Sicko – An American Tragedy

Yesterday, we did something unusual. We traveled over 330 miles (about 520 KMs) to New York City just to watch a new movie. But then Sicko is not just any other movie. Made by the controversial documentary filmmaker Michael Moore (of Fahrenheit 9/11, Bowling for Columbine and Roger & Me fame), Sicko is a wake-up […]

Danone, Britannia Breakup on Cards

French food giant Groupe Danone will soon part ways with its Indian partner Britannia and launch products on its own in the booming Indian market, reports today’s Wall Street Journal (subscription required). Apparently, there has been tensions between the two companies over Danone’s plans to enter the market on its own. By the terms of a […]

Kabul Girls, Bollywood Movies & An American Woman

Ah, the reach of Bollywood. It never ceases to surprise us. Who’d have thought the burka-clad Afghani women are as entranced by Bollywood films as much as we are. Indeed they are. Roshana … makes a face at us, then folds her hands together under her chin and puts on a dazed-by-romance smile, looking kind […]

Beautifying Dharavi

One of the tragic eyesores of modern India, the Dharavi slum in Mumbai epitomizes the failure of the Indian state to provide the most basic necessities for its citizens. Asia’s biggest slum, Dharavi is located in Central Mumbai, between Mahim in the west and Sion in the east and attracts poor people from across India […]

Why George Orwell Shot the Big Elephant

George Orwell is a name familiar to Indians. Besides his prowess as an author, he was after all an Anglo-Indian, born in Motihari, Bihar as Eric Blair (George Orwell was actually his pen name). Some of Orwell’s books like Animal Farm and 1984 have also found favor with the English-speaking literati in India. Much as […]