tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69400102012-02-16T04:02:24.092-05:00I HAVE discovered that most of the beauties of travel are due to the strange hours we keep to see them: WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS, 'January Morning'EssBeenoreply@blogger.comBlogger641100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-61642748733909818362009-12-23T08:06:00.002-05:002009-12-23T08:15:06.178-05:00

Tired of watching reruns of American sitcoms on my cable network, I recently switched services and chose the deluxe package.After 24 hours of waiting for the feed to be beamed into my living room, I was delighted when the Indian television stations started playing. There were 24-hour non-stop old and new Bollywood music videos, Indian reality television shows, sitcoms, movies and, the best part,

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-77717677652073070472009-12-23T08:05:00.001-05:002009-12-23T08:05:49.706-05:00

It was supposed to be a fine dining experience, sitting by the pool of the Taj Residency in Bangalore, sipping a cocktail alongside well-heeled Indians and foreign tourists, enjoying the cool evening breeze, music playing in the background. But it felt eerie.A year ago, terrorists had come barging through the pool area at the Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai, shooting indiscriminately at guests, and

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-10381583029564175942009-12-23T08:04:00.000-05:002009-12-23T08:05:04.208-05:00

After reflecting last week on the one-year anniversary of the Mumbai attacks that killed 172 people, including the nine who laid siege to the city for three days, I wonder if enough has been said and done.Not quite, say some of my friends. While some have grown more patient with the security procedures that have sprung up in even the smallest towns, others say the measures are merely symbolic and

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-53405254588842634632009-12-23T08:03:00.000-05:002009-12-23T08:04:14.338-05:00

One of those basic pleasures in life, perhaps dictated by evolution, is foraging for your food. And when you find it, in this day and age, it better be worth the hunting.One of my favourite pastimes is searching for that elusive hole-in-the-wall restaurant that delivers. The one where, with every bite, you cannot believe your luck of finding such a gem in the rough.New York or New Delhi, there

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-74514841237008630382009-12-23T08:02:00.003-05:002009-12-23T08:09:10.886-05:00

Even in its sixth year, the Dubai International Film Festival still manages to excite. As with the Middle East International Film Festival, the event’s Bollywood quota is always significant. Often, the biggest blockbusters, and their star-studded casts, arrive in these cities, playing to audiences hungry for the latest in Indian cinema.These fans are so enthusiastic that, last year, the actor

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-33708926583396465812009-12-23T08:01:00.004-05:002009-12-23T08:18:14.397-05:00

You will not believe the kind of ribbing I faced when I moved to Canada. There I was, a product of an Indian boarding school where the syllabus was still dictated by the British. Spellings, pronunciation and even enunciation – all British-bound.When you land in another Commonwealth country, you expect things to be similar. They still had the Queen on their currency. So why the curmudgeonly

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-63296916526026377752009-12-23T08:01:00.003-05:002009-12-23T08:17:03.678-05:00

Being multilingual in India is no big deal. Pretty well everyone I know, from my grandparents to my nephews, speaks more than one language. Of course, for any ambitious Indian, English is a must (no matter how warped the accent may be), and then there is the mother tongue (for my family, that is Bengali), and thanks to the omnipresence of Hindi – from television and cinema to advertisements –

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-16333065483952779092009-12-23T08:00:00.002-05:002009-12-23T08:20:57.867-05:00

Despite the fact that life is good – great even – twice this year I have returned from India and found myself dragging my feet.I was being an ingrate, I told myself. The job was interesting. Friends were fabulous. I had enough of a steady income to afford me holidays (and those trips to India). And my parents were in good health.I wondered if I was homesick. It was an unfamiliar feeling. My

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-7401271988002411922009-12-23T07:57:00.004-05:002009-12-23T08:10:35.032-05:00

You would think that coming from a country of half a billion Indian women, I would know how to wear a sari. After all, when they wake up in the morning, most of them can tie seven yards of cloth around themselves as if they were performing one of those mundane morning rituals – such as making their morning coffee. Or frying a dosa.I cannot fry a dosa, or even make the batter from scratch. I can

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-19491214248710273082009-12-23T07:57:00.001-05:002009-12-23T07:57:49.858-05:00

I’ve always wanted to visit Bangalore. The garden city of India. The IT capital of the country and full of bright, young, motivated people who take pride in their city and their work.So when Seema Shetty, the brains behind BiteRite, a company that caters food to the health conscious and has a special plan for those who are diabetic, invited me to her wedding in Bangalore, I couldn’t refuse.A

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-72854399519944035942009-12-23T07:56:00.001-05:002009-12-23T08:22:21.177-05:00

Another Diwali, another year abroad. Another round of celebrations away from home. It may be the festival of lights but nothing is as bright if it is not celebrated with family.There’s no point getting sentimental, though. I cannot remember the last time I was home, running around bursting firecrackers under my cousin’s bed or stealing sweets.I have vague memories of such times in India, of

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-69863780433502538842009-12-23T07:54:00.001-05:002009-12-23T08:12:23.361-05:00

Of all the tours that are offered in India, the best that I can imagine is one through which visitors are allowed to travel through the gastronomic wonders of the Mughal empire.To make things simple, I am referring to the mighty kebab. This wonderful dish comes in many forms, varying in richness, texture and complexity of spices. While it is the source of much debate as to whether the best

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-44971833852903262052009-12-23T07:53:00.000-05:002009-12-23T07:54:15.601-05:00

We intended to see the Taj Mahal by sunrise, so we set off by road from Delhi at 3am, for what would be a three-and-a-half-hour journey. Of course we joked about Indian Stretchable Time (IST), about traffic jams, potholed roads, driving around cows, goats and any other kind of livestock that happened to amble across our path. We hoped to get there at least by noon.As a 12-year-old, I had suffered

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-54125576848058198902009-12-23T07:24:00.004-05:002009-12-23T07:33:42.082-05:00

The rush to get home in time to break your fast is something has become familiar during the past month. The traffic got particularly heavy during some times of the day, and come sundown, the roads were deserted.If you turned your gaze towards airport lounges, you would have seen that there is no relief for airline personnel, either. The race to get home to celebrate Eid with your nearest and

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-79399431307216326962009-12-23T07:17:00.002-05:002009-12-23T07:24:38.915-05:00

The name of the highway you find yourself on is irrelevant when you are hurtling down in it panic. Research may have found that the UAE has more than its fair share of bad drivers and crazy speeding, but really, has anyone reading this column ever had to slam on their brakes for a cow ambling across the Sheikh Zayed Road? Or goats? Or buffalo?You know what I am getting at. Driving in India, in

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-23207289349990860532009-12-23T06:47:00.003-05:002009-12-23T07:01:42.500-05:00

On my first-ever trip to Pakistan, I found myself at Illusions in Islamabad. It is one of those cool, glass-walled music stores with all the latest HBO shows advertised at the front. “Where are the classical artists?” I asked. I had strict instructions from my mother to locate old, classical works.She had trained as a classical singer in her youth only to take up medicine as a more practical

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-57639991979512577712009-12-23T06:41:00.002-05:002009-12-23T06:47:29.937-05:00

For non-Muslim expats, there are few opportunities that come our way that allow us a glimpse into the world of fasting and feasting during Ramadan. Of course, hotels offer grand iftars and a lucky few are invited to their friends’ homes to break the fast and enjoy a lavish meal. But to understood how various groups celebrated their first iftar this year, The National sent reporters across the

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-20182320260887415142009-08-25T13:28:00.002-04:002009-12-23T07:02:23.551-05:00

In the kind of coincidence that usually only occurs in a masterfully written book, a short while ago I found myself locked in conversation with the nephew of an author whose work I desperately wanted to read.Real life does not tend to include such happenstances, but on holiday while attending a wedding in Islamabad and having escaped the vibrant shaadi household for a quite afternoon in the

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-57389960602047219692009-08-25T13:25:00.003-04:002009-12-23T07:03:23.035-05:00

To the untrained eye, it was a lavish feast, accompanied by singing and dancing that was straight out of a Bollywood movie. To us, the desis, or locals of the subcontinent, as we like to call ourselves, it was regular fare.Well, regular by our standards, which more or less involve five days of singing, dancing, feasting and ceremonies that revolve around such things as henna, ubtan and yet more

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-83083868795604955862009-08-25T13:22:00.003-04:002009-12-23T07:05:18.922-05:00

One of my oldest and favourite saris did not travel with me when I went to Pakistan to attend a friend’s wedding this week. That is not to say there is anything wrong with old ones. In fact, they are prized possessions handed down as heirlooms from mothers to daughters.However, I was left with little choice but to follow my mother’s strict instructions about what I should wear to the wedding –

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-56452540707211160462009-08-25T13:20:00.003-04:002009-12-23T07:05:40.230-05:00

My bags are not entirely packed but I am ready to go. As I prepared to travel to Pakistan this week, I realised that I will be the first in the last three generations of my family to actually visit that country (unless, of course, you count the time that my grandfather was on a flight which strayed into Pakistani air space).Volumes have been written about the bloody partition in 1947, from which

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-35552088818155737242009-08-25T13:17:00.003-04:002009-12-23T07:05:58.586-05:00

Sri Lankan cuisine is not for the faint-hearted. I’ll be the first to admit it, even as an inhabitant of another chilli-loving nation. We, the Indians, are no match for the fire power that our island neighbours to the south can summon with the presentation of a dish. Any dish.The island’s food differs slightly from the north to the south – from the Sinhalese style to the Tamil flavours, from the

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-26950926527043414622009-08-25T13:14:00.002-04:002009-12-23T07:06:15.881-05:00

To this day, those who can escape do so. By the time the British arrived in India and experienced their first heatwave, it was already established that a few months spent in cooler climes was a necessity, not a luxury.So following the example of the land’s hundreds of monarchs, the British, too, escaped to “hill stations”, a term used to describe a sleepy town in a suitably mountainous location.

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-46505523213366226962009-08-25T13:12:00.001-04:002009-12-23T07:06:36.890-05:00

My nephew would like to seriously consider a career playing the drums. Although this would have been unheard of a generation ago, his parents agree. Actually, a generation ago, when I – the daughter of doctors – wanted to be a journalist, even that was unheard of, given the stringent confines of parental expectations.Millions of young Indians – both in India and abroad – having completed their

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-68401475006898422162009-08-25T13:11:00.003-04:002009-12-23T07:06:55.655-05:00

It was a phenomenon everyone in my neighbourhood was familiar with. Grandmothers, uncles, even the local grocer knew which children were doing it behind closed doors. Especially in the summer, when the going got slow, the stack of Michael Jackson cassettes came out and all kinds of tunes blared from homes.I am going to have to admit that I attempted not just the moonwalk but all kinds of other

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-91406983113971400602009-08-25T13:08:00.003-04:002009-12-23T07:07:15.507-05:00

The advantage of living in the UAE is the ease with which one can zip back and forth to India. Or rather, my friends can, but I can’t. A weekend jaunt to India for a quickie holiday on a beach for me would mean offending half my family who live there. Visits to the country usually involve prolonged meals at the homes of relatives, where the aunties pinch my cheeks or slap my shoulder and proclaim

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-89863218005820364812009-08-25T13:02:00.006-04:002009-12-23T07:07:47.733-05:00

For those looking from the outside, the end of the Indian elections was still thrilling. Although there are no provisions for non-resident Indians like me to vote by mail-in ballots, we are a powerful lobby. There’s 25 million of us living abroad. And while I did not travel to India, like many others did, to cast my vote, that did not deter me or others in the same position from being atwitter

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-68105134660798266532009-08-25T13:02:00.005-04:002009-12-23T07:07:33.526-05:00

They said it would last a month at the most. But Bollywood’s latest strike dragged its feet for twice that long, making its presence, or rather absence, felt not only in Indian theatres but in far away places – all the way from Dublin to Dubai.What of bhangra drum beats and larger-than-life song and dance numbers? What of villainous characters and sweet mothers? Of beautiful starlets and

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-89339249774824855352009-08-25T12:59:00.001-04:002009-12-23T07:08:08.089-05:00

The Alfonso has arrived. For lovers of the fruit, who are well aware of the fleeting season, this is the perfect time to suck on a mango. Or slice it, dice it, shake it into a lassi or simply inhale the sweet yet warm aroma that has filled the fruit section of every supermarket and vegetable shop in town.Since March, I have watched the slow trickle of Indian mangoes make their way into people’s

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-89429232573773386302009-08-25T12:58:00.003-04:002009-12-23T07:08:27.848-05:00

Last weekend, I found myself in a rare moment of exhaustion brought on by sheer joy.For the past three years, the money transfer company Western Union has organised a series of singing competitions in workers’ camps in Dubai.My friend and I arrived at the Khansaheb camp in Jebel Ali after a series of misadventures, including getting lost in the maze of workers’ camps. After many helpful and

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-80634787168200353262009-08-25T12:56:00.001-04:002009-12-23T07:08:42.210-05:00

As the marathon Indian elections come to an end, I am ashamed to admit that I have never voted. Having left India before I was eligible to exercise my rights, I’ve returned only for holidays, none of which coincided with the election season.I am even more embarrassed to admit that I don’t even own a voter ID card, considered this season’s most fashionable accessory as the country drags its feet

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-85216490891435217842009-08-25T12:53:00.003-04:002009-12-23T07:09:09.796-05:00

They came, they rocked, they conquered. Granted, Womad brought together some of the best acts from across the globe, but the South Asians were particularly entertaining and enthralling. It started with Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali from Pakistan, followed by Dhol Foundation from the UK and India and finished with Trilok Gurtu, a tabla maestro from India.Those who had never heard of the nephews of the

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-73449794407693270572009-08-25T12:49:00.003-04:002009-12-23T07:09:35.060-05:00

They say Bollywood is universal. Spending some time in the Far East certainly brought home the point. After two weeks in the hills of Ubud and beaches of Bali in Indonesia, the wide appeal of Indian cinema gave me a whole new perspective on how entrenched the culture of Bollywood has become.The West has apparently been the last to catch up on the fad.Long before the Oscars, Bollywood films

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-77200256488397465922009-08-25T12:46:00.002-04:002009-12-23T07:10:01.443-05:00

It was a fashion face-off. The last few weeks saw Indian fashion come out in full force in the nation’s top two cities. While Delhi hosted the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week, Mumbai shook it up with the Lakme Fashion Week.Even though they had a common goal – promoting Indian designers and their contemporary wear collections – they had different agendas. While Delhi’s catwalks were awash with

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-12611539921897322802009-08-25T12:45:00.002-04:002009-12-23T07:10:21.895-05:00

At the request of my friend and her birthday party, where the theme was to come dressed as rock stars, I donned a turban and became her favourite Indian pop star. My friend is American. The pop star is Indian. They met on YouTube. Even though she cannot understand a word of what he says, she finds him entertaining and hilarious, and, she loves his music. He is a bhangra artist.Bhangra is a catchy

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-6504208809998518742009-08-25T12:41:00.003-04:002009-12-23T07:10:45.456-05:00

The twists and turns of life are curious, especially when you consider that with a single email you can go from being prized matrimonial material to a mere matchmaker. There it was, blinking at me from my mailbox: the matrimonial resumé of a friend.At first, voices from the past raced through my head: random grandmothers of friends who had warned of that fine line between blushing bride and

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-610493513859674972009-08-25T09:39:00.002-04:002009-12-23T07:11:01.046-05:00

Pairing a book with a person is like setting people up. You take into account their personalities, their interests, their sense of humour and even whom they’d rather spend time with. And even if it’s a book, it’s not just any book. It has to be worth their time and keep them engaged.I was excited to visit the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair last week. The event drew some of the best authors

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-84432615022961017582009-08-25T09:38:00.002-04:002009-12-23T07:11:22.709-05:00

For my birthday three years ago, my father gave me an autographed copy of APJ Abdul Kalam’s autobiography, Wings of Fire. He mailed it to Canada as part of my birthday package.The book was a fantastic read. It told the journey of a man who grew up in poverty, whose father rented boats for a living. Kalam realised early in life that one way to save money was to become a vegetarian. He was also

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-14246409930599887062009-08-25T09:35:00.002-04:002009-12-23T07:11:57.261-05:00

After having grown tired of jostling for reservations for brunch (and dinners) at posh restaurants located in five-star hotels, my friends and I decided to embark on something we should’ve done when we first arrived in Abu Dhabi more than a year ago.Every city has it. And everyone who has lived in a city long enough to care knows about it. The famed hole in the wall. The one place you can go to

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-44511650458506100972009-08-25T09:32:00.003-04:002009-12-23T07:12:20.230-05:00

My earliest memories are of Indian weddings. One particular instance still stands out, where relatives were intent on matchmaking a cousin of mine at a family wedding. She was at that time looking through a handful of suitors, so my aunts offered friendly advice.There were also arguments in favour of an arranged marriage, which I scoffed at. While some of their points make sense, others still sit

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-72509615965789826282009-08-25T09:23:00.002-04:002009-12-23T07:12:49.281-05:00

The planning started early, sometimes as much as six months prior, which meant that if my cousins and I were ever bored of doing one of the many things our parents disapproved of, we would plan the Holi assault.Known as the festival of colours, Holi heralds the coming of spring. Hindu communities celebrate it with songs, dances and tributes to the gods. But everyone comes together to play with

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-37817920286804689322009-08-25T09:21:00.002-04:002009-12-23T07:13:10.828-05:00

Even though Abu Dhabi and Toronto are connected by a direct, non-stop flight, little is known about each city, no matter which way you travel – and that travelling takes a good 12 hours, and it’s over Greenland. So while mutual cultural understanding may be lost over the Arctic ice caps, it is amusing to answer the question, “How is it there?”How does one describe Abu Dhabi in a sentence?

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-20613104285234723032009-08-25T09:18:00.002-04:002009-12-23T07:13:57.226-05:00

When I was a child, one of my mother’s favourite philosophies was: keep an open mind, but not so open that your brains fall out.And with that advice firmly tucked in my head, I have spent almost half my life travelling and living in various countries, sometimes adapting easily while at other times being forced to keep an eye open.Here is what I learned during my voyages:1) Try local delicacies.

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-87340542401800901332009-08-25T09:15:00.002-04:002009-12-23T07:14:16.083-05:00

Pretty much all Indian kids in Class 10 and 12 who are taking their public exams are quaking in their boots.Every year, March heralds the arrival of board exams, a term synonymous with late-night cramming and much finger biting over something that will make or break careers. This is similar to the GCSE and A level exams in England but much more brutal in its execution.In a country obsessed with

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-30895630966347177212009-08-25T09:14:00.003-04:002009-12-23T07:14:40.481-05:00

When Aravind Adiga was awarded the 2008 Man Booker Prize, for The White Tiger, it wasn’t the fact that it was his debut novel, or that he was one the youngest writers to receive the prestigious prize, or that he is Indian that was noteworthy.Who he is and what he represents is more interesting: since Salman Rushdie got an entire subcontinent of writers noticed with his magic realism and ability

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-17066983468149494002009-08-25T08:53:00.003-04:002009-12-23T07:15:35.688-05:00

NEW DELHI // About 40 hours after gunmen took Mumbai hostage, I arrived in Delhi, which was fighting its own fear. The streets of Delhi, usually choked with traffic, were empty.“Don’t stay in a five-star hotel, don’t go to the mall, or a cinema theatre, Madam, and don’t ask me to drive you to a temple,” said my driver. “And please also don’t go to see the Red Fort [a popular tourist attraction].”

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-76260047941722361732009-08-25T08:42:00.002-04:002009-12-23T07:15:17.297-05:00

As a child growing up in the 1980s, when it can be argued that Bollywood was perhaps not at its finest, I wasn’t allowed to watch commercial cinema because my mother disapproved of the objectification of women in these films. The heroine sings, dances and runs around in the rain with a hero. Cut to a scene of bees humming and a field of flowers. Cut to a scene of an anguished and disapproving

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-13641328573968906132009-08-25T08:27:00.003-04:002009-12-23T07:16:48.872-05:00

As far as the taxi driver could see in his rear view mirror there was nothing wrong with me (though he did keep checking).“But why?” he asked again. “Why aren’t you married? What is the matter with you?”As a single, South Asian female, a taxi ride in Abu Dhabi is often fraught with questions of a deeply personal nature.And so we drove on: a perplexed cabbie interrogating me about my personal life

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-22771765787878365462008-07-29T13:14:00.005-04:002009-12-23T07:16:15.519-05:00

For what it’s worth, watch this video before you read this blog for it answers a long-standing question about Dubai and the importing of culture: If you build it, will they come?Go Around Twice If You're HappyWhat directors Vincent Fichard and Matthew Jones have managed to do with this short film is answer that question with a resounding yes.Shot on the streets of Dubai, this film seeps into the

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-41374690305017380492008-07-07T08:47:00.002-04:002008-07-08T03:36:02.218-04:00

There seems to a general bias towards bachelors in this city, especially when it comes to housing. The idea that a one-bedroom apartment will actually be inhabited by a single girl is likely more frowned upon than a mere inquiry about its existence. For Abu Dhabi is a city of two and three-bedroom apartments, and lavish villas (or hotel apartments). And to demand anything less not only means to

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-23563936023895006702008-07-07T08:42:00.001-04:002008-07-07T08:44:58.678-04:00

In recent years, diamond companies have fallen over themselves in trying to capture the elusive niche of women who buy diamonds. For themselves. With their own money.If you’ve recently moved to the UAE, like me and most of the women in the newsroom, the temptation of that market is immense. And inevitable.From showing visiting family around to outings with friends, a chance of, “oops, I did it (

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-69241598193565537762008-07-07T08:32:00.003-04:002008-07-22T09:01:13.957-04:00

If you really think about it, there is little difference in the way North Americans and Indians search for love. Online, that is. Except one looks to virtually date and the other seek to marry. The explosion of websites on both sides of the world says it all. In the US and Canada, my friends casually date through sites like Lavalife. For wedded bliss, they may answer a painstaking list of

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-73644346046272487732008-07-07T08:21:00.002-04:002009-12-23T07:17:17.543-05:00

June 11, 2008In local Indian parlance, they call it the air around you. When you’ve been away from home for a long time, you not only look different, but they believe the air around you changes. So even if you’re trying to fit in, people can simply tell from your presence that you no longer belong.And there I was, a case of neither here nor there. And to make matters worse, single.More than a

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-47048998721599859902007-04-19T00:54:00.000-04:002007-04-19T01:02:53.881-04:00

Clearly, I've been lazy, but that doesn't even begin to cut it. It's been a long time. Since then I've learned to snowboard (If you read all the way through to the end of the blog) and though I still dance in dark lit rooms with loud music and strangers, those rooms are no longer smoky. Toronto bylaws have changed. Yup, it's been that long that I've forgotten what smoky clothes smell like the

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-1089172942941825312004-07-06T23:52:00.000-04:002004-07-07T00:02:22.940-04:00

There is one day in the year when Ottawa becomes ultra cool, and hip enough to warrant a visit. Having been confined to studying in Ottawa for 3 odd years, it is a city-town I would NEVER settle down in. Don't get me wrong. It's a great city to raise kids and do wholesome things but I am all about vice and decadence, so a small government town mostly bores me to death. However, Ottawa isn't small

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-1087970965383140132004-06-23T00:52:00.000-04:002004-07-05T18:27:52.756-04:00

Calcutta's tap water: that which tourists to India take precaution against by at least 5 shots and whose symptoms an entire pack of extra strength Imodium, combined with Pepto Bismol, cannot solve. Calcutta's tap water has a life of its own. ------------------------------------------------** Born in the ghetto fabulous city of Calcutta, one of my earliest memories as a child was breaking my rib

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-1084497350034032632004-05-13T19:30:00.000-04:002004-05-13T22:46:23.143-04:00

Gut feeling for summer: Growing up, I was an avid member of the talking club. Most schools shove an entire breed of future self-doubters into their debate clubs, where one is extensively taught to explore one's guts' feelings: Stage fear versus menstrual cramps Hot or cold flashes versus humidity-induced sweaty armpits Stammering versus choking et al And so my gabber self learnt to debate,

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-1084248944494333082004-05-11T00:15:00.000-04:002004-05-11T00:15:44.493-04:00

Break dancing, Union Square - New York 

EssBeenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-1084248634850078882004-05-11T00:10:00.000-04:002004-05-11T00:10:34.850-04:00

Tulips in Spring 

EssBeenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-1084248597261414322004-05-11T00:09:00.000-04:002004-05-11T00:09:57.260-04:00

Victoria Memorial, Calcutta (Kolkata) 

EssBeenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-1084244796625924602004-05-10T22:59:00.000-04:002004-05-13T22:47:34.263-04:00

Abhimanyu, son of Arjuna, in the Indian epic tale, Mahabharata, dies trying to get out of the Chakravyuh. He is able to infiltrate the circle of battle strategy but cannot get out. Eerie resemblance of his cautionary tale to my travels on my way out of India, where the wheel of my chariot seemed mired in leaking hydraulic fluid. ...so there i was at the calcutta airport, 13 feb [a friday] almost

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-1084242123406200472004-05-10T22:12:00.000-04:002004-05-13T22:48:11.143-04:00

Top 10 observations in transit [Toronto-London-Dhaka-Calcutta-Darjeeling] [Air Canada-Biman Bangladesh Airlines-Biman-Indian Airlines] 10. The cockpits of Biman Bangladesh Airlines do not have re-inforced doors or armed marshals. Instead, if you ask nicely enough, they’ll let you watch the entire Himalayan range [incl. Mount Everest] pass you by at daybreak, from the

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-1084240916016851752004-05-10T21:58:00.000-04:002004-05-19T11:29:22.726-04:00

NEW YORK – PART DEUX. Marc Jacobs and I: There is a certain bond a girl must develop in the big city that borders on fantasy. It's called designer loyalty. Doesn't matter if you fancy yourself the upcoming muse to a collection, or name of a perfume, but you must swear by a designer [not brand] before you find employment, housing, a man or quel horror, even a proper date. With this piece of

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940010.post-1084240491864433162004-05-10T21:51:00.000-04:002004-05-13T22:50:03.590-04:00

NEW YORK - PART UN. Mr. BB: Let's start at the very beginning. Before an ungodly 5:15 am pick up ride to the airport, I was off to a bad start. Sleep had eluded me because my landlord's cat [no longer a kitten] decided this was the night of a marathon hump-a-thon. Baptized Petruccio by his Italian family [my landlord], he has since been re-christened Mr. Bulgy Balls, by yours truly for obvious

EssBeenoreply@blogger.com0