Living in Gurgaon, Haryana, I voted for Narendra Modi last week. I am no diehard BJP supporter or Modi fan, ideologue, Hindutva advocate or Pracharak. But, I do weigh my vote carefully every five years. I usually look at two aspects, one nationalistic, other selfish — whether the party (or person who sets the agenda…
Author: Siddharth Srivastava
Journalist
Films or Politics, it’s all in the family
Beyond political dynasties, family connections are keys to success in Bollywood too. I have been counting the recent crop of India heroes and heroines being talked about with strong familial links to India’s film industry. The list is quite long – Alia Bhat, Ranbir Kapoor, Varun Dhawan, Sonakshi Sinha, Sonam Kapoor, Arjun Kapoor, Neil Mukesh…
An Offbeat Story in bestselling list
My novel An Offbeat Story continues to be among bestsellers on SNAPDEAL. Check it out: http://bit.ly/1fq0Nm4. A big thank you to all of you who have bought and hopefully enjoyed reading the book. Buy copy (paperback) here: http://bit.ly/MqORFs Also available, EBOOK. Other options to buy the book are HERE. An Offbeat Story has been described by a prominent book…
India’s e-commerce jump
Indian e-commerce portal Flipkart recently announced it has clocked US$1 billion in sales. Others such as Snapdeal and Myntra are expected to follow. These figures maybe little compared when compared to Amazon or Ebay turnovers or Facebook’s valuation of whatsapp, yet they are significant milestones for a country such as India. For one, they underline…
No confidence in Indian MPs
India will elect a new government in few weeks. Politics prevails subsuming all else. IPL cricket action has been tossed out of the country to Middle East, South Africa or Bangladesh. Promoters are not too happy as nobody watches cricket with as much zeal as Indians. India’s humungous and illegal satta market is preparing for…
Not a boy or girl, its a book
It’s a book. Not a boy or girl. I am the father of two daughters. Writing and publishing a book was more like becoming a mother. It stayed with or rather within me for nearly a year, when I keyed in the novel, usually after a long day working, earning my livelihood, again mostly on…
An Offbeat Story in bestselling list
An Offbeat Story in bestselling list About six weeks after its launch my novel An Offbeat Story features in Top 20 (among 180,000 books) in bestsellers list (literature & fiction) on Snapdeal. Check it out: http://bit.ly/1fq0Nm4 Buy copy (paperback) here: http://bit.ly/MqORFs Also available, Ebook. An Offbeat Story has been described by a prominent book critic as one of the…
Flying high on cricket in India
Indian cricket stars make a lot of money, recently reinforced by the IPL auctions. Yuvraj Singh will be paid Rs 14 crore, Dinesh Karthik will pocket a cool Rs 12.5 crore for a few weeks of effort on the field. The two are not even regulars in the Indian cricket team anymore. Each minute on…
The Dubious Hanging of Afzal Guru
(Re-posting this piece in the context of the possible release of those convicted of killing Rajiv Gandhi, one of the few Indian politicians I really admired) There have been extreme reactions to Afzal Guru’s hanging in India. While there is anger and resentment in the Kashmir Valley, many see it as justice finally delivered. Over…
Siddharth Srivastava 