Bangalore Pundit

Some more of HAL Dhruvs among the mess that can be called as the great Indian wiring trick. In Bangalore, the high-tech capital, people make everything from Sukhois to Satellites, write code that runs everywhere, but wiring is a different story :)

Indian made choppers from HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics, Bangalore) on a test flight. They fly these cool looking things daily above Bangalore's skies - This one on a nice sunny saturday morning.

Apparently they seem to be on both sides of the border!

Normally sane Ayaz Amir lost it completely over the current visit. Read it here (check out the archives if it has moved. Title is "Not even Munich, simply a meltdown")

He asks, "What gates of Somenath was he hoping to bring back?". I hate to break it to Amir that India ain't the same place when Ghazni came and Pakis ain't the Arabs or Mughals.

Another gem:

"India doesn’t give a damn for the ‘soft’ face of the Kashmiri leadership as represented by the Hurriyet. Its main concern is not to engage with anyone in Kashmir politically but to crush insurgency in the Valley militarily, for which it thinks this is the best time, thanks to the last of Musharraf’s historic u-turns: this time on the “core issue” of Kashmir."

This has to be realised some day! I hope this is the beginning...

Norman Mineta was here and announced open sky policy a few weeks back. Prior to that Condi Rice was here. Miraculously Boeing now grabs the deal for close 7 Billion greenbacks (largest in recent times!)

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world_business/view/144638/1/.html

Airbus is not really happy. But I am finding it hard to believe that there was no American "pressure" or some "compromises" made. It is definitely very interesting. Acorn has blogged this and has some theories, I am not really sure!

Where are the anti-globalisation/anti-outsourcing people? I think this must be protested. You made Indians do business and they are giving business back to you. Must be bad, right?

After reading my previous post, my friend forwarded this link to me:

http://www.thedailystar.net/2005/04/26/d50426011815.htm

I couldn't resist this statement:

"I think people of Bangladesh are now living in a better condition compared to people of many Indian states like Rajsthan and Kerala," he said. " In my view, our people no longer give the impression of being from a typical third world country."

This dude is putting the former Iraqi information minister to shame.

By why, oh why? Everybody is taking a potshot at Kerala? Only people who can give a 'fitting' reponse (which could be even more hilarious) is our reds. Any takers?

What the hell is happening in Bangladesh border?

If you are unfortunate enough to rely on Indian media on what is happening in the recent firings and counter-firing incidents between BSF and BDR (Bangladesh Rifles), then you are rightfully in a confused state. The print and TV media coverage gives an impression that there is unprovoked firing by BDR and we are losing BSF jawans for the aggression. If you listen to Bangladeshi official press releases they claim the opposite.

Thanks to Blogosphere, many news items from independent media and bangladeshi media has been unearthed. Here are some that you will never find it reported by TV news:

• India is building a fence that goes within 150 yards of the no-man zone, which seems to be the cause for BDR getting un-easy. But seriously, I think it is in their best interest to let it continue so that illegal migration stops and hence innocent b'deshi citizens need not die. Firing at BSF is not going to be productive
• BSF has received shoot at sight orders and does not mind executing it (see source below)
• Export and import at the land port (Benapole) has been stopped by India (BSF). Is this helping Bangladesh?
• Source: The new nation.

Unless the government(?) in Bangladesh decides to take control of their border guards, more and more people will have to die (according to the same source above, one civilian is killed by BSF every five days!) and that country will lose out on the trade.

How do I start the blog? A movie review does not sound like a bad idea:

Mumbai Express

I went to see Mumbai Xpress (@ PVR) expecting the usual Kamal Haasan style comedy and not really disappointed. Kamal has tried to deliver a original comedy, where the "situation" IS the comedy and not anything else. Here is a review with some minor spoilers. This time he did it without Crazy Mohan and other usual suspects for screenplay / dialogues. Singeetham S Rao fills in for that.

Some highlights of Kamal's home production:

• First Indian film shot completely digital
• Kamal's character is a deaf person (what else? Everything else is done isn't it?)
• First time more "subtle" elements of comedy is introduced to audience (may not be rewarding commercially)
  

Plot:

Three guys in Mumbai's slums plan to kidnap the son of a wealthy real estate developer. But it turns out that they have to involve a new guy in the plan (Kamal) and another guy attaches himself to the plan (Ramesh). Once the act has been committed rest of the characters - boy's mom (Manisha), illegitimate father (Nazer) all come into picture and it turns out to be a riot.

Things I enjoyed:

• Ramesh Arvind as a telugu speaking insurance agent :). Authentic and convincing.
• Acting by the plump kid (who gets kidnapped by Kamal)
• Various moments (example: people are rummaging through the garbage looking for money near dhaaravi. We get to see war ammunition, cannons etc in the garbage :))
  

Irritations:

• Digital to film conversion - it really sucks. Either we should do digital projection or stick to film.
• Manisha Koirala
• Not so well conceived climax