Reflections

Another US President visits; and yet again, we go ballistic in our Media interest, in our public adulation and in our analysis! The focus is immediately, yet again, on the visit and its impact, and how it brings the two "natural partners" closer in a friendship, and also how this visit is a landmark visit. Hope is being given that at last, India and the USA are friends, and that there is a convergence of interests... Let us not compare the incomparables. For example, Clinton came 14 years ago under vastly different geopolitical, economic realities on both the Indian as well as the global scenario, and are thus completely incomparable. Not only that, we have had 14 full years to analyse the impact of the Clinton event, whereas the Obama visit is way too fresh for an impartial and complete analyses.   Clinton was a watershed; it marked a near-total reversal in some aspects of American policies towards India, while remaining unchanged on any number of policy fronts, la...

THE ARYAVARTA CHRONICLES : BOOK 3 KURUKSHETRA Written By : Krishna Udayashankar The book says that it is "The Epic As It Was Never Told"; well, it is all of that. This is a book that has churned up everything in The Mahabharat, and made it into a story that  is unbelievable, and incoherent. I rate it 2 stars out of 5, at the most 3 stars; and these are for the writing and the prose, which is top-notch. Credit where credit is due. Not only that, the plot build-up and the entire story is told in a stupendous and taut narrative, literally edge of the seat stuff throughout, and at a frenetic pace. This is the third part of the series, and straight off let me clarify : if you haven't read the first 2 parts, dont come anywhere near this book. It will be a task just to make sense out of it all. In the initial reading, I was so irritated at the lack of clarity that I just up and quit reading this book. Then, I sat for a while after lunch, carefully read...

The War on Terror, and the US-Pakistan leading it, has always been a topic of intense interest and debate in India, for obvious reasons. This is usually considered as one singular situation, when in reality there are two distinct parameters at play. This is a geo-political problem with socio-cultural undertones, with roots deep in the past, going back to before independence. While geopolitical strategies may be new, the mental attitude and societal approach of The West is a function of its history, just as our societal approach is a function of our history. This is an exceedingly complicated multi-layered problem, built on a long legacy of injustice to entire peoples, constant interference in their affairs, wanton bloodshed without reason, and founded on a platform of a culture that the West has no conceptualisation of - the desires, the dreams and self-perceptions, and the past of the Islamic world. This did not happen overnight; it required a series of events over a long perio...

The latest controversy, or discussion topic : Ancient Indian advances, sciences... and the attendant noise around it is giving rise to claims and counter claims of various and sundry theories on either side; which is sad, since this is only taking the attention away from the need of the hour!  There is no conspiracy either way, it is just a cultural backlash that has started, as a new and confident India begins to question the European version of history. This is also strengthened by a politico-religious movement, on which I shall remain silent, given that I do not comment on Religion as a rule. What has happened is that a good number of so-called European facts have been proven wrong; add to this the rise of the Hindu right wing, which has been driven by a repression during British times, when Indian culture was systematically targeted in everything-  religion, music, arts everything. The pendulum is now swinging back the other way; and will settle somewhere in the mid...

DURBAR  BY TAVLEEN SINGH Of all the books I have come across, this one stands apart all by its lonesome, for being the most disturbing, and at the same time being the most intriguing book I have ever read. At one level, it is a superb and must read book, while at another level, it leaves a lot to be desired for. It explores new areas in our contemporary and recent history post independence without being a history book; and gives a narrative that raises hard questions and introduces varying viewpoints, all while giving deep insights, as well as an inside look at Page 3 Society and Delhi's hotshot circles. This is a memoir of the life of Tavleen Singh, focussing on the experience she had during her journalistic career covering political events in New Delhi as well as other parts of India. This is what gives the book a unique flair and attraction, and takes it in a league of its own. Other history books cover history as inanimate packages, and are more analy...

Crude Bombs Recovered From Delhi Bound Gondwana Express BE VIGILANT!  "A bag containing eight crude bombs was found on Sunday inside the Gondwana Express which runs between Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh and Hazrat Nizamuddin station in Delhi, officials said. The bag was brought to the notice of the train ticket examiner by a passenger at around 3 pm, after the train had left Jabalpur" The Dainik Bhaskar is more specific in this news :  गोंडवाना एक्सप्रेस में मिला बम, पुलिस का दावा- बड़े धमाके की थी साजिश "जबलपुर-निजामुद्दीन एक्सप्रेस (22181) की एस-8 बोगी में रविवार रात बम मिलने से सनसनी फैल गई। बम बोगी की 14 नंबर बर्थ के नीचे एक काले रंग के बैग में रखा था। एक यात्री ने लावारिस बैग की सूचना जीआरपी को दी। सिहोरा रोड स्टेशन पर बैग चेक किया गया तो उसमें बम रखा मिला, जो एक मल्टी मीटर से जुड़ा था। " THE LEARNING A Passenger did what no one among us does : checks the luggage around him in the train. Had this person not checked, who knows ...

In the previous article, we took a look at the concept of values from a psychological perspective :  Life's Challenges : Are You Rough, Or Are You Tough? . Let us take a small peek at the definition and concept of the term Values from the perspective of Psychology, taken from the website "psychologytoday" :  One important concept in psychology is values.  Thus, it is important to define values.  What are values?   Values are judgements about how important something is to us.  There may be three basic attributes of values.  First, values are subjective judgments.   Second, we may make a judgement of how important something is relative to something else.  For example, one may judge that helping others is more important that becoming famous.   Third, values may be principles that help us make important personal decisions.  Values are beliefs, and refer to desirable goals that motivate action.  Values serve as standard...

LIFE'S  CHALLENGES  This is a statement that is commonly stated, and is almost a truism nowadays... "Everyone Faces Challenges". While it is true that everyone faces challenges, the fact remains that some people face a far higher degree of challenges that others. Further, there are challenges, and then there are challenges... meaning, not all challenges can be stated to be of the same level of severity.  How can you compare a person who has studied in street lights with one who has had a comfortable privileged upbringing? How do you compare a person who has brought up an entire family of 10+ people alone? I know 2 such people personally. How do you compare a person who has every benefit with one hasnt had that pleasure? How can you compare a person who has not had luck going his or her way with others? {It happens- howsoever much may you deny it. Some people are luckier than others, fact} How can you compare a person who is not as intelligent with one who ...