Imperial Life in the Emerald City

People are always harping on about India's tech boom and her shining economy. Well, yes, all well and good-especially if one's view of India is gleaned from glamorous Bollywood films and nothing else. A more interesting (and realistic) perspective was forthcoming from an exhibition at Tate Modern: five million people do not have access to toilets in Mumbai. One billion people worldwide are living in slums (see Tillim's brilliant photos of Jo'burg). Those of us who lived in 'Defence' (Karachi or Lahore) were totally oblivious of the wretched of the earth just minutes away from our comfortable Green Zones.

A insightful piece on what's really happening is Pankaj Mishra's piece here

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America: land of opportunity (unless you're black, that is); Britain: the great neoliberal experiment where through honest hard work anyone could make it. Finally, at last, the old social hierarchies would be broken down by capitalism. Er..think again

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One day early in 2004 as I was eating a meal in the green zone, the seven-square-mile enclave of air-condi-tioned comfort in Baghdad, I asked one of the Americans at my table what he thought of the massive suicide bombs that had killed dozens of people at a Shi’ite shrine in the city that morning. “Yeah, I saw something about it on my office television,” he replied. “But I didn’t watch the full report. I was too busy working on my democracy project.”
---Rajiv Chandrasekeran, author of Imperial Life.

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Stumbled across an old record shop and asked for an Emmi Leisner CD. No-one had heard of her. I was asked if I was a singer myself (no doubt, the portly stomach had something to do with that). The old man said he'd check if he had the album in the basement. After less than 30 seconds he ran back up and said: "this is the first thing that came into my view" and lo and behold, there it was, an old Emmi Leisner LP. "Do you want me to play some?"
"Yes, please do"

And there we stood, transfixed by the mesmerizing beauty of her singing...a Shawashank moment, if you like. Everyone stopped what they were searching for. Now all I need to do is dig up that old record player from the garage.