Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Salil Tripathi on

the smart maoist supporting India lady Arundhati Roy. Some excerpts here
Roy is experiencing the vicarious thrill all reporters yearn for—walking the jungle with rebels. The critical difference between real journalists and Roy is that she accepts what she is told, does not question much and romanticizes the revolutionaries, whereas someone like Alma Guillermoprieto in The New York Review of Books describes what she sees in Latin America, reminding us—and herself—how complex the world is, because there are at least two sides to every story. In Roy’s adventure in the Dandakaranya forest (a name resonating with Ramayana metaphors) there is “good” and “evil”; in the Marquezian landscape of Guillermoprieto, there are no angels, only devils of different hues.

To be sure, democracies are flawed, and to Roy’s credit, she forces the cheerleaders of “shining India” to reflect on what makes a large part of India writhe in agony. She rightly excoriates the Indian state for betraying the Constitution, justifiably refuses to condone the state’s duplicity, and questions the media for its complicity. But she is stunningly credulous in accepting Maoist claims about what they say they do to the policemen they kidnap, and how they spare civilians, even cows. Even they care for the Hindu vote.


I am not a big fan of Miss Roy. She overemphasizes one-side of the story as Sali points out!

An interesting

analysis of cricketers in the last 40 years here

Seems a pretty impressive analysis!

Monday, March 29, 2010

Rahul Bhattacharya

summarizes the advertising campaign that is IPL, best in this piece
An except
A minority will grumble but India can accept the IPL the way it is because it is not a playing society. Its relationship with sport is not of participant but consumer. It holds nothing sacred. The IPL knows that it competes not against sport but general entertainment. "Saas-bahu se better hai," [It's better than family-drama soaps] a viewer remarks. And to compete with saas-bahu one must make concessions. Do not give them a moment to linger; cut to Deepika Padukone, a cheerleader's thigh, a 30-second dugout interview.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

A true cricket gem

A nice story: Aus NZ cricket commentary has this

Luke has a nice story: "Bradman was playing golf at Royal Adelaide with Dean Jones and hit his drive up the middle of the fairway that had a dog leg to the right protected by some large trees. Bradman turns to Jones and says "when I was your age I used to drive over the top of those trees", Jones not one to shy from proving his ability decide to take the trees on but hits the largest of the trees half way up andhis ball falls straight down in deep trouble. Bradman turns to Jones and says "of course when I was your age those trees were 3 foot tall."

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Its no wonder that

Palestinians are not really comfortable with Israeli settlements. You doubt it see this (link via soliloquy)

Will better sense

prevail? I am talking about how US will handle the US-Pak meetings and more importantly what will US dole out to them! See a piece here, bt Pradeeo Kumar Saha, on why Pakistan should not be offered a civil nuclear deal.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Smart words

from Gideon Haigh:
life, I was learning, never quite delivered all the goods. But occasionally - just occasionally - it offered something to keep you interested.

Who will

take responsibility for increasing number of children in Iraq being born with birth defects. Will somebody start a new war to obfuscate the fact the attacks were responsible for these defects.

Monday, March 22, 2010

Everybody must read this

A wonderful story of a New Zealander's immense courage Simply unbelievable! No doubt its narrated to every kid in New Zealand (link via amit varma)

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Sali Tripathi

writes a wonderful piece on Narendra Modi's imminent meeting with the Special Investigations Teamhere

Some excerpts
If Modi appears before SIT, he could say: “It was my responsibility to protect all the residents of my state. I failed. I should have defended the vulnerable; my police turned them away. For that I am sorry. I should have prevented violence; I did not. But in the eight years since, I have learnt. I have created jobs, improved social development indicators, and there hasn’t been violence. I want to atone for what happened by making Gujarat peaceful and prosperous.”

Or he could say: “I had nothing to do with the deaths. It is sad that so many people died, but Gujarati Hindus were provoked, and they reacted. I have stood against forces of terror and destabilization. Look at Gujarat today—we represent what India is capable of doing. This is a politically motivated inquiry and the people of Gujarat have re-elected me twice since 2002.”


What will he say! I really hope he has the courage to admit his mistakes!
Well who am I kidding!

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Friday, March 12, 2010

Sehwag

He seems to be around wherever I go! Garry Sobers was being interviewed in the match between Deccan and Kolkota and guess what he says.
"I like Sehwag because he plays the same way whether its T20, ODI or Tests. I would have played that way myself"

Thats an awesome complement from a player often considered the most complete cricketer in history!

You just can't miss Sehwag when cricket is being played (it doesn't matter if he is playing)

Thursday, March 11, 2010

This sound right to me

Pragmatic Euphony on how India should offer military training in Afghanistan! He surely has a very good point!
Some excerpts
In contrast, India suffers from none of these disadvantages. It has a professional armed force, which has been always subservient to the civilians, and which understands the constraints of operating in a vibrant democracy. Indian armed forces also possess the rich experience of conducting counter-insurgency campaigns in diverse social settings in various regions of the country, where successful security operations have often culminated in political negotiations for lasting peace. Moreover India, and Indians, have historically enjoyed a favourable reputation in Afghanistan, which has been further enhanced by India’s liberal economic and developmental assistance to the war-torn country since 2001.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Monday, March 08, 2010

A good piece

on WSJ detailing how Bollywood is doing a better job than Hollywood in terms of producing movies on Muslim extremism! May be its because India has been continuously at the receiving end of Muslim extremism for the last 20 years that people are more interested in this topic!

Will Obama go ahead?

with Reconciliation? WSJ claims that ObamaCare is not the only thing on the menu! Sounds interesting!

My 2 cents

In a previous post I linked Akhtar's article on spirituality. Now here is Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's (art of living) response. (links via rajesh)

When i posted Akhtar's link I said I liked the speech. However, I did not make it clear that I disagree with some aspects of his speech. Here below is an interaction over this topic with a friend of mine. This encapsulates my thoughts!

I have to say the response is not as good....akhtar's speech is better... but i have my issues with what akhtar said... there is a broad generalization of gurus.... also... u need to have questions that bother you everyday to really appreciate what spirituality is... a person without internal questions (i mean those that stay with the person for more than 10 or so years) will not seek ways to find answers. If as an individual u never experience such unrest the person will be incapable of understanding what spirituality means or what purpose it is for! I can see that akhtar falls into that realm. Mind you there is nothing wrong with that. It makes life more stable. More importantly, you dont choose how you want to be. Some people just cant push away those questions while some can push them away. The people who can push them away claim that its easy and those who cant control such questions are fools. This only shows their lack of understanding of human life. People need to be more open than that! Of course, I personally believe that the questions and the resulting quest (or search) adds intrigue to one's life making the ride more exhilarating. So.... a life without questions might be very stable and balanced, the one with ups and downs opens your eyes to many things ensuring you learn more about life!
ok thats my 2 cents!



Wednesday, March 03, 2010

To be outraged

on reading this article is ridiculous! The author Taslima Nasreen makes a case for not using a burqa! What kind of freedom of speech we have in India! (Link via Deepak Iyer)

Will Man Mohan Singh

ever learn with regards to Pakistan? They are a country encouraging terrorism. Treat them as that, not as a normal one!

He surely has a point

Salil Tripathi On MF Husain becoming a citizen of Qatar!

Well

WSJ Opinion Article here does not seem to give Obama or even Democrats a chance ha! I mean, common when Bush went on issuing executive orders you were fine with it. But when Obama considers reconciliation it is undemocratic? Do not forget majority is required for reconciliation also! Anyway, if ObamaCare passes the November election will let us know if WSJ is correct!
 


Tuesday, March 02, 2010

Bold move?

May be.. but its worth considering an alternative proposed by Katrina Vanden Heuvel at a time when US is face rising unemployment levels with very little scope for reduction!