You are being cheeky, Mr. Minister
When Gulabrao Patil from Shiv Sena made it to the headlines for remarking that those who had ‘been MLAs for 30 years should come to my constituency and see the roads. If they are not like Hema Malini’s cheeks, then I will resign’ he was probably thinking of those millions of quotes that one comes...
Pride, Prejudice, and Punditry – a review
Seventy-five previously published articles, stories, poems, columns, and excerpts from his books (both fiction and non-fiction) with most having ‘been expanded or updated, or both’ are powerful enough to be more than just snippets of history of things that matter to Indians. Maybe even everyone else around the world. I call these pieces more than...
The paradox of being a common man
The month of May this year has been over-flowing with bold strokes and brilliant strikes. Yes, one can think of everything from cricket to politics and from nabbing terrorists to tickling the media at the right time. We have all realized that even ten seconds in front of a button can spell anything from prosperity...
Terrorism is a monologue in a subverted mind
Defining terrorism isn’t easy. Kamalhasan calls Nathuram Gadse the first Hindu terrorist but Madhu Purnima Kishwar retorts by tweeting that some people ‘can’t tell the difference between a terrorist and an assassin. The latter is not a complimentary term. Kennedy’s killing was an assassination and never called a terrorist act. So also Gandhi’s murder by...
The day I met Gandhi
Yes indeed, I met Gandhi a few days back. No, not the one who just wants to be left alone by his political friends. Neither any of the hundreds who go around with the Gandhi surname dangled around their existence. I met the real Gandhi. The one we all know as Mohan Das Karamchand Gandhi....
Politics inside a bottomless well
The days preceding elections are the ones that are brimming with crisis analysis and hypothetical solutions. Thus every article emerging out of the media boombox is yelling about every issue from corruption, unemployment, development, farmer’s issues, education, health, and pollution, carelessly meandering through jargon that includes coalition governments, caste politics, dynastic ambitions, and business interests...
Political comedy is a show that never ends
Indian politicians are either smart or street-smart and they assume that whatever they say will finally get them votes when the time comes. I use the word ‘assume’ because more often than not these politicians speak things that lie somewhere between being utterly dumb to being absolutely unsavory. When we are in a charitable mood...
Politics
They peer at me through a lens. They want to confirm if I am who I say I am and imagine that the retina has the final word. Even the technology resting in my hands insists that I trust the lens. They think my face is my fingerprint. As if fingerprints are alive and ready...
Yes, I can
Even a burglar says this. So do politicians. Scamsters. Smugglers. Thieves. Rapists. And yet these three words are linked not with them but with an indomitable will. They represent the power of positive assertiveness. ‘Yes, I can’ is not a mantra to be chanted and yet they need a person’s mind to believe in the...
BOARDBOYS on the streets
There must surely be at least a few readers here who will remember the board boys of the past… no, not the guys who wear black suits and ties and discuss the importance of hawala through the panama route. I am talking of the bare-foot advertising soldiers that many cinemas were fond of hiring. My...
There’s a lot that Modi forgot tonight
The PM spoke at Wembley in London tonight and I listened. So did Cameron. And the British PM applauded more than once… and I could see that he was excited when Modi informed the Indians in London of the jugaad way of knowing the time in India – that is, without having to add hours...
Dr Peon: let’s look at the bright side
Why does everything inspiring happen in UP? Always. Every time. If there are rapes that fire up protests and inspire the social media to go in a tizzy, the source is in UP. When all the electricity is diverted to Mulayam’s constituency leaving the rest of the state to sweat for 18 hours and the...
