New Rule: Don’t Compare Lions from the Gir with half-bred rodents
Month: February 2013
Narendra Modi’s Fitting Reply on Imported Leaders and Imported Laws
Even a cursory look at the main stream media gives me the impression that Narendra Modi is the cause of immense heartburn among journalists and commentators. These worthies kowtow, scrape and bow, spinelessly genuflect and grovel in the presence of politicians. The rule I use to figure out how corrupt a politician is this: note how low the journalists bend.
But when it comes to Modi, their hackles rise. He’s incorruptible and they don’t bend. They become combative and confrontational. They raise poisoning the well to a fine art with their accusations against Modi. The great thing is how Modi responds to them so effortlessly. The man’s responses are devastating but I am not sure that his interlocutors quite get it. If they had been that smart, they would have known not to poke the lion. Here’s a “for example” for you.
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Kanchan Gupta on “Narendra Modi’s Gujarat Model”
In a hard-hitting piece on NitiCentral.com, Kanchan Gupta responds to a hatchet job that someone called Lyla Bavadam did for Frontline, a sister publication of the misnamed “The Hindu” newspaper.
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Sandeep Takes Rohit Pradhan to the Dhobi Ghat
Must be Spring cleaning time. Because people are being taken to the cleaners. Yesterday I reported that Media Crooks gave an ex-judge of the supreme court of India (how do they select these fellows, I wonder) a dhulai and today I am reporting that Sandeep has stripped Rohit Pradhan at the dhobi ghat.
{For the benefit of those unfamiliar with Hindi, ‘dhulai’ means a wash, and ‘dhobi ghat’ is where the laundry is done. Not only do you get informed about important happenings, but you also get language lessons. What a deal.}
You have to read the entire piece by Sandeep which is titled “Rohit Setalvad Owaisi Pradhan’s Perverse Communalism.” Below I just give you a sense of what it is about.
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MediaCrooks: Spuriousity Killed the Katju
If you have not been reading Media Crooks, you have been missing one of the sanest, most incisive commentator on Indian current affairs you could ever find anywhere — mainstream media, social media, off-line, online, wherever. I am an unabashed admirer of Media Crooks. I am a fan.
Media Crooks sets the gold standard that very few observers are capable of achieving. Take his expert fisking today (link provided below) of Mr Katju, an ex-judge of the supreme court of India who writes a lot of politically motivated stuff and is often in the media spotlight. Katju deserves to be taken to the cleaners and MC does it with aplomb and ruthless precision.
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The Right to be Free & the Duty to Take the Consequences
Mahmood Madani, the general secretary of some Islamic outfit called Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind is reported to have told a private TV channel that some Muslims have voted for Narendra Modi and the BJP in the recent Gujarat state elections. Madani is quoted as saying:
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On Ideas & Ideologies
I mainly criticize ideas and ideologies because ideas fundamentally affect human welfare. Most of the time my focus is on ideologies and not people. That distinction is worth keeping in mind. If ever someone misconstrues my criticism of an ideology with animosity against a group or a person, it reveals at best a reading comprehension problem and at worst guilt associated with a hidden prejudice of the reader against the group I am accused of opposing.
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Saraswati Puja, Kamadeva Puja & Basant Panchami Greetings
Today is Basant Panchami. It is the day for Saraswati Puja and also Kamadeva Puja. Kamadeva is also known as “Atanu” — one without a body.
The Saraswati vandana goes thus:
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It’s Easy to Be Right
Here are a few items that caught my eye. One is an article in the Financial Express by the economist and labor peer Meghnad Desai. The other is a blog post by the incomparable @MediaCrooks.
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Paid Media Picking Up the Puppy’s Droppings
A recent tweet of mine & the associated picture. HT @shivsBHARAT 
Life is a Random Draw 