Shobhaa De

Mar 31, 2010
SHOBHAA.JPG

Shobhaa De

Sachin and the R-word

Why is it that super successful individuals cannot, but cannot call it quits when the time is right? Formula One had just one god on the tracks for the longest time — and that was Michael Schumacher. My husband was his ardent devotee. Perhaps, devotee is an understatement.

Psychosis of an impending tribute

Balasaheb is a phenomenon. A force of nature. Period. At the time of writing, he is struggling for his life, and as an apt newspaper headline put it, “Thackeray remains critical, keeps city’s heart pounding”. Well, so far, both hearts are still pounding — his and the city’s.

Modi’s undervaluation of love

Dekho bhai, we have to feel a little sorry for Narendra Modi. He is rustic and rough in speech and action. What’s the point teaching him good manners? Preaching and lecturing? Here’s a guy who has made a career out of giving offence.

Blood, blot and the big boys

Our law (less) minister Salman Khurshid must have eaten something really vile earlier this week for him to have made those atrocious remarks against Arvind Kejriwal. A swift qualification here: I am no fan of the self-righteous and embarrassingly naïve Kejriwal. Even so. Indigestion can play havoc with one’s better sense.

Literary catwalk

It was inevitable. The last Jaipur Jamboree received so much media play, it inspired every other city, town, taluka and hamlet across India to get into the act and announce a lit fest to call its own. Today, there are almost as many lit fests in India as there are new authors.

No takers for Didi-giri

I happened to be in Kolkata when Mamata Banerjee made her dramatic announcement to pull the plug on the UPA. Nobody was surprised. There was a bus strike in the city and people were rejoicing. It meant there would be far less traffic on those clogged streets, less pollution in the atmosphere and more time to focus on the dengue outbreak that is obsessing Kolkatans.

Leave the PM alone

Manmo-han Singh is a beleaguered man these days. Poor chap, he is getting it right, left and centre, at home and abroad, with nobody standing up for him and saying, “There, there… it’s okay. We all make mistakes… we all screw up big time. Don’t sulk. Everything’s gonna be alright...” But that’s not happening.

Raj ki aag: The new face of Thackeray

Can a tiger change its stripes, a leopard its spots or a shark its fins? No na? But the “new”, “improved” version of Raj Thackeray, which was dramatically unveiled on August 21 at Mumbai’s historic Azad Maidan, took everybody by surprise — friends and foes alike. Perhaps his game plan was only known to key aides.

Kurukshetra of Draupadis

Wheth-er or not Anna Haz-are’s rag tag army can actually make the difference to the nation’s moral compass, the rather obvious truth of the matter is, things on every level seem to be falling apart. Corruption rules. And women are the worst hit. Take what happened in Haryana.

Oprah, we didn’t get it

Let me borrow Oprah Winfrey’s favourite phrase on her India show — “I get it”! I totally do. Get India, that is. It’s Oprah who clearly didn’t “get it” at all, and mistook India — India, not areas of Mumbai — for a New York ghetto. Someone forgot to show her a map. And poor Oprah was confused. Let’s put it down to jet lag.

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I want to begin with a little story that was told to me by a leading executive at Aptech. He was exercising in a gym with a lot of younger people.

Shekhar Kapur’s Bandit Queen didn’t make the cut. Neither did Shaji Karun’s Piravi, which bagged 31 international awards.

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