Coffee!!!

Way too much coffee. But if it weren't for the coffee, I'd have no identifiable personality whatsoever!!
- David Letterman

Thats an apt description of me as well. Being a complete coffee addict, not a day goes by easily without my cups of coffee. Recently on a personal trip to Bangalore, when strolling down the quintessential Brigade Street, by a stroke of sheer luck, I stumbled on the famed Indian Coffee House on my last day in the city.

Tucked away on a corner of the by-alley of Brigade Street with every inch of the place screaming simplicity, the whole experience of a simple cup of coffee by itself was quite extraordinary.

On entering the shop, one is immediately transported to the early days of the Raj, with the waiters donning crisp white uniforms & hats with a huge red belt. The ambience itself is old school with the stiff right angled wooden double seats and tables and simple, unadorned walls.

The coffee however, is another story altogether. With the feeling of the coffee beans literally exploding in your mouth, this was one of the best coffees I have ever tasted. There is a rich aroma that is so charachteristic of freshly brewed coffee, the rich, full feeling at the back of the palate is something that I haven't experienced in any other coffees that I have tasted. And this comes from a person who knows his coffee and is extremely fussy about it!

The whole experience of the coffee as well as the coffee house are the ICH's greatest USP. Anyone who's a regular or even a first timer like me will vouch for it being one of the best. The Baristas and the CCDs dont figure anywhere near the extraordinarily simple ICH.

Anyone who happens to visit Bangalore should surely visit this quaint little coffee heaven on earth.

The Vodafone 'Zoozoos'

All of us must have at some point of time in the recent months seen the new series of Vodafone ads that have appeared on TV. The cartoonish like characters that communicate the Vodafone message are weird yet funny. Many people believe that they are either animated characters or puppets that were used for this ad series.


In fact they aren’t animated characters nor are they puppets. They are human beings who were made to wear body suits. Surprised? Shocked? Read on....


The design of the characters is such that one gets fooled into thinking it is animation, which was indeed the very illusion that had to be created. In a sense, it can be said that it is ‘live’ animation given the fact that it was all shot live!


The commercials have been directed by Prakash Varma, ad filmmaker, Nirvana Films. He says that the greatest challenge in this ad series was the creation of the ‘Zoozoos’ as these characters are so called. The practical aspects of how they would move, talk, gesticulate and emote were very important. Essentially, costume design and artwork were crucial elements.


There were two fabrics that were considered for the body suits for the ‘Zoozooz’, and one was rejected for it had too many wrinkles and was shiny. The wrinkles would have shown when the characters moved, thereby shattering the illusion of animation and hence the more practical, thicker fabric was chosen.

The production team divided the outfit into two parts: the body and the head. The body part of the outfit was stuffed with foam in some places, while the head was attached separately. To make it look bigger than a human head, a harder material called Perspex was used, which in turn was stuffed with foam (with scope for ventilation).

If one wishes to understand the size of this head, here’s a fact: a human head would typically reach up to the mouth level of this giant Zoozoo head. The production team kept the hands and legs thin, which is why they primarily cast women – and occasionally children – for wearing the costumes. The thin limbs, contrasted with big bellies and a bulbous head, all added to the illusion that these creatures are ‘smaller’ than humans. Sets were created to suit the size of the Zoozoos.
Cinematically, this ‘size’ was a trick: the creatures look smaller than they actually are on screen, to portray a different world of sorts. For this, the speed of shooting was altered: Nirvana shot it in a high-speed format to make them look the size that they do. If one might want to draw a parallel, this same technique was used in the ‘Lord of the Rings’ movies while filming the ‘Hobbits’ sequences. The effect is there for all to see.

Furthermore, simple sets/backdrops were created and spray painted with neutral Greys – a colour of choice so that attention wasn’t diverted from the main characters. For a supposedly ‘outdoor’ shot, even the shadow of a Zoozoo was kept ‘live’ and not done in post production: it was painted in a darker shade of grey on the ground. An even lighting was maintained throughout.


There was virtually no post production work done.


The films were shot by Nirvana in Cape Town, South Africa, with the help of a local production house there, called Platypus. Incidentally, the same combination of people also worked on the ‘Happy to Help’ series last year.


The new Vodafone ad series involving these ‘Zoozoos’ are truly a revelation. The simplicity of the communication in terms of visuals and the messages both is what works for this ad series. Truly amazing eh????

Religous Symbolism

It was interesting to see this debate on TV the other day about how a young 16 year old Muslim kid was not allowed to sport a beard as per his tradition. So this case kid’s case was taken up to the Supreme Court which upheld the earlier judgement to disallow him to sport a beard. It was ok until this point when the presiding judge made a remark that there needs to be a limit to secularism and that we do not need ‘talibanisation’ in this country.

In the course of the debate there were many interesting and thought provoking points that came up until my father who was watching this debate with me remarked that this was nothing but timepass by the channel. This remark really got me thinking and made me angry at him at the same time and a debate ensued between the both of us.
The underlying sentiment here is that why do we individuals avoid raising issues that are morally provoking? Why do we choose to avoid them just because it isn’t our concern? I asked my father, “Dad, what if you were in his shoes? Would you still carry the same line of thought? Wouldn’t it affect you?” Similarly if you were a Sikh, whose turban and beard are his sects fundamentals, wouldn’t you protest against the French govt that disallows any display of religion in its schools? So why do we avoid these issues that have answers that are difficult to hear?
So i started thinking about it, about the Supreme Court’s decision. The Constitution of India, gives us the freedom to practise the religion we choose to believe in, the way we want and that’s what makes this great country proudly secular. But, we no longer live in a peaceful but an extremely polarised world that tests our very principles of secularism to the last straw. I am a moderate person who wants a peaceful co-existence and a mutual respect for each other.

So my question to the esteemed judge, a person much more learned and experienced than I am, is a very innocent one in asking is that if a Sikh is allowed to keep his turban and beard as a part of his faith, why can’t a Muslim whose interpretation of his faith makes him want to keep a beard allowed to do so? Is it because he is a school kid that’s why? But there are many Sikh boys who sprout beards while in school. So what about them? Will you disallow them as well?

A corollary to this is that do I, an individual practising a particular form of faith have to display the signs of my religion? If I don’t does it make me a non – believer or any less a religious man? My father is a very pious man, who regularly prays to god and does puja at home. I don’t. So I asked my dad if it made me a non – believer or any less a Hindu? As long as I remembered and thanked God for my life once a day and didn’t display any religious insignia, had god in my heart wasn’t I still a Hindu? So is a person who cuts his hair and doesn’t sport a beard not a Sikh although he religiously stands by the edicts of Sri Guru Gobindji?

This brings me to another judgement that based on the corollary above the French govt was right in its stand in banning religious symbolism in its schools. The principle in this is that if you were a houseguest, you would follow the rules followed by your guests and not those of your own. Its that simple. If you can’t do that what do you do? You leave.

My friends know me very well and know that I respect every religion immensely and mean no disrespect to any religion, all of whom i consider to promote the same principles. I agree that we live an immensely polarised world, the cause of which is us in more ways than one but the question is do we draw a line? If yes, then where? And until when do we continue to avoid these morally questioning issues or pass them off as none of our concern?

War On Mumbai - II

I am feeling downright disgusted, appalled, furious and ashamed as I write this letter. I have continuously been seeing the situations unfold in Mumbai and as expected soon after the operation is over, I have also been witnessing the developments in the country’s political scenario. To quote you an example I was watching the BIG FIGHT program on NDTV 24X7 on this Saturday and I was absolutely horrified and angered at the particular reactions of Maharashtra Deputy CM R.R. Patil and Congress Spokesperson Jayanti Natarajan’s reactions on the issue. R.R. Patil actually had the audacity to say that Mumbai was a big city and that such one off things happen at such places! I mean what the bloody hell was he thinking about when he uttered these words? Was he drunk? Similarly Jayanti Natarajan reacted violently to Shobha De’s statements on the show and in the end ended up saying that we should not bicker on such issues and must solve these things peacefully and that we should remain calm. In a span of 2minutes this lady completely contradicted herself and proved what a bunch of ignorant, stupid, blasphemous fools our politicians are. At the same time came a sms from someone from the MNS that such things happened in Mumbai because of the overcrowding of this city and tried to drive in the MNS’s long standing point of view. This message was not only pathetic in the worst sense of the word but I am amazed that this brainless git actually sent this message?
I mean what are these guys thinking? We are not playthings who can be dealt with in any manner possible. I can say that the responsibility of the deaths of so many people in this attack lies in its entirety on these politicians.
This brings me to another set of thoughts. I am proud that channels like NDTV, CNN – IBN, etc showcase such shows where accountability is demanded from the individuals responsible but I have to say that these shows are but effective only to this educated class of people in our country and in them only those who watch these English channels. But what about that other large part of our socio economic strata of society that is illiterate or semi literate? What about people like our drivers, maids etc. who do not see things the way we do, who do not understand these issues the way we do? These arguments on these shows are definitely not seen by them and they are exposed to those irritating, senseless masala dosages of Hindi news channels.
So the point is that all these shows and viewpoints expressed may probably awaken us and perhaps lead us to exercise our constitutional powers that we understand, but about which these people have not the remotest idea. We may in anger perhaps abstain from voting but these individuals do not think in the same way we do and these shameless politicians are smart enough to target them and gain their precious votes. So where really is the efficacy of all the steps that we take when they are so undermined by these individuals? Promise them colour TVs and rice at Rs.1.5/kg and they will readily vote for these morons.
Thus all these issues are of no use, absolutely no use if the communication does not reach and affect these individuals from the lower strata of society. To get to the core of all these issues, these people need to be made to understand all of these issues and bring them to the same plane of thinking that we are at. It is then that we can think of getting things done effectively. So where and how do we start? Think about it. Lemme know.
Jai Hind

War On Mumbai - I

We Mumbaikars and Indians have ENOUGH. We no longer want to be called resilient and we no longer want to be the proverbial phoenix. We have suffered greatly and have been scarred for life. So many great men and women and innocents lost their lives protecting us and these shameless overgrown politicians can’ t stop bickering even now. We youngsters are probably more mature than these shameless idiots who i am ashamed to say are in their current positions because of us. Its been so long since 1993 and we still haven’t learnt – no sophisticated protection or weaponry for our security personnel to guard themselves and others and the reason can be as abysmal that there are no budgets but there certainly is enough to provide these people with Z - category security? And these are the ones who want to make Mumbai into a Shanghai? Give us a break!
Where were they when all these issues were happening? These leaders should have stood side by side and coordinated these efforts than sitting in their a/c rooms. They should have been there with all the media people who have been there all along.
I am absolutely horrified at our government’s apathy and I am sure that this view is shared by my fellow Indians. Enough is Enough! I cant even tell these people to learn from their mistakes because even an idiot of the highest order would have understood these issues by now. We citizens have had enough and I urge you to please take up all these issues with the government and others.
We only want to be safe and enjoy a happy and peaceful life for what's worth. There are many steps that need to be taken and they must be taken at the highest levels of urgency and priority. At this stage I would like this country to stand up in unity and get what we deserve and we frankly deserve better. I pray for the departed and wish well for the families of the departed.
Thank you
Jai Hind