DesiReflections

I stay in Lokhandwala area in western suburb ofAndheri in the city of Mumbai. The one Km.long market of Lokhandwala attractspeople from the entire city. It is very famous for the trendiest fashionableclothes jewelry and make up accessories. Most of the shops caters only women,you will hardly find more than 10 shops keeping any thing for male customers.Is it not surprising ? Less or more this situation you will find in most of thecities. In Calcutta there is a 3 km long stretch called Goriya Hat, whichcaters only women clients. So you can say that woman spend more time and moneyon their dresses, makeup, jewelry. What is the reason for it ? Frankly speaking,through the ages, men tried to make woman only as a sex object, or in simple words a commodity, remember the ancient wars when the women of defeated kingdom were distributed among the winner army as trophies, it is a grim reality recorded in the history books. More so, the male dominated society did not allow woman to read, write,...

During my last visit to US, I came across a Chinese born American Na, who come to the country to join a top Pharma research company. After first meeting only Na become a very close friend of mine. He was a part of team in his company doing some path breaking research, his work earned name and fame. After staying there for 15 years, from last three years, he run his own research company, working on some out of box idea to create a medicine that may of linger effect of any drug consumed for a treatment. His fame also reached to his native land. The Chinese Government has started inviting Na every year for shortlisting boys and girl, who may do some path breaking innovation. China has already understood two basic factors, one - encourage Chinese to do some innovations which may help the country to be technology leader , second - encourage its younger generation to learn and master English, lack of which is giving edge to indians in global technology market. India is little behind in th...

I have been to New York on two different occasions. Every time I enjoyed being in Manhattan area which is the most thickly populated Borough among all the five Boroughs of NY City is divided . This part of New York City especially its Times Square area attracts tourists from all across the globe and the best part is that it never sleeps. You may find it crowded even in the wee hours of night, people moving around, the pubs, cafeterias, restaurants, stores doing brisk business. Then there is Broadway for plays, Madison Square and Central Park for cultural activities . The area is also famous for its street food, most of the foodcarts are owned by people who proudly call themselves Desi. Broadly Indian, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis even those who come from far distant countries Jordon, Yemen, Afganistan falls under this category Freedom of Expression Parade at Times Square Busy area become Carnival Place on Holidays Neon signs and digital scrollers keep it bibrant India Day Para...

The lovers of international films were disheartened and shocked to know that due to financial crunch 16thedition of Mumbai Film Festival (MFF) will not take place.. For them iMumbai Film Festival brings opportunity to see world cinema, see interaction of creative people making in different part of world, fighting unending battle against commercial cinema. It works as a window to breathe fresh cinema which is otherwise not possible .The good news is that due to sheer activism and initiative by Ameer Khan, Anurag Kayshap and many more angels, the Festival is now setto roll out from Oct 14 here. Anand Mahindra, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Bhushan Kumar, Shahid Kapoor, Rajkumar Rao, Varun Dhawan, Karan Johar, Raj Kumar Hirani and many more came forward to join the cause, which is very encouraging. Due to funds restraint, this year the size is scaled down but Festival still be able to showcase over 185 films from more than 65countries. MAMI has called a Press Conference at Novotel H...

Have you ever thought why people want to sit in a bar and enjoy a drink or two despite the fact that in the price of one or two peg in a bar, they may buy khamba (sorry for street lingo, I mean a bottle) and enjoy it with a friend or two for the entire evening. The reasons are many, one : the drinker do not have courage to drink sitting at home due to repercussion from family(read - wife), two : to show his children that papa is the most idealist person in the entire world, three : sitting leisurely and some one else (sometime even a lovely lady) making perfect drink for you.But again, making a perfect drink or a perfect cocktail needs lot of skill, so whenever a new bar opens in an area people flock there just to break monotony, search good ambience and of course quality munch and a perfect drink. So, the entrepreneurs come up with out of the box ideas, innovative drinks and perfect drink. Recently Mihir Desai came up with Bar Stock Exchange here in Mumbai. The alcohol sales based...