The Crust of Life

When, in a bold move, the Article 370 was abrogated and Jammu and Kashmir was divided in 3 territories, GoI was fully aware of its repercussions, hence it has imposed a total clamp down in these affected territories. Anyone who is aware of Article 370 and J&K issue would understand this clampdown. However, common citizens like me do not understand as to what it will take for the GoI to bring Kashmir back to normalcy. Hence, I would say its prudent not to comment on "how" to get Kashmir to normalcy. Yes, we all naturally wish that the affected territories return back to normalcy sooner. I am sure that the GoI is fully aware of the repercussions, internally as well as externally. Internally, as I understand, there are high chances of violence erupting in Srinagar and other parts of Kashmir while externally there may be disruptive, violent moves by the enemy neighbour. From the media reports, it is quite evident that Pakistan and China are taken aback b...

Mananiya Pradhan Mantri Shri Narendra Modiji, I am not a politician and I am not involved in any chopper scam or any other scam. I have patiently waited for 50 days and supported you in every way in your decision to demonetise ₹1000 and ₹500 notes. Now, I seek following answers as a common citizen of India. These are not only my questions but questions of 125 crore Indians. 1. How much of unaccounted cash have you unearthed? 2. What was the expense incurred to do this demonetisation exercise? 3. How much of revenue loss has been incurred by states and central governments in terms of indirect tax revenue? 4. What is your plan to revitalise the businesses that suffered due to demonetisation exercise? 5. How many corrupt officials have been caught and jailed? 6. How many people died that can be directly attributed to demonetisation. I am seeking these answers from you directly. Perhaps live on any tv channel at 8pm? These questions may reach you through social media, electr...

It is one thing to aspire for something and its entirely another thing to achieve it. Even though I am a left-leaning liberal, I admire Narendra Modi for having the ability to achieve what he aspires for. He has created such a cult like following that he is considered to be no less than a super-human. Forget about criticizing him, even if you term his achievements as ordinary or less than ordinary, you will invite wrath from die-hard Modi-fans. And, never even try to highlight achievements of his opponents. If anybody can turn a Modi-fan away from Modi, is Modi himself! On one hand I admire him as an able leader and on the other hand I dread his far-right ideology of authoritarianism. Whether I like it or not, the perception that he has created for himself (which is reaping benefits for his party), he will be in Delhi for a long long time. As an authoritarian, his first agenda will be to systematically weed out any challenger within or outside his party. He has smart...

There are three basic political ideologies. Conservatism, Liberalism and Socialism/Communism. Since independence, Indian politics is centered around liberal ideology - Sometimes leaning towards Conservatism and sometimes towards Socialism/Communism, but predominantly on Liberal lines. 2014 is bringing in an ideological shift in Indian politics. It seems to be moving right towards Conservative ideology. Farther right to this would take us to Anarchy. This will certainly make the Liberals lean heavily towards left to keep the balance. If they move too far towards left, it would take us to Anarchist Communism. Over a period of time, Indian politics will become bi-polar like in the west, Conservative and Liberal. What will be the impact on citizens? Economy, human resource development, environment, law and order and social harmony are defined by the dominant political ideology. Since we are witnessing a shift, initially there will be a degree of resistance to change. If resistance i...

Who is worthy of my vote? This question was troubling me since last many months. I was not satisfied with my own answers to this question. But, today, at B.PAC organized meet with the candidates clarified many things and I could come up with one definite answer that I was satisfied with. After a series of scams that rocked the UPA-II, I was feeling quite lost for an answer. Then came assembly elections and AAP won 26 seats in Delhi. I saw a ray of hope. I started liking AAP. However, my happiness was short-lived. AAP could not provide a model of governance which was self-sustaining and long lasting. There was no diplomacy or polity in their approach. AAP came across as a confrontationist party to me. I was back to square one with the question. I started seriously considering BJP for my vote. Somehow, I did not feel it right to vote for just any BJP candidate just because Narendra Modi, who has provided stable governance in Gujarat for last 12 years, was at the helms....