Month: August 2009

Politics in India

Hang down your heads in shame, Bee Jay Pee (BJP)

Enter Arun Shourie! He blurts out his dialogue, pointing at Rajnath Singh, “Alice in blunderland…..humpty dumpty”. As he leaves the stage, we can also hear his soliloquy, “you guys, it is my turn to steal the show”. Tomorrow it will be somebody else. Make hay while the sun shines, the television crew seems to say …

Politics in India

CLOSE ON THE HEELS OF JASWANT-JINNAH EPISODE

As expected by some of us and as desired by Mr Jaswant singh, he is getting wide publicity. Politicians, historians and the public, to some extent are sitting glued to the TV to watch the reactions of various leaders. The BJP leaders are busy defending themselves against accusations from Mr Jaswant Singh. Even as the …

Issues in India

Food shortage: Some stop-gap remedies

Monsoon failure in several parts of India has resulted in food shortage. The central government is flooded with demands from certain states to declare several districts drought affected so that the farmers and the poor people could receive some monetary benefits or food items at concessional rates from government-run stores. But very often it is …

Reflections

Linguistic fanaticism in India

One unique thing about India is its immense diversity. The people and their culture, their language, the way of dressing, the food habits and so on differ from state to state. On top of this, there are innumerable castes and almost all the religions of the world. Occasionally, clashes breakout between different castes or between …

Ooty

Tourism in Ooty: the changing phases

Ooty, the queen of hill-stations, is an important tourist destination. But she is no longer the green clad elegant lady on seeing whom you would feel like reciting Marlo’s immortal lines, “was this the face that launched a thousand ships?” On the contrary, the poet in you gives way to the humorist in you and …