Sujatha's Profile

To the unfolding soap opera of the Generals and their paramours (From Gawker): Paging Oliver Stone. On second thoughts, not enough battlefield scenes. Maybe we should get Baz Luhrmann to turn this into a Moulin Rouge-like spectacle. Continue reading

Posted Nov 13, 2012 at Accidental Blogger

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A Theory of All Maladies (Sujatha)

"To sleep, perchance to dream..." Therein truly lies the rub, as Hamlet continues to muse in his famous 'To be or not to be' soliloquy. What does that have to do with all maladies? It might sound more than a... Continue reading

Posted Sep 7, 2012 at Accidental Blogger

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Olympian Openings (Sujatha)

There was a song dedicated to the victims of the 7/7 attack in London, cut out of the NBC's footage that was shown yesterday, instead replaced with a vapid interview of Michael Phelps. Click here to read the article and... Continue reading

Posted Jul 28, 2012 at Accidental Blogger

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Slumming it out (Sujatha)

I finally got to read Katherine Boo's 'Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity" a few weeks ago. Praised to the high heavens as an authentic portrait of authentic people (as opposed to fake Slumdogs)... Continue reading

Posted Jun 24, 2012 at Accidental Blogger

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Curry or Culture? (all A.B Bloggers)

The National Geographic Bee finals were held yesterday in Washington DC, with 10 finalists selected from all the state champions. Seven out of the ten were of Indian origin, one was of Chinese extraction, two were Caucasian. As always, we... Continue reading

Posted May 25, 2012 at Accidental Blogger

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The Return of the Mommy Wars- Mother's Day 2012 (Sujatha)

It's the time of the year for the return of the Mommy wars in the media, with Time magazine's choice of shock-jocking cover leading the fray. What could be more motherly than a mother with her nursing child, after all... Continue reading

Posted May 12, 2012 at Accidental Blogger

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Tuesday Miscellany (Sujatha)

A Fishy analysis of The Hunger Games (yes, I know, that is So Last Month, but please bear with the professor , he is not quite upto speed with the 'passé'ness of some memes) ) vs. my own market-colored (and... Continue reading

Posted May 8, 2012 at Accidental Blogger

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A More 'Perfect' Music (Sujatha)

Does the latest music album sound more than perfect to your ears, as it dribbles or blasts out of the earbuds of your music player? Not a note out of place, no little rough edges that would make you squirm?... Continue reading

Posted Mar 21, 2012 at Accidental Blogger

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A Question of Crime (Sujatha)

Just what is the crime here? Dharun Ravi, 20, formerly of Rutgers University, NJ, was convicted on all 15 counts brought against him: invasion of privacy, bias intimidation,lying to investigators, trying to influence a witness and tampering with evidence. From... Continue reading

Posted Mar 18, 2012 at Accidental Blogger

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Cancer in a Can (Sujatha)

Move over, BPA, make room for the new kid on the block: 4- MI ( the 'cute' name for 4-methylimidazole), a byproduct of the process used to create one of the coloring agents used in what is obliquely termed 'caramel... Continue reading

Posted Mar 9, 2012 at Accidental Blogger

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Taj Collage (Sujatha)

The Taj Mahal and the gardens around it now: and below, before the 1900-1908 renovations by Lord Curzon: This comparison was prompted by Ruchira's email mentioning a recent book published on the gardens of the Raj: "The book claims that... Continue reading

Posted Feb 21, 2012 at Accidental Blogger

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Thus Spake the Crocodile...(Sujatha)

Carefully crafted, teary-eyed sentiments indeed. As well they should be, given the outrage poured on Susan G. Komen Foundation's decision to stop giving grants to the Planned Parenthood for breast cancer screening and preventative education. This could mean a huge... Continue reading

Posted Feb 2, 2012 at Accidental Blogger

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Can Gross National Happiness = Gross National Irony ? (Sujatha)

So much for the concept of Gross National Happiness, a concept developed and promoted as an index of well-being by the Royal Government of Bhutan in 2005. While efforts to quantify it were widely publicized and discussed, nobody seemed to... Continue reading

Posted Dec 23, 2011 at Accidental Blogger

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Homo narrans (Sujatha)

Swedish author Henning Mankell (of 'Wallander' fame) posits in the New York Times that better than calling our species Homo sapiens would be to call us Homo narrans, or Man the Storyteller. "It struck me as I listened to those... Continue reading

Posted Dec 14, 2011 at Accidental Blogger

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Time to Change the Blog Picture's Motto? (Sujatha)

The motto below the cat picture, "He who dislikes the cat, was in his former life, a rat." seems no longer apt. We have been seriously maligning rats, who apparently show empathetic behavior and even a degree of altruism that... Continue reading

Posted Dec 10, 2011 at Accidental Blogger

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To PSA or not PSA (Sujatha)

Remember the great Mammo or no Mammo debate that erupted a couple of years ago? The task force is back in action again. This time they recommend 'No PSA', as the evidence builds up that the cure is worse than... Continue reading

Posted Oct 7, 2011 at Accidental Blogger

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Pathological Altruism

Today's NY Times has a discussion of 'Pathological Altruism', but is it truly 'altruism' to give till it hurts the giver? Altruism, on the face of it, is the opposite of selfishness. The dictionary definition (Merriam Webster) 1: unselfish regard... Continue reading

Posted Oct 4, 2011 at Accidental Blogger

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The Book and the Charlatan (Sujatha)

It's always good when a book gets embroiled in a controversy, it makes for more attention and publicity for both the book and the 'libellee'. The book in question is Siddhartha Deb's 'The Beautiful and the Damned : A Portrait... Continue reading

Posted Sep 25, 2011 at Accidental Blogger

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A Not So Brilliant Britain (Sujatha)

Having just gotten back from Across the Pond, and been visiting there, albeit in non-hotspots, while rampaging hordes managed to destroy the fragile sense of peace that hovers over the United Kingdom, it seems almost mandatory that I proffer an... Continue reading

Posted Aug 14, 2011 at Accidental Blogger

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Cookery Carousel (Sujatha)

Why do we watch food shows on TV? For a variety of reasons, as varied as the different offerings on the likes of The Food Network and The Learning Channel, analyzed to exhaustion by Akim Reinhardt on 3QD. I've come... Continue reading

Posted Aug 2, 2011 at Accidental Blogger

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And the Media Circus goes on... (Sujatha)

Now, of course, the headlines are solidly focussed on the Norway shootings, and every article is accompanied by the photo with movie-star good looks of accused shooter Anders Behring Breivik. The initial reaction to the news seems to have been... Continue reading

Posted Jul 25, 2011 at Accidental Blogger

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The Art of Physics, or should it be The Physics of Art ? (Sujatha)

Jackson Pollock may have been a secret physicist, judging by a recent scientific analysis of his techniques and works. Or not. How many times do we do things without stopping to examine the underlying physical principles? I'm sure that many... Continue reading

Posted Jul 10, 2011 at Accidental Blogger

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India and the Temple of Treasure (Sujatha)

Mind, I've never been a fan of the silly memes (Indians eat monkey brains?!!?) so egregiously used in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. But when a real treasure trove shows up in nowhere other than the quiet temple... Continue reading

Posted Jul 5, 2011 at Accidental Blogger

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Move Over Barney, Here comes the Fracosaurus (Sujatha)

There's been plenty of rainbows and peaceful green fields juxtaposed with happy faces and natural gas logos and clip art on the TV ads from the Marcellus Shale Coalition. But some companies have been taking this a step further. Catch... Continue reading

Posted Jun 19, 2011 at Accidental Blogger

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Bending the Curve (Sujatha)

Having recently read the book 'The Hippocratic Myth' by M.Gregg Bloche, the striking subtext states "Why doctors are under pressure to ration care, practice politics and compromise their promise to heal". The author makes a convincing case for his thesis... Continue reading

Posted Jun 6, 2011 at Accidental Blogger

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