Of fasts, activism and corruption

This morning's Free Press Journal carried my opinion piece on the activism of Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev.

http://www.freepressjournal.in/Details.aspx?id=9374&boxid=215529140

My First Lily of 2011

I have 2 wonderful lily plants at home and they only flower during the monsoons. These intelligent plants know the difference between rain water and that from the tap. It takes a mix of rain water and sunshine for them to flower.

I had to wait till August last year, as it almost rained non-stop in July and there wasn't even a slight hint of sunshine, but this year, I woke up to this lovely sight on June 17. The pink lily brightens the view from my kitchen, in complete contrast to the black grills and the silvery (yet depressing) scaffolding over the decayed building facing me.

I hope a healthy monsoon and some sun can convince my plants to give me an abundance of lilies this monsoon.

Advantages of the Monsoons

The optimist in me is dying to write this. With every complaint I hear about the monsoon and the rains, I love them even more. So what are the clear advantages of the monsoons?

For starters, a drastic reduction in dust. How annoying is to see your flat dusty just 2 hours after a good cleaning? The rains take care of that problem.

Long Walks. Is there any other season in Bombay, when you can walk somewhere without drowing in your sweat and getting a headache thanks to the hot sun? It's not that you don't sweat during the monsoons but the cool breeze, the clouds and the showers make sure you don't fall sick en route to somewhere.

Hikes: Yes, the season of treks has begun around Bombay. Go on a nice hike to some of the wonderful forts beyond Kalyan. The energising hikes promise fresh air, great views, good company and a dose of endorphins.

A warm cuppa! This is the best season to dink warm chai. Few pleasures compare to having warm tea, listening to old Hindi film songs and watching it pour outside on a monsoon Friday night.

The lights. Yes, the beautiful monuments of this city reflecting on the water puddles, is something that I write about time and again and must photograph!

Monsoon mess in Mumbai

I find it amusing that year after year, this city lacks the total ability to handle something as basic as the monsoons. This year, the rains caught the city by surprise a couple of weeks early but it's no excuse for the mess. What's more amusing is that people have the same complaints every year. Come on people, spend a week in Delhi in baking 45 degree heat and then complain about the weather here.

This is the way I look at the wonderful rainy season in Bombay. Wear darker t-shirts and shorts and slippers or rubber open-ended sandals. Keep an adequate supply of disinfectant at home and make sure your feet are clean once you step indoors. Last year, the rainy season lasted beyond October and the last shower was on my birthday (November 4)!

Enjoy the rains with warm tea and samosas. Spend a few evenings by the sea-side promenades and if you're getting wet, just remember that more than 60 percent of the population have to worry about their shanties getting flooded.

Kingfisher Responds to my complaint but...

I followed up my blog post on the poor service on Kingfisher with an email to the airline's top boss and this was the response that I got.

Dear Mr. Kamalakaran,


Thank you for your message of 7 June.

I acknowledge your comments pertaining to the service and amenities experienced by you on your flight IT303 from Mumbai to Delhi. I am also concerned to note your observations relating to the grooming and demeanour of the crew on board your flight. Please accept my regrets for falling short of your expectations.


Mr. Kamalakaran, you have my assurance that the issues highlighted by you have been addressed with the concerned teams.


I believe that there is a need for continuous improvement in the quality of product and service offered at every level, and I appreciate your genuine interest which has prompted you to make your views known to me.


I value your patronage of our service. I also look forward to welcoming you on board Kingfisher Airlines again.


Yours sincerely,

Dr. Vijay Mallya


Member of Parliament


Chairman and Managing Director


KINGFISHER AIRLINES LIMITED

For starters, I am glad that somebody responded to me and seemed concerned about my not-so good experience. But today when I took my return flight to Bombay, I was shocked to see that the aircraft didn't have any in-flight entertainment. For a Delhi-Bombay full-service flight, they used an old Air Deccan aircraft. This was not what they now call a Kingfisher Red flight! The crew were better groomed but again, they didn't serve non-vegetarian food. The meal was barely edible!

I think I will make the permanent switch to Jet Airways!

Still Summer in the National Capital

When my plane was going on a spin yesterday from Bhatinda to Meerut I could see from up above that the North Indian plain was parch dry. Summers are brutal in this part of the country and I was welcomed into Delhi with the hottest day of the season with temperatures crossing 45 degrees Celsius. The monsoons don’t get here till June 29! Poor Delhites have to bare this inferno for another long month.

But there’s of course another side to the summer in this city. For starters, the tree-lined avenues of Lutyens Delhi change colour with the flowering of the trees. The city is beautiful from the comfort of an air-conditioned car. There’s a lot less traffic as schools are shut and many of the bureaucrats and public servants make their annual trip to the Himalayas and exotic foreign destinations.

And the days are substantially longer than they are in most other parts of the country. I woke up at 5 am, thinking it was well past 8. The evenings stretch well past 7:30. The season is still good for early risers who want to get some fresh air and take some pictures of the numerous monuments before the rest of the city wakes up.

Hard times for the King of Good Times?

Kingfisher Airlines, India’s only 5-star airline has an excellent fleet of aircraft and a certain class about it that sets it ahead of its nearest rival Jet Airways, at least on domestic flights. All Kingfisher aircraft are new and have individual TV screens with good in-flight entertainment. I’m pretty much used to being pampered when I fly Kingfisher, which is why I was a bit surprised by my Bombay-Delhi flight this morning.

For starters, the cabin crew, which is usually very-well groomed, looked out of sorts and stressed out. Missing were the normal welcoming smiles; I could have as well been on a Novosibirsk-Khabarovsk flight on an Ilyushin aircraft. For the first time ever on Kingfisher, I was told that there was no non-veg meal. Is the airline trying to cut down on costs by not serving non-vegetarian food?

And with the wonderful in-flight entertainment system that I praised, there were just 3 TV channels that worked and the audio channels were also limited. I wonder if there is de-motivation around the ranks of the crew and employees of the organisation. Even the captain didn’t address the “guests” during the flight. The legendary service of Kingfisher is something that all Indians are proud of; it would be a shame, if this became a private Air India!

While doing some research on Kingfisher, I found out that that they are neck-deep in debt, which stands at Rs 6,000 crore or about $1.2 billion. It’s chairman Vijay Mallya was quoted by the Indian media as saying that the airline has been experiencing “unprecedented load factors in the last 6 months.” Somehow I am not convinced that’s the reason why the crew aren’t groomed well enough and seem a tad bit indifferent.

Monsoons make strange Samaritans

With a heavy downpour over Andheri Station and I had no choice just to battle the elements and fight my way home. I couldn't be sure when it would be stop raining or if the flood-water would recede. In this chaotic mess, I found myself untangled in an unusual situation.

A young lady in a full burkha was crossing the street at the same time as me and she nearly fell twice in the wind and was struggling to stand still with the flood-waters. Given the number of potholes in S.V. Road, there was a lot of hidden and lurking danger. As I moved ahead, I noticed that she needed help but I wouldn't dare to volunteer, given my fear of getting lynched by her religious co-practitioners. But she grabbed my arm, albeit with hesitation and apologies, and we crossed the Brahmaputra-like conditions in suburban Bombay.

As I was telling her that there's no need to apologize and the wind blew her veil off and I made direct eye contact with her. The burkha hid a beautiful and pale face and ocean-blue eyes. It was a strange moment when we made such strong eye-contact. She covered her face as we reached the other side and she said goodbye with a thank you. Something tells me that the beautiful face is covered out of compulsion from home. How sad!

Un Coeur en Hiver

The rain-gods, who blessed my Versace jacket before I went for the Italian National Day Celebrations yesterday, were kind enough to hold off the downpour until I got home from watching a masterpiece of a French Film: Un Coeur en Hiver (A Heart in Winter)

This film was my introduction to legendary French author and film-maker Claude Sautet. I would be over-simplifying things by calling the central plot a love triangle.

This film exposes various angles of love and all shades of it. Sautet leaves it to the viewer to interpret the kind of love that Stephane (Daniel Auteuil) has for Camille (Emanuelle Beart). Completing the triangle is Maxime (Andre Dusollier). The film, made in 1992, was years ahead of its time in cinematography and the screenplay was one of the best I have seen come out of France.

With Beart playing the role of a up and coming violinist, music forms the background of the film and there's an impressive use of Maurice Ravel's chamber music played by Jean-Jacques Kantorow (violin), Jacques Rouvier (piano) and Philippe Muller (cello). Kiwi musician Jeffrey Grice appears in the film in the role of the pianist.

I wonder whether it's humanly possible to be a Stephane, someone who is introverted, enigmatic and with the coldest of exteriors with a complete inability to express emotions, and yet ironically be in love. I can see why women would find the type attractive in a dark way.

The on-screen chemistry between Beart and Auteuil would have been unbelievable if I didn't know that they were having an affair during the shooting of the film.

Special Thanks to the Bhavan's Cultural Centre in Andheri for screening this film.