I first became aware of Mata Gujri after reading a poem by my friend Gurmeet which she shared on Facebook. The poem was a tribute to Mata Gujri-ji on the occassion of Mothers’ Day. It was enough to spark my curiousity. I decided to find out more…and was not disappointed. Here – in excerpts – is the extraordinary story of Mata Gujri Ji, from the almost forgotten pages of Indian History.
In a talk Gurmeet delivered in 2004, she called Mata Gujri a  perfect woman,a “Puran Istree“.
The word “Stree” originates …

or…Changing India – Step IV
In a few days’ time, I will be making my way to the land of seven sisters…one of my favourite regions of our beautiful country.  I will arrive with the Monsoon…but am looking forward to return with rays of hope in my heart. This is going to be anything but a tourist trip…Over the span of several days, I will be spending lots of time trying to get a better and deeper understanding of the region.
The north-east has long been an ignored part of India. It …

Dear All: It is my pleasure to publish this extract from an article by Anupam Sarwaikar on the Indus Water Treaty (the full article can be downloaded here). In this extract, Anupam specifically talks about the current controversy, Pakistan’s false propoganda on the issue and deliberate distortion of facts. Please read and share widely.
*** “Current Water Crisis in Pakistan and False Propaganda” by Anupam ***
Pakistan blames construction of Hydro electric dams on Indian side for the depletion of water levels in Indus and Chenab.  The actual reasons for the water …

Last month, Hon Sh Chidambaram speaking about the national census called it the “biggest exercise since humankind came into existence“.
As many of you may know already, the enumerators working on the census are aided in their task by a “Census Manual”.  Below are instructions related to Item no. 11 related to “Nationality” (Pg 25) of the Instruction Manual for filling up of the NPR Household Schedule in the Census:
Nationality for each of the enumerated person has to be asked from the respondent and recorded.
Please record the nationality of the …

Most of you must have missed this news (below)…I almost did. Pl read through and see if you can spot something odd. From Politicians behind Orang encroachment (emphasis added):
…facts…reveal how vested political interests have joined hands with illegal settlers and encouraged them to encroach on land, including sensitive Protected Areas..
The latest incident in which scores of people entered Orang National Park and built up shelters within a span of few hours has demonstrated how well-planned and motivated the entire operation was.
It was timely action by forest department personnel, assisted by …

Q: What is common to remittances, media houses and covert evangelism?
A: Grow India

If you have never heard of “Grow India“, I don’t blame you. I was alerted to this combined “effort” of Remit2India and WorldVision via two separate emails yesterday morning (Thanks to M Balaji and S Venkat).
A little bit of digging revealed that Grow India’s aim is
to bring sustainable development to the underdeveloped areas of India…The strategy is to have a sustainable development in…underdeveloped villages that will be monitored by the local governance community ensuring the well being of …