Scenes from Punjab

Better late than never....finally got a chance to post some of the 700+ shots I took on my recent trip to India.



^ ^ At a rest stop along the GT Road somewhere near Patiala.


^ ^ Waiting for a bus (I presume). They look uncharacteristically calm...prolly still half-asleep...LOL.


^ ^ My parents' place in Moga City.

^ ^ Millions of these Tata trucks on the road....the subject of many a Punjabi song.


^ ^ Punjab framed. :)


^ ^ Apna Punjab.





^ ^ LOL....I think I know how you're gonna drive. I think this was the most ridiculous thing I saw on my travels.


^ ^ Feeding time at the zoo ?




^ ^ The Golden Temple, Amritsar.






^ ^ ^ Oh the irony of it all.


^ ^ GT Road again. In Punjab, overtaking and double over-taking are a national sport.




^ ^ ^ Personal transportation has definitely progressed over the last 5 years.

^ ^ The evening commute.

^ ^ 

The dreaded shopping trip

^ ^ ^ Punjab's Gold Reserves.. :)


^ ^ ^ 

The latest shopping mall developments are on a par with the West.


^ ^ ^
Having a 'Mirinda' at Delhi Airport. It's definitely an acquired taste and not for everyone.


^ ^ ^
Departure Lounge at Delhi. Was not asked for a bribe once....how pleasant. :)

Flying high with Singh is King

It's quite a psychedelic experience watching 'Singh is King' at 39,000 feet - the lack of oxgen and cabin pressure must really play havoc with one's perceptions of reality - but this was the case as I flew on British Airways from London to Delhi a few weeks ago. Unfortunately the in-flight entertainment system was on the blink and the usual 30+ choice of movies was reduced to watching either Singh is King or some inane documentary about flower arranging. Given my failure to bring aboard any alternative reading material, I was forced to watch this film about 2 - 3 times and I'm sure the soundtrack has deeply embedded itself in my DNA by now...LOL. However, I guess I wasn't alone.....it was a weird experience returning from the washroom towards my seat and seeing rows of white sahibs in their seats watching 'Singh is King'... :) In their case, I hope they can distinguish between reality and bakwaas....we are not all like that you know... :)

I wouldn't necessarily go as far as the Guardian newspaper did in asking the question: "What happens when a mentally subnormal Sikh peasant becomes the don of the Australian mafia ?". Yes, Happy Singh (played by Akshay Kumar) definitely displays some retarded tendencies....but 'mentally subnormal' may be taking it too far....LOL. (ps. somebody should really tell the Bollywood studios how to spell 'King').

However, I fully concur with the rest of The Guardian's observations:

The plot has more holes than a typical Indian highway, and even a seasoned artisan like Om Puri is made to look wholly incompetent as he plays Happy's grouchy kinsman, Rangeela, grappling with a script that seems to have been written by a five-year-old who's been drinking way too many bhang lassis. At one point, British Airways mistakenly lands Happy in Egypt rather than Oz, where he cavorts amid the dunes with the deliciously lithe and coffee-coloured Katrina Kaif, playing his love-interest, Sonia. One of the most gorgeous but breathtakingly untalented women on earth, watching this former London-based model is like staring at a black hole – a thing of unspeakable beauty and infinite emptiness. There's even a cameo by Snoop Dogg who, in the title tune, the first ever Bollywood-Compton crossover record, raps the historic lines: "Watch me zoom by, make it boom by. Word-up to all the ladies hanging out in Mumbai".