Driving In Switzerland

I recently arrived from India to Switzerland. Have recorded my initial experience of driving in this beautiful country.

Exploring Peak District Sheffield

  I was in Sheffield recently. Explore the famous Peak District Area that was not too far from Endcliffe Village where I was staying. It was an afternoon that was well spent. Exploring Peak District, Sheffield

One week in Mainland China

After spending more than a week in Shanghai and Beijing, I conclude that the Chinese are friendly and gracious though little inscrutable due to the language barrier. Also, India is far behind China in almost any visible benchmarks of progress: infrastructure, cleanliness, public transport and managing urban spaces, especially the cities. It does make one…

Celebrating fair and lovely in India

Actor Abhay Deol has spoken out against top stars such as Shahrukh Khan and Deepika Padukone endorsing fairness creams. I do not know whether Deol has refused such offers in the past like Kangana Ranaut. Even if he has, it would have been much easier to say no, as I am sure his charges would…

The demagoguery of banning beef in India

We are a large family of eclectic food eaters; there are few universal favourites such as Baskin Robbins ice cream and chole bhature, maybe at Bikanerwala or Haldiram, served straight out of the karahi, unhealthy, fattening, heart-bursting and shimmering with oil. Excessive intake of Chole Bhature can be suicidal due to the destruction they can…

Ban all liquor sales along all roads

The honourable Supreme Court (SC) in its wisdom has banned the sale of liquor along national highways. This is unlikely to reduce drunken driving and accidents, as the recklessly inebriated will continue to crash their vehicles, making roads in India one of the most dangerous in the world. Some bad habits die hard, and unfortunately…

Perils of empowering a dysfunctional state

Two recent developments have caught my eye. One, endowing the tax department with more discretionary powers while making Aadhaar card mandatory to file taxes, the unfair burden of which falls on a small section of the income tax paying population; second, the incorrectly termed anti-Romeo drive in UP which seems to have degenerated into aggressive…

In defence of Yogi Adityanath

If demonetisation had not happened, I would have joined others in condemning the appointment of Yogi Adityanath in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi would have had a big say. The UP election results proved that too many mainstream analysts were quite wrong in their assessment that the demonetisation bogey would sink Modi like the Titanic….