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Sunday, November 22, 2009

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Venkatesan Vembu
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Venkatesan 'Venky' Vembu attained his first Fifteen Minutes of Fame in 1984, on the threshold of his career, when paparazzi pictures of him with Maneka Gandhi were splashed in the world media under the mischievous tag 'International Affairs'. But that's a story he's saving up for his memoirs...

Over 20-plus years, Venky worked in The Indian Express, Frontline newsmagazine, and Outlook Money, before joining DNA ahead of its launch. Additionally, he has been published, at various times, in, among other publications, The Times of India, Hindustan Times, Outlook, and Outlook Traveller.

From his current station in Hong Kong, where he is frequently (and quite inexplicably) mistaken for the bumbling movie character Mr Bean, Venky endeavours to convey through his despatches the dramatic changes that are sweeping across the East Asian region and the glacial but steady Asia-ward shift in the geopolitical and economic centre of gravity.

When he is not scrambling to meet manic deadlines for his contributions across the different sections of DNA, Venky overdoses on Zhang Yimou movies - and struggles valiantly with the tonal complexities of the Chinese language.

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Panda therapy to calm nerves

W henever life’s many stresses — induced by cricketing controversies Down Under or political assassinations in the subcontinent — threaten to overwhelm me, I give myself over to a bit of ‘panda therapy’ to calm my nerves.
January 9, 2008

5 things to love about China

Journalists reporting on China are often criticised by Chinese interlocutors for focussing more on the country’s socio-economic and cultural problems than on what’s good about it.
January 2, 2008

No more a carnal Christmas

There was a time, not long ago, when Christmas was for teenagers in Hong Kong what the Navratri was for hormonally driven youngsters in Gujarat: a time for sneaky sex.
December 26, 2007

Mr Bean in Malaysia

For some unfathomable reason, the counter-clerk, a young Malay male, refused to acknowledge my request for batteries, and kept staring at me.
December 12, 2007

‘We’re thankful to India’

Malays and Chinese account for 90 per cent of Malaysia’s population. We are politically insignificant.
December 9, 2007

‘Please don’t meddle’

The India of Gandhi used to stand for self-determination of the people of the land, free from foreign intervention.
December 9, 2007

Any takers for sssnake soup?

From December until March, over a hundred restaurants in Hong Kong serve sizzling hot dishes and soups made of snake, which are a particular favourite with old folks.
December 5, 2007

India’s influence on the global village

I live in a Global Village. By that I mean that in the 20,000-people neighbourhood that I live in, on Lantau Island, are residents representing some 40-50 nationalities.
November 28, 2007

Facebook face-off

The campaign is being conducted not only on the streets but also by leveraging social networking sites such as Facebook.
November 21, 2007

The pimple on China’s back

Hong Kong’s identity as an international financial centre is so overpowering that many other facets of its cultural identity tend to get smothered by it.
November 14, 2007

Koffee with Batman

What do film and TV celebrity Karan Johar and comic-book superhero Batman have in common, other than their star power? Both of them were in Hong Kong.
November 7, 2007

The Richie Rich place

Well, the findings of a recent survey by a wealth-tracking consultancy establish that my olfactory powers are working to perfection.
October 30, 2007

The coiffeured oligarchy

Imagine Sonia Gandhi excusing herself from a Congress (I) election rally on a hot and humid day to do a spot of shopping at M&S.
October 10, 2007
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