Month: January 2009

The Need for an Indian National Identity

I have long been an admirer of Rajiv Malhotra, the founder and president of the Infinity Foundation, a non-profit organization based in Princeton, New Jersey. He is an Indian nationalist and is indefatigable in his goal of educating people about the Indic traditions — particularly to Americans and Indians in America. Given his strong Indian nationalism and his love of the Indic traditions, I would not have expected Tehelka to publish one of his opinion pieces. Still, it is good to see Malhotra’s piece in Tehelka, “We, the Nation(s) of India.” One is thankful for small mercies.
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The Truth About Satyam

The capacity for ethical behavior is evidently not correlated with wealth. Too often I have observed poor taxicab drivers, upon being given a generous tip, attempt to return the excess amounts pointing out that perhaps I made a counting error. So it is no surprise to me to come across instances of extremely wealthy people behaving unethically and immorally merely to gain a little (relatively speaking) more wealth.

The evolving story about Satyam and its chairman Mr Ramalinga Raju is more interesting from a human interest point of view than merely from its commercial implications. Lots of very earnest analysis already occupies the minds of an army of commentators, editorial writers, bloggers and talking heads. Much of it is shock that Raju was so bold as to believe that he could get away with it. There is some puzzlement on why the auditors did not catch such a blatant cooking of books.
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Look and feel of this site

Due to circumstances out of our control, we had to change our hosting service. While making that transition, I also made the decision to change the look of this blog. But I not clever enough to on my own fix all the little annoying bits that need fixing with such a transition. I get technical support for my blog from my dear friend and colleague Alok and he is really busy at his real job these last couple of weeks. Soon enough he will be relatively free to help me out. So take this opportunity to speak out and tell me what changes you would like to the look and feel of this site.

Back on the beat

Many of you have noted the fairly long hiatus in the postings on this blog and some have even written and called to find out if I am ok. Glad to report that I am indeed alive and kicking. I apologize for the extended break and I hope to get back on the treadmill without further delay.

So what’s in store for 2009, you may ask. I think I am going to work on a bit of synthesis. For the last few years I have touched upon a wide but interconnected set of issues related to India’s economic growth and development. It is time now to gather those together into a coherent whole and see how the big picture appears.

I hope to make some progress on the work I am doing. What is that, you ask. Well, first of all, I am working on setting up a service that would be of use for those in the educational sector. A great for-profit venture. It is true that I have been talking about it for a couple of years and I have precious little to show for it to date; but that is how it works — you think for a long while and then do. I am a great believer in thinking a lot before acting.

So here goes nothing. Do keep in touch and let’s all have a great new year. Cheers!