My Chhota Dadu

I have written quite a bit about me and my antics. For a long time I have been thinking that I should give my readers a chance to also know about my people. As I went through the list of people I could write about, the first person who came to mind was Chhota Dadu.

My Chhota Dadu, urf Kaku for the rest of the world, is quite a darling. He certainly is top of the charts for me in terms of my favorite persons. He is this really jovial person, with a loud infectious laughter, a great sense of humour and most importantly, a round built.

In the morning, when Mummy and Papa have gone to office (thats assuming Papa is in Bombay - given he is never around half the time), it is only Dadu who is with me. When I am getting my morning massage and if I am howling too much, he will sit near me and make me laugh. He will play the tabla or make all sorts of noises to entertain me and keep my attention diverted.

He is usually around till 1130-12 in the morning and often will be playing with me or roaming around with me. Sometimes, when he is working I simply stroll around his room and computer keeping myself busy with the number of interesting things there - his briefcase, some papers, mobile phone, etc. He is not as strict as Mummy or Papa and does let me play with these things a bit.

In case I am in another room or in the other end of the house, I can often hear his voice on the phone and his loud laughter. That tells me he is around and I can be re-assured and do my own stuff.

Among the best times with Dadu are the meal times. I would have already had some food of my own (that's if you can call it food!!). I walk (crawl really) up to him and stand up holding him, beseeching him to pick me up and make me sit on his lap. Dadu will promptly do so and then the feast begins. I will then get whatever sweets are there in the house - laddu, halwa, etc - and other interesting things like bhujia, daal-fulka, daal-rice, etc. And yes, these last two are certainly still interesting (you haven't tried the food I eat!!).

In the evening, post dinner, when everyone is watching TV I usually hang around playing with my things. If I am tired or just want to relax and watch some TV, off I go to Dadu again. He will perch me on his tummy (now you know why the round build is important ;) and I can be very cozy and comfortable there while i catch up on some silly weepy soap or just get to know what's happening around the world.

Very often, you will find me fast alseep on this comfy bed.. ooops.. Dadu... of mine.

Quite chatpata.. on the contrary..

Just saw the movie called 'Chini Kum.' Quite liked it actually. Thought it was a rather good treatment of what could have been a potentially serious topic. Its amazing how a lot of really dry humour, treated well, can make for great entertainment. The attitude.. well the last time I saw so much attitude was before Surabhi and I got engaged!!

The star of the movie is Sexy, a 6 year old girl suffering from blood cancer (the dreaded disease) with her light, easy-going and nearly tapori style (even though she is living in London) and her completely dry banter with Amitabh ('B'). Her banter is well interspersed with some very serious (though not at all melodramatic as they are treated in the same light, easy-going manner) which ensures that you never forget that this is about people and lives and mundane mortal effects. Why they chose to call her something so random is totally beyond me! I guess it is just a sign of the times wherein the S*X word had to be thrown in a few times for general effect.

B and Tabu do a fantastic job as the oddly-aged (64 years and 34 years), oddly matched, yet made for each other couple who start off on a completely wrong footing and then figure out a way to fall in love through their ego-tussles and dry humour. Paresh Rawal, as Tabu's 58 year old father (6 younger than B) is as always outstanding. His protrayal of a father outraged at the notion of his daughter wanting to marry a man twice her age (and older than himself) is very natural and brilliant.

The other star of the movie is screenplay. I have not come across so much of attitude in one place for a long long time (probably never after college). The screenplay (and the delivery ofcourse) redefines dry humour.

Some other highlights of the movie -

• B's version of how the water level in the Thames is higher than normal as all the relatives of the fish (that Tabu is trying to eat) are crying.
• B telling Paresh that he wants to marry Paresh's daughter, when both of them are doing some male bonding... peeing...
• B's attempt to say sorry to Tabu for having insulted her for no fault of hers, and his staff's imitation of him...
• Zohra Sehgal (playing B's mother) - her constant nagging of Big B for not going to the gym and her poison tongue, not to forget her bhangra at the end when Paresh agrees to Tabu marrying B.
• Paresh Rawal's reference to B's age everytime he tries to tell Paresh that he wants to marry his daughter
• B purchasing Adult DVDs appropriate for a child's viewing (basically all action and horro movies and no sex ones)
• Tabu asking B the question that every guy and girl need to ask each other at some point, and the question which usually the guy initiates - "What is your name?"
• B and Tabu's names for each other - 'tangdi kabab' and 'ghaas phoos'

'Chini Kum' is such a far cry from another recent B movie of a 50 year old falling for an 18 year old. 'Chini Kum' probably uses the S*X word a lot many more times than the other one, and it also has its own set of sexual innuendos, again probably more of them than the other one. Yet, Chini Kum does not qualify to be even 1% as much vulgar as the other one and certainly does not raise my hackles. Just for the record, I have not been as angry for a long long time as I was as I watched the other one.

On the flip side, the movie ends rather weak and in a completely chiched manner. B does a great job as a 64 year old who has suddenly found love in his life, but is not half as impressive as this star chef who runs the best Indian restaurant in London. To be honest, the second half drags quite a bit as well.

Despite these weaknesses, its a must watch movie. For Sexy, B, Tabu, the screenplay and the title song that is extremely catchy and hummable.

To BA or not to BA...

This morning, a United Airways non-stop flight from Washington to Beijing (UA 897) had to make an emergency landing at Dulles as soon after take-off, one of the four engines was found to have failed. Fortunately, for the passengers, the pilot was rational enough to not try and make the journey, even though technically the aircraft is apparently capable of doing so with three engines as well.

Incidents like these do give a bit of jolt to the notion that air travel is the safest form of travel (even though apparently there are statistics to back this claim). What is worse is that apparently events of engine failure are not very uncommon, only that often the common public is not aware of it.

One such incident which showed the complete callousness of the airline industry was the British Airways flight from Los Angeles to London in early 2005. The flight lost one of its four engines soon after take off, but was forced to continue on its journey to London by the BA's control center in London.

The flight had to travel at a lower altitude of 29,000 feet instead of the regular 36,000 feet resulting in lower engine efficiency, unfavourable tailwinds and extra drag. As a result of all this the plane consumed much more fuel that is normal. As a result the aircraft was not left with enough fuel to go all the way to London and had to make an emergency landing at Manchester.

After the incident, the BA spokesman stated that the decision to continue with the flight was made keeping in mind the best interests of the passengers. I am wondering what these best interests would be!! Maybe it would be the adventure of flying on 3 engines instead of four for a transcontinental flight. Or maybe, it was the thrilling prospect of running out of fuel over the Atlantic. Little did the passengers know that they paid not just for the transatlantic flight ticket but also signed up for one of the most thrilling rides of their lives.

This callousness is shocking to say the least. The passengers were lucky that despite the fuel shortage they were able to make it to Manchester. Imagine a situation if they ran out of fuel sometime during the 5,000 mile Atlantic crossing!!!

The real reason for BA's decision was most likely the fact that only three days ago a new European regulation came into force which required airlines to pay compensation to passengers for delays beyond 5 hours. BA was simply trying to save this money. Its a different matter that it nearly jeopardised passenger safety and still ended up with more than a 5 hour delay!!

By the way, in case you are wondering why I am suddenly so concerned about this, well.. I am about to board a flight from San Fransisco to London and then London to Mumbai. And the carrier I am flying with is none other than BA.

God speed..

Jet-tisonned again.. almost..

This is the second fiasco I have had with Jet Airways in the last 15 or so days and the third with airlines in general in the last 4 weeks.

Background - I was taking a 21:45 hours flight from Mumbai to Ahmedabad on May 8th, 2007. The idea was to avoid taking the early morning flight at 5:30 hours and thereby avoid killing oneself just a wee-bit.

Situation - Reached the airport well in time. Terribly tired and sleepy. Among the first few to board the aircraft and take my seat. Wanted to sleep as mucha s I could on the plane.

Complication - The aircraft taxied to the runway. Spent a few minutes waiting for the queue to clear up in front of us. Just as we came to our turn for take-off, the pilot figured out there was some technical snag and in his wisdom decided that we needed to go back to the parking bay where they could figure out the problem.

All this while I was 75% asleep and as only vaguely aware of the pilot making the announcement that we were going back to the parking bay. Guess somewhere in this process I fell off to sleep for a while and did not have a sense of the time and activities around me.

Woke up around 22:30 and realised that we were still sitting in the parking bay. Saw a few passengers and ground staff milling around the entrance of the aircraft. Suddenly realised that we should have been landing in Ahmedabad around this time. Instead I was sitting inside the aircraft, on the tarmac at Bombay airport.

Instinct was to get up and raise a bit of a ruckus to figure out what the problem was, but I was feeling far too lazy and sleepy to do so. Hence just sat around with my eyes half open and listened to the conversations happening around me.

After another few minutes the delay started to get my goat. My mis-fortune could not get so much the better of myself!!! So I got up and started enquiring what the issue was and whether or not we would be leaving for Ahmedabad anytime soon.

The flight steward had no clue. All he could say was - "Sir, the Captain is looking into the matter and is trying his best."

Me - "Can you please ask him to make an announcement and give us some clarity on what is happening and what we can expect?"

Steward - "Sir, I have told him. He is trying his best Sir."

Me - "I am sure he is trying his best. I am only asking for some clarity on the situation. How much more delay can we expect? Should I go home and sleep or hang around here?"

Steward - "Sir, the delay is unavoidable considering your safety and security. The Captain is trying his best. I do not want to distrub him."

Huge glare from me...

Steward - "Sir, I will tell the Captain again."

Five minutes later, there is still no clarity and no movement.

Me - "Hello..."

Steward - "Sir, the Captain is looking into the matter and is trying his best."

Another huge glare from me...

Steward - "Sir, I have told him."

Me - "So??"

Steward - "Sir.. Captain says we are waiting for some paperwork and we should be ready to leave in 5 mins."

A bit mollified, I go and sit on my seat.

In between all this drama, one of the passengers has decided to get off the plane and go home. As a result, the ground staff now wants each passenger to identify his/her hand baggage. Lots of grunts and murmurings as the pained junta does not want to be pained any more. Some raise their voice and so on. The ground staff takes the position that it is DGCA rules and they cannot avoid it. So like good Indians, we all resign to our fate and allow the ground staff to do their bit.

Soon enough the Captain makes an announcement that we are ready to leave. All of us breathe a sigh of relief and buckle up.

Resolution: We take off finally and land at Ahmedabad shortly after midnight. So much for taking the night flight and not missing out on sleep!!

If this was an isolated incident, maybe I can wouldn't have been worried as much. But here I see a design, quite sinister and quite fearful. Here's what it is -

• First time this delay business happened with Indian Airlines - I was still inside the terminal building at Ahmedabad.
• Second time the technical snag delay happened, this time on Jet at Bangalore, I had boarded the bus to go to the flight.
• Third time it happened (this episode), I was on the plane, ready for take off...
• Next time.. on the plane, in mid-air and nowhere to go....

Keshav is unwell

Last 3-4 days the poor kid has not been very well. He has been very restless, is not sleeping soundly and is also not taking his feed properly. On top of that, once a day he has been puking out the feed as well.

As a result he himself has become a bit cranky and miserable. Keeps making grunting noises every few minutes and is crying a lot more than before.

Doc says its probably a bit of a gastric problem and shall go away in a few days. Till it does, its rather miserable to see such a small kid go through so much discomfort.

Babies cry

From babycenter.com


Babies cry. There's no way to avoid it — it's one way they communicate. Since your baby can't flat out tell you, you may worry, "How will I know what she wants?" It can be difficult at first, but a large part of parenting is trial and error and you'll soon learn to anticipate her needs, read her cues, and wipe away her tears. Here are the most common reasons babies cry. If your little one is wailing, work your way down the list and chances are you'll find something that helps.

How can I tell why my baby is crying?

• He's hungry
• He needs a fresh diaper
• He's too cold or hot
• He wants to be held
• He can't take it anymore
• He doesn't feel good
• None of the above

Tough being a parent man...

What Movies??

I suddenly realized today that I do not even know which movies have released over the last 15 days and which are the ones slated for release soon. This is such a change from the past when I would know the big realeases in advance and would discuss with Surabhi on Wed/Thu as to which movie we should be going for over the weekend.

Guess I shall have to start keeping more in touch with the DVD Libraries as I think they will be the primary source of all new and old movies for us for a while.

Just one of the small/big changes that our lives are undergoing after Keshav’s arrival.