Why Isn't Narendra Modi Being Indicted? Were We Always Corrupt?

Author : John Mathew      Blog : Indian Writer-Poet-Blogger John P Matthew on Writing and Life!      Date : 5/13/2013 7:40:00 AM

'The past few days have been overtly ones of introspection for us. The continuing saga of reportage on rapes has upset one. So, it seems, rapes had been happening all around us and we weren't knowing about it till now. Why aren't the lawkeepers as efficient when dealing with gender violence? Then the resurgence of "Narendra Modi as prime minister" bogey has also been haunting us. Narendra Modi has accepted that he may have made a mistake then why isn't the mista(...)'

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Mr. Bandookwala, M.B.A., Harvard Finishes Third Edit

Author : John Mathew      Blog : Indian Writer-Poet-Blogger John P Matthew on Writing and Life!      Date : 5/10/2013 11:05:00 AM

'We have finished a third editing of our novel "Mr. Bandookwala, M.B.A., Harvard" (details in this link) which was rather difficult. Uffff! Time to celebrate. Now we are glad we did it because we feel a manuscript has so many inconsistencies that have to be dealt with. (May be, that's why most of those who pontificate about literature, yeah, some of our own self-styled worthies, do not attempt a story. But that's another story.) Storytelling requires a skill all its(...)'

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IPLT20: A Review

Author : John Mathew      Blog : Indian Writer-Poet-Blogger John P Matthew on Writing and Life!      Date : 5/6/2013 8:15:00 AM

'We are watching the horrendous IPLT20, perforce, as we have nothing else to do. We didn't know a gentlemen's game could descend to such depths of triteness. There's so much distraction that we can't concentrate on the game anymore. Guess it's that guy Srinivasan who did it. Yes, he did. There is something Rajnikant-ish in all that crap that goes on on screen. Why those comments on screen when a shot is played? Is it necessary? Let the discerning audience judge f(...)'

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How Age Changes People: We Remain the Same Despite Age

Author : John Mathew      Blog : Indian Writer-Poet-Blogger John P Matthew on Writing and Life!      Date : 5/1/2013 2:43:00 PM

'Yes, age does change people. Wrinkles start appearing, teeth drop off, bone structure changes, hairs thin, well, we become old. The strange thing is we aren't aware how time passes so quickly and a decade, and another, and another, pass so fast.  This must be something these four sisters also wondered about, which prompted them to photograph themselves every year since 1975 to today (See photographs here.). (We were in college then and roughly our ages correspond.) We hope they(...)'

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Saudi Deports Fashion Photographer as Being Too Handsome

Author : John Mathew      Blog : Indian Writer-Poet-Blogger John P Matthew on Writing and Life!      Date : 4/26/2013 8:57:00 AM

'Saudi Arabia recently deported a man, a fashion photographer, they thought as being "too handsome." Hehe. So what's too handsome? See it for yourself here. However, one thing Saudi men must remember is that the repression they afford to their women is to blame for the lack of faith. Wait a minute, hold on, we are just coming to the point. Yeh, the guy is handsome, agreed. Lips like the young John Travolta's, eyebrows like Brooke Shields', eyes, like, well, Bra(...)'

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Another Delhi Rape and It's Aftermath

Author : John Mathew      Blog : Indian Writer-Poet-Blogger John P Matthew on Writing and Life!      Date : 4/22/2013 10:13:00 AM

'Rape. It's a crude four-letter word. And it happened again, in the national capital rocked by a violent rape just a few months ago, in fact, four months ago. The inspiration for this blog has been the esteemed Nilanjana Roy's article in The Hindu which appears here. Now, admit this: rape and brutalisation has been happening for a as long as India existed, or even before, according to our friend Henry. It's only coming out now because some people became angry and made (...)'

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On Finishing Chapter Seventeen!

Author : John Mathew      Blog : Indian Writer-Poet-Blogger John P Matthew on Writing and Life!      Date : 4/19/2013 6:52:00 AM

'Actually to let the world know, erm, that we are making slow and painful progress on the novel. Finished Chapter Seventeen at the Cafe Coffee Day's Cafe in Belapur, New Bombay last night. Only three more chapters to go. Yay! CCD's Cafes are a good place to be in, a bit tony, if you ask us. They take orders from the table and there's no number card to be carried back to the table. Hm. That's a good improvement from the ordinary CCD joint.  But there were a few busine(...)'

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Korean Star Psy's New Album "Gentleman." Gentleman as Tyke

Author : John Mathew      Blog : Indian Writer-Poet-Blogger John P Matthew on Writing and Life!      Date : 4/17/2013 10:21:00 AM

'So Psy's new album "Gentleman" has received 82 million views on youtube. But if you see his video you will retch. His antics are anything but gentlemanly. In one obnoxious scene he gathers his fart in one hand and applies it to a woman's face; in another he pulls the chair from under another woman. We won't detail all the ungentlemanly behaviour here, but, will vouch - God be my witness - he is no respectable gentry in our opinion. He is a downright tyke. That(...)'

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Happy Vishu! Vishu Sadya at Kerala House

Author : John Mathew      Blog : Indian Writer-Poet-Blogger John P Matthew on Writing and Life!      Date : 4/14/2013 2:25:00 PM

'Today, the family went for the Vishu sadya at Kerala House in Vashi. The idea was to give the better half a break and to taste the variety of Kerala's cuisines. On turning up we find a milling crowd clad in their best Kerala "settu" sarees and bhasmam on their foreheads. We were number sixty-nine on the waiting list and the man in-charge warned me that it would take half-an-hour. It turned out to be a long wait, one, no, two hours. We started wondering, among squealin(...)'

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Do Women Make Better Writers, Editors, Publishers, and Readers of Novels?

Author : John Mathew      Blog : Indian Writer-Poet-Blogger John P Matthew on Writing and Life!      Date : 4/12/2013 10:33:00 AM

'Here's what Alexandra Pringle, chief editor, Bloomsbury has to say about fiction for women by women. Hell, she is right. Mostly novels are written, edited, published, and read by women. Come to think of it why didn't I notice it before, though I had a premonition about it. Most editors I know are women, and when I walk into a book store mostly it is women who crowd around the fiction shelves and men, if at all, the management and self-development books. (I used to think, mis(...)'

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Commonwealth Book and Short Story Prizes

Author : John Mathew      Blog : Indian Writer-Poet-Blogger John P Matthew on Writing and Life!      Date : 4/10/2013 11:53:00 AM

'Here's the list of the Commonwealth Book and Short Story prizes, in some detail.If you prefer to see it in the list form, here it is. I wish! I wish!John is @johnwriter on Twitter and John.Matthew on Facebook. He blogs here. His Youtube Channel Page. His novel Mr. Bandookwala, M.B.A., Harvard.'

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Switching Off for a Few Days; Suggest You Do That Too!

Author : John Mathew      Blog : Indian Writer-Poet-Blogger John P Matthew on Writing and Life!      Date : 3/28/2013 4:06:00 PM

'In every life there is a winter and a summer. I don't know the exact quote attributed to some Brit writer. I am not bothered to try because internet failed at home and I am in a cyber cafe and, unfortunately, the keyboard in this dingy place - like in other cafes - is just horrible.  If I press a key I have to manually raise it again to type the next word. My winter came sometime last year. All of a sudden from an earning, hard working, concerned individual I became this bloate(...)'

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Chinua Achebe R.I.P.

Author : John Mathew      Blog : Indian Writer-Poet-Blogger John P Matthew on Writing and Life!      Date : 3/25/2013 10:25:00 AM

'I know the New Yorker is the best place to go for an obituary. So, I found this obit for Chinua Achebe in New Yorker written by Philip Gourevitch. Though I have heard about him (Achebe), I, personally, shamefacedly admit, haven't read any works of Achebe. So I hasten to the bookshop today to hunt for books of his: Things Fall Apart, No Longer at Ease, and A Man of the People. And, of course, Girls at War. I have great respect for African writers in English. I would venture to (...)'

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John Lennon's Glasses

Author : John Mathew      Blog : Indian Writer-Poet-Blogger John P Matthew on Writing and Life!      Date : 3/22/2013 12:14:00 PM

'I am a great fan of John Lennon. (Nothing to do with the first name, I hasten to add. John is a very common name in Western countries.) Have always been. So when Yoko Ono tweeted the glasses John wore when he was killed by a crazy fan to gave rise to a train of thought that chugged right through the afternoon. So, this blogger, thought of immortalising it with a blog post. John always wore glasses with round frames. Don't know why, but he did. May be, he loved the shape, may be(...)'

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Don't Fall into the Credit Card (Loan) Trap; Promise of Heaven, but It's Hell

Author : John Mathew      Blog : Indian Writer-Poet-Blogger John P Matthew on Writing and Life!      Date : 3/20/2013 9:03:00 AM

'Sad is the story of Donato and his wife Elizabeth who had to kill their children and consume poison because of financial troubles. True for some time Donato lived the Bombay dream of a flat, a car (a Fortuner SUV) and a lifestyle that included travel and eating out. But when he lost his job and bills kept mounting he had no alternative but to kill himself and his children. But why kill the children for his excesses and sins? His agony and anguish must have been great, as is for mos(...)'

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The Writer as Cuckoo - a Lonely Bird

Author : John Mathew      Blog : Indian Writer-Poet-Blogger John P Matthew on Writing and Life!      Date : 3/16/2013 10:47:00 AM

'Oh if only I could write without disturbance. I read this piece by a lazy writer on salon.com which went viral recently. He is a bit laid back and a little out of confidence. He wants to be writer, but for providence sake can't figure out how. Naturally, this happens to almost all writers. There are frequent blackouts and mundane things that intervene in the process of creative cogitation and writing. And then we lose track of our writing, continuity is lost. That's why I am(...)'

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Encounter 2: Being Conned in New Bombay by a Smart One

Author : John Mathew      Blog : Indian Writer-Poet-Blogger John P Matthew on Writing and Life!      Date : 3/12/2013 12:31:00 PM

'Since I wrote in an earlier blog on writing about my encounters in the past few days, here's one that might interest you.It's evening and I am walking to the bus stop after visiting my optician in Vashi. Then I see him. He is dressed in a white trouser, shoes, a patterned shirt - worn outside the trouser - buttoned at the wrist, and is chewing on the concoction of betelnut and lime. As he walks confidently towards me he offers his clammy hand for shaking. I wonder why his pa(...)'

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Ramu Singh Commits Suicide - Nirbhaya Saga Continues

Author : John Mathew      Blog : Indian Writer-Poet-Blogger John P Matthew on Writing and Life!      Date : 3/11/2013 1:42:00 PM

'The rapist who assaulted Nirbhaya hanged himself in jail, which is the latest news flashed to me by the social media. I am not shocked because a man who is condemned by society and the media has little chance of survival. Hm.So what did he think? He could get away with rape? He may have, and that's a worrying thought. Such men are known to have a history of such crimes in their past. Then they go on to do more. So whose fault is that? The government (on which we blame everythi(...)'

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Shouting Matches. Why Can't Our Electronic Media Even Lick the Dust of the BBC?

Author : John Mathew      Blog : Indian Writer-Poet-Blogger John P Matthew on Writing and Life!      Date : 3/5/2013 12:44:00 PM

'Just now I finished watching BBC's Nik Gowing and then sat at my computer to watch an interview with Arindam Chaudhari by Sagarika Ghose and Maheshwar Peri (formerly of Outlook? I don't know.). Oh God!Why is our television so strident? Why do they have to shout so much? Is it a failing of we, as a people. All of them were shouting at the top of their lungs. So much high-octane trading of allegations. Charges and insults were being exchanged. Absolutely no mass media manners(...)'

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Some Encounters in Long-distance Trains

Author : John Mathew      Blog : Indian Writer-Poet-Blogger John P Matthew on Writing and Life!      Date : 3/4/2013 12:38:00 PM

'A couple of strange encounters in trains the past few days had me, dazed, or, flabbergasted, which is a word I don't like. But, anyway, here it is. On the journey to Kerala to attend wifey's mother's funeral we travelled by the superfast express Durondo. Our co-passengers were a very strange group. Strange in the sense they kept eating tobacco all the time and making fun of other co-passengers in their language. Now what was that language? I didn't know a word of it. Usuall(...)'

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