Tanashah's Timeline

Commented on own review

Chai chai chai!! Beyond expectation!
Irctc

PS: Actually Mumabi-goa doesn't work since Konkan railway is not allowing online booking except for one train. On that too, they charge a flat rate of INR1500, it doesn't mater where you get on that train or get off! But I guess it will slowly become available for konkan railway. I admire... what the Indian railway has done so far battling all the odds of bureaucracy and babudom! Congratulations and keep it up!Read More

Reviewed Irctc

Chai chai chai!! Beyond expectation!

My word, I was not expecting this to work! I am an NRI and recently my family went for a vacation to India and I had to keep slogging here :-( They were planning some small trips nearby and I though it might be good to avoid aeroplanes especially for short trips like Delhi-Agra or Mumbai-Goa ...Read more

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Reviewed Inheritance of Loss, The - Kiran Desai

Did Anita Desai Ghost-write this??

Here is a conspiracy theory.Anita Desai(and not her daughter Kiran Desai) is the real author!I thought the book was ok. But did it have all the right ingradients to win the booker prize? You bet it did! I found the book so carefully written according to the current norms of acceptance. of bei...Read more

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Commented on sudipto33's review

~ Mammaries: Confessions Of A Contented Voyeur ~
Mammaries of the Welfare State, The - Upmanyu Chaterjee

Good review.. I am quite ignorant about the real wheelings and dealings inside Indian baboodom.. just having heard the usual negative publicity about it.. but would love to read something like this..in the hope of getting a realistic though fictional and thankfully non-serious and sarcastically... funny glimpse into it.Read More

Reviewed Yatra

What's the point?

OK, first of all, I do understand the viewpoint of all those fans of classic, avant-garde and artistic movies. I know they are suckers for such stuff and nothing wrong with that! Everybody has a right to decide how he or she wants to spend two hours of their life. whether by watching a film like...Read more

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Reviewed Calcutta Chromosome, The - Amitav Ghosh

Wonderful but hard to digest, scientifically.

I like to think of this book more as a literary masterpiece rather than a science fiction book. Ghosh, with amazing lucidity creates true to life pictures of New York and British India. The sequence of the ghost train is superb. It is some time since I read the book but I still can remember t...Read more

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Reviewed Travels on my Elephant - Mark Shand

An imperialist's nostalgia

British writers, writing about India are of two types. One are genuine humanists who look at today's India from an objective albeit sometimes sympathetic point of view. Mark Shand falls in the other category- ruminating nostalgically about the Raj, although, the present story is somewhat melodra...Read more

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Commented on karana23's review

.::When love crosses the barriers of life::.
English Teacher, The - R K Narayan

First of all, thanks for taking the time and effort in your writings. Recently I managed to act upon my long cherished thought of reading complete R. K. Narayan! Apart from such classics as Malgudi days and Swami, The English teacher is my favourite. The whole book is written in such artistic but... simple language. I like to contrast it with Rushdie's pompous and boring writing, written for the elitist juries of the award committies!! It is funny that I seem to be the only one among commentators, who has actually read the book! cheers, Tanashah Read More

Commented on venkat_rs's review

Whoa!
Goa

Hi, That was a neat and very useful review. It brought back memories of days when I spent 15 days backpacking in Goa and sleeping on the beaches!!

Reviewed The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown

Interesting theme, Hollywood ending!

This book falls in the so called intelligent thriller category. It is not the typical Irwing Wallace thriller about the usual American bullshit. The central theme, about the unknown (secret??) life of Jesus Christ and it's fictional rewriting buy Vatican touches the central nerve in many young p...Read more

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Reviewed Branded Vs. Assembled Computers

Get an imported laptop!

Hey guys, Why bother with a desktop when you can get a laptop for a few bucks more? Just tell your cousin or friend or whoever it is to bring a new one for you on the next US trip. Yes, you can also keep looking for good deals in the US of A on the internet. Look at sites like Amazon.com, bes...Read more

Like 8

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Reviewed Samsung SGH-X427

It's a great phone (but nothing else)

First of all I should say that I use my cell phone mostly for making and receiving calls. I have not really caught on the wave of SMS messaging, internet on phone and other stuff. If you are like me you will like this phone. It looks sleek, is very very small and fits well in my pant's pocket. B...Read more

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Reviewed Saroj Restaurant - Chembur - Mumbai

Not what it once was...

Saroj Restaurant was once the gem of Chembur. I am talking about the eighties when it was owned by the renowned personality of Chembur Mr. D. K. Marathe. It was the best family restaurant in Chembur and I still fondly remember our family's monthly outings there after the tiring shopping in the a...Read more

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Reviewed Kim - Rudyard Kipling

A tug of war between Kipling's two minds

Some say Kipling was an imperialist. Some say he was an Indophile. I think he was both at the same time. One Kipling was a polished and sophisticated part of the ruling class, the British. Another Kipling was a child, innocent of the artificial divisions of the society, fascinated by the color a...Read more

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Reviewed Life of Pi - Yann Martel

Overrated Hype!

After being exposed to all the hype for some time, I fell to the trap and bought this book. It left me sick at the end with a bad taste in the mouth. First of all, I found Martel's writing style laborious. I struggled to keep the pages turning. His writing about India is what you would expect...Read more

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Reviewed Cologne

A beautiful beer city

Cologne is also called as the city of Churches. On every nook and cranny you will find a monumental church. Some of them are so huge that they will be the talk of the town in any other city. But not in Cologne. All of them are dwarfed by the central cathedral (dom) in the city center. For me the...Read more

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Reviewed Complete Idiot's Guide(R) to Hinduism, The - Linda Johnsen

Good book even for today's ignorant Hindu

First of all this book definitely does what it claims to do and then much more. The misleading title may make you put it down as superficial and suspect it's sincerity. But believe me, it is not an idiotic book. On the other hand it is a superbly written, sometimes even brimming with the nostalg...Read more

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Reviewed New York

New York-in one day!

Here is an itenary for New York city if you have only one day there. 1) If you are arriving by train or bus you will arrive at the Central station/Port authority bus terminal (Lets say by 11AM). If you come by car, park it somewhere near there for the whole day. (Don't try to drive around the...Read more

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Reviewed American Embassy

Mumbai consulate fine, appl. center sucks

I have comments on the visa facilitation service (application center) in Mumbai. It sucks. These guys, who are a private firm, by some hook or crook have managed to get the exclusive rights to fleece hapless visa applicants. In Mumbai at least, you have to apply to them (can't go directly to ...Read more

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Reviewed Geeta Bhavan Restaurant - Akota - Vadodara

Hostelite's day off

This is actually a low budget restaurant, that would pass of as average at best in places like Delhi. But in Punjabi food deficient Baroda this used to be the place we went to when we were tired of the Kadhi and Aloo Sabji in hostel mess. Of course the rates fitted our small pockets well. I u...Read more

Like 10

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