Golf, not Chess Economic growth in a sense, and to a much larger extent economic development, is more akin to a game of golf than a game of chess. In golf, the opponent’s moves matter very little; you may as… Read More ›
Why is India Poor?
Dr Frankenstein, I presume
The makers of monsters and their fates are inextricably tied, both in fiction and in real life. Dr Frankenstein’s monster. Dr Faustus. Mrs Gandhi, the elder and Sant Bhindranwale. The CIA and Osama bin Laden. The CIA and the Taleban…. Read More ›
India, the Lamb State
Don’t know much about history. Thanks to the government control of education, we are not told inconvenient truths. Fortunately, in this day of free information flow, one is slowly getting wise. I think it is just a matter of time… Read More ›
Thundering Airlines
The mother of all thunderstorms is roaring outside the window as I write this from Kolkata. I got here last night from Pune after a brief stop-over in Mumbai. The sky was ominously dark this morning and now it is… Read More ›
Indian Reservations
George Bernard Shaw with characteristic cynicism noted that a government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. Regardless of their specific stripes, all Indian governments, because they are “democratically” elected, naturally solve the… Read More ›
Fragments – 5
BBC reports that the US has done a U-turn and is not opposed to the Iran-India LNG pipeline through Pakistan. I suppose that the US has finally figured out that the pipeline would make India vulnerable to even more Pakistani… Read More ›
The Holy Land of Nehru
Most regular readers of this blog figure out soon enough that when it comes to the question of India’s ills and its causes, I refer to Jawaharlal Nehru. Like all roads eventually leading to Rome, all my explanations into what… Read More ›
An NRI MP from Andhra Pradesh
Along the lines of my earlier post on new political parties, here is another item from the news related to Indian politics regarding an NRI member of the Indian parliament from the Toronto Star. (Hat tip: Reuben Abraham.) The man,… Read More ›
A Slow Sort of Country
Since moving from the Movabletype platform to the WordPress platform, posts prior to the reform appear all misshapen and ugly. I am fixing then as time and mood permits. Recently worked on a post from over two years ago called… Read More ›
Lee Kuan Yew on India — Part 4
[Continued from Part 3.] Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe, said Abe Lincoln. Astonishing how much profoundly practical wisdom is packaged into that simple declaration. Time spent… Read More ›