tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51048182012-01-26T18:51:59.780ZSensitivity. Nothing irks me as much as a violation of human rights.Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.comBlogger2221100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-47726816306251529102012-01-24T15:18:00.000Z2012-01-24T15:18:38.558Z

The Hindu : Opinion / Editorial : A national shame

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-40369580738904228352012-01-19T21:51:00.000Z2012-01-21T09:53:24.854Z

Should Salman Rushdie be allowed to visit India? Of course not. Rushdie had insulted the Prophet and blasphemed Islam and therefore he has no place in India. Remember we didn’t allow M F Husain to live in his country? But don’t mistake us. We are a people who love freedom of expression. But this freedom should not be construed as a mud that you can keep on slinging at another. As the saying goes,

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-22866391776852326152011-12-01T12:55:00.001Z2011-12-01T14:58:12.418Z

I have had a few counter-arguments to my story on FDI in Retail, through emails and Facebook and they did make reasonable points. I had intended to write another fact-based article but found the following column written by CP Chandrasekar, Professor of Economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University. I thought I'll simply add that link so that you can read the horse's voice. The Retail

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-87198305262945132332011-11-27T23:24:00.006Z2011-11-28T20:32:42.907Z

There’s an old lady who comes carrying a bamboo basket full of spinach to Triplicane streets, calling out ‘keeré’, ‘keeré’ in feeble cry. ‘Keeré’ is Tamil for spinach so the word may be different from where you’re coming from. This lady is 85-year old and has more wrinkles on her than an alligator. She has two sons, one was a watchman in an apartment in upmarket Adyar and the other works for the

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-70988890104726843462011-10-04T19:48:00.003+01:002011-10-04T19:58:07.913+01:00

Whistleblowers have a sort of reputation in our country. They are the new age Neros who play the fiddle after the Rome has burnt down. They pick up personal fights or sign into the payrolls of newer vendetta masters. On the scale of whistleblowers, Sanjeev Bhatt of Gujarat must be carrying the feeblest whistle in the world. It is so weak that we heard the sound only ten years later. Why hadn’t he

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-38583055875386927982011-08-22T20:15:00.002+01:002011-08-22T20:17:34.525+01:00

She will easily be the most hated public figure in India. And she’s not a politician. No, she is not one of those wooden actresses of Bombay. Well, she was not the TV anchor who colluded with the powers-that-be to lobby for cabinet berths. She is just a writer; and also an activist. The only problem with her is she does something which nobody else dares. She speaks for the poorest of the poor, in

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-56460613475704432892011-08-21T16:55:00.002+01:002011-08-22T20:22:16.291+01:00

Often, there are unfavourable means that lead to favourable ends. How upset some of us were when DMK won the Lok Sabha elections, how those of us were huffing and puffing in angst wondering where our country was heading. All’s well that ends well. Before I dwell into that, apologies are due to the direct victims of the DMK ruling, from rich fellows like Aircel’s Shivashankaran to poorest

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-23039330150062639762011-07-04T21:28:00.005+01:002011-07-05T15:07:13.122+01:00

There’s a scene in the famous TV sitcom Friends: Ross, an affable yet mildly goofy character gets into a very embarrassing situation. He has to say something to save his face yet he is shocked and tongue tied. His mind keeps shouting at him to ‘say something’ and after a few very uncomfortable minutes of silence, he opens his mouth, only to utter an even more embarrassing gaffe. His mind

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-66487982491266559042011-06-09T22:35:00.007+01:002011-06-22T07:56:48.978+01:00

I’m not a connoisseur of art. I can call myself an fledgling art-enthusiast, someone who has peripheral but keen interest in art. With that meagre qualification, I can proclaim that I’m a fan of M F Husain. I have a print of one of his horse series paintings. Obviously a print as I can’t afford the original. His focus on the shapes of the objects and playing with colours rather than definitive

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-79919164890326621882011-06-06T23:05:00.004+01:002011-06-07T07:25:16.959+01:00

Dear Mr GandhiHope you are doing well. I wrote you a letter a few weeks ago when an incident occurred that made you feel ashamed of being an Indian. Since people like me knew some bit of history, and we had been ashamed several times in the past, I wrote to appraise you that the incident concerning farmers of Noida was not the first such event. As it turned out, it wouldn’t be the last one either

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-74248571431291000432011-06-02T22:13:00.003+01:002011-06-03T07:44:19.946+01:00

Christian theology has clear definitions for saints and sinners. There are even manual-like guidelines on how one could be categorised as a sinner or, through Vatican's beatification processes, a saint. In the Indian mythological context, however, as with everything else, such definitions are murky. Many things described as sinful were committed by the gods and saints. Likewise, sinners too were

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-2318507353072229252011-05-21T10:48:00.002+01:002011-05-21T10:50:54.748+01:00

Time Magazine’s Top 10 and Top 100 lists have a long tradition. Carefully analysed and collated, they have an international standing today and are eagerly sought by the people of all walks. Weren’t we thrilled when we saw Nayagan on the list of 100 best films? Weren’t we immensely proud when we saw Gandhi topping the 100 most influential people of the century? And felt a tad disappointed when we

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-36586057991533503462011-05-18T08:03:00.003+01:002011-05-18T23:17:26.862+01:00

A Commons’ Committee, investigating on the delay caused in construction, called British Library’s new building ‘one of the ugliest buildings in the world’. Obviously none of the members had ever been to India or else the library would have met some serious contenders. Worse still, if they had seen the new secretariat complex built under the supervision of Karunanidhi, British Library would have

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-49395286819249533132011-05-12T07:51:00.001+01:002011-05-21T10:51:54.981+01:00

Karunanidhi, the present Chief Minister of Tamilnadu is a self-proclaimed atheist. But once in a while, the mask slips and the superstitious, sentimental, god-fearing – as in literally ‘fearing’ – face pops up, only for a brief moment before he notices and adjusts the mask again.In those slippery moments, he prays to god. Since it will be below his dignity to seek unbelieving divinity, he prays

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-3046179747519587792011-05-11T23:41:00.000+01:002011-05-13T21:29:23.674+01:00

Dear Mr GandhiI saw the news today and felt immensely overwhelmed at your proclamation. Speaking to the farmers affected by the land acquisition of the UP government, you commented that you felt ‘ashamed to be an Indian’. I fully understand your anguish. In fact, I stand next to you in sharing your shame and embarrassment of our nationality. As we are standing together in the sweltering Delhi

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-6601801841714775702011-05-04T20:24:00.003+01:002011-05-07T10:20:53.035+01:00

As we woke up on Monday, feeling a little depressed that the next day we would have to get back to work and the ‘royal gift’ of long weekend was almost over, we saw the news that we thought we’d never hear. Osama bin Laden is dead. Once the most dangerous man on Earth, now a frail, ailing, middle-aged man was killed by a small team of US Navy SEALS, who descended on the roof of his residence –

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-65302037601285505662011-02-10T20:36:00.002Z2011-02-10T20:38:39.526Z

What does Indian public react to what is currently happening in India? As an outsider, as in someone living ‘safely’ away from the chaos, I couldn’t believe the brazenness with which the present government is conducting itself. Day after day, scam after scam, one incredulous lies after another, this government that boasted itself headed by the most honest prime minister is crumbling onto itself

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-90658952318589984502010-04-10T09:32:00.004+01:002010-04-10T09:42:04.584+01:00

‘Something went wrong’ was Chidambaram's reaction to the Maoist massacre in Dantewada. The media headlines screamed for about a day and then things went quiet as the media became busier with Sania and Shoaib’s drama. Then the media stirred a bit when Chidambaram announced that he wished to step down, owning up moral responsibility. That is perhaps the only aspect where he differed from his

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-50064700777236464532010-02-15T21:54:00.006Z2010-02-16T13:44:31.461Z

‘If the British left, India will fall back quite rapidly through the centuries into the barbarism and privations of the Middle Ages.’ – Winston Churchill, December 1930 Last week, we came almost close to proving Churchill right. India have an ineluctable habit of frequently pressing the self-destruct button and then, almost miraculously cancelling it in the last minute,

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-92030833760807820412010-01-31T07:21:00.008Z2010-01-31T07:44:15.237Z

I have never heard of the name Yasmin Merchant and had he been conferred with a Padma Shri, I would be wondering whether he deserved it. But he hadn't and he is apparently very disappointed to have missed it. So upset was he that he has written a heart-breaking letter to Rahul Gandhi questioning the methods and modalities of these Padma awards.And then we learn that he is a Billiards champion and

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-50753995654082571632010-01-20T20:35:00.005Z2010-01-20T20:55:31.191Z

’ Never judge a book by its movie’ – JW Eagen'Have you read the book? if not, then shut up!' thundered Vinod Chopra. Nobody knew whether it was sheer impatience or the arrogance of having netted hundreds of crores out of 3 Idiots but it was the wrong move. The media and the public immediately rallied behind Chetan Bhagat who gleefully commented in his blog that after this incident, the world will

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-46082049905401265262010-01-02T09:59:00.009Z2010-01-03T16:39:43.543Z

It's not just the beginning of the New Year but also the beginning of a decade. That's what the media will have us believe. We believe a lot of things the media says so this needn't be an exception. Nevertheless, what could be more phenomenal about a new decade, what is not about a new year or a new month, we don't know except that it gives opportunity for 'status report' crazy western media to

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-42777653472732251612010-01-01T20:42:00.001Z2010-01-01T20:44:05.169Z

Who is the most threatening terrorist?What can the world, especially India and the US learn from Abdulmutallab's attempted bombing of an American flight on Christmas day? The media are speculating whom to blame, how to approach this issue, and the pseudo-seculars must already be planning their defences. Take an example what Time magazine has to say about lessons to be learned: '...There are four

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-3478004950857187902009-12-11T13:21:00.004Z2009-12-11T13:26:18.247Z

The Ayatollah of National CongressEven Indira Gandhi never had it so good: What his daughter-in-law is enjoying is much greater freedom, arguably much bigger power and inarguably with much less responsibility. Just when the Telengana problem is threatening to burst the seams of an already a fragile India, when the central government has shot itself in the foot by caving to the TRS blackmail, and

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-84693404500749361692009-12-08T20:04:00.001Z2009-12-08T20:05:41.275Z

A war for the world‘Don’t increase the troops to Afghanistan; more troops are needed to train the local army and police; don’t set deadlines on withdrawal; troops can’t be there forever; we need a plan; having a date is premature; you can never win a war against the Taliban; Veitnam déjà vu…’Regardless of what you otherwise think about Obama, you can’t help pitying this young president when it

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-35108705880638280142009-11-02T19:59:00.002Z2009-11-02T20:06:33.064Z

Roy and RageTry this. Leave your prejudice about Arundati Roy outside your house for about fifteen minutes. That's how much perhaps it take to read this article. Briefly, just briefly, stop the thought about 'development' and 'India as emerging superpower' crap. A few angry lines:"The real problem is that the flagship of India’s miraculous ‘growth’ story has run aground. It came at a huge social

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-26542665872419872822009-10-10T09:39:00.004+01:002009-10-10T12:35:01.354+01:00

If inaction were peace…He had not brought down the stock of nuclear weapons anywhere. He had not brought an end to any war in the world. He had not successfully negotiated any agreement between Israel and Palestine, Chechenya and Russia, Georgia and Russia, India and Pakistan, Or even between Iraqis and Kurds. Don’t even think about Iran.All Obama did was talk. That too in eloquent, flowery,

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-85777305206373365062009-08-30T17:46:00.007+01:002009-08-31T12:08:18.982+01:00

Akhand Bharat – who ruined it?For a change, and comfortingly, the India media is not debating about some famous actor’s megalomaniac ego being bruised in an American airport, or some spent item girl’s televised dating treasures. For a change, and comfortingly, they are debating furiously about who was responsible for the Partition, about who made the first move. It is heart warming because

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-8681793334648578442009-06-26T23:36:00.006+01:002009-06-27T19:30:34.732+01:00

MichaelAround a decade ago during a casual chat about music, I mentioned to a friend of mine that Jackson defined the eighties. ‘No,’ he replied, ‘He was the eighties.’ Those who had their formative years in the eighties would certainly agree. You are touched by his music regardless of which part of the globe you came from. In our lives, we cherish some First-Time moments that are very special

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-64424139408945796112009-06-25T16:15:00.003+01:002009-06-25T16:22:31.314+01:00

Exam Fever’I have never let my school interfere with my education – Mark Twain’The inexplicable stress and the performance anxiety; the need for doing endless rote of the incomprehensible subjects; the unnatural and inhuman comparison of who in your classroom is better at History and who at doing Math. The impalpable anguish of studying unknown subjects from the books awkwardly edited and poorly

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-82715178587324592512009-06-04T12:26:00.000+01:002009-06-04T12:27:30.388+01:00

President or Philosopher‘There is no greater security challenge in the world today than turning the tide on nuclear-proliferation, and pursuing the goal of nuclear-free world,’ is not a line from some university scholar’s book about nuclear proliferation. ‘A war with no end, a dependence on oil that threatens our future, schools where too many children aren't learning, and families struggling

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-23333373716403162502009-05-31T11:08:00.001+01:002009-05-31T11:10:33.809+01:00

7500, 15000, or 20000? When Bob Dylan wrote ‘How many people will it take till he knows that too many people have died?’ he would not have known how many times this question is going to be raised till we realise it is people we are talking about. Such was the plight last week when UN, Amnesty and the Sri Lankan government fought over the number of civilians died in the final and ultimate battle

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-63924347296946328582009-05-28T13:27:00.004+01:002009-05-28T13:51:31.726+01:00

Team ManmohanAs the new, energetic Manmohan Team takes charge, as the media hails the people’s verdict, shower praises on the prime minister and iconize Rahul Gandhi, it is important to observe the ground realities before we get swept by the avalanche of the buoyant reports.It is not, by any stretch of imagination, the greatest team. With 79 members, it might end up being the largest team, though

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-59943053672063907142009-05-19T11:15:00.003+01:002009-05-28T13:56:29.823+01:00

The broken cyanide chain'It's a tragic incident, that's all' was all Prabhakaran had to say about Rajiv Gandhi's assassination twelve years after he executed it. He, however, didn't have much say about the numerous Tamil leaders whom he ruthlessly eliminated. That’s notwithstanding the hundreds of Indian soldiers, Sinhalese civilians, and thousands of Sri Lankan Tamils who died in these three

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-12726585208156736512009-03-30T16:37:00.002+01:002009-03-30T19:17:17.909+01:00

The party with indifferenceNobody knows whether the speech made by Varun Gandhi in Philibit was real or doctored. But everybody seems to have an opinion on the speech based on which side of the fence they are in. While BJP's stand oscillates from condemnation to vague defence to angry indignation, the media roared by prophesising Armageddon. The torchbearers of secularists such as Rajdeep

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-46668750812304841492009-02-28T13:48:00.003Z2009-03-05T20:57:15.545Z

RahmanIt did not exactly start with the bass pitched rhythm of O…Saya but with the long, rustic humming as a background for the song about a village girl expressing her little mundane desires. When the song hit the town, everyone had sensed that their world has changed. Allah Rakha Rahman, became the musical icon of Reform Boomers, the generation that grew up post economic reforms. He was also

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-11377064496767931782009-01-28T10:46:00.011Z2009-03-05T20:51:20.467Z

Santacruz Millionaires'How many a times must a man turn his head,pretending he just doesn't see?'- Bob Dylan, Blowin' in the windThe controversy generated by Amitabh Bachchan, now reached international media has slightly marred the buoyancy felt by the success of Slumdog Millionaire. The age-old – albiet clichéd – complaint from the mainstream filmmakers that if you glorify poverty in India you

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-6172857352290604492009-01-20T12:39:00.007Z2009-01-20T13:08:58.794Z

To be or not to beWhether it is nobler in the mind to wallow the slings and arrows of outrageous mainstream or to take arms against a sea of mediocrity. May the Bard pardon the liberal bastardisation of his phrase; hopefully he would understand the dilemma that faces the pseudo intellectuals caught on the middle of this river, not knowing which side of the bank to get off at.Two movies, Jodha

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-66727535604000901892008-12-19T17:18:00.003Z2008-12-19T21:41:58.280Z

The shoe missed his face About half of Arab world is gleefully lapping up the video. Even the Talibans, who are against any form of pictorial representation, would be downloading and watching it with relish. Some oil-rich millionaires from Saudi even offered to buy the shoes at astounding prices. Hundreds of Iraqis rallied to demand the release of the journalist, now famed as the 'Shoe Thrower.'

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-64043663799256478662008-12-16T19:51:00.003Z2008-12-17T11:22:35.541Z

The Return of the TADAMayavati of the Uttar Pradesh must be smacking her lips in anticipation. Jayalalitha must already be waiting outside the Parliament like a child gone to a sweet stall with her father. These two leaders have a reason to celebrate. A new anti-terror law is being introduced in the country by the government. After months of obtuse slumber, evasive statements and shallow

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-68606712204999505422008-11-28T10:53:00.002Z2008-12-01T09:26:51.881Z

Thank You MujahideensDear Deccan Mujahideens,I would like to use this occasion to thank you for the services you have rendered to our government and the Indian state. You have conducted what is termed as the ‘most organised’, ‘most lethal’ and ‘highly determined’ terror attack ever on the Indian soil. Some of these adjectives were employed by our own Home Minister so commendations from such high

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-53196500504342412008-11-04T15:38:00.003Z2008-11-04T15:41:47.948Z

The Hindu Rate of WrathThe title for this piece is borrowed from Fracois Gautier’s passionate article in the Outlook magazine. His article is a response to the latest sensation in India about the ‘Hindu’ bomb blast in Malegaon allegedly carried out by Sadhvi Pragya Takur.One of the most prominent pseudo-secular media houses in India CNN IBN smacked its lips when this issue was reported as they

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-38899155205527524792008-10-23T11:32:00.005+01:002008-10-24T09:23:36.110+01:00

The Grand Illusion Called KamalA joke from an eighties stage play goes like this: An aspiring scriptwriter meets a film producer with a script and upon asked to narrate the story, he starts thus: ‘Once upon a time, there were five brothers who had 100 cousin brothers. Both the groups go to a casino to play card game against each other…’In real life, such things are not very funny but make very

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-39525941093813421902008-10-06T21:27:00.007+01:002008-10-07T09:35:11.600+01:00

Two films and a directorMany hailed Chennai – 600 028 as a landmark film. It did extremely well in the box office and created a huge hype for the director Venkat Prabhu’s next outing Saroja. When Saroja hit the theatres a few weeks back, the response was unprecedented and Sify hailed it as 'a new millennium cinema.’Both the films have many things in common that showcase the director’s inclination

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-67776303811992282152008-10-01T16:33:00.004+01:002008-10-01T21:36:55.903+01:00

The Massacre of IdeasPankaj Mishra's essay 'A Massacre Justified By Philanthropy?' is a political essay drenched in western philosophical embellishments. At the onset, it is very difficult to disagree with Mishra about Kashmir and also about the ideological fundamentalism of Indian secular liberals, the phrase that is supposed to confuse most readers. His essay is much worse though as you would

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-56998166264478558932008-09-30T09:50:00.002+01:002008-09-30T09:53:53.742+01:00

Anbumani RamadossRecently Anbumani Ramadoss has commented that it is about time India recognised its gay population. Responding on the grim reality of AIDS in India, he has emphatically spoke in favour of scrapping Section 377 of Indian Penal Code that effectively makes alternative sexuality a crime, and also sympathised with homosexual men and transgender community. Coming from the Union

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-26146076298611858982008-09-16T11:19:00.003+01:002008-09-19T11:43:54.502+01:00

POTA is not the answerWhen India attained Independence, she embraced socialism because it seemed to be the wise thing to do. With capitalist America struggling to emerge out of depression and socialist Europe and Communist Soviet emerging victorious, adopting socialism for a just born country was thought of as a logical step. In the late 80s when the socialist part of Germany broke apart and

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-28073578032881885692008-08-24T07:46:00.004+01:002008-08-24T12:01:29.510+01:00

Taste of their own medicineIn Kerala, on the Kochi-Aluva highway, you can see a dilapidated Apollo Tyres factory. The legend has it that the factory was the first tyre unit in Kerala opened 15 years ago, and within a couple of years, it was closed down due to an agitation by the worker’s union. Till date apparently no resolution had been brought on and – try to believe this – the workers are

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-68205604857897198062008-08-21T12:51:00.003+01:002008-08-23T11:30:57.148+01:00

Whither the War?CNN IBN conducted a panel discussion that explored whether Modi has won the War on Terror. Three distinctly non-related panellists were made to discuss on what seems to be an irreverently biased topic. One of the specifically objectionable aspects was the the term 'War on Terror.' The Indian media and public often insouciantly use terms that are quite irrelevant to the context and

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-43645467374679687382008-08-13T17:01:00.001+01:002008-08-13T17:08:12.766+01:00

Portrait of a governmentHere is a quiz question. If you answer correctly, you get ten bonus points and get to participate in Kaun Banega Crorepati, if this game show is still running that is. Well, here's the question: Who is India's Home Minister? If you have answered it correctly, you can go ahead and call the KBC helpline and that you're certain to get admitted. If not, never mind because

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-62906467239250043872008-07-28T21:54:00.002+01:002008-08-04T12:43:26.941+01:00

SubramaniapuramSubramaniapuram is no ordinary movie. A quick glance at the promotional posters and stills will tell you that. Watching the movie will confirm this more. There are no good-looking characters, mind-boggling stunts, item-songs, ‘punch-dialogues’ or any other regulation Tamil film imperatives. The pace is quite slow even by the standards of art-house Bengali or French movies. It’s

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-14359117336402770822008-07-04T14:43:00.001+01:002008-07-04T14:49:56.172+01:00

The answer lies in the middle Having garnered the Samajwadi Party’s (SP) support, Congress is quite enthusiastic about the prospects of the nuclear deal. Mayavati’s vicious imputation of SP being anti-Muslim is emphatically silenced by Abdul Kalam endorsing the nuclear deal. Now it is official that the deal is going to be activated from India’s side. Unless US Senate or oncoming US elections

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-5590028555893099922008-07-01T11:37:00.003+01:002008-07-02T11:40:27.227+01:00

Demography of communalism… The fire sparked in Amarnath is burning the whole of Jammu & Kashmir. Muslim gangs brought the whole state to a halt in the past week and now it’s the turn of the Hindus. Hindu gods will be terribly upset if we don’t put up an equally good show, if not better. When the Kashmir government tried to allot 40 acres of forest land to Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB)

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-54254025935580502352008-06-17T14:12:00.004+01:002008-06-20T12:02:29.554+01:00

DasavatharamTime: Circa 1981. The first scene of a new movie opens. A music studio is seen where the recording for a song is about to begin. The easels for the violin notes are shown in a row. As the camera pans to each stand, one easel is blank without the notes sheets. That violinist is a blind man. The title card appears: Raaja Paarvai, literally, The Emperor’s Looks.Kamal Hassan, who ventured

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-17306563143104208282008-06-12T09:49:00.010+01:002008-06-20T09:32:39.116+01:00

NukedThe Indo-US Nuclear Deal, which I had so long considered to be the only achievement of the present Congress government, bit the dust yesterday thereby leaving the performance score an absolute zero.In an interview to Financial Times, UK, Ashley Tellis, senior official in the Bush cabinet and the original architect of the deal commented that the 'deal is almost dead.'According to Raja Mohan,

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-67028285680585537172008-06-06T09:12:00.001+01:002008-06-06T09:12:46.112+01:00

Karnataka and AfterSome called it a new leaf in the history book; some alerted the public about the dangerous expansion of Hindutva forces; some attributed it to the decades of constant hard work.Polemics aside, it cannot be denied that newness has entered Karnataka. BJP, the saffron party, the so called Hindutva Brigade has wrested the power in the state with reasonable success.Had the elections

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-90563823303378912532008-05-19T13:44:00.004+01:002008-05-19T16:57:26.386+01:00

To protect what you hate‘We have been called as the land of KAMA SUTRA, then why is it in this land we shy away from its very name? Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder and so does obscenity’‘Ancient art has never been devoid of eroticism where sex worship and graphical representation of the union between man and woman has been a recurring feature.’These were the words of the judges of the

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-38341937154997133532008-04-17T17:16:00.002+01:002008-04-17T17:17:54.633+01:00

The Laughing BuddhaAn unprecedented nature of liberation protest is being staged currently in front of the world media. Tibetans and their supports everywhere are marching through the Olympic Torch routes, disrupting the rally and at times, even attempting to snatch the torch or extinguish the flame. Their demand, a Tibet free from China and under the august leadership of their revered spiritual

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-54124151787658524962008-03-30T15:57:00.003+01:002008-03-30T16:11:21.999+01:00

Iraq, AgainI had written about Iraq before. I’m compelled to write again now because this week, the entire western media is busy observing the fifth anniversary of the war. Understandably, the noise is particularly jarring in the UK. From documentaries to public surveys to special supplements to newspapers, they are everywhere. Since I have been reading some of them and forming opinions, I

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-47648602000159081182008-03-13T17:24:00.010Z2008-04-02T16:33:43.153+01:00

You can’t change even an earthwormI got the belated news that writer Sujatha passed away on Feb 26th. The shock lasted for a long time and sent a feeling of something being snatched away from me. With deep reflection, I realised that it is a part of my childhood.Because, I grew up on Sujatha. To say that I was his fan would be an understatement of ridiculous proportions. I lapped up everything he

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-85185152352702987382008-02-07T21:20:00.000Z2008-02-07T21:26:21.965Z

For a few rupees more Living in the UK helped in understanding a few things about India. Some of them are related to the history of these two nations, colonialism, economy and lifestyle. I intend writing about them in detail later. Apart from certain clarities that emerged out of the cloudy belief system I had, there were some myths about India too. One about India’s economic growth and its rise

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-68852334114151390262007-12-03T18:44:00.001Z2007-12-03T18:58:12.007Z

Oh, TaslimaThis blog, keeping with my track record, comes a week late. Earlier, the e-learning projects exhausted me and prevented me from keeping my blog up to date. Now my assignments are keeping me too busy to do the same.Excuses aside, here I am. This time, taking up the cause of Taslima Nasrin.Here’s an update for the late comers. Tasleem Nasreen is a Bengali writer who started as a poet and

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-52948832534763060292007-10-13T18:55:00.001+01:002008-06-20T09:27:39.936+01:00

123 Agreement and the faces of Indian polity – Part III think I covered the 123 Agreement fairly briefly in the last piece of essay. In this piece, I will deal with the reactions and oppositions and their validity.There are oppositions to this agreement from three corners, from the scientists in India, BJP and chiefly, the left.Let’s deal with the nuclear scientists’ concerns. Many of their

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-87074784770747596732007-10-11T12:11:00.001+01:002008-06-20T09:19:01.417+01:00

123 Agreement and the faces of Indian polity – Part II have been meaning to write about this for quite some time but never managed time. I said time because though I had the good understanding of the behaviour of Indian political community, I wanted to study a few essays by the experts in order understand the technicalities before I convince myself of what I believe.Here’s a primer for those who

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-90582352040193005352007-09-30T19:32:00.001+01:002007-09-30T19:32:12.206+01:00

Do I really care for the Ramar's Bridge?Clearly No. I sincerely respect the moods and sentiments of the people who strongly believe that the bridge was indeed built by Lord Rama. I don't know enough archaeology or history to firmly state that there was a King called Rama who ruled Ayodhya and he waged a battle with Ravana, and built this bridge to transport his battalion. However, I am clearly

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-4968559211542291462007-09-27T19:42:00.001+01:002007-09-28T13:55:15.373+01:00

This monk has sold his FerrariAugust 31st was my last working day in Sify. With that, nearly 15 years of not-so-illustrious career came to an end. I'm leaving to study English in the UK. After a few years of dabbling with various non-IT options, which included a couple of unmentionable short films, I have finally decided that the world cannot function properly without my writing. Not really

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-55663294138700435582007-08-02T07:06:00.000+01:002007-10-02T11:50:38.046+01:00

Harry Potter and the Deathly HallowsReading Harry Potter after a long gap helped a bit. Kind of having a break from the overdose of curses, invisibility cloacks and failed attempts to destroy horcruxes increased the longing. Having ridiculed the Potter-mania before, I’ve unashamedly turned into a fully baptised fan in less than two years and like every other fan, been eagerly awaiting the final

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-85249006114638161232007-07-16T13:07:00.000+01:002007-07-16T13:22:10.656+01:00

The aftermathThe most frustrating debate that’s deafening our ears these days is this: To call them terrorists or not? Are they terrorists or mere criminals? While I wince at the term ‘mere’, I struggle hard to identify and understand why such a noise is being made in the first place. If you are wondering what I’m blabbering about, let me clear the air. I’m so frustrated that I can’t start a blog

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-89518064281446462972007-07-03T13:49:00.001+01:002007-07-03T13:50:05.378+01:00

Sivaji - The BossYou should not ask any questions about Sivaji. If you are wondering how Rajini manages to live through a huge shock or how he manages to issue those threats to the villain, who has immeasurable political clout, you would be wrong. On the best case, it is like wondering how Spidey manages to extract such a long and strong rope out of his wrist. Or how superman carried that Boeing

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-35082735880171768122007-05-31T13:01:00.000+01:002007-05-31T13:16:53.299+01:00

UP and Caste PoliticsThis piece actually was a result of a discussion I had with my wife on the UP election results. I started writing this immediately after the results but it could be completed only now. This delay however helped me understand the post-election analysis and various media reports. So this piece is not what it originally started off with. Nevertheless, here I go.As before, here's

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-41306354965706542602007-04-25T11:56:00.000+01:002007-04-25T12:03:53.964+01:00

BabelCast: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchette, Adriana Barazza, Gael Garcia Bernal, Koji Yakusho, Music: Gustavo Santaolalla, Director: Alejandro, Gonzales InarrituI am usually quite biased when it comes to Latin American directors. With them, there is one thing you are guaranteed with: Uniqueness. You will encounter some newness either in the story or in the presentation. They are often harshly

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-33733425842283622952007-02-25T18:01:00.000Z2007-02-25T18:04:58.844Z

How special are those economic zones? This blog comes three months late. Often I wonder why we take our client deadlines seriously but neglect our personal ones. We are being too harsh on ourselves perhaps. It is an interesting topic on which I shall dwell in detail later. But for now, here I go. This is about Special Economic Zones in India, shortly SEZ.As I often do, here’s debrief for the

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-1169627346629162062007-01-24T07:39:00.000Z2007-01-24T08:29:06.690Z

GuruCast: Abhishek Bacchan, Aishwarya Roy, R. Madhavan, Mithun Chakrabarty, Music: A R Rahman, Direction: Mani RatnamNamratha Joshi, the film critic from Outlook wrote this about Yuva, Ratnam's last movie, 'Yuva is not a good film, it pretends to be a good film'. Thinking about it there is something distinct I noticed while watching Mani Ratnam's Guru. It makes the audience feel that they are

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-1169187556987921452007-01-19T06:18:00.000Z2007-01-24T07:33:25.600Z

SaddamEver since he was hanged, I have been meaning to write about Saddam's execution. But the responses to the execution have been universally banal at best and silly and laughable at worst. Everyone, universally, condemned the hanging, criticised the hastened trial and some, at the height of hyperbole, wanted Bush hanged instead. I thought I would wait a while more to see if there were

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-1166760094783565332006-12-22T04:01:00.000Z2006-12-26T09:21:41.180Z

Small MenThough I have beeen actively following up domestic politics, I haven't found much to write about them in the blog. All seemed unabashedly corrupt and uniformly illiterate. However, the recent developments enraged me so much that I thought I will write about the current regime in Tamil Nadu. This government is a minority in the assembly and is headed by Karunanithi, the famous

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-1165661410535513452006-12-09T10:49:00.000Z2006-12-09T10:50:20.913Z

The question of who is a foreignerShibu Soren got convicted, Sanjay Dutt would go to jail, Ganguly returned to Indian side and oh yeah, henceforth, Shah Rukh Khan would be hosting KBC. In the middle of sensational, crime and the clichéd 24x7 non-stop channel feeds, a very crucial news totally got diminished from the public attention. Especially because we had other juicy aspects in our lives to

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-1165424170351004362006-12-06T16:52:00.000Z2006-12-06T17:07:26.656Z

India UnboundI've just completed the book "India Unbound" by Gurcharan Das. Gurcharan Das studied at Harvard, started his career at Richardson Vicks and went onto head P&G. Retired recently, he is now a consultant to many companies and also to government.India Unbound is about the economic history of India since 1947. To make certain aspects clear, Das goes a bit behind independence to describe

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-1164175299564506692006-11-22T06:01:00.000Z2006-11-22T06:01:39.590Z

Far AwayI miss my wife. I realized this when I spent mindless evening hours in the office on my first Monday without her. Even more harshly when I returned to the dark and empty apartment afterwards.She has gone to states on work and will be away for two months. She has promised, or in her own words, threatened to return within six weeks. I’m hoping that it would be six weeks. It has been more

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-1161868647054472742006-10-26T14:16:00.000+01:002006-10-26T14:26:35.640+01:00

Afzal - To hang or not to hangLast week, one of the most crucial topic debated in the capital was not about farmer's suicide, the nuclear deal with US, or even the SEZs. It was whether to hang Mohd. Afzal Guru or not.For the late comers, Mohd. Afzal Guru has been convicted by Supreme Court to be hanged until death for conspiring the Parliament attack in 2001. The attack killed seven security

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-1159954612601340702006-10-04T10:36:00.000+01:002006-10-13T09:14:03.956+01:00

Massacring MahatmaIt's the flavour of the season to write or talk about Gandhi. In India and elsewhere, every writer worth his salt has to write a piece about Gandhi, what with magazines dedicating cover stories and movies eulogising his principles these days. I, an aspiring one, has also been pushed to the corner to prove that I'm worth my salt. So I have piece of Gandhi now.Unfortunately, many

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-1159349174202810872006-09-27T10:25:00.000+01:002006-09-27T10:26:14.226+01:00

In the line of fire - BrieflyIn his recently launched book and in a televised interview, Pakistan President Musharraf has confessed that he was threatened into coopearating with US on their War on Terror. It was learned that immediately after 9/11, -barely a couple of days after that- Richard Armitage called the Pakistani premier and told him to either be with them or against them. And in the

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-1157172952185895232006-09-02T05:49:00.000+01:002006-09-02T05:57:21.776+01:00

Back to botheringIt's been quite a while since I did anything here. I don't think many missed me. Fact is, I had been incredibly busy and even missing quite a few lunches and breakfasts. Now that there is a proverbial light at the end of the much cliched tunnel, I'm back. Not in the signature Arnold style.This time, I would like to take up something that has been worrying and agitating me

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-1154076774250963852006-07-28T09:51:00.000+01:002006-07-31T10:05:53.266+01:00

Adjective to terrorismEnough has been written about the Mumbai blasts and I do not want to write yet another ceremonial condemnation. This piece is not about the Mumbai blasts. Many muslims are uncomfortable with the term 'Islamic Terrorism'. In this blog itself, I had a visitor who objected to my using this term. Some schools say terrorism has no language, religion or nationality. This school

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-1152815746342683882006-07-13T19:32:00.000+01:002006-07-13T19:35:46.356+01:00

Whither Outsourcing?Few days ago, a colleague sent me a link on how outsourcing has affected Americans, and during our coffee break, lamented that not all is well with outsourcing and many Americans are losing their jobs and suffering. I later went to the site and read through some of those angry outbursts. Before I go into my reaction to this, I want to present some of them.I am ABC customer (

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-1151911020263421682006-07-03T08:13:00.000+01:002006-07-12T10:07:30.936+01:00

War by terrorSri Lankan refugees in Rameshwaram, the coastal village of Tamil NaduIn a recent interview with NDTV, Anton Balasingam, the chief strategist of LTTE, termed the assasination of Rajiv Gandhi as a 'great tragedy' and asked Indian people (read government) to be 'magnonimous' enough to put it aside and move on.He, however, did not mention about Padmanabha, Siri Saba Rathinam,

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-1151510509440696182006-06-28T16:59:00.000+01:002006-06-28T17:04:21.970+01:00

WaterCast John Abraham, Lisa Ray, Seema Biswas, Sarala, Music: Mychael Danna, Direction: Deepa MehtaThis movie, when Deepa Mehta decided to film it in Banaras, created a lot of controversy. The Hindu fundamentalists ransacked the sets, burnt or broke expensive equipment and in turn, successfully stalled the shooting. Later Mehta announced that the project is dropped and thereafter everybody went

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-1149236937776471152006-06-02T09:28:00.000+01:002006-06-02T10:02:13.976+01:00

One bad newsPriya Ranjan Dasmunshi: Minister for Information & BroadcastingCouple of weeks back, the Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Das Munshi decided to view The Da Vinci Code along with a few Christian representatives to decide whether it's fit for Indian public's consumption. Of all, the Censor Board was aghast at this move and the board chairman bitterly remarked it as a '

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-1149166114197280022006-06-01T13:46:00.000+01:002006-06-02T10:11:35.876+01:00

One Good NewsLTTE supremo PrabhakaranAs I'm writing this, the European Union has just banned LTTE and is currently busy freezing their assets and bank accounts. The plan to declare LTTE as a terrorist organisation has been brewing for some time among the EU nations and I've read the news pieces about it a couple of months back. Since then I have been hoping for this to happen. I'm glad they did

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-1148971972236727042006-05-30T07:52:00.000+01:002006-05-30T07:52:52.246+01:00

I just finished reading The Da Vinci Code. Then I went back to read what Roger Ebert had written about it. He says, 'I should read a potboiler like The Da Vinci Code every once in a while, just to remind myself that life is too short to read books like The Da Vinci Code'.

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-1147698447238941062006-05-15T14:06:00.000+01:002006-06-15T09:44:33.636+01:00

KaavyaEver since Kaavya burst into the literary scene and unceremoniously ushered out, a few of my friends have been talking to me about it. As usual, those who missed it, here's the backdrop. Kaavya Viswanathan, 18, a Harvard sophomore, wrote a book called 'How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life'. A typical chick-lit novel became the news when the publisher paid an unheard of

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-1147269635581682132006-05-10T14:59:00.000+01:002006-05-11T09:24:44.740+01:00

We, the irresponsible people The elections are over. The public is quite sad that the month-long entertainment is coming to an end and they are now in the climax. The folks from the film-industry are going to heave a huge sigh of relief. One, those who campaigned for the parties are getting a reprieve and those who refused to be part of this circus and flown off are booking their return tickets.

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-1145685826242562472006-04-22T07:01:00.000+01:002006-04-22T10:23:48.503+01:00

21 GramsCast: Sean Penn, Benecio Del Toro, Naomi Watts and Charlotte Gainsbourg; Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu; Screenplay: Guillermo Arriaga; Music: Gustavo SantaolallaPeople close to me know of my not-so-secret partisan towards Latin American directors. Not just their choice of stories, I even like their camera angles, music or the lack of it, blatant and ugly realism, etc. I mean, they

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-1145276786264363022006-04-17T13:23:00.000+01:002006-06-15T09:44:03.110+01:00

On RahmanMy friend Surendar, being a huge fan of A R Rahman asked me if I could write about him. Hence, this piece is dedicated to him.If you are from Tamil Nadu, when you talk about Rahman, it is also inevitable to talk about Illayaraja. While I detest this comparison, it has become imperative now that we speak of each other in unison. Here I go.Those who came in late, here's the flashback.

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-1144169472184005712006-04-04T17:47:00.000+01:002006-04-04T17:51:12.196+01:00

Followup - On Medha PatkarI'm gladdened to learn that Saifuddin Soz, Minister for Water Resources and Meira Kumar, Minister for Social Justice visited Medha Patkar and persuaded her to end her fast. But Patkar refused claiming that the government should make some 'visible' progress. It is understandable considering how the government has treated Narmada issue in the past. As a followup of this,

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-1144040906360199112006-04-03T06:05:00.000+01:002006-04-03T14:34:30.916+01:00

Do you know this woman?She is Medha Patkar, founder of Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA). If you came late, here's an ultra-quick background: Our government is building an obscenely humungous dam on Narmada and is destroying rainforests, submerging agricultural lands and above all displacing millions of rural and tribal people without a planned or visible rehabilitation programme. This is at a time

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-1143885776445037472006-04-01T10:56:00.000+01:002006-04-01T11:05:28.303+01:00

Anguished EnglishI'm currently reading 'Lost for Words' by John Humphrys. Humphrys' a BBC correspondent who is quite anguished with the way English is being mangled and manipulated. In this book, thankfully, he doesn't come across as a frustrated pedant but a lover of the language expressing his genuine concern.While reading it, I couldn't help recall our own howlers from India. We, like everyone

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-1143548063701533992006-03-28T13:14:00.000+01:002006-03-30T10:09:16.666+01:00

India rising - Part IIChildren at the brink of starvation OrissaHere is another set of arguments I present to explain why I am feeling what I am feeling. I apologize to those who saw me as an hopelessly unpatriotic pessimist through my last post. I'm neither unpatriotic nor a pessimist. But I see some either a pulp patriotism or a devious motive in these claims. Just when we were talking about

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-1143180780816562682006-03-24T06:12:00.000Z2006-03-24T10:39:49.256Z

This is not a sacrifice Madam!Dear Ms. SoniaFirst off, I would like to congratulate on the euphoria you have managed to create on your resignation from the MP and Chairperson of National Advisory Council. You have successfully managed to create this for the second time. Some media houses called it 'springing a surprise', some called it 'sacrifice' and some even drew cartoon with a halo around

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-1142867314269663062006-03-20T15:08:00.000Z2006-03-20T15:19:30.376Z

India Rising - Part IA few people asked me who is Tom Friedman. I wanted to answer that question and when this link was sent to me as junk forward, I thought I will write what is in my mind.There seems to be a general gung-ho about India's economic prospects. Post Bangalore, every wannabe-metro is laying ring roads and building IT-corridors. The beaming NASSCOMM cheif announces that the BPO

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104818.post-1141901945878500482006-03-09T10:58:00.000Z2006-03-09T11:00:52.886Z

Should we sleep with him?Post Iran-vote and the President's visit, the much debated topic among the so-called intellectuals is this: What kind of relationship are we going to have with United States of America? I thank Vinod Mehta for putting this idea in perspective. Because our politicos and policy makers are quite confused as to how to deal with this nation. Thanks to the banal politics of the

Sridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00936215040019859520noreply@blogger.com2