Monthly Archive for October, 2006

Page 2 of 2

The Greatbong Fashion Line

Published on October 20, 2006 in Mithunda and Pop Culture. 65 Comments

Inspired by Frans Johansson’s “The Medici Effect” with its theme of how innovation can be made to happen by mixing disparate cultural influences in unusual ways, I have decided to unleash the Greatbong signature line of clothing, a heady cocktail of Mithunism, voodoo art, intellectual bankruptcy and the desire to make a buck.

Frankly the need to get into the garment design industry is something I have felt for long—the world desperately craves for a line of fashion that appeals to an alternate aesthetic, apparel that pokes you in the eye with a statement, a collection of garments that cry out “This IS me”, a force of nature that does to the “Gandhi” penstroke and the Che-Bob Marley T-shirt design what Attila the Hun did to the Roman Empre.

Continue reading ‘The Greatbong Fashion Line’

The Urbane Murderer

Published on October 12, 2006 in History and Politics. 55 Comments

The HBO documentary “The Journalist and the Jihadi: The Murder of Daniel Pearl”, that premiÃ¨red this Tueday is the story of two people: very similar to each other in terms of having had a privileged upbringing, having being high achievers in school and having achieved success in their respective professions at a very early age.

One of them is Daniel Pearl, a “rising star” journalist with the Wall Street Journal— a musician, a humanist and a true “liberal”.

And the other: Omar Sheikh, an urbane British-public-school educated Muslim fundamentalist who had made a name for himself in the world of Jihad with his masterfully executed kidnappings. [Yes the same Omar Sheikh who was released by India (along with his spiritual guru Azhar Masood, the founder of Jaish-e-Mohammed) during the IC814 crisis.]

Continue reading ‘The Urbane Murderer’

Bad Bad Orkut. No Donut For You

Published on October 10, 2006 in Censorship and Technology. 89 Comments

In a landmark legal strike, the Aurangabad bench of the Mumbai High Court has “directed the Maharashtra government to issue notice to Google for the alleged spread of hatred about India by its social network service â€˜Orkut’. [Times of India]

Laying aside useless litigation on issues like murders, rapes, property disputes (which some say take decades to resolve due to court backlog), the wise men in black coats seem to have at last gotten their priorities right by spending their time taking action on an issue of the greatest national importance: the “Down with India” communities that flourish on Orkut like flies on cowdung.

Continue reading ‘Bad Bad Orkut. No Donut For You’

Copy CAT

Published on October 7, 2006 in Blogs. 38 Comments

I have often wondered as to what compels the likes of Baapi-da, Anu-sahab and their ilk to blatantly pilfer tunes from other sources.

Well I think I know. They were all “compelled to STEAL”, presumably by voices in their heads.

A few days ago, Sugata sent me a mail about a certain blogger who had copy-pasted the Desicritics crosspost of this article of mine in toto (of course claiming to have written it himself). When Sugata pointed it out to the blogger, this is what he wrote in reply. [all capitalizations are of the letter-writer]

Continue reading ‘Copy CAT’

Gandhi Reloaded

Published on October 2, 2006 in History and India. 67 Comments

Boyfriend become boring? Well now you can dump him and feel good by invoking the Mahatma. Just like Shweta Polanki who cited “Gandhigiri” as the reason she broke off with her boyfriend after he made “hissing sounds to get the attention of the waiter”. Murderer and extortionist on the way to trial, looking to get some media attention? No problemo. Hand out roses in a Lucknow courthouse ala Babloo Srivastava. [More here]

If it was the Rang-de-Basanti-inspired “be the change” in early 2006 that captured the imagination of the nation, the last quarter has seen the the Return of Bapu—courtesy “Lage Raho Munnabhai”, a predictable yet pleasant movie about a Don who reforms himself after being visited by the spirit of Mahatma Gandhi.

Continue reading ‘Gandhi Reloaded’