I had been hearing the name of Narayanan Krishnan for the last few days but travel and work prevented me from finding out more…This morning, I finally read his story…and could not stop my tears… Many of you may have already read/heard his story…Those of you who have not, please read brief excerpts below. Krishnan’s story starts in 2002…At age 20, he was young, award-winning chef with a five-star hotel group, short-listed for an elite job in Switzerland. But a quick family visit home before heading to Europe …

On the eve of Deepavali, please read and think about these excerpts from Radha Rajan’s thought-provoking article on Ayodhya and why its reclamation has a direct bearing on the Hindu identity (emphasis added):
From “Ayodhya – Deciding Battle for the Hindu Nation“:
Nations, nation-states, religions and civilizations in their entirety have been irretrievably wiped off the face of the earth by Islam and the Church; while there is no vestige of pre-Islamic and pre-Christian religions in Rome, Greece, America and Africa, the Hindu nation, even after the combined onslaught of Islam, the …

Reproduced from “Lies with Long Legs” – a remarkable book by Dr Prodosh Aich that I have just finished reading* (below a brief excerpt from Pg 100; emphasis added)…
During this phase it was easier to recruit personnel. The outlook of making a fortune outweighed the fear of expected adversities. The formal salary was kept rather low. Even the governors – this was the designation of the heads of the headquarters – didn’t get more than £300 a year.  But at all levels each and everyone was …

Please take a moment today to remember the “Iron Man” of India: Lauh Purush Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel…

Image Courtesy: Government of India

A stalwart whose name seems to have forgotten in popular memory that is drowning amidst a sea of names ending with “Gandhi”.  Unfortunately, he did not live long after Independence. I wonder the India that might have been had the Sardar lived longer.
Also read, his letter to PM Nehru in 1950, days before his death – warning of the threat from China.

As the interlocutors talk of amending the Indian Constitution to consider the “Azaadi” option for Jammu & Kashmir, please realise that slience and indifference are no longer an option…
This could be the beginning of another division of India…another partition and another bloodbath…
Nail the LIES on Jammu & Kashmir.
Remind your friends and acquaintances of the history of the accession of the State. Those who question Kashmir’s history and links with India need to be forcefully reminded that Kashmir owes its name to Maha-Rishi Kashyap.
Remind them of the numerous …

This post was prompted by an article I read yesterday. From Eye On: Conditional Cash Transfers by Adrienne Villani, this brief excerpt (emphasis added):
What do we really know about what works and what doesn’t when fighting debilitating global poverty?
What about aid? Does it “work”? …what paths to development truly maximize results? Where should we concentrate our energies? Should we concentrate on the role of institutions, macroeconomic policies, growth strategies, and other country-level factors? Or should we take a more grassroots approach—concentrating on microeconomic interventions such as …