Ratnesh Katulkar critiques mainstream secularism:
The next step of the mainstream secularists is showing the similarities between Hinduism and Islam for instance both believed in divine books, what [...]
Archive for October, 2008
Secularism from a Dalit perspective
Published by October 31st, 2008 in Caste, Dalit, Religion and Secularism. 0 CommentsBehind the scenes, who’s driving Raj Thackeray? Unknown Indian is reminded of how Bhindranwale was propped up by the Congress in Punjab:
The state was Punjab, the extremist leader was Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, and the regional party that the Congress hoped to break was of course the Akali Dal. Bhindranwale took real and imaginary issues that [...]
Step-motherly treatment for Polygamy?
Published by October 31st, 2008 in Justice and Law and order. 1 CommentVinod Joseph says that we need to include polygamy in the discussions about the sex between consenting adults.
Therefore, the criminalisation of bigamy prevents married people from registering relationships they may be involved in outside their marriage, but does not actually prevent the relationship (unless it amounts to adultery). In my opinion, polygyny and polyandry ought [...]
Apoorv suddenly discovers that MTNL is bringing his neighborhood closer on his wireless network, with a range of 30 km:
I did a cross check on that number from MTNL’s online directory, and it turned out to be a number from Dwarka Sector 7. This was another shock, as I live around 30 Km away from [...]
As the wimps also known as terrorists strike again, here is the reaction from one blogger, theanarchia reacts to the predictable “condemnation” of these attacks by the politicians:
Could somebody atleast give a new dialogue to this old gentleman. At last India is now paying the price for gerontocracy. They have neither passion nor energy to [...]
‘And “Then”..I was none’
Published by October 31st, 2008 in India, Personal, Politics and Prejudice. 1 CommentVivek Singh wonders if he would one day be asked: ‘what are you?’
Now I have come to Mumbai and have added another misfortune to my identity. Its that of a North Indian in Mumbai. Now statistically I am very happy. Considering that there are 28 states in India, before coming to Mumbai I was only [...]
Cyberswami says: most of the major ingredients that go into Western economic theory do not apply in India, so at some point we will need to graduate from ‘buying’ research and technology to producing our own:
But in this, science is not alone. An intellectual revolution must span economics, politics, caste, gender, environment, labour, and everything [...]
Goli at collective lens blog writes about Kilikili, playgrounds for everyone.
UNICEF estimates that 6-10% of children in India are born with some form of disability. But if you visit any public park you hardly see any such children. And then when you sit to think about it you will realize that simple things like swinging [...]
An interview with Marathi Manoos Mahaan:
3M: First of all, I dont indulge in rioting, its the peoples voice. The marathi manoos needs to understand his needs. His need is to get all these “non-maharshtrians” out of our state. They have come here to destroy our culture and heritage.
C: What culture and heritage? Blasting “Kaanta laga” [...]
The Strange Rise of Modern India
Published by October 30th, 2008 in Books, History and India. 0 CommentsShariq reviews the book, ‘In Spite of the Gods: The Strange Rise of Modern India’ by Edward Luce:
In the end, Luce is still optimistic about India’s future. He believes that although its plurality (both cultural and political) may sometimes inhibit the speed of growth, in the long run it will provide it with the stability [...]
Praveen Dalal practices law at the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court of India in matters relating to hi-tech crime and cyber forensics. In a post teeming with links and much more useful data,he writes about the digital age of India:
Another issue that assumes significance in this regard is the fact that Internet is [...]
Chetan Bhagat’s speech at Symbiosis, Pune
Published by October 30th, 2008 in Education and Personal. 1 CommentSandhya Rajan posts the transcript of the speech by Chetan Bhagat delivered at Symbiosis Pune welcoming the new batch of BBA students:
One last thing about nurturing the spark - don’t take life seriously. One of my yoga teachers used to make students laugh during classes. One student asked him if these jokes would take away [...]
Hop over to Mark’s blog where he gives (a rather long) analysis of “how to fall in love”, including the inimitable Cochroach style or the Mosquito plan:
The uncertainity theory clearly states that it is impossible to claim, with 100% confidence both the state and level of desperation of a person. That is, the surer we [...]
Patriarchy commits another horrific crime
Published by October 29th, 2008 in Human Rights, Patriarchy, South Asia and Women. 0 CommentsAmna Gilani shares the story of an honour killing.
There is more to the bone-chilling account of the 17-year-old Taslim Solangi of Khairpur who was thrown to dogs ?she was 8-month pregnant and was forced to give birth to her baby prematurely.
The baby was immediately thrown into the nearby Ubhal Wah canal after her killer father-in-law [...]
Vinod Sharma questions Rahul Gandhi’s intelligence :
So, when Rahul Gandhi says arrogantly that he will ‘create’ thousands of Obamas in the Congress party, one has to question even his intelligence, forget ability to lead. Obamas cannot be not mass produced like Maruti cars on assembly lines. Nor can they be produced like ‘gajar mooly’ (carrots [...]
Two posts on what happened on a BEST bus yesterday- Iconoclast is sad that Rahul Raj had chosen violence:
If Rahul had not chosen the path of violence in response to violence he may still have been alive today. He would still be able to enjoy life, the joys of being alive, being able to smell [...]
Farzana Varsey has some advice for ’sweet boy’ Rahul Gandhi:
You say, “The more walls you raise the more divisions are created; either India or no India.”
This is almost a Bushism. These walls are only curtains set on fire. Just make sure that mummyji does something with Shivrajji and gets him to move some motion, as [...]
Is e-governance enough?
Published by October 28th, 2008 in Development, Policy and Poverty. 0 CommentsWhat is the point of e-governance if it works on poor information? Akshi Khandelwal has a point:
There were around 50 people of Delasar who completely opposed the implementation of the enrollment process. They claimed that the given list of BPL beneficiaries was incorrect and that the survey conducted in 2002 was faulty. According to them, [...]
Tata Crucible ‘08 - Singapore
Published by October 28th, 2008 in Education and Indiaspora. 0 CommentsRohit at Quintessential Theory is all gung ho about the Tata Crucible quiz ‘08 at Singapore. Read more about the exploits:
As Anirban , the defending champion said- “The prelim was extremely easy, there was no scope for any error. With 16 out of 20, it was surprising to note that we weren’t in the top [...]
To all of us hooked on to the fancies of Twitter, look at the new perspectives that Mahesh brings to the table:
Conduit for Text Commands
Enter Twitter that does both the above tasks brilliantly. Twitter acts as a conduit, a passive conduit, that makes it perfectly suited in this scenario. It is this facet of Twitter [...]
‘I am a Bihari. I am happy for Raj Thackeray’
Published by October 27th, 2008 in Caste, Politics and Religion. 8 CommentsNavneet Anand applauds Raj Thackeray’s clever recasting of an old formula:
I am amused at the duplicity of these leaders asking for RT’s head. If we look at the evolution chart of the parties that these leaders represent, we would find — and it is no secret – an alarming reliance on Communal and Caste (CoCa) [...]
For a videshi, what’s living with Indians like? Siren65 offers her comments from a ringside seat:
One of my best friends, an educated, feisty and independent woman can be found searching for a husband for her sister-in-law on shaadi.com, despite the fact that she herself had a love marriage. And this isn’t casual surfing either. It’s [...]
Sanjay completes the Everest Base Camp trek and has written a detailed step by step information that would be really useful to those contemplating it.
The KTM domestic airport is a little chaotic. There are 4 or 5 domestic airlines flying to Lukla and each of them, on a good day, do more than 10 [...]
An impotent State
Published by October 27th, 2008 in Democracy, Human Rights and Prejudice. 0 CommentsGaurav asks if the Indian State has lost its potency:
In all of these incidents, one thing is starkly common. The collusion of State or police with the perpetrators of violence. If you are a Hindu or Muslims or Sikh or North Indians or South Indian or Tamil, Marathi or Dalit of whatever and you are [...]
Vinay attends a talk given by Nancy Barry, a pioneer in the field of creating private, market-based solutions to poverty alleviation for women across the globe. The gist: governments and NGOs can’t deal with poverty effectively:
MFIs must look beyond being simply mass-lenders, and instead should aggressively focus on providing a full range of financial products [...]
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