Last night watched Star News give wearisome details on the forensic lab in Gandhinagar which will conduct the narco-analysis. All this harping on analysis, and very little on investigation. I’m guessing that the authorities are content to sit on their bums, and twiddle their thumbs while the week-long analysis is going on. Whatever happened to […]
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The Shame of India ?
All I hear on desi TV is about the Noida killings. On the phone with family, everyone asks if we’ve heard of the heinous matter. Yes, we have. Again and again, publicised on TV as the “Shame of India”. Really ? And is that all ? This really turns me into the Cynic-of-all-time. Why is […]
Read the rest of this entry »Incredible India and the tourist
I am not too gung-ho about make-over programs but some of them I do like (like TLC’s “What not to wear”). There is also “10 years younger” which I’m not much into because the anchor of the show (who’s a young man) is pretty cruel, when he is pretending to be sympathetic. I know nicey-nice […]
Read the rest of this entry »Viewing religion
Reading Outlook I am amazed at the differences between the columns of 2 Muslim women . The first, Yvonne Ridley who converted to Islam writes on “How I came to love the veil” and the second, activist Asra Nomani writes on “Beyond the veil”. It seems to me that while Ridley defends her adopted religion, […]
Read the rest of this entry »Old is as old does
There’s a Chinese fast-food restaurant near my place of work. It’s yummy (read spicy food with lot’s of chili paste), reasonably priced, and the service is quick. So I frequent it often. I see quite a few older folk in there usually. Older couples mostly. Like the one I saw yesterday. In their 70’s or […]
Read the rest of this entry »Gandhi : now uber-cool
ct. 2nd comes with a bang this time. Yes, it’s Gandhi’s Birthday allright, and all the netas are still doing the media rounds garlanding all Gandhi statues in the vicinity, so nothing’s changed there. But this time there’s a fervor sweeping the nation (or maybe just the media ?). Watching TV and all the stuff […]
Read the rest of this entry »The politically-connected ? Always innocent !
Some time back I remember seeing Bina Ramani on TV, being interviewd by Ruby Bhatia on one of those mind-body-health shows. Ruby has been places on that show, a monastery in Eastern India, an ashram in the South etc. and has interviewed various people on the show. On that show she interviewed Ramani and asked […]
Read the rest of this entry »Side-effects of law-enforcement
Chockful ! Chockful of cars. Bumper-to-bumper traffic. That’s how I’d describe it, and I’m sitting in it. All 5 lanes are the same. If you need to travel by freeway you must travel like this. Not that the feeder road is any better. However there is a bright side to this story. Since it’s 2 […]
Read the rest of this entry »On my right to worship
Women are impure. Sabrimala Temple to conduct purification rituals. I’ve watched this issue on TV, read about it in the media. I mean, it’s not such a secret really. There are temples that ban women from certain services. Sometime back I’d read about the Sardarnis who’d tried to perform seva at the Golden Temple. They […]
Read the rest of this entry »How to offend Indian sensibilities 101
There are now several ways to offend various sections of the Indian public. If you are female you have so many more options than the men – oh, lucky you ! Take your pick : 1. You could speak your mind on pre-marital sex, and offend political parties, and get sued, like Khushboo. 2. You […]
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