Friday, August 29, 2008

Tata Bye Bye

Ratan Tata has long been my hero. I am so glad he has told that hysterical Mamata Bannerji where to get off. Let her hang on to Singur.... Tata is ready to set up shop elsewhere, okay?? Meanwhile, the poor Nano gets a raw deal and the world, another chance to snigger at India. What does one do with a Mamata. I'll be in Kolkata on monday ( after Calicut on the weekend), and I'll give you guys a first hand report on popular Bong sentiment vis-a-vis the Singur issue. From conversations with friends who live there, it is obvious they are embarrassed and annoyed. But the Bannerji lady is impossible to handle! Even assuming she has a point, look at the extent of the damage being inflicted on the State of West Bengal, in terms of a loss of face ( confidence, too). Just when the biz environment was beginning to look up, comes this debacle. Ratan HAS TAKEN THE RIGHT POSITION. No more bhalo bashi with West Bengal. Hello Maharashtra, Gujarat. Uttar Pradesh.... wherever.
Arundhati, my Dubai-based daughter, called excitedly to say she'd just watched Rock On.... AND..... loved it! Farhan, says my finicky daughter, is really, really hot! So he must be! Wow! So, who should be worried? Imran more or Ranbir more??
Oh... and I just loved Vijayendra's snub. Said our Golden Boy, " I am not planning to go on a date with Bipasha... are you kiding?" Is John disappointed... or relieved??
I may disappear from this space till Sunday night. You go have a great weekend... and keep squabbling!! I'm lovin' it!!

17 comments:

Sameera Ansari said...

Happy weekend! :)

Kris Bass said...

On the contrary, I should be worried ;). With ROCK ON being a hit, it would be an act of stupidity to not ride it's wave as we are staring at a couple of months before our release!

I don't know when I'll watch the movie though.

Praveigne Meruwa said...

The moment I saw Tata Bye Bye, I was shocked thinking that u r saying tata bye bye to your blog !! :o)

This singur issue has turned out to be a big embarrassment for the state. I have a feeling that the project might start off in Maharashtra ! ;-)

So Rock On is gonna rock !! will somehow catch up this weekened !! I really liked the top angle shot in the title track where all the guys dressed in black run towards a white dais jumping over the small wall !! :)

Vee said...

Read (do you indeed?) my response to each of your ramblings:

The world I would say would not snigger at us for Nano thing at least as Our show in Olympics and singgering at that is still raw and would be for sometime at least.

Farhan is not HOT. he can direct, but can't sing. He can act but can't create hysteria. PERIOD.

Imran and Ranbir have Neil to worry than this Farhan-sau-nao-pe-sawaar-Akhtar (mingling, juggling in thousands boats)

Vijendra possibly cannot differentiate Bipasha from John lest him make such statement. That's all PR thingy. And John is in high probability not even bothered.

Have a great weekend at Calicut and do Phelps at Back Waters.. :)

rainboy said...

i second oxy

have a gr8 weekend mam. :D

Renu said...

Tatas are my favourite also, as they are quite fair in their dealings, and here i understand they were giving reasonable compenstaion also,. These politicians: neither they can do something, nor will they let anybody do anything. Any way ,ultimate looser is the public of WB, they would have got more employment and more prosperity.

And please dont publicise Farhan, he is not a hero material, when we have ranbir,Imran,neil and so many, why cant he stick to his job,
And Prachi, she cudnt act in TV serial even, Now we doomed if we have to watch her in Movies:(

Arjun said...

the tatas are saying tata.... and bannerji is bajaaoiing her banjo!!
seriously - that woman should be quite thin considering the number of times she's on a fast.
But somehow the MISHTI she eats all year round - keeps her in shap.. a pity for the folks of the state and this country

Reflections said...

"Tata Bye Bye"
Whattae Title....smaaashing I say!!

Parul Gupta said...

hi shobha...

u r very right....even i believe ratan tata did the right thing...

anyways its my first visit to ur blog....i really admire u as a women n love reading ur books....
would keeping dropping in more frequently.....

have a happy weekend...

cheers
parul

rajarshi said...

One Bong saying this,, India is much too young, inexperienced and oh so not ready for Democracy if this is what our leaders are like, who say such Inane and Insane things like,,"a job only lasts for 62 years, whereas land lasts for generations", yeah! It should provide free burial to their owners, dead from poverty, in 62 years!! Mamata, like many of our other leaders should know better than to take our gullible and trusting populace for a ride, why doesn't she just come out and say, she's against this project coz the ruling party is for it, and she's honor bound to oppose WHATEVER they say or do,, isn't she the OPPOSITION? For crying out loud?

sanju ayyar said...

yenjoy!

Maddy said...

A Good lesson taught by Ratan Tata to all the politicians.

Enjoy your working weekend!!Have fun

Harish said...

@ Ratan Tata

no one is indispensable. options are many... I wonder if Mamta has any Mamta towards her people. Its Bengals Loss. But this lady would not understand. I admire Ratan Tata. Infact I admire the Tata Surname. Thats the only surname teh value of which has not evanesced with time.

Farhan...Arundhati, I agree. Is hot.

De, You havent seen rock on? I thought id get to read the review here. :( Shabana Azmi had invited you no for the screening. Rock on ka success is the best Birthday Gift Farhan could give his Step Mom. Shabana is celebrating her birthday on 18 September.

Vijendra, I heard him on radio. He was telling Mallishka on Red FM, "Arrey hum ko Bipasha nahi chahiye. Bas Kaam Karna hai".

Bipasha's Publisict has done a very cleaver positioning of her, "Every Sportstars Dream Girl"

Anonymous said...

Hi Shobha,
This is w.r.t your column in Deccan Chronicle (dated 30-Aug) titles 'Saree, Bindi, Lafda in Mumbai's Mutton street'.
I totally agree with what has been stated by you in it in both explicit and implicit ways.
At this stage (with their age, maturity, successes, fame,riches etc), one celebrity like Shabana or anyone else should not just wakeup one day and start whining. As you mentioned,these things can have so many repercussions esp. on impressionable minds.
Everyone must understand feeling (false or tue) of being 'Victimized' is the First step towards a bigger problem like Alienation, Separatism and even Terrorism.
I am not too sure what were the merits of the case as stated by Shabana to the media but coming to such hasty conclusion does not suit her public image. Suddenly she has turned this small issue in her personal life (afterall everyone of us feel so many reversal for any stated/unstated reasons) into an 'Us V/s Them' debate.


I truly appreciate your gumption to take this head on without thinking of being 'policically correct (or should I say 'Secularly' correct). Way to go!


Aryavrat

editor said...

Aadab Arz

Nice to see your blog. Just read your column in Asian Age. I really tell you, the problem of getting house on rent for a Muslim is extremely difficult.

On my blog anindianmuslim.com and the other one indianmuslims.in we have raised the issue in the past also.

It's so bad you can't imagine. I don't talk about Mumbai or Ahmedabad. Cities that have never witnessed riots or blasts like say Jabalpur or Nagpur have such problems.

They readily accept but once they come to know the name, the expressions change, and suddenly they will remember commitmet to some friend or say the euphemism...'ham vegetarian ko denge'. This is forcing Muslims into ghettoes.

The only exception is that if you are ready to pay much much more than market rate then you may get house but most Muslims don't have this option.

This is leading to ghettoisation. Sad, our society is strange that we don't discuss these issues openly. Buying a house is difficult but getting a house on rent is near to impossible in most cities in India....huh...I have personal experience of several cities over the last couple of decades...

khair....

Keep writing and happy blogging!

Jina said...

wow..i mean wow...i landed here totally unexpected..and for selfish reasons, im glad to see you havent publicized it so much as it should be...loved it and relished it..:)

Unknown said...

though mamta has created a lot of hue and cry but the Tatas have already showed the positive gesture by saying that they have faith on the government and they will make a huge contribution to the developement by providing the large no.of job opportunity .