 – 1980. So he must be about 30-odd years old right now.
HYPOTHESIS #2: “Skipped my IIM Interview” – According to HowStat.com, in the last decade there has been only ONE ODI at Feroz Shah Kotla on 14th April 1998 (which Australia won by 4 wickets) – The Pepsi Traingular Series between India-Asustralia-Zombabwe in April ‘98 – Now this can approximately be the right time for an IIM Interview (They usually happen around March – April). – So that it corroborates!
[LIGHT BULB] - If he appreared for an “IIM” interview in 1998, this indicates he must be at least 21 years old in the year 1998. Which means he might have been born not later than 1978.
Some people say this might be Akash Chopra (born September 1977). It might be worth noting that Akash Chopra has an alternate publishing career and has already had one of his books published by Harper Collins. Also, according to this blog, he was sent back by Buchanan, half-way through IPL2. Anyway, I have a strong hunch that FIP is actually someone I might happen to know – in fact – someone that even you might happen to know (possibly!). The “someone” I am referring to has done some work earlier on the speculative fiction genre. But I am really not sure – so I am not going to take any names.
Here’s a video of a story that appeard on TIMES NOW about the Fake IPL Player.
‘Nuff speculation! I’d rather be the armchair audience, and wait for more from “the fly on the wall, the ghost in the darkness.” And while we’re ON it, who do you think it is?
The twists and turns in the plot reminded me of “Lock, Stock and Two smoking Barells – a 1998 British movie by Guy Ritchie.
There are some movies that are in the category of “light” movies – that entertain delightfully and make you chuckle in your seat! 99 is one such. It contains, good, clean and humourour humour! The twists and turns in the plot- and the overall “feel” – reminded me of “Lock, Stock and Two smoking Barells – a 1998 British movie by Guy Ritchie. A friend felt that it reminded him of “Snitch.”
I am not going to give you a full-blown review of “what the movie is all about” … All I am going to do is give you – in a jiffy – the 9 things I liked about the movie:
- The detailed characterization … Everyone fitted their roles perfectly – Especially Mahesh Manjarekar. He was PHENOMENAL as “AGM!”
- Some of the dialogoues in the movie are absolutely hilarious – This is the sort of movie that can make you go into splits even while watching it alone on your home theatre system!
- Kunal Khemu and Cyrus Brocha made a good duo – Cyrus Brocha surprisinly did not over-act.. and it takes effort on the part of any Director to ensure that does not happen with someone like him!
- There were no useless song and dance sequences. Neither was there a nagging, irritating background score – except in action sequences where it adds to the impact!
- The “violence” was more funny, than violent .. and intentionally so!
- Amit Misrtry keeps uttering things like “She Cut” (when a women hangs up on his face!) .. and “Speak truth” (while pointing a gun at another goon!)
- It subtely portrays how Mumbaikars and Delhi-ites feel about each other – all i ngood spirit, of course!
- The movie appeals equally to the “intelectual elite” and to the “aam aadmi!” – Something very few movies can boast of!
- The movie has a good, SOLID ending!
All in all, a must-watch! – And it’s good that it cae out at a time when our multiplexes are virtually famine-stricken, else it wouldn’t have gotten the attention it deserves!
Star Cast: Kunal Khemu, Soha Ali Khan, Boman Irani, Cyrus Broacha, Mahesh Manjrekar;
Directors: Raj Nidimoru, Krishna DK;
My Rating: 4 out of 5.
I was in Pune over the weekend. It was a dry day because the Election results were coming out. At the cost of sounding disinterested in the affairs of the country, I would like to state my obvious disregard towards being enthusiastic about who wins and who does not. There is no difference in colour, no difference in intention and no different in character – let alone political ideology.
I just finished a post on Elections 2009 on the collaborative blog we started as a part of the Talking Blogs Project and couldn’t resist ranting here too – TalkingTails.in has so far been away from random raves and rants (or at least rants!), but somethings are inevitable, despite not “bringing about any change whatsoever” – just like the Elections!
