The following is an imagined, though candid and freewheeling, interview of Rahul Gandhi, by yours truly, following the Congress leader’s categorical statement that he neither wants to-become Prime Minister of India nor marry… Sir, why live in such denial? This is an incorrect assessment. The Gandhi dynasty has never denied power to itself. As a…
Category: All Posts
Indias Budget: One View
The following is a personal interpretation of how India’s budget presented by finance minister P Chidambaram could have read: “The going has been good, honorable speaker madam. The government kitty is flush due to income tax (from the hard working salaried middle class) and indirect taxes (that burden the poor the most) collections. Thus, we…
Of Sunny Leone & Indian Actresses
Recently, two top Bollywood actresses Vidya Balan and Kareena Kapoor got hitched, which is not the most heart rending news for Sunny Leone obsessed Internet savvy sections of young India. Importantly, both Balan and Kapoor declared that they would continue to do movies post-marriage. Would that be unusual? It would be, if one studied precedents…
Terror Strikes India Again
Terrorists have struck again at Hyderabad. The attack, in the wake of the hanging of Parliament attack accused Afzal Guru, underlines that militants can orchestrate and time a strike in India almost at will. Home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde has said there were intelligence inputs that such an attack was being planned. This is supposed…
Another Defense Scandal Hits India
India is in the midst of another defense scandal involving the purchase of Italian AugustaWestland helicopters to protect important people from being shot in flight. The money trail of the helicopter deal, as in many other similar instances, is murky – fake companies, alleged involvement of politicians, a former Air Force chief and his relatives…
India Cheers More Coffee
Sensing a big and growing market Starbucks has launched in India. It was Mumbai first and recently in national capital New Delhi that witnessed a beeline of people seeking their first taste of the American cafe chain. Not an extraordinary happening as Indians usually like a new experience, especially when they spot a queue for…
About Mocking Indian
This is a slightly madder way to look at Indian current affairs and more. For now I prefer to remain anonymous. I have been around for a while. Have been published in newspapers and magazines across the world. I am neither too old nor too young. My elder daughter says she is tired of reading…
The Dubious Hanging Of Afzal Guru
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 time Guru has conveyed and symbolized different meanings to different sets of people, despite the judiciary pronouncing him guilty. He is simultaneously seen as a terrorist,…
Modi Plays Sugar Daddy
After Rahul Gandhi, Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi has also delivered a speech that underlined his intentions to play a role in the national stage as a possible Prime Ministerial candidate for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Modi spoke to students at SRCC, an elite commerce college in national capital New Delhi. Given the fierce…
India’s Noisy Fringe Elements
India’s fringe elements have asserted themselves again. They have managed to keep away writer Salman Rushdie from Kolkata, held up actor Kamal Hassan’s movie in Tamil Nadu, conveniently misinterpreted a piece written by actor Shahrukh Khan, virulently attacked sociologist Ashis Nandy views about corruption by lower castes and backward communities and forced an all-girl rock…
Siddharth Srivastava 