EXPERIMENTERÉ

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.                                                                                 Abraham Lincoln Is Mr. Donald Trump the dumbest business man president the USA has ever seen with blonde hair? A political rally now? Amidst this Covid19 pandemic, where America tops it, from the back. 

Traveling does not mean exploring a new place. Traveling can be way more interesting visiting own city. Taking this forward, taking the pleasure of revisiting my homeland Kolkata.  City of Joy is warm and forthcoming.  Apt, the tales of Calcutta folklore is equally riveting. Kolkata, accepts everyone, Right, from the times of partition. Kolkata is an epitome of unity in diversity. Once an emerald of the east of thy majesty...   Kolkata, it means politics, food and sports. And oh, have to add the art and culture, of course. A democratic Bengali, vehemently opinionates with force and fervour. Oh Kolkata, et Tu?  The blue blooded lover of nostalgia?  Kolkata, you mean, the tramlines, In Kolkata, the chaos is controlled,  With an epicenter  at Burrabazar.  The history of the city can take you to olden times. It's life... They say, cholche cholbe... Kolkata is about gully cricket and para football.  Kolkata is Kolkata, it’s unique. That’s where Ko...

Perhaps the most important tweet of the year was made a little while ago by the Oxford Scientists. Reported on their website   Michelle Roberts from the BBC reported that  "A cheap and widely available drug called dexamethasone can help save the lives of patients who are seriously ill with coronavirus." Oxford reports," SCIENCEHEALTHCORONAVIRUS In March 2020, the RECOVERY (Randomised Evaluation of COVid-19 thERapY) trial was established as a randomised clinical trial to test a range of potential treatments for COVID-19, including low-dose dexamethasone (a steroid treatment). Over 11,500 patients have been enrolled from over 175 NHS hospitals in the UK." This is the part of the world s largest trials on Covid19. The website recoverytrial reads "This national clinical trial aims to identify treatments that may be beneficial for people hospitalised with suspected or confirmed COVID-19." On 8 June, recruitment to the dexamethasone arm was halted since, in the...

I feel we are all islands - in a common sea.      Anne Morrow Lundbergh Yes. For three years I called this small port town in deep South Pacific my home, it's #Suva. The new home. Came to this city three years ago for a project and thanking the VPCL management and directors for inviting me in your house. Vinaka (thank you). The metropolis is what I can describe. Very urbane. Almost people from most countries have some connection to this historic town.  The new capital. I'd say, it's a magical place. The starry nights and poignant evenings, the wetty Suva rains and might be a strong contender of the 'windy city' from Chicago. Suva has a bit of everything in bits and pieces of the world, and people who have come here to rather add. 'I was here'.  More coming.

Hello All,                  Got a notification that Blogger is going to 'change' it's features permanently (whether you accept them or not), hence decided to hit back in what I love doing. Experimenting, with ideas and bringing them back into meaningful actions.  What happened almost 90 days ago (#covid19) has made all of us looking at the world differently. It was all normal (when the picture below was taken in Hong Kong last year (2019 aka pre-covid days and things like, aeroplanes are flying used to be normal. Meaning, restrictionary movement was not in place. They call it the new normal.  This restarting of my 10 year old blog was pending.. you'll get more of it. Please bear.. just sharing my experiences with you all.  Cheers from Fiji - one of the first #coronafree nation. 

Happy 73rd Independence day to all of you. This morning, 15th August messages started flowing in, hugs from fellow Indians, mubarak ho. Outside the residence in Suva Patriotism flows high, but why just for a day and what exactly Independence day means to us anyway? I like the idea of freedom and believe every single person in the world should be and must be free to do, say anything. In reality, it may or may not happen. For me, driving a bike and cruising around gives me the ultimate kick. This picture taken this morning of 15th August- 2019 in Suva, the capital city of Fiji.

The 70s hangs high in this port town of Fiji, West. https://youtu.be/d5yy56RnyYI The song being played from a roadside shop in the background is from the 70's movie Muqaddar ka Sikandar, (1978) "Salaam E Ishq Meri Jaan, sung by Lata Mangeshkar, Amitabh Bachchan and Rekha. The building in this video was built in 1974, four ago, in the 70s, the classic Bollywood age. Fiji in many ways is stuck in the 70s, like the Cuba. It's my first video to celebrate this unique island country with several traits, the world must turn back, and see. Vinaka https://youtu.be/d5yy56RnyYI

Five years ago, we saw ‘Bombay Talkies’ and the gang of four hit back again exclusively for the ‘Netflix’ generation.   This time, we see the movie real time in the Fiji Islands after work. We see how they see people and places. There are four untitled stories done by Anurag Kashyap, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar and Karan Johar weaving Kiara Advani, Vicky Kaushal, Neha Dhupia, Radhika Apte and Bhumi Pednekar around a common motif. The idea of launching the films on Netflix – a LIVE streaming platform is liberating for the filmmakers, I wish this existed when Kashyap made yet-to-be-released ‘Paanch’ I think, it would be a good idea to launch it legally now.   Coming back to where we began, there are clueless men and strong women fore-playing. The film is apt in a sexually liberated environment and very urban. All the films apart from the common theme ‘lust’ also portrayed how strong willed these women are and all of them exactly knew what they wanted in/from life. ...

It's over one year for me in this beautiful island country tucked in the South Pacific Islands. After leaving Delhi, had zero idea what Fiji is about. Have lifted information etc. Now, will begin a series where i'll pick up words heavily influenced by Bengal. The place where most Indo -Fijians (forefathers) came from. Hope you will like it. It’s literally a journey across oceans, mixing diplomacy and friendship with history, culture and civilizational memories. Located thousands of miles away in the South Pacific Ocean, but kindred in spirit, Fiji, a string of 800-plus stunningly picturesque coral islands, is intimately linked with India by over 300,000 persons of Indian origin who have made this Pacific nation their home for over a century. Early ancestors of Indo-Fijians- Indians had been employed for a long time on the European ships trading in India and the East Indies. Many of the early voyages to the Pacific either started or terminated in India, and many of these...

With a kiss let set out for an unknown world. FIJI Seems like reborn, time to learn and unlearn things in life. Came here with a blank slate nine months ago. I am definitely more Indian than ever and shall come back to my motherland with one more layer of patriotism. Feel more Indian here than I ever felt back in Bharat. With less than 6 Indians in the new company I joined in August 2017, I was the 3rd recruit. Get surprised, amazed, shocked and awed all together at the same time everyday. Seems like life has definitely something else stored for me, which I don't know yet. This is a paveway and that's mysterious.  Need to share (express) more through this platform in days to come. Rekindle the passion and start living for the heart and not just the stomach (paapi pet). Vinaka

Pic Source: PWC-18 20's are a great time to spread those legs out on your sofa and munch a packet of Cheetos while thinking of what to wear to that party that awaits you on Friday night, and if you are edging out over the last few years of your 20s and find yourself living and working in a country like India, bless you because you won't run out of issues you "feel for" any time soon. I don't mean it in a bad way, but this is the best time to be a millennial in India. Every day comes wrapped with newer issues to fight for, and guess what, you have an audience for all your thought streams. Now writing a personal blog is fun for me, because this is only time I don't search the web for parallel narratives and sub-texts. No Huffington Post or Newyorker quotations will bore you.  As I make my way through the crowded metro in New Delhi, I can't help but notice the growing number of women now working in my city, and women of all types, the saree connoiss...