Rumi Nations

I posted this comment on Sandipan Deb's article in Livemint . So let me try to understand ... Mostly it seems folks are 'angry' with that   Italian mafia   running this country. Hmmmm ... (1)   Is India like a family-owned corporation where ownership gets passed from mom/dad to son/daughter? Like in an Ambani-run business or Adani-run business? Or folks are   angry   with some party variously called   Khangress   or   CONgress   which has been   looting   this country since 60 years. (2)   Again, begs the question —> Has India been a dictatorship like an Iraq or Egypt or Pakistan for all these years? The author asks for an accounting of the   achievements   of the government over the past 10 years. The achievements of the government are not really separate from the achievements of the people. What has been the story of each of our lives in the last 10 years. Let us do a double-entry ...

I put in a rather long comment on this article in Livemint. So, obviously I have to paste that comment on my blog and make a blog post out of it! 1) Who's that Duncan Fletcher guy pictured with Dhoni? Anyway, neither do I know nor do  I wish to know. I just wish people of India would stop making Gods out of silly young men that cricketers are. Even compared to the cricket that I grew up with, the days of Srikanth, Amarnath, Vengsarkar, Azhar, Sachin, Ganguly, Laxman, and Dravid, now the game is all too commercialized. Too much cricket, too much money, too many crores (and girls) dangling in front of talent-less young men. 2) What a fall when you consider that we started with "Yug-purush" such as Nehru to today's "half-purush" such as Rahul Gandhi and Manmohan Singh. Why did the people of India elect these jokers in 2004? And re-elect in 2009? But then again, what is the alternative before the billion poor of this country? No, Modi is certainly not who...

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...

Proactivity tips for Rahul Gandhi in no particular order of importance: 1)  Become his own chauffeur ... like the J&K CM. This should be 'cool' for the youngsters of the nation. One has heard tales of his keenness for going go-karting in some 'top secret' locations on the Delhi-Gurgaon stretch. And also in the process lose Satish Sharma as the driver. He looks permanently inebriated ... or worse -- drugged. 2)   Do some daredevilry of the sky diving kind -- again will be found very inspirational and exciting by the youth. If the older Bush can do it at 85 or so, no reason why the 'young' Gandhi can't. 3)  Take tips from these three female heroes (or is that heroines?) of mine: Kalpana Chawla, Sunita Williams, Marissa Mayer. Think of what they have accomplished by the age of 40 or even before and inspire yourself.

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.