Public & Private

James Fallows in the Atlantic:

I have seen enough of the world outside America to be sure that eventually a collapsing public life brings the private sector down with it. If we want to maintain the virtues of private America, we must at least try on the public front too. Rio, Manila, and Mexico City during their respective crime booms; Shanghai in the 1920s and Moscow in the 1990s; Jakarta through the decades; the imagined Los Angeles of Blade Runner —these are all venues in which commerce and opportunity abounded. But the lack of corresponding public virtues—rule of law, expectation of physical safety, infrastructure that people can enjoy or depend on without owning it themselves—made those societies more hellish than they needed to be. When outsiders marvel at today’s China, it is for the combination of private and public advances the country has made. It has private factories and public roads; private office buildings and public schools.

Slumdog Millionaire

I was underwhelmed by the film. The characters speaking English in Mumbai seems so unnatural. I wonder what the film crew did on their multiple “research” visits to Mumbai. The actor playing Jamal Malik is very ordinary imo. Saurabh Shukla’s gaalis are a treat to hear. Irrfan Khan is wasted in his miniscule role. Anil Kapoor is irritatingly loud and uncouth while the actor playing Jamal’s brother does a good job.

The original story seems to have lost many of its best points in the silver screen adaptation. I wonder why Ram Mohammad Thomas became Jamal Malik.

Time Machine

“I have not lost my mind - it's backed up on disk somewhere.” -- Unknown

Indian Chinese

Amidst all the hullaballoo surrounding Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, we seem to have forgotten some actual bollywood films released last week. A keeper, from one such movie Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye:

Soy sauce = sirke waala sauce.

Quote For The Day

What’s another word for Thesaurus? –Steven Wright

Eid al-Adha Mubarak

Home is where the heart is.

Why