Myopic Vision

India lost one of it's most talented, unassuming and versatile actors yesterday - Irfan Khan who at just 53 succumbed to cancer. I was going to write a tribute to Irfan, but then I came across this touching note that Irfan penned from London a couple of years' ago after he was first diagnosed with cancer.  So I thought I'd share this instead. It is a raw yet beautiful display of courage, dignity, humility and acceptance of the cards that life dealt him. A very moving post providing some real food for thought. Rest in Peace Irfan Khan and thank you for the wonderful cinematic memories you have left us with.   'It’s been quite some time now since I have been diagnosed with a high-grade neuroendocrine cancer. This new name in my vocabulary, I got to know, was rare, and due to fewer study cases, and less information comparatively, the unpredictability of the treatment was more. I was part of a trial-and-error game. I had been in a different game, I was travelling ...

Today owing to the gentle persuasion of my friend Charmaine Vessoaker D'lima, I've decided to re-visit my long lost diary of sorts. I started MYOPIC VISION in 2006, at the tail end of my 20's, when I was  full of enthusiasm and so cock-sure of myself. I  managed to successfully keep the momentum going on MYOPIC VISION for the whole year and then some. Somehow by 2011 or so I appear to have hit the pause button and it's stayed that way until today. I wish I had a plausible excuse for not keeping regular posts. The unholy union of procrastination and a sheer lack of enthusiasm are to blame. But thanks to recent FB posts, I'm being encouraged to write more. I'm too lazy to create a new evolved and professional looking blog, so I'm just going to stick with the one I have. I shudder to think of my what my views were back in the formative years of this blog - but I won't be taking them down. They are what they are - the true maundering of a very self...

(A re-print of my Facebook post on the eve of ANZAC DAY 2020 - with a few additions) We can't gather en mass tomorrow to mark ANZAC day. But many of us will gather at our letterboxes, at the front door, in our lounge rooms, balconies and driveways to observe a minutes silence at dawn and watch the virtual service after. As a Kiwi of Indian origin, ANZAC day is not just about remembering the sacrifices of the ANZAC troops. To me personally it is also about remembering the Indian troops who fought alongside the ANZACS. Over a million Indian troops served in  World War I. It is estimated that over 15,000 of them were sent to Gallipoli. Approximately 3,500 of them were injured and roughly 1,400 of them died there along side their ANZAC mates. For many years, ANZAC day was about standing shoulder to shoulder with my Kiwi friends and neighbors. Many of them had a personal connection to soldiers in the two wars - grandfathers, granduncles and countless relatives lost in the bat...

The only thing better than watching the opening ceremony of the London Olympic games was perhaps being a participant or viewing it in all it's glory in the stadium. What an amazingly spectacle of the Isles of Wonder and a salute to all the iconic things that put the great in Great Britain. Truly creative genius at its very best. And to Her Majesty, might we say Ma'am what a good sport one is.

To quote Dickens, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” and as the curtain draws on 2011, I find myself breathing a sigh of relief that a not so pleasant year is finally coming to an end. It’s been difficult for a variety of reasons. It has been a tough year for us all. But I know that despite it all, I’ve been one of the lucky ones. What I perceive of as being tough personally, pales in comparison to what some others have had to endure. I’ve been lucky enough to have the luxury of not having a home destroyed, or constantly living in fear of the next “big one” or cleaning up yet another burst of liquefaction. I may not always enjoy work, but I still have a job, a roof above my head and thankfully the ability to put food on the table. I’ve also had the good fortune to celebrate both New Zealand’s victory at the Rugby World Cup and India’s victory at the Cricket World Cup, two supremely spectacular events that brought a lot of rejoicing. So really I ought to be c...

When I got home from work on Thursday, it was really dark. It's not unusual given that we are somewhere between a delayed Autumn and Winter. With only a dim street light to guide my movements, I headed towards my front door. As I walked along my driveway, I noticed a very large and abnormally shaped acorn on the grass. Curious, I bent down to inspect, when to my surprise the acorn moved. Thankfully I did not touch it, for the rather large abnormal acorn turned out to be a hedgehog.

I'm not really a royalist, but I have the utmost respect for Her Majesty. I think the Queen is a lovely lady who has spent her entire life in service to her country in a quite, dignified and scandal free manner. I'm not quite sure that my affection for her extends to the rest of the royal family. I find myself large unaffected and unexcited by them (though I am warming to cheeky Prince Harry). However, yesterday, like millions of viewers worldwide I could not help but get caught up in the whole royal wedding fever. It was inescapable, even on the other side of the world. So I found myself watching the blessed event. And it did not disappoint. The pomp, splendor and precision in the timing and organisation of the whole event is to be admired. You've got to admit that no one puts the 'Great' in Britian quite like the British and in particular the House of Windsor. I suspect for most Britons, it must have been a day to remember, celebrate and be proud of being Britis...

I’m an overseas citizen of Indian origin. And as most Indians will admit there is just one unique obsession that that unites Indians all over the globe It defines the essence of the Indian national pride. It’s bigger than religion. It is a grand affair of the heart; something that ignites more passion that any other good love story ever has. It is quite simply, the game of cricket. India is a cricket mad nation and no wonder because, we, are really good at it. So when the World cup was being played on home turf, supporting the national squad was a given. And for the last month and a half, I have joined the 1 billion plus Indians and waved the flag, sang the National Anthem, stayed up late to watch and cheer the team on. (The games are played through the night in the city that I live in) And today, in a tough final against Sri Lanka, even as thing were going bad, I bit my nails, I prayed (I stormed heaven), I believed and I willed them on. And they did not disappoint. India won the Cri...

April Fool's day is always a legitimate excuse for the inner mischievous child in me to shine without an ounce of guilt. Over the years I've played so many pranks and I think I may have even bragged about some of these in previous posts on this blog. This year, I went a little low key, playing only two pranks which is an unusual thing for me. Maturity must be catching up. The first victim was a friend Adel, who is a really good photographer. With the help of two other partners in crime we sent her an invitation to be the official photographer at the Royal Wedding. We took the trouble to pinch a picture of the official invite and tweak it a bit (it's amazing what Photoshop can help you achieve). We coupled this with a Royal letter from her Majesty's supposed communications secretary - a Mrs Deborah Bottomworth. It was printed on really good quality thick paper and we took the trouble of making it look like it had been posted from the UK. We slipped in into her mailbox at...

It was my Uncle Daz' birthday on Monday. Now at 71 years of age, he's one of the few people I know, actually the only one I really know, who can say that he's still not quite 18. You see, he was born on the 29th of February, in the leap year of 1940. So his real birthday occurs only once every four years. Now, I too was born in a leap year, although I best not reveal the year because unlike my uncle, I was not fortunate enough to be born on the 29th of February. And with each passing year, it's not just the age that shows but also the embarrasment that I'm no longer as young or as brave as I hoped I'd remain.

I woke up to the sunlight peering through my bedroom window. I looked out, there was thick frost on the grass. The temperature indoors was a chilly 5 degrees. I jumped back into the warm comfort of my bed and burrowed under the duvet. It was Sunday and I took the liberty of being in bed for a bit longer.

I've never learned to make a cake properly. My mum is really good at it and regulalry produced these amazing cakes when we were growing up. Back then, I was not particularly interested in spending time watching and learning or even going anywhere near the kitchen. But how times have changed. I have two gorgeous neices and it is because of them really, that I started making birthday cakes. I wouldn't say it's a passion, but I am driven by sheer love to make them birthday cakes that are memorable and tasty. Over the past few years, I've put myself through a lot of stress (mainly because I had no clue what I was doing) to produce a variety of themed cakes like an animal farm, a fairy toadstool iced with with chocolate and pretty fairies, a ladybug, a strawberry flavoured butterfly etc. The one thing I have learned from all of this is that practice makes better. I only make 3 cakes a year but I've learned new tricks with each endeavour and my last effort even took me by...

I’m quite partial to a good game of soccer. And I really began to appreciate and enjoy the sport when I lived in London. It was 2006, the year of the last World Cup and I was surrounded by soccer mad fans at work and all around. You could not help but get caught up in the frenzy of it all. There are a number of teams I love and will root for (including the All Whites of course), but there is one team, I’ve always had a soft sport in my heart for that is England. Even when they have been the underdog, I’ve cheered them on in the hope that they would triumph. But there is one thing that truly disappoints me when it comes to English Soccer. And it’s not the sport. I hate to see, the “S” in Soccer being replaced by Sandal, Slappers, Spin Doctors and Sensationalism all lacing the pockets of people to who really have no place on the playing field of the sport. WAGS, Ex-WAGS and Wandering Willies and Wise PR Owls seem to have gained more prominence in "Fleet Street" reporting mach...

As someone who will be among the first in the world to ring in the New Year, I thought I'd take this opportunity to post a greeting to you all. I'm going to borrow the words sent to me by my friend Candida Mulrain. I wish that love, peace and joy be yours in full measure. May peace break into your house and may thieves come to steal your debts. May the pockets of your jeans become a magnet for $100 bills. May love stick to your face like Vaseline and may laughter assault your lips! May your clothes smell of success like smoking tires and may happiness slap you across the face and may your tears be that of joy. May the problems you had, forget your home address! In simple words... May 2010 be the one best years of your life!!! Happy New Year TO YOU ALL. PS: Incidently if you are at all interested in knowing which points on the globe are the first to greet New Year, then the list is as below: 1st - Kiritimati (Kiribati - Christmas Islands) 2nd - Chatham Island (New Zealand) 3rd ...

Summer finally arrived on Saturday December 5 but not without keeping it's arrival a surprise. The day before (December 4) was dull, windy, extremely wet and freezing. So on Saturday when the sun finally made it's grand appearance I decided to seize the moment and go out to greet the sun, but not before throwing all of my linen into the washing machine. Sadly they stayed soaking in the machine from 10am to 6:45pm due to a massive power outage in my area. On the flip side, they were spotless when they finally came out.

It's the 3rd of December down under in beautiful Aeotearoa. Officially it is the 3rd day of summer. It should be warm, sunny and promising. Instead we are faced with days that are dull, gloomy, cool, wet and windy. It seems like someone forgot to remind the sun to come out and play. If this clearly visible sign of global warming, is not a wake up call for immediate action to tackle climate change, then we ought to bid adieu to the simple things we hold dear. Because let's face it we've abused the planet so much that we've almost lost the right to enjoy it.

I'm a reluctant patient. I only ever go to the doctor when I'm in dire need. But recently in an effort to avoid a potential risk to my EAR (I have in the past almost damaged my ear drum with a cold) I took my self over to see the GP. A quick check of the mildly inflamed ear and a couple of other checks later and I was pointed in the direction of some blood tests. Apparently my heart was racing wildly. This was abnormal because neither George Clooney nor Brad Pitt was in the vicinity. It turns out that I have an HYPERACTIVE THYROID which is impacting on my heart and causing it to beat a lot faster than normal. But the good news is that this is a completely manageable condition and I've been put on some thyroid medication and another set of magic pills to help my heat rate slow down. I guess it was a timely coincidence that let me to the doctors. Now that I'm on my HAPPY PILLS.......I'm behaving loonier than ever. AND MY POOR EAR.......well that's been complete...

We had a fire at work in the wee hours of yesterday morning. It was big and the damage was considerably large. Thankfully no one was in the building at the time. Needless to say it was a huge shock but we all banded together really well. Our emergency contingency plan kicked in and was carried out so seamlessly that even the fire department investigators commented on how impressed they were with us. I am filled with admiration for the entire team - those who took charge in leading from the start as well as those who worked silently behind the scenes. We just drew strength from each other, worked well as a cohesive unit. We are now almost back to normal, very tired but still smiling and determined to move forward and provide our clients with the best possible service we can render. Our people are our biggest assest. I suppose that's what makes us as good as we are. We understand, we care and we deliver against all odds.

I’ve never been a great fan of reality television stars. In fact I find some of these pseudo manufactured celebrities quite annoying. But my views aside, they seem to have ingratiated themselves so deeply into popular culture that they become newsworthy in a truly global sense. You cannot pick up a newspaper or a magazine and not find information on some of these personalities these days. So it was hardly surprising when Jade Goody made the evening television news here in New Zealand. To ordinary Kiwis, the infamous and sometimes controversial former Big Brother contestant means nothing. But to the British public she seems almost iconic. Love her or hate her, you have to feel a bit sorry for the girl. The news that she has terminal cancer is sad. The simple fact that a young, single mum with two little boys is dying has got to pull on the heartstrings of anyone with a heart. My first impression of Jade Goody when I lived in London was that she was pointless, appeared almost irritatingl...

I'm holidaying with my family in the very lovely picturesque town of Mt. Maunganui. The Mt. situated on Tauranga Harbour’s eastern entrance, is also called Mauao by the Maori. According to Maori legend,the hill was a pononga [slave] to a mountain called Otanewainuku. The pononga was in love with a hill called Puwhena, but she had already fallen for his captor. In despair, the nameless hill decided to drown himself and he called upon the fairy people [Patupaiarehe] to assist with his endeavour. The fairies began dragging him toward the sea, however, these nocturnal imps lost track of time, and as they neared the ocean, the rising sun signalled their disappearance. The nameless one was left in the very place where he still stands, and became known as Mauao, which means “caught by the dawn.” Today, Mauao still faces day’s first light; as do many who walk his 3.4-km base, which passes by remote beaches and rocky cliffs. Sea lions and whales are often seen in this area and it remains a ...