I think that one feature common to the majority of the third world countries is that they don’t have one law for all. (more…)

This is not a rhetorical question. Have you ever seen any Indian leader weep for the misery and hardship that millions of Indians endure throughout their lives and often die prematurely from natural but preventable causes? Have you ever seen any Indian leader weep for the thousands killed and mutilated by Islamic terrorism in India? If they do, they must do so in private and is not reported by the press. (more…)

That great Indian teacher, Gautama who became the Buddha, had once instructed his followers to stop dithering. He said, “Bhikshus, when you sit, you sit. When you stand, you stand. Don’t dither.” (more…)

I was looking at the stats of this here blog and was rather amused by the numbers. Here is a snapshot of how the numbers add up.
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I have often wondered if there is a way to confirm whether or not someone was (is) genuinely good for India, or just inconsequential window dressing, or positively harmful. I have a tentative test. The test has to be tested. Exceptions prove the rule, they say. That is, exceptions test the test. So I am looking not just for instances that confirm the hypothesis but also those exceptions that test the soundness of the hypothesis. But first the hypothesis or what can be termed as a wild paranoid conjecture. (more…)

If you like trains, you would like these pictures. I got them from an email making the rounds. Have fun!
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These days it is rational to be mindful of security and be aware of possible threats from bombs and IEDs. We have to be reasonable about the whole thing. Panic never helps and could indeed be counter-productive. I thought the point I was trying to make was transparent enough in the previous post on this matter but going by some of the comments to that post, my failure to communicate is evident. (more…)

It is time to come clean and reveal what this blog is all about. The most apt subtitle for this blog titled “On India’s Development” would be “It’s the Little Things, Stupid.” Here’s why. (more…)

I posted a comment to Mr Swaminathan S Anklesaria Aiyar’s article “What Pranab will not say in his budget speech” in today’s Economic Times. The comment was “Mr Aiyar, kudos. You have hit the nail on the head. I could not have said it better. Clearly Pranab-da will not say that because of one reason alone: votes and vote banks.” The comment was held for moderation. (more…)

Swaminathan S Anklesaria Aiyar, I am pleased to note, has a great column in the Economic Times, What Pranab Will Not Say in his Budget. His points are right on. (more…)

Happy Valentine’s Day!!

[Click on the picture to see the original at Rajan Parrikar's site.]

Two days ago on Friday I had I a learning experience. My friend AN who had stopped to visit me in Pune for a few days on his way back from Australia was leaving. AN had worked and studied in Canberra for a few years and is now in the process of settling in Delhi. He was leaving and I went down with his bags to see him off. We had to stop at the shopping complex close by and so decided that we would leave his big suitcase at the gate of the housing complex and come back in a few minutes instead of dragging the suitcase around the place. What followed was instructive at many levels. (more…)

Many people know that I live in Pune. I want to assure everyone that I am fine. Thanks for your concern. I used to live about a mile from German Bakery and would often get cakes and cookies from there. A few years ago I moved out of Kalyani Nagar (which is adjacent to Koregaon Park where the German Bakery is).

This evening there was a bomb blast at a bakery in Koregaon Park in Pune. A few dozen killed. Not a big deal. Indians don’t mind such minor inconveniences. Indians take mass-scale murders in their stride and don’t blink. We will read in the newspapers about the resilience of the population tomorrow, especially in The Times of India. (more…)

Finally something connected to this blog that the Italian Madam in Delhi will approve of. Good news for all Italians in India and around the world: Bernardo Parrella, editor of “Voci Globali: il meglio della blogosfera internazionale” wrote to say that this blog will be part of their “best of international blogosphere.” (more…)

Charlie Munger said, “Safest way to get what you want is to deserve what you want. Deliver to the world what you would buy if you were on the other end” in a commencement address to the USC Law School in 2007. A copy of full transcript is here. The “Cliff notes” of that speech was posted by some kind soul and I am reproducing them with gratitude (but without permission.) (more…)

My friend Rajan Parrikar’s pictures are awesome. Click on the thumbnail to get to his picture site.

B Raman’s piece Pakistan’s World of Illusions in OutlookIndia.com ends rather surprisingly. Raman makes a very convincing case of Pakistan’s duplicity — not a very difficult thing to do, you would say. Perhaps the people at the Time of India running the crazy Aman ki Asha scheme need to read Raman. What I find puzzling is the paragraph Raman concluded with. (more…)

The Great American Road Trip 2010 will start off on July 15th from the east coast on June 15th 2010 and end in the San Francisco Bay area around July 21st. Keep checking the site for updates. (more…)