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Showing posts from January, 2013

The Man, the Words

Who the hell is he? Who the hell on earth really is he? Free at last An ear on his generation Protesting against the pedestal of idolism he created Finding his own voice, writing his own stories Having something to say Writing, singing, thinking That is all he is doing Asking questions not meant for answering That transparent substance Around him Hiding his real you What’s wrong with him today? They are left puzzling Not knowing what who when how why They stood all there, looking him today Searching him today And yet, unchanged stands he Unchanged to they who seek to Change him their way. -           Inspired by Bob Dylan and his story in No Direction Home and the content in it.

Chinta Shivir - The Futility of Durbar Politics

Chanakya had warned in his supposed sutras that rulers should always be wary of sycophants and subservient members of administration. However, what we have seen at the Chinta (not chintan, since there is more worry than thought being discussed in Jaipur) is exactly this very durbari mentality that Tavleen Singh has copyrighted (wish people were intelligent enough to see it). A few candid admissions came from people like Chidam-broom (thank you Mr. R Jagannathan for the wonderful twist) about the Congress' inability to gain absolute majority on its own were refreshing for a change. However, as if on cue, news channels (especially those self styled conscience of nation who are always demanding answers) started discussing whether a certain OBC leader from a state of 6 crore Gujaratis could create deep fault lines in the Indian democracy. This debate got accentuated further by comments from a politician who still fancies Railways his personal fiefdom about 'secular' and &#

Time to Change the Rules of Engagement With Government

As human beings, we bear the ability to reflect on events that went past us. Hindsight is the best vision as they say; however, it is imperative for us to learn important lessons that the past few days, months or even years have on offer for us to learn. The protests over the past few years have shown the emergence of a new urban population that numbers significantly and is spread uniformly across the country. This population, predominantly young, may not be be considered rebellious, even though it is aspirational and angry about the status quo in this country on many fronts. This population is apolitical so far, since no one has appealed to them significantly, or has quickly belied their expectations, as was demonstrated by the fizzling of support for Arvind Kejriwal's disastrous Aam Aadmi Party experiment. This population is however ready to fight it out on the streets for what they perceive are their rightful demands, what they deserve as citizens across this country. This p

A Law in Her Name? How Low Can We Get?

There is something special about Shashi Tharoor and his ability to put his foot in the mouth when it comes to saying all the wrong things, while pretending to be messiah like. Then again, it perhaps stems from his Stephanian legacy which he shares with equally iconic people like Mani Shankar Aiyer, Rahul Gandhi, Sandeep Dikshit, Barkha Dutt and a list that makes me shudder (except Ramchandra Guha). This time around, Mr. Tharoor, Human Resources Development Minister in the Government of India, has said that we should name a law after the victim of the gruesome inhuman act, as a mark of respect to her bravery. I mean, just how low can someone, who has served at the very top levels of international diplomacy, stoop in their thoughts? What has alarmed me even more though is this whole battery of Limousine Liberals for whom it seems a great idea. There could have been no better a sign of intellectual bankruptcy in our 'intelligensia' than the support that some of