Macaulay , Pioneer of Indian Modernization- Zareer Masani

After the history books in school where one became acquainted with British officials Robert Clive, Warren Hastings, William Bentinck, Thomas Macaulay - I revisited that part of my history again thanks to Harsha who insisted that I read about Macaulay. Zareer Masani's book recreates the person that Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800-1859) was and the impact he made (if I am writing this blog in English and if you're an Indian reading it in English, we...

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The Ideal PM

It was interesting to see Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's endorsement of Rahul Gandhi as the ideal PM after 2014. I am not aware if Mr. Singh  elucidated any special qualities that Rahul Gandi possesses which make him the ideal PM of the largest democracy in the world. For someone in such a responsible post to endorse someone so strongly, specially someone as erudite as the present PM, it takes a lot. It is the kind of a statement that forces us to think about two things - whether there are some unknown factors about Mr. Rahul Gandhi's leadership...

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Story idea - The Hypocrites

The Hook:It is about a land filled with Hypocrites. They say one thing, do one thing. A new bunch of people who come to that land by mistake find out why this abundant land is stuck where it is. But can they get away?Pic courtesy: Prarthana NargundkarThe Story:A group of adventurers chance upon a land of plenty. Everything about this land is perfect. The people make all the right noises and they all seem perfectly sane too. The new bunch cannot figure...

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The Beggars Mafia

It's aggressive. It's in the face. But  what makes it most distressing is the fact that you know that its an organised racket.The Sanjeeva Reddy Nagar junction is a big junction these days. It has grown bigger over the years and one can see a large number of vehicles restraining themselves on all four sides, pedestrians trying to sneak off to the other side, with not an inch available for the good old push carts. These days you cannot even stand edge ways on that road.In the old days there used to be a couple of old men and women beggars,...

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Story Idea - Love Affair With Luck

Hook:Man who has been unlucky all his life decides to have a love affair with luck. Now all his living moments are spent wooingStory:Pitch in the regular guy full of bad luck stories. Take it to a limit where he breaks. But he wakes up on the other side - he feels that something he has always wanted, something that has rejected him all the time, this Lady Luck, must be wooed, if that's the last thing he does. Now how does one woo luck - that's what...

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Teachers Day - Teachers I Remember

On Teachers Day I remember with gratitude all the teachers who have taught me and made me. More so the teachers who left a lasting impression on me by their words and deeds, their intensity to teach and impart knowledge by being themselves. 1) L.T. Ramasarma: My first teacher at Eluru, when I was all of five. He would come home in his dignified yet friendly manner, well dressed, clear about all he wanted to teach, strict when he needed to be. Perhaps...

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Anjali - We Don't Know What Will Happen In the Future

I guess I got what I was asking for. In one quiet moment between a game of cricket with the young lady I asked her - "Anjali, when you grow up, will you fight with me?" I would not be telling the truth if I said I did not expect her to say that she would not fight and that she would love me forever and all that.But she took a rather simplistic view of the whole thing. "We don't know what will happen in the future na?' she said very practically. "We...

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