Dextra Aria

Mumbai - evolution of a muse

editor@ibnlive.com — Mon, 13 May 2013 01:55:43 +0530

Six years ago, as a newcomer to Mumbai, the greatest thrill in discovering the city was spotting places I had already seen in the movies, be it the Hiranandani towers

A pack of cards

editor@ibnlive.com — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 06:05:08 +0530

A recent print commercial by the home loan arm of an Indian multinational highlights why we all buy homes - to build memories, to have a sense of stability. On

Rapists and the men who take them on

editor@ibnlive.com — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 01:43:25 +0530

An NGO has been conducting surveys on the reasons why families in eastern UP and Bihar marry their girls off early. The predominant fear these families had was that if

On death vigil

editor@ibnlive.com — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 03:25:09 +0530

Mumbaikars waited this past week with bated breath, fearing the backlash the death of an ailing octogenarian would cause. And giving them a blow by blow account of the entire

Lonely in the metro

editor@ibnlive.com — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 10:57:39 +0530

She was walking just a few feet ahead of me in the deserted bylane near the Parsi colony across from our colony. Her gait was slow and I could hear

Vasant Dhoble: The cop with the hockey stick

editor@ibnlive.com — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 04:33:32 +0530

On first sight, ACP Vasant Dhoble looks like that observant uncle from your colony who always seems to know anything and everything about the people residing there. The kind that

Mumbai on the death trail

editor@ibnlive.com — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 08:55:07 +0530

Mumbai as a city has various surprises. It is the city of dreams, it is where people come to live the life of their dreams. But it could also be

Anna: What went wrong at MMRDA

editor@ibnlive.com — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 04:52:45 +0530

Things had been looking difficult for Team Anna ever since the Bombay High Court rapped them for demanding a free venue. Many anguished supporters had then questioned why the court

Where to fast?

editor@ibnlive.com — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 09:06:50 +0530

Most of us in Mumbai had hoped for a quiet New Year after an eventful news year. But along came Anna. In the initial days, the confusion was

The Santos & Fernandes families - bravehearts left behind

editor@ibnlive.com — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 11:56:33 +0530

How does one identify grief? Is it the number of cigarettes someone is smoking, the compulsive checking of messages on the phone? Is it the stoic belief in destiny and

Jaitapur - Maharashtra's Singur?

editor@ibnlive.com — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 12:29:09 +0530

Jaitapur has been on the boil for quite some time now. But this week, the agitation finally turned violent. For those of us who have been covering the issue and

'Maar diya jaaye ki chod diya jaaye'?

editor@ibnlive.com — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 07:02:06 +0530

When it comes to Kasab, this is a no brainer you would say. 'Maar diya jaaye.' One of the few terrorists in the world who was caught alive, Ajmal Amir

My 160 sq. ft. on Mumbai

editor@ibnlive.com — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 04:20:56 +0530

Two cents are not of much use in Mumbai. What is really worthwhile is a having a small 160 sq ft apartment for yourself. I happen to be lucky enough

My 160 sq. ft. on Mumbai

editor@ibnlive.com — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 12:40:44 +0530

Two cents are not of much use in Mumbai. What is really worthwhile is a having a small 160 sq ft apartment for yourself. I happen to be lucky enough

Water thicker than blood?

editor@ibnlive.com — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 07:21:28 +0530

Mumbai has been reeling under 15% water cuts that were imposed at the end of monsoons. For a long time residents had been complaining about how they couldnt get water

The storm after a lull

editor@ibnlive.com — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 05:00:37 +0530

November 2008 was a dull month as far as news was concerned. The week starting 24th seemed especially so. I was down with a bleeding infection in my leg, so

The Undead of the BJP

editor@ibnlive.com — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 06:45:59 +0530

If you are in Mumbai right now, you would see lots of posters of the late Pramod Mahajan on the roads. The posters have been put up in context of

The Undead of the BJP

editor@ibnlive.com — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 05:56:33 +0530

If you are in Mumbai right now, you would see lots of posters of the late Pramod Mahajan on the roads. The posters have been put up in context of

Enjoying the kill

editor@ibnlive.com — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 04:16:58 +0530

As a child I had never owned a toy gun or even one of those tanker trucks. The closest I must have come to so called boys' toys was probably

Don't just ask what they did for you

editor@ibnlive.com — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 07:55:49 +0530

Reporting on rains in Mumbai invariably takes you to the banks of the Mithi river. The river/nullah (the jury is still out on what it should be called) is

The 'change' fiasco?!

editor@ibnlive.com — Sat, 02 May 2009 03:34:40 +0530

"Didn't I tell you?" My friend was gloating. It was just a few days ago that he and I had had a discussion on whether Mandate 2009 would be

On a Song

editor@ibnlive.com — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 06:33:47 +0530

Some of my earliest memories of election campaigns are of poster laden autorickshaws plying in my city, with loudspeakers blaring. Just like some of the cheap religious song albums, these

The Slumdog Debate

editor@ibnlive.com — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 06:43:02 +0530

Big B's comments on Slumdog have sparked a debate about the Western media's view of India. The movie actually has everything that symbolises India for the westerners - slums, the

Fire-fighting Mumbai

editor@ibnlive.com — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 06:31:23 +0530

It's not easy to be a fireman in Mumbai. It's a complex city with unpredictable traffic and narrow roads at many places making it difficult for fire tenders to reach

A small incident?

editor@ibnlive.com — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 05:40:04 +0530

"Bade bade shehron mein aisi choti choti baatein hoti rehti hain," said Shah Rukh in DDLJ and endeared himself to the audiences. But yesterday, I was reminded of

Vada Pav politics

editor@ibnlive.com — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 02:11:55 +0530

At the launch of the Shiv Sena's ethnic fast food chain, the Shiv Vada Pav, party spokesperson, Sanjay Raut said matter-of-factly, "I think this is the first of its kind

Houses of cards!

editor@ibnlive.com — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 07:51:41 +0530

Atleast 19000 cessed buildings in Mumbai are just that. Every monsoon nearly a dozen buildings collapse in the island city and over the year around 100 buildings in the city

Cost to the company

editor@ibnlive.com — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 08:14:48 +0530

Chechi, satyam paranchal valare veshamathilanu. Graduation nirthittu jolikku vanatha (Didi, I truly am in deep trouble. I didn't even complete my graduation before I joined here). That was the first

A happy Marx?!

editor@ibnlive.com — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 03:29:53 +0530

When the news of a Noida CEO being lynched trickled in, a colleague remarked, "Marx might be happy to see India today. It's a throwback to the days of mill

The Great Indian Tamasha

editor@ibnlive.com — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 12:40:40 +0530

This is the age of reality television. Any entertainment channel would tell you that. But I am sure during the trust vote these channels have suffered from low TRPs. Thanks

Appadi Podu memories

editor@ibnlive.com — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 11:25:20 +0530

Appadi Podu is an exultation, the words do not have a specific meaning as such, but just like Chak De, Appadi Podu's meaning can take various textures. Or like some

Via Darjeeling and Aarushi

editor@ibnlive.com — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 05:21:33 +0530

Recently read about a new movie Via Darjeeling. The story is about a honeymooner Ankur who disappears in Darjeeling. A couple of years later, the investigating officer discusses the case

Rain, rain go away!

editor@ibnlive.com — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 07:11:07 +0530

"Rain, rain go away, Come again another day, Little Johnnie wants to play, Rain, rain go away." This was a rhyme I had never understood as a child. Who

Redevelopment woes!

editor@ibnlive.com — Mon, 19 May 2008 11:31:35 +0530

She was waiting in the lobby outside the MHADA chief's office. And like most people who wait outside offices of elusive bureaucrats, we struck up a conversation. Savita was here

Feel the pinch!

editor@ibnlive.com — Sat, 03 May 2008 07:01:43 +0530

Visiting the chana wala once a week is a ritual. So there I was last week to have the spicy chana. "Bhaiya paanch rupaye ka banana," I said. He got

So you are a journalist

editor@ibnlive.com — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 09:58:31 +0530

Disclaimer: The following are some real life experiences peppered with some imagination. Every one of my colleagues has faced this question sometime or the other. Its asked with awe,

The making of the (anti) hero: Raj Thackeray

editor@ibnlive.com — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 11:16:11 +0530

It was during my student days in Pune that I first came to know of Raj Thackeray. That was the time when he first started making noises against Uddhav Thackeray.

A Dream called Home

editor@ibnlive.com — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 10:43:54 +0530

"My dear girl, only a tenth of Mumbai's population can actually afford a home," a prominent realtor told me when I was interviewing him for a story on the costliest

Touchy Indians Inc.

editor@ibnlive.com — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 07:35:48 +0530

It was the umpteen call from my editor to cover an umpteenth protest. Frantically he yelled over the phone, "Where are you? What's your plan for today?" And before I

Blame it on EVE

editor@ibnlive.com — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 04:54:00 +0530

There is sin all over? What is the world coming to? The youth is losing their morality. Nothing is good anymore. Why is there so much sin in the world?

Modi and Gujarat - interchangeable?

editor@ibnlive.com — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 09:50:47 +0530

Having lived in Gujarat for 22 years of my life, I am probably more Gujarati than a South Indian. And outsiders' reactions to this state post 2002 never seem to

Doctors' Strike...Greed or Bureaucracy?

editor@ibnlive.com — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 06:26:43 +0530

In 4 days Mumbai has seen two doctor strikes. First it was resident doctors at peripheral hospitals in Mumbai and then it was resident doctors at medical colleges across the

The Fatal Default

editor@ibnlive.com — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 11:11:47 +0530

It was just a few days ago that Prakash Sarvankar's death brought to light the strong arm techniques used by bank recovery agents. It was a case where heavy losses

The Fatal Default

editor@ibnlive.com — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 02:50:15 +0530

It was just a few days ago that Prakash Sarvankar's death brought to light the strong arm techniques used by bank recovery agents. It was a case where heavy losses

Chai Sanju Baba

editor@ibnlive.com — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 08:21:42 +0530

It was a long wait...after a long chase...Sanju Baba was finally out and the media was waiting to get a statement from him. So there we all were, camping

Orkut - To ban or not to ban

editor@ibnlive.com — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 02:11:05 +0530

May your soul rest in peace! Sympathy pours out on the popular social networking site for Adnan Patrawala, the 16-year-old Mumbai boy, who was abducted and later killed by his