#189

They say, no life is an uneventful life.  Everyone has an interesting story to tell.  And what a charming story has been told by former India Test cricketer and arguably one of the best commentators in the game today, Sanjay Manjrekar.  He has been refreshingly honest and candid not only about himself but also about other people who touched his life one way or the other.  Something quite unusual for an Indian celebrity.  What I also find most pleasing is that he writes with the self- assurance and confidence of a seasoned writer.

#188

In the last week or so, the law and order in the four BJP ruled states have all but collapsed. It's Chief Ministers have surrendered their authority to the criminal gangs of the Rajput Karni Sena. It is quite apparent from their mealy-mouthed and proforma statements that these leaders are very much in the tacit endorsement of the ideological formulations of these lunatics. Let me just say one thing to these pompous men and also one woman. 'कुर्सी ही तो है, कोई जनाज़ा तो नही. कुछ कर नही सकते तो उठ क्यों नही जाते?'

The Attractiveness of Unhappy Looking People

#186

Well, she will be completing 70 on Sunday.  It is nobody's case that she has got the writing skills of Arundhati Roy.  But there is no doubt something compelling about her catty, not to mention a

chatty style that is quite impressive.  I have always considered her to be our very own Jackie Collins.  I still remember years ago, I and my sisters somehow managed to get our hands on a couple of her paperback titles.  Much before there was such a thing known as Amazon in India.  So what if the plot was convoluted, and sex was uniformly bad, at the time it seemed nothing short of an accomplishment.  Since then, we are all older and wiser, but in those days, trying to procure those slim books of her was our way of pushing the envelope on societal mores.  Thank you Shobhaa.

No matter how much President Trump derides and mocks The New York Times, calling it ''fake news'', at some deeper level he also understands that the paper enjoys a sterling reputation and credibility.  Even though you dislike certain media organization, because you know that The New York Times does matter, you are more than willing to be interviewed by them, like Mr. Trump did a couple of days ago.  Now, does PM Modi have enough realization and understanding to give interviews to the likes of NDTV network and Caravan magazine in India?  More importantly, does he have enough humility?

Mr. Vajpayee has turned 93 today.  In my humble opinion, he's been one of the finest Prime Ministers

this country has had since Nehru.  He has been a poet and a philosopher, and if someone like me supported the BJP once upon a time, it was largely because of him.  What was most remarkable about him was that despite being associated with the RSS, he always remained impervious to its toxic agenda, and cultivated a liberal worldview.  How I wish that advancing age and illness had not forced him to retire and fade away from public domain.  India most definitely needs his steady hands and healing touch.  Happy Birthday sir.

A scandalous financial skullduggery takes place more than two decades ago. It takes 10 years to frame charges. A further 10 years of meandering trial to bring about the conviction. 11 of the 38 accused die midway through the whole torturous process and a few eventually acquitted. If this is not a revealing state of affairs of the Indian judicial system, then I don't know what is. Now I think, the most proper and honorable thing for Mr. Lalu Prasad Yadav to do would be to accept the court verdict in all humility and retire once and for all from active politics. Just go for god's sake!