…or History made simple, courtesy IBN.
IBN this morning has a breathtaking exclusive: “The untold story of accession of Kashmir“
All in 193 words (or a 2-minute video for those how prefer pictures to words).
A subject around which four wars have been fought, tens of thousands of soldiers have been killed, several hundreds of thousands been displaced, has been condensed in less than 200 words by the great editors and journalists at IBN.
Bravo!
But then IBN specialises in making complicated things simple. See for example, its recent programme on whether it was worth …

Here is a question for all readers:
Why is a “Hindu nation” automatically assumed to be a “fundamentalist, fascist state led by Hindutva fanatics”?
My hypothesis is: A Hindu state can�be the ultimate secular state since respect (not just tolerance or indifference) for all beliefs and religions will be enshrined as part of the constitution – officially*.
Note: This is a hypothesis; not an assertion.
I need your thoughts and comments to prove or disprove it. What do you think?
Comments, thoughts – including opposing points of views�- and reactions very welcome.
.
* I know that …

By now most (if not all) of you must have read the news about Dr Haneef Mohammed being cleared of all charges in what looks like a ham-handed investigation�by the�Australian authorities including a�series of bungles by prosecutors and the Australian Federal Police (AFP).
What intrigued me though was this bit of news: “Indian officials call Haneef’s release a ‘diplomatic success’“
While I admire the Indian government and the fine officials at the High Commission in Canberra that helped in this matter, is it not a bit of a stretch to to claim …

Alert reader Shefaly pointed me in the direction of this piece by Rod Liddle in the Sunday Times of UK “If Muslims revered cattle, Shambo would still be mooing” re. Shambo, a bull in Wales that had tested positive for tuberculosis. Shambo was executed by lethal injection on Thursday (26th) night despite protests from the Hindu community.
A brief excerpt from Rod’s article (emphasis mine):
“…I wonder…if the members of the (Welsh) assembly would have dared to make their decision if it were Muslims rather than Hindus who chose to revere cattle?
And …

This is one of the most extraordinary examples I have come across of contempt towards and complete disregard of Hindu sensibilities by our “secular government”.
The chart shows how proceeds from ~ 250,000 temples in Karnataka have been distributed over the past few years (pl click below to enlarge):

Sourced from BharatJagran.com
It shows that between ’97-’98 and ’02-’03, disbursements to temples for renovation and maintenance fell (more than halved) from Rs 16.5 cr to Rs 7.1 cr even as revenues collected from Temples rose from Rs 58.63 crores to Rs 79 …

�to Pragya who painstakingly went through all the uncategorized posts on my blog (going back all the way to 2004) and categorized them neatly – thus creating a powerful index of archives and even better referencing for all the material.
This was a thankless task � and I am very grateful to Pragya for having done it � and not only done it very well but also in record time (under 3 days!).
Thanks Pragya.

A few days ago,�I came across this email from Arjuna in which he was responding to an assertion regarding foreign origin of the word “Hindu”.
I have written on this before (see e.g. here�and�more�recently, here) but Arjuna had some�good references�in his email which I am excerpting below:
“While it is true that…foreigners used this term as a derogatory label, it is simply a lie to claim that the Hindu people feel this way about the word �Hindu�.
�
In actual fact, the Vijaynagar Empire was proud to call itself �Hindu� in its long struggle …

…actually I don’t really know. But perhaps�Behen Mayawati-ji may have some tips to share.
This is a subject with such rich pickings (pun unintended) and�I am�seriously considering�a series on “How to earn Rs XYZ crores�X years”�focused on politicians (- feel free to write in�with tips and information).
But I digress. Back to Mayawati-ji.
Going by her recently declared assets, at 51, Mayawati-ji has roughly earned an average of Rs. 1crore each year since she was born. Considering her modest background and education, this is an extraordinary achievement.�
To give Mayawati-ji her due (courtesy Tavleen …

From an article in �TIME, “China Limits Teenage Internet Gaming“:
“…Under new rules that took effect Monday, Chinese Internet gaming companies must install a program that requires users to enter their ID card numbers.
After three hours, players under 18 are prompted to stop and “do suitable physical exercise.”� If they continue, the software slashes by half any points earned in the game.
All points are wiped out if players stay on more than five hours.”
!!

… (but)�miles to go before�I sleep…
Last�week,� my blog turned three�years old and received its 900th comment to its 300th post*.�
This has been a hard journey…but more than worth all the effort and pain.
On the��internet�, three years is a long time for a blog�and yet it just feels like yesterday when I wrote my first post.
Until about three years ago, I was like any other normal, middle-class Indian – long on debate/discussion and short on action. Something happened three years ago that changed all that and led to the creation of …