Category: People

SSRS, AOL, and Devotees

AOL refers not to “America On Line” but rather to “The Art of Living” as taught by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (SSRS, in short).

A simple straight forward piece I wrote some years ago (Is Sri Sri Ravi Shankar a Con Man?) does get a lot of attention. I get emails from people, some of which is the average “I agree with you” type. Then there is the “How dare you even suggest that SSRS is not god almighty himself and that the sun does not shine out of his butt? You are an evil person” type. I would like to share part of one such exchange I had today with one SSRS worshipper (initials “AG”). Continue reading “SSRS, AOL, and Devotees”

The Great White Hope — Our Beloved Leader

The Hindu of 27th May carried a news item ( “Tell all job scheme is Congress brainchild“) which crystallizes the idea of India like nothing else I have come across of late.

It quotes Dr. Singh: “I request that you should carry the message across to people that this right [to employment] has been given to them by Soniaji. This right has been given to them by the Congress party… If you assist in implementing this law in a proper manner, you will be able to lay a strong foundation for creation of goodwill for our party and our beloved leader, Ms. Sonia Gandhi.” [Emphasis mine.] Continue reading “The Great White Hope — Our Beloved Leader”

Vivekanand on Dispassionate Work

Swami Vivekanand’s immortal words have the power to inspire and motivate. He should be required reading for the truly educated Indian. It is sad that too many of our “brothers and sisters” (to use his words) are incapable of reading.

Subhas Reddy, a visitor to this blog, was kind enough to send me some excerpts from this site.

True reformer

“If you wish to be a true reformer, three things are necessary. The first is to feel. Do you really feel for your brothers? Do you really feel that there is so much misery in the world, so much ignorance and superstition? Do you really feel that men are your brothers? Does this idea come into your whole being? Does it run with your blood? Does it tingle in your veins? Does it course through every nerve and filament of your body? Are you full of that idea of sympathy? If you are, that is only the first step.
Continue reading “Vivekanand on Dispassionate Work”

Fragments — 11 (Tom Friedman edition)

Not that I am being lazy, but I think that you should read The Datsun and the Shoe Tree, a “Florid Affairs” column by Thomas L Freetrademan. Continue reading “Fragments — 11 (Tom Friedman edition)”

Flat Out Shocked!

Ron Somers, President, United States-India Business Council, writes a letter to NY Times on March 8th, 2006, titled “Thomas Friedman Is Flat Wrong” in response to the NY Times “Letting India in the Club” (Column by Thomas L. Friedman, March 8, 2006)

The Nuclear Proliferation Treaty (NPT) does not prohibit the sharing of civilian nuclear technology with India, contrary to Thomas Friedman’s insinuation.

Continue reading “Flat Out Shocked!”

The Theatre of the Absurd

As you may have heard, George W Bush is in India briefly and will be in Pakistan as well. I am sure that there is much rejoicing going all around among the movers and shakers in India about how wonderful the visit by an American president is. Lavish dinners and a lot of hoopla can be distracting. Who cares who the person is. We are really interested in what is in it for us. (The “us” is not people of India at large but the movers and shakers.)
Continue reading “The Theatre of the Absurd”

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 India is suffering from and why lead to Nehru, the Nabob of Cluelessness, at some point. I look around the country and marvel at how much damage has been caused by one single individual. It will take centuries to clean up and the cost in terms of lives lived in abject poverty and misery will amount in the billions. According to estimates, fully 700 million people in India are below the poverty line defined by international standards which is approximately less than $2 a day. Nehru and his descendants — both direct (Indira Gandhi and her progeny) and intellectual (the communists) — are responsible.
Continue reading “The Holy Land of Nehru”

Bush and Indian Journalists: Evenly Matched

The most powerful man in the world is an average moron. Considering that average Americans voted him into office — not once but twice — tells you that the average American is a moron. So how does the US economy do so well if the majority are stupid, you may wonder. They do so well because the minority are so bloody bright that they create stuff of such great value that in the aggregate, despite the stupidity of the majority, it is positive.
Continue reading “Bush and Indian Journalists: Evenly Matched”

A Letter from a Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Worshipper

I expressed the idea that Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is not a supreme being endowed with the power of the Almighty God in my article titled “Is Sri Sri Ravi Shankar a Con Man?” I concluded that he is doing very useful work and as evidence I pointed out that he has very large numbers of followers who are willing to pay good deals of money for his guidance. But that rubs his worshippers the wrong way. Fortunately, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is a Hindu and therefore his followers are not in the habit of calling for the murder of those who hurt their feelings. When SSRS’s followers feel slighted by my not considering SSRS god incarnate, they merely write letters protesting my view.
Continue reading “A Letter from a Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Worshipper”

Indian Secularism

It is a tradition, hoary and venerated, of dividing the people of India along myriad dimensions depending on the motives of those doing the dividing. Taking a cue from the British, past masters of the “Divide and Rule” strategy, the Congress party — Neo-colonialists — greedily embraced the D&R for the same purpose. With a vengeance, they classified and tagged people into various castes and creeds.
Continue reading “Indian Secularism”