tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51700492012-01-29T17:20:46.647+05:30Collection of my thotsKarthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.comBlogger1711100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-53432826942046609932010-01-24T01:57:00.002+05:302010-01-24T02:02:48.491+05:30

Allegations on ATSC vindicatedI had blogged about possible skeletons in KSCA's cupboard earlier. Now, UK govt has finally arrested the Managing Director of ATSC. The charges against him? Simple, that his instrument cannot detect bombs! What is surprising is that he could avoid arrest for so long and keep selling his fraud instruments.

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-6041936162542153512009-10-21T19:46:00.004+05:302009-10-21T20:31:37.041+05:30

KSCA's explosive "detection device" exposedLast week, while a Champions League match was about to begin, an explosive device detection equipment went-off, triggering an alarm, and subsequently a controversy over the perceived targetting of Kashmiris.In the middle of the uproar over the "targetting" of the Kasmiri cricketer, another interesting aspect is been forgotten. It is the effectiveness of

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-79394657650961880662008-03-12T03:57:00.000+05:302008-03-12T04:07:06.197+05:30

Is it ethical to make make your child deaf?A very thought-provoking article in today's Independent on the right of a deaf couple to have a deaf child throgh IVF treatment. I'm astounded by this question: Can a deaf couple decide that they want the child to be deaf? Have we not been told since ages that deafness is a disability? If, as the couple argues, it is on the same lines as been mentally

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-23412452872423996602007-05-31T18:45:00.001+05:302007-06-01T10:09:13.052+05:30

The Hindu and itz anti-Hindu biasI guess anybody who has some interest in Indian MSM will know that The Hindu is a paper that is left-leaning and biased towards the left's version of secularism (which Advani has superbly called as pseudo-secularism). If you delve a bit deep into the psyche of these people, you will also notice that they also support anything that can divide the Hindu society - be

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-7117705857491042362007-03-24T13:54:00.000+05:302007-03-24T14:06:20.102+05:30

Let Team India beI guess the intensity of reactions after India's exit from the World Cup is quite easily predictable. However, I feel that we need not really create such a ruckus over what is finally just a sport. Okay, have passion for the game....even I do. I watched the complete match yesterday (okay, almost the complete match.....I slept after the 8th wicket fell!), and I do watch most of

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-29853822888990270962007-03-22T16:26:00.000+05:302007-03-22T16:50:18.895+05:30

Adieu InzyOne of the best batsman coming from Pakistan who I have seen - and I have not seen Zaheer Abbas play - Inzy has played his last one-day innings.Watch the farewell given to him yesterday.There is nothing so unequal as the equal treatment of unequals.-Ken Blanchard

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-88543893810020914982007-03-20T22:27:00.000+05:302007-03-20T22:57:57.510+05:30

Obituary: Iqbal SaabIqbal Saab - a very active person in various online music communities - died this morning of an heart attack. Since the time I have heard the news through the SKS/SJ music groups, I'm not able to reconcile myself to this news :-(This is the tribute Naresh Khattar paid to Iqbal Saab while doing the hard job of breaking the news to the SKS community.He was still in his 50s, and

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-38060142839830581092007-03-19T22:51:00.000+05:302007-03-20T00:54:24.970+05:30

Rein in the sport broadcasters!Anybody watching the cricket World Cup on SetMax will agree on the unnecessary hurry consistently shown by the Sony folks in cutting out the game to show the ads. I agree that Sony has paid ICC a huge amount to grab the rights to telecast the World Cup, but that is no reason to take the fun out of viewing the game to the aficionados. After the last ball of an over

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-65982805894017495832007-03-14T18:11:00.000+05:302007-03-14T18:42:31.948+05:30

No English for Pakis!Bravo Pakistan! The Pak Cricket Board has asked their players to not speak in English in news conferences. I feel this is a right decision...although I feel itz unfortunate it should have come as a mandate. I see no reason why one should be apologetic about his poor English language skills.Itz a fact that one of the reasons Indians (or South Asians in general) come across as

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1171306423626336272007-02-12T23:58:00.000+05:302007-02-13T00:23:43.640+05:30

Duckworth-Lewis under scannerAfter I got over the disbelief of England's 2-0 win over Australia in the finals, what got me interested was the declared margin of England's win. As per the D/L formula, England was declared victors by a margin of 34 runs. Now, letz look at the context. England bats first, makes 246 in 50 overs. Aus chases and when rain curtails play, had made 152 runs in 27 overs

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1164883921521164082006-11-30T14:49:00.000+05:302006-11-30T16:22:47.786+05:30

Does God desert you?Happened to read this interesting paragraph from the Yogoda Satsanga Society's quaterly magazine:The Lord does test His devotees, those who love Him - not for their harm but that they may grow stronger spiritually, that they may perfect their love for Him. In the life of Saint Teresa of Avila, we read that the numerous obstacles and difficulties she encountered while trying to

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1161844789672272602006-10-26T12:09:00.000+05:302006-10-26T14:05:33.693+05:30

It again happened, again in IndiaThis time we were planning to go to Bijapur. This was in August and around the same time, northern Karnataka, especially the Bijapur and Raichur districts were flooded because of heavy discharge of water from the Koyna Dam in Maharashtra. Concerned about the flood situation that we may have to tackle, I put a post in my company's bulletin board asking anybody from

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1161843214542574122006-10-26T11:41:00.000+05:302006-10-26T11:43:34.556+05:30

Sonia gets back at GeorgeThis must rate as one of the most unkindest cut of all, since probably Indira Gandhi's emergency times. The witchhunt intended by the Congress Govt is very obvious in the George Fernandes case. The article by Vishweshwara Bhat in the Kannada daily Vijaya Karnataka on Oct 19 is very appropriate. Bhat wonders how a man who virtually has no personal wealth and doesnt even

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1161842477099443962006-10-26T11:19:00.000+05:302006-10-26T11:31:17.113+05:30

Why Muslims can't leave in harmonyWatch this interview of a Muslim "scholar" if you want to understand why Muslims cause trouble wherever they have to co-exist with people from other communities. Itz rascals like this who spread hatred among communities. With this attitude, can one have any hopes of Muslims living in harmony with other communities? One may argue that not all Muslims would agree

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1161062404056536952006-10-17T09:19:00.000+05:302006-10-19T12:08:42.566+05:30

Mysore: Metropole v/s Lalit Mahal PalaceHad been to Mysore last weekend. This time got a chance to explore the two great dining places in Mysore, the Metropole and Lailt Mahal Palace.Metropole is housed in a building that has a colonial aura and was used as a guest house during the British period. It is currently in lease to Royal Orchid group, who own the Tiger Trail chain of hotels. The

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1159986459129063642006-10-04T23:48:00.000+05:302006-12-13T16:01:25.166+05:30

My trip to North KarnatakaPlaces: Bijapur, Koodala Sangama, Banashankari, Badami, Pattadakal, AiholeWell, it was in August'05. I know it was long back, but the procrastinator that I am, never got to move my lazy bums and fingers to blog about this. Lemme start now!Aug-15 being Independence Day, we got a 4-day weekend by taking Aug-13 off. Visiting northern parts of Karnataka was a long cherished

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1159166994373926032006-09-25T12:19:00.000+05:302006-09-25T12:19:54.450+05:30

Chidambaram's speech on Infy turning 25I must rate this is one of the best speeches I have read from Chidambaram. Read the full text of the speech at rediff. Inspiring, contemplative and concise! I remember an interview of Chidambaram (probably by Karan Thapar, probably on BBC's Hard Talk India) where he mentioned about his tryst with Communism, and he mentioned that he "pities a person who was

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1158231235220305492006-09-14T15:16:00.000+05:302006-09-14T16:25:28.873+05:30

I meet my online communityYesterday, we had a small meeting of the members of the shankarjaikishan yahoo group. This is the first time I'm meeting members from an online community who I had not never seen personally before. Itz interesting how you make a mental picture of the people by reading their mailz and when you actually see them in person, you are in for a surprise! As for the

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1153081183451413492006-07-17T01:37:00.001+05:302006-07-17T01:49:43.463+05:30

Mumbai blasts and significanceDid anyone realize that the Mumbai blasts occured on the Guru Poornima Day? Itz surprising to see that when the blasts occured the media was trying to find all kinds of significance of the date the terrorists decided to strike....7/11, elections in POK, serial blasts in Srinagar, et al, but no one remembered what should have been a festival celebrated across India

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1153080448052831632006-07-17T01:08:00.000+05:302006-07-17T01:37:28.106+05:30

Mumbai blasts and the Law of KarmaI'm currently reading the book Aghora: At the left hand of God. This is of course the first in the series of three books that Robert Svoboda wrote on his Aghori Guru. There was this striking paragraph in the section on Aghoris in which Swami Vimalananda says: Do you have any idea how many murders occur every minute on the face of the globe. How many raes, how

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1151870879398781302006-07-03T01:05:00.000+05:302006-07-03T01:40:03.480+05:30

Perfect weekend?If you are a Indian sports lover, you would have cherished this weekend, what with action across sports as diverse as soccer to cricket to chess!Cricket: Eng-SL - What a match! If England thought they finally have managed to pull one through after making 321, Jayasuriya had other plans. SL made 324 in - hold your breath - 37.3 overs!Tennis: Wimbledon - Agassi plays his swansong

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1151737008257240262006-07-01T12:26:00.000+05:302006-07-03T14:26:29.410+05:30

Code in Kannada!Students of SJCE, Mysore - with the help of Banavasi Balaga - have come up with a unique idea that has won a prize from Red Hat. Linux in Kannada! This can be a path-breaking initiative. One of the reasons a lot of bright minds of rural India do not do well professionally well is because of lack of good grasp of English language. People with otherwise good analytical skills get

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1150699146287284712006-06-19T12:00:00.000+05:302006-06-19T12:09:06.296+05:30

"Girls Gone Wild" as relief material?Well, that has to be some kind of relief to victims of Katrina! Just goes on to show that the theory Everybody loves a good flood can very well be extrapolated to all societies and all types of disasters :-(People are always ready to admit a man's ability after he gets there.- Bob Edwards

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1148483336367612962006-05-24T20:38:00.000+05:302006-05-24T20:38:56.446+05:30

The Caesarean racketHappened to read news item on the perils of Caesarean during delivery. Although the study is not India-specific, the warning is very much relevant. In India it has become a big time racket forcing women to have caesarean for delivering the baby. As per this Hindu article, WHO estimates that not more than 15% of births should be due to caesarean. However, in cities like

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1148153851500315902006-05-20T18:11:00.000+05:302006-05-21T01:11:56.636+05:30

It happens only in IndiaI had blogged earlier about my trip to Arunachal Pradesh. Now, this incident happened when I was on my way back from Arunachal Pradesh. I boarded the taxi (shared with 10 other people!) at Dirang on my way to Tezpur. All the passengers were probably feeling sleepy, or were anxious of spending the complete night in the cramped taxi, and there was complete silence in the

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1148116197043747902006-05-20T14:39:00.001+05:302006-05-20T14:39:57.153+05:30

Munnabhai's of PatnaI was watching on TV the pro-reservation protests at Patna. The protestors looked outright hooligans! I wonder if they were actual students or local rowdies who just decided to do their communities a favor. More surprising was the muted and probably fabricated version provided by the NDTV reporter who was attacked by the protestors. While all other channels and newspapers have

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1148108365997204972006-05-20T12:29:00.000+05:302006-05-20T12:29:26.056+05:30

Caste reform in TNAmidst all the heated debates and agitations on reservations, Karunanidhi has brought in a significant reform by permitting people from all castes to become priests in Hindu temples. It is unfortunate that it has taken us more than half a century after Independence to have such a reform. And amidst all the sound-bytes and pages allocated to discuss the merits or otherwise of

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1147600861267749772006-05-14T14:58:00.000+05:302006-05-14T15:31:16.893+05:30

Rajkumar's death and the aftermathThere has been lot of discussion around how Bangalore reacted after the death of the legendary Kannada actor Dr.Rajkumar last month. Considering that Bangalore has a large population of non-localites, any discussion of this issue will tend to be heated. I was in Mangalore the day Dr.Raj died and could not come to Bangalore the next day because all the buses were

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1147550631188283492006-05-14T01:33:00.000+05:302006-05-14T01:33:51.250+05:30

Solving the reservation puzzleA safe thumb rule is that if politicians of all parties say they agree on some thing, then that must be in their self-interest and in the interests of their vote banks. As a corollary, it would be against the interest of the society.Itz very difficult to see how India can come out of the reservation imbroglio that the Congress has wrought on it. The vote bank

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1147104733668909122006-05-08T21:15:00.000+05:302006-05-08T21:42:55.546+05:30

Banaglore's ACP Krishnamurthy in a soup?Have a look at this new blog to have taken Bangalore by storm. This ACP Krishnamurthy looks like a habitual offender. I guess a search by the LokAyukta may discover goldmine that this scoundrel will be sitting on!Be not afraid of anything. You will do marvellous work.-Swami Vivekananda

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1146504609707872122006-05-01T23:00:00.000+05:302006-05-01T23:00:09.706+05:30

Bravo Modi!Narendra Modi deserves kudos for making sure the demolition drive goes on in Baroda irrespective of the protests from the Muslim community. From what I could see on TV, the dargah was right into the street and it was inevitable that it be demolished.However, to make sure that this does not come across as a confrontationist attitude, Modi should now talk to the Muslim community (and not

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1146504113653130352006-05-01T22:51:00.000+05:302006-05-01T22:51:53.720+05:30

Whatz Aamir upto?While Aamir Khan's support to the NBA took some people by surprise, I guess the reaction thereafter must have taken Aamir himself by surprise! Not only was his movie Rang De Basanti forcibly removed by protesters from some theatres in Gujarat, now he is also been scrutinized for his endorsement of Coke! I guess interesting times are ahead!You have to go from the inside out. None

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1144080837463715372006-04-03T21:22:00.000+05:302006-04-03T21:43:57.476+05:30

The crime, the criminal, the victim, the justiceSo, Sunil More has been convicted in real quick time by our otherwise snail-paced judiciary. Although it is good that the trial was finished in good time, we should not miss out on the fact that there are thousands of other rape cases that are taking "its due course" - the Bhanwari Devi case been the most heart-wrenching. Today NDTV 24x7 had itz

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1143455702020958402006-03-27T15:57:00.000+05:302006-03-27T21:26:28.966+05:30

Divorce in sleep!Sounds funny....eh? Strange, but true! I'm pretty sure Islamic laws are not so foolish and it probably has been misinterpreted in this case. However, the point that intrigues me here is that the cleric had the gumption to proclaim that the lady has to " spend a night with another man and be divorced by him in turn" before they can get together. Even if any Islamic law says so, do

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1143272546792502352006-03-25T12:53:00.000+05:302006-05-08T21:14:24.786+05:30

My trip to Arunachal PradeshManjula akka and Praveen bhava had alwayz asked us to visit them at Arunachal Pradesh. So, when I decided to go with friends to Kolkata to attend my engineering classmate Deborshi Dutt's marriage, I took this opprtunity to visit Arunachal Pradesh. Any mention of the north-eastern part of India sounds exotic for the simple reason it is hardly explored, hardly visited

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1143216210745467312006-03-24T21:09:00.000+05:302006-03-24T21:33:30.760+05:30

We, and our leadersYesterday'z uncivilized behaviour by Karnataka MLAs just shows the nadir politics has reached today :-( To get the real depth of the scenes in the assembly, you need to read the report in today'z Vijaya Karnataka. One of the hounourable MLAs, one Mr.Puttaraju representing Pandavapura even called another MLA Vatal Nagarj suLe maga and boLi maga (bastard, for those who dont know

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1143048040977316882006-03-22T21:38:00.000+05:302006-03-22T22:50:41.056+05:30

Ananthamurthy: Will he or wont he get elected?An interesting situation has arised in Karnataka with Jnanapith award winner UR Ananthamurthy entering the race for the Rajya Sabha elections contesting against Rajeev Chandrashekhar, ex-CEO of the BPL group. While Ananthamurthy is trying to play the Kannada flag, and backmailing people who vote against him that they will be branded anti-Kannada, his

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1142779588856922262006-03-19T18:46:00.000+05:302006-03-22T21:37:01.140+05:30

My trip to KeralaKerala is known as God's Own Country. Itz become India's most prefered and visited tourist destination (ok, probably after the Taj Mahal), and although the place is without doubt gifted with some astounding natural beauty, the Keralites have also made a conscious attempt to boost tourism, something not often seen in India. So, when my project-mate Renju was getting married in

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1142774174108675862006-03-19T18:43:00.000+05:302006-03-19T18:46:14.116+05:30

Coming soon....!!!My trip to Arunachal PradeshMy trek at MunnarMy visit to Prabodhini VidyalayaIf you want to be spiritual, you must renounce.-Swami Vivekananda

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1136613027960229992006-01-07T11:20:00.001+05:302006-01-07T11:20:27.976+05:30

Way to go, Kiwis!Indian cricket board must be wondering how on earth their NZ counterparts had the gumption to drop Nathan Astle, arguably NZ's best one day player, immediately after his match-winning innings. Here in India, Ganguly was not supposed to be dropped after he made two labourious innings of 30s in each innings! Of course, the stakes are different. Ganguly had every Bannerjee,

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1136610735972751352006-01-07T10:42:00.000+05:302006-01-07T10:42:16.013+05:30

Huge, but still not breakable!The largest known prime number has just become larger...by just more than a million digits! If itz mind boggling to visualize a 9.1 million digit number, itz all the more exciting to know that the gigantic number cannot be divided by any other number! Itz just beyond my comprehension....How awesome can be nature be! Of course, I'm no good at maths, and as I alwayz

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1133791000320934812005-12-05T18:54:00.000+05:302005-12-05T19:26:40.360+05:30

Responsibility of MSMItz now the turn of Vijaya Karnataka to get a guest editor, a la TOI. They had the Deputy CM of Karnataka - MP Prakash - on Dec 4 as their guest editor.This reminded me of TOI having NRN has their guest editor about a week back. One of the striking appeals of NRN was to have only "positive news" on the front page of the newspaper that day.Contrast this with what Vijaya

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1132851016088389712005-11-24T22:20:00.000+05:302005-12-05T18:52:12.173+05:30

Another whistleblower is blown offIndia has taken the sacrifice of another bright son of her. Manunath's death, if anything, will make our youngster's more cynical in working for their ideals, that is if Satyendra Dubey's murder has not already driven them away from it. BTW, it was surprising to see that Indian MSM has given more prominence to the killing of Raman Kutty in Afghanistan than to the

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1132849536514420372005-11-24T21:55:00.000+05:302005-11-24T21:55:36.553+05:30

How free is free? Itz interesting how easily people advocate the concept of freedom of speech when they need to support the likes of Khushboo. I dont know what exactly Khushboo said, and in what context. However, that aside, does freedom of speech mean complete and uninhabited freedom? Will the same principle hold good if tomorrow somebody condones sati, or for that matter child sodomy?

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1132584662189028112005-11-21T19:58:00.000+05:302005-11-24T08:21:29.716+05:30

Remixing time???Let me begin this blog with a confession, at the cost of sounding old fashioned - I hate remixes. I'm appalled by the sheer numbers by which remixed albums are been churned out. However, even with with an anti-remix bias, two recent remixes that I happened to hear/see over the weekend still have me in awe. Now, whoever can think of remixing a class song like Yaara Silli Silli - a

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1132432422676388232005-11-20T01:38:00.000+05:302005-11-20T02:21:58.346+05:30

Back in blogosphereItz been a long long time since I rocked and rolled, and I blogged! Well, the hibernation was induced by a combo of various factor - frequent connectivity disruptions, personal issues taking more time, etc. But I did not miss any of the fantastic activity that was happening in the Indian blogosphere last month when Indian bloggers took on IIPM. The complete coverage can be had

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1122131140137966172005-07-23T19:23:00.000+05:302005-07-23T20:35:40.143+05:30

Communist's JV with Ramakrishna Mission!One more reason why Buddhadeb Bhattacharya rocks! His Govt has roped in Ramakrishna Mission to implement the SSNP, the Social Safety Net Programme that Govts implement to rehabilitate retrenched PSU workers.Mr.Bhattacharya is one non-conforming CM. And West Bengal needed someone like him to cleanup itz image! He had the gumption to admit past mistakes of

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1121881595786213612005-07-20T23:16:00.000+05:302005-07-20T23:16:35.840+05:30

Child dies in road accident; parents end life Came across this ghastly news of mother and father committing suicide after their child had an accident. What a heart rending news :-( I was torn between been touched by the parent's loving attachment towards their child (earlier they had two other kids who too died), the enormity of tragedy in the whole incident and a feeling of pity for the

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1121703879757600202005-07-18T21:54:00.000+05:302005-07-18T21:54:39.796+05:30

Defending the indefensible - II Found it interesting that of the 5 Letters to the editor in The Hindu today condemning the proetsts against Salman Khan's new film, 4 were written by Muslims! Quite a disproportionate ratio this one! We only get what we deserve. It is a lie when we say, the world is bad and we are good. It can never be so. -Swami Vivekananda

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1121527279771674182005-07-16T20:51:00.000+05:302005-07-16T20:53:36.686+05:30

Left exposed againToday's Indian Express has one of the most well-written columns by Sekhar Gupta, exposing the Left's hue and cry in the last couple of weeks. Couple of months back, I was reading Hitler's autobiography Mein Kampf. In it, Hitler says about the Jews: "I didn't know what to be more amazed at: the agility of their tongues or their virtuosity at lying." I'm no racist or anti-semitic,

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1121449494809534482005-07-15T23:14:00.000+05:302005-07-15T23:14:54.866+05:30

Defending the indefensible I do not understand whatz wrong with these Muslim intellectuals in that they cannot accept the fact that Islamic terrorism is a reality. Even the more liberal among them try to make a fool of themselves by questioning Blair menntioning that the London bombings were handiwork of Muslims on the day of the bombing itself, and now questioning the credentials of the Ayodhya

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1121279204281395702005-07-13T23:56:00.000+05:302005-07-13T23:56:44.360+05:30

To veg, or not to veg? I subscribe to the PETA e-news mailing list. Though I'm not a great fan of their no-holds-barred and Page 3 type approach to the issue, one must agree that PETA has done a lot to create awareness about vegetarianism, and also expose the cruelty of large restaurant chains and in their supply chain. Happened to see this video of the way chickens are treated in KFC's supply

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1121187649251227922005-07-12T22:30:00.000+05:302005-07-12T22:30:49.323+05:30

Bulleh! Ki jaana mein kaun? One of the best Indi pop albums in a long time is Rabbi Shergill's album Bulla ki jaanna. The title song is a great tribute to a great Sufi saint, Bulleh Shah. Click here for a translation of the great song. In the book Aghora II: Kundalini, Swami Vimalananda mentions of a beautiful incident. Bulleh Shah was used to keeping a count of his prayers using a rosary.

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1121102107019995592005-07-11T22:45:00.000+05:302005-07-11T22:45:07.060+05:30

The royal Tiger and the mundane tribals I was wondering why the Bishnoi Samaj took part in the case against the rascal Pataudi. This tells you why! Itz so sad that the nature awareness thatz visible among these tribals is not known to Pataudi, who is from a royal family and also is the grand-son-in-law of the great GuruDeva Rabindranath Tagore :-( Never mind failures; they are quite natural,

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1120820783324007822005-07-08T16:36:00.000+05:302005-07-08T16:36:23.386+05:30

Whatz in the disputed site? The terrorist attack on the Ram temple at Ayodhya has brought back the focus on the age-old dispute. What I found interesting was the reluctance of the media in calling the temple so.....they prefer calling it the "disputed site". Even Saeed Naqvi refuses to call it a temple, but has no qualms in calling the old structure a masjid. Well, there was no namaaz in the old

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1120731904400175902005-07-07T15:20:00.000+05:302005-07-07T15:57:05.623+05:30

Comrades and their hypocrisyI once had argument with a friend on the hypocrisy of the Indian communists in criticizing the Vajpayee Govt for the Pokhran nuclear blasts but silent when China tested a nuclear weapon later. His argument was that the Indian communist leaders need not comment on foreign policies. Aha….but how about their comments on every bit of air exhaled by the Israelis! As it

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1115354628634671002005-05-06T10:13:00.000+05:302005-05-06T10:13:48.743+05:30

Begining of the end of the Kanchi drama? Just as the Kanchi Shankaracharya's arrest that stunned the nation was getting sidelined in due course, comes the TN High Court's ruling that the Goondas Act on the "accused" was applied "mechanically, without application of mind". I remember my father's comments when the Goondas Act was applied on Sri Sundaresan Iyer that itz ridiculous to call a 70+

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1114977686026659042005-05-02T01:31:00.000+05:302005-05-02T01:31:26.026+05:30

Tibetans and vegetarianism I had mused in one of my previous blogs on the Dalai Lama's non-vegetarian lifestyle. The Dalai Lama has his own excuses for eating meat, however unconvincing they are! I came across what came closest as a reason why so many Tibetans are non-vegetarians. In the book Aghora II: Kundalini, Swami Vimalananda mentions that the mantra "OM MANI PADME HUM" chanted by the

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1114964355013013282005-05-01T21:49:00.000+05:302005-05-01T21:49:15.013+05:30

Secular mourning in secular India The secular Indian govt run by the secular Congress party and supported by the ultra-secular Left wasted no time in declaring a 3-day state mourning in India to mourn the death of Pope John Paul. It of course is a different matter that the Christian US, although run by an ultra-conservative Republican, did not need a state mourning. The hurry with which the Govt

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1114931845223975682005-05-01T12:47:00.000+05:302005-05-01T12:47:25.223+05:30

Lalu and his kulhars As soon as he took over as the Railway Minister in the Manmohan Singh Govt, the alwayz-in-news Mr.Lalu decided that Railways will start serving in clay pots (kulhar, in Hindi) instead of plastic cups. And of course, media initially went ga-ga over the "environmentally friendly" measure. It took a Maneka Gandhi to put the idea in true perspective. As it turns out, the policy

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1111600240226732612005-03-23T23:20:00.000+05:302005-03-23T23:20:40.226+05:30

Why Modi was discriminated? A good article in rediff on why US decision to deny Modi visa is blatantly hyporitical. Another article in rediff adds to this. One thing I like about rediff is that they allow both the points of view! BTW, does anyone know what happened to Varsha Bhosle, one of the most fire-brand commentators in rediff???!!! You should work like a master and not as a slave; work

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1111507807326911612005-03-22T21:40:00.000+05:302005-03-22T21:40:07.326+05:30

Bush, Modi and visa Mr. David Mulford, the Amabassador of world's policeman has given very lucid reasons why a visa was denied to Narendra Modi. While all this is fine, I wonder if the same reasons can be held against Mr. George W Bush's visit to India later in the year? Can Mr. Bush be held responsible for the crimes inflicted by US soldiers in Iraqi prisons? Also, as one reader pointed out in

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1110112851610115972005-03-06T17:43:00.000+05:302005-03-06T18:10:51.613+05:30

Freaky moviesWatched the movie Freaky Chakra yesterday on StarOne. The movie left me wondering if the only reason why ppl make movies like this is to make a off-beat movie. The movie was very badly made, with no attention to details, and one can very much describe the whole movie in may be 2-3 lines. It is probably in to make off-beat movies, but one hopes such attempts are serious rather than an

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1109964527795412102005-03-05T00:58:00.000+05:302005-03-05T00:58:47.796+05:30

The pinkos in our media Not sure first used the term to refer to the pseudo-intellectual journos in India, but Varsha Bhosle used the term quite often! After reading this article one realises why these buggers deserve to be called pinkos. Also Swapan Dasgupta's term - fundamental secularists - suits them most apt. Rajeev Dhawan writes what can at best be called a guilt's last ditch attempt to

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1109830535772421912005-03-03T11:45:00.000+05:302005-03-03T11:45:35.773+05:30

Sonia shows her true colors The Jharkhand Governor's decision to invite UPA to form govt must be one of the most partisan acts a governor has done in the history of India. Move over Mr.Romesh Bhandari and Mr.Motilal Vohra. Here comes Mr.Syed Sibtey Razi. Either Mr. Razi is an absolute dumbo-crawler, or he has a very good sense of humor to invite Shibu Soren within 2 hrs of he just providing him

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1108316595895619972005-02-13T22:08:00.000+05:302005-02-13T23:13:15.896+05:30

Cultural colonialismI watched the movie Black yesterday. That makes it 3 movies in 3 weekends for me!!! - Page 3, Rshi and Black. Black, of course, is a master-piece. With this, SLB probably has wiped out his sins for making the likes of Devdas ;-)This was also the first film I watched at the PVR Cinemas in the Forum. What caught my attention was that once u enter the theater the limitation on

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1107767161350986152005-02-07T11:52:00.000+05:302005-02-07T14:36:01.350+05:30

What ails Kannada film industry??? Watched the Kannada film Rshi this weekend. First of all, they had pronounced it wrong in Kannada itself....itz nor rishi, it should be rshi. Anywayz, one of friends had come back from US, and we thought letz watch a Kannada movie with him. In the end, he could not make it (the regular flow of visitors immediately after you come back after a long stay abroad!).

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1107636661141519112005-02-06T02:02:00.000+05:302005-02-06T02:21:01.143+05:30

A tale of two arrests While the Shankaracharya controversy is still alive, there is this incident of the arrest of a Muslim priest in Bihar that brought the whole town to a standstill. Itz a sad commentary on the Hindu society that we cannot protest enuff to get a Shankaracharya released and Muslims can not just get a local priest released, but also the judge gets so threatened that he asks for

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1107635496414701872005-02-06T02:01:00.000+05:302005-02-06T02:01:36.413+05:30

First world and religious fanaticism And one thought religious fanaticism is a phenomenon in Islamic countries! In this article, NYT paints a different picture. Even VHP has not oppsed the teaching of Darwin's theory in Indian schools! You live and learn. At any rate, you live. - Douglas Adams

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1107318563352514602005-02-02T09:59:00.000+05:302005-02-02T09:59:23.353+05:30

HN, a true Gandhian The death of HN takes a true Gandhian away from our midst. H Narasimhaiah was a true Gandhian, not just in teachings but also in thoughts and action. I remember one incident about 10 years back when HN was appointed for some Govt post and it involved all the regular emoluments like rent, telephone charges, etc. HN refused all this since he continued staying in the National

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1106555031133805542005-01-24T13:53:00.000+05:302005-01-24T13:53:51.133+05:30

He came, he duped, he went The Benny Hinn Show is finally over. The rascal was not just allowed by the Dharam Singh govt to openly dupe people, but the CM and his favorite supporter - HD Deve Gowda - themselves attended the show to witness the miracle. If the govt desires to ban Praveen Togadia on grounds that his speeches would hurt the sentiments of the minorities and may lead to public

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1106413014818959322005-01-22T22:26:00.000+05:302005-01-22T22:26:54.816+05:30

Celebrities and Rnanubandas The death of Parveen Babi should serve as a reminder for ppl as to how to lead their life. A person from a royal family died with nobody around her, and nobody realised that she has died for 2 dayz :-( What a way to die. Not that she lived any better. People who have recieved so much from the society must make it a point to give back to the society. Esp the starts -

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1106408136787377342005-01-22T21:05:00.000+05:302005-01-22T21:05:36.786+05:30

An eye for an eye Two incidents in the last 2 weeks vindicated the "eye for an eye will make the world blind" theory. The response of Israel to a Hamas attack after the election of Mahmud Abbas, and the response from India to the breaking of ceasfire from the Pakistani side - Pakistan insists itz not their army - is a real study in contrast. The sanity with which India responded should teach the

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1106071910995920702005-01-18T23:41:00.000+05:302005-01-18T23:41:50.996+05:30

Definitely disgraceful So the Lalu appointed Bannerjee has come up with an interim report. The report has said what everybody had had expected....tone Lalu's line. As pointed out in this IE report, Mr. Bannerjee needed just 3 visits to Godhra and one public hearing in Delhi to arrive at its interim report! Arun Jaitley's reaction that the report is disgraceful is very apt. What will happen to Mr

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1105816923890797022005-01-16T00:52:00.000+05:302005-01-16T00:52:03.890+05:30

The modern day Maharajas In the book "Freedom at midnight", the authors talk of the lavish lifestiles that the Maharahas lead, and how the sufferings of the common man did not diminish a bit. If you think those days are now over, read Amitav Ghosh's series in Hindu. I liked this series for one more reason - in the first part, he has written very revealingly on the loss of identity of the

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1105815744813839472005-01-16T00:32:00.000+05:302005-01-16T00:32:24.813+05:30

Maran: Man on a mission I considered Murasoli Maran as one of the better ministers India had. His handling of the WTO negotiations was commended by one and all. He was the glue holding the DMK with the NDA. His early demise was a huge blow to the country, not just because it lost a dynamic person, but also because it meant DMK severing ties with the NDA, that was one of the main reasons for

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1105504414064850192005-01-12T10:03:00.000+05:302005-01-12T10:03:34.063+05:30

Now, US RJs get abusive on outsourcing One of the popular morning talk shows in east coast of US - Star and Buc Wild - tried to do a parody on outsourcing calls to India, but eneded up with mud on their face. Although the radio has pulled out the audio clip from itz website, thanx to the blogosphere, there are mirrors everywhere now! One blogger has even put out the transcipts of the call on his

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1105381120639495652005-01-10T23:28:00.001+05:302005-01-16T11:06:48.470+05:30

And now, Disaster Tourism! Last weekend I met a friend of mine, who was just back from the US of A. We were chatting, and invariably the conversation turned into the tsunami disaster. My friend immediately said that he had just visited Nagapattinam, and "it was good"!!! For a minute there was silence and then he realised what he just said...and of course corrected himself immediately. But it was

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1105124589343385162005-01-07T23:23:00.000+05:302005-01-08T00:33:09.343+05:30

Just jumped! Just before I left for US in Dec'02, we - a group of Infoscions - had planned to take the bungee jump organised at the Bangalore Palace Grounds. That plan did not materialize for some reasons. And for some funny reason, I cud not take a bungee jump during my stay in the US. So when in mid-Dec this time Xtreme Zone organized for the bungee in the Palace Grounds, I wud not miss it at

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1104861969171517282005-01-04T23:36:00.000+05:302005-01-04T23:36:09.170+05:30

Society going to the bitches? A very thought provoking article in The Hindu on what the Delhi MMS incident means to the society. Undoubtedly the sense of righteousness in the society today is going down and going down at an alarming rate. The popularity of TV, esp the movie-related channels, the availability of easy porn on the internet and the blind aping of western culture are the main

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1104255915732013042004-12-28T23:15:00.000+05:302004-12-28T23:15:15.733+05:30

The Brahmana activist A Brahmana Sammelana just got over in B'lore. These conferences have now become nothing more than a political show of strength by the leaders. While fighting for the rights of the community cannot be condemned, what one should expect from the Brahmana samaja is an intellectual brainstroming session. If the Brahmana samaja wants to showcase that itz different from other

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1104232177543249902004-12-28T16:39:00.000+05:302004-12-28T16:39:37.543+05:30

The final humiliation This article in rediff talks of how Sonia and her cronies refused to cremate PVN in Delhi. Fie on them....it shows their petty mindedness that they were trying to insult not just a defeated and weak person, but now the person was dead too :-( Is it surprising that these same ppl r now bent on detoxifying education, fixing Advani in the Ayodhya case, fixing George Fernandes

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1103801119864745982004-12-23T16:55:00.000+05:302004-12-23T16:55:19.863+05:30

PVN is no more :-( The death of PVN removes a great statesman and scholar from among our midst. I wud rate him as the saviour of India - not just for initiating the economic reforms in 1991 - but also ensuring that the likes of Arjun Singh did not gain power after Rajiv Gandhi's assassination. He has done a great favor to the country by getting somebody like Manmohan Singh as the Finance

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1103393870210736342004-12-18T23:47:00.000+05:302004-12-18T23:47:50.210+05:30

Arrests, arrests everywhere While arresting the IIT student for selling porn online is understandable, and in fact the police must be commended for showcasing deftness, arresting the chief of Bazee seems to be heights of foolishness. It diverts, not just the police resources, but also the public interest, from the main case. It also brings another questions: can the police (or the Govt as the

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1103257438193520212004-12-17T09:29:00.001+05:302004-12-17T09:53:58.193+05:30

India v/s England If one wanted to know why India is still a under-developed country where progress seems to be an endangered species, two incidents this week showcased why. In UK, Home Secretary David Blunkett quit after a lot of pressure and noise, just because an e-mail emerged showing a visa application for his ex-lover's nanny had been fast-tracked. Remember, no rules broke, no threat to

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1103257385683956052004-12-17T09:29:00.000+05:302004-12-17T09:53:05.683+05:30

India v/s England If one wanted to know why India is still a under-developed country where progress seems to be an endangered species, two incidents this week showcased why. In UK, Home Secretary David Blunkett quit after a lot of pressure and noise, just because an e-mail emerged showing a visa application for his ex-lover's nanny had been fast-tracked. Remember, no rules broke, no threat to

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1102583460762419562004-12-09T14:41:00.000+05:302004-12-09T14:41:00.763+05:30

Bangalore Crumbling! Indian Express has come out with a series the pathetic state of Bangalore. After I returned from US, I had heard ppl saying that Karnataka is missing out on good governance since this coalition govt took office. However, now it looks like there is hardly any governance in the state since SMKrishna was thrown out. Just like I alwayz held for Bihar, probably the Karnataka ppl

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1102308592917096072004-12-06T10:19:00.000+05:302004-12-06T10:19:52.916+05:30

Remo speaks out!!! Pop singer Remo Fernandes speaks out against the blind worshipping of Bollywood celebrities in India. I can echo each and every word he has said in this article. I guess his O Meri Munni song was also somewhat on similar lines. Kudos to him for the guts to speak out. May his tribe increase. Accept that some days you are the pigeon and some days the statue.

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1101437899318755002004-11-26T08:28:00.000+05:302004-11-26T08:28:19.320+05:30

Will Hindus ever rise? Swapan Dasgupta asks a pertinent questions in a Pioneer article. As Rajdeep Sardesai had noted in an article in NDTV website, even the Savarkar issue and Uma Bharati's arrest did not raise into a mass movement. While the Savarkar issue deserved nothing less than a nation-wide outcry against the highly irresponsible and arrogant action of Mr. Iyer, the Uma Bharati episode

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1101276488624296262004-11-24T11:38:00.000+05:302004-11-24T11:38:08.626+05:30

Shankaracharya's arrest Amid all the heated discussions, political opportunism and pseudo-secular arguments, BJP's RS MP, Balbir Punj has written an informative article in IE. I'm increasingly becoming a big fan of this person. May his tribe increase. Would be interested in seeing what kind of contribution the think tank is doing in helping BJP's strategies! A conscience is what hurts when all

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1099982719234754902004-11-09T12:15:00.000+05:302004-11-09T12:15:19.233+05:30

The beauty business The incident in Jammu where a Miss Jammu was lured into porn industry must make us realise the fallacy of having these beauty contests in the Indian society. My feeling is that the society is still very immature for these kind of contests. I guess it was 1996 when Amitabh Bacchan organised the Miss World contest in B'lore amid huge protests from women activists and the Hindu

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1098788383673196162004-10-26T16:29:00.000+05:302004-10-26T16:29:43.673+05:30

Cost of air travel in India My stay in the US has left me in awe of the cheap air travel there. It pains me no bound to see the exorbitantly high cost of air travel in India. Although this cost is reducing gradually, it is still no where near the rates that would make it the preferential mode of travel for the common man :-( An analysis in rediff on why air travel still costs so much in India.

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1098674595984535532004-10-25T08:53:00.000+05:302004-10-25T08:53:15.983+05:30

Surjeet goes to US! Found it funny that the eternal Marxist Harkishen Singh Surjeet has gone to the US - the land that he loves to criticise - to get his eye treated. Does this mean acceptance that the capitalist US health industry is better than the socialist Russian health sector? ;-) To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research.

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1097467855330286172004-10-11T09:40:00.000+05:302004-10-11T09:40:55.330+05:30

Nehru and his policies Claude Arpi puts into right perspective Nehru's high moral values but low practical value in this article in rediff. I echo when he says that Manekshaw's following anecdote "perfectly exemplifies Nehru" - 'As usual Nehru talked about the United Nations, Russia, Africa, God Almighty, everybody, until Sardar Patel lost his temper. He said, 'Jawaharlal, do you want Kashmir,

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1093421917277435542004-08-25T13:48:00.000+05:302004-08-25T13:48:37.276+05:30

Tagore and the National Anthem I have seen umpteen fwds that says the Indian National Anthem - Jana Gana Mana - was written by Tagore in reference to Geroge V. It is a pretty old allegation, almost as old as the poem itself! From the minimal readings I have done, it was tuff for me to believe this allegation. This site had a good discussion on this issue; no wonder there was so much of room for

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1088956329800230922004-07-04T21:22:00.000+05:302004-07-04T21:22:09.800+05:30

The colors of politics The Congress govt is setting a bad precedent by dismissing the BJP appointed governors. There is no doubt that each central govt has brought disrepute to this institution by appointing absolutely political men to this post. This was institutionalised by Congress during itz rule in the first 50 yrs, and Balram Jhakar's appointmentis no different. Vajpayee has respoded

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1088571309861234612004-06-30T10:22:00.000+05:302004-06-30T10:25:09.860+05:30

A tale of two riots Arvind Lavakare has come up with a good article comparing the 1984 and the 2002 riots. Hitz the nail on the head. The hardness of the butter is proportional to the softness of the bread.

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1087151670408659542004-06-14T00:04:00.000+05:302004-06-14T00:04:30.406+05:30

Saffronization of education? With all the debate going on "saffronization of education" by the ex-NDA govt, and Mr.Kalam also making a mention of it in his address, I came across this article in rediff last yr, that clearly explained what saffronization is all about! A good article indeed. Also came across another article exposing the now all common rumblings of leftist historians on

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1086981872416049392004-06-12T00:54:00.000+05:302004-06-12T00:54:32.416+05:30

The Rs.50000 crore Oil scam in India! Rediff had an interesting series on why Indians are paying an exorbitantly high price for oil products. The petroleum pricing in India is a big scam and the public is taken for a ride by the Govt officials. Although I'm no supporter of subsidies, it is high time the Govt reduced the duties on petroleum producs and make it more affordable to common man. This

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170049.post-1086491536139514512004-06-06T08:42:00.000+05:302004-06-06T08:42:16.140+05:30

People must long to get good leaders! A nice article by Gurumurthy. The defeat of Jagmohan and victory of Laloo - inspite of the reelection! - reflects the immaturity of ppl :-( It wonder why the likes of Laloo and Leftists are not affected by anti-incumbency! Sorey ubout da spellin mistaks ;-)

Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16220308994866610093noreply@blogger.com0