A poor farmer, robbed of his land

This is intolerable.

A Faizabad court on Friday dismissed a review writ filed by Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan in the controversial farming land allotment case, clarifying that he was not a farmer in Uttar Pradesh.

Boy, I love courts and judges!

"In this era of cut-throat competition, no airlines can afford to remain lax in any department whatsoever, be it the personality of its crew members, their physical fitness in all respects or the air worthiness of the aircraft or in relation to other facilities such as catering," the court said.[link]

Simple reason ...

why caste won't go:

“Kaun jaati ho tum?” What caste are you?

“Pasi.” A Dalit caste.

“Par Pasi to haathi ko vote diye rahin?” But dalits vote for the BSP, don’t they?

[link]

This is coming from someone who is an advocate for the "lower castes". If someone like that won't stop using phrases such as "upper caste" and "lower caste", or won't stop asking the caste of everyone he meets, who will?

More on IBN

Now I know why IBN airs programmes like this. Because they have people like this. Dear Hindol, please run a spell-and-grammar check before you publish your post.

Light! Action! Cut!

A well dressed middle-aged man is walking on the street. Suddenly, he pauses and lifts his head to stare at the summer sun. Cut!

Now the same man, at home, is checking some mutual fund website. A bubble on the top right corner of the screen displays his name, age, and profession. Next scene, his wife is doing something. A similar bubble. Then his son, playing with a train set. The bubble again. And then, the electricity goes off: the computer goes off, and the train stops midway on the tracks. The man is angry that he now won't be able to invest properly. Cut!

What am I talking about?

A programme on power shortage, broadcast on CNN-IBN, "India's Number 1 English News Channel".

Finders and Seekers

When I picked up Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha, the cover told me that it was the story of Buddha. It was, in some sense; and it wasn't, in some other sense. But it is one book which I liked very much (and Hesse has become one of my favourite writers), despite being told by good friends, who loved Hesse, that they didn't like Siddhartha that much. Just today, I found an extract from the book, which is my favourite part: Chapter 12: Govinda.

Quoth Siddhartha: "What should I possibly have to tell you, oh venerable one? Perhaps that you’re searching far too much? That in all that searching, you don’t find the time for finding?"

"How come?" asked Govinda.

"When someone is searching," said Siddhartha, "then it might easily happen that the only thing his eyes still see is that what he searches for, that he is unable to find anything, to let anything enter his mind, because he always thinks of nothing but the object of his search, because he has a goal, because he is obsessed by the goal. Searching means: having a goal. But finding means: being free, being open, having no goal. You, oh venerable one, are perhaps indeed a searcher, because, striving for your goal, there are many things you don’t see, which are directly in front of your eyes."

Indian Democracy: Local Governance and Empowerment

The Center for South Asia Studies, UC Berkeley is holding a seminar titled Indian Democracy: Local Governance and Empowerment on the 24th and 25th of May. It will be a high-profile event inaugurated by UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau. Participants include Mani Shankar Aiyar, Arvind Kejriwal, and Digvijay Singh, among others. The official announcement here (PDF file).

Poor Kalam

What a good fortune that he didn't fall ill!

For one, doctors deputed to accompany the presidential entourage didn’t turn up from Allahabad and last minute arrangements had to be made by calling in relatively inexperienced doctors from the Pratapgarh district hospital and the Allahabad High Court dispensary to meet emergency protocol requirements, according to the additional director of health, Allahabad, Dr G C Srivastava. [link]

Just a few months ago, the prime minister had a stroke of luck when he survived after his convoy took a wrong turn. Oh boy, what will happen to the VVIPs if they get treated like pedestrians? Only time can tell.

Who's a moron?

One who cannot afford to go to coaching centres, and hence cannot get into the IITs.