She sounds bitter, I don't know what the back story is but this ready petty

Also because institutions that took the Tarp money couldn't hire people on work visas. I have friends who lost their jobs >8 months back and still don't have jobs because they need a visa.

Manish,
Hindu chauvinists like Advani, Modi have always strongly condemned Anti-Sikh riots. I don't think hindutva crowd have anything against Sikhs.

are they planning to ban all brown/black people from walking outside during daytime since they absorb too much heat?

cause it was genuine excitement, restraint is not always becoming. I personally loved the fact that he did.

Maybe I have a different perspective since I've read the book that it's based on. It's edgy, it makes the reader uncomfortable and it makes you question the ethics of what's right and wrong. But that's sort of what the book explores. From reading the book, certain instances, I wouldn't necessarily classify as "rape" per se because the protagonist seemed almost willing - but it is definitely statutory rape (under the law).

I've yet to see the movie - so I don't know if it deviates from the plot line.

Am not surprised that they recruited an Indian girl to play an Arab, though. The cynic in me thinks that most people here wouldn't be able to tell the difference anyway.

http://www.historyofpia.com/

Afterthought, for the same reason I also used to take taxis in NYC during rush :) but have started taking the subway even coming back from Kennedy.

I agree about the stupidity of taking cars in Bombay and getting to Churchgate station would have been a better idea, but with things to lug and crowds in the trains, it wasn't an option at that time.
The subway I believe will take 20+ years to complete, the last year when I was down, I saw some work being done at Saki Naka in Andheri. Delhi subway has done wonders for Delhi traffic. I actually really like the car and would rather see this on the road then a family of five on a scooter.

It already takes me more than an hour to get from Bandra to Andheri which is only a few kilometers away. One time I took a taxi from Oberoi hotel, which is at one end of Marine Drive, I was stuck in traffic for almost an hour and half to reach Girgaum Chaupati, which is barely 3 Kms. I can't even imagine what will happen with more cars on the roads and like someone else mentioned, this will only add to the nuisance, I don't think the motorcycles and scooters are going anywhere.

Very well written Manish, my only concern is how this will add to the already existing traffic problems in cities like Bombay, Delhi and Bangalore.

Is it only me or there are other who feel that Anand's articles about South Asia are cringeworthy?

VV,

What may have annoyed your sensibilities at the Taj hotels is employment for many people that pay much better than other jobs in India. I actually saw similar things in the new grocery stores in India, where there was staff to bag your groceries and carry it to your car, I am not sure if I will term it intrusive but definitely saw it as increased employment.

Shaukat was never in the running, his name was only being dropped by people fixated on making everything an India Pakistan competition. When Shaukat left Citi he was only a Vice President and there is no way he could have been elevated to CEO. The only other thing I hear is Vikram may have got the job no one else wanted but I guess we will have to wait and see.
On a sidenote, the apartment he bought on the UWS for $18 million was Tony Randall's dig.

This is great news, Pandit made MD in seven years at MS which is a commendable feat. There was a group of four desis in those days at MS who were all big swinging, one of them heads MS in India now.

Great news, he is a great guy and I have friends who used to work for him at Morgan.

Chachaji,

The difference between the situation in India and Pakistan is that military in India has been specifically asked to intervene in situations that you mention above, where as in Pakistan military rulers have been in power mostly by force which followed partisan elections for over 30 years of the 60 years of its independence. I am with you about Benazir and Nawaz Sharif.

You are correct about the news of oddities, there have been news of people marrying dogs, people marrying snakes, people marrying trees. Even magazines like economist are not immune, most of their south asia coverage is thin on actual research and not well backed up but hey they write about relevant topics.

Khoofia,

MKT was one of favorite places to eat growing up, I went to school with a lot of tibetan guys and a lot of them used to have businesses there or the Monestary behind the ISBT. Thank you for the video.

Chachaji,

Both the emergencies have 30 years between them, I am sure that will account for something.

Chachaji,

I was talking about the college students working in jobs similar to American summer jobs in Mcdonalds etc. They will not hire a chotu from the dhaba to keep up the image which is sadly what is sold everywhere.

BTW the bun unda and chai stall are not going to go anywhere as there are enough people who still patronize such places. I used to love the ones outside of IIT Delhi and Dhaula Kuan near the gas station.

SP,

I absolutely agree with you, I have seen some obnoxious managers in Indian eating establishment which in mind explain the staff's behavior to some extent. I have seen a lot of managers abuse their staff and wouldn't put hitting people besides them.
What puts me off is the chip on the shoulder and how Indians are treated badly in the establishments you talk about and the foreigners are fawned upon. All this has to change and once again you are right that the process is slower than expected.

Although after living in Bombay and Delhi, I think the attitudes in Delhi are far worse than in Bombay.

SP,

I would cut these kids some slack. It is only recently that people have started working early in life and I am sure they will come around.

Chachaji,
The United Coffee house and the other older coffee houses are more expensive than their newer counterparts. Also the CCD and Barista's have a younger more vibrant feel which appeals to the youngsters. Although I went to a Barista in Vasant Vihar two years back and a frappacino and hot coffee costed close to INR 200.

Critic,

I am not even sure where to begin, to start from what I recall from Manish's earlier posts both Mr. Acharya and Mr. Pal were born in India but have been in America for sometime.

I will let someone else tackle the rest of your comment

Agreed, although I can't imagine what you had to go through to watch shakala;)

I actually did and didn't get a very convincing answer, I follow his blog often partly due to the fact that I knew Anurag, his wife Arti and his brother Abhinav in real life many moons ago in Delhi before he became a bollywood rebel:) I am not trying to be an ass, generally curious as people like Kumar Mangat, who is one of the producers and also produced Omkara seem to be more business type then Anurag is.

I have largely seen extremely negative reviews for NS online, I think yours may be the only complimentary one. What I would like to find out from Anurag is if his investors are as understanding of the reaction to No Smoking.

gardan is excellent, hindi has such gems, I think somone reminded everyone of naspeetay the other day. It will be great if we can do a hindi word of the day:)

ACD,

I absolutely agree, who are these people? It is bloody draining to read all the nonsensical bickering. People don't know when to stop.

Thanks Manish, I would give it a try this weekend.

Does anyone know how far is this place from the Dekab Avenue R stop or is there a better train to take coming from Downtown Manhattan.

Chachaji,

I appreciate your comment, I agree with an EU like entity for the region which can further the economic interest of the members and substitute SAARC is a splendid idea. What baffles me personally is the shortsighted approach, it is almost like no one is willing to plan ahead. Thank you for your insightful commentary.

Chachaji,

With all due respect, I don't think a looser federation for pacifying the neighbors makes any sense. Autonomy to the states yes but the other angle that you speak of here and on SM is pretty far fetched. By the way the revenue sharing for direct and indirect taxes between the states and the center is the first thing that should be reworked so that the states have better control of their finances so that states like Maharashtra where Bombay contributes majority of the Income taxes don't have to look at the center for help when the flood drown the city.

Amreekan,

I think Rundy would be hindi for prostitute, I am not aware of any other usage unless SRK decided to enlighten us, although the currency of South Africa is Rand.

Trollerboi,

"Naaspeetay" is the word of the day, thank you for the chuckle

This chef is a guy called Vikas Khanna, he used to consult at this place downtown called Spice Route AKA Tandoor Palace II which has since closed.

I ran into Bombay aristocrats, jocks, models and rich kids who’d not once ridden the local, the likes of which I’ve never met among desis in America.

I think it is because most of them choose to go back after completing their education.
Life is more comfortable back home if you are from those parts of the society, you don't have to worry about cooking and cleaning. I guess that is the reason a lot of people in America are only exposed to one set of India which I guess is very different than the one you saw in Bombay.

They have to try and beat themselves, look at the bright side, for every shot a sepia or an ultra reader drinks you get to have two :)

I have been following your commentary with great interest, as someone who came to America 6 years back and has lived all my life in India, I have never heard anyone talk with that accent in India or here. Do you find it baffling that most everywhere people have the same line of defence to everything you say. It is almost like no one is paying attention, all they have to say is "Simpsons make fun of everyone" etc. I think it is funny that the white commenters imply that there are no racial undertone when they don't have the faintest Idea how it feels to be on the other side.
My first year of grad school, I was asked everything from Elephants, knowledge of English to if there are buildings in India.

True about the internet connections, from what I remember there is a cap on the download. What I was talking about is more to do with getting clearances if you are setting up shop.
Hopefully by the time you get back it will be better.

I won't go as far as that but the service people have a problem with over promising. Hope you have a better experience next time.

Sharekhan service is excellent, also check out the Indiabulls locations and any of the HSBC mutual fund and ICICI banks. My point is things are changing some faster than the others. Painting everything with a broad brush doesn't help anything. BTW both the tailors you mention in comment number 5 are terrible. There is a good tailor in Greater Kailash which may be worth a visit. I personally don't bother with clothes as most tailor have an attitude about they know better and they end up screwing up everything else.

I should have been more specific, I am not talking about call centers, I am specifically talking about Investment Banking and Mutual Funds, both industries place high premium on revenue generation and product innovation. I am not at liberty to disclose names but there are plenty of examples. I take issue with the generalization that the entire Indian workforce suffers from Hierarchical, non self starters yes sir types that the author alludes to.

Check this out for profiles of startups in India and related topics.

Kaushik,

You are absolutely correct, there are SEPZs in Andheri and they are building a new one in Navi Mumbai where you can sublease small office spaces. There are places in Bandra Kurla and Nariman Point which also lease out office spaces with all the facilities.

I don't mean to discount anyone's experience but like I mentioned before you need to know how to get things done. I don't think the generalization about the work culture being non-self starter and risk averse holds true. There are plenty of people in their early 30s who are in management positions precisely because of being self starters. I am sure your experience was bad but probably could have been easier if someone guided you better.

Indian small and medium enterprises and domestic start ups have been doing well for as long as I can remember. I am not sure if your contention is that US start ups are not getting the same reception in India. That is because of the fact that like any growing economy stability is the primary concern, after a period of stability people will support riskier ventures. That being said the problem for tech start ups like yours may be that they don't know how to navigate the system. Sadly in India there is an under the table solution for all your problems.

Musical,

Isn't Parminder British IRL, I am not sure why there should be an issue in the first place

Also, I am not sure if anyone has tried PannaII on 6th and 1st, there always seem to be long lines outside the place.
If you like spicy coastal food there is a great Sri Lankan place called Sigiri on 6th and 1st.

Try the Pakistan Tea house dowwntown on Church between Chambers and Duane. There is a Punjabi Deli at 50th and 10th which is pretty good.

Thank you for the wonderful description. Food at candies near lilavati hospital is pretty good. Check this out for more places in Bandra if you already haven't come across this site.

Karim's is one of the most famous Indian Non-Vegetarian restaurants near Jama Masjid, the founders were supposed to be chefs in Bahadurshah Jafar's palace.

I agree with sqrlta, the chain is owned by the Narang's of Ambassador hotel and used to be called Croissants etc., I am not sure when the etc. was dropped. PK ignorant comments like these serve no purpose, so it will help to be constructive.

The reason why it is not being played as Dhhirubhai’s story is because of the warring Ambani brothers, where Anil’s company, Adlabs has produced the film, Mukesh is not too happy by the portrayal of one of Mukesh’s closest confidants in the movie; Mukesh tried to stall the release of the movie for the same reasons.

Everything above is absolutely correct additionaly, there is a roadside eatery opposite royal inn hotel in Khar which may not be as good as Bade Miyan is pretty close. Also there used to be a guy outside president hotel in Cuffe Parade who does a mean paneer kathi roll. For nice home food there is a place called crystal in opera hose close to chaupati which is good. The thali at golden star in charni road and matunga station is pretty good. The paranthas at Just Paranthas at linking road are great and try the Khichdi Samrat, I forget the exact location but it is definitely worth a try.

There is a new bar called Shiro in Parel which is nice.

The only thing remotely close to stand up comedy show was the great India Comedy Show. Johnny Lever used to do some stand up, I am not sure if he is still into it. As for Peters being popular in India, like everything else it is easy to get pirated copies of his routines.

Hey Manish,

Are we going to see a Don review from you soon?

I have only seen the bean up close, and I like the bean...

Dude, you mention the food and you don't actually put any pictures up there of the food?

I finally watched the movie!

It was great except, but some thing did disappoint me - there were no "jadu ki jhappis." :(

How far away is your abode from the beach, Manish?

Customization at it's best! We've got some of the best minds in the field of Advertising!

Great pics, Manish! :-)

But it's not a sequel - it is said to be one of the many movies in the "Munna Bhai Series" of movies...

...and then again, I haven't yet watched it for myself - so I wouldn't know!

I was going to leave you a message asking whether or not you had taken some pictures during Ganesh Chaturthi...

...I don't have to now:)