amalgam

"Indians defecate everywhere", commented Naipaul in his "Area of Darkness", the first book in the trilogy on India. As an outsider, this is how he viewed Indians on his first visit to India. Off course, many of us thought it to be a statement made due to ignorance of what Indianness is and we openly romanticize the idea of a 'maidan' visit early in the morning. Sanitation is a western concept and therefore we don't really think very highly of it. We do not want our feces to go to waste and would rather use it to fertilize our agricultural land. We take pride in such organic way of life. With the scarcity of space in urban environments we have been forced to defecate in our own homes. A revolting idea. We do that with a lot of shame but we do makeup by urinating in open public spaces. It satisfies our urge to be and behave Indian. The Indian government being Indian supports this idea of Indianness by not providing basic sanitary amenities and util...

With debates on the possibility and effectiveness of miliatary action on Pakistan doing the rounds these days the following article by Amitav Ghosh in the New York Times makes for a fantastic read and I share that with you here. India’s 9/11? Not Exactly SINCE the terrorist assaults began in Mumbai last week, the metaphor of the World Trade Center attacks has been repeatedly invoked. From New Delhi to New York, pundits and TV commentators have insisted that “this is India’s 9/11” and should be treated as such. Nearly every newspaper in India has put “9/11” into its post-massacre headlines. The secretary general of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the leading Hindu nationalist political faction, has not only likened the Mumbai attack to those on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, but has insisted that “our response must be close to what the American response was.”

Barack Obama is elected as the 44th President of United States of America. And its an apropriate time to go back and enjoy one of the most celebrated and famous speeches given in the history of Mankind. I Have a Dream - Address at March on Washington August 28, 1963. Washington, D.C. I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation. [Applause]

At five in the evening the parliament will witness the trust vote. It is difficult to guess, even after following the news rather religiously for a week, how our political 'leaders' or 'representatives' will vote. It would have been easier to predict if they stood for individual or party ideologies. But, thats ridiculous expectation from our esteemed topi walas. Right? To see our politicians in their elements is a rude reminder of whats all wrong with this country. Mendis is being touted as the main threat as the Indians take on Sri Lanka today in the inaugural test match of the series. History tells us that almost all spinners have been tamed by the indian batting line up that have not been as formidable as the present line up. I can foresee that ten years down the line when I will be watching the matches of today from the archives, and see Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman, Sehwag and Ganguly in the same team, I will be wondering how this team didn't win more matches than...

Today, OIL is the biggest killer in Iraq. Gold was the killer in India some centuries ago. The actual impact of those invasions on India, culturally and economically, is for the scholars to decipher. I am certain, though, that a lot of innocent and disadvantaged people suffered then. Many are today suffering in Iraq in the same way, if not worse. So, the fight for resourses rages on between nations. Yesterday, it was gold in India. Today, it is oil in Iraq. Tomorrow, as many experts suspect, it could be water.