The International Film Festival in Goa was a huge success. In India we like to criticize. Its why we are the world's largest and most vibrant democracy. It also why it makes us some of the most cynical people in the world. I was the Chairman of the Jury for International Films in the competitive [...]
Category: Current Events
We the People
While the world's attention was held by scenes of violence in Libya and elsewhere, it completely missed one of the most significant movements in a Democratic governance any where in the world. An experiment, if it works will be a model for the rest of the world to follow. An experiment in which Civil Society [...]
The Arab Renaissance :There is no partial freedom of the mind
As Libyan dictatorship falls, and the people of Yemen, Morocco, Bahrain and Jordan gather together in a quest to free themselves from dictators or dictatorial Monarchy, this article I had published before becomes more important. Especially because the West had earlier aligned themselves to so many of these Monarchies or Dictatorships that are now (hopefully) [...]
An accident on London Streets
This picture has a peculiar story. I was rushing by Piccadilly in London not sure what was happening and just clicked on it. A very large man standing next to me looked at me accusingly " what the fuck did you shoot that for" I looked carefully and realized it was an accident. Mumbled an [...]
Bhopal: A voice of concern from Udipi in Karnataka
This is from a very concerned citizen, Mr Balakrishnan Reddy : Sir, I saw and heard your comments about the Bhopal tragedy. We almost have similar situation happening in the coastal Udupi district of Karnataka. The 1200mw coal based power project is being built by the rich Congress MP Mr. L. Rajagopal's company Lanco in [...]
Bhopal Gas Tragedy : The great sell out by the government of India.
25 years after the greatest industrial accident in the world. 25 years after over 25,000 perished in an agonizing death on the terrible night when the deadly gas leaked out of the Union Carbide chemical factory in Bhopal, India. Or in slow tortureous deaths in the few weeks following that night as people saw their [...]
Heart of Darkness, Guest Column by Sudhir Mishra
The Naxal crisis has blown up in our face because of our vanity. We have failed to see it as a valid militancy because at the heart of it is desperate poverty. Extremism is often the curse of the impecunious. While the insurgency in Kashmir can still be seen as a diplomatic tangle, or terrorism [...]
IPL: greed caught up with everyone,
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 [...]
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 [...]
MF Hussein again
After I criticized Shree Shree Ravi Shankar's remarks on MF Hussein, I was perhaps not surprised by the how many aggressive responses I got back. What confused me though is many people responded with the painting being both anti Hindu and anti Nationalist. Are are they now the same thing for many people ? I [...]