03.22.12
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5 reasons why there is something wrong with the protests in Kudankulam Part:1

Ever since a guy named Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi walked on Indian soil, protesting has been the way of life here. While Gandhi protested against the British, we protest against everything. To give you an example, when the Mumbai police recently cracked down on auto guys with tampered meters, THERE WAS A PROTEST AND A STRIKE!

I don’t think there can be a more ridiculous protest than that. Or at least I thought, till the Kudankulam protest came along.

Honestly, I tried really hard to contemplate the reasons for this protest. But the more I think about it, more I feel there is something majorly wrong.

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03.22.12
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5 reasons why there is something wrong with the protests in Kudankulam Part:2

PART I

2. THE WHOLE SHEBANG IS BEING RIGGED

Generally the Prime Minister open his mouth rarely and speaks even less. And whenever he or for that matter, any of his ministers speak, this is how most of us react

And our reactions were more or less similar, when our Prime Minister went back to the 1980’s vintage, ‘Foreign Hand’  theory when he railed against the Kudankulam protest.

This time however, for a change, he made sense.

The story actually begins in 1974. The year in which Indira Gandhi decided, that India needed some nuke bombs.

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02.24.12
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Dr Elattuvalapil Sreedharan…..The Bharat Ratna no one talks about

Dec 31st 2011

India had just lost the boxing day test match, with a day to spare. Star News was deciding who was the ‘Match Ka Mujrim’. Others were wondering when Sachin will finally score that created in the boardroom, 100th hundred. If an alien visited India around that time and switched on the tele, he/she would have thought our world started and ended with cricket.

Pretty sad, considering an event that slipped  completely under our radar.

Dr Elattuvalapil Sreedharan, affectionately called the ‘MetroMan of India’, bid adieu to his 56 year long career of creating 21st century monuments. His exit was a reflection of how he lived; simple, elegant and completely inconspicuous.

Just pause for a moment and think.

56 successive years, in a single job, without a break.

56 Years.

In other words, Dr Sreedharan, worked continuously for a duration, in which an average Indian generally goes from the cradle to his/her grave.

And no one in the media was paying a tribute to this great man. They were not even talking about it. All they had was a silly ticker at the bottom of the screen, that said ‘Dr Sreedharan Retires’. No ten thousand word articles, no special Dr Sreedharan shows, nothing. It was like, it didn’t even happen.

Fundamental question is, Why?

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01.18.12
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Four little things that shaped India: Part 1

History books tell us that only events of tectonic magnitude, like say the Vasco Da Gama journey, shapes the history of the world.

This post is not about events like that.

This post is about some random little incidents from Indian history. Incidents, which are inconspicuous when viewed in isolation. So inconspicuous in fact, that they were eliminated from our History books.

Can’t blame the textbooks though. I mean what is the worst that they could have missed by not mentioning a single arrow, a pencil stroke or a nod of the head?

It is not as if these things influenced our History.


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01.18.12
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Four little things that shaped India: Part 2

Previous

Continued from Part 1

2. Siraj Ud-Daula forgets to bring a tarpaulin sheet to the battle of Plassey. Gives British the gateway to establish their empire.

The 1700’s was an interesting time for India, for that was the time Europeans started realizing the riches that our country had to offer. So, Europeans from all countries, rich or poor, started settlements in the Indian sub-continent to make a quick buck. The Dutch, The French and even the friggin Danes found their way to India. And then the English arrived.

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11.28.11
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The Curious Case of Vijay Mallya and his bailout. And one more scam!

In the middle of an unbelievably hot winter, the excitement of an India-West Indies test series, and the birth of a future eye candy came this shocker of a news.

The airline of good times, owned by the king of good times, Kingfisher Airlines, is..well, crashing. That too pretty fast. Because they can’t pay their pilots, their stewards, their stewardesses and their janitors. Hell, they can’t even pay for their fuel. As a result they can’t fly their planes, which is how they earn the money.

Having said that,  I must admit I was the first person to be sad on hearing this, because I kind of have a soft corner for the airline. For Kingfisher Airlines

1. Was the first to introduce a T.V on an Indian domestic flight and

2. Was single-handedly responsible for increasing the quality of air hostesses in Indian Aviation.

I used to love the TV on board. In fact I used to prefer Kingfisher over the others, sod the cost, for that particular privilege. And to realize that the airline which had given so many fond memories was not going to fly made me very sad. But before I reached for my handkerchief to wipe off my tears, This came on the telly

Vijay Mallya wanted the Indian Government to save his airline.

When Vijay Mallya, the self anointed King Of Good Times, maker of India’s most expensive calender, asks the Government of India to bail him/his airline out it will be the headlines. For, after removing all the marketing gas and gloss, effectively meant the king was

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