Taking a break from the recently concluded Indian elections, US-China trade wars, Brexit, the EU elections and sundry other preoccupations, I decided it was time to relax a little. My sister was visiting us in Goa and I thought it might be a good idea to take a drive to an island I have long… Continue reading Jacinta Island: Ladies’ Day Out!
The world’s biggest democracy has just elected its new government in a marathon 7-phase election. And what a mockery of democracy it has proven to be. Yet, without a sense of irony, the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, says in his victory speech that “it is democracy that has won.” If democracy is merely casting your… Continue reading Saffron Sweep Reveals the Age of Unreason
Spend it, waste it, enjoy it, take too much of it, gift it, cherish it, fritter it away… no matter what we do with our time, we never seem to have enough of it. And try as we might, we can only pack so much into 24 hours. “Yesterday”, as the Beatles have immortalized for… Continue reading How Should We Think About Time?
If we ever need proof that the digital medium is meant for a highly personalized audience and experience, we now have it in streaming of media and entertainment. The likes of Netflix, Amazon and Spotify have changed the entertainment landscape forever with on-demand video and music tailored to our specific tastes wherever we might be.… Continue reading Now Streaming to a Screen Near You
It is said that Indian elections are the greatest experiment in democracy. In a nation of 1.3 billion people and over 900 million eligible voters, that does mean a grand pageant. Some observers, talking to Matthew Amroliwala on BBC World News, even called it a great “festival of democracy”. If you watch the news and… Continue reading Indian Elections 2019: Theatre of the Absurd
At the moment, India is in the grip of election fever and it is not surprising that each political party is promising sops to the farmers and the poor. Well, the ruling party started doling out a farmer income support programme called PM KISAN (Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi) from December last year which promises… Continue reading Universal Basic Income: A Gift for All?
March-April usually means the start of a new financial year and new opportunities at work in India. Appraisals, new assignments, new responsibilities. My mind turned to the rather high rate of joblessness in India (a subject of much debate) and whether it will be an important issue in the elections that are just a few… Continue reading Jobs Going This Time Aren’t Coming Back
Against the backdrop of recent tensions between India and Pakistan, forthcoming elections in India and all the warmongering that is going on, including by our leaders, I thought I would share this for today. Hope cool heads and better sense will prevail.
“The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom… You never what is enough until you know what is more than enough.” - William Blake. This might be a strange note on which to begin the new year, but not if one looks at the signs all around us. Listening to some world leaders, you might… Continue reading A Decade of Excess, and the Scars are still Visible
Right now, looking out of the window of our first floor flat, I see what I am told is a fig tree. It has shed all its leaves and is busy sprouting tiny, new, green ones. Strange for this time of the year in Goa, where we have just bid goodbye to the South West… Continue reading Green shoots, really?
