Random notes

This is a rejoinder to “ I ask therefore I am Hindu ” by Sagarika Ghose. In any comment on an article which deals with both faith and politics (of education), the chances of the discourse being adorned with adjectives like malicious, hateful, divisive, etc., are very high. Hence it is better to start with a story to lighten up, to dilute the bitterness which is likely to develop during the discussion. The question was simple. If ‘A’ is equal to 2 and ‘B’ is also equal to 2, what would ‘A+B’ be equal to?  Four people, a teacher, an accountant, an economist and one MSM anchor were invited to answer it. The teacher came and responded ‘4’, promptly & unequivocally. The accountant came, fiddled with his instruments, created a spreadsheet, referred to some books and finally decided that ‘4 ± 10% would be a safe answer, for the time being. The economist (No, not MMS) came, shut the door and closed the blinds, switched off the reading lamp and whispered in the que...

An old story about the art of living, probably heard by many, needs retelling. A college professor came to the class carrying a large, transparent, glass jar and some bags containing unidentified objects. After setting the jar on the table and demonstrating its emptiness to the class, he announced that he was about to give a very important lesson of ‘their’ lives and set about doing so. He opened one bag, it contained tennis balls. Professor began putting the balls in the jar, one by one. He filled the jar with balls to the brim and asked the students, “Is it full?” The class answered  in affirmative. He opened another bag and it contained marbles. Professor began putting the marbles in the jar. Through the gaps created by round curvature of tennis balls, marbles found their way through. Soon he had put lot of marbles in the jar and as the marbles reached the brim, he repeated his question.  The class was not very enthusiastic this time, wary that professor had a...

“I am quitting, with immediate effect.” said God. I was hit by the suddenness of it. God appearing to you can be quite a shock. “Quitting .. What?” I blurted out. “Quitting from the position of God” He was looking sad, weighed down by something. A fraction of a moment later, the realization of what He had said and the implication that the world was coming to an end dawned on me. I felt as if I have been thrown over a steep cliff into a bottomless abyss.  I stammered, “What? You can’t do that!” “Why on earth not? I am the master of my freewill. Are you telling me I am not?” God retorted. “I mean..  I mean, the world would come to an end.. Where would we go? What would we do? Oh, no. Would we survive? I don’t want to die.” I pleaded. “Don’t be melodramatic. Nothing is going to happen to your world.” God dismissed my pleadings. “Nothing will happen? How would world survive without you?” I persisted, still pleading. “Don’t act dumb. I gave you...

Read the following two paragraphs translated from  the book ‘ Babar, First of the Moguls’ written by Grenard, Fernand. “Babur rewarded his men by distributing the huge quantities of loot that came with victory, and allowed those of his followers who wanted to return to Afghanistan to do so, escorting more booty to reward his people who had stayed behind. ” “After securing the public treasures himself and saving those pieces with a cultural value, he liberally distributed the rest among his troops, thus ensuring their loyalty.”   During the medieval times it was normal for the victorious Kings to raid the vanquished for all valuables and to share the loot among the generals, army commanders, soldiers or anyone else who had contributed to winning the battle, either in the form of bonus for the battle already won or to motivate them for the rest of the campaign. The booty could be gold, silver, precious jewels, artifacts or even women.   Superimpose this to...

Dear Mr Arvind Kejriwal, At the outset, my sympathies for the unkind hand dealt to you in the Parliamentary election results. Kindly do not get disappointed by these. We Indians have a habit of leaving incomplete loops even when the verdict seems to be conclusive. We never finish off anyone completely, always leaving a door open for the vanquished to claim his or her self respect and a chance to bounce back into the reckoning. Gain of 4 seats in Punjab is the door which the populace has left open, for you. It is easy to understand your disappointment, though. Not even a single seat in Delhi which was supposed to be your pocket borough. In Haryana, where AAP was planning to fight assembly elections, even dreaming, rather salivating, of forming state government, all candidates finishing 4 th to 6 th with less than 4% vote share! Even Yogendra Yadav who had begun treating himself as Chanakya of Indian politics, came fourth in Gurgaon which happens to be a part of NCR, centre of...

With the final phase of polling done, parliamentary elections are over except for the results. The exit polls are cluttering the TV channels discussing seats, voting percentages, swings & waves as if these are the final results.  The winners & losers in terms of parties & candidates would be become known only when the results are out on 16 th may and any discussion on veracity of exit polls is as fruitless  as churning water. However from the perspective of a young nation state, a democratic one at that, each successive election is an important milestone in the journey towards transparent, fair, representative, honest & progressive polity. It is important to assess the gains made & losses incurred for the polity, the democracy & the country after each milestone, celebrating each gain and mourning each loss. Also, as as usually happens, gains & losses are not cut & dried, black & white. Each positive comes with its own share of n...

Ah! The arrogance of it! You would live a imperial life in a free government accommodation, travel across continents at tax payer’s cost, whizz past all security checks like an extra constitutional authority for five years, and at elections time, land up in dirty, dark & stinking lanes of Amethi, armed with tear jerker stories of your ancestors, fake graciousness & temporarily worn Indianness, to save your kid brother from losing his seat and believe that the voter would get swayed by the dimples, flashing smiles & handloom saaris? In your arrogance, you may still believe, but at your own peril, that the innocent Amethi voter is still willing to get exploited by fake royalty.   Your kid brother who has no achievement to his credit other than being born in Gandhi family, has failed consistently in all that he has undertaken in life, cannot muster courage to speak in Parliament, cannot face a fixed interview, runs to you; the elder sibling at slightest troub...