#200

In the wake of this shocking leak of exam papers for class X and XII conducted by the CBSE, I was watching the news reports and reactions of a lot of bitterly disappointed students.  Of all the things that the young students said, what really got my attention was that even students from the premier schools in the national capital were complaining that how it's going to be so frustrating that there will have to 'give' those exams once more for the canceled papers.  It is indeed an unforgivable incompetence by the board that the question papers for these important examinations are disseminated beforehand on Whatsapp groups.  Anyhow, for the life of me, I cannot understand how come the teachers in these reputed schools in the country have not taught their pupils that you don't 'give' exams, you 'take' them.  But time and again, every senior student that I heard on television, kept repeating the same mistake.  Not just this instance.  I have seen quite often that young people these are making all kinds of rudimentary gaffes in language.  Hardly any youngster these days is able to express any complicated thoughts in a coherent manner without mangling the grammar and syntax.  Which is quite ironic when you consider that as the modes of communication have improved thanks to technological advancement, the quality of the communication has declined.

#199

A total psychopath who hacked to death a Muslim laborer back in December in Rajasthan has been glorified and eulogized in one of the tableaus taken out as part of the traditional Ram Navmi celebrations as a gallant defender of the Hindu faith. This is absolutely sickening, not to mention a frightening distortion of Hinduism, to which I am proud to belong. You can understand that the BJP state government would not want to condemn it, let alone do anything about it because we have seen that since 2014, hate against the Muslims have not only been normalized but also given implicit official sanction from the top. What I find most dismaying and disconcerting is that the Congress party, the so-called champion of 'secularism', is keeping a deafening silence on this. Maybe, it believes that by denouncing this act, it will end up playing into the hands of the BJP. This competitive bigotry is going to be ruinous for India.

#198

India's Attorney General Mr. K Venugopal has assured the Supreme Court of India that the data of the Indian citizens collected under Aadhar are absolutely safe from data theft.  The reason being that the main server has been locked up in a house with a 10 feet thick walls!!  This submission to the court would have provided a great comic relief, had the matter not been so serious.  Is the Atty.  General implying that that unscrupulous elements looking to steal the Indian people's personal data are going to enter a house and gather all the electronic information in a sack like coal or diamond?  Surely, I expected the country's Chief Law Officer to be better than that, and not this much intellectually challenged.

#197

Any effort to create an anti-BJP and anti-Congress third front or Federal front would be an utter folly.  This is only going to hand over the victory to the BJP on a platter in the next general elections.  When will all the anti-BJP forces in this country realize that this is not a normal political situation, but an extraordinary one?  There is only one way to have a fighting chance to derail this ruthless electoral juggernaut being helmed by Amit Shah and Narendra Modi.  And that is if everyone is willing to sacrifice their personal ambitions, keep their respective egos aside, make compromises for the larger goal, and last but by no means least, to have a common vision that provides a viable alternative.  Remember, as the saying goes, if you don't hang together, you will hang separately.

#196

Today is the most significant birthday of any celebrity as far as I am concerned. The great man of American letters and my spiritual mentor, Philip Roth has turned 85. Writers, by their very nature, are an insecure people. But Mr. Philip Roth had the confidence and the serenity of mind to declare a few years ago that he is actively retiring from writing novels. That after working for more than 50 years, producing 31 books and countless other kinds of stuff, he believes he's given it his all, and now he has no more to give. Donald Trump will not make America great again, America will always remain great because of This famous son from Newark, New Jersey, Philip Milton Roth. We should celebrate the legend while he's still among us. Happy Birthday sir.

#195

A very prominent lady who comes from my state, and is a frequent guest on government friendly news networks; she is basically an insufferable holier-than-though when it comes to defending PM Modi.  So, she tweeted about the meeting in New Delhi between French President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Modi, describing it as coming together of two great 'liberal minds'.  I nearly did a double take!  I can understand Mr. Macron being a liberal, I mean the man married his high school teacher who is 20 years senior to him.  But Mr. Modi is no one's idea of being a liberal unless you have been lobotomized.  So, I replied that if Mr. Modi is a liberal, then you are also Madonna!!

The People's Communist Party in China has done away with a two-term limit for its president and vice-president. Now, Mr. Xi Jinping can stay president for life. In other words, China has quietly moved from being a one-party authoritarian rule to an outright dictatorship. Not only that, President Xi's thoughts have also been enshrined in the constitution of the People's Republic of China; only the second person to be bestowed upon this honor after chairman Mao. I am just thinking how jealous PM Modi would be feeling of President Xi.

#193

For a little while, all my troubles seemed to have gone away.  By chance, I discovered this video from 2005 where my favorite Pink Floyd were performing in London after many years as a sort of grand reunion if you like.  It felt so heady seeing the old gang of David Gilmour, Roger Waters, Nick Mason and Richard Wright on the stage doing their stuff.  The only guy missing in action was Syd Barret.  By this time, he had too far gone to the other side of drug infused hell, but that's another story.  Coming back to that balmy evening in London, no longer was there a gangly group of youngsters in their hippy avatar of 40 years ago when the world was at their feet.  Instead, they had aged.  They were old and grey.  But once they got hold of the guitar, and the keyboard synthesizer, and the drum, and the saxophone; they could still belt out those magical numbers from ''Dark Side of The Moon'', ''comfortably numb'', ''wish you were here'', not to mention ''another brick in the wall''.  I just live for moments like these when there's neither happiness nor sadness, but pure bliss.