R-Rated

Made a quickie to Chennai over the weekend for some 'official' work. Details about this official work to follow in the upcoming blog. The last time I was in Tamil Nadu, it was way back in 1996 and on a trip to Chennai and Madurai with parents in tow. Just wrote Class X exams (then) and (the whole family) wanted a breather. No vivid memories of the city from back then but where I was put up during this trip certainly left a good impression on yours truly. Auto's still trying to rip customers not accustomed to bargaining or not from the city or state at all. Thanks to the advice of a colleague, my wallet wasn't (that) lighter after the hefty extortion, I mean, the hefty charge to go from Koyambedu to Royapettah. The cruelest and mindboggling part is that ALL autos are equipped with electronic meters. Fair game right, wrong. One colleague who had been to TN many a times, recalled that while Jayalalitha was the CM, every auto had to use the meter, but as power changed hands...

The initial part of this blog is in reference to the horrendous outpour of affection shown by our former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda towards the Karnataka CM B S Yeddyurappa (BSY) calling him a Bloody Bastard and a Kannada version of an SOB (Son of a Bitch, for all those unfamiliar). While it is too graphic and frankly, too funny, I believe the actual term used was Bosudi Maga . While this news has been more than a week old, I couldn't resist writing about this. Karnataka politics is already in deep shit thanks to the Reddy faction ganging up against BSY and his cohorts, this chapter darkens the mood further. My initial memories of H D Deve Gowda from the early 90s is that of a silent politician who rarely spoke (and who probably rarely acted upon). I distinctly remember a Doordarshan footage of the PM and his entire family boarding the equivalent of the Air Force One for a vacation in Africa. I guess public opinion was pretty high of him then allowing him such kind of liberties...

Back from a very good trip to Aamchi Mumbai for Christmas and New Year. The journey to Bombay was anything but. The Hell-Ride A regular 19 hour bus ride compounded to 24 hours and that too in an ST bus. Last minute ticket booking did not help the cause one bit. Left Bangalore on December 24 via Majestic for a 4PM start through Karnataka and Maharashtra. While I was booking the ticket, I knew that I would not be travelling via the comfortable Volvo but little did I know that the 'downgrade' would be this nasty. A little while past 3:45PM, after an uneasiness to locate the bus to Bombay, I stumbled upon an old lady to ask whether the bus had arrived. To my heartbreak, she pointed to the bus behind me and said, "Yeh raha Mumbai ka bus". An old ST bus crammed with people and luggages. I get to my seat, the very last row of the bus, which unfortunately seated 6 well-built men, including me (and when I say well-built, one was a Yokozuna, you can imagine the thrill-ride I ha...

Sam is back in town, this time for good. Bugger drove from Delhi via Udaipur-Mumbai-Pune-Kolhapur-Dharwad and reached Bangalore in 5 days. Total distance driven in 5 days: 2502 kms. As a result of this great achievement, or lack thereof, we planned to visit Lalbagh Botanical Gardens. Expected a lot from this place specially after seeing some pictures that were forwarded from people who had visited previously. What total crap!! Covered the entire garden and couldn't spot one flower. There is an area called Lotus Pond, but the pond is a mess with empty plastic water bottles 'beautifying' the Lotuses, and not one Lotus spotted. Moving on to the Rosery, which you guessed it right, not a single Rose lining up the place. Guess it was just not the right season. Another so-called attraction was the Aquarium, closed!! It is a paradise for couples who want to get away from the maddening rush of the city itself, but with the number of people staring at them, there is no solace in the...

Just stumbled upon this article on CNN.com from Chuck Thompson. The following is from his new book, "To Hellholes and Back". I found this really funny, though for some it might be offensive. But who cares, enjoy the ride. http://www.cnngo.com/explorations/none/no-argument-indian-salesmen-are-evil-geniuses-735666

Sign on an ice cream vendor's stall in Bangalore read "FURIT SALARD". This is pretty damn close to the "I AM SUNAMI" sign in terms of funny captions/postings. I am going to be on the look out for more of these. While I was in college back in Mumbai, I used to travel via train from Mulund to Kurla and then hop on to an auto to reach VESIT. Kurla station in Central Mumbai is like a library of real funny & cringe-worthy captions written in English. Pasted on a pillar once was "DO NOT SPIT HERE, PEALEASE". It was literally like some one was pleading not to spit there. Unfortunately, I don't think the message and the PLEASE was strong enough to convince anyone. There was 'fresh' spit all over the hoarding. One of the most common sights in late-night Mumbai are the Chinese food stalls in possibly every nook and corner of the suburbs. While the food itself would be delicious, you would encounter the most liberal use of the English language jus...

A new bug bit me while I was in Europe. No, not the bed-bug but the Twitter bug. After having profiles on Facebook, LinkedIn, Orkut etc. could Twitter be any far behind. So, those who are interested, you can follow me on Twitter at @RajAnan. Am I not a propaganda machine? My wife would surely agree. More blogs and tweets to come up in the coming days from Namma Bengaluru . Stay tuned.