Desicritics Editors' Picks - June 05- June 11

Outsourcing And The Indian Quality Control Chasm - June 05, 2006 - Vikas Chowdhry writes:

The world is catching up real fast on the so called cost benefits of outsourcing and it is turning out that they have been saving money at the cost of quality. I think it is time for many of these off shoring operations to stop believing

The Moral Default: Reservation Debate Fading? - June 06, 2006 Vulturo writes:

If there has to be any effort made towards keeping this country habitable, it is the underlying philosophy of welfare-statism which has to go. It isn't that the government isn't giving up its powers. It has in fact done so, in bits and pieces if you compare today to the socialist era. Dismantling unneeded governmental machinery is the cure. There has always been a solid lack of intention on that front, and progress is bound to be very very slow. There ought to be a method of speedy minimisation of the government. A lean-mean non-interventionist state is the way towards a freer, more progressive society.

Watching "FIllums" in India Vs. the USA - June 06, 2006 kamla bhatt writes:

For $2 dollars (Rs. 90) we can rent the latest and the greatest Indian film and watch it in the privacy of our home. Some of us have established elaborate rituals to watch our favorite desi films. We make pakoras and chai when we watch our favorite film, while others might trek down to the local theatre in San Jose, Milpitas, New York or Chicago and catch the latest desi film in a regular theatre (complete with a bad and stinky loo...why is it we can never have a really nice loo in these theatres?) I have yet to check out I the cinema theatre in Times Square in Manhattan and watch a desi film there. It is in my agenda of things to do.

I can honestly confess that there is no substitute to watching films in India. It is a whole different level of experience and one that I miss sorely when I am in the USA. When I am in India I make it a point to catch a couple of "fillums" in cinema theatres and have some rip-roaring fun.

Satire: Rahul Mahajan Applies for Sainthood - June 07, 2006 Melody writes:

Incidentally Pope, if I haven't made myself clear, I'd like to have my sainthood with immediate effect. After all, I might just pop off on a cocaine overdose like the night before my dad's ashes were going to be dropped into a much televised part of a river.

Sorry, did I say that? I change that to - I'd like to have my sainthood with immediate effect just in case I almost die "due to unknown reasons" that supposed medical professionals are still baffled about.

Sex, Religion And Sensibility - June 07, 2006 Kishore writes:

It's high time that we learnt to sit back and give ourselves some time to understand ourselves and introspect on our beliefs and the perceived taboos. It's time to see what lies beneath the veils that we have been taught to wear right from our childhood. It's time to learn the nature of reality and imbibe tolerance. It's time to think.

Chain Mails and Satya Narayana Vrata - June 09, 2006 Bachodi writes:

If you happen to search the history of Sanskrit literature, there will be no mention about this particular ritual anywhere before 1900. (This part of the information came to me from my Sanskrit teachers). No Vedopanishdpuranaas (Vedas, Upanishads and mythologies) and no literature dating before that have any mention of such a thing. Every thing was created when priests wanted one more way of income. Build a beautiful story, take the IQs of people hostage, and blackmail them quoting the bad consequences, advertise the fortunes. This makes me wonder, how many rituals present now do not have any meaning at all? How many of them are created based on interest of a group of people?

Bharatanatyam Dancers: Nataraja's Children - June 11, 2006 Samanth writes:

He admits, though, that audiences are dwindling; even for his performances, well known as he is, he says he can't pack the halls. At Narendra's show, the auditorium is barely two-thirds full. The performance wends a smooth enough way to its conclusion. The first half, a package titled Shakti, is admirably creative and admirably danced. The second half, even if it isn't marred by glaring missteps, looks exactly like what it is - a hastily tacked-on 60 minutes, completely divergent in tone and appeal from what came before.

To the smattering of audience that drifts backstage to congratulate the dancers, Narendra is his usual genial, slightly shy self. His torso is still slick with sweat, and he hasn't yet changed out of his costume. He will leave the venue only an hour later, after reverting to his producer-director self, supervising packing up, settling dues, making sure the girls have rides home, making sure nothing is left behind in the green rooms. Then he will get on his bike, richer by Rs 1,500, and drive back home. He lives for what he does, though, and he doesn't have to walk 25 kilometers home every day. Perhaps there's something to be said for that.