Building as a stage.....

Got to see an amazing performance today. Project Bandaloop, an aerial dancing troupe from San Francisco, performed at the LIC building at Connaught Place today. The best thing- it was a free show and we came away with the satisfaction of having seen something special (and a stiff neck too...) with the glass facade of the LIC building providing the perfect backdrop. Too bad we couldn't get inside the complex for the repeat show in the evening- courtesy the CM and the pass-bearing janta. You can read more about them here http://projectbandaloop.org/.

You can also see their previous performance at Golconda Fort, Hyderabad here http://vimeo.com/17125457. That's what they call "site-specific" choreography.

Is there a way out?

Sometimes I feel so helpless....at not being able to contribute or suggest something that would mitigate all the senseless violence that is carried out in the name of rights for communities or states or other sundry factions we have put ourselves in. Can we ever get out of the vicious cycle we've got into?

I just heard of the massacre in Sonitpur from my mom (gave the papers a miss yesterday & this morning). How can they live with the blood of so many innocents on their hands? My blood curdles at the cold-blooded manner of killing. Imagine returning from work, looking forward to spending time with your family, when your vehicle is stopped, you are asked to line up, you are segregated on the basis of your language and killed, because you are not a native speaker. Such a wasteful way to die. Can we really take pride in our identity if it is the very thing that kills us? I dare imagine the guilt mixed with the relief the ones who were spared must be swamped with.

I don't know who is at fault. I don't know if there is an absolute true answer to that. But it's not what I want our future to be like. I don't want to anticipate a future where we are so divided and assailed by revenge that we don't care "how many civilians or armed forces we kill in retaliation for one life taken."

Decisions, Decisions..........

Right now I'm pleasantly busy with quite a bit of work. While I haven' really chalked out how I'll complete all of them, thankfully there's no great pressure. Let's see how long the calm lasts.

I'm also trying hard to plan out what would hopefully (but looking bleaker by the minute) be my first Rajdhani Express trip- back to Tezpur for the winter vacations (Did I mention I'm pursuing my Masters in Environmental Planning at SPA, New Delhi??). I've always wanted to travel by a Rajdhani (and obviously avail the comparatively better food). It's a tough call actually- travel all by myself for a long 30 hrs for a new experience or take advantage of my brother's generosity (read " tickets sponsorship" & company on the 2 hr flight???!!!)

P.S.: We always say- the youth are the future of our nation...... Well it doesn't seem to be a very bright future going by the antics of Aditya Thackeray. I hope he doesn't try to pitch his book for the syllabus instead.

Am back from the dead......OK for a loooooooong time I just didn't want to write anything....just one of those things. But I'm promising myself I would be more regular this time around. Helps keep one sane.

Alright then....Point to note for today: Tatas gift $50 million to Harvard Business School. No Indian schools in sight???!!!!!!