Reflections

The Year Of The Golden Ape Colin Forbes It was a toss-up between a movie and 2 books: and frankly, 2 books seemed far more attractive to me. The expense would have been the same; but while the movie would have stretched for only 3 hours, a book can give you pleasure everytime you read it; you dont have to pay again for a re-run! So it was that I picked up " The Terrorist - Juggi Bhasin " from my to-read list. Looking for a second, I could not find any book to pick up; then I saw this one. Intuition kicked in and told me to go for it. And a good decision it was, too - especially after reading RIP, my previous book! The Characters Winter: Perfect name for this character. And I mean character. Describes him perfectly... or does it? Sometimes Winters do surprise, you know LeCat: Again, stereotypical name. Perfect fit - cat. Ugly cat, in fact. No surprises here... Sullivan: Determined, Dogged, Smart, Persistent... Mackay: Tough. Even under duress. Bett...

Credit for this article goes to: India Today February 4th, 2013 cover story: In Search Of A Leader If we carefully scan the national scene today, the most disturbing aspect that comes across is the absence of a leader of calibre with a national footprint, a national following. The old guard is now on the verge of retirement, and the new guard has not yet stepped up into their shoes; this is further exacerbated by the spate of scams and corruption that has enveloped the country. Unfortunately, this is on all sides of the political spectrum, with neither the ruling party nor the opposition escaping the blame of corruption. A mood of the nation poll, conducted 5 times over the past 2 years by India Today, shows a steady increase in the preference for Modi, and a steady decrease for Rahul. This is along expected lines: but the real problem is that neither is someone with a clear mandate and image- unlike Manmohan Singh and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, both of  whom were,...

Rating : 4.5 / 5 This book stands, beyond any shade of doubt, as one of the most dangerous books I have ever read. Confused - especially after reading the rating above? Welcome to the club. Confused is precisely the word that describes my reaction to this diabolically contrived write-up. Half of me - perhaps a little less, perhaps a little more - appreciates the book. The rest of me loathes it for its plot, its story and its setting. I cannot make up my mind...  RIP stands for Resurgent  Indian Patriots - a bunch of retired Army Officers with distinguished service records, led by Colonel Krishna Athawle. This force sets out to rid the country of its biggest scourge: its politicians. This they aim to do by the simple expedient of fear: they threaten to kill one per day - and announce in advance who they target will be. The objective is to create a decent and clean leadership. Now keep in mind that you are talking about a bunch of top commandoes in prime...

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/manmohan-singhs-abject-surrender/article4336869.ece Peace at what cost? I am a pacifist myself... but there is a limit to pacifism. Pacifism, if it leads to further bloodshed in the foreseeable future, is not recommended. Taken to the extreme, one has the WW2 situation, when pacifying Hitler lead to millions of casualties. I am not advocating war; just that successful peace negotiations also require the enemy to have a knowledge that behind the pacifist exterior is a will and strength of iron that can be used. Only then can a negotiation be fruitful. In my opinion, these signals emanating from India are positive; that the world had better take notice that our patience is limited and certainly not infinite! The knowledge of intent combined with the will to implement the intent can actually lead to enemies taking us less for granted! All in all, excellent posturing by the GOI! It is a given that neither nation can afford a war - and I am n...

India, the coming together federal state : Foreign Hand : 'via Blog this' “A state-nation creates a sense of belonging among its people even while simultaneously giving political guarantees for diversity and minorities,” he says. The point is it can still create a loyalty to the Centre which allows it to create a single economic space, push a nationalist foreign policy and all the stuff a nation-state does so well." -  Prof Ashutosh Varshney We are in a time of great change, which is causing angst and uncertainty among us Indians - a feeling which is manifest in any number of indicators. Central among this is the feeling of worry at the prospect of a weak centre  which has been highlighted by many instances, and has led to many people, self included, of worrying and blaming the centre for doing nothing and being weak. For all such Indians, the attached article is a recommended read, as it opens vistas of thought that are simultaneously revolution...

Of late, it has become fashionable to blame India, and Indians for its faults... by fellow Indians! This is a habit among the new generation, as well as among the older citizens of our lovely and diverse nation. That, by itself, is not harmful or indeed even irritating. It is essential that faults be identified and corrected for the overall betterment of everyone. But when this goes hand-in-hand with a denial of our good points, and of a denial to associate our heritage with pride... then it becomes funny and strange. People are quick to point out all the list of areas where we went wrong: Kashmir, Mixed Economy, Corruption, Licence Raj etc etc, conveniently forgetting the real mistakes committed by us - which get hidden in the lovely long terms and powerful place-names above... mistakes like not concentrating on the village economy, on not building up the villages of India, of not building proper infrastructure in both Urban and Rural India, of not building a proper and function...

From The Ruins Of Empire The Revolt Against The West And The Remaking Of Asia Pankaj Mishra The sense of humiliation that burdened... Asians has greatly diminished; The rise of Asia and the assertiveness of the Asian Peoples consummates their revolt against the West that began more than a century ago; it is in many ways the revenge of the East. Yet this success contains an immense intellectual failure, one that has profound ramifications for the world today and the near future. It is simply this: no convincingly universalist response exists today to Western ideas of politics and economy... The war on terror has already blighted the first decade. In retrospect, however, it may seem a prelude to greater and bloodier conflicts over precious resources and commodities that modernising as well as already modern economies need. The hope that fuels the endless economic growth - that billions of consumers in India and China will one day enjoy the lifestyles of Europeans and Am...

It has oft been stated that Empire is a concept whose time has gone; and this has been used to justify that India would have anyway become Independent despite Netaji and Mahatmaji.  Nothing could be farther from the truth; the reality is that no one knows for certain what would have happened. But this is a question that does occur: and is becoming increasingly strident among the younger generation of Indians.  This is a question that I first asked myself in 2009; and since then, I have looked into at least 10 authentic books in my hunt for an answer. This is a hunt that is still on; for I cannot understand one fundamental question: why is it that a people who fought together in 1857 should become so against each other in 1947? There was no answer forthcoming, and no current book answered it, Thus began my search for the truth... and that is what I shall chronicle below. It is a hunt that is still on; I am currently reading From the Ruins Of Empire By Pankaj Mishra; but ...

"Bucher admitted to Gracey, the Pakistan C-in-C, that he had no control over Cariappa but hit upon an intriguing scheme to now stop the advance of his own army. Graffety Smith, British high commissioner in Karachi, reported to London the arrangements reached privately between the commander-in-chiefs of the 2 dominions. General Bucher indicated to General Gracey that he had no wish to pursue an offensive into what is effectively Azad-Kashmir controlled territory i.e. to Mirpur and Poonch sector... the object of these arrangements is to reach a situation in which each side will remain in undisputed military occupation of what are roughly their present positions... An essential part of the process... is that 3 battalions of the Pakistan Army should be deployed opposite the Indian forces at Jhangar, in or around Poonch and at Uri..." This was a tell-tale interlude between the Pakistani Army chief and Indian Army chief in 1947-48. A paragraph that strips naked the Unite...

For once, a technology innovation from The Times Of India that has the potential to catch the market; an application for Mobile Devices that holds tremendous promise... Alive - From The Times Of India Alive is, in simple terms, a mobile app that allows you to scan a logo (Alive Logo) on any image on the newspaper into your Android, or BB or iOS device... and presto! You are auto-connected to Youtube, which opens the relevant video for you. A simple - a very simple thought, but so tremendous in the possibilities it opens up. It takes newspaper reading to an entirely new high; You see a news on a political bigwig on which you would like to actually hear what the person said for yourself - just scan the image - and you are taken directly to his interview.  Or, you would like to see for yourself just how terrible is the snowfall that has covered Kashmir... scan the image, and see for yourself on youtube video!  Or, Sachin has scored a century (he will, he will - he i...

Auto driver threatens TOI reporter with worst violence - The Times of India : 'via Blog this' An experience of a commuter in New Delhi  After  the Nirbhay attack. Will anyone please, please tell me where are the police and the Government of India? An unregistered auto, unresponsive police -  even after the attack  - helplines that do not work, a police that does not help or take things seriously, vehicles running unchecked on the roads without registration and threatening people openly!  And STILL the police - the blotch on the face of our republic - can have the temerity, the audacity, the guts, the unmitigated gall to defend its performance? What the bloody f*** is going on?  " The voice  at the other end gave me another number - 27854799 - and said that the area I was in came under the jurisdiction of the police who would attend to my call."!!!!! Thanks, police forces. Great help. Lifesaver! Ehsaanmand hain aapke! Dhanyavaad....