Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Confusion and chaos

The trees around the Elysee Palace seemed particularly confused. For some of them, it was autumn, and the leaves had turned a vivid orange. For others, it was already winter and the branches were bare, for the rest, it was early spring! Fresh , green leaves were beginning to sprout and I spotted several butterflies hovering over bushes in full and glorious bloom! The official Indian Women's Delegation to Deauville's Global Women's Forum was welcomed into the hallowed Elysee Palace.... but alas, Sarkozy had more important things on his mind - like the Georgia situation. And Carla Bruni was not around. We had to make do with a senior diplomat who took his job very seriously, indeed. But the rasberry maccaroons were terrific.
Deauville was as glamourous a venue as legend describes it. The olde worlde hotel on the sea front ( Royal Barriere), has hosted the world's best and brightest over decades, including big name Hollywood stars, from Paul Newman, Michael Douglas, Brad Pitt to George Clooney. The suite next to my room was dedicated to Lauren Bacall. And the cabins on the beach were named after international Cinema's greatest. But.... there wasn't a single cabin reserved for any of our stars! So..... I'm guessing we still don't rate in international cinema!
The three day jamboree was a treat. Imagine 1,200 power ladies from across the world net -working like maniacs. Scarey. But since I wasn't there to 'make contacts' or sign deals, I spent my time observing, watching, listening , chatting. Met some wonderful people, attended a few stimulating sessions, enjoyed listening to Vital Voices ( a play staged by seven exceptional women narrating their stories of abuse and eventual victory), and generally indulged in some much needed 'me time'. Over Nespressos and Pommery, I thought about the future - my own and the world's. But one cosmic question lingered - why do the french like their coffee tepid and bitter? The milk (if added) is invariably cold. And the famous coffee, entirely unsatisfying to desis who prefer their cuppa steaming hot, sweet and milky.
I got back to the disturbing situation in Mumbai, post-Raj Thackeray's arrest. It was back to business as usual, I sighed resignedly. But at least, I'd be able to enjoy a hot cup of coffee.... and spicey daal -chavaal. Froid people. Froid food. Go figure.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey,I am blogging from Bangalore.Seems like U had a rocking time on your trip to paris this time.And you are voted as number 8 0r 7 on a Zoom TV show called Red hot Countdown!Among the best dresssed Women Celebrities. I would like to share a good Quote with u before i end my blog.

(<"Happiness is an attitude. We either make ourselves miserable, or happy and strong. The amount of work is the same.">)

Warm Regards,
Mr.Satish

How do we know said...

wow! This really is ur blog?! never thot I'd bump into a celebrity blog from a friend's blogroll!

I liked this post a lot.. is it just me, or do others also tell u that the blog flows way more easy than the books...

Glad to be here!

Arjun said...

welcome back DE!!
Looks like you had an absolutely smashing time in France and returned to a SMASHING time in mumbai!!

Haritha P Singh said...

heya...happy to hear that u had a peachy time in ur tour...u write ur posts in a very superb way..i like it

do visIt ma blog n type in ur valuable comments , it would provide me guidance...

your blogger friend,
HARITHA

Angel's Flight said...

Starts to a billion people...not stars enuf....hmm..that has always been our trouble ....hasn't it?

rainboy said...

our stars will not be known until we start making films in English.
All of them ...most of india is literate now.

to tell you the truth i don't see great actors here...all roles are same..no diversity.

Am M said...

Froid people, froid food!

Haha! Thats lovely!

Anonymous said...

Hi Shobha, I am a Gowd Saraswat Brahmin and very proud of any notable achievements by Maharashtrian people and above all, by GSB's. I admire you greatly. I have a few things to say on the Marathi manoos and North Indians issue. Is it alright with you, if I post what I have written on your comment section? If you do not mind, is there some word-limit and also would you kindly read it and let me know what you think on two issues - 1) Your opinion on what I have written and 2) Whether we can do something by raising awareness among our people? If you do not have the time, it does not matter. I have lived my life so far in oblivion, a few decades more, do not matter :-)

Sucheta

Anonymous said...

My favourite :
Daal-Chavaal with aalu ki bhujiya

I remember one song my father used to sing sometimes i.e., :
Daal-Roti/Chavaal Khao,
Prabhu Ke Gun gao
:)

Vinay. said...

The Word World was dull with out u.welcome back.we did miss u a lot.Now,make up for the lost time.

Harish said...

dher aaye durust aaye... so so happy that you are back...

Midst all the confusion and chaos, i am glad that you found some time to checkout the beauty of nascent nature of Paris. Apne Bombay mein with the builder lobby growing, every tree will become a live art museum... ab woh din door nahi


Not a single cabin for our stars... well, we need to ask ourselves, have we actually made an attempt to promote or real stars. We have immense talent, much better than the many hollywood greats, but we still we are stuck to the stereotypes... the Heinnnn Amitabh, the constipated salman, Rape, sex and sexuality specialist Madhur bhandarkar...Ballan Vidya or nangu kapoor.

whatever happened to the intelligent marathi, malayalam and bengali cinema.... people like shobhana, revathy, mammoty, rituporno, shabana and their ilk dont feature in our list of popular faces of indian cinema with global appeal.

hai na!

Good you returned after teh Raj drama. yahaan pe people can get away with anything. busses todna, students ko maarna all of this has become a day to day affair. i wonder what example is raj setting for his Bombay Scottish educated bachaas.

i hope they aren't a nayaa raj in the making...

vemuri said...

hi...ma'm

am a great fan of urs....
am really happy that i got ur blog... this is the first time me checking out ur blog.......
its preety obvious that u write well...

anyways am really happy...ma'm... i dunno what should i call u...

Cheers!!!!
Peace!!!!