between chit-chat and conversation

S came for a night to London. Over pizza and fish, we talked seamlessly; the Oval fiasco, Malaga tragedy, Islam and terrorism, India's economic boom, our own PhDs, the torture of watching Bollywood films and the joy of Bernal's cinema ..Amores Perros...Mama Tambien..Motorcycle Diaries ..Bad Education..Almodovar attracted us and we sighed that we had not yet seen 'Volver'. I forgot to tell him that Ms Cruz has never looked more stunning than she does in Volver(from posters that I have seen)

We dispaired of the BJP and cursed the Congress...we agreed that India's economic boom could be a farce...issues of governability, distribution of wealth and corruption remained pushed under the carpet. We also cried that all this 'boom' talk concealed absence of any sort of 'renaissance ' in Indian Science research..(why not more of "Boson" and "Chandrashekhar limits"? ), Indian cinema (why not more of Ray..and Ghataks instead of stupid Johars ?) and Indian literature..(why not another Rao and Narayana..if not a Tagore?)..

Talking with an old friend...is like driving a brakeless car..