Dreams, Desires & Destiny

On this Independence Day, “Buy 2 get 1 free” HURRY! All of a sudden, eruptions of sales, discounts and bonanzas especially on 15th of August sweep the Indian market. Who is celebrating with us? They are foreign “Multinationals”. There was a time when Britishers’ considered our country their golden bird and we collectively despised their unfair trade practices. Earlier it was fair for them and unfair for us but now on the 63rd year of our Independence it is fair for both of us. So what exactly has changed? India was the biggest trading venture then, now it is the biggest partner.  What is the contrast? Earlier it was Britain extracting cheap raw materials and even now the situation appears similar when they do outsourcing for cheap labour. As it has become a bit fashionable to say “I work for a British multinational.” Rules have changed, power has been transferred, yet the business remains the same. India and Britain share a historical association of over three...

Ever felt that "Yeah, I did wrong but I was never supposed to do that". Guilt of not responding to your guts out of fear is human nature. Being true to yourself is quite difficult a thing sometimes. When we were small children we had one thing in common in between all of us and that was our innocence and honesty. As the time passed by, we all grew up and things certainly changed. We used to be fearless as children. Honesty was the best policy for us till then. So, what exactly happened to our guts of saying what we liked, what we had in mind, and what we wanted to say? Did all earthly things come in between you and your honesty? No, it was the slow deterioration of our faith in our best trait that we had or have, if it exists somewhere within each one of us. So, when was the last time when you had this wonderful feeling after confessing something that you always felt was rocking your life upside down? When was the last time you really stood out for a cause that was...

    I had lunch at Luytens’, played golf at the exclusive greens of Delhi Golf Club and had a private party at Minister’s official residence and dozen other places. Who am I? Currently, in India I am termed as an ambiguous phenomenon. People scream from rooftops to curb me, dismantle me, and regulate me, etc. I belong to a super-exclusive group which have members like Niira Radia,Tony Jesudasan, Deepak Talwar, Suhel Seth,  V. Balasubramaniun, Dilip Cherian etc.. I am a Lobbyist. According to Wiki’s description, “A lobbyist is a person who tries to influence legislation on behalf of a special interest or a member of a lobby. Governments often define and regulate organized group lobbying that has become influential”. Hail the world of the influence-rs who fit in to a small breed of men and women. The clan who understands that to generate more money out of money, you must k...

A few centuries back, French philosopher Voltaire quoted “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” Freedom of Speech or Expressions is such a right. The devoid of it is despotism. With this indispensable freedom for human race come two associated requisites: One is rationality and the other is accountability. We as a citizen of India are equally responsible of what we express and how we express.  Everyone does have a right is understood in democracy. Although,when it is not understood or exercised in true perspective of freedom, it subsequently release fumes of hatred, violence, misinterpretations and hostility among the same people for whom it was meant. There are numerous instances where this inevitable requirement backfired at our own institution. Way back in 1996, India’s most celebrated painter Maqbool Fida Hussain created fur ore in Hindu community by painting the deities of Goddesses Saraswati, Parvati,...

During the early 1800’s, Britishers' faced a peculiar problem in sub-continent regarding communication. As a ruling class they found it quite difficult to bond India due to linguistic diversities this country had. The entire education structure in India consisted of many languages and dialects. So their plans to educate Indians became quite a complex issue to resolve. The cultural differences were huge. The entire education set up was vastly different then what they had in their own country. The education survey and research was done about what can be done and what needs to be done to bond each and every Indian by some common spoken language. At that point of time Sanskrit, Persian and Arabic were the classical traditional languages spoken and but not widely understood by Indians. The Council of Education was formulated and was assigned the task to restructure the education system. But the members of the council themselves were divided on which language to be chosen ...