an alien in america: railway revival

India is full of enterpreneural ideas these days. A consistently loss-making entity such as the Indian Railways is now making hefty profits. The US can learn from IR, says GE CEO, among other admirers.
But could they please preserve our view?

netflix encounters #2: a classical masterpiece

Recently, I rented The Wire. Loved it. Got effusive about it: "The pacing - breathing itself. The dialogue, Shakesperean in its rhythms - the notes enframed in that pace. The characters, complex and complimentary - the orchestra. A Classical Masterpiece".
Critics (just about the entire NPR cew, for one) and the creators of The Wire compare it to a novel. In which case, it would be in the Classics section. Probably next to the Iliad, Odyssey or the Mahabharata.
As far as popular TV shows go, I can't argue that the classical view is superior to the Romantic one; to even introduce the idea that art is meant to nudge us toward moral improvement and social awareness is to concede to Romantic hope. But for some people, in some places, the classical view is more true, and in such cases, the artist's duty is to show us that these lives are no smaller for that. And it is -- as we always, always seem to forget -- not depressing but strangely exhilarating to see this truth about humanity acknowledged for once. It may not be the only truth, but it's a truth all the same.

kitty kitty bang bang

I would've almost missed this one. Gratuitous violence gives me nightmares - I wish they didn't, since I think I can intellectually argue with myself about the different facets of violence. So, when The Lieutenant of Inishmore began laying at the Curious, and all I heard was cats and humans being blown up, flung about or chopped up, I told myself there was no need to go see on stage what I can't see even on fast-forward.
But I did go (clearly). And saw dead cats, and a live one. Live humans being made dead. Spurts of laughter, spurts of blood.
"Lieutenant" is unapologetically a farce...and knowing Ireland has finally found the peace needed to be once again discovered by tourists allowed the laughter to be raucous. But I laughed the loudest at several critics and audience suggestions at the post-show talk-back of the cats - the dismembered and the intact - being the metaphors for Ireland - and all the accompanying sentimntality. Maybe so, but in a view utterly from the present, wouldn't it be more shocking if one didn't retreat into a metaphor and let it be unapologetically farcical about pet-lovers? Only ever so slightly more deranged than the regular ones. And yes, with Irish accents.

an alien in america: entry 5: the games we play

dubai, mumbai, shanghai. or else, goodbye...

...the joke circulating on my vacation.

an alien in america: entry 4: on parole

6 bags, 2 escorts, 7 flights and 2gb photographs later, I'm back on parole....