Getting old will be like this..

The man across the net

I only hope it is full of cheerful comes (who am i kidding.. Well I can wish)

Yeah right

See the quote from this piece

"When the foundations for lasting peace are in place, Israel will not be the last nation to welcome Palestinians to the U.N. We will be the first" Mr. Prosor (Israel's ambassador to the United Nations)

Words hardly do justice

A very proud mom

Living in Denial

We went to England and Austrlia we got trashed 8-0. Now, we were suppossed to be destroy England on spin friendly surfaces. Well, unfortunately the English spin bowlers humuliated the Indian batting line up. Still we hear quotes such as this from Indian team members. We are still in a state of denial. This is quite ridiculous. Indian test team is on the wane and the first thing we need to do is accept this. Only then we can rebuild. For example, the opening partnership is not what it used to be. Sehwag and Gambhir are going through a very long lean patches. The  Tendulkar is going through a low. Kohli is still finding his feet. Yuvraj's return to test cricket is more an emotional decision than a rational one. I do think Rahane, and Tiwary need to come into the team. If we are failing we rather fail with the younger batsman rather than have the older generation and fail. Gambhir is still not too old, Sehwag might have 2-3 years [i am not 100% sure on this]. But we need to prepare ourselves for a major rehaul in batting. The bolwing well - we lost Umesh Yadav and it affected us. The 3 spinner policy is a waste and we need to have 2 seamers. Of course, the fact that we dont have a half-decent second seamer. So, buckle up and be ready for some bad years on the Indian Test scene.

Arvind Kejriwal and his manifesto

Completely agree. I still am optimistic. I hope kejriwal can find some good economists to improve his view of national economics and then AAP might not be a bad idea.

Well Deb

gets it right (again). Full piece here

This does not in any way mean that I do not support Kasab’s death sentence. If anyone ever deserved it, it was Ajmal Kasab. But 11 years after the Mumbai blasts, four years after 26/11, we are no closer to striking a decisive blow to the medieval fanatics and criminals who mastermninded the deaths of hundreds of innocent Indians. I mean no disrespect at all to the men and women who died in these attacks, and their families and loved ones. But rejoicing over any hanging is morbid. And rejoicing over this particular one also displays naïvety, something that we can hardly afford in our fight against terrorism, which is not going to end very soon.

To understand the role of BT

you need to read this 

I do not endorse the apporach of Thackeray. But he appealed to a marginalized section of the population. 

Thackeray

So, Bal Thackeray has passed away. From the news on his health condition over the recent weeks it was apparent. Now, I have heard of him only after I finsihed my undergrad. I am not a fan of his approach or do i approve any form of use of violence to assert your will on the people. But what I dont approve of is the hypocrisy expressed when "secular intellectuals" respond on the day of his death with various statements - calling him "an asshole" or accussing people who call his death a loss to Maharastra as "pathetic" individuals. When a person dies people who respond to that are people who received some help/assistance from that man. Irrespective of whether he is a nice person or not, Bal Thackeray in his role as ShivSena brought justice (his version of it) to some undertrodden people. Yes, he did a lot of bullshit, but the people who received his help be it "amitabh" or a poor marathi family in Bombay, they will feel bad that he died and express their condolences. The fact that you cannot tolerate it only highlights the intolerance in your life. What you miss when you say he propogated hate is .. he was the source - probably - but the rest of the people chose to pursue what he preached. So, the responsibility lies with everybody. He was a politician, what he did was extract things that will win him votes. It is not any different from what Man mohan singh is doing. He wants to be the PM at any cost. But secular intellectuals are blind to such connections and will go vote for Congress without any qualms. Do you folks remember 1984 sikh riots. Read Ramchandra Guha's description of Rajiv Gandhi's response. Rajiv Gandhi was awarded Bharat Ratna after his death. To be honest, i feel the comments delivered on Bal Thackeray would be equivalently applicable to him too. But well, he allowed you to celebrate valentine's day and said he is secular. So, for you its not any different. 

I do not endorse any of the things BT did or stood for. To be honest i dont think he was right. But to blame an individual for an ideology that receives so much traction does not cut ice. The reason he has supporters is because of the vacuum created for Marathis in the political space due to the way Congress handled the state in 70s. the same in any regional leader. AP got NT Rama Rao because of the same reason. NTR was not so divisive but Congress fed him. So, if you want to blame someone, start blaming the Congress starting with Indira Gandhi. Well, i know you wont, because for you believe in the secular credentials of congress - irrespective of what they do in real life!

As always Guha makes a very good point here

 

on Nehru (link via rajesh)

Nehru's policies were ideal for the times. For a country just formed there were far larger goals than growth and prosperity. The issue of a nation was at stake. So, what Nehru did was follow a slower bu traditional state sponsored growth - a requisite element due to the lack fo infrastructure after the indepdence. However, his descendatnts have ruined what he started by pushing the agenda in the wrong direction to suit their electoral needs.

An excerpt

Living outside India, insulated in their daily lives from the consequences of the deeds or misdeeds of Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Sanjay Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, and Rahul Gandhi, both Nelson Mandela and Mikhail Gorbachev could appreciate the sagacity and moral depth of Nehru’s political vision. We who live in India are however inhibited from doing so by the unfortunate accident whereby control of our most powerful political party has passed on to Nehru’s descendants.

 

Chopra might

have some advice to Sehwag! Hope he is listening.

An interesting

Why Girish Karnad isn’t wrong about V.S. Naipaul

Piece on the Karnad and Naipaul controversy - by Salil Tripati

Seriously

Agricultural wages and NREGA: Exploring the myth

The piece above ignores the monsoon. In 1999-2004 most states had poor monsoon. That is the reason why growth outputs were low. We had good monsoons overall in 2004-2009 accounting for increased yield. Well the lady's PhD advisor needs go highlight these things. I hope s/he will.

Do read

Rahul Gandhi’s clarion call

The piece by sandipan highlights the hypocrisy of Rahul Gandhi's call.

A saga ends

with claims of utter disbeliif. anyway, I am no great person but I have never lied or have been dishonest (as claimed). So I will remain at peace with that knowledge.

Right on

Reconnecting with the republic

Nitin pai makes the case for policy think tanks in India. I hope people realize their value.

What else can you expect from

A government more interested in scoring political points.

Views | Another exit from West Bengal