Personal »

[26 Feb 2013 | 6 Comments | 202 views]
In which I’m called an “armchair activist” and an “opportunist”..

..in other words, the hazards of a “political career”!
A close friend recently sent me an email expressing concern about some “opinions” that  he heard about me and asked if I had joined AAP (Aam Aadmi Party).
I am not sure where he got this “news” from – but I assured him it was false. I suspect it may have something to do with my recent meeting with Arvind Kejriwal.
I told my friend that although I had a good meeting w/ Arvind, I have not yet joined AAP – or any other …

Distortions, Misrepresentation about Hinduism, Indian Economy, Indian Media, ToI Columns »

[9 Feb 2013 | 3 Comments | 250 views]
The nonsense about the “Hindu Rate of Growth”..

This is a short, hurried and somewhat angry post. A few hours back, I was alerted by Gopi-ji to a couple of headlines from two well-known newspapers. The first from Mail Today read “Back to Hindu Growth Rate“. The second ironically, was from “The Hindu” and asked the question “On a ‘Hindu’ growth path?”

Neither article cared to explain what exactly was the “Hindu Growth Rate” – or why was a growth rate ever labelled with the name of a faith.
So for my young friends who may be reading this, here is …

Indian Medicine & Ayurveda »

[8 Feb 2013 | 3 Comments | 168 views]
This one is for the humble coconut..

From a recent article in TIME Magazine on The Coconut Craze:
“…The coconut is becoming America’s latest trendy exotic edible, following the path of the pomegranate and the aa berry.  The hottest part of the market is coconut water, the clear, slightly sweet liquid inside the fruit: sales of coconut-water drinks in the U.S. and Europe have doubled to more than $265 million in 2011 and are expected to double again in the U.S. this year, according to New Nutrition Business, a consulting group in London. “Coconut water is the fastest growing beverage …

Miscellaneous, Personal »

[4 Feb 2013 | 4 Comments | 141 views]
On FTI, blogging & such: An Important Clarification

Dear All: This post is being written with the explicit purpose of clarifying a few misconceptions and misunderstandings about FTI, about some of my FTI colleagues, their utterances, my views and such.
I am purposely making this a matter of public record. Hopefully this will go some way in helping my colleagues, potential FTI members, our potential allies and fellow political activists/organisations understand where we stand on certain matters & statements that may cause confusion and/or misunderstanding (and potentially even ill-will). It should also help in clarifying the differences in stance …

Miscellaneous »

[27 Jan 2013 | 22 Comments | 1,036 views]
Gut-wrenching & stomach churning..(Not Suitable for Work or for Children; Extremely Disturbing)

Dear Friends, below is a horrifying and truly gut-wrenching 3-minute video that will shock you to the core. I was alerted to this courtesy, Radha Rajan-ji of VigilOnline. It comes from a slaughter house in Kerala (to be verified). As Radha-ji mentioned in her email (emphasis added), there is a good chance
…most of you will not watch it because our stomach turns in guilt, shame and intense pain because our inaction, our silence is also complicity in the crime.
This is not an ethical way to treat animals leave alone ethical …