Kamal Haasan has already made an encouraging beginning in politics in my book, by denouncing the students singing religious songs on the IIT campus in Madras.  I firmly believe that no school, college or university should be allowed to have this display of overt religiosity through either images or chanting of prayers.

#191

I have a lot of time for Prof. Ashish Nandy.  Not only is he a sociologist, psychologist and a political theorist of considerable repute, he is also arguably the most preeminent public intellectual in the country today.  Somewhat of a rare commodity these days in 'New India' of Mr. Modi.  Professor Nandy made a very interesting observation some 25 years ago at the height of the Babri Masjid crisis.  He said that in the coming years, both Hinduism and Hindutva are going to be locked in a deadly combat.  This will be not a confrontation, but an apocalyptic fight to the death, and if the latter defeats the former, then Nepal will be the biggest Hindu nation in the world.  Because then there will be no India, Hindu or otherwise.  How prophetic his views seem now.

#190

This is a letter written by Albert Einstein to Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru on 18 February 1950. In this letter, Mr. Einstein is expressing his generous admiration for Pt. Nehru's book ''The Discovery of India'', which the latter wrote while he was in prison, having been incarcerated by the British. The letter just goes to show in what a high esteem one of the most genius minds of the 20th century held our first Prime Minister in. And a couple of days ago, nearly 70 years after, what lies and venom were being uttered in the Lok Sabha about Nehru by the current Prime Minister when you consider the fact that Mr. Modi is just a pygmy compared to the statesman and intellectual giant that Pandit Nehru was.