Thursday 26 November 2015

Feature writers wanted

After seven years at Forbes India in Network18, I've just moved to The Hindu. I'm part of the team launching the new Bombay edition that comes out for the first time this Saturday.

Part of my brief is to source great feature stories.

My immediate focus is the city of Bombay* and all its myriad facets (though later I will be looking for work from and about other parts of India and the world as well, so bookmark this and come back later if Bambai* isn't your thing). I'm looking for freelance feature writers who know the city intimately and write with skill, passion and insight, who can inform and entertain the intelligent reader. I'm looking for stories about the arts, culture, entertainment, sports, city life, education, business, politics.. anything and everything that makes Mumbai* tick, really. And if it's in some way linked to current events, so much the better.

If you don't know me, please check out my bonafides on LinkedIn, but don't message me there please; I rarely check that godawful site. And then email me (my name at Gmail) links to a few (not more than four) of your best pieces of writing and a reasonably detailed pitch that includes your credentials to do the piece. You could also tweet at me.

* I don't care what you call the city, as long as you don't get uptight about me calling it Bombay, as old friends can.

Thursday 19 November 2015

#SanskariJamesBond titles

a.k.a. [Invented in India] [Invented in India] 7

I set myself the task of doing ALL the Bond films, in order, in one burst on Twitter (where the hashtag mocked the Censor Board's shenanigans with S.P.E.C.T.R.E., so, well, uneven quality, to put it mildly. Please feel free to come up with better versions of the really lame ones.

Daaktar Sahib! Nahin!
From Russia With Dowry
सोने की ऊँगली
ठंडा Balls
You Only Live Ninety-Seven Times
Get Job In Indian Administrative Service
Diamonds Are Suitable Substitute For Scooter
Live And Let Reincarnate
The Man With The Gold Chain On Hairy Chest
The Spy Who Eve-Teased Me
Muckraker
For Your Aai Only
Octo[censored]
A View To A 2BHK
The Art Of Living Daylight Robbery
Licence To Kill Available After Staff Returns From Lunch Break
Kohl In Eye
कल वापस आना
One Paratha Is Not Enough
Dei. Another Dei.
Good Indian Girls Do Not Go To Casino
Sola Ghanta
ASCII Fail
Inispectre