  Farzana Contractor |  |
 |
 Contradictions Galore |
| Quotations, poems, proverbs, idioms, these are things you are either into or not. I am. Have always been. I have notebooks and diaries with these jottings that I have kept right since I was a kid. Pure nostalgia |
| Please pray for Vipula |
| Every once in a while a bolt from out of the blue strikes and leaves us senseless, numbed, outraged. How can God allow such a thing! And it’s not just a question of allowing it, He is responsible for it |
| Love in Marriage |
| “What if your wife fell in love with someone younger than you, but older than her?” |
| Love makes the world go round |
| You will be perfectly justified in dismissing me off as a damn sentimental fool — ‘that’ I certainly am in most aspects, AND I love being so |
| Happy Birthday, Behram! |
| I received a text message from a new friend of mine asking me what was the first thing that Behram did on his birthday, which if you don’t already know is today... |
| Kabhi alvida na kehena, really! |
| And Reena, who I noticed still has sadness on her face... |
| 26/7 and then 7/11... |
| We are Indians, we are the special people of Bombay... |
| Shalom, from Israel! |
| Shalom. From Israel, with love. Yup, that’s right, here I am in Tel Aviv now... |
| TLC through CARF |
| I spent the better part of last night on the stage of the Birla Matushri Hall, watching little children afflicted by Cancer... |
| Drugs, denials and a death! |
| Drinking champagne on the way to immerse your father’s ashes! How low can you get? What does this speak of him? Foreign educated goof! |
 Poonam Malhotra | |
|
| All I want for Christmas |
| "Breath is my favorite word today. It is like Flesh but more ethereal. Like breast, but even warmer and moister. |
| 'Ahlan wa Sahlan'-Welcome |
| Welcome to Egypt! Welcome to Cairo! Words I have heard a hundred times, words spoken by smiling faces, words, which are like music to my ears. |
| To Cairo, a new beginning |
| It was Tuesday, November 11th. My husband Sanjiv Malhotra was leaving for Cairo to his assignment as Area Head for the Oberoi group in the region of Egypt. Our daughter Arzoo and I were going to see him off. |
| Jaipur jamming |
| A hush fell over the gathering, as the girl got up slowly and walked with a sway to one end of the lawn. |
| Hope springs eternal in the human breast |
| October is breast cancer awareness month. So are the other 11. We are aware that every day breast cancer claims our sisters, mothers, wives, girlfriends, grandmothers, best friends, even the lady next door. |
| Catching the wind |
| My two and a half-year-old daughter, often folded her arms across her chest and walked with her hands tucked under her armpits, just slightly ahead of me. |
| The eternal promise |
| Driving past Hanging Gardens, I saw something unusual out of the corner of my eye. |
| The Enemy Within |
| I felt a palpable shock surround me, as I rushed to pick up my daughter from school. It was 2.30 p.m., Monday, the 25th of August. |
 Maneka Gandhi | |
|
| Why does animal abuse happen? |
| "The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than black people were made for whites or women for men." - Alice Walker |
| Children and animal abuse |
| A common adult reaction to seeing a child tormenting an animal is to dismiss it with a 'boys will be boys' tolerance. |
| Animal ambulance |
| Some years ago I was in Holland where a few people got together and pooled in their funds to create a trust for an animal ambulance. |
| Pets add important dimensions to your lives |
| Many researches focused on human-animal relationships has produced considerable evidences that companion animals (pets) add an important dimension to our lives. |
| Let's adopt a street dog |
| There were always dogs in our family. But the ones that stood out were not the finely bred, expensive ones, but the mangy bundles that I regularly carried in off the street. |
| Driven by guilt |
| Luxury cannot and must not be confused with violence. |
| The truth about cats and dogs |
| One of my favourite sayings is, 'Lies go halfway round the world before the truth can even get its boots on'. |
| Why puppies bite? |
| One of the most interesting professions and one that pays extremely well is that of dog trainer/handler/psychiatrist. |
| Animal sacrifice is not part of our culture |
| Last month, the Tamil Nadu CM J. Jayalalithaa learned about the sacrifice of 1,500 buffaloes at a temple in Tiruchirapalli. |
| Are you promoting pain? |
| So many people confuse sophistication and elegance with eating animals specially those animals that are regarded as expensive. |
 Ruby Lilaowala | |
|
| Seventh July, two thousand and seven = 07-07-07 |
| A premature baby at seventh month can survive since it is almost if not fully developed... |
| You become what you think and find what you perceive |
| Karma is a Cosmic Law wherein every smallest situation in your life is a consequence of your own thoughts... |
| Hindu philosophy depicted in various art forms |
| The dance of Shiva is the dance of the Universe, of the cosmic process of creation and destruction, of man’s eternal journey 84 lakh times (Laxachorashi) from the womb to the tomb... |
| Aaya Sawan Jhoom Ke!! |
| Poets and musicians like Subandri and Vidyapati have also composed divine pieces on being inspired by the monsoon |
| The several branches of yoga |
| The word yoga means to join. Join what? The created with the creator, the visible with the invisible and the physical with the metaphysical |
| The Legends of Langkawi |
| Langkawi is an hour’s flight from K.L. The best way of appreciating Langkawi’s flora and fauna amid its rainforest would definitely be a bird’s eye view from a helicopter... |
| The French village in Malaysia |
| As your car goes from Kuala Lumpur up the mountain road to 2,700 feet you get the first glimpse of a French castle just like the ones in a fairy-tale. |
| The fun never stops at Genting Highlands |
| Going to Genting Highlands (in Malaysia) is like going on a world-tour. There's a Big Ben standing next to London's Ferris wheel. Further down, a gondola boat-ride in the canal of Venice with an animated gondolier singing recorded O Solo Mio just for you. |
| A-plus for the amazing A’famosa Resort!! |
| We visited a comparatively new resort called A’famosa, about 90 minutes drive from Kuala Lumpur towards Johar Baru and Singapore... |
| The Mystical Ceremony In The Himalayas |
| A ceremony takes place on this day in a Tibetan valley on the further side of the Himalayas 390 miles west of Zhasa wherein blessings are given to all those who attend through vision of Lord Buddha |
 Osho | |
|
| The Fire of Transformation |
| If really you go deep in the feeling that the body is dead, burning, and the fire has completely destroyed it... |
| Being non-political |
| The people of America are in the hands of mad people... |
| Does power corrupt? |
| If you abuse your authority, you are political. If you don’t abuse your authority, then you are non-political... |
| Freedom of choice |
| Who is a bad man and who is a good man? What is the definition? The bad man is one who is inconsiderate of others |
| Never Fear Fear |
| The only difference between an unenlightened person and an enlightened person is that of flowering. The unenlightened person is a closed bud |
| Charity doesn’t help! |
| All the religions have been serving the poor for thousands of years, and poverty goes on growing. Is this authentic service? Then in thousands of years poverty should have disappeared. In fact, you are feeding poverty. |
| The Significance of Spirituality |
| The poverty of physical bodies for food, for clothes, for shelter, can be easily helped by science and technology. |
| Who’s a Buddha? |
| Buddha is your intrinsic nature. It need not be created. It has not to be developed either; it is already there, it is already the case |
| Inner riches, outer riches |
| Man is both the inner and the outer. In the East, people renounce the outer in favor of the inner. They escape from the world so that they can devote their whole life and their whole time and their whole energy to the inner journey |
| Does power corrupt? |
| We waste almost one third of life educating our children. In that one third of life, some time should be given to cleanse their unconscious |
 Vinod Mehta | |
|
| The 'Filthy' Rich |
| India is a very poor country which has a few very rich people. This reality cannot be fudged by statistics such as 9.2 per cent growth or the appearance quite recently of more dollar billionaires than in Japan |
| HQ of Hell |
| In my native place, Lucknow, the Armies of the Night are getting ready to clash. In dingy but not smoke-filled rooms, last-minute conspiracies are being hatched to avoid the inevitable, a hung assembly... |
| Reminisces |
| Why is it that for me mid-day lunch and Busybee's Afternoon are inseparable? For this writer the combined effect of a great Afternoon newspaper and a great Mumbai lunch is the surviving memory of a 25-year long bliss in Maximum City |
| Can’t Forget The Party |
| There has been much heartburn and hand-wringing among the FDI ayatollahs at the leak of Sonia Gandhi's confidential letter to the prime minister advising caution in the opening up of the retail sector |
| Holier Than the Holies |
| The conviction of Shibu Soren and Navjot Singh Sidhu allows all its participants to inflict on us unsuspecting citizens another dose of sanctimonious humbug |
| Need a Hard Dose, Doc |
| As the Manmohan Singh government completes half its designated life, its energies and enthusiasms need to be concentrated on winning the 2009 election... |
| A Few Tough Asks |
| The frequency can be diminished by internal vigilance and external assistance, but terror cannot be eliminated... |
| Axis of Evil |
| I urge Muslims to topple their leadership. They are a menace to the community. I don’t usually support coups, but in this case I am prepared to make an exception... |
| Karma Chameleon |
| The difference between India and any other first world country, or even a developing country, is the yawning gap. Only in the Congo and Rwanda is the gap between the haves and have-nots wider... |
| Channel Noise |
| The goodwill the Indian media enjoys is unique in the free world. And by the free world I mean Europe, the United States and Great Britain where the media is seen as arrogant, intrusive, celebrity-obsessed,
vulgar, partisan... |
| Bittu Sahgal | |
|
| Moms and POPs |
| High in the canopy of tropical forests, the camouflaged nest of the Small Minivet sits safe; a marvellous little collection of twigs, grasses, leaves and lichens, glued together by cobwebs and protected by inaccessibility. |
| Rock of Ages |
| There is something hugely imposing about mountains. Those who live in the Himalayas, or have trekked its magnificent slopes, will confirm that the massifs have the effect of infusing humility, without once wounding the human ego. |
| The Mumbai state of mind |
| Just outside our balcony, growing out of a sheer rock face, is an outcrop of lantana bushes that have proven to be a virtual sanctuary in an otherwise human-dominated landscape. |
| Rocks of Ages |
| There is something hugely imposing about mountains. Those who live in the Himalayas, or have trekked its magnificent slopes, will confirm that the massifs have the effect of infusing humility, without once wounding the human ego. |
| Nature Notes |
| I invariably carry a pair of binoculars with me in my backpack, used most often to watch birds. |
| Nature cure |
| It's utterly amazing the way nature works. |
| Dom Moraes | |
|
| Leaf |
| Little fugitive, you have paused between
snailcoloured boulders slimed with early mist,
left hand tilted upward from the wrist,
right hand rested on a rounded hip. |
| The Newcomers |
| At nightfall the wind limped back, unhappy
To comb the passes beyond the camp,
Still looking, like us, for a new country. |
| After Hours |
| Finally we are not unlike the apes... |
| Melancholy Prince |
| The towers of the unwashed hospital... |
| Christmas sonnets |
| His sullen kinsmen, by the winter sea |
| Alexander |
| Have they finally left, the mystic and mythic
powers I possessed? said their goodbyes?
I mumble in sleep, call after those absence,
though I know replies will not be made. |
| Rictus |
| Poetry from Dom Moraes |
| Absences |
| Smear out the last star./No lights from the islands/Or hills. In the great square... |
| Identity |
| Poetry by Dom Moraes |
| Mislaid Children |
| Because they will not be born
and will never allow us rest. |
| Sangeeta Mehra | |
|
| Lost memories.... |
| People pass on and are lost forever...eventually everything is lost ...so the wise...move on...because they have no choice... |
| The Regressive Indian...? |
| If Kamasutra is the bench mark then what is wrong with Manu’s ideas about women or sati or astrology for that matter? |
| Rehabilitating slums...? |
| Till such time that slum dwellers are made to pay for their housing the process of rehabilitation will be an inexorably long and unsuccessful one |
| Mandatory organ donation….? |
|
| Srinagar to San Francisco... |
| Starting with the Tag Huer Golf Tournament in Srinagar the summer has been a delightful one so far. With ninety people descending on the exquisite Intercontinental Palace hotel... |
| The right to pry...? |
| I think it’s preposterous for the whole country to be whining about not getting enough of the Bachchan wedding and to be discussing ad nauseum the guest list behind the now famous gate |
| VIP pilgrimages banned…! |
| What excellent news. The Tirupati board’s decision to do away with the special treatment given to celebrities visiting shrines is super |
| When laws incarcerate…! |
| So how do we explain procedures and laws that are so incarcerating that they prevent people from doing the right thing |
| Sex education…? |
| I remember my eight month old son’s amusing discovery of an appendage between his legs that he tried for the longest time to pluck off before he actually figured that it was futile to do so |
| Wanted...a dictator! |
| Acute water shortages despite excessive rain and floods in other areas... |
| Bejan Daruwalla | |
|
| Oh Flame (For Mahatma Gandhi) |
| I lie
shattered in pure, electric bliss
Oh Mahatma, now I know your flame... your face. |
| Dr. Aashish Contractor | |
|
| Soak in the Immersion! |
| After the tragic events of last week, Lord Ganesh riding into our lives is a much needed relief. |
| Behram Contractor | |
|
| Terrorists are cowards |
| Terrorists, essentially, are cowards. They do not fight soldiers, policemen, armed men; they attack the unarmed, the helpless, the private citizens... |
| Sri Sri Ravi Shankar | |
|
| The Seeker |
| You can only seek that which you know and when you really understand, you already have it, so it need not be sought. You cannot seek something you do not know |
| Life’s balancing act |
| Life is utterly simple and yet most complex. You have to simultaneously attend to both facets of life. When life appears most complex, turn to simplicity |
| Truth does not need protection |
| Only that which is temporary, small or perishable needs protection, while that which is permanent, big or vast does not |
| Laws of nature |
| There are three forces in nature: Brahma shakti, Vishnu shakti and Shiva shakti. Usually one of these predominates in you |
| Have faith in the Divine |
| Most of us come into this world with the seed in us — “It’s not OK.” All our lives we try to correct events, people and situations but how much can you correct? |
| Give quality time to the Divine |
| Many people acknowledge that they know very little, but they still may not be ready to learn... |
| Generosity — quality of the spirit |
| When you feel you are stuck in life and not growing, or are bombarded by desires, when you feel dryness, no enthusiasm, no juice, what do you do? |
| Faith and confidence |
| When you are in the grip of feverishness of over the results of your actions, what should you do? Have faith and confidence that the results will be much better than you can ever imagine |
| The Spiritual Master |
| Once a master was traveling in the middle province of India with a disciple following him a few yards behind. Some boys who were rude, rough and abusive began to throw stones and tease the disciple, calling him names |
| Skepticism |
| Ignorance is being a skeptic and not knowing that you are one. If you think you are a skeptic, you can no longer be one because you have a clue of something beyond |
| Debasish Panigrahi | |
|
| And who will be CM? |
| More than Sharad Pawar and Sonia Gandhi, we presswallahs bore the brunt of the 12-day stand-off between the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress over the appointment of the chief minister of Maharashtra. |
| The 'unputdownable' Pawar! |
| "And for Saturday, a few stray thoughts and a few general opinions and a few points of view (all my own work). Like, the greatest political survivor in the country is not George Fernandes or Jayalalitha, it is Sharad Pawar. Just when you would think that this time he has been totally buried and forgotten, he pops up..." |
| Kaun Banega Mukhya Mantri? |
| Now that the voting has been done and is over with, what remains to be seen is who will form the next government. More important than that, of course, is who will be the next chief minister of Maharashtra. Or, Kaun Banega Mukhya Mantri as Amitabh Bachchan would have asked if he was hosting a political countdown show. |
| Legitimising power |
| Power, when legitimised, gives rise to authority. And legitimacy, in a democracy, comes through popular mandate. |
| Postal ballots for police |
| The senior Crime Branch officer was at the end of his wits when I asked about the postal ballot system. |
| Khushwant Singh | |
|
| Sanjay Gandhi: Young Dictator |
| It was a hot sweltering afternoon in June 1980, when neither man nor beast stirred out of the shade. |
| Ami Patel | |
|
| 25 years of Guruji and The Art of Living |
| On May 13, 1956, there was born a child in a little village called Papanasan in Tamil Nadu. Twenty-five years later: the youth now 25 years of age borrows Rs. 50,000 to start an NGO. |
| Kaizad Dinshaw | |
|
| Spare Tihe Rod |
| A newspaper recently reported on its front page that the Mumbai police have put rich youngsters on their target list after a high profile accident that took place on Carter road, in Bandra, a few weeks ago |
| Love On The Rocks |
| The city once resounded to the myriad voice of a thousand guns crying out for liberty! Meerut, the hallowed womb of India’s first war of independence recently played host to a more inauspicious battle of ethos |
| The Lost World |
| As I stepped out of a railway station in Paris I turned up to marvel at its glory and magnificence |
| Road to hell |
| What seems to be the causing all the mayhem and fluster on Mumbai’s roads lately? Is it merely the calamitous marriage of alcohol and boys on wheels? |
| Tinaikar | |
|
| When they don’t make much of a difference |
| It’s wrongly depicted that voters voted in favour of the Shiv Sena-BJP. They are still short of a simple majority. The voters have given a clear verdict |
| Rabindranath Tagore | |
|
| Where the Mind Is Without Fear |
| Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;/Where knowledge is free; |
| Rudyard Kipling | |
|
| If... |
| If you can keep your head when all about youare losing theirs and blaming it on you; |
| S.B. Jaisinghani | |
|
| Menace of hostile witnesses |
| Menace of hostile witnesses |
| Nupur Sinh | |
|
| Buyers vs collectors |
| It's a trite fix these art evenings. Gallery owners: the fast multiplying new moguls. Artists cool, composed, confident in their semi-corporate Friday-dressing mode, mingling |
| Shernaz Engineer | |
|
| Who Wants to Be a Bahenji |
| Prime Minister should suggest some sort of regulation of their wealth as well... |
| Yes, Corporate India is Perpetrating Inequities |
| Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made a very pertinent point recently and one that has to be taken in the right spirit... |
| Life in a Metro and other mumbo jumbo |
| Two Saturday nights ago we were at Regal, that charming, old-fashioned theatre that hasn't refashioned itself into a disco-lit multiplex, cineplex or anything more complex than going to the counter and purchasing a ticket for a single-screen, single-show-at-a-time deal |
| Mauling Our Icons: Height Of Summer Madness |
|
| Drinking and Driving… Mumbai’s Lethal Cocktail |
| Despite our claims about making Mumbai an international city, it is appalling that the administration has put into place absolutely no stringent edicts against drinking and driving |
| The Mega Mumbai Mess-Up and How We’re Making it Worse |
| We are apathetic, indifferent, and undisciplined. We moan about everything, but don’t want to do anything... |
| Unheard Voices: Why Are We Willfully Turning a Deaf Ear? |
| Yet we seem to wash ourselves with this false veneer of wellbeing, willfully ignoring the symptoms of a society seriously out of balance... |
| Emancipation or Exfoliation – What Do Women Really Want! |
| How much has life really changed for women as International Women’s Day, with its exultant euphoria, comes our way? |
| Still Missing Busybee |
| How does one write an ode to the BC (Behram Contractor) era of journalism, knowing fully well that if he were able to cast his bemused glance upon it, there would be a small smirk? |
| William Wordsworth | |
|
| Daffodils |
| I wander’d lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze... |
| Altamash Gaziyani | |
|
| The monsoon thrill! |
| Rains also bring a great change in the surrounding nature around us... |
| My pets! |
| A dog is the most faithful pet for any human being alive on Earth... |
| Vote to choose the ‘New7Wonders’ |
| The Taj Mahal was chosen because I want the sole qualifier from India to be known worldwide... |
| Plant a tree on your next birthday |
| Many topics have been discussed by the UN in the past years and the most concerning now are the air pollution... |
| Mind your language! |
| I’m sure that most of your parents must know about the popular T.V. show of their time called ‘Mind Your Language’ |
| My visits to my farmland |
| A few weeks ago, I had gone to my farmland in Gholvad. It is a wonderful place, full of brambles and other spiky and unwanted plants. We are trying to remove all of those as soon as we can, because with them, no-one can walk around the two acre field without wearing socks |
| My career options! |
| Only last Tuesday I decided my career in life. Doing this was probably the most challenging thing in my life, but in the end, I found out it was easy! I shall explain to you this long process (from my point of view) |
| What will happen in Harry Potter’s last book? |
| Do you like reading? Well, I do like reading a lot and my favorite books are the Harry Potter series. Harry Potter is rather famous character in public nowadays, owing much to the fact that the last book of the series, ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’, is releasing most probably on the 21st of July... |
| Scientists and their mind-blowing secrets |
| Did you think that the scientists who have got us so much comfort only studied and only kept trying to make their inventions, doing nothing else at all in life? |
| The lure of Egypt |
| Are you planning to go anywhere out of your own country for a vacation? Perhaps Egypt? Well, it’s a good choice, to me at least |
| Hanumant Singh | |
|
| Cricket kingsize! |
| A prince who lived regally and generously. This is how Hanumant Singh looked a year back in March at a family function, hail and hearty, in the pink of health |
| Nicky Desai | |
|
| Indian Cricket - Present and Future |
| The factor of effective communication and understanding by the players, of what the coach is telling them is very important... |
| Robert Frost | |
|
| The Road Not Taken |
| guest column |
| Mohan Jayakar | |
|
| You and I = Us |
| Enlightenment is the annihilation of the one who desires enlightenment... |
| You and I |
| You cannot love another person one moment and attack him the next moment... |
| I am |
| In trying to understand the nuts and bolts that have gone in our being or unravelling the energy... |
| The Essence of Charity |
| Give …. but without pitying the needy. Pity only inflates the ego whereas humility deflates it... |
| Forgiveness |
| The Bible preaches: if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive our lives. Lord Krishna in the Bhagvad Gita describes one of the qualities of a devotee …to be one having a forgiving nature |
| Living life today |
| There is only one spiritual teaching, although it comes in many forms. Be it Jesus, or the Prophet or Buddha or the Holy Hindu Scriptures, no teaching or religion could teach differently.
We are obsessed with everything which causes us strain and mental anguish |
| The Universal Truth |
| Many a times our prayers comprise of words of which we know not the meaning. As a Hindu I was taught certain prayers, which I tried to assimilate and remember |
| Imtiaz Dharkar | |
|
| The right word |
| I open the door. Come in, I say. Come in and eat with us |
, Bombay - India