Rumi Nations

Who says Indians are NOT dense? I thought the evidence was pretty clear. Just look at the obsession with silly religious rituals. Look at how sundry godmen are prospering. Look at how 'popular' Double Sri Bearded Widow is among the section of our population who are supposed to be among the most educated. Look at the obsession with cricket and Bollywood —> and the obsession, in turn, of those 'heroes' of people (Sachin and Bachchan) with various gods. One donates crores to this and that god; another sheds tears when charlatan Afro Sai Baba dies. Even the pointless 'heat' during the present election season shows the silliness of Indians. The choices on offer are all so mediocre that I am mostly happy to remain a bystander. But look at the Modi-bhakts who are happy to abuse all and sundry at the slightest bit of 'questioning' of their 'leader.' They will abuse all and sundry — whether it's Mahesh Murthy or a retired gen...

Let's not pretend that Rahul Gandhi is anything other than an embarrassment. He is merely a beneficiary of dynasty. Indians love to hate their politicians. Manmohan Singh is getting the flak too for numerous corruption scandals under the present government. This has prompted certain numbers of people to become vocal advocates of a certain Narendra Modi. It's as if the admittedly absolute incompetence of Rahul Gandhi or Sonia or the others in Congress were a proof of competence of the Gujarat chief minister. The problem with considering Modi to be the "solution" to India's problems is that this pushes various inconvenient truths under the carpet. Sure, Modi does not indulge in corruption. But he runs a personality-centered administration — perhaps somewhat like Putin. Critics are obliterated. Then there is the residue from that riot in 2002. But as Lessig compared USA-land to Lester-land and argued that Lestor-land was in fact better; similarly, In...

Let’s consider a few fun possibilities that would occur if Gandhi were around today. What would happen to all the self-proclaimed Gandhians? Would Gandhi be in favour or opposed to Anna Hazare? What would Gandhi do with lying lawyers like Kapil Sibal or tendentious toadys like Digvijay Singh? May be Gandhi would go on an obligatory spin in the skies in the Sukhoi and the LCA Tejas. Would Gandhi have been miffed at Pokhran II àIndia’s famed nuclear tests of 1998? May be he would have gone on a fast unto death. And how would the glacially moving poet Vajpayee have reacted to that? Though he was lean and thin, still Gandhi would need a knee-cap replacement surgery at this age. Would Gandhi hum along with the catchy Kolaveri D tune or criticize it as nonsense … somewhat like … err … Javed Akhtar? May be Gandhi would have preferred Gangnam Style and we would all be seeing a YouTube video of him dancing merri...

Mr. Rahul Gandhi, let's face it, is your usual average, run-of-the-mill spoiled brat, rich kid, etc. The kind of guy who typically tend to spend their lives splurging their father's money, like, Sidhartha Mallaya. They usually are to be found in bars everywhere from Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore to London, Madrid, New York City, and elsewhere. When they get unlucky, they crash their Ferraris or BMWs or Lamborghinis -- and make it to the papers. It's the tragedy of India that we should be debating whether he deserves to be the PM. The alternative: Narendra Modi.