Opinions of a young Indian

Few days back, I was just going through news headlines when I came across a report that mentioned heavy snowfall in parts of USA resulting in a huge damage to life and property. I started wondering how America has become a superpower in spite of all the adversities- unfavorable climate and lack of certain natural resources. And why is India, despite such abundance of resources and propitious geographic conditions, still lagging behind? Well, I perhaps got the answer the very next day when I came to know of the Koregaon Bhima violence in Maharashtra. To be frank, we all know this answer, don’t we? We know very well where do we lag and what has hurt the development prospects of our great country all these years. Incidents like Maharashtra violence are just strong and embarrassing reiterations of the unfortunate state of our country. On going deeper, I came to know of the history of the Battle of Koregaon Bhima, the significance of the date and the prominence which the place and th...

The speculations are over, the chaos and noise has finally ended and the all important verdict is out. The Gujarat Vidhan Sabha Results are finally in our hands and the ruling party BJP has won a consecutive sixth time, thus retaining its bastion in the state and reiterating the strength of saffron in the present political scenario. However, there is much more to this mandate than is visible on the face of it. This win in Gujarat, a state which has traditionally been a BJP stronghold, was not a cakewalk for them this time around. Unlike most of the recent elections, the Congress looked like posing some serious challenge to the incumbent BJP thus making Gujarat elections one of the most hard fought and exciting electoral contests in the recent times. So what were the factors that were playing on the minds of 6 crore Gujaratis when they went out to vote? Firstly, as is quite visible from the result, there was a significant level of resentment against the ruling state government,...

In cricket there have been numerous good innings, there have been certain great innings and then there have been rare acts of sheer single handed domination. What Rohit Sharma did at the PCA Stadium of Mohali on Wednesday was undoubtedly an act of domination and mercilessness on the Sri Lankan bowlers. In the process, he went on to become the only batsman to score 3 double centuries in ODI’s (in fact he was the only one to score 2 of them).   The fact that there have been only 7 double hundreds scored and one man having scored 3 of them shows what this man is made up of. Rohit’s career is a perfect example of focus and persistence. Like most other successful sportspersons, Rohit has been through difficult times in his career. As is the case in Indian cricket sometimes even highly talented players fail to solidify their place in the team. Same was the case with Rohit. In fact, having made his ODI debut in 2007 it took him about 5 years to cement his place in the Indian playin...

Understanding India is extremely difficult. It has been thousands of years, and there has certainly been no fixed pattern identified which meticulously defines the Indian mindset and behavior. Such incredible is the diversity and heterogeneity of our country that you can hardly predict which way the things are going to turn. When Sanjay Leela Bhansali would have thought of making Padmavati, perhaps he would not have thought of the tremors that the movie is going to create prior to its release. Or even if he had given it a thought, he probably underestimated the extent of displeasure that the movie would face. This is indeed getting out of hands now. I do not get a very good feeling of all that has unfolded in the past couple of weeks regarding this controversy. And let me make it very clear why. Firstly, let me strongly emphasize upon the fact that I am strictly against any form of distortion with the historical facts and misrepresentation of the rich legacy that we have inher...

The Supreme Court has revisited its much talked about decision taken last year which ordered playing National Anthem in all cinema halls across the country. The Court feels that standing for the National Anthem is not a measure of patriotism. It is now for the Central Government to take its stand on the issue. Whatever the course of events are, I feel it is time we talk about patriotism and nationalism and get a clear idea of what can actually be called as ‘Anti National’. I remember reading an anecdote long back about an incident in Japan. There was a thief who had entered a house. The owner of the house played the Japanese National Anthem and the thief stood in attention which gave the security guards enough time to catch him. Later on, the thief was praised for his patriotism while the owner was found guilty of insulting the National Anthem. Among many other interpretations, one thing which this interesting story prominently tells us is that Patriotism cannot be forced- it ha...

We Indians are quite ambitious and optimistic people. A nice example of this was seen recently when we came to know of the commencement of the work for the much awaited Bullet Train from Ahmedabad to Mumbai. While some are questioning the feasibility of the project in a developing economy like India, the reception for the Bullet Train has been mostly positive, in fact celebratory. I don’t have any problems with Bullet Train. Actually, I feel good that the present government is working towards its commitment to enhance our country’s reputation at the global level, and the Bullet Train can be a milestone in this journey. However, today I came to know of an incident in Mumbai which has disturbed me deeply. A stampede during the rush hours at the busy railway station of Elphinstone Road in Mumbai has caused massive devastation, leaving 22 people dead and more than 35 injured. Heart wrenching pictures and videos of the incident could very well depict the havoc that was created, turni...

Back in 2013, when we all came to know of Asaram and his involvement in the shocking cases for which he was booked, I was pretty sure that people would get a lesson out of these incidents. These so called ‘Godmen’ have long exploited our society’s naivety and ignorance and it is time that we understand their real face. But, fast forward four years. It is 2017 and I guess we have not progressed much from there. Characters have changed, the movie remains the same. That time it was Asaram and now it is Gurmeet Ram Rahim. Let us understand this entire drama from two different perspectives unfortunately both of which are disgraceful and sad. Firstly, it is quite sad (read disgusting) to see people like Asaram and Ram Rahim gain such a status and position in our society. It is because of our lack of knowledge, or say lack of common sense that leads people into befooling us so easily. We easily get done away with our logic and understanding in the name of religion and fallacious spirit...