Kishor Krishnamoorthi’s WebsiteKishor a.k.a Mjuboy’s Blog

I woke up this morning and stared in to the big blue empty British sky.

Yes, an empty sky. Devoid of any contrails.

Why, you ask? Well, in case you’ve been living under a rock, you should know that volcanic ash from the Icelandic volcano of Eyjafjallajökull (That is actually its name, I’m not even kidding) has spread across most of Europe which has lead to a ban on all air traffic for the past three days. And it doesnt look its going to stop anytime soon. The ban has been increased until tomorrow morning but I highly doubt they will let planes for the next few days, since “experts say the cloud may not shift until later in the week.” The last time the volcano erupted, in 1821, it went on for 6 months and this doesnt bade particularly well for the current situation. My housemate is stuck in Florida, not that he’s complaining, but a lot of other people seem to be.

To add to the misery, every time this specific volcano has erupted in history, it has led to eruptions from its neighbouring and much larger volcano, Katla, which is apparently pretty damn huge. If that actually does erupt, we are all in deep shit. And this led me to the question, what if all air traffic was grounded for say, six months? What would actually happen?

Well, for one thing, coaches, ferries and the Eurostar would be literally minting money with bookings going through the roof. With a virtually endless demand, the companies can charge what they want and get away with it. Simple economics at its best. The airline industry would collapse completely since it is already on the edge of the cliff. All of its employees would be sent home. All the industries that depend on the airline industry would go bankrupt as well. This will include all the restaurants and shops in airports, flight catering companies, plane service and maintenance industry, and might extend as far as aeroplane fuelling companies. Hotels and B&Bs near airports will be making a bundle in the short term due to millions of stranded passengers but will lose customers in the long term since people would stop using airports.

Video conferencing will surge rapidly since businessmen from across the world would be forced to resort to use it as travel from Asia and the Americas to Europe would be practically impossible. People who had gone for holidays in far away countries, would need to get flights to the closest possible land connection in Europe (northern Spain seems to be most likely destination) and continue on ferries, trains and coaches to other countries. Usage of road transport will increase at a level never expected before which may lead to insane traffic jams which will inevitably lead to accidents. Courier and mail companies will lose money and business unless they find an alternative solution to the problem of getting parcels and letters into mainland Europe and Britain. Phone companies may rejoice, with more phone calls between people in the EU. Car Rental companies will also be laughing to the bank, since people will be forced to drive or use other already busy means of public transport.

Gordon Brown has apparently called for a meeting with his “top advisors” (also known as the Cobra emergency committee) but unless they decided to nuke Iceland and wipe it off the map, I really cant see them doing much. I mean, a bunch of men in suits dont really have much power over Mother Earth in all her fury. This just goes to show us that even the most powerful of men falter in the face of the planet that sustains us and has sustained billions of people over the course of thousands of years. I can see my children reading about this and just thinking of it as another news story, just like how we read about the invention of the bulb or domestication of animals. I know this is probably something quite harsh to say, but in the bigger perspective of things, this is really not much. Life goes on, sometimes it comes to a halt, but evolution never stops. The world will continue, regardless of whether you missed your meeting or whether the girl next door could not meet her boyfriend…

Update – Researchers says the eruption could continue for a month.

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After 2 weeks of campaigning, smiling, and forming a personal relationship with 1200 people, I needed a break. My trip to the Warwick Economics Summit 2010 was simply an excuse to go to a place where I was a nobody, another anonymous figure who nobody cared for, and could get away with doing whatever I wanted to do. Sitting in their bar and getting drunk in the afternoon was one of the best things I’ve done in a while and then proceeding to walk around their Students Union corridors, while still tipsy, and take photos to “borrow” their ideas.

The Summit was fantastic, dont get me wrong, we had a whole range of high profile speakers from Alistair Darling, the Chancellor of the Exchequer a.k.a Finance Minister to Kevin Kallaugher, known as KAL, the resident cartoonist of The Economist. I did miss around half of the talks but the time I spent sitting in the bar pondering nothing was well worth it. The Dinner and Dance on the final night lived up to my expectations. Even though I had pledged not to talk to anyone unless they spoke to me first, I managed to meet a lot of people on that night and we even came 3rd in the Quiz! The final day had a short video where they went to several prominent Economists around the country and asked them ‘What is Economics to you?’. The video gave me a fresh insight into why I had chosen to study Economics in the first place, why it was a subject that I truly enjoyed studying, and why I felt it would help me in my life’s goals.

From a more philosophical perspective, the weekend was enjoyable because I took a completely opposite approach to attitude when compared to the past two weeks. I didn’t care what they thought of me, I didn’t have to talk to everyone I met, I didn’t have to be the centre of attention, I didn’t have to be a massive politician. I could be myself, a lone little Indian boy without anyone caring what I did, without anyone noticing who I was, and without a responsibility in this world.

I loved it so much. Too much maybe. But I did miss my University, that sense of power when I walk into the bar, that feeling when all eyes hover upon me, that moment when I could go upto anyone in the bar and they would know that I was their President-elect.

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I’m back in Hyderabad for Christmas! And boy, does it feel good to be back!

The trip back home had no lack of exciting events, with me picking up a Canon 5D Mk II on loan from Canon for 3 weeks literally a few hours before I got my plane back. After handling the glorious device that it is, my first plane journey was an hour late, with the plane being de-iced as I sat inside and watched the process from my window. At this point, I was quite confident that I would miss my connecting flight to Hyderabad from Frankfurt but by some random grace of god, I managed to catch the plane in the nick of time and was the last passenger to board the plane.

This plane journey was quite nice, and possibly one of the most pleasant ones I’ve had in a while, with no crying babies, good food, and plenty of sleep. Infact, it almost seemed too good to be true and I was proven right when my checked-in luggage didnt turn up. I spent a couple of hours at the airport, filling out forms and doing other necessary beaurcratic procedures before finally getting back home at 4 in the morning instead of 1, as I had originally planned.

To add to the woes, there has been a ‘bandh‘ (citywide strike) for a couple of days and this has resulted in me not being able to have my traditional Paradise Biryani meal with Fatik. While this caused me immense frustration with the local politics, it has also provided me with a lot of entertainment, watching local MLAs getting beaten up by students and the likes and a direct insight to the politics at the world’s largest democracy.

But all that bad news aside, they’ve found my bag and its being flown to India as I type this and should hopefully be with me tomorrow evening! I’ve also enjoyed using the 5D Mk II a lot, and it is truly a revolutionary camera. I havent got much planned for the next couple of weeks which is fantastic since I can continue to get 14 hours of sleep everyday…

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Its that time of the year again.

The time for me to leave home for England after spending 3 glorious months traveling, relaxing, and laughing in India.

And the  usual feeling kicks in again, the feeling of being torn between 2 worlds, the feeling of not wanting to leave the safety and comfort of home and the feeling of wanting to go back to Uni. But regardless of what I feel, time will move on, and the world will roll on and I must flow with the river or be left back while civilization flows past.

After 1 week in England, I know I’ll settle in and things will become normal, but its that one week which I dread. One week of wanting to go home and have Biryani. Admittedly, a majority of the time will be spent missing Indian food, and yes, my friends and family too

Nevertheless, I will be back in 3 months for winter vacations, and then head back to England before I even realize that I’m back home. But thats for another post, another time.

Goodbye for now.

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I got back from my 1 week trip to North India last week. It was a fabulous trip and seeing the Taj Mahal in flesh is something surreal. The heat of Jaisalmer was killing and indeed it nearly killed my white friend, Josh, who I was traveling with.

I did get a bit tired of traveling towards the end of the trip, having already gone to Delhi and South India for a week each. Getting back home was a glorious feeling only to realize that I would be leaving for England soon. I think I’ve made the most of my time in these 3 months, having traveled around, spent quality time with family and friends and enjoyed the feeling of being home to the maximum.

I watched ‘Mallanna’ a few days ago, a movie which everyone warned me about as being a complete torture but a movie which I surprisingly found entertaining. The story itself was nothing complex and the movie wasnt taken very well, but I still found it reasonably okay, perhaps because I liked Vikram and thought the songs were awesome.

I’ve been catching up with friends again, its been fun and nice to see everyone once again before I leave tomorrow night. My next post will most probably be from England, and as always, I dont really want to go since I enjoy home too much, but things must move on…

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In approximately an hour, I’ll be catching a train to Agra for a week’s trip to Agra, Jaipur and Jaisalmer. While the initial objective of this trip is to show my friend from England, Josh Wall, around the country, its a convenient excuse for me to fulfill my travel addiction.

As with my trip to Europe a few months ago, this will be an exclusive film trip with one SLR  camera, two lenses, fifteen rolls of film, and tons of shutter buggery. I’ve carefully laid out the trip itinerary after a decent bit of research, perhaps more research than I do for my usual essay. Hopefully, the effort should pay off and you will see a complete record of the trip on this space in a week!

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I spent a week in my native place near Kanyakumari when I’d gone there a week ago due to the sudden and unfortunate demise of my grandmother.

As the necessary ceremonies and rituals for the funeral did not take too long, I decided to make the most of my time there and look around the place as much as possible.

Going back to my birthplace brought about a strange sense of nostalgia within me. Even though I had’nt spent much time as a kid there, I felt a connection with the place. As I walked about the streets watching the old men have their evening coffee while poring over the newspaper, the women hanging out clothes to dry, kids jumping about playfully and the cows returning from grazing, I realized that these people lived in their own world, a world far away from others, far enough from civilization to be ignorant and happy but also close enough to get your hands on technology should you wish to.

Long drives in narrow roads with the wind rushing at your face while watching coconut trees gently swaying in rhythm, and stopping off for a drink of ‘Paini’ (a natural drink made from Palm trees more refreshing than Pepsi) is an experience that the mind can never forget.

I had my first waterfall bath, unlike any other shower or bath I’ve ever had before. With the water falling directly on you from a height of 20+ feet, after wading through rocks, its better than a hand massage and its supposed to good for health too. Quite addictive too since once you’ve felt the joy of taking a bath there, you want to keep going back for more.

My mother’s native village was filled with tons on interesting people with lots of stories to share.  Half of the village men were perpetually drunk, while the other half debated about my choice of facial hair. It was otherwise a lovely village where everyone was terribly friendly and helpful.

My father’s native village was equally lovely but there was a distinct lack of drunken men although that may just have been my ignorance. A nightime stroll around the village with my cousin as tour guide was great, getting to know the place inside out.

We did a reasonable amount of sightseeing and relative meeting over the course of the week, and a surprisingly large amount of people who said that they remember seeing me when I was “so small” and now I’d grown up with a “fancy moustache” and all. Fun times.

And with my travels to the northern and southern ends of India, I learnt a valuable lesson. That this is my country. This will always be my country. And nothing I say or do will ever change that. And you can take me out of India but I will forever be an Indian.

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New Delhi.

A place I’d like to call the New York of India.

Admittedly, I’ve never been to New York, but the touch, the feel and the sights of Delhi reminded me of what I’ve always imagined New York to be like. My friends reminded me that technically and geographically, Mumbai would be the New York of India while New Delhi would be Washington, but emotionally, I felt that Delhi deserved the title.

I got back from Delhi earlier this week, after having spent a week there with some school friends of mine, doing the usual touristic things as well as doing some local things.

Its a wonderful place, filled with a wide variety of people and places, and although the weather wasnt pleasant during my visit, I think I managed to get a decent peek at the life of a Delhi-ite.

A quick run down of the places we visited with a line about each -

• Jama Masjid – Absolutely magical, watching the evening prayer is truly a surreal experience.
• Humayun’s Tomb – Majestic. Having been the forerunner of the famous Taj Mahal, its a must see monument!
• Red Fort/Lal Kila - The huge size is what hits you first, and imagining the life of the people there in the days gone by brings about a strong sense of nostalgia.
• India Gate – It invoked a patriotic feel within me like nothing ever before. Walking down the Rajpath at night towards India Gate is something every Indian should do.
• Qutub Minar – Larger than I’d ever imagined, it makes one wonder about the marvels of Indian architecture.
• Chandni Chowk – People, people and more people. Possibly one of most populated places I’ve been to, with more trading done every hour than the biggest of malls in India.
• Connaught Place – Tons of things to do, see and lots to eat, and a  popular hangout for the Delhi Youth.
• Palika Bazaar - Chandni Chowk’s underground and modern brother, you can literally every gadget ever manufactured here.
• Karim’s – The very though of this place makes my mouth water. Absolutely brilliant food!
• AP Bhavan – A slice of Andhra in the depths of Delhi, it reminded me of how much I missed Hyderabad.

Overall, Delhi is quite an interesting city with lots of see and do. Going on a rickshaw ride in Chandni Chowk is an experience of a lifetime, weaving through people, bikes and goats, going on the wrong side of the road and doing more sudden brakes and power slides than a F1 car. Okay, I’m just kidding about the power slides but apart from that, it is truly awesome. Bus rides are quite the opposite with bus drivers being stupidly rash and dangerous in their driving.

Watching movies in a cinema in Delhi is not such a great experience though. Apart from the stupidly expensive tickets, people in the theatre done appear to have much respect for the other people sitting there. All through the movie, people were chattering away noisily on their cellphones, with little regard for others.

I stayed at St.Stephens college with my friends, Arun Kumar and Venna Naveen, the college was a very beautiful place which almost made me regret my decision to go to England. People were friendly, right from the waiter at the cafeteria and the watchman by the gate to the students and staff.

Overall, Delhi is a city where paupers become princes and princes become paupers, where every 12th car of the road costs more than my house, and power is thrown around the city like a tennis ball. Its a city where girls try to appear modern with their clothes leaving little to imagination and boys trytoo hard to be cool with ridiculous hair styles and dress sense. But the true intellectual value of the city youth is something that can debated for years at end. In the end, I still love my Hyderabad and Mana Andhra way too much to live anywhere else.

Photos and Wallpapers coming soon!

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My heart feels right at home in India. I cant really point out at one specific feature of this glorious country which fills the void in my otherwise great life, its a combination of its beautiful sights, sounds and atmosphere,

The plane journey was long and uneventful, which has its positives and negatives. On one hand, atleast we didnt have an Air France but on the other hand, I had absolutely nothing to do during the 10 hour journey. Although the selection of movies for the on flight entertainment was decent, the tiny screen was of horrible quality. The food was barely edible, and I tried to sleep for most of the journey but kept randomly waking up. Overall, hardly a journey I’d like to repeat, and I dont think I’ll fly British Airways next time unless they give me a massive discount.

However, the journey was precisely that. Just a journey towards a destination, and I’m glad to be home. I do have the occasional pangs of Essex now and then but over the next few weeks, things should settle. However, one thing I think I will always miss from Essex, apart from the people of course, would be the fast broadband internet. It is painfully slow here and it will be awhile before I accept the fact that I cant stream music/videos anymore.

The next couple of weeks will involved catching up with friends and the likes, I hope to travel for a bit after that otherwise boredom may overwhelm me.

In other news, Olympus have announced a digital version of their famous ‘Pen’, the E-P1 which has resulted in me updating my Wishlist after a long time, you can take a look at the new camera here and my wishlist here.

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I leave tomorrow for India.

And similar to last time, feelings are mixed. Thoroughly excited to go back home. Depressed to say goodbye to all the final year students whom I wont see again for a very long time. But that is how life moves on…

Last week has been reasonably relaxing, I’ve been catching up with as many people as possible to bid farewell to them. I suppose next week might involve a similar exercise of catching up with many friends, not to say goodbye, but to welcome a summer of fun.

I went down to Chelmsford a few days ago to watch Guthrie Govan play live at The Bassment and it was an absolutely amazing experience. He plays the guitar like no one else I’ve ever know and its quite a sight to watch him work his magic on the guitar. The Bassment is a lovely place as well, small, simple, cosy and just the way I like it.

I’ve ensured that I did my usual activities last week, Fish and Chips from Henleys, plenty of meals at the Bengal Spice, relaxing lunches at Sizzlers/Top Bar, and just sitting by the lake enjoying the sun.

My first lunch in India will be, as anyone who knows me can predict, Chicken Biryani at Paradise. It is something my heart has truly longed for the past six months and I’m immensely looking forward to that memorable meal. I must crack on with packing now and my next post will be from India!

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