(Tiger Woods was in India this week. Re-posting a piece I wrote about the golfer in 2009 when he was in news for his personal life) In an Indian environment, the Tiger Woods saga perhaps would have been a little different. When the golfer crashed his vehicle outside his house, the police and ambulance would…
Tag: India
Nothing to be gay about
(Re-posting a piece I wrote recently, in the wake of the Supreme Court refusing to review its decision that criminalizes gay sex) Vikram Seth has spoken eloquently about gay rights; Rahul and Sonia Gandhi have spoken about need to legalize consensual sex among same sex adults, while Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP’s) Rajnath Singh, not surprisingly,…
A Driving License without bribing
I renewed my driving license (DL) recently without paying a tout, the usual route advised by my gym trainer, ex-colleague and many others. As I found out (first up, I googled: how to get DL in Gurgaon, Haryana), some e-savvy touts advertise online. The promotional literature describes (in very bad English) dealing with a government…
Reading Rahul Gandhi’s “nonsense”
Congress party vice president Rahul Gandhi has a reputation of appearing without warning and also disappearing without a trace, which is not easy given ubiquitous 24-hour news channels, citizen reporters, conspicuous Z+ security, CCTV cameras, social media activists, etc. Still, Gandhi manages to parachute (not literally) into a Dalit household from nowhere especially when UP…
Its the Indian economy, stupid
I have not watched Chennai Express as yet. I like to catch the usually low IQ blockbuster Bollywood movies at the multiplex, to marvel the immensely successful Hindi movie mindless masala business model play out yet again. With CE, there is also the added incentive of viewing Deepika Padukone’s fab abs on big screen. Lot…
Indias food security sham
The food security bill that aims to feed 800 million Indians is a sham hammered into existence by the Congress party eyeing the poor as a big vote base. Blinded by the greed of narrow political gains the ordinance is just symbolic and also anachronistic. I have no doubt billions of tax money will be…
Another Coalition Tamasha in India
India is in the midst of another tamasha linked to coalition politics with the DMK withdrawing support to the Congress-led government. The DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi is a first-rate example why no job beats being a politician in this country. He is nearing 90 and harbors hopes to be chief minister of Tamil Nadu again….
Age of Sex in India
What should be the age of consensual sex, 16 or 18? The debate in India is about the right of a 16-year old girl to legally say that she had sex willingly. Otherwise any boy or man can be criminally charged irrespective of what the girl’s views are. This question is a no-brainer in the…
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…
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,…
Siddharth Srivastava 