I dont represent any international peace agency. Nor do i have a professional degree or training in broking peace. One fine day i decided to follow, what the heck is actually happening there. The reason for the dawn of that “fine” day being, i saw a picture of one pink salwar clad lady, throwing stones on some security guys, who in turn, where throwing back the stones. For the first time i saw such a raw anger in those otherwise peaceful eyes. There were some more ladies carrying plates and pans and where shouting slogans. Mind that those were not any political party driven brain washed people..but any common person..like you and me. If our government, the so called UNION government, is really doing the right thing, then why the common man is out on the streets, protesting??!!! How come there are more deaths due to security forces firing on civilians than all the militant attacks this year put together?? If the forces are there to protect the people from militants then how come there are more deaths under their custody?
read gils musings
Fire in ice
August 8th, 2010Unsolved questions on Religion
August 6th, 2010India, one of the most secular countries in the nation, is routinely shaken by communal violence.
Headlines that rip your heart:
- Thirty-eight people burnt alive, 12 among them were children.
- Property worth lakhs of rupees gutted down to ashes.
- Shops looted and vehicles torched.
- Vikram Patel, Swastik Mehta, Joy Lobo, Heeralal Shah, Brian Phillips, Iqbal Mehmood, Aslam Khan – casualties of a war they didn’t start.
Their names bearing no significance – becoming only statistics splashed in newspapers people eat paapri-chaat on.
And it’s no different anywhere else in the world – hundreds of thousands dead in the name of religion. Politicians and religious leaders use rhetoric. They instigate mass hysteria. And caught between this war of words, the common man suffers.
A fine example of Indian style Business English
August 6th, 2010“The gentleman who wrote the journal from which the following pages are chiefly drawn, went out to India in the beginning of 1805, and returned in 1819. …The impressions made upon his mind by the scenes which he beheld in India, are now, with deference, offered to the public.”
Thus begins the book “Fifteen years in India” or “sketches of a soldier’s life, being an attempt to describe persons and things in various parts of Hindoosthan” written in 1823, by Robert Grenville Wallace.
The book provides fascinating insights into various aspects of life in India in those times. Many parts of the book will not be palatable to our ‘patriots’ (of the chest-thumping variety) but it certainly is an honest account - even if presented from the viewpoint of an Englishman.
The twist in the mega-famous NRI’s career
August 6th, 2010Back in 1999, Shyamalan’s star was not simply rising but exploding into awareness. I still remember the impact that The Sixth Sense had upon its release. Five-storey billboards whetted anticipation, and four- and five-star reviews dropped in virtually every newspaper. It was a restrained ghost story, beautiful and enigmatic with a twist that had all the kids at school talking for weeks. This American NRI with an unpronounceable name had, out of nowhere, dazzled the world – and all by himself!
The biggest twist in this mega-famous NRI’s career is that he has become a cinematic joke.
book review
August 6th, 2010Obesity and the health issues that accompany it have long been a subject of intense discussion in the Western world, where the abundance of super-cheap and highly processed foods has been linked to many health disorders. David Kessler’s, The End of Overeating is an important addition to the books written on the subject – why, we shall come to a little later.
Kessler has the background to take on this complex subject having served as commissioner at the US Food and Drug Administration. He is also a man who has grappled with weight issues, giving him a more personal interest in the subject.
They also serve..
August 5th, 2010Two decades ago, drinking water was scarce here and the soil was hard laterite. An open well, the only source of water, used to dry up by February. Expert water diviners had shrugged off their shoulders leaving its harrowed former owner deflated. But today, in the same farm, 15 acres are being irrigated and water is aplenty. Two dry bore-wells that summed up the owner’s frustration now churn out water for hours on end.
How a hadrworking Indian has brought incredible change
Indian English in all its flavours
August 5th, 2010Macmillan Publishers are running a campaign featuring English used in various regions of the world, with all the localizations and accents. This year, it is “Indian English” month and you can view the first entry here. Feel free to contribute, and enjoy the fun:
I am now going to pull something other than teaching out of my anecdotal bag: a few years ago, 2004 I think it was, I started work as Assistant Art Director for the movie Gandhi My Father, which was, at the time, to be filmed in South Africa – although in the end the entire production moved back to India a few days before we began shooting as the lead actor had to postpone his involvement for personal reasons. Anyway … the point is that for a while I was living in a hotel along the Natal north coast with a crazy/brilliant Indian crew. Guys and gals from different parts of India, some Muslim, some Hindu, mostly speaking in English and I tell you I had never laughed so hard in my life. But when I wasn’t laughing, I was listening intently to the fantastically colourful language that is Indian English – and while reading through these bloggers’ posts I was reminded of that time. I don’t know, it’s hard to describe, but have a look through the list and see for yourself.
Greater Hyderabad …or..
July 30th, 2010If anyone is looking for proof that will illustrate the popular adage about the cure being worse than the disease then they needn’t go far to find it. They can find sufficient proof and lots of it right here in Hyderabad. They only have to step out of their houses and look down at the road they’re standing on to find the evidence staring at them in the face.
A new take on Hyderabad from a budding author Vinod Ekbote
Why Dumpster Diving Will Save the Planet
July 28th, 2010“You need to eat trash.” It’s Seifert’s selling point, if he’s selling anything. He assures me he’s never once gotten sick from eating out of a dumpster. It’s different than eating from a restaurant’s dumpster, too. He clarifies the difference in pulling wrapped, packaged items out of trash bags that were just sitting on a store shelf for sale from the more familiar image of eating trash, one of a homeless person digging through a pile of day old donuts or greasy hamburgers that have been sitting under heat lamps for hours. Eating trash sounds a bit like humble-pie-pride-swallowing—washing down leftovers left over from our birth into industry and post WWII excessive behaviors that led us to our present day quandaries over where to send waste that landfills can’t absorb, and what to feed our hungry children whose parents can’t find work.
This idea is not so new to us? A blog by Jill Ettinger
shabe-baraat, thanks giving
July 28th, 2010Yesterday was Shabe-Barat , an auspicious night for the Muslims, the night on which the almighty pardons the sins of his children who seek his forgiveness. From the sunset to dawn is the auspicious period to seek the forgiveness and during this time Almighty’s light of forgiveness descends upon the sky.
Nicely written page about a festival not understood by many.
Truth sets you free and unemployed
July 27th, 2010Dressed in a long, orange kurta, orange pajamas and a bright orange turban, Swami Agnivesh looks every bit the haranguing fanatic.
But India’s latest televangelist is cut from a different cloth. In a forest of Rush Limbaugh-style conservatives, Agnivesh is the sole voice of India’s fast-fading social liberalism on TV. Or was. The crusader has just been canceled.
“From March 1968 till today I’ve been deeply involved with the struggle of the people, with the main focus on issues of social justice,” Agnivesh said. “I felt that in order to consolidate an ideological perspective around these movements, struggles, agitations, which are all directed towards social change, I need a platform by which I can reach millions of viewers and engage them in discussion, debate and dialogue.”
Open letter to Chief Minister of Maharashtra
July 23rd, 2010RE: Transportation in the United States
Dear Shri Chavan,
I hear that you recently made a trip to the United States to study the transportation infrastructure here. I hope you had a good experience.
Well, it’s a pity that we did not get to meet! I read about your trip in the papers and wanted to write to you beforehand, but you had completed your trip before I could finish writing the letter. Since I came from India to the United States to study transportation, I was going to offer you a guided tour of the transportation system of the United States. I hope you will accept this offer now and make another trip, for I promise to show you what you will not see otherwise.
You’ll be staying with me, of course, in my small garden apartment in suburban New Jersey – no, no, I insist! Why do you want to waste taxpayers’ money on a hotel room? Now, me being a poor grad student and all, I can’t really afford a car to drive you around, so we’ll have to make do with public transport. But as chief minister of a state where the per capita income is 100 Rs a day, surely you don’t mind that? I would imagine that you would be interested particularly in how the transportation system here works for the poor!
See the discussions here
Do we have another Ramar Pillai?
July 22nd, 2010Tathagat’s father, Tulsi Narayan Prasad, is now credited with creating a ‘programmed child’ to create a genius son using astrology and eugenics. Tulsi Narayan is a practitioner of ‘astro-genetics’ and claims he has manipulated his timing of sex to determine the sex of the ‘to-be-born’ child. He proudly says that he was keen on “producing a genius child”.
Churches around Bangalore
July 21st, 2010Check out the amazing pictures of the churches around Bangalore on Samaresh’s blog:
On my quest of knowing a little more about the place that I call home I went in search of old historical Church which are part of this bustling settlement .As it is home to a number of historic and extremely impressive cathedrals, basilicas, chapels and churches, which are important architectural symbols and landmarks of the city& these churches belong to diverse Christian communities, such as the Roman Catholic Church, the ancient Syrian Church , the Mar Thomas Church, Protestants from the Church of South India (which includes Anglicans, Lutherans etc…I visited 15 of the old churches.
Hat tip: Nisha
Media in dire need of self-policing
July 20th, 2010“With great power comes great responsibility” says our friendly neighborhood Spiderman. A thriving, flourishing media is one of the yardsticks of a thriving flourishing democracy. The media is often described as the watchdog of democracy. But who will watch the watchdogs? In an ideal state of things the media acts as a conduit between the powers that be and the general public, serving as the guardian and the voice of the voiceless. In reality though, today’s Indian media rarely ever live up to this ideal. Thanks to the intense rivalry and competition among the various media houses, they end up pandering to the ratings game.
Who will watch the watchdogs? Read on
Which Bandh was it: Bharat, India or Hindustan
July 15th, 2010The latest bandh which caused a lot of distress to the gereal public …. A very nice analysis of its meaning and impact goes here in this post by being cynical…
“I am not sure of the facts, but I don’t think there would be any other country on this planet which has more than one name, let alone three. Now due to this multi naming convention of a country brings about a problem or two when somebody tries to attach the country with something. Just like yesterday’s ‘Bharat Bandh‘. Why not an ‘India Bandh‘ or ‘Hindustan Bandh‘ ? or for that matter why not all three at the same time ?”
Choosing philosophy,Sociology or Political Science
July 15th, 2010People often ask me that why a person of my intelligence, my caliber would want to waste his life by taking a course such as Philosophy or Sociology or Political Science. I don’t blame them. They are groomed in an environment where they are taught that making a decent living by licking someone else’s boots is the highest honor they can achieve in life. I answer them that my choice is not wasting my life. I say its my single moment of madness. I have only one life and I wouldn’t want to waste it. The reason and the whole point of taking a course such as Philosophy, Sociology or Political Science is because it teaches you how to think boldly. It helps you to understand people in a better way and take your thinking to a level where no one has been ever before. And I think that is something which is practical.
Anshul Pandey’s views on getting educated
doubts on history
July 14th, 2010I have lot of doubts on accuracy of history, of India, about all kings – about all kingdoms! Something does not seem right to me, except British Raj! During their time they had press running in the country, which made things bit transparent. Apart from that there were other secret publications run by freedom fighters. With all these records we have a clear idea of bloodthirsty rulers of British East India.
How can history be “history”, if they talk only half truth? asks Bachodi here
Outsourced entertainment cannot become a national passion
July 11th, 2010Vikram argues that if India’s national football team gets to play with better teams more often, we can make better teams:
This ‘solace’ giving fact is in fact one of the principal reasons why India does not have a good soccer team. Indians are not good at soccer because they dont (or dont get to) play teams that are better than them. Why do you think Australia switched from the Oceania division of FIFA to the Asia division ? Soccer is a subtle sport with many intangibles governing who is a good player and who is not, the only way one can improve beyond a certain point is by playing better and better players.
So how do you choose which country to support in a world cup?
July 11th, 2010Since us Indian fans don’t really have India to support on the world stage for football, here is how BigFourZa thinks some of us choose which team to support:
Argentina! There are three types of people who go for the sky blues, each one with completely different reasoning. One group is the people in and related to my Spanish class. You’d think they’d all go for Spain, but nooo. Argentina is a far more popular country for the Spanish pop-culture expression. The second group is those who simply want to watch Maradona go at it. Especially in the late night games, and even more so if it falls on a weekend and there’s a party going on. The man is invaluable entertainment. Last, but definitely not the least is all the women out there going Oh Lionel! Popular fans in this category include Shakira, probably Maynati Langer and another football-watching lady friend of mine who claims that that he’s not the reason she supports Argentina. Apparently, it’s actually Higuain.
The art of Football
July 5th, 2010To keep up with the world-cup fever, here is a blog that gives you a glimpse into the art inspired by football. Check it out. They also quote Tom Horan of Telegraph.
“Should football be considered an art form? If art is an attempt by man to recreate recognisible patterns of his emotional life, to replicate and mirror aspects of the human condition through an artificial form, then football definitely does these things.”
Jai ho!
June 28th, 2010A great Article and post which forces you to pnder over the things that you come across day to day, some that you yourself do and some that others do and at the end all the atrocities are conveniently sidelined by just blaming it by saying that its India afterall..
“I don’t understand that other national obsession, cricket, either. White is not my favourite skin colour. I don’t read Chetan Bhagat or Paulo Coelho. I feel depressed every time I wear a salwar-kameez. No sir, I will not discuss my private life with a stranger on a train journey. And I don’t think I’ve ever begun a conversation with: “You’ve lost/gained so much weight!”
I don’t think we’re the greatest people on earth. I don’t understand our sense of fake pride and nationalism. That whole chest-thumping Jai Ho phase? I never got it”
Read the Article here
And the blog Post by Plus Ultra here
Government sends criminals abroad, you and I pay the victims
June 26th, 2010Well, that’s what happened in Bhopal anyway. Read more at the vu-point blog:
The Group of Ministers (GoM) constituted to re-examine the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy has recommended that the Central Government dole out an additional compensation worth Rs 1,500 crore to the victims. Where will this Rs 1500 crore come from? Through additional taxes. In short, you and I would have to pay up for the crime that we have not committed. And what about Union Carbide Corporation – the company that was grossly negligent in running the plant at Bhopal despite repeated warnings? Not a penny.
Saviors still exist in the face of adversity
June 21st, 2010In the event of newspapers and news channels flooded with news on scandals and blame games and what nots…which make us truely think if humanity has entirely been gripped in the hands of power and money……here is an insightful blog post on a few saviors in our country who still exist to defy these thoughts..
“How was such passion created among the employees? How and why did they behave the way they did? The organization is clear that it is not something that someone can take credit for. It is not some training and development that created such behavior. If someone suggests that everyone laughs. It has to do with the DNA of the organization, with the way Tata culture exists and above all with the situation that prevailed that time. The organization has always been telling that customers and guests are #1 priority. The hotel business was started by Jamshedji Tata when he was insulted in one of the British hotels and not allowed to stay there.
He created several institutions which later became icons of progress, culture and modernity. IISc is one such institute. He was told by the rulers that time that he can acquire land for IISc to the extent he could fence the same. He could afford fencing for only 400 acres.
When the HR function hesitatingly made the very high cost proposal to Ratan he asked “do you think we are doing enough?”
A real insightful post posted by agelessbonding
Welcoming Ellora to the Blogbharti team
June 19th, 2010Hi all,
Ellora will be joining the Blogbharti team from now. She is a 26-year old working for an investment bank in Mumbai after finishing her MBA. From her intro email to us:
Hobbies include blogging, reading i.e mainly fiction, watching movies, travelling and experiencing varid cultures and experimenting with cooking :)…I take life as it comes and love to enjoy each and every moment of it thats why the name to my blog…http://livelife2dfullest.blogspot.com/
Please welcome her and wish her luck in finding great blog posts from all around! :)
