John Matthew posted an article on John P Matthew - Feb 7, 2012, 2:57 am
In what may be a sarcastic dig at literary festivals in general and Jaipur Literary Festival in particular, Amitav Ghosh (yes, the one who writes translucent prose, read, read!) says: I have never attended the Jaipur Literature Festival; nor does a visit loom in the foreseeable future. This is lar...
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John Matthew posted an article on John P Matthew - Feb 6, 2012, 8:14 am
It says here that sales of skin whitening creams have outstripped sale of Coca Cola and tea in India. It also says that the market grew at 18 per cent and will touch 25 per cent growth this year. I don't know where this will end. There's nothing more for me to add, except perhaps a few things. Ahem...
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John Matthew posted an article on John P Matthew - Feb 4, 2012, 7:29 am
... notice how much it is about food and travel that he writes. Truly for every Indian, ... food and travel are of prime importance. We travel a lot within the country, and eat ... that he couldn't afford first class travel, but he wanted to get the pulse of the people. When you travel second clas...
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John Matthew posted an article on John P Matthew - Jan 28, 2012, 4:23 am
Now the hullabaloo has settled down in Jaipur, dust and all, those peoples who consider telling and criticising stories as their bread-and-butter occupation can rest content. Rest content because, as so many things happen in India, it has gone into oblivion after the initial posturing and hype. We...
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John Matthew posted an article on John P Matthew - Jan 25, 2012, 1:02 am
Saw this in my mail, "Baby Varghese turns 73." Oh God, what's this a baby of 73? "No stupid," God said, "Baby is proper name in Malayalam, "it doesn't mean Baby as in small children." So, hm, Kerala has this interesting history of assigning names to people, at least, in the area I hail from. In ear...
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John Matthew posted an article on John P Matthew - Jan 24, 2012, 4:01 am
Back and forth went the allegations and accusations. Suspense was rife at Jaipur Literary Festival and elsewhere in the country. We waited with bated breath to see if Rushdie will speak through video conferencing. At last, according to a tweet by Forbes India magazine it appears that he will. Meanwh...
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John Matthew posted an article on John P Matthew - Jan 23, 2012, 2:58 am
Here's Hari Kunzru, US-based author of Indian origin, defending why he read from Satanic Verses at the Jaipur Literary Festival. I am @johnwriter on Twitter and John.Matthew on Facebook. I blog here.
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John Matthew posted an article on John P Matthew - Jan 21, 2012, 7:57 am
The whole Salman Rushdie affair is nauseating. I am shocked how it has divided the literary community and how charges are being traded between the organisers of the Jaipur Literary Festival and the writers who are participating.  I am not the one who takes sides in literary issues. But some questi...
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John Matthew posted an article on John P Matthew - Jan 15, 2012, 7:52 am
Another Sunday and a few generalisations and thoughts, all my own work (as Behram Contractor used to say.). In these times of flash mobs and surprise sales pitches, I don't know if a newspapers should only promote the events it is sponsoring. Well, okay, it's the marathon and nobody minds. But in t...
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John Matthew posted an article on John P Matthew - Jan 12, 2012, 1:13 am
Some things have to come to an end. And therefore comes the parting, the taking leave from friends with whom you have worked for three and a half years. The solution to this possibly tearing and mentally unhinging problem is that you have to see things as being finite, which runs it course when your...
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John Matthew posted an article on John P Matthew - Jan 11, 2012, 4:29 am
I often wonder why this hesitation, this holding back about my writing. I guess, it's my self consciousness, my diffidence which is to blame. I don't know if it is such a big debility, however, it does affect me. Four years after several drafts of Mr. Bandookwala, M.B.A., Harvard - my novel - I am a...
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John Matthew posted an article on John P Matthew - Jan 11, 2012, 1:41 am
Here's Pico Iyer on the joys of the long sentence, writing in the LA Times: "I'm using longer and longer sentences as a small protest against — and attempt to rescue any readers I might have from — the bombardment of the moment." Further he adds: "The short sentence is the domain of uninflected ...
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John Matthew posted an article on John P Matthew - Jan 10, 2012, 1:46 am
Here's Palash Krishna Mehrotra's review of Jeet Thayil's much-awaited novel "Narcopolis" published in Sunday Guardian. Excerpt: "Thayil, a well-known poet, deploys his powers of description with some success. He is excellent when nailing druggy nihilism: 'You've got to face facts and the fact is t...
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John Matthew posted an article on John P Matthew - Jan 9, 2012, 6:21 am
Here's a review of Sepia Leaves in the Hindu by Uday Balakrishnan. The author is Amandeep Sandhu, and it's published by Rupa and Co. From the review it seems as if it would be a good book to read. An excerpt: Sepia Leaves is indeed remarkable. Rarely does one come across something as good as this;...
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John Matthew posted an article on John P Matthew - Jan 7, 2012, 7:14 am
A day spent hunting for medicines in the boondocks of New Bombay. In Belapur there aren't any good chemists who have all the medicines I need. So I came to Vashi and there, too, I faced defeat. Hm. None of the shops have a policy of stocking on essential medicines unless someone comes and asks for i...
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John Matthew posted an article on John P Matthew - Jan 7, 2012, 6:44 am
Was a bit under the weather, health-wise. Now it has passed I can say it here. I had Ascitis. With medicines it's under control. I had the same complaint three years ago and medication had cured it. Now it is on the way to recovery and I am feeling less bloated. Ah, the maladies one has to suffer! M...
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John Matthew posted an article on John P Matthew - Oct 31, 2011, 8:41 am
Microsoft has come out with this envisoning thingy about the future. What I like about it is the fact that you can have a taxi by just putting on the relevant designer glasses. The girls walks seductively to the street intersection, takes her cool designer glass out and wears it, lights flash on the...
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John Matthew posted an article on John P Matthew - Oct 30, 2011, 11:58 am
I am not in the ranting mode today. But I have been irregular of late and don't know what I should write about on the blog. Blogs are meant to be maintained, stupid. So maintain it. I am also tired after a journey, so will be brief.   What can be written? Let me see. Everytime wifey sends me to t...
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John Matthew posted an article on John P Matthew - Oct 29, 2011, 5:56 am
Reading the papers these days is a pain. Look what one gets to read. Jail for the head of McKinsey for insider trading. I think it's a question of what is ethical here. In India we always give away privilege information without even thinking twice about it. We have no respect for propriety in these ...
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John Matthew posted an article on John P Matthew - Oct 28, 2011, 11:07 am
A few thoughts on Diwali. It's the festival of lights and I enjoy the view from the terrace, the resplendent lights, the bombs, the small crackers, the sparklers, the rockets. They swoosh and they tringg and they go plop over my head. I won't crib about how much money has been spent because man also...
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John Matthew posted an article on John P Matthew - Oct 22, 2011, 5:00 am
Hm. What to say, but beware! Diwali, the festival of lights is upon us with its miasma of colours, lights, crackers that explode in the small of the night, showers of red, pink and green, sparklers, rockets, and such like. I like the season of gifting, of eating and lights. The lights are brilliant ...
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John Matthew posted an article on John P Matthew - Oct 21, 2011, 3:26 am
I read this piece by Annie Zaidi about students in Aligarh Muslim University not being allowed to borrow books from the library. That spins off memories of my college days. The college has a well-stocked library, rows and rows of books, which were all kept under lock and key. I would look at the tit...
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John Matthew posted an article on John P Matthew - Oct 20, 2011, 9:02 am
There are gory images of Gaddafi online right now. Getty Images has posted this image which will earn them a lot of money. Frenzy! Frenzy! Frenzy! Nothing is confirmed by the media is agog, as it always is. I am @johnwriter on Twitter and John.Matthew on Facebook. I blog here.
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John Matthew posted an article on John P Matthew - Oct 20, 2011, 6:50 am
Here's proof of how diplomacy and arms purchases influence humanitarian and humane considerations such as a series of lectures on nuclear safety. French journalist Naike Desquesnes was all set to deliver a month-long trip series of lectures in India on "Covering Nuclear Energy Post-Fukushima" at s...
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John Matthew posted an article on John P Matthew - Oct 20, 2011, 3:17 am
Here's a rather thoughtful and gently humorous look by Lemony Snicket at the "Occupy ---- (whatever, just fill it in, folks, it could be landing on your doorstep soon)" movement that the world is in the throes of right as I key my rickety fingers this on my board. Point 5 is a gem, a non-sequitur, ...
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John Matthew posted an article on John P Matthew - Oct 19, 2011, 7:48 am
Apologies! It's Julian Barnes who won the Booker Prize for "Sense of an Ending" and not Michael Stewart for "King Crow," as I had wrongly reported here on my blog. Congratulations to the winner! As for the wrong reportage: work pressure and a frenzied life, you know! It's common these days. You go ...
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John Matthew posted an article on John P Matthew - Oct 17, 2011, 2:45 am
The way it is going in Gujarat, I don't know where things will be ten years from now. The latest is that Sanjeev Bhatt got bail after 18 days. The matter is of course sub judice so I won't like to comment. Why was bail delayed? Why did his wife have to write to the central home minister to intercede...
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John Matthew posted an article on John P Matthew - Oct 16, 2011, 3:00 am
It seems from my Twitter feeds that Salman Rushdie is supporting Occupy Wall Street. Here's what it says on the Occupy Wall Street official website:   After triumphing in a standoff with the city over the continued protest of Wall Street at Liberty Square in Manhattan's financial district, the Oc...
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John Matthew posted an article on John P Matthew - Oct 15, 2011, 4:10 am
Here's Mint editor R Sukumar's view about what are called Media Marketing Initiatives at Mint (a HT group newspaper). He mentions that in Mint these advertorials (advertisements masquerading as editorials) will be clearly termed "Media Marketing Initiative" somewhere in the copy and, presumably, rea...
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John Matthew posted an article on John P Matthew - Oct 14, 2011, 1:31 am
From giving us online book purchasing portal and the kindle (book reader), is Amazon gearing up to be the next big publisher? It could be good as well as bad news for authors, such as yours truly (eternally, hopeful). All's not lost for the writing, printing, publishing industry, one expects. Signs ...
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John Matthew posted an article on John P Matthew - Oct 10, 2011, 6:43 am
I am reading "To See the Mountain" an anthology of submissions for The Caine Prize for African Writing 2011. The stories are of a high order of literary merit and imagination. I am humbled by the local colour, the crispness of the language, the lilt of spoken dialogues, mostly missing from short sto...
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John Matthew posted an article on John P Matthew - Oct 7, 2011, 2:37 am
Steve Jobs is no more. RIP, Steve Jobs. I am saying this out of awe and admiration for an icon of multi-culturalism, a harbinger of technology. As I tweeted recently "high-technology has made products cheaper but it hasn't ensured customer satisfaction." I think Apple products ensured some levels of...
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John Matthew posted an article on John P Matthew - Oct 3, 2011, 8:05 am
The goathinkfest is an event organised by Tehelka and Newsweek and brings together a panoply of the best minds, performers and musicians in the world. The line-up is awesome, though I don't know many of them, but I guess they should be awesome to be featured in a Think Fest. For example the first pa...
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John Matthew posted an article on John P Matthew - Oct 1, 2011, 6:48 am
Writing this inside a train bound for Bombay. It's as I tweeted on Twitter, "from vada sambhar land to vada pao land". What curious contrasts, what differences, what serendipity. Went to Kerala briefly to attend a funeral. As I look out (now, this minute) at the greenery floating back in one stream...
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John Matthew posted an article on John P Matthew - Sep 30, 2011, 1:55 am
When I go to Kerala I live in two different worlds. One is the rather basic, ancient home of my in-laws and the other is the modern house of my brother-in-law. The contrasts couldn't be more pronounced. The first is a rather basic farming home. Its toilet is outside the house, the bathroom is access...
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John Matthew posted an article on John P Matthew - Sep 25, 2011, 5:53 am
This is K'Naan's account of what he finds in Somalia, to which he returned after 20 years. If you don't know who he is, here's the lowdown: K'Naan is the singer and poet who sang the theme song "Waving Flag" at the soccer world cup in South Africa. Excerpt: "The final and most devastating stop f...
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John Matthew posted an article on John P Matthew - Sep 24, 2011, 5:16 am
United States Against Sweatshops (USAS) is a student body in the US which acts against organisations outsourcing work to developing nations to cut costs. Its motive is to discourage such organisations that outsource to companies that exploit employees by making them work overtime without pay, and, i...
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John Matthew posted an article on John P Matthew - Sep 22, 2011, 4:38 am
This came via Amit Varma of Indiauncut.com, via Joy Bhattacharjya. Meet Once Lover Who Are Ditched by Each Other. Atal Behari Vajpayee made fun of such ... who have been ditched.Come to me and I will let you meet the lover who has ditched you.When lovers ditch each other, it's by ... . So, come to...
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John Matthew posted an article on John P Matthew - Sep 19, 2011, 9:27 am
The gate to J.J.School of Art was open. So what if I trespassed a bit, broke the law for a literary indulgence. The campus before me is full of trees: banyan, coconut, palm, mango, etc. Nothing seems to be maintained. There are unswept leaves on the pathways. There are wild growth of plants and ...
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John Matthew posted an article on John P Matthew - Sep 17, 2011, 1:56 am
I am reading Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha. Hermann Hesse and I have a family connection, however distant. His grandfather Hermann Gundert was a missionary who worked in Kerala when my great-great-great-uncle George Mathan was also an Anglican priest thereabouts. Both the priests wrote grammar books in...
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John Matthew posted an article on John P Matthew - Sep 13, 2011, 2:27 pm
Nothing much to write about. Nothing significant happened, that's why. But, yes there's something, now that I think about it. It happened as I was walking towards Victoria Terminus on the way back from work. I prefer to walk rather than catch a cab. I love to walk in the city, roads that are familia...
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John Matthew posted an article on John P Matthew - Sep 11, 2011, 10:35 am
God! It's the tenth anniversary of the fall of the Twin Towers. Or, World Trade Centre. I keenly watched it's progress as it was being built in the sixties and seventies. Yes, the sixties and seventies. It was conceived in the forties but several hurdles delayed the actual construction and it was no...
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John Matthew posted an article on John P Matthew - Sep 9, 2011, 2:31 pm
So, Aruna Roy says civil society can't make a law. I think she is right. Or, is she? I am of two minds about the whole l'affaire, the episode, the gruesome blackmail, well, whatever. I remember being numb with confusion. What are our lawmakers there for? They are a well paid lot, I hear. They have a...
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John Matthew posted an article on John P Matthew - Sep 8, 2011, 7:18 am
I notice the lady with the child immediately. I note her because what I thought was a backpack worn in front is actually a baby and he/she is resting, head covered, only hands showing against the lady's bosom. There's a bomb blast. In Delhi, this time. I thought Delhi was safe. No more. Nowhere is...
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John Matthew posted an article on John P Matthew - Sep 6, 2011, 2:29 pm
Did you see the rain? Did you see the rain? Yes. What did you see? The rain. Did you see how it falls? Yes. It falls flat. It falls with a roar. What's special about it? What's unusual. There's a lot unusual. I say knowingly. That's global warming. The heat generates more vapour and the vapour come...
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John Matthew posted an article on John P Matthew - Sep 2, 2011, 3:12 am
Note: It's after a long time that I am writing a short story (being preoccupied with a novel that took away lot of my time in the past four years). Here it is. As usual comments are welcome.-------------------------- Susamma's Story Nobody knows how Susamma died. Some say she was killed, some say i...
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John Matthew posted an article on John P Matthew - Sep 1, 2011, 6:00 am
Yohannan, or, Yoman is a simple man. He is bald, has a fringe of white hair running across from ear to ear. His front teeth are missing, his chin is unshaved but when he talks his eyes twinkle and, this fact, together with his deep resonant voice has a magical effect on his listeners. He smiles quit...
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John Matthew posted an article on John P Matthew - Aug 28, 2011, 2:35 am
Now that Anna Hazare is out of danger (Meaning he has ended another of his famous fasts. Wonder if he should be named "Fast Man."), a few random thoughts, as is my wont. Fasting should be a last resort rather than the first resort to achieve required purpose. Gandhiji didn't fast unless there was an...
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John Matthew posted an article on John P Matthew - Aug 25, 2011, 2:36 pm
Short take today.Packing up for a trip to Kerala. Mother-in-law hasn't been well for some time. I don't know why men are so cheesed off with mothers-in-law. Mine is a sweet lady. Been very supporting. Hate to see some people fade away so quickly. She had an accident and hasn't been quite the same af...
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John Matthew posted an article on John P Matthew - Aug 24, 2011, 2:44 pm
Here's a comparison of Government's Lokpal and Jan Lokpal of Anna Hazare. I received this as I was walking to Victoria Terminus after finishing work. It's only now that I read it. Decide for yourself who is right and who is wrong.  As for me, I am still confused about who is in the right and who i...
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