I was thinking of writing this post later this week (after going through almost 100 pages of reading material I have accumulated. However, recent events – including Arun Shourie’s impromptu press conference yesterday – have forced my hand.
I will add the points I wanted to make in my original post via the comments section. For now, I want to open this thread to prompt a discussion on the apparent unraveling of the only credible opposition to Congress. It feels like this is the beginning of the end for BJP.
I would …

From an interview of Sunil Mittal, Chairman, Bharti Group (emphasis mine):
Q: And beyond business, what’s on your mind?
A: Business is the only canvas available to me. I am not a trained scientist or a lawyer.
Q: What about politics?
A: Politics is one way of nation building. Sitting in this room five years ago, I would have said yes, I’ll consider that seriously. But by and by, that has gone away. It’s not on the table anymore.
Unfortunate, really.
Somewhat Related: W’end Reading: Nandan Nilekani, Narendra Modi & History

Happy Ganesh Chaturthi to all…
Since I am traveling and in the middle of a fairly intense schedule, I am taking the liberty of reproducing a post I wrote on this occassion last year…
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Today is ”Ganesh Chaturthi” – birthday of BhagwAn Shri Ganesh (celebrated on the 4th day of Bhadrapada – usually Aug/Sept in Julian calendar). Ganesh-ji is widely revered as the remover of obstacles (”VidhnhartA”) and is usually invoked when beginning something new (I usually begin my day with the “VakratunDa MahAkAya…” shloka).
Ganesh Chaturthi is (one of the) most popular …

Heading to India today on my fifth visit this year…I am getting close to the one-a-month average…
This one is going to be intense…5 cities in 9 odd days.
Mostly work related meetings…I will also be conducting a couple of workshops at ISB in Hyderabad and MIT in Pune on Innovation and Entrepreneurship…
Hope to share notes and observations once I am back. Pl. expect some delay in responding to comments…
Have pre-scheduled a bunch of posts so hopefully there will something to read for your every day even though I may not be …

How to be on Time courtesy Guy Kawasaki
Secret files on Veer Savarkar and others kept in London
Transcript of the Dec 4 Discussion on Mumbai Attacks over at the CounterTerrorism Panel
Did Jesus really say to Love Your Enemies? courtesy Andrew Sullivan
The discussion on INS Arihant over at Bharat-Rakshak.com forums.
All the past weekend posts here.
Stay Healthy, Stay Safe. Enjoy the weekend.

This post is really an extract from a discussion on one of the Yahoo! groups I subscribe to. The discussion was triggered by an email from Prof. Michael Witzel in which he wrote (amongst other things):
….I know that whatever I say will be distorted to no end by “argumentative Indians” (per Amartya Sen).
In response, Ashok-ji Chowgule wrote the following comment which I found worth sharing (emphasis mine).
If one were to read Prof Amartya Sen properly, he is actually saying that this concept of ‘argumentative’ is a positive one. Issues are …

Continuing the series of hoax emails…[ Read Part 1 re. John Howard, Part 2 re. LPG Cylinders and Part III re 5% tax on NRIs here.
This “hoax email” is a tip to help “stop the spread of PC viruses”. It usually has the subject “!0000 Trick” or “How to protect your email address book”.
Read on:
*** Hoax Email Begins ***
…I learned a computer trick today that’s really ingenious in its simplicity.
As you may know, when/if a worm virus gets into your computer it heads straight for your email address book, and …

Dear All: After trying (and having failed!) to juggle my work, family commitments and various other things, I have decided to take some time off active blogging.
That does not mean that the blog will not be updated. But it is more likely to be 2-3 posts per week (or even less in some weeks) than the current 5-7. Also, most of these posts will not be *original writing* but excerpts from other articles.
I expect this situation to last for the next 2-3 months.
In the meantime, I am working on some very interesting ideas …

Dear All: Could you please take a few minutes to answer three questions that will help me think through some ideas I have about the site?
I would also appreciate any other suggestions/thoughts you may have. Feel free to use the comments section below or if you prefer – you can email me directly at jaidharma AT gmail.com
Thank you for your time.
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First question is to do with frequency of posting. I currently have a very large backlog of drafts and posts that I would like to publish. Some of you …

Is a “Rising India” a greater threat to USA than Iran, North Korea and oh, Russia?
Watch this snippet of Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas (courtesy Joshua Kucera)

Unbelievable…is all I can say.
Might it have something to do with the US-India war games of 2004? (also read Fred Kaplan’s explanation)
By the way, Senator Cornyn is no light-weight.
…(he) serves on the Armed Services, Judiciary and Budget Committees of the US Senate. He (also) serves as the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee’s Immigration, Refugees and Border Security subcommittee and the Armed Services Committee’s …