tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30170324389189992202011-12-14T21:36:55.330ZPickled thoughts on culture, media and a bit of everything melittle green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.comBlogger911100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-10774253150684223882011-12-14T21:36:00.000Z2011-12-14T21:36:55.338Z

Free TVs for votes, free fans for no votes, flip-flop politics and missing polity - there's little about recent politics that isn't greeted with cynicism or disgust. At a recent debate on NDTV's We The People about an increasingly dysfunctional Parliament, one of the suggestions made to end the mammoth quibbles and get things done, was to allow MPs to vote on (most) policy matters independently

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-66053433719331783472011-12-03T21:12:00.001Z2011-12-03T21:12:14.579Z

Got to watch about three hours of top class snooker at the World Snooker Championship 2011 finals in Bangalore. It's been a while since doing something new has been so much fun. It was a pleasure to watch the two players be so precise, patient and meticulous. The angles and straight lines their bodies formed with the table and cue made for a stunning sight. Beautiful. More photos if I can get

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-67596331411969006752011-10-01T08:26:00.000+01:002011-10-01T08:26:21.107+01:00

A torn backpack even before I boarded the connecting flight was the extent of my worries when on holiday to Sikkim. Then the earthquake hit. Yes, I felt it and yes, things shook. Shopping in Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim, that Sunday evening, I later learnt that I was just 64 km from the epicentre of the earthquake that measured 6.8 on the Richter scale. A day later and we might have been at

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-42979857713904290452011-08-09T22:32:00.000+01:002011-08-09T22:32:47.544+01:00

All news these days seems bad and sad and personal. And here I am sitting warm and far away from everywhere the things are falling apart. Emotions and opinions forming and changing with every text/tweet/IM/update that hits closer to home, all the while switching tabs to watch the hottest new DJ cat. No, there's never a numbness; just a feeling of helplessness at the inability to find the words

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-86019891854428903742011-07-07T22:26:00.001+01:002011-07-07T22:31:15.582+01:00

My romance with Mills & Boon started somewhere in class 9 or 10, with the first book I read in between studying for exams. For someone with a proclivity then to get lost between the covers of story books, M&B made for convenient exam time reading - it gave me my everyday fix of fiction, but nothing fizzy enough to distract me from pages of fractions or history facts. So, when I read that "

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-84324598115703623272011-06-16T20:54:00.002+01:002011-06-16T21:41:26.697+01:00

I spend my evenings - six days a week - at work at a newspaper, labouring lovingly over news copy that, I am acutely aware, will only be served cold with someone's morning coffee.   Considerable time and effort goes into making a newspaper. A bunch of reporters, photographers, sub editors and editors are working odd and/or long hours, following a tradition of news gathering and dissemination

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-59626132953150653612011-04-27T09:20:00.001+01:002011-04-27T09:21:37.897+01:00

An oft repeated statement about social networking sites is that putting up any personal information online is an automatic renunciation of privacy. "If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place," former Google CEO Eric Schmidt famously said. However, using the many benefits of sites that encourage sharing personal information

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-29187606795909636382010-11-26T14:03:00.000Z2010-11-26T14:03:07.542Z

On November 11, Paul Chambers, an accountant from UK, lost an appeal against a conviction and £1000 fine for a flippant comment made on Twitter that the judge thought was a “menace” and a realistic threat. Taking up against what is definitely a dangerous legal precedent in the exercising of the freedom of speech and expression – heck, even humour or ill-tempered grumbling – online, thousands

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-12653325239425516232010-11-26T08:05:00.000Z2010-11-26T08:05:19.741Z

A story that provides opportunities for food tasting is always welcome. Especially if it involves eating Bangalore's famous K.C. Das rossogollas. I came back in a good mood, and with a matka full of rossogollas. They were polished off, the matka washed and dried, long before the story made it to print. See? Empty. The story as it appeared in The Hindu, November 25, 2010. (It's a pity

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-20494465716083197702010-11-06T12:27:00.000Z2010-11-06T12:27:15.125Z

It's taken me a while to post this: My story, as it appeared in The Hindu, October 14, 2010. This has been one of my favourite assignments so far. Sunalini Menon, coffee taster, founder of Coffeelabs and, as the article says, "quality control expert" is a charming lady. Her workshop/ lab was absolutely fascinating as well. Take a peek at the items behind her in the (unfortunately tiny) photo

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-21203910335454741662010-09-17T21:29:00.004+01:002010-09-17T22:15:30.311+01:00

At around 11 p.m. the other night, I chanced upon a Kannada movie shoot. Murali meets Meera I understand In the middle of a large ground near home, with elaborate Ganesh pandals in their full shimmering glory in the background, was a small crew filming about 20 seconds worth of a dance sequence. It was fascinating, because it was so typical. A really pretty, fair heroine, dressed exactly as

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-88620008635741542172010-08-27T19:47:00.000+01:002010-08-27T19:47:37.673+01:00

If I was still doing the 30 days of music thing, I'd make up a category just to post this one. I love old people and these ones are especially adorable. Jamaican octogenarians singing Rehab.

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-25676171116657423342010-08-12T11:24:00.002+01:002010-08-12T11:29:58.735+01:00

I won't lie, I wasn't too pleased at having to visit the cemetery all by myself. It was for a story for The Hindu, August 12. I wasn't afraid - Zombies, I was sure, would definitely liven up one's life. Rather, it was the quiet, and the feeling that I was intruding, that bothered me. And I don't know what Miss. Manners suggested about walking around final resting places. In retrospect, I

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-49751290153430544262010-08-02T21:47:00.000+01:002010-08-02T21:47:28.163+01:00

My very talented grant aunt Shantha Poti sang at Maya Rao's performances. Years later, a friend, and Ms. Rao's daughter's student taught me a dance with a bit of kathak. So I was glad for the chance to talk to an artist I had heard so much about. The Hindu Neighbourhood article - 8 July 2010

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-11492547966753836192010-08-02T21:23:00.001+01:002011-11-25T20:22:56.166Z

"One part business, two parts design, a handful of ideas and a lot of garbage." Update: After weeks of struggling to find a way to put this online, I come across a link to access the article on The Hindu website.  A few weeks ago, I met Poonam Bir Kasturi, the woman behind Daily Dump, for an article. This is what came out of it. Jul-22-pdf She was an extremely passionate person,

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-30009598804579236382010-07-10T21:17:00.000+01:002010-07-10T21:17:43.809+01:00

I'm sure this half-month worth of a reasonably wide variety of songs has killed any "expectations" behind my song choices. So much for any rep I imagined I had. But I do like this song, and I believe I'm in the minority here. Elvis impersonators, shiny lights, hilarious lyrics (Oh bol-e bol-e why did-e you ditch me), a spunky bride (you go, girl!), in an altogether unexpected musical break in

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-73555199839756326222010-07-09T21:49:00.000+01:002010-07-09T21:49:40.905+01:00

It takes a brave person to agree with Mum without being ordered to do. Especially if Mum belongs to the 70s and has questionable tastes. I think I used the love affair between Mum and the Swedish quartet to develop what I hoped would be biting sarcasm to hold me in good stead in my growing years. I got pretty good at the eye roll and the eye roll while simultaneously saying Lay-ame. But I

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-89898503310381879312010-07-01T20:55:00.000+01:002010-07-01T20:55:05.334+01:00

This one. I have two CDs of this artist, which I have been trying to get rid of for years but they just find their way back. Like a Monkey's Paw one just can't get away from. Grammy-shmammy. But why devote a whole post to a boring song, you ask. (Well, I ask, but the question remains.) A lot of this 30 Days of Music stuff is rather rubbish. Like the attempting to finish-this-in-30-

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-49923548857153710472010-06-10T22:17:00.001+01:002010-06-10T22:23:40.121+01:00

Alternate title: Why I love Lady Gaga I haven't stepped onto a dance floor in the last two years without having this song playing. It's a great song to make up awkward dance steps for as you go along. (Those are the best kind, no?) And I have nothing but the fondest of memories of friends in different states of sobriety doing so. But there's so much more to this song, and indeed to Lady Gaga

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-40764028288126329732010-06-08T22:00:00.001+01:002010-06-08T22:01:41.277+01:00

Oh I give up on Day 7, which must be day 17 by now. Day 8 however, brings back memories of a diary I kept for song lyrics. (No need to go looking, I burnt it once I stopped getting high on scented markers.) There were four songs in there, which remain the songs I know all the words to. The ignominy of naming said songs would be too much, and hence, I decline to do so except under duress. What

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-56719676505623366652010-06-07T21:07:00.005+01:002010-06-07T21:28:00.350+01:00

If you're allowed poetic license, USE IT, methinks. I just finished wiping my tears after watching this week's episode of Doctor Who (Vincent and the Doctor). It was great - touching, good pace, fine acting, entertaining. And it was also exactly what I'd like a 'story' to be. The episode was - bear with me for a minute - one of those historical episodes where the Doctor and Amy travel back in

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-90804141157401577682010-05-27T21:48:00.002+01:002010-05-27T22:00:51.501+01:00

I've spent two days thinking about my entry for '30 days of music - Day 7: a song that reminds me of a certain event'. With little success. (What with all these distractions) Sure there were lots of school dances, holidays, parties, fooling around times that had memorable soundtracks-for-the-day. But posting any one of those would be needless, pointless oversharing. What would also be

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-54359735688338789582010-05-24T22:25:00.000+01:002010-05-24T22:25:28.114+01:00

I was looking forward to this. I was heading back home after an awesome Snow Patrol concert at the magnificent 02. The Jubilee Line traversed the city, emptying itself of its late-evening passengers on platforms waiting for a long day to end. I made the 45-minute journey from East London to West, sat by myself, amidst the crumpled free-sheets. And all that time, this was the refrain in my

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-4917401589182930192010-05-23T21:22:00.003+01:002010-05-23T21:28:34.886+01:00

It was crazy for a few days. I was humming this song, D was humming this song, this dude Jude was playing in the city, D was sitting in a concert a couple of seats away from music-boy Jude, the radio was playing Hey Jude way too often, Media Player pulled out Jude on shuffle at the precise moment D popped up online, at least twice, it was FREAKY, it was official - Paul Was Dead and he was

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-80229498789112453202010-05-23T20:50:00.001+01:002010-05-23T21:39:29.086+01:00

Can I skip this one? (Groan) Okay, let's be done with this. This one. Because.

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-34994674578790069412010-05-17T21:09:00.001+01:002010-05-17T21:10:40.405+01:00

A song about an evil genius in love. What's not to love? If a smart musically inclined bloke made a half-pony half-monkey monster to please me and ruined a pony making a gift for me, I'd be willing to put aside rather strong ideals of animal activism and be happy. Jonathan Coulton is pure genius. He makes me happy because his music is nothing like what I've grown up being told 'music' is.

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-20177441854349040282010-05-16T21:32:00.001+01:002010-05-29T10:50:24.861+01:00

(I think I missed a day. Wonderful start, yes.) Least favourite song. Hmm. I could choose 87% of the Top 40 (any country really, based on radio plays and requests and probably iTunes downloads) because they're all just a depressing reflection of the lack of imagination or talent in the 'music industry' today.... Or, I could condemn a whole genre that's lame, immature, disrespectful or

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-17483550398538747152010-05-14T22:14:00.002+01:002010-05-17T20:49:05.640+01:00

There's this internet meme going around that I thought would be fun to be part of. Y'know, one song posted everyday for 30 days, to fit a description. Pretty simple stuff really. Why would I do that, you ask? Well: Because I like music and I like arranging music into lists more Because I really need to make more of an effort into completing my writing and posting on my blog everyday. (3 posts

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-56212282115562746692010-03-28T21:56:00.002+01:002010-03-28T21:59:09.059+01:00

I voted because: I want to feel part of the governance of a nation, part of the System you could even say. I don't want to have to refer to "the System" pretentiously, contemptuously, or apathetically. I don't want it to be a dirty word. I'm saying I'm willing to take responsibility for my nation.  These were the local body - Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) - elections.  Which is why

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-55637273234990156582010-02-18T19:15:00.004Z2010-02-18T19:41:24.336Z

Another civic story done and dusted. And this one has my voice on it. This piece is about the Namma Metro construction along MKK Road in my side of Bangalore. (Why, thank you, I know I sound lovely!) Apart from giving me a chance to fiddle with sound and to stare for hours at audio squiggles (oh joy!), there's some learning that the experience brought - There're so many civic issues in

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-57804228263456383532010-02-05T14:32:00.001Z2010-02-05T14:33:19.716Z

I've had the chance to get involved in civic issues and do a bit of reporting recently. The hunt for my first story in Bangalore took me to Tannery Road, where I spoke to residents and property owners protesting road widening along the stretch. Here's the story on Citizen Matters - Tannery Road businesses strike out at TDR  Coming up...the real story behind the story.  From Our Own

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-84542614424636907992009-12-13T12:00:00.003Z2009-12-13T12:07:17.415Z

Facebook posts on Google and Woods soon on Oprah. Are we being pressured to give up our privacy? Two recent and unconnected events may have very well defined the expectation of privacy that we take into 2010 and put a greater economic as well as moralistic premium on sharing personal information. On 10 December, social media network Facebook rolled out changes in its privacy policy. With the

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-55956538059045412862009-11-18T16:29:00.001Z2009-11-18T16:32:12.114Z

I thought the drama of F1 would end with the Abu Dhabi spectacle earlier this month. For someone who has followed the sport for well over a decade now, this is naive, shameful and plain stupid, and I apologise. The 2009 Formula1 season may be over, and the celebratory champagne barely dry, but the motorsport news desks would rarely be busier. New teams, old teams with new names and new colours,

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-85759443547022874122009-11-07T15:13:00.004Z2009-11-07T15:18:09.428Z

Last week, I watched This is It. While the MJ plaudits may be taken for granted, this post is not about the genius that Michael Jackson was. It’s about how much I enjoyed the experience of watching a ‘concert’ on a large screen, eating popcorn and having the music sound better than ever before. I love my music, and I know my music largely as a result of exposure to both licensed and unlicensed

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-6293818307853997242009-11-02T17:51:00.001Z2009-11-02T17:52:57.531Z

Look who got a cool 500 words to write about herself in the paper.  Education Times Bangalore, The Times of India, 2 Nov, 09. Note that I also got not one, but two pictures. Neither of them embarrassing. (Have a friend who picked one for me and Photoshop that did the rest, to thank for that.) Also note the quote that makes the headline.  I'll admit - it's not just Mum that thinks I'm a

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-19704503970798489622009-10-19T19:56:00.003+01:002009-10-19T20:13:26.374+01:00

I threw away my Bon Jovi poster. The first love of my life is now lying with his pretty face in old news print.  It was faded, frayed, spotty, stained, and ... old. It had been an indulgent gift from caring friends that I treasured almost as much as JBJ CDs. The poster was about shared fantasies, dreams, conversations, and stories with friends. But it was dusty and so were the memories. It all

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-79503173371095494372009-09-07T01:38:00.000+01:002009-09-07T01:38:40.970+01:00

I've been harping on on my website*  about the cultural worth of DIY media, and about innovative independent music business models. But as we move beyond basic 2.0, I correct myself: do-it-yourself media eventually should give way to do-it-together media.  That was no brain-wave. I stole that thought from a website of Unconvention, an initiative that claims to do exactly that for the "grassroot

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-47937554968865668732009-09-06T16:12:00.005+01:002009-09-06T19:35:16.686+01:00

1. Free culture - Creative Mind project - the website I built as my final masters project and the purpose of my existence since April.Still trying to fix IE formatting issues. (Any web developers reading this know where I'm going wrong?)I've had some great feedback, I've met more smart people and my Twitter feed is getting hard to keep up with.2. Various distractions.Sleep....Erm........Well...Oh

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-66518039946942844022009-08-18T12:27:00.008+01:002009-08-18T16:33:00.406+01:00

More from the how-do-you-write-this-with-a-straight-face department.This from the science correspondent of the BBC. Brilliantly done. I'm sceptical here, but I commend these researchers for brightening up my dull day. This is how the story starts:If zombies actually existed, an attack by them would lead to the collapse of civilisation unless dealt with quickly and aggressively.If. Well no harm in

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-35461157531328092162009-07-29T19:09:00.007+01:002009-08-17T18:35:39.165+01:00

Update - As my friend Aakanksha says: Or not.It's been three years since one of the greatest, if not the greatest F1 driver retired from the sport, but it's now time to bring out the old refrain. Michael Schumacher Forever.Ferrari has announced that the seven time world champion will come out of retirement to step into Filipe Massa's seat for the next race.Massa fractured his skull at the

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-89355892018829298052009-07-28T22:21:00.004+01:002009-07-28T22:44:02.284+01:00

I love a compliment just as much as the next girl, so when it was the national newspaper telling me what my mirror tells me an average of 19 days a month, of course I was flattered.According to The Times,Scientists have found that evolution is driving women to become ever more beautiful, while men remain as aesthetically unappealing as their caveman ancestors.Of course, I knew that this is one

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-59694477020576205822009-07-15T22:45:00.004+01:002009-07-15T22:58:39.491+01:00

Once in way, a story comes along that you can't read without smiling an amused smile.But imagine how the person writing this story of a smoker's quadrillion dollar credit card crisis must have laughed. (Laughed at, not with.)He (this smoker) thought he would be a couple of hundred dollars in the black. But his overdraft had pushed him into the red - by an amount equivalent to many times the

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-63883519968057672102009-07-04T01:19:00.007+01:002009-07-15T23:07:59.534+01:00

Like there was any doubt as to what would happen if Buffy the Vampire Slayer met Edward Cullen (cue contemptuous sneer) of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight.Remix artist and self confessed pop-culture hacker Jonathan McIntosh brings together the icons of vampire fiction in this great political remix.(To be fair, maybe we shouldn't call Twilight 'vampire fiction' and even bother comparing the two; as a

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-3843274393635719362009-06-30T10:17:00.010+01:002009-06-30T11:08:30.757+01:00

The world's largest bit torrent tracker and the symbol of Internet anarchy is going corporate. The Pirate Bay has confirmed the news it is being acquired by Swedish software company Global Gaming Factory X AB for the equivalent of $7.8 million.TPB crew claim that this is in the best interest of innovation, an ideal they've always claimed to stand for."If the new owners will screw around with the

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-59620666048373551982009-06-17T00:28:00.004+01:002009-06-17T01:02:19.110+01:00

In journalism school, one of the first of the inexact sciences we learn is the prioritisation of news.There's local, national, international, sports and entertainment news to juggle (with breaking news of Madonna's divorce of course changing everything).I've spent a lot of time this past year hearing about how the future of the media is in local, highly personalised news. Reams have also been

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-62114733849269585722009-06-04T22:43:00.004+01:002009-06-04T22:57:41.491+01:00

Despite an apparent increase in readership (thank you folks for reading!), I'm afraid this blog is going to fail to contribute greatly to fruitful discussion or bringing about world peace (glad someone at least has that all figured out).Until I finish my final project at least (all about free culture and creativity and art and y'know, stuff) I might find this an especially convenient place to

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-69868433440410122802009-06-02T00:33:00.005+01:002009-06-02T00:59:34.819+01:00

00:35It's been a long day. So shoot me for wanting a bit of peace and quiet before I put on my jammies and crash for the night.I said shoot me. Not blow my head to bits with the incessant shrieking of six minute fire alarms every five minutes.(Make it stop, plEAse!!!)Where's the fire I ask you?Nobody uses the kitchens to cook anyway - at least not since they were turned into refugee camps thanks

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-76832181418788425132009-05-28T00:26:00.004+01:002009-05-28T01:12:58.483+01:00

Barcelona 2 - 0 Man UtdThis was supposed to be one of the best United team ever, if not the best. One that took the fight to Beautiful Barca.So after a day of high anticipation, it was disappointing (okay crushingly heart-breaking) to see them outplayed so. Especially after a stellar season that deserved more.But instead of saying what's been said in every pub from South Korea to South Ken with

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-85370228090034223412009-05-27T16:27:00.003+01:002009-05-30T16:01:17.410+01:00

I finished re- reading Free Culture by (well,) free culture cheerleader Lawrence Lessig.*Just in time to hear old arguments from the entertainment industry all over again. This time, it's Sony Pictures Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton dissing the internet for ruining the industry.This post is not arguing what he says. That's what TechDirt did brilliantly.I'm just here to take exception to this:

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-81186601356388550932009-05-15T01:49:00.004+01:002009-05-15T02:08:33.997+01:00

It never ceases to surprise me, how many options a fast Internet connection offers for distraction and procrastination.This is what happens when I put my blog into wordle.net, the winner of the Best Use of Typography award at the Webby Awards 2009.Wordle created a tag cloud of the most commonly used words in my blog.Really? These? How awfully dull. Little green mango might just decide to go down

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-70034383420424343292009-05-12T01:49:00.014+01:002009-05-12T02:57:55.728+01:00

I found myself at the Science museum, London this weekend, for two very interesting exhibitions.First - a newly opened exhibit on F1 technology in everyday life.I was missing the race at Barcelona anyway, and this was my way of consoling myself. The technology on display, which included millimetre-thin dining tables, wheelchairs and high-tech fishing lines, is a far cry from the 'everyday' that

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-52023389305674268292009-04-29T07:23:00.005+01:002009-04-29T07:40:57.605+01:00

This is a piece I worked on...well...during Christmas last year. It's been lying about in my drawer all these months, and I just found a good programme to convert DVD to MOV (till now, it was more trouble than a two minute piece is worth) so here it is.All those lights, on almost all day, got us wondering if light pollution was an issue. (But they just look so pretty!!)

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-21922421978204911462009-04-27T02:54:00.004+01:002009-04-27T03:11:59.827+01:00

After spending 15 hours in front of the computer fixing pixels I think I deserve a distraction.Since I spent the last two hours (and good afternoon last week) trying to figure out how to post feeds of this very blog you are so kindly reading, I figured I might as well see the fruits of my labour. Hence this post.Of course weaving all those dreams (the aforementioned 15-hour workday excuses the

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-46018865921300822242009-04-25T00:02:00.005+01:002009-04-25T00:48:32.557+01:00

With Twitter mania adding to the already established popularity of Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and all those Google apps, the line between information and too-much-information gets another shade murkier.While I voluntarily (for the most part) put up information about myself, scores of private and public organisations are collecting more information about what I do, the choices I make and my

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-60406116123254400222009-04-21T00:07:00.005+01:002009-04-21T00:29:51.064+01:00

Earlier this month, my colleagues and I worked on a 7 minute documentary for a video project.We picked to follow the story of the Torriano, a quaint little pub in Kentish Town, North London.The landlords and lease holders of the place, a young couple, are in a legal battle with the owners of the property, who want to convert part of the pub into flats.It's an interesting case. The next round of

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-10066983484818949882009-04-18T12:16:00.004+01:002009-04-18T13:44:23.711+01:00

Family and friends of us journos don't have it easy.Hounded for contacts, asked to drop everything for the sake of quotes/ soundbytes/ 'expert' opinions.More so for student journalists who just need some camera practice before the real thing. This one's called 'Trains Outside my Window.' Haha. Of course, sometimes in the process, a star is discovered. Thanks for being a sport Salil!

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-37922276373381991422009-04-06T23:37:00.009+01:002009-04-07T00:14:24.011+01:00

An email sitting pretty, read, re-read and treasured - no use pretending I wasn't waiting.Phone calls, long winded and pleasant.A photograph that sparks off hysterical laughter to drown out self-righteous indignation.And everything really is alright.Good memories just make for more :)(Pic: Kriplet and the Rascals.)

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-60461263831895787522009-04-04T03:02:00.005+01:002009-04-04T14:42:02.875+01:00

Now that I'm far from the place I'm used to calling home, once ignored aspects of daily life take on greater importance. Like religion.With essay deadlines staring me in my face and the daunting task of having to eat food I cook myself, it should come as little surprise that I find the need to call on favours from higher powers.But finding a temple I'm comfortable with has turned out to be harder

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-68535525325048806052009-04-02T02:57:00.006+01:002009-04-07T00:18:58.291+01:00

Two things that'll survive as Things Fall Apart - chocolate and happy endings.According to a BBC report, Hollywood has traditionally been quick to employ artistic liberty and liberally sprinkle its annual produce with happy endings during times of gloom.The BBC's calls this 'happyendification' and makes a perfectly pleasant fairy-tale ingredient sound like an embarrassing body condition.Let me

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-69980278061720286602009-03-28T20:14:00.002Z2009-03-28T20:16:45.627Z

Hot chocolate and a cosy bed.Now that's poetry.

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-13629796029785277632009-03-25T00:51:00.004Z2009-04-07T00:20:58.873+01:00

I first saw her from the corner of my eye while I was googling for statistics on coffee production around the world.The slightest of flutters behind a half-demolished stack of papers. Easily buried in the shadows of academia.Distracting me all evening with the shimmer of Meaning.Bolder and bolder as she fluttered around the room.It wasn't easy to entice her onto Microsoft Word untitled-1.docx.

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-5838738340381744762009-03-22T22:08:00.007Z2009-03-23T00:19:25.133Z

It ought to be my dirty little secret, but I owe these books too much to hide the truth.I love the Princess Diaries. All ten of them.I'm quite certainly too old to be in the demographic that the books target, but I remain a sucker for happy endings and I credit them immensely for their significant contribution towards my social and emotional development.Why deny it - I've learnt more about myself

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-45270999390845760602009-03-18T03:08:00.004Z2009-03-18T03:50:48.131Z

Snow Patrol!Still grinning.Amazing seats.Amazing band.Grinning too much to come up with anything more descriptive than 'amazing.' It was an investment well worth making, and it's taking some measure of self control to refrain from pasting lyrics that I have fallen in love with all over again, across all my status messages, tweets and similar stations of online existence. Here's a clip from the

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-20932658209046263612009-03-18T01:11:00.015Z2009-03-25T01:20:56.850Z

So there was this proposed visit to Wimbledon stadium to watch greyhound racing. More school assignments. I knew nothing of this alleged sport I was going to watch. Except that there would be dogs running around a track.As an introduction, our tutor gave us the book he wrote about his short and unfortunate stint as a race dog owner. All I knew at the end of it was that I still couldn't understand

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-84349199231049509742009-03-13T00:44:00.008Z2009-03-13T01:57:10.144Z

The sports journalist has the best job in the world after the Swiss chocolate taster.QPR were playing Sheffield United in London and my first assignment as fancy-shmacy sports hack was to cover this. (Read my report here.) Work at a football match was definitely in itself the benefit of a lifetime of accumulated good karma. But it only got better.I was at a Championship game having paid 22 quid

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-53790934689827890162009-03-08T04:15:00.011Z2009-03-13T00:44:11.179Z

These four wallsA windowDark drapes hang heavily in unfinished blink.Dust colours the unseen painting withinA shadowThen not at all.

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-11937531629730090852009-01-18T01:19:00.001Z2009-01-18T02:29:48.332Z

I am the Little Green Mango and I am Not an Alcoholic.The night starts with a glass of fruit juice. And another. Then I think I can handle a glass of tap water. On the rocks. Just one more.But it always ends the same - drama, drunk friends and someone else's dinner on my dress.It's quite a challenge being a non-drinker at any party or night out.Of course I'm automatically the designated driver -

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-91192349901270080942008-11-03T12:32:00.000Z2008-11-03T21:19:08.076Z

I thought updating your blog three times a day and punching in a new status message on Facebook before the ink even dries on the old one, had there been ink to dry, was the ultimate egotistical exercise. Who’d want to hear about your lame life when I’ve got my own to gripe about?But taking narcissism to a whole new level of grandiosity is the phenomenon of The Book, where every academic worth his

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-23490248343189519402008-10-12T19:55:00.000+01:002008-10-12T20:02:07.158+01:00

So yes, I've been too busy to update this blog.But as always, I've more excuses as I defend myself.It's one thing to fill up white paper. When the paper becomes coloured, the pressures of creativity and relevance are that much stronger.Plus now I hold too many crayons, so much to write about, I don't know which ones to start with, which stories to tell....

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-85298025847891178072008-07-28T18:14:00.000+01:002008-07-28T18:41:00.093+01:00

For a couple of months now, I’ve proudly been wearing an ink blot on my pointer finger, proclaiming to the world that I Voted. But this unabashed display of enthusiasm in the democratic process is slowly growing out (and getting somewhat overshadowed by nail-paint).Just in time, I think. Now I can go back to being an honest, tax-paying citizen who is much too morally superior and, surprisingly,

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-62472579529318784782008-07-16T18:49:00.000+01:002008-07-16T19:01:36.931+01:00

It be time almost to sharpen them pencils and eulogise another rich and fruitful mango season.Sigh.Fortunate for us that a stuffed and satiated stomach makes the heart less heavy.

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-61750593973413994082008-06-18T12:39:00.000+01:002008-06-18T13:25:34.027+01:00

This Euro I find myself more than a little interested in Turkey's fortunes and thinking more than a little fondly about that superlatively sweet and kinda-cute receptionist in that Sultanahmet hotel (with the lift that takes you to floor -3) whose name I could never quite catch, but who now knows, thanks to me, the approximate room rentals in Bangalore two years ago and the Muslim demographics in

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-45647904385287389522008-05-12T19:17:00.000+01:002008-05-18T19:27:38.332+01:00

I needn’t have blamed my family or even swallowed my pride and accepted responsibility for a nearly wasted week – apparently it was all Guruji’s doing. He wanted me to do the course.So I guess more than his garlanded photo was there all along as I walked up to strangers and told them Hello, I Belonged to Them (and then proceeded to volunteer information of where I lived.) And the time when I held

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-49638824011364019552008-05-10T19:16:00.000+01:002008-06-26T14:33:24.131+01:00

I've been learning the Art of Living this last week.For the SECOND time in my short life.Yes - why.As usual, I blame my family. Mum didn't want to go alone, granmum insisted "Journalists need Art of Living," and general consensus was that I'd die cold, alone and out-of-breath in far-away England without Guruji's guidance. Now you can't argue with illogic like that so I went, wishing I was related

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-48593665029285722702008-05-02T13:16:00.003+01:002008-05-02T13:44:31.622+01:00

"For you, a thousand times over!"-The Kite RunnerThat'd be a truly exciting refrain for a life song.

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-19950391236119387812008-05-01T12:51:00.000+01:002008-05-01T13:08:44.487+01:00

One fears that insanity is the rule rather than the exception.One also believes it wise to play by the rules in this case.Quod Erat Demonstrandum.

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-54036859549041570492008-04-17T15:37:00.000+01:002008-04-17T15:45:24.396+01:00

Some fairy tales just come alive.It's easy to ignore too-good-to-be-true when you Know happily-ever-after is around the corner.

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-42150084184009706012007-11-10T06:28:00.000Z2008-05-12T19:28:35.887+01:00

Just when you get yourself ready to pass a perfectly normal evening watching the daily dose of depressing news on the tele, the world surprises you.This was during Ganesh Chaturti and celebrations were taken especially seriously in my neighbourhood. I was used to bumping into a painstakingly constructed pandal around every street corner. The loudspeakers, playing a puzzling mix of bhajans and

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-60617254637109422672007-11-10T05:45:00.001Z2008-05-12T19:29:40.224+01:00

I was so caught up in figuring out why Mir Ranjan Negi would want to have anything to do with Reality Dance shows with as much melodrama as the primetime soaps they've dethroned, that I failed to notice the dangerous effect he was having on my folks. Dad's so inspired by the compliments heaped upon the man week after week despite an evident lack of dancing skills that he now considers it within

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-71293318574278964652007-10-26T12:00:00.000+01:002007-10-26T12:08:14.151+01:00

I was living dangerously, hanging by a single thread of reason.Of course it snapped.I landed on my feet but, to stand and stare at frayed edges.

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-77862246027608430042007-09-01T10:07:00.000+01:002008-05-02T13:46:14.764+01:00

"Oh, no, he'll come back. We all come back. These private little revolutions always die. The compromise is always made...every man does have a star. The star of one's honesty. And you spend your life groping for it, but once it's out it never lights again. I don't think he went very far. He probably just wanted to be alone to watch his star go out..."-All My Sons, Arthur MillerScary thoughts.

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-88420304722789968312007-08-14T15:04:00.001+01:002007-08-14T15:06:05.189+01:00

My train just came in.I left teary Disappointment behind. Doubt sneaked in after Me. After all, we were both Ticketless. Sense and Strength said they'll join me next stop. I hope they aren't late as usual. They said they hoped I've packed enough Faith for the journey. I have. Only I forgot the Patience that goes with it. Guess it's plain ol' Stubbornness that makes me sit back and enjoy the

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-40247640191280868412007-08-03T19:52:00.000+01:002007-08-03T19:53:03.515+01:00

I have thrown not more than three chocolate wrappers and bits of paper on the road, and that too only because I tried to basketball them into the dustbin and failed. But I still can’t escape the ignominy of a carbon footprint. And now, making my already guilt-ridden conscience worse, I have on my head the shame of being responsible for a mountain of cyber litter.Every time they ask me to type in

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-6190382603621460492007-06-22T16:20:00.000+01:002007-06-22T16:23:07.785+01:00

On a normal day, it took Vikki seven minutes to cycle back home after school.Today, he had taken twenty minutes just for half the distance.Chandu Uncle, from behind the billing counter of Chandu and Sons Tiffin and Condiments, was the first to suspect that something was wrong.At first, when he saw Vikki wheeling his cycle along meticulously slowly, he hoped for a profitable and not exactly rare

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-91399903676830006032007-05-22T16:12:00.000+01:002007-05-22T16:14:58.526+01:00

Wisps of smoke are hard to catch.They glimer in the dark.They tantalise.Curling strokesThat slip back into the realm of thought.

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-50189013030069041082007-05-20T16:23:00.000+01:002007-10-31T16:12:18.142Z

8 out of 10 people in the Cool* People list find their names on the list only because they Burned Out, not Faded Away.I could invoke poster-boy for irrefutable iconic falls and tragic loss of Cool, Wacko Jacko and no more, and comfortably rest my case.I could say Britney. But that would be overkill.But think Elvis. If he hadn’t … you know … he’d have been old and fat and doped and selling himself

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-82043626870404799442007-05-11T15:54:00.000+01:002007-05-11T16:16:42.770+01:00

Stopped time slowly ticksA leaky tap's water drips -The phone still didn't ring.

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-76077714501731097542007-05-11T15:30:00.000+01:002008-05-12T19:31:52.306+01:00

It's consoling. That even if the world ends today, somewhere is The King in a pink spaceship to represent the human race.We should however at this juncture hope that nobody else Randomly picks up Dent's (shall we say) ticket to travel first class.

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-26389716572636578222007-05-05T14:32:00.000+01:002008-05-12T19:33:38.797+01:00

One day, somebody in an evidently inebriated state decided to compliment my mother on her ginger juice. Since then, what started out as a culinary experiment has morphed into an exhaustive annual exercise comparable only to her efforts at making tomato ketchup.I’ve tried reasoning with her that ginger is best left in the medicine cupboard, and even then, rarely (if ever) used, but to no

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-86645829365524615132007-05-05T14:09:00.000+01:002007-05-22T16:24:31.766+01:00

Crisp breakfast bread crust crumbled onto his neatly pressed chocolate-striped shirt and tumbled onto his limited edition style 0N5-sepia trousers. Carelessly flicked onto the mahogany and teak custom side table they were done paying for. ("It looks so elegant when burnt ochre evening light fills the room," she said.) Blown onto the pale terracotta floor till they landed like floating dust spots

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3017032438918999220.post-22264322714748127062007-05-05T14:01:00.000+01:002007-05-05T14:03:17.668+01:00

I'll try.Really hard.Honest!

little green mangohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13080992270838566223noreply@blogger.com0