Benistan

Rukawat ke liye khed hai

2009-08-07T11:39:00.004+05:30

have moved temporarily to an insane place in the back of beyond. access to the net is erratic. will post when i am back. 2012. namaskar.

Want!

2009-07-03T20:43:00.010+05:30

I want Darya Ganj to shift to my terrace. I want a free ashtray with every book. I want libraries with smoking sections. I want waterproof books that I can read sitting in the rain. I want books with a soft backlight that I can read in moonlight. I want a girl who wears perfume that reminds me of a shack on College Street. I want Sukumar Ray and PG Wodehouse to come back and start blogs (and Groucho Marx on Twitter, while we're at it). Damn the web. I want books. I want time. I want a cottage made of wood. Here. In Delhi. Not in the hills. And plants that take care of themselves. I want to learn good bangla, not baby bangla. I want biscuit packets that come with tiny short stories printed on them, because I read biscuit packets. I want to see original handwritten manuscripts of every book I've loved. With squiggles and doodles and ink splotches. I want more indian gaalis in books. And they shouldnt be italicized (speaking of, I want predictive text input on my mobile to recognize 'fuck' and not put 'duck' ...). I want bookshelves in each tomb of Lodhi Gardens. With old magazines. I want the Darjeeling toy train to have a library coach. I want every train of the Indian Railways to have a library coach!

Mammachi Pappachi & Co.

2009-04-23T16:25:00.018+05:30

Ipe family tree, The God of Small Things. Click to enlarge.

Read my lips, retards

2009-04-20T11:25:00.009+05:30

K

O

L

K

A

T

A

KOLKATA

K.O.L.K.A.T.A.

Kolkata

NOT KOLKOTTA

NOT KOLKOTA

NOT KALKOTA

NOT KAULKOTA

ITS KOLKATA!!

Kohl-kah-ta

See? Easy.

Say it:

Kohl-kah-ta.

There.

Say 'Kolkota' Knight Riders now and I'll bash your brains out.

Seriously, how hard can it be. Kolkata.

And yes, its DEFINITELY, not definately.....

In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones

2009-04-17T17:19:00.030+05:30

In Which Annie Gives it Those Ones; 110 Minutes; 1989; 9.3/10 [imdb][wiki]

Delhi. Final year college students. The 70's.

Direction: Pradip Krishen Story: Arundhati Roy

Arjun Raina
Roshan Seth
Arundhati Roy
Pradip Krishen
Himani Shivpuri
Raghuvir Yadav
Rituraj
Divya Seth

The film received two national awards, Best Feature Film in English and Best Screenplay for Arundhati Roy. Thats not why you should watch it. You should watch it because its bloody fun.
No VCD/DVD was ever launched. This video was ripped off a VHS tape by a film buff who pestered the mandarins at FTII into loaning him their ancient video cassette. Quality, understandably, isn't top notch, but you'll get used to it. Importantly, its all there.

Trivia: Shah Rukh Khan's first ever appearance in a feature film.

India's Lost Cult Films [24 May, 2008; The Economic Times]

Ikri Mikri

2009-03-22T08:30:00.021+05:30

Chhupan Chhupai

Ice pice (dhabba!)

Maram Pitti

Pitthu

Lambi Chain

Do-do ki Chain

Chor Pilice (NOT police)

Unch Neech ka Paapda/Jole Kumir Daangaey Baagh

Bat-ball (khamba paar run, one-tip-one-hand out hai, try-ball, white-ball)

Futboll

Chiri Chikka

Beech ka Bicchu

Catch-um-catch

Chidiya udd, Tota udd, Patthar...

Pukdam-pakdai

WWF Trump Cards (You still remember Hulk Hogan was Rank 1)

Ma adds:

Roomal chor

Stapu

Gitthi

Kho-Kho

Rassi/Rassa (Skipping games. Two people holding each end and making players of other team pass through the rotating rope).

Ghar ghar

Kabbadi (!)

Langdi Taang

Body

Chhoti adds:

tippy-tippy-tap-what-color-do-u-want?

Poshampa Bhai Poshampa (Poshampa-pai-Poshampa - Ma's version)

flygye12 reminds:

Akkad Bakkr Bambey Bo

Raja Mantri Chor Sipahi

That dots wala game (explanatory comments below)

which brought back vivid images of other epic battles fought in the classroom:

Pen Fight

Book Cricket

Panje Ladana

You know you grew up in the 90's if...

Dhhoni Meye

2009-03-21T09:09:00.009+05:30

Dhonni Meye

1971. Bangla. Comedy, drama.
Directer - Aurobindo Mukherjee
Uttam Kumar(as the soccer mad Kolkata businessman)
Savitri Chatterjee (as the evidently nervous boudi(bhabhi), hapless witness to the carnage unfolding around her)
Jahar Ray ( President of the Haarbhanga Phutbol Club)
Rabi Ghosh (as the village idiot/priest who doubles as soccer ref)
Sukhen Das (Commentator, relaying LIVE from his tree. World famous in his village)
Jaya Bhaduri (in her second film, as the feisty village belle, also perched on a tree for half the movie!)
Tapen Chatterjee(In one of his only appearances outside Goopy..., as the amiable quarterback and Uttam Kumar's brother-in-law)
PLUS a supporting cast handpicked from the Bengali theatre circuit of the early 70's.

Practically forgotten, except for the songs. No IMDB presence, nothing on YouTube. Its a gem. Get the DVD (from Kolkata) if you can.
[or grab it here...]

Mission accomplished?

2009-03-19T23:47:00.015+05:30

A 29 year old greenhorn fielded by the Bharatiya Janata Party to contest the upcoming elections from a constituency called Pilibhit somewhere in the sleepy hinterland is now known across the country.

E.P.K.

2009-03-17T17:52:00.017+05:30

1 paisa coin, 1944. Click to enlarge.

The original phooti kaudi, perhaps? :)

From a man selling old rupee coins (who insisted I hand over one of these in return) on the pavement in front of Jeevan Bharti, CP.

Numismatist Kulraj Singh tells us more...

Shimla

2009-03-14T22:49:00.005+05:30