What We Think of America

welcome to DC:)

agree with the (relative) transparency in the US and the 'dignity of labour' that is almost an inbred quality but there is more to US political ambitions - its arrogance, its self-centredness

and

look forward to more essays here on US imperialism and how it pervades and over shadows the common good of (other) world inhabitants


:)

Noam chomsky would argue that instinctive benhavior of U.S in internal policies are also favoring the rich and the powerful. But your point that ordinary people exhibit extraordinary dignity of labor is a wonderful thing.

your blog is a nice sobering perspective, which many will share, I am sure.

"On the world stage America is not a pretty sight. Even between its various wars of adventure," -

Various Wars?
- 1958 Protection of Lebanon
- 1964 Vietnam War (many people still to this day blame the US for LEAVING. Not for being involved, Once the USA left, 3.5million Vietnamese were slaughtered by the Communist forces that helped fight against the USA)
- Back in Lebanon to protect the then Majority Christians against the rebels attempting to massacre them.
- 1989 Invasion of Panama - Manual Noreaga was openly supporting drug trafficking, and crimes against his own people. Which is why the operation was called "Just Cause"
- 1991 First Iraq war. Saddam invaded a US Ally (Kuwait), then was threatening Saudi Arabia another US ally. The reason was to capture oil reserves from those countries to be able to re-arm and attack Iran again.
- 2001 Afghanistan - Al Qaeda was harbored there. They admitted they attacked us.
- 2003 2nd Iraq War - Regardless of what the news papers and tv news may say. Facts FAR outweigh the negatives, but people constantly are pushed these theories like they are fact. Some things people fail to realize around the world about Saddam
A) He threatened to attack the USA all the time on his TV. It was no secret.
B) Saddam said all the time he had WMDs still left on Iraqi TV to keep the majority Shiite Population in check, so he could retain power as long as he wanted. Later the USA and British troops uncovered many buried mobile wmd labs. This made the news for about 2 days. Then the stations realized they were loosing viewers and went right back to bashing our government for this war.
C) US studies from colleges have shown that the world media has turned Iraq, which is FAR from a failure in to a "guaranteed failure" simply because they say so. Truth is, if you speak to people there. They WANT the USA there. They plead for us NOT to leave. They are scared they will be massacred as the Vietnamese were because of what the "media" and Hollywood did. They made the war look unjust because people were dying, when we left, WAY more died then were dying when the USA was still there, keeping area's safe. This is exactly what people like Osama, and countries like Iran want. They seen it before and pray it will happen again to weaken the USA. Dont take my word for it. They say it themselves.


"its arrogance is on continuous display"

- Arrogance? Arrogance is a word that can be applied to any thing that disagrees with a persons opinion. I could say this article has many signs of arrogance.


"The United States has disregarded strictures passed on it by the International Court of Justice, and defaulted on its financial obligations to the United Nations"

- First, the USA is not the only country to cut its funding to the UN.
- Second, the USA is the number one funder, and has been the number one funder of the UN for nearly the entire existence of the UN.
- Third, the USA in recent times has had many reasons to cut funding for the UN. One of the main reasons is the lack of monitoring occurring at the UN under Koffi Annan's leadership. Billions are missing! The USA asked what happen to the money, the UN refused to answer. We stopped funding.
- Fourth, why should the US continue to fund a organization that is a complete failure in nearly all its diplomatic en devours? What good has the UN done in the past 2 decades. Its allowed atrocities to happen numerous times. Rwanda is a prime example. They seen what was happening, then did not allow the world to see what was happening. Even limited US troops from sending messages home of what was occurring.



"It has violated the global climate change treaty, and the global biodiversity treaty."

- Has any one looked at this treaty? Its impossible for a nation as industrialized as the USA to uphold some of the obligations. Like cutting emissions in nearly half by 2010. This would collapse the US economy. Which is most likely why people complain, they want the USA to fall apart. Which is the picture im gathering from this article as well.



"It has not signed the agreement to abolish the production of land mines."

- There was 152 countries who signed it. Still only 143 have yet to ratify it. USA being one of those. Countries include China, India, Iraq, Iran, Both Korea's, Turkey, Pakistan, Russia, Nigeria, and the USA. So it kind of hypocritical to blame the USA for not signing some thing when most of the larger countries haven't including India.


"The only international treaties it signs and honors are those it can both draft and impose on other countries, such as the agreement on Intellectual Property Rights."

- This is just a flat out lie. I could list thousands of international laws the US has not only set in to action, but also approved and put in to action before many countries with smaller populations have. Some times loosing possible money in doing so. So where this guy gets this I have absolutely no clue. To make a general statement like "it can draft and impose on other countries"... Again I could list thousands of international agreements... Most relate to the equality of people, such as womens rights and religious rights of minorities. Or the AIDS initiative.... I could go on and on.. this is just wrong.



"Scandinavian countries honor their international obligations, and (unlike the Americans) generously support social welfare programs in the poorer parts of the world."

- Generously support social welfare programs? The US is the number one donator of international aid which could be called a "international welfare" program. Then if you come back to America, the welfare program is so used, the countries national deficit is rising yearly because of it. So another flat out wrong thing.


"Historically, anti-Americanism in India was shaped by an aesthetic distaste for America's greatest gift--the making of money"

- America didn't make money. Various forms of money have been around for centuries


"America and its ally Israel have taken a tough line with the Muslims. (They take no nonsense from the Palestinians, as we should take no nonsense from the Pakistanis.) "

- Comparing Israel to Pakistan is like comparing the Mexico to Israel. It has no basis. The dispute between the Kashmir region has gone on for decades now. If you want to call Kashmir a "Pakistani Occupation of Indian Land" and feel its ok to "take no nonsense" then what would be the point in bringing it up to begin with if you agree? I agree India should take a hard line stance on Islamic terrorism. Pakistan is a hub of terror in many aspects. So toughening your stance against a country that is known to have openly withdrawn from "terrorist havens" is understandable. As is it legitimate for the USA to support Israel when the Hammas government supported by Iran is openly calling for Israel's destruction, as well as not recognizing the existence of Israel.


"The current admiration for the United States has all to do with power."

- Is that why the USA is propping up other governments around the world whom are weak and DON'T agree with the USA fully. Look at Nicaragua. We support a government who's leader called for the destruction of the USA and fought them. How is that beneficial to the USA when the guy says he hates the USA but wants America's investment so he has no other choice but to be friendlier so their own people can have some income. While Venezuela takes the opposite route, and even with extremely high gas prices driving massive income, the countries economy has nearly collapsed due to the stance it has taken against the USA. Is this the USA's fault? No. Why? Hugo Chavez was elected. Not really legally. But he was elected. An now that he is, he has given his peoples money away so HE could gain power. He said he came to power to give proper schooling and such, yet since he has become president in 99' the country of Venezuela's test scores have dropped over 20%. The current administration actually lost more power then it gained around the world. It conceded power to China on the North Korea issue. It conceded most of the power to the EU with Iran. It conceded the Sudan issue to Ethiopia.... I could go on and on. This is just false.


"India is more reliably democratic than the other countries of South Asia; at the same time, it seeks to bully and dominate them"
- So why would it be OK for India to be a bully. But not the USA? Kind of contradictory.




I really didn't mean for this to go on this long but the more I read the more I could rebuttal. I understand this person may be looked at as a "scholar" of sorts, but some times these "scholars" become so indulged in their own depictions of the world, they refuse to admit when they are wrong and continue to stick with opinion over fact. This article is a prime example of that. I personally have a lot of quarrels with the USA government. But I can honestly say, none of these are those quarrel's. Because if you take a look in to history, you will find that the USA is the only nation to ever turn destroyed nations in to profitable ones. The only "superpower" to boost other nations to the same stature. Look at the top 6 economies in the world.
- USA
- China - Before 1979 China was in shambles. The USA and China had a ping pong match, opened relations, China sided with the USA over Russia, and since then the USA has helped China become FAR more successful. With out the US, you can find this quote from one of China's own leaders "we would be nothing".
- Japan - After WWII the USA helped rebuild Japan in to the economic powerhouse of Asia. Spreading its technology and education to Japan. Today the US and Japan have nearly parallel cultures due to TV.
- France - Occupied and rebuilt by the USA after WWII
- Germany - Same as above, and lets not forget 89 when the Berlin wall came down.
- South Korea - Look at North Korea who sided with the Communist, now look at South Korea who sided with the USA? See the difference.

The last portion speaks for its self. As far as Iraq, NO ONE can judge a ongoing war until its over. Many people through out history have had ideal's of change that wasn't accepted until they became reality. Look at Abraham Lincoln, wanted the slaves free, led to a Civil war, and after nearly a century we needed Martin Luther King to make it finally happen. I see that President George Bush has a new idea for some of the most impoverished, oppressed area's of the world, to help bring about equality as the USA had to fight for, and is willing to fight for to assure the people of the world have it. We are ALL EQUAL. No nation is above another. No person is better then another. The USA is NOT some nation who only looks out for just its interest despite what this article says. It brings freedom. Ask a a Iraqi who lives in the Kurdish area. I have. They are so happy the USA came and finished what they hoped would have happen in 91' its unbelievable. Same goes for most provinces around Iraq. Yet all you see on TV is a load of lies, about how nothing good has come from the USA being there. Its blatant lies.

From a American. I try my best to get worldly opinions. I have made friendships with thousands in other countries. I can honestly say, most of the world does not feel the same way you do and would leap at the opportunity to come to America, or have their country as powerful as America. Which at times leads to resentment. Which is my final opinion of this article.

Heath should not bury his head in the sand like an ostrich and ignore reality. His defence of US cruise missle humanitarianism stems from media spin and distortion of history.'Throughout the world, on any given day,a man, woman or child is likely to be displaced,tortured, killed, or disappeared,at the hands of governments or armed political groups. More often than not, the United States shares the blame.'Guess who said that? Not a 'commie' but Amnesty International in its 1996 report.

Though Ram Guha's piece What we think of America is excellently written one can't help recalling the immortal lines of Vice President Agnew " The United States,for all its faults, is still the greatest nation in the country."

Having lived in the United States for several decades and having been born there, I can tell you that the imperialist impulses of the State Department and the corporate powers it represents have absolutely nothing to do with the culture of the people who live there.

For the most part, there is no such thing as "coolie labor" or wasn't when I lived in the States, ONCE UPON A TIME there had been "coolies," Chinese workers imported to build the intercontinental railways in the 19th Century. For the most part, this disappeared in the 1960's.

From what little I saw of Canada, these class lines are firmer there, but, I must emphasize that this is not a comprehensive, and therefore accurate, view.

Americans are usually blissfully unaware of the actions of their government and corporations overseas - and they like it that way. So from their point of view, they are the generous nation of the Marshall Plan that rebuilt Europe, etc.

Interesting post. I would only add that while prosperous Indian American immigrants do seem to model their economic achievement around Jewish American success, they have generally neglected to build the strong community organizations that the first wave of successful Jewish immigrants created to help subsequent generations. It seems that our folks are much more likely to create another PAC or place of worship than an organization that values human rights and social equity.

Sir, watching the dean carry his own load, you only rediscovered what European visitors to the colonial America used to discover and marvel at, a few centuries ago. The American dignity of labor was not an egalitarian concept developed in drawing rooms over cups of high-priced coffee, it was inculcated in the psyche of this nation as a necessity for survival - where fight against the combined onslaught disease, the lack of facilities, threat of wild beasts and (sometimes) hostile populations, including one's own unruly hordes was always looming and often took its toll mercilessly. Fighting together as virtual equals was a requirement and EVERYONE - be one male or female or young or old, had to take part and do one's share. The dignity of labor went hand-in-hand with the idea of everyone being able to understand the day-to-day issues that concerned their lot and being able to discuss those issues as equals.

Another ignorant article by an ignorant 'historian'!!!!!

How can you compare an India with an America?
It is absolutely silly to say the least!!!!

Mr Guha was lucky to have been born in a privileged family it seems, but most of us were not!!!!! Our fathers went to work on cycles, bought second hand scooters in the 70s and many of us sat on a plane in our early 30s.

The people he compares himself with in india probably are the ones he meets at Bangalore club or Tollygunge Golf club. Not ordinary folks from lower middle class families who have worked hard, studied hard to reach where they have!!!!

Most of us were not born when Nehru was alive. Nobody cares what he thought about America. Our perceptions about America have also been guided by - sanctions for bomb testing, sanctions on our rocket facilities, support for the pakis etc.... This sort of behavior should never come from friends...now that you have stopped these.....let us talk.....

India to be recognised as natural whatever crap is the idea of a few so called morons who have left their brains in their homes. Most of us know we are a poor country and we want to work very hard to get people out of their poverty. Yes, we have tons of problems ....so what? I dont want to build my life my giving gyan to others........take up a job somewhere and contribute to society...............dont waste time.....


What crap about prosperous Indian community?? We send in our best and they are ranked 14th...just ahead of Sri Lanka.....

This is how america treats its soldiers back from war

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17316437/site/newsweek/

Gosh Chandra, never realised an article would get you this upset. :-)

Having said and having read some of his books, have to say that Guha isn't much of a scholar (or history or anything else) although he is very entrenched in the "intellectual" circuits of the country.

And you are right - people like him project an idea of the country/world based on upper class and upper middle class "Macauley's elite" lifestyle.

My impressions of America were formed by stories of PIL 468 (is that what is was called?) which was the wheat that America SOLD to India during the famines of late 1960s but was mostly rotten and full of worms (That singlehandedly did more damage to America's image than anything else. If you could only hear my grandmother!). And because most of my parents' generation thought of the Vietnam war as an anti-colonial one.

Fortunately, voices like Guha seem to be on their way out. As Shekhar Gupta pointed out very memorably about five years ago - the colonial "Macauley's elite" that controlled India politically and economically until the 1980s has given way to the HMTs (Hindi-medium types - or those who didn't go to "convent" schools or Presidency/St. Stephens etc).

It will take longer in intellectual (especially English language) circuits till us poor HMTs take over, but its happening. :-)

So relax: Guha is in many ways an anachronism in today's India, limited by his own background. And more than anything else, he is one of those who will stand aur caravan guzar gaya, gubar dekhte rahe...

because that caravan is being powered by us HMTs!

:-)

Uh Iraq is not a failure????????? like wow!!!!!!!! now thats news!!!! ok so maybe its not right now but ITS GOING TO BE........

and if ud watch anything other than CNN/Fox news/other american news channel then ud know

#8 Chandra,

Yaar, go easy on the writer. This is a good article - perhaps a bit on the nostalgic side. Class consciousness in desi society is deeply ingrained - it was always there and never went anywhere - and continues to linger on, yes, even now. The esteem in which Nehru was held when he was alive was not due to his foreign policy (which probably came a cropper) or his mild socialism (which also came a cropper) but purely derived from his sacrifices during the freedom struggle - a freedom which is taken by granted by the young bucks - like yourself! Just because Amrikkan foreign policy reflects the Amrikkan interests - like anybody else's should - is no reason to get mad at that country and to disregard certain good values that people can still learn from it.

BJ # 12

Class is a problem everywhere (yes, US too)........In every society there is the upper class and then there are the rest...this upper class is defined in different ways in different regions. But they exist

The whole point of me responding to Mr Guha is to highlight the fact that there are millions of Indians who also do things on their own and respect others for what they do....not a big deal!!!

Nehru Foreign Policy----Came a cropper!!! Show me data
Mild Socialism----Came a cropper!!! Show me data demonstrating the linkage between nehru's 'mild' socialism and economic performance (1950-1964)

'Freedom is taken for Granted by young bucks like yourself'
Where did you get that idea? a. That I am a young buck and b. That I take my freedom for granted
Dont presume anything!!!!!

I dont care what American policy reflects...as far as I know...any action inimical to India should be treated as an action by the enemy and should be responded with venom and no less
......
I dont have an opinion about American values......I learnt all my values exclusively in a small town in the most backward district in the most backward state in the country...Those values are of human dignity, respect and love for each other.....my understanding is that these values are universal.....If I could learn this in a small town, I am not sure why I should be hearing all this crap about how bad we are and how great America is ....sorry mate!!!

cheers

Chandra - do you mean India is absolutely perfect and there is nothing we can learn from anybody else?

Apologies for the interruption - but Amrita how did you manage to make Chandra's remark mean: "do you mean India is absolutely perfect and there is nothing we can learn from anybody else?"

I have gone back to look but could not find any implication of such thought in Chandra's posts.

Don't jump down my throat - I am actually working on a project on "making meaning" and how people understand and make sense of statements, so the above question is COMPLETELY serious.

chandra:

Those values are of human dignity, respect and love for each other.....my understanding is that these values are universal.

these are commendable values to acquire and am glad you have inculcated and imbibed them in yourself

but

do you think this is true of every one of us (regardless of where they acquired these from)?

take respect for instance

when the doctor visits a patient at home - somebody grabs his bag from his transport brings it in and carries it on his return

the sahib enters the office everyone stands up

see this with respect to dignity of labour

even the family head does not do as much at home - vacuming, doing the dishes - helping out the homemaker in her chores

we have a lot of distance to cover in this respect

also

pandit nehru was a freedom fighter and he may have been a fabian socialist but even his critics grudgingly admit he laid the groundwork necessary for the progress india is achieving now

as for respect in the comity of nations i agree - we should not hold the US in undue awe - the progress and consequently the respect india earns worldwide is solely because of the government and people's work

Anamika - Thats ok. I'll tell you once I have Chandra's answer :)

Chandra,

You say:

Nehru Foreign Policy----Came a cropper!!! Show me data

Remember we had a war with China in 1962 just a few years after Nehru sang his Indo-China bhai bhai song? After independance, when General Lockhart presented a paper outlining a plan for the growth of the Indian Army to Nehru, he replied "We don't need a defence plan. Our policy is non-violence. We foresee no military threats. You can scrap the army. The police are good enough to meet our security needs." It took a war (Indo-China 1962) and 1400 Indian dead bodies to bring him back from Wonderland. And of course, we lost the war. These days, the Chinese come to Delhi and say "The whole of what you call Arunachal Pradesh is Chinese territory." And now and then, you see Chinese maps which show Ar. P, Ladakh and Sikkim as part of China. Indo-China bhai bhai in action.

Tibet was one of Nehru's biggest screwups.

Mild Socialism----Came a cropper!!! Show me data demonstrating the linkage between nehru's 'mild' socialism and economic performance (1950-1964)

25% of the population BPL, earning less than $2 a day today. About 250 million. It was much worse before 1991. Far from bringing people out of poverty (for which it was conceived), Nehru's socialism perpetuated poverty.

Amrita!!!! Kya re? Just because I am proud of my country does not mean I am living in wonderland :-).......My personal view is that the one thing that made the west great is their ability to innovate and invent....unless we learn to do that we will never be a great country (nor will china).....if you look at the number of patents we are filing...we are an international joke, to say the least!!!!

Temporal

No, everybody is not like that. But my point is that there are good things in India...please look inside too!!!!

Atlantean

China policy!!! The little that I know of and from what you have written it appears more like a problem of defence .... My understanding is that we had done the following mistakes during and before the 1962 war....

a. Did not have clear cut logistics to deliver troops and resources to the eastern border,

b. We did not use our Air Force at all during the war

As far as the background is concerned, my understanding is that the problem with China is related to the past(Mcmahon line etc) and our own interpretation of it. The India-china relationship was never a friendly one between 1947 and 1962....the whole point of bhai-bhai was to reduce the tension....not because we were great friends.....here is a quote

"Evidence indicates that in the early years after independence, Jawaharlal Nehru himself privately instructed B N Mullick, head of the Intelligence Bureau, to count China as an enemy. It was under his approval that armed Indian border guards drove away the Tibetan administrators and occupied Sela by force in 1948, and Tawang and other Chinese territories to the south of the McMahon Line in 1952. But Nehru's government did not stop here; it sought to decide for itself where India's borders with China should lie and then impose the alignments it had chosen on China" (Chinese version)

While i am sure there are multiple versions on the internet, the reading is clear....we had a forward policy on the border(which is good, afterall Nehru has proven to be right...no democracy in occupied Tibet!!) but did not have the defence forces to execute the policy !!!! We did not have the defense corces because we were a very poor country...It was only in 1959 that we raised taxes significantly to pay for improved defense....many citizens complained big time about that

Right now,..the Chinese can show whatever they want as a part of their country...why dont we? The problem is we have spineless leaders on the top....

Nehru Socialism....

I am talking about 1947-1964..period when nehru was the PM...not 1991...!!!

Here is how the economy was doing during the period before Nehru became PM

1. 1868-1900, National income grew by 1.1%.
2. 1900 to 1945..0%/ decline in most years
3. 1950-1980......increase by 1.5% (Primarily due to a 3% increase in population as opposed to 1% increase in population in the previous decades)

I want to hear from you- what specific policies of his period you are unhappy with, what he could he have done instead and what else could he have done and did not.....Please remember....this is what Nehru had with him in 1947

This is how india was at when Nehru became PM

a. Population of 375 million...12% were literate, Japan's literacy in 1870 was 40%!!!!!, China's was 21% in 1950, twice that of India and Korea's was about 50% in 1960!!!!! India's literacy reached China's level 10 years later- in 1961

b. 1.8% of Global GDP (and diminishing, thanks to the Infra set up by the Britts who managed in 150 years of 'capitalism' to bring our Global GDP contribution down from 23% to 1.8%..)

c. During the period nehru was the PM we were producing children like rabbits- 7 million a year were added....versus 2-3 million during the time of the britts

I hear the following arguments from people who blame nehur....

a. He operated a state controlled economy-------Not true...large number of private sector organisations continued to operate and no nationalisation was carried out except for Airlines, the RBI (Which controlled money supply)and SBI (+associates)(primarily to boost credit growth in rural areas).....

(here is what the Tatas talk on their website about Airline Privatisation during Nehru's time-----
In 1946, Tata Air Lines, a Division of Tata Sons, went public and became a joint stock company. It was called Air-India Ltd. Tatas proposed that the Indian Government take 49 per cent of the capital, Tatas 25 per cent and the rest be publicly subscribed. The Government had the right to buy a further two per cent from Tatas taking their share to 51 per cent giving them total control.Meanwhile India's domestic airlines were heading for a crisis. At the end of the War, planes were disposed of by the American Tenth Air Force in India at throw-away prices. For political reasons the Government sanctioned every airline applicant, and India soon found itself with eleven airlines while there was room for only two or three. As a result they all ran into rough weather for there were not enough traffic routes to allocate amongst them. Except Air-India all the airlines lost heavily. In 1953 the Government took a decision to nationalise the airlines proposing to merge them into a single State Corporation with JRD as Chairman. Mr. Tata advised that the domestic and the international airlines of India should be kept apart and two separate corporations be formed. The suggestion was accepted and he was invited to head the international airline, a task he accepted. For the next 25 years he was to be the Chairman of Air-India, and a Director on the Board of Indian Airlines. (Imagine..this was the advice of the foremost capitalist- JRD Tata!!!)

If Tatas needed money to build an airline I am not sure how much money a country as poor as ours could have generated for other industries (Steel/ Oil and Petroleum,

b. We had 5 year plans..which is what stalin had......so what?....did we set up collective farms? no!!!!!

c. Many people give me the example that India and Japan were equal at the time of independence....wrong- India's per capita income was 1/3rd that of Japan and 1/2 of Korea

Here is an example of things Nehru did against socialism

a. He killed a widely supported proposal to put a $5,000 ceiling on personal income in India (TIME)

b. Just before his death a resolution calling for nationalization of banks and the rice industry were rejected (1964 Jan, Bhubaneswar). Indira subsequently nationalized the banks in 1969.

The one area of great failure was agriculture. We failed in agriculture during Nehru's time because of

a. Population was growing faster than the predominant strategy of expanding land use for agriculture

b. High yield crop varieties were yet to have been developed (until 1967- Green revolution) and

c. Very few investments were made in agriculture infrastructure (similar to now) as opposed to spending Industry (steel etc) and education.....the problem with Nehru was he was obsessed with Industrialisation. He once told a group of farmers that they had a cow dung mentality!!!

The state control of the economy really took off during the period 1969 to 1975 where many decisions were taken that did not make sense....
These were decisions taken by Indira Gandhi and not Nehru

a. Small scale reservation -1969
b. Nationalisation of banks - 1969
c. Changes in the Industrial disputes Act
d. FERA - 1976
e. Urban ceilings act - 1976
f. MRTP act- 1970

So..this is my case...if you have some numbers and facts to come up with that prove Nehru is responsible for all the pre-1991 economic pain...great....I am interested......I believe Indira is responsible for all the problems you mentioned, not Nehru!!

Wah wah....Chandra maza aa gaya! :-)

I LOVE proper discussions backed with real DATA. Call me the quintessential argumentative Indian and bahut din baad have found a cogent argument on the internet (my pet peeve where most people state opinions rather than backing them up).

Between this and the BJP win in Punjab (with SAD) and Uttaranchal, mazaa aa gaya.

#13 Chandra

Sorry my dear, I should not have called you a "young buck".

Chandra,

Thank you very much for all the information. I didnt know some of it. I need to read up more on Nehru :)

Anamika..Thanks

I am thrilled with the election results...indeed..maza aa gaya....Let us see how UP plays out.....

BJ......I wish I was a YB...:-)

Atlantean.....cool....I am ready to run thru data from you whenver you are ready......it would be fun!

Chandra,

I should read a lot. I dont think we'll be having that discussion in the near future.

I share your and Anamika's thrill on the election results :)