Reflections

This is the fifth article on the cutlure series Video 1:  Video 2:  I have nothing against either performer in the above videos. The above is used as just an example to drive home my point; I could have used any other 2 performers.  My point is simple:  In 30 or 40 years, we have moved from side-heroines or professional exotic dancers performing item numbers, showing skin by wearing hot dresses or 2-pieces in suggestive hot dances - to frontline heroines doing the precise same roles...  remember , the performers above do it as people  watch it and accept it - and appreciate it. The above is a mirror of  society... like it or not.  This is progress?  THIS is progress? Your decision, your call.

Kejriwal's fast against inflated bills enters second day - Hindustan Times This little tit-bit of news is tellingly absent from any other news website as at 6:38 pm today. It can be seen only on Hindustan Times... link above.  For the rest, I had to do a  search... DNA:  Arvind Kejriwal's fast against increased power, water bills enters second day TOI:  Kejriwal's indefinite fast in Delhi indianexpress.com Arvind Kejriwal's fast against inflated bills enters second day More importantly, India has moved on... Corruption? Chaltaa hai.  Bribe? Ok. No problem This precise same attitude can be seen in each and every case that has happened in living memory... AMRI file case. Remember that? What happened afterwards? Were the guilty punished? What steps have been implemented by various state governments and the central government to ensure mandatory fire-safety equipment and procedures in buildings? There has been a...

This is the fourth article in the culture series Disclaimer: I have used Hindu examples, as I am a Hindu myself; I have observed similar nuances in friends from other religions as well. This is in no way meant to hurt anyone's religious feelings I have been vehemently arguing that western mores are making inroads into our society; that the impact of "westernism" (to coin a new term in the Indian context), is a felt and real impact. That much is unfortunately true. But, as always, there are 2 sides to every coin. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, something which applies to just about everything in life. In this article, I take a look at some heartening trends from Modern India that belie the hopeless tone of my previous articles. The objective is to give a balanced view of the Indian cultural scenario.  There is an increasing prevalence and impact of Hollywood movies, western dresses, English complex, Western art, Television, Food, Lifetsyle...

Becoming Indian: The Unfinished Revolution of Culture and Identity Pavan K Varma The author is a member of the Indian Foreign Service, and has served in Moscow, New York, United Nations, London, Cypress. He is at present India's Ambassador to Bhutan As usual, I will start the review with  an excerpt, which should make at least the more discerning reader sit up and take notice; an excerpt that accurately diagnoses the rising tide of fundamentalism that is raising its head even  in Hinduism... Excerpt: Even as the complex and deeply problematic legacies of colonialism continue to shape our world, we are faced with the equally complex effects of globalisation which now appears irreversible. It is imperative, therefore, that those at the receiving end of the often imperceptible project of co-option preserve and reassert their cultural identity. Nations and peoples that do not will be relentlessly homogenised. However, this very process will unleash huge tens...

Won't leave India till asked to leave, says Italian envoy | NDTV.com www.ndtv.com  ›  All India Share 6 days ago – New Delhi: Italian Ambassador to India, Daniele Mancini, has said ... "I will not leave this country till a competent authority makes me a persona non grata," A tell-tale statement by the Italian Envoy... it seems to me from the statement above that the Italian strategy had banked on a tame Indian response, and a declaration of the envoy as a persona non grata, and a few diplomatic noises by India.. followed by normalcy after a period of a few months. An acceptable risk, one would have thought - under normal circumstances But... Circumstances in India are at the moment anything but normal, as anyone with a keen observation should have known - especially considering the nation in question: Italy. This opens up the vista of a very disturbing possibility: that Italy (and by extension Europe as a whole) has little understanding of the internal dy...

The second article on culture... (the below stands true for every Indian Language; I am using Hindi and Marathi since they are the languages I speak) I am a person schooled in 3 languages: English, Hindi and Marathi. My language of choice is English; followed by Marathi and Hindi. Marathi is my mother tongue; but I am furthest from it. I am fluent in Marathi - more than in Hindi, in fact; but it is still my third language, behind the other 2. This post stands despite the above facts, and is in fact borne out of the above. My first tryst with  language was in college, when I studied language groups and the origins of language as a hobby. Thereafter, along the line of a career, my hobbies got lost: Language, Reading, Dramatics, Culture etc... and life just became too fast paced. The initial flame was lit during my sojourn as a visiting faculty of Brand and Advertising Management, when I came in touch with SPIC-MACAY, and began attending cultural dos again - after a gap of...

Disclaimer: this article is not about Hindi; Hindi is not the national language of India. The article is about the preference to English over the regional tongue - even when both the conversationalists are adept at the regional tongue. Further, there is nothing wrong with speaking English; it is a nice language. The point is the superiority attached to English, and the attendant disregard of our culture, which I shall take up in later articles This is the first post in a series of articles on culture wherein I am attempting to understand some fundamental  peculiarities and dichotomies that pervade our  Urban classes behaviour. I freely confess that I myself have been guilty of some of these attitudes that I am criticizing here. I have always been forthright in my writings, and disconcertingly blunt; I have no intention of reigning in my writing style in  the interests of not hurting others - I shall call it like it is, like I see it. One does not instil change in e...

Hyphenated relationship seems a trifle overdone statement; it seems to be a common and everyday term. It is also a term that does not capture the realities of the relationship. Even the most forthright of observers veers round the ugly facts by using this term, and insisting on the India-USA relationship be dehyphenated. What the situation requires is a new term - one that truly represents the ground reality of the India-USA relationship. And I humbly propose "The eternal love triangle". The "eternal" implies no solution in the foreseeable future; and the "love" is purely one-sided: US love for our markets, India's love for day-dreaming of a strategic Indo-US relationship and US love for Pakistan. That, to my mind, is the perfect terminology for the complicated relationship between my lovely India and the USA. And triangle? There are 3 of us. Even geometrically, join the capitals - they make an isosceles triangle, almost. Try it: I just did! ...

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bangalore/Bangalore-researchers-hard-slap-kills-wife/articleshow/18918259.cms " Dharmesh told police that he was watching TV with Mahalakshmi when around 10.30pm, he got a call from his sister who told him about her plan to visit them on Monday for a few days. His wife objected to his sister's visit, leading to a heated exchange between the two. During the argument, Dharmesh slapped Mahalakshmi and she collapsed on the sofa.  On seeing his wife unconscious, Dharmesh panicked and even tried to revive her through mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. He rushed her to St John's Hospital, but it was too late. Dharmesh's mother and couple's 4-year-old son were at home at that time. " Do read through the comment thread on this article. It will be instructive. I hope this is an isolated incident... while I have not seen any man slap his wife, the overall overbearing treatment is an issue... and it is all done as...

Sati... the mere mention of the word conjures images of widows burning on funeral pyres all across ancient and medieval India, right upto 1829 when it was outlawed by the reforming Britishers, and Raja Ram Mohan Roy. The impression it creates is one of a rampant and widespread practice, and one which was virtually unopposed in Society, much like that far greater social evil - casteism as experienced by SC/ST/OBC people during those times. Our education system drills in the name of Raja Ram Mohan Roy as a social reformer, and the British who voluntarily worked to eradicate it. Well, there were decent britishers who did campaign against the practice; it is also undisputed fact that Raja Ram Mohan Roy was a reformer. But that is it; rest all is incomplete history. Surprised? I was too, when I read it. But I have read enough of history to recall references to something like this in my history; and a simple google search completed the rest - and exposed the myth. First of all, 1829 ...

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Risks-remain-on-Sakets-mall-mile/articleshow/18874470.cms? The article above raises some serious concern over the lack of official apathy, and what seems to me to be a total lack of governance. Autos on the fateful Dec 16 route are still refusing to go to Dwarka - and the police is doing nothing about it. The entire Nirbhay incident seems to have been consigned to the dustbin of sad memories - and it is life as usual for everyone including the government and the people. There have been few lessons that have been internalised from this entire sad scenario... The total lack of even the most basic of steps by the New Delhi traffic police : ensuring that Autos do not overcharge, and refuse to go; or that of providing alternative means of transport to the public has been ignored. No meters are used; rules are broken in front of the traffic cops, who apparently do nothing. Rampant overcharging, refusal to take people to out-of-the-way d...

This is my latest quest, after my previous (ongoing) quest to understand Independence and Partition. Reasons for the current status of India are diverse; you cannot pin it down to any one reason alone. There is the historical perspective of colonialism, and the political perspective of poor governance. Both are equally important; both need to be looked at in detail in order that we get close to the reason for India's poverty. This is a recent quest for me; so I freely admit that I may be off-the-mark somewhere; any suggestions are more than welcome.  First, we need to understand one thing: the conventional reasons that are oft-quoted for India's poverty are way off-the-mark and totally inaccurate. By that, I mean poor governance. Poor governance is only partially responsible for the continuing poverty that afflicts India; the core reasons lie elsewhere. More of this is covered in the section on the political perspective.  *************** From my earlier post: ...