Musings on the Human Condition

Facebook and AR Rahman both seem to appeal to all demographics. Facebook launched around 2004 and has steadily been gaining popularity among young and old ever since. Personally, I love Facebook -- it has allowed expatriates like me to reconnect with friends and other nomads. And Facebook offers not just a reconnection but a rich, nuanced canvas on which to rekindle a relationship, albeit virtually. Rahman has been around a bit longer, but many folks seem to have jumped onto his bandwagon just recently after Slumdog 's sweep at the Oscars . I consider myself an original mega-fan and have been following his work ever since my wife, Samita , introduced me to his very first score for the movie Roja (1992). I've created an MP3 DVD with every single one of Rahman's compositions -- almost 500 songs. It's a prized possession. Rahman's grasp of music is exceptional -- each soundtrack seems to contain a few songs with popular appeal and others (with classical leanings) fo...

As I write, we're just beginning to understand the full impact of today's bombings, shootings and hostage-taking at seven of Mumbai's (formerly Bombay) most recognizable venues including the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotel, the Trident Oberoi hotel, the Chhatrapati Shivaji (formerly Victoria ) Terminus (Mumbai's largest ground transportation hub), Chabad House (formerly Nariman House and now a base for the orthodox Jewish group Chabad Lubavitch), and Leopold Cafe . Most reports coming out of India's financial capital, Mumbai, are citing over 100 fatalities and 300 injured, many of them foreign citizens. I am keeping my fingers double-crossed. I lost a family member in the Delhi bombings of October 29, 2005 - two days prior to Divali - while she was shopping with her fiance at South Delhi's popular Sarojini Nagar market. And now this - one day prior to Thanksgiving! To borrow Obama's terminology, all sides need to learn the use of a scalpel; the sledgeh...