It's simple.

Your home. Your treasure. No, really.

Get lost. Get found.

For a firang audience.

Christmas E card for a Wi-Fi Service Provider

Book Review of BibliOdyssey: Amazing Archival Images from the Internet

How does one review a book like BibliOdyssey? This is not just a rhetorical question to open a book review, but also a genuine query. Because though BibliOdyssey feels like a book and looks like a (very handsome) book, is anything but.
It started its journey as bibliodyssey.blogspot.com/ a cabinet of curiosities of visual Materia Obscura, collected and curated from the depths of public internet archives, by PK from Sydney. When reborn in a book form, it retains most of the serendipity and adventure of its original form. The glorious randomness, the free association of thoughts, genres and timelines and above all the obsessive-compulsive joy of hopping from one breathtaking visual to the next. For all practical purposes, it’s hardbound internet with a gilded cover.
The kind of entity we all hoped internet would be when it grew up. A boundless sea of beauty, wisdom and surprises, where all you need to set sail is a blue boat of hyperlink.
The review tries to mirror that experience. Picking ten random pages from the book, I have paired them with ten random bookmarks from my personal collection. The only connection between them: those pages prompted me to look up these links, afresh. This is kind of coming full circle, as BibliOdyssey too, started its journey as a list of random bookmarks in PK’s computer.
May you bump into more and more wonder as you sail on the blue boat of hyperlink.
Bon Voyage!

Easy way out. #1PicStory

Book Review: A Strange Attachment and Other Stories by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay

Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay is known to the most through Satyajit Ray’s Apu Trilogy and it’s fair, really. The books on which Apu Trilogy is based are indisputably his best work, but he has written much more that’s just as good. Especially short stories. The best place to start is  A Strange Attachment and Other Stories: by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay, Translated by Phyllis Granoff.

The wwwedding. #1PicStory

Sorry we no speak dat. #1PicStory

Sorry I just... #1PicStory

The Shape of Sound: Shannon Novak

The one where I interview New Zealander Artimusician / Musicoartist Shannon Novak for Spike Magazine: http://www.spikemagazine.com/shannon-novak.php

Temporary death. #1PicStory

My first #1PicStory

The Seven Original Sins of a Book Addict vs. Seven Original Book Stores of Mumbai

Sourav Roy from Mumbai battles gluttony, despair and cricket fever to hunt down seven utterly original book stores of the city for a comissioned piece for Spike Magazine.

My birthday gift to Tagore.

A google doodle on his 150th. http://twitpic.com/4vfn1h

A rather morbid Bengali counting poem.

 The ten sons of Haradhan were going on fine.
One goes missing.
So now remains nine.

The nine sons of Haradhan were chopping trees straight.
One gets chopped up.
So now remains eight.

 The eight sons of Haradhan were in pig-out heaven.
One tummy bursts out.
So now remains seven.

The seven sons of Haradhan were taking long dips.
One drowns and dies.
So now remains six.

  The six sons of Haradhan climb a tree for beehive.
One trips and falls.

So now remains five.

 

 

 The five sons of Haradhan went camping outdoor.
Tiger eats one.
So now remains four.

 The four sons of Haradhan were just dancing, you see.
One slips and dies.
So now remains three.

  The three sons of Haradhan join a fishing crew.
Whale eats one.
So now remains two.

 The two sons of Haradhan were catching frogs for fun.
Snake bites one.
So now remains one.

 The last son of Haradhan couldn't but cry.
He went to the jungle.
Mostly to die.

Note: Haradhan means 'Lost Treasure / Son'. Illustrated by me. A sung version of the original Bengali one, here.

38 Films on the Love of Films

Just like being in love with love itself is often diagnosed in lovers, being passionate about films that celebrate the passion for films is a common malaise for cinema buffs. So here it is. 38 films on the love of films. Making them, watching them, and talking about them, killing people over them, being reborn because of them and myriad other uplifting and demeaning shades of cinephilia run through these films, handpicked from all over the world.

Book Review: SEVERANCE by Robert Olen Butler

The summary autopsy report of a book where 62 severed heads speak in a 'ghost chorus' with 'poetic urgency'. Bloody, slipsteam and unique. By invitation at http://www.readingmonk.com/. Read it here.

Up, Down or Shred?

Ambient Idea for Go Shredded Cheese. (Not Executed.) 

Wholesome Corporate Goodness

Speculative Print Ad created for HDFC. (Not Published)

We've Moved

Speculative Print Ad created for HDFC Office Shifting. (Not published)

United You Stand: National Anthem in Indian Movie Theatres

I argue at Spike Magazine  whether standing up to the national anthem in Indian movie theatres stands to reason.

http://www.spikemagazine.com/united-you-stand-national-anthem-in-indian-movie-theatres.php

Paul Cezanne + Saadat Hasan Manto Mash-up

Today, January 19, 2011, happens to be Paul Cezanne's 172nd Birthday and Saadat Hasan Manto's 56th Death Anniversary.
So here is a mash-up of the masters.
Story: Thanda Gosht (Cold Meat) : http://bit.ly/SCQz4
Image: Still life of a leg of mutton and bread  by Paul Cezanne, Oil on canvas, 1865
You can buy the print here: http://bit.ly/hXFH5J
And the book, here: http://bit.ly/gP8ifs

Blue Dart India 2011 Calendar

Theme: Commitment to Delivery

When Blue Dart takes commitment to delivery on time, every time to their heart, they are following a noble tradition of messengers throughout the history who have moved heaven and earth to deliver what they have been trusted with. We have trawled through the pages of ancient, medieval and contemporary history to cull out the most awe-inspiring examples.

See it here:

http://bit.ly/fgdCKE

Rajasthan Patrika Concerned Communicator Awards 2011 Entries

As strong as it is delicate

Print campaign for Corelle. (Unpublished)