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- Archives: August 2008
- Grappling With Cowardice
I feel relieved. A situation that I had been dreading to face is over. Not really over but I have...
- Partial Solar Eclipse Today - Do Nothing
If you happen to be a devout believer, it would be for the best if you stayed at home altogether and did nothing.
- Movie Review: The Gold Rush (1925)
The movie was a huge commercial success, earning more than $4 million at that time.
- Movie Review: WALL·E - The Love Story Of A Robot
Pixar brings us the delightful story of a lonely robot and his first brush with love.
- Poessay: Rosary 6 - Dinner In The Park
In another era we could be have been sitting around a camp fire and narrating tales from Qissa-e-Chahar Darvesh or Dastaan-e-Amir Hamza.
- Gulzar's Hu Tu Tu - Misplaced Idealism?
Perhaps middle age indeed is the fountainhead of cynicism and the period to beware of.
- Book Review: A Golden Age by Tahmima Anam
The heart-rending story of a widow and her two children caught up in a cruel and tragic war for freedom
- Orthodox Jews Vote for Ignorance
Can you actively ask the state to stop its fundamental duty to educate all its young? Seems like you can in Israel
- A Lunch at Claridges - Gordon Ramsay's Chef's Table
a review of a gastronomic afternoon at Gordon Ramsay's Restaurant in London
- Movie Review: Kuselan
if you are a die hard Rajni fan, please do not go to the movies trusting him to make his appearance any time soon.
- Indian Movies - Very Much Without Verisimilitude
How close to reality are the settings and scenes in Indian movies? Is this their best? Or is this all that we deserve?
- Electronic Voting Machines: Are They Safe?
Nobody has been able as yet to prove that EVMs can be doctored or tampered with.
- Alexander Solzhenitsyn: (Dec. 11, 1918 – Aug. 3, 2008)
But shall we ever grasp the whole of that light? Who will dare to say that he has DEFINED Art, enumerated all its facets?
- Toll Gates Inside Cities - Are They Fair?
A take on toll gates being erected inside Chennai city on the IT corridor
- Stop Raving About Rahul Gandhi, A Belated Critique
It's been two weeks since the fateful confidence vote and people are still raving about Rahul Gandhi's speech. They shouldn't.
- Book Review: Qissat: Short Stories by Palestinian Women
Palestinians face the same issues as other human beings, plus a few more …
- Do You Know Filmmaker, Activist Ajay TG?
No? Neither did I until yesterday. There I was sitting at Juhu's Prithvi Theatre watching a compilation of...
- Poessay: Rosary 7 - Under the Jamun Tree
she of quiet grace and words few / she of that ready smile and zest
- The Story of "London Tod Singh" Is More Than You Know
How many more “London Tod Singhs” do we have left ? Sixty and more years after independence, certainly not many
- Bihar Police Order Closer Look at Section 498 (A)
The practice of doing an enquiry and then only proceeding against the named people is a mixed-message step.
- Do Bigha Zameen: A Modern Retelling
West Bengal’s reforms turned out to be the best land reform and distribution system in India
- Book Review: Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree by Tariq Ali
Tariq Ali’s non-Eurocentric approach means that the focus of the story is very much on the Moors and not on the Europeans
- The Grey Lady of Bagram: Dr. Aafia Siddiqui - Kidnapped, Tortured and Now Arraigned
A farcical, Kafkaesque admittance by the FBI
- India's Tryst with Abortion
Life is a continuum –it is not a before and after story.
- Justice Delayed for Dalit Girl Burnt Alive in Uttar Pradesh
Illiteracy, poverty, social oppression and lack of medical accessibility to the Dalits in the villages are the root causes of such atrocities and crimes.
- Book Review - The Art of Black and White Photography By Torsten Andress Hoffman
It is very important to know how to shoot the subject right and how to enhance and bring out something more from your photographs.
- K2- Aloof, Alone, August
She got married, moved, had children, got widowed, moved back, learned to survive, battling life - winning some, losing some
- Genocidal Indigenous Forces: Teaching Kids War Games
I wonder how youth are trained and motivated to support and even become Taliban, Al Qaeda?
- Rakhi Sawant - My Big Break Is Breaking Me Up
Then, when I finally managed to get in touch with the lady herself, she promptly threw me back into the pool of sharks
- Umrao Jaan - A Story of The Indian Girl Child
It is a story of an Indian girl child who laments her agony of life, composed in the form of poetry and music, with soul-gripping
- DVD Review: Taare Zameen Par
A heartfelt movie about a boy struggling for acceptance.
- Supreme Court Acts Tough on Non-Filing of FIRs
The weaker you are, the more difficult it is for you to get the police to file an FIR.
- John Edwards Admits to Affair
The people most happy at this development would be the senior leaders of the Democratic Party.
- Fiction: I Am Jill's Last Wish
These last few years she had not felt inclined to play rain-maker any more. But one does what one must.
- Poessay: The Winter of Discontent
leaves descend / to embrace the blades / cottages are locked up / and sunbirds head for the keys
- Beijing Olympics - Indians and Desis Missing in Action
With the Beijing Olympics well under way, we are yet again bombarded with the usual myth-making machines in overdrive.
- Persevere - And Change Your World
If you want to change world views, opinions, thoughts, policies, laws….. There is only one sustainable way…. Persevere.
- Nuclear Power - The Seduction of Mephistopheles
In spite of dangers associated with the use of nuclear energy, the seduction of Mephistopheles remains as potent as ever.
- Fiction: A Returned Indian
Priya had waited three years for this day.
- Abhinav Bindra Wins Gold Medal At The Olympics
SAI needs to take good care of its medal winners, be it at Olympics or at Commonwealth or the Asiad, monetarily and by recognition to
- Queer Azadi - Mumbai's Rainbow March - August 16th, 2008
Bombay is DIFFERENT!
- The Value of Sustainability to Business
Why being sustainable simply makes very good business sense
- India's Laws - Out of Sync With Society
Laws in India are paradoxical because they seldom seem to be in sync with society.
- Book Review: The Book of Saladin by Tariq Ali
Tariq Ali shows Saladin as a schemer and a planner with only one objective – the re-capture of Jerusalem.
- In a Land of a Billion
The ultimate "winner" is one who knows his skill is matched with strategy
- Poessay: Rosary 8 - Voices In The Air
Capture the stray soldiers now, reflect upon the pincer movements later. Time enough to record the battles and wars.
- Pathanjali's Yogasutras
Who knew that I would acquire a taste for reading Pathanjali some day?
- India - Winter in August
May be it is time to get the sweaters out - it looks like it might be winter in August.
- The Russia-Georgia Conflict - The Bear's Power
This may well seem normal for a powerful country to treat its immediate neighbors as its areas of influence, but not so for the country
- Trident Gurgaon- A Nice Hotel
A review of a hotel in Gurgaon, India
- Rainwater Harvesting In Bangalore
One possible solution that is being increasingly touted for cities is the use of rainwater harvesting by buildings.
- What I Learned in China
I simply do not know how to beat my drum exactly in rhythm with 2007 other people.
- Poetry: hampered
only the unhampered can struggle and rise
- CD Review: For The Rest Of Us - Telescope
Flagstaff foursome, Telescope, looks at the big picture.
- Sporting Bindra, Unsporting India
Everyone wants a piece of Bindra. Nobody cares about the sport in which he competes.
- Photo Essay: A Village War Memorial In Norfolk, England
A village war memorial in England with a surprising link to India.
- The Human DNA
Let us own up to the fact there is a common human DNA that makes us all speak up.
- Book Review: Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry Experiments: All Lab, No Lecture
Here's a terrific do-it-yourself book for the chemistry enthusiast, with everything you need to know about setting up your own chemistry lab.
- The Russia-Georgia Conflict - Stoking The Embers Of The Cold War
Since the breaking up of the Soviet Union, the politics of the Caspian region has become complex, volatile and dangerous.
- Stingers: Sores That Hardly Heal
When ‘Yesterday’s War’ becomes Today’s Military Operation in which, on their turf, using our weapons, our Stingers, they, the bad guys, face off against us
- Travel Review: The Kuala Lumpur Hilton
it was a nice hotel, with a great room and great views
- Book Review: Deception: Pakistan, the United States, and the Secret Trade in Nuclear Weapons
What happens when two very reputed journalists with a lot of experience in investigative reporting write a book?
- Poessay: Rosary 9 - Life Rosary I
words without soul is a boat without oars
- Racism in Indian Schools in South Africa
A review of a paper on how some Indian immigrant schools are faring in South Africa
- Happy Independence Day - Musical Montages
For those of us who grew up in this era, these montages are unforgettable.
- Book Review: The Prostitutes Of Serruya's Lane And Other Hidden Gibraltarian Histories by M. G. Sanchez
The history of one of the most diverse and interesting parts of Europe
- TV Review: Sonali Kulkarni's So Kool - Not So Kool
I’m not sure I’d like to tell them what I felt about the show; honesty doesn’t always have sporting takers!
- Movie Review: Singh Is Kinng
It was comedy from beginning to end without descending to making fun of a community as was previously done in Bollywood.
- The Website Ad Placement Heat Map
The proper placement of ads on web pages is very important
- Chiranjeevi Enters Politics, Promises Change
It will be interesting to see if Chiranjeevi will be able to mediate his celebrity status to political success.
- Problems Implementing The Restriction of Hazardous Substances
This simple directive was issued without consideration of all of the consequences.
- Travel Review: Restful Ooty
The gentle beauty of the Nilgiris mountains and the amicable nature of the Ooty people made me wish I could make Ooty my second home.
- The CFO-CIO Cross-over, Part I
The first of a series of three essays talking about the relationship between a CIO and CFO
- People And Their Opinions
Can we achieve a state of 'shooting the message and not the messenger'?
- Bernie, You Touched Me
I am against the loss of a single civilian life at the hands of a deluded individual, an organization or a state.
- Broadband on Batteries
You can’t run a broadband service operating on batteries! It just does not work!
- Durian Dessert Doesn't Have A Good Reputation
My just desserts? Encounters with a fruit described as "pig-shit, turpentine and onions, garnished with a gym sock."
- Idol Immersion Increasing River Pollution in India
There are a number of areas where modern science and problems clash with traditions.
- Banning of CFC Inhalers - Another Stupid Ban
Just as in removing tin from solder, banning a known hazardous material from a trivial use can cause very significant consequences.
- Travel Review: Tusker Trails, Bandipur
We spent our night in Bandipur in relative comfort after shooing away a pony who toddled towards us for an apple or two in the
- Narendra Modi for Prime Minister
I am at a point where I am ashamed of the shamelessness of those have made a career in being ashamed!
- Poessay: Rosary 10 - Life Rosary II
A poem is never finished, only abandoned. ~Paul Valéry
- India Wins Wrestling Bronze in Beijing Olympics
For once, the whole of India is looking up and following the other sports India is faring well in.
- A Train Journey in India
What's the fun of travelling on trains without having tea in a kullar, slurping it loudly and dunking Parle G biscuits in it?
- Could India Host an Impressive Olympics?
Could India hold an Olympics that would flatter, rather than embarrass the nation?
- Book review: The Stone Woman by Tariq Ali
In its final days, the Ottoman Empire is orthodox and decadent, but Iskander Pasha’s family offers a splendid contrast.
- Growing Up With Enid Blyton
Close to forty years after her death Enid Blyton’s books continue to enthrall another generation.
- Revolution? You Kill My Guests I'll Kill Yours
The Talebans kill civilians in the name of Allah. His name also plays on the lips of the dying.
- The CFO-CIO Cross-over, Part II
The past and present of the CIO CFO relationship
- The Psychology of Car Pooling
What most people who have not experimented with car pooling do not understand are the social benefits of car pooling.
- Can Only Whites be Racist?
Why is it that racism is usually only associated with Whites and not with Browns, Blacks and Greys and Yellows and Greens?
- Under-age Drinking and the Family
This is downright scary. Alcohol is not just a party drink.
- Poessay: A New Cult?
do you feel good and do you spread goodness?
- In Our Stride
I look back now and I ache.
- Fiction: Inconsiderate Indians
"There are times I really hate Indians! They are so inconsiderate." She said loudly
- Degrees in the Virtual World?
Tertiary education and second life, is that what the future would be?
- The Indian Man
He isn't quite a male chauvinist, just an Indian man. We deplore his ways, we roll our eyes at his habits but we love and
- Photo Essay: Worldwide Photo Walk, Bangalore
Bangalore was the only city in India where the 'Worldwide Photo Walk' was talking place, apart from the other 192 cities across the world.
- Movie Review: Mumbai Meri Jaan -Saluting the Spirit of Bombay
Nishikant Kamath has painted on a huge canvas a picture of M'me Mumbai in all her resplendence, her beauty, her ugliness, her moles, her warts,and
- Does Every Cloud Have a Sell Order Lining?
Weather, emotions and trading - the interesting links
- Poessay: Rosary 11 - Creating In Isolation
Life keeps returning. No death can keep it at bay. Disaster, calamities, dictators and ultra-orthodox firebrands do not know this.
- Following Pigs
Following pigs is fun!
- Politics - Thy Name is Contradiction
Politics, as they say, has no friends or foes. So, it does mean, those who stick to their word, are non-existent in politics?
- Satire: Dear Allah
Since You are Omnipotent and all powerful why did you not delay Muhammed's arrival till the dawn of the internet era?
- Belles' Belly Balle
Without trying to be too vulgar, weren't the cheerleaders exposing their bellies, just like the belly dancers very much have to ?
- Married and Gay
If you are against gay marriage, don't have one!
- Why is Kashmir Important?
That is why Darfur is not as important as Iraq or two small provinces of Georgia are to the big powers of the world.
- Affordable Health Care For the Poor
Promote health insurance to challenge the rising costs of health care.
- Book Review: The Sultan in Palermo by Tariq Ali
Does Tariq Ali fly the banner of secular Islam too high?
- Fiction: Black
Shyama was his name. It literally meant black, and so was he.
- The Left are Better Left Behind
What is "right" for the "left"? If left behind, the country can go "right forward"
- Poessay: Rosary 12 - Kohled Eyes
Eyes are an entry into soul: they also guard the entrance.
- Taare Zameen Par - Is Every Child Special?
What does it mean for a child to be special? How does one qualify 'special'?
- The CFO-CIO Crossover, Part III
The future of the CIO and CFO relationship, some thoughts...
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- Grappling With Cowardice
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