A few rants about India..

There are a few things I have been wanting to rant about but did not find time to do so. So here are the short pieces.

Ram Sethu Project: Politics in India are always sad( I don't mean to say that politics here are any better, but atleast I'm a spectator here not a citizen.), but Indian media also going down the drains. Most of the reports I have been reading in the media talk mostly about Ram sethu as a symbol of religion. None of reports I read talk about possible environmental havoc it could create. Dont people in India want to talk about environment at all? I refuse to believe that. Media is selling what majority of people are interested in hearing/reading. Whatever has happened to the responsible journalism?

Infrastructure in India: Recently bridge collapses in middle of Hyderabad, it takes four hours for rescue team to reach the place. It's time government did something to improve our infrastructure. Why do we even talk about India shining, we our citizens cant get them aid in the right time?

Indian cricketers: These idiots win once in a life time. They shower crores(1 crore=10 million) of money on them. Why? From what I hear some 10s of crores of rupees have been showered on these guys as gifts. How about spending them on infrastructure development or education instead?

Rest later...

The God of Guitar?????

Yesterday when I got my email that informs me about different events that take place around Bay Area, I was very upset. John McLaughlin was performing today at Masonic Center in the city as a part of San Francisco Jazz Festival. Had I known it before, I would have definitely gone. Not that I had any plans, I did not think that I could get tickets.

But I wanted to give one final try. I posted an ad on Craigslist. Then went to SFJazz website and checked the availability. To my surprise a few tickets were available. I bought the ticket and deleted my ad. My seat was on the side, that did not bother me much(Infact it turned out be a great seat).

I reached the city at around 6:15. I wanted to be a little earlier as parking in the city is superpainful. I just couldn't believe my luck. I got street parking right in front of masonic center's parking lot. After that I grabbed a quick dinner and went to the theater.

Another jazz guitarist Kevin Eubanks performed before intermission. He was excellent. After a break of about 20 minutes, John McLaughlin showed up in a blue and red colored pochampalli shirt(I had a similar chudidar) and auditorium exploded in applause. Many people I talked have seen him before, but a while ago. My seat was in perfect position to observe his hands.

There are couple of things I loved about McLaughlin. One, He gave every member of the ensemble to showcase their talent. Every performer pretty much got equal time, including him. The other the way he acknowledges his audience. He looks at them smiles and while talking to audience he moves around to every corner.

Now about his music, somethings are better left unsaid. To sum what I felt after the show, "What the hell! Why is it so short?" He is called The Consummate God of Guitar not without a reason.

National Steinbeck's Center

I drove to Salinas by mistake a few years ago. I got lost driving back from Monterey. At that time I didn't find that town fascinating. I wanted to come back. Not for Salinas but for John Steinbeck.

Finally I could make that trip to National Steinbeck's Center. My friend Sahithya & I took off at 12:00 from Santa Clara. Traffic was bad. It took us 2 1/2 hours to reach the place. An hour and half short of what we needed.

Museum was amazing. It gives you an insight of how Steinbeck was influenced by people he knew, his family, and his experiences at farms of Salinas. They also had orientation films and introduction videos to some of his works. We didn't get much chance to check them out in detail.

Another interesting aspect was culture of Salinas. It's migration patterns and how they influenced the local economy and agriculture. They also had information about local labor and their issues and different points of view.

I'll go back now for two reasons Steinbeck and Salinas. If you are in the area, don't miss out on this one. I bought their membership. I'll get free admission. ;).