However, the last four years have seen the image of the CBI being eroded as the Manmohan Singh led UPA government uses it as its strong-arm department. Over and over again, we have seen the CBI being used to threaten and cajole coalition partners to stay in line. This behavior has led to increasingly vocal demands to free the CBI from political control.
It has been a rough month for Manmohan Singh. Everything that could have gone wrong did and still, somehow, he clings to the chair and continues to degrade the highest office in the land.
The strangest of thoughts struck me today – what if Sonia and Rahul Gandhi have decided that they will destroy the party and system that destroyed their family? Of course, we can also put the reverse spin to it and ask – what if Sonia and Rahul have decided that the only way this country can move forward is if they destroy the Congress and the hegemony it continues to propagate.
But there is another side of this story, which is being completely ignored by the media. Why? Because it is not a human-interest angle. Because the answer to that question in India would be, “Let he among you who has not sinned cast the first stone.”
Strange times these, where telling someone they are good looking can get you into trouble. Once again, and this is getting more and more common, I am reminded of Salman Rushdie’s observation that we are becoming identified more with what pisses us off rather than what we are ready to embrace.
When 24-hour news channels were announced, I was one of the many people who were excited by the prospect. I had grown up on a staple diet of The Illustrated Weekly and Frontline, and I imagined a world where that kind of informative journalism would not appear on my television screen.
This week’s Slate Culture Gabfest opened up a very interesting thought for me. In this episode they take up two current cultural phenomena – the Harlem Shake and the Oscars.
The heinous, barbaric act of rape on a Delhi bus has the entire country up in arms. About time, I would say. There have been over 400 rapes in New Delhi alone. The only consistent coverage for this “culture of… Read More ›
The biggest disservice organized religion (OR) has done to God is to tie the concept to objects. Hence today a Vellankanni or Lourdes is more important than Mumbai or Singapore in the Christian scheme of things. Or Mecca is more important than Hyderabad in the Islamic scheme of things. Or Kashi is more important than Delhi in the Hindu scheme of things.
This is a classic example of car dealers in India not understanding the harm they do to their own business through bad business practices.
So let’s take a look at the role she assays. The girl, Akira, is supposedly the face of the new, modern Indian woman. She is educated, knows what she wants and goes to any lengths to get it. But then why on Earth would you fill the role with clichés that Indian womanhood is struggling to get rid off?
Recently I found myself in the rather strange and novel situation of being in complete agreement with a politician. Jayaram Ramesh’s push towards more toilets is laudable on many fronts. While on the face of it, toilets may be seen… Read More ›
