Last night as I tweeted I saw a name on the twitter trend list – Stephen Gately. I couldn’t make the immediate connection and I let it be. But this morning’s newspaper carried an article on his mysterious death. And when I saw his photo the name rang the bell.
In November 2000, when I freelanced with Teens Today – an India Today publication I had the opportunity to interview Stephen Gately on his India tour to launch his solo album. If you’re interested I reproduce the same below.
It’s nice to have some fiction in your collection – makes for a refreshing read while traveling.
Richard Branson – Business Stripped Bare Didn’t manage to read the first two books by this flamboyant business man. But this one looked very tempting to miss out.
It’s not about the bike by Lance Armstrong My ex-boss Sangram was a big fan of Lance and while working at Think WhyNot I read a few pages from his copy of this book. Had been on my wish-list for a while now. Finally on the shelf.
My current reads: Superstar India by Shobhaa De – Interesting take on the changing India. Kind of gets glamorous and superficial at certain points but yet been an entertaining read.
Also kept at my office desk is Whatever you think think the opposite by Paul Arden – inspiring & a complete mind-opener for those dull moments at work.
Read an article in Campaign India which inspired me to put this down.
Farhan Akhtar
This is the guy who once again re-confirms my “life-wish†to make a movie someday. His ability to play so many roles (film director, actor & singer) and that too with superb performances is commendable. Firstly, I would thank him for responding to the letter I sent him a few months back after watching ‘Rock On’. Then I will discuss what does he tell himself before jumping into the unknown waters. How do you expect a film director to make his debut in a movie in which he sings the songs himself?
ShahRukh Khan
The first two guests are from the film industry but I guess they have a certain attraction. I won’t meet SRK because he is King Khan but rather because there was something he said long back and that thought has been kind of printed in my head – “I strive to do good work, money is only a byproduct.â€. And would love to know the secret of his energy. He is very active and needs only 4 hours of sleep to keep him going.
Robin Sharma
Read his books and have found them to be a great source of positive thinking and looking at life in a new perspective every time. Loved his book The Greatness Guide. Would love to chat up with him and dwell deeper into understanding the simplicity of life we forget in this fast moving world of ours. A totally philosophical chat, this one would be.
Thomas Hawk This man has a mission – 1 million photos to be uploaded on flickr in his lifetime. He rarely travels without his camera & equipment. He not only has a brilliant photo collection on flickr but also is a photographer rights activist and talks a lot about his processes and experiences at the blog. Thomas is a person who inspires me to shoot more and experiment with angles and Lightroom effects. Will have a discussion on what’s it that he searches for from his viewfinder and hits the shutter to take that awesome shot.
Milind Deora(Who’s he?)
Politics and me don’t fit together very well. A little because I don’t really get the idea and a little because I believe Indian politics is a bit too complicated to comprehend. A luncheon with this young face of Indian politics, would only to be understand his attitude towards the political system. Is he just following his father’s footsteps? Does he see a future for this country different from what the old leaders see it as? Maybe this chat can finally get me interested in politics and it’s workings.
So, who’s that interesting person you would like to have lunch with? Share your thoughts in the comment area.
15th August 2009 – While the rest of the country celebrated 62 years of independence from the Raj, I think a handful of Mumbaikars celebrated the independence to occupy a little space on the streets.
The weekend witnessed The Wall Project. The aim was to get the local artists and enthusiastic citizens to paint a stretch of wall between Mahim and Matunga (a wall running parallel to the railway line).
Saw this ad a while back. And although the creative team has taken the license to exaggerate the product benefit I am not sure if it really fits into our country yet so perfectly.
Can we hope that India will become a cash-less society? A major technology boost is needed before we can proudly flash our cards for every purchase. But hey we are getting there. What do you think?
On 12th July I completed five years of blogging. It’s been a fabulous experience and I thank all my readers for the support you give me to continue sharing my thoughts and experiences. A good time to dig in and see some of the best happenings at Kapil’s Korner.
I think one of the most exciting thing I wrote was the Letter to Farhan after viewing the movie ROCK ON! – it was meant to be a movie review but I sent the link to his production office and I was super thrilled when Farhan wrote back to me.
My attempt to give out some gyaan:
Do a smart allocation of printers in your office and Save Paper
My photography has picked up some momentum and I have been an active member with the Mumbai Weekend Shoot group (see my photos from the shoots). I shot the Ganesh Visarjan and have been giving the photo blog fortnightly updates.
Trying to give some shape to some random thoughts I started writing the Monday Mumble and 5 things I learnt series. Hopefully, you should see more of these in the coming months.
Social media played a very active role in the Mumbai attacks and I put forward my observations – Mumbai Terror Attacks.
If you’ve been a regular reader and have enjoyed the blog, here is a great way to browse the archives – browse by category/month or select keywords at the bottom of the post under Tags.
This is an ad to promote the famous exchange offers which Big Bazaar announces very often. What’s remarkable (and you may have to take a closer look at the image for this) is the fact that this entire music system has been constructed after buying/collecting a big quantity of junk and then assembling the pieces bit by bit. Here are a few pics taken of work-in-progress, which should give you a better idea.
Got a bit nostalgic seeing the rain tipper-tapper on the roof. This season reminds me of the start of a new year in school.
Back from our summer holidays, excited we fight the laziness and manage to attend the first day of school. Only to be disappointed that our the friend is no longer in the same class.
The smell of new text-books, those gleaming freshly sharpened pencils, the absolutely clean pages of the notebooks waiting to have their Chapter 1 written in them. Upset that mummy didn’t buy you a new compass box, while your friends got one from the trip to Singapore/Dubai.
But you never missed an opportunity to show-off the latest ware collected during the vacation. That Sheaffer ink pen your “mamaji†gifted you while at nani’s place. Or that Japanese compass-box which had multiple buttons and was made like a Swiss knife with everything fitted into it.
Visit to the Bata store to pick up your pairs of gum-boots or white canvas shoes which you wish didn’t have to be worn during the rains.
First period of the language was spent writing the season favourite – “How I spent my summer vacationâ€. And of course we had to do this in local languages also.
Got upset when you learn that your favourite teacher was no longer around.
Wondered if this year you would get to share the desk with that cute girl you attempted talking to last year – Or be stuck with the class bully.
And then as days passed, the home-work would increase and the excitement was over, you would sleep every night with the prayer that it may pour all night and school would declare a holiday tomorrow.
Did the new year of school excite you? Do you have a child-hood memory from those days? Would love to hear it, leave your thoughts in the comments area.
Yesterday I read that the Sony Walkman completed 30 years. Got digging into my cupboard to search for the model which my dad had purchased around that time.
Dad says he bought this walkman in April 1979 from Dubai, and supposedly this was the first model to hit the market there. So it’s a proud possession we have with us.
Advertising professional based in Mumbai. Keen interest in creative communication solutions, technology. An avid photographer with recent liking for trance music.
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