Behram Contractor

Got 4 books of the "Round and About" collections by Behram Contractor a.k.a. Busybee, from the Strand Book Festival. Was hooked to the columns the moment I started reading them. The man truly loves (oops! loved!!) Bombay.

Every column of his is extremely simple, yet it easily conveys to the reader the complexity of this great megapolis. Busybee lovingly describes the sumptuous lunches he's had at the various restaurants that dot the city, the places where he's had a haircut for a rupee, the BEST buses he's travelled in, the cricket fever that gripped the city whenever Gavaskar and later, Tendulkar came in to bat in a Test. Mind you, these are not at all posh places. They are simple joints which you and me might well have visited as kids. In fact, I still visit some of the places he mentions, near my office (RBI HQ) in Fort.

Every page of his collections invokes mixed feelings in me. On one hand, there is pride that this city, however it may progress, shall never ever lose its spirit and charm. On the other hand, there is disappointment that I never read Busybee's columns when he actually wrote them. It would have been nice to live Bombay through his eyes. Hmm....maybe, it was meant to be this way. I guess I can now see a more modern aspect of Bombay. An aspect, I am sure, Busybee would have been proud to witness.

Strand Book Exhibition

Went last Sunday to the greatest book exhibition in Bombay. I certainly wasn't disappointed. The Strand lived up to its name. All sorts of books could be found. You just had to have the tenacity to look closely. Come to think of it....only a book lover can call anything related to the Strand, good. Just a couple of weeks ago, I had a discussion with my friend, RR regarding this. To know what I mean, you just need to visit their store once and you will understand.

The easiest thing to do would be to walk upto the manager and ask him for the book you want. But, I think its more fun to just go through their large collection and chance upon that dream book of yours suddenly, out of the blue. The reason for this is that their collection never seems to be sorted as per any particular category. They are just stored on the shelves, higgeldy-piggeldy. Now, this is not to point fingers at the store management in any way, no Siree. Its just that I like it that way. :-)

But now, look at the situation from the point of view of a person who reads books occasionally and visits the store to buy just that one particular book he wants, nothing else. Would he have the time to go through the entire collection of the store, just to find his book? In most cases, I think not. This is where behemoths like Crossword come in. The occasional reader I mentioned above can walk in over here and just ask the desk clerk for his book. Then, he either gets it within two minutes, or he doesn't get it at all. Simple!!!

That's why I feel that both types of bookstores are necessary in a city like Bombay. It allows the customer to exercise his choice. As for me, Strand wins hands down.

The Bombay Chronicles No. 7

Well...quite a long time since I last wrote a post here. That's because there has been nothing much of note happening here in office. The only good thing is that I only have to commute for 15 minutes, as opposed to the one hour I used to take earlier.

Work is beginning to get more and more hectic. The silver lining is that I go to office at a leisurely 1 pm. That suits me fine. I am slowly beginning to settle down into the daily office grind. Whew!!! Scary, but true!!!

Kalyug - A Review

Went to watch Kalyug with friends on Sunday. Nice and plain movie. The makers have made a commendable attempt to expose the porn mafia through the sob story of a simple youth living in Bombay. The guy finds his plain jane heroine and jet-sets for a honeymoon. Now, the trouble starts. Some pervert films our lead pair's passionate lovemaking and uploads the video onto a notorious site. Police come after the couple and the wife commits suicide partly out of shame and partly to avoid testifying against her husband. Then, our hero goes hammer and tongs after the villains.

The movie holds water only because it has a semblance of a story. The acting performances are nothing to write home about. Kunal Khemu, the child actor makes his debut as a hero but stays wooden throughout the film. Ashutosh Rana makes you hate him, but just about. Amrita Singh, as the porn mafia head, is good and carries off the role easily. However, the surprise package of the film is Emraan Hashmi. I never thought I would say this, but he provides the much needed humour in the grim film. The film would have been much more ordinary if he was not present.

Finally, the film works because it attempts to address such a pressing problem in today's world. The use of relatively unknown faces also adds to the realism. All in all, a decent effort.