There is one overwhelming reason why I believe in doing good. Nothing bad happens when you get caught.
Kiran Nadar Museum of Art – Please go there, you are not that busy!
May 12th, 2012 
the young bigmouth I am an art idiot and I have never been ashamed of it. I always thought of art as a blank cheque that God gave only to a few. I was angry that I have been slighted and continued to boycott it. I could never see anything in paintings that went for unbelievable amounts of money, Oil, acrylic, pastel or modernist, abstract and naturalistic – they were just one guy’s work. How much worth can there be?
To be honest, my resentment is unfounded. Quite a few of my friends are artists. They are gifted but not rich. Quite a few have given up art and taken up graphic design, packaging design or visualization jobs in ad agencies and IT companies. Thanks to the art mafia or the art entrepreneurs. They hire upcoming artists at fixed salaries and make them work as programmers or construction workers – six days a week, ten hours a day. Their work is sold at premium prices but no one will ever know their name.
So, the life of an artist is not easy, but that did nothing to lessen my anger on being left out. My resentment against artists who do installations is a lot less than those who just paint. They work hard, get their hands dirty in mud, metal or clay, they sweat and they toil just like the rest of us. I don’t mind when they get the big bucks and I don’t mind seeing their work.
And I didn’t mind a bit when my wife dragged me all bloodied to the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art. It’s right behind the Select City Walk mall in Saket, Delhi. Next to the most shamelessly opulent mall in the capital is country’s first private art museum without any directions and signboards. If you don’t know it’s there, you won’t know it’s there which is good in a way.
Entry was free but my wife and me were the only ones present for the first twenty minutes, that on a Saturday afternoon. God, please keep it that way. It’s quite a huge museum and there is some amazing work on display there. Photography was prohibited so I can’t show you anything here, and I don’t possess the power of prose to describe them, so I won’t even try.
I took a few pictures of Subodh Gupta’s Line of Control which was installed outside the museum. But there were quite a few I would happy to pay and click. Above all I remember this one installation which was a mound of concrete with hundreds of coins embedded in it. Mounted within a circle of brass artwork, it was bathed in oil to give it the wet earth look. It looked like an asteroid from Planet Moolah.
Smartliner -11
May 12th, 2012 the young bigmouth Smartliner – 10
April 12th, 2012 the young bigmouth Photographic tour of Corbett. All nature, no tiger.
April 11th, 2012 the young bigmouth Can you imagine a trip to Corbett without the jungle safari, stories about spotting/narrowly missing a tiger and elephant rides etc?
If I tell you that’s exactly what my trip was all about, you will collectively tch tch with all the heartfelt sympathy and wish me luck for the next time. Thank you for your concern but I had a great time during the 51 hours I spent there.
We walked inside the paths inside the resort, we tried to scale the walls (it was prohibited), we slipped through the barbwire and sat on the narrow earth between the fence and the river (it was prohibited), we slept on the grass and read Sue Grafton (me!) and David Miller (my wife), we went outside the resort into the evening darkness, we annihilated the buffet breakfast until they threw us out at gun point, we trekked to the suspension bridge and the Garija temple beyond, we took the longer road back, we drowsed on warm stones, took impromptu dips in the chilling water, we bought silly hats and wore it with pride, we watched the old have a wild time playing mindless games, we got lost in the woods and fought over whose idea it was.
We walked through another resort faking as resident because it had better access to the river, we went into their dining hall and inquired about their buffet too – absolutely shameless on our part but thumbs up to them. As a consolation, we will probably stay there the next time we go. We got a lift from a kind family in a tuktuk who after crossing us twice realised that we are lost. We challenged each other to the Burma Bridge and my wife beat me to it. I realised five feet was too high for my vertigo, wonder how my head stays up there without rolling down every now and then.
Anyhow, here are the photos.
While walking from the suspension bridge to the Garija temple, we followed a shop owner who took us through a jungle path. We followed this blood trail for about a hundred meters and then we had to cross the river. The shop owner told us stories about the animals and the deity along the way. In return, we bought coconuts for the deity from him. Great deal!
Quite a few people miss the bridge. Between the resorts and the driving around, this is forgotten. You have to deviate from the main road to go to the bridge. Ask anyone for the lohe ka pul and they will guide you along.
Same bridge, different angle (as if you didn’t know already!)
The very famous Garija temple.
Same temple, different angle (as if you didn’t know already!).
Stones on the Kosi river bed.
Same stones, different angle (as if you didn’t know already!). Now, it’s getting too much.!!
A marigold flower on Kosi river bed.
No, it’s not the same flower from a different angle. It’s a little boy flying his kite on Kosi river bed. Very journalistic!Thank you. Visit again.
Smartliner – 9
April 8th, 2012 the young bigmouth A man is like a fraction, whose numerator is what he is and whose denominator is what he thinks of himself. The larger the denominator, the smaller the fraction.
Wenger’s – The best bakery in Delhi?
April 7th, 2012 the young bigmouth This is a sure shot way of getting some cake on my face. People in Delhi are passionate about their cakes and bakes and I don’t want to get on their wrong side. But I know I am rooting for a winner here. Wenger’s is one of the first bakeries in town, founded in 1926 as it was.
Even if you have no respect for age, walk into their only store in Connaught Place and see the love for yourself. You will spend a long time bent over the glass and drooling over the pastries while people behind you will give you a lovely back massage, with their elbows.
Confession: The back massage is the reason why the photos are so horrible. And, I forgot to take pictures of the Lemon Swiss Roll and Mango Mousse I had there. Good thing is your monitor and keyword will remain dry.
I am sure he is not always like this. Those damn sand wiches have overtaken his soul for now.
Now, they have also opened a Wenger’s Deli close by, which smells awesome. The food is not very expensive and even if you are not hungry, go in and take a deep breath.
What’s your favourite bakery in Delhi, or anywhere else you are? Do you have photos or links to your post?
And you thought Chinese are headless robots!
April 3rd, 2012 the young bigmouth Come to think of it, we have never thought straight about the Chinese. They are like an army of ants who gather together to construct the world’s largest dam, moving on to building the world’s highest railway, world’s largest oil company, world’s largest shopping mall. If all this was not grand enough, they are also having the world’s biggest Apple store. While they were busy doing this, God knows how they found the time to build the world’s largest population too.
Howsoever, the point of this post is that Chinese are neither headless robots nor are they an army of ants. Think of any of the festivals in India. Diwali sees markets flooded with floating candle and electric lights made in China. Hundreds of fancy water guns have become standard tools during Holi, all of them made in China. Last Ganesh Puja, I was surprised to Ganesh idols in all sorts of materials and shapes – a curious mix between the lord and the Laughing Buddha. They were not very wrong but unmistakably Chinese like all Chinese goods are.
In fact, the list goes on. Every traffic signal in India is an ongoing exhibition of Chinese innovation. To be honest, the Chinese stuff is cheap, useful and makes so many things in life easy. They don’t last long, but they are not selling it with a warranty either. So, you know what to expect. Car-phone chargers, emergency bulbs, LED lights… come on, add your own favourite to the list.
The one I love most is the Chinese calendar I saw at a friend’s place which was made of recyclable carry bags. So, it’s a recyclable calendar of recyclable carry bags. Isn’t that a brilliant idea? It makes better sense with the picture below:
I am I & My other
April 1st, 2012 the young bigmouth I am I,
I can’t be any other,
My parent’s son,
God’s creature.
And yet,
I am myself
And not myself.
I am my own,
And something other.
I have a sex,
It points to another,
I have a hand,
It holds an other.
I have a mouth,
It eats another,
I am a body,
And it’s me,
And something other.
My mind is me,
And yet not my own,
My life is me,
Though beyond my control,
My soul is I,
It’s inveterate other.
I try and listen to myself,
I try to see what I desire,
I make, I mend, I build, I speak,
I join one to another
I dissever.
I think and also think I think,
And my thought is my own,
Though not mine to command,
I say it if and when I may,
If it permits of being said,
Everything else is something other,
My thought must think,
If it is to think,
My thought and its thoughts are one,
And not the same as each other.
I am still I,
I can’t be other,
My parent’s son,
God’s creature,
I am I,
And my other.
Smartliner – 8
April 1st, 2012 the young bigmouth 
