Rumi Nations

So, it's one year now since Obama won a historic election. We — not to mention the media — tend to overuse the 'historic' word all too often and thereby have devalued it quite a bit. I think Obama's win was one of those occasions that truly deserves this epithet. We humans are at a stage in our evolution when our ethnic, national, racial, etc. identities mean a lot to us. We have not yet learnt to transcend these narrow definitions of who we are. In India, of course, we still continue to cling — like our lives depended on this — to our religions, our caste, and sub-castes and what not. And so the media will predictably spend hours discussing Obama's successes and failures in these past 365 days. Perhaps in a set-up as complex as that prevailing in the United States, it's not much that a President can do. Crises of course present opportunities. FDR was a "war President" who rose to the multiple challenges that he was presented with. Lincoln of course sh...

William Safire died a few days ago. I remember reading his wonderful columns on language some years ago. Tim Russert had died last year quite unexpectedly. Two wonderful commentators belonging to complementary fields. I wonder if there are similar commentators in Indian media -- or, if that is at all possible. I think the media and the powers that be in India might be too much hand in glove -- the media tycoons would be reluctant to upset the applecart by having straight-talking columnists on their payroll. The reading public is also perhaps not looking so much at learning about the unvarnished truth as it's seeking to get some 'entertainment.' People of India tend to have a rather convenient moral sense and their value system often tends to be 'relative.' We need people who question Supreme Court decisions (and the necessary legal framework so that judges do not hide behind a 'contempt of court' wall) and who call a spade a spade or 'congenital liars....