Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Pretty cool

Another piece from the Gulf Art Fair which I thought was pretty cool:

Monday, March 26, 2007

Boom Town

This is the typical skyline of Dubai. Construction has been Dubai's most booming industry ever since freehold properties were allowed in 2002 & any time you look at the horizon you're more likely to see a tower crane than not.
As a result, there is a string of ambitious projects coming up & apart from being funny party conversations, these projects have started a race for the most out-there-ideas-ever: the tallest tower, the inverted tower, the dancing tower, the revolving tower, the arab-man-like tower; you have it all. Also add to that dinosaurs imported from Universal studio, seven wonders of the world re-created, underwater hotels, ski domes & luxury islands on reclaimed land. This is going to be one freakish city! :)

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Just another thought

There are plenty, who believe that God exists.

Why then so few, who act on that belief?


Saturday, March 17, 2007

World Cup Cricket

For a billion Indian cricket fans, the World Cup is a time of extreme emotional stress; hoping against all stats & analysis; that Dravid & the boys finally see the law of averages working to their advantage and win when it matters the most!

Did anyone read about the man who wanted to sell his kidney to fund a trip to the Carribean? He thought watching the World Cup live was more important than having a kidney!

Click here to watch the crazy Nike commercial on the cricket mania in India :)

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Veil

This is one debate which is always in the news in the Muslim countries: Should the veil be banned for being suppressive to women; or should the veil be allowed as a statement of religious freedom & secularism?

Personally, I wish women wouldn’t have to veil themselves, but I think every society comes with its box of ‘social taboos’. Many Indian women for example, wouldn’t be as comfortable wearing a pair of shorts as European women; because it would be considered too 'western' in their social circles. But these women might well be as little (or as much) subversive as the European women. Maybe the veil and feminism are two separate issues that could easily get confused. Or maybe these seemingly cosmetic shackles are closely linked to the bigger issues?

Saturday, March 10, 2007

Gulf Art Fair

It was absolutely delightful to watch the exhibits at the Gulf Art Fair on Thursday. There were so many great artists & galleries and I wanted to get home so many of the pieces; if of course they weren't so unaffordable :)

Here are the two artists I really loved:

Hiroshi Senju is a celebrated Japanese artist. His 'waterfall' series, on exhibition at the art fair, has revived the ancient Japanese technique of painting on handmade rice paper. He makes his own paint from natural materials, the gallery informed me. This picture here is great, but you really have to see the original piece to know how different his treatment is.

Sohan Qadri is an Indian artist, now living in Europe, who paints his visions of deep meditation. A practising Buddhist yogi, his 'Dot' series is beautiful - 'I am a Dot on the tip of the Creator's pen', he says.

Thursday, March 08, 2007

Some oxymorons

Mature man
Easy-to-use computers
Political science
Airline food
Business ethics

Sunday, March 04, 2007

Future

This week I read Kleptomania, a book of great short stories across many genres. Its a gem of a collection; but couple of stories that got my attention were the sci-fi futuristic ones. They had some brilliant concepts & premises; told from the future but making a statement on today.

'Sharing Air' is an account narrated by a girl somewhere in the future where human beings depend on custom-made air-cylinders & the concept of sharing air with other human beings is alien, even distgusting to them. Yet there is a minority cult which feels that to breathe shared air is to taste real freedom.

'Gandhi-toxin' is a story in the conflict-torn & hatred-ridden future where a scientist re-creates the DNA of Gandhiji. Some hope to conquer the world by injecting this formula in people and spreading pacifism in the enemy camp; but instead get conquered.

These stories create a very bleak & grim vision of tomorrow; but bring out rather simply where we're heading today. Found them fascinating.

While on the subject of futuristic stories, I read this the other day: Indian movie-maker Shekhar Kapur is making a movie called Paani (Water); which is a futuristic satire. His movie is going to be based in Mumbai of 2040 where water becomes a precious currency; a sort of borderline between the have's and have-not's; and a weapon of exploitation. Hmm, can't wait to watch this one! (More on his website.)

Thursday, March 01, 2007

Cafe Ceramique

We've got to be the most untalented couple ever...This is what we managed to create in Cafe Ceramique; the ceramique-painting-plus-coffee-n-snacks place on Jumeira Road. H made this jewellery box for me; and I made this pen stand for him. It was great fun being at the cafe and getting our hands dirty in paint :)

What can I say, it wasn't a happy realisation that we don't have enough talent to even make it as amateur ceramique painters; but it was exciting discovering that :)