A few days back, I filed my first application under RTI for 2012. I did this online via RTINation. Considering that RTI Nation is a young start-up, the experience was fairly satisfactory. I will probably give it another try sometime later this year.
My application was to find out more information about the jury for the SK Singh Award. Some of you may remember this news-report that was published in several newspapers in Jan: “S.K. Singh award for nuclear trouble-shooter Venkatesh Varma”. Venkatesh is 3 years my senior in the Indian Foreign …

A few weeks ago, I got an email in my inbox about a very intriguing initiative called “Easyblood”. I had a look at the website and decided to find out more…Here is what I learnt after a brief chat with Souvik. EasyBlood (www.easyblood.info) is an online network cum directory of voluntary blood donors across India. It is an initiative of an NGO set up by Souvik and Bhaskar in Jamshedpur. Souvik and Bhaskar are not your typical jholawallahs – They both gave up lucrative jobs in Banking and Consulting to set up “People …

Yesterday evening, I spent several hours in an truly educative and wonderful discussion with Dr Koenraad Elst.
Dr Elst is a savant – in the truest sense of the word..We discussed a huge range of topics – from Ayodhya and Hindutva  to martial traditions in Buddhism, caste, scriptures, “Vedic Hinduism”, Islam, Infiltration from Bangladesh and thoughts on a Hindu identity…

Several hours into the evening, even as we approached midnight, it still felt as if we had just begun…Amitabh did a video recording of some parts of the discussion which I hope …

Many of you may remember this shloka that used to preface each episode of the seminal series “Chanakya”. I continue to find it profoundly inspiring…Here’s wishing you and your loved ones the very best of health, happiness and prosperity in 2012…
|| Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti… ||

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I would be grateful if any of you can help me with the translation of the entire shloka. Thanks.

Earlier today I leanrt that Dev Anand the legend passed after a heart attack in London…But many of you (especially the younger ones) may not know Dev Sa’ab was a staunch nationalist and openly opposed the Emergency in 1977..
Recalling those days in his autobiography, Dev Anand wrote:
“…the soul of the people was smouldering, their spirit stifled by an iron hand.They were dying to break the shackles, and the lava inside them was gathering momentum, soon to explode into a spluttering volcano.
It just needed a single matchstick to light up. And …

I stumbled on this post by my good friend Sanjay Anandaram and was struck with how much it resonated with me – especially as I recently had a conversation along very similar lines with a young and passionate political-activist. Substitute “political activism” for “startup” and see if this resonates with you…Excerpts from “Balancing life and work“:
“My wife walked out of the house last week. I’ve known her for seven years and we’ve been married for five years and now I feel our relationship is purely transactional. I’m consumed by my …

Dear Friends, I am on vacation with the family and will be offline for the next several days (until 31st Oct).  During this time, I will not be able to moderate and/or respond to comments on the blog. Pl bear with me and thank you for your patience and understanding. I may post an occasional update on facebook and via twitter.
In the meantime, please have a look at the “Archives” (right hand sidebar, next to the “Saluting Our Heroes” book cover). You can rely on serendipity to find something interesting…or use …

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Pl also read: This Diwali, bring some colour into someone’s life…

Just spoke to the brave parents of Captain Saurabh Kalia, Kargil’s first war hero…It was a truly moving and humbling experience..
As many of you would know,
On May 15, Lt Kalia along with five jawans – Sepoys Arjun Ram, Bhanwar Lal Bagaria, Bhika Ram, Moola Ram and Naresh Singh – had gone for a routine patrol of the Bajrang Post in the Kaksar sector when their patrol was captured by the enemy.
They were in their captivity for over twenty-two days and subjected to unprecedented brutal torture as evident from their bodies …

This Independence Day weekend, do something different.. Narrate the story of at least one of our National Heroes to a young child in your family.
Better still, gift them this book: “Saluting Our Heroes: The Param Virs of Bharat” – and ask them to tell you one of its stories!

Have a restful, safe weekend – wherever you are.. and please spare a thought for the ones who gave their lives, and the ones who constantly put it at risk on our borders – day in, day out..Independence Day or not. I will …