Careless Whispers ...

“ Under-developed minds normally create differences. Developed minds create visions and differences disappear ” – Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. I have been following this huge debate on Shantanu’s blog - Satyameva Jayate  for the last week or so - this post is kind of response to the debate on Religion and Politics. The debate initially started off well, discussing FTI  (Freedom Team of India) policies in general but then digressed to the highly emotive Mandir-Masjid / Hindu-Muslim issue, leading to nowhere. Mr. Amar Akbar Anthony (am using a hypothetical name here just to keep the religious affiliation out of the discussion), is a typical common-man in India, God-fearing & self-respecting, always trying to be on the right side, struggling with life to make two ends meet, mostly interested in mundane issues directly affecting his daily life, is genuinely worried and concerned about things like: The rampant corruption around him - from CWG (common wealth games - that does not aff...

Cartoon Courtesy: R K Laxman I just realized that almost every single politician visible on the daily dose of our Mainstream Media is a qualified Lawyer of some kind – criminal, celebrated, experienced, technically (read politically) sound, elite and media savvy, legally correct, knowledgeable (of all the escape routes and legal loopholes and clauses – basic qualification). Normally, it is the Mafia and the Underworld that is known to have “employed” a battery of top notch lawyers not only to take care of all their dirty business and keep them safe and outside the prisons; but also to advise them on property deals, hawala businesses (money laundering), tax havens and investments across the world, criminal laws and procedures etc and finally, to officially and legally represent them in public. Do we see some kind of a similarity building up here? If the answer to this is in positive, which indeed it is, then let us accept the fact that we are simply being run by a Political Mafia. ...

Picture Courtesy - The Hindu At the outset, I admire and appreciate your courage and determination to raise your voice for the poor, weaker and more recently the tribal sections of our population. This immediately qualifies you to a responsible citizen status and upgrades you well above the rest of the Sheep (btw, Shashi Tharoor calls them cattle class). However, I have very serious issues & strong objections with your understanding of the enemy and the root cause to the problems that you are fighting for. This strong difference of opinion lies in your quote from your speech at the just concluded meeting of Federation Against Internal Repression at Chennai – “Capitalism is actually the most totalitarian ideology ever” Your understanding of Capitalism sadly seems to be completely misplaced and quoted out of context. What you actually are referring to is known by many names such as - “Crony-Capitalism” / “Nehruvian-Socialism” / “Socialist-Liberalism” or more simply “Nepotism and...

The reason why I have taken up to write a review of Nero’s Guests is because it needs to be widely circulated, written and talked about, as much as possible; so that everyone gets to see it, those who still do not get the time to watch it, may further need to be motivated to do so, and only then it will reach out to the wider audience and be able to make a real impact. The mainstream media today is totally degenerated and corrupted as it does not cover anything that is not “breaking news” or that is not considered “glamorous” enough to catch eye balls. For this obvious reason, Nero’s Guests has been completely ignored by the mainstream media (both print & electronic) and is not given its due space & visibility. The subject itself is not new to any of us and it has become a part of our daily lives - mere statistics. It is about the severe agrarian crisis that the country is faced with, as a result of which farmers are still committing suicide and as many as 200,000 farmers h...

It was a heart-rending sight indeed on almost all the leading news channels last night. 76 out of total 82 CRPF Jawans were laid to rest inside those Boxes. These 76 CRPF Jawans gave away their precious lives to the nation, fighting Maoist insurgency in the jungles of Chattisgarh. They leave behind dependent family members, widows with small children, who will now face the brunt of it all for the rest of their lives. An old man who had not even recovered from the loss of his son in this horrific incident was already talking about sending his next son to fight for the same cause. The injured hospitalized Jawans who were fortunate to survive the attack, talked about going and fighting back. With Moist, not Maoist, eyes I thought - This is the India and a true Indian spirit one would die to live for. The question remains – Is it all worth it? So very unfortunate but the number of casualties and this incident will simply go down on record as mere statistics, in the files and offices of o...