Category: Random Draws

Your turn to say what you will in the comments. You need to be registered to comment but fortunately now you can register yourself within a few seconds.

And here’s a poll. Just for the heck of it.

Worth recalling from that Hindi song:

kaviraj kahey
na yeh taaj rahey
na yeh raaj rahey
na yeh raaj gharana

preet aur preet kay geet rahey
kabhi loot saka na koi yeh khajana

mera naam raju
gharana aanaam
behti hai ganga jahan mera dhaam

Sung by the incomparable Mukesh. Pity that it can’t be translated from the Hindi.

An Air India ad: “If you fly with us, your wife flies free.”

Seen today on a huge billboard on the road from Pune to Mumbai. The generous explanation is that Air India perhaps does not know that everyone does not have a wife; some people actually have husbands. But perhaps Air India is staffed by male chauvinist pigs, just like the rest of Indian society.

{Earlier I typed “fee” instead of “free.” Sorry for the typo.}

Gaurav Srivastava wants Shri Arun Shourie to be the BJP’s candidate for prime minister. He believes that the core constituency of BJP — the urban middle-class voters — are not particularly impressed with Shri Advani.

It would be good if Shourie were the PM. The man is smart, courageous, ethical, and has the national interest at heart. Which is more than you can say about Shri Manmohan Singh. I wish India had good political leadership but if wishes were horses . . .

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.
Continue reading “The Need for an Indian National Identity”

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.

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!