Hi all,
I recently finished reading the book called Imagining India, written by Nandan Nilekani. To be frank, i took a couple of months to read it and moreover i was "two-timing" the book with my favourite English fiction authors..:) But at the end of it all, i must say the book made for a compelling read.
As Tom Friedman rightly points out, Nandan is a great explainer. Arcane issues are discussed threadbare and in a manner that even lay men can understand. Issues have been separated into broad categories and solutions have been suggested both at the macro and micro level. The ideas are fresh, innovative & even sometimes revolutionary. So revolutionary that,as Nandan himself agrees, it is going to take quite a bit of political will to implement the tough measures that this country so needs. It must be noted here that he has also dealt with the most thorniest of topics and given recommendations on how to go about solving them.
Something bizarre struck me after reading this book. We should make all our politicians read this book to make them realize the dire straits our country is in now and how to work towards making our society more progressive and peaceful. In fact we must have a test based on this book and many others of this ilk. Only if they ace the tests, should they be allowed into Parliament!
Coming back to the book, i certainly recommend this book for anyone regardless of your exposure to issues affecting Indian society. I also sincerely hope that the predictions Nandan has made in favour of India come true ASAP.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Sunday, June 21, 2009
SriLanka: Battle Won, the war lost?
Hi All,
I am sure you would have heard about the recent events in SriLanka and how the war against rebels came to an end and the developing humanitarian crisis got countries world over anxious. The general secretary of the UN has described the scenes he witnessed of the war ravaged regions as "appalling".
I don't wish to take sides in this recently concluded battle. My post here is to highlight the plight of the civilians who were caught between a ruthless militia claiming to fight for their rights and an equally brutal military hell bent on "freeing" them from the clutches of terrorists. The blame for the heavy civilian casualty must be placed on both the government and the rebel forces. But i believe the SL govt must be apportioned a greater percentage of blame than the rebels.
The govt forces were using heavy artillery even at the fag end of the war knowing fully well that the rebels were using civilians as human shields and that the tigers were in no position of bouncing back. The government, even now, is restricting access to humanitarian agencies wanting to go into the war savaged areas. Close 2 hundred thousand civilians have been put under 24 hours of armed guard into a space that
is meant for a fraction of that of population .
While the SL might have won the battle, the fear is that it might have lost the war.
It has failed to cease the opportunity to impress upon the Tamil population that they have been "freed" from the hands of the LTTE. If recent events are any testimony to what is to come, I wouldn’t be surprised if an armed uprising, god forbid, is in the offing.
I am sure you would have heard about the recent events in SriLanka and how the war against rebels came to an end and the developing humanitarian crisis got countries world over anxious. The general secretary of the UN has described the scenes he witnessed of the war ravaged regions as "appalling".
I don't wish to take sides in this recently concluded battle. My post here is to highlight the plight of the civilians who were caught between a ruthless militia claiming to fight for their rights and an equally brutal military hell bent on "freeing" them from the clutches of terrorists. The blame for the heavy civilian casualty must be placed on both the government and the rebel forces. But i believe the SL govt must be apportioned a greater percentage of blame than the rebels.
The govt forces were using heavy artillery even at the fag end of the war knowing fully well that the rebels were using civilians as human shields and that the tigers were in no position of bouncing back. The government, even now, is restricting access to humanitarian agencies wanting to go into the war savaged areas. Close 2 hundred thousand civilians have been put under 24 hours of armed guard into a space that
is meant for a fraction of that of population .
While the SL might have won the battle, the fear is that it might have lost the war.
It has failed to cease the opportunity to impress upon the Tamil population that they have been "freed" from the hands of the LTTE. If recent events are any testimony to what is to come, I wouldn’t be surprised if an armed uprising, god forbid, is in the offing.
I am back...:)
HI all,
I know it has been a long time and I would pardon you if you had thought I was dead or something. No, I am very much alive and kicking!
A couple of delightful things happened over the course of this month. The 9th being my birthday and 11th was the day of our house warming. Though the events were spaced just two days apart, they offered me completely different experiences. I celebrated my birthday for the first time, with ONLY in the company of my friends (Really missed my mother's tasty vadai's and sweets). The house warming, on the other hand was held in the presence of a swarm of our relatives and well-wishers.
We (read my colleagues and I) were in attendance at the Lemon Grass, Bangalore on the evening of the 9th. Dinner was on me and Swapnil, colleague and friend on mine (His b'day was on the 6th...so we decided might as well give the b'day treats together.save some money..recession time u see). The customary cake cutting preceded the sequence of events for that evening. After helping myself and others to generous portions of the cake, we laid our hands on the gastronomic spread and i particular showed lots of commitment[read gobbled up food..:)]
Thank you Jagan, Anu and Prakash for the evening...
I know it has been a long time and I would pardon you if you had thought I was dead or something. No, I am very much alive and kicking!
A couple of delightful things happened over the course of this month. The 9th being my birthday and 11th was the day of our house warming. Though the events were spaced just two days apart, they offered me completely different experiences. I celebrated my birthday for the first time, with ONLY in the company of my friends (Really missed my mother's tasty vadai's and sweets). The house warming, on the other hand was held in the presence of a swarm of our relatives and well-wishers.
We (read my colleagues and I) were in attendance at the Lemon Grass, Bangalore on the evening of the 9th. Dinner was on me and Swapnil, colleague and friend on mine (His b'day was on the 6th...so we decided might as well give the b'day treats together.save some money..recession time u see). The customary cake cutting preceded the sequence of events for that evening. After helping myself and others to generous portions of the cake, we laid our hands on the gastronomic spread and i particular showed lots of commitment[read gobbled up food..:)]
Thank you Jagan, Anu and Prakash for the evening...
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