IPL was an easy target for the power hungry to swoop down on. It was perfect. There was no land laws or farmer's lands to forcibly acquire, no licenses for factories, no labour laws. Nothing but an escalating brand at a hyped values that seemed to have no limits. Hyped because the team owners are [...]
Author: shekhar
Shashi Tharoor and the politics of Disruption
Whenever change is coming, the people on top of the pile suddenly let go their own differences and unite against the forces of change. Does not matter where you are. People that have spent their life struggling to the top by fair or unfair means have such a strong investment in the existing system, that [...]
A hopeful view of experience: Paani
From Deepak R: Bijapur,I have lived in this dusty town, fought many college debates on water crisis here,spent many days of my life fetching water and storing it away, taken out protests with the local authorities. In many ways this small historic town has remained unchanged since 100 years. People in reality do not expect [...]
Green Zone the film and the truth about Iraq
I just saw Paul Greengrass's Green Zone, which says it is inspired by Rajiv Chandrasekharan"s " Imperial life in the Emerald City". Which is a terrific book. The film may have been inspired by something in the book, but Matt Damon's character was certainly inspired by the character in Bourne Identity. Cinematically brilliant (like the [...]
The Story of Paani
This came in from Bhaskara : "Today I was watching a local kannada news channel. There was a news that, people in Bijapur were furious over water supply. The reason was for weeks there was no water supplied to homes. When the public attacked the local water regulation body, they found out that there was [...]
The Yellow Shirt and Christoph Waltz
Suresh (he, the one that got kissed by Cate Blanchett) laid out my favourite shirt. It's a yellow shirt that does not fade, and crumples in a way that speaks of casualness and not shabbiness, and it's so loose that I can slump around anywhere and it will hide my body posture. Plus every time [...]
Mohammad Yunus and Social Bussiness. Poor people are more socially conscious and honest.
Spent a day in a discussion and conference with this amazing man. Prof or Doctor, whatever adjective you want to give him, Mohammad Yunus, the founder of Grameen Bank and many other Grameen Enterprises has changed and continues to change the lives of millions of people in Bangladesh and all over the world. Bringing people [...]
Does true love only come with age and wisdom ? Heath Ledger’s screen test
When I screen tested Heath Ledger for Four Feathers I said to him that I wanted him to perform the same scene two ways. One as a young man without the experience and chaos of life. In which love means all about taking. And the other as the same man, having gone through chaotic experiences [...]
We are the stories we tell ourselves. My talk at TED.com
I am a very shy man. I went in and came out of my TED talk a little uncomfortable. I am not a speaker, but if I do, I use the platform to hear words from myself that I have not heard before. I like to surprise myself and see if I can get in [...]
The economics of consumerism
I always wondered the logic of President Obama's economic stimulus package. It was based on restoring confidence. And confidence (whether Obama meant that or not) is measured by the people consuming more. Every Christmas, for example, the economy is measured by the amount people spend in stores. And this is becoming a measure of economic [...]