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Showing posts from May, 2014

Know your cabinet - 16th Lok Sabha

Narendra Modi: A four-time chief minister of Gujarat who single-handedly delivered majority to the BJP in the general elections 2014. He is known for dynamic leadership, innovative thinking and swift action. Born in 1950, into an economically backward family, Modi finished schooling in his hometown Vadnagar and married Jashodaben at the age of 18. The marriage did not last long(Modi's biographer Nilanjan claims it was never consummated) and Modi roamed around the country for two years before he came to Ahmedabad where he worked in his uncle's tea stall and the staff canteen in GSRTC. At the age of 20, he got seriously involved with RSS and with its help, completed masters in political science. He then slowly rose through BJP ranks and and in 2001, when the then Gujarat's CM Kesubhai Patel stood down due to ill health, Narendra Modi became the CM of Gujarat. Since then, he has ruled the state with iron fists for almost 13 long years before he resigned in 2014 after he becam

Indian elections 2014 awards

Now that the elections are well and truly over, time to see who takes the awards home.  Actress in a Supporting Role: Priyanka Gandhi - The Brother from Another Planet #winner Smriti Irani - Collateral Damage, Baby's day out Gul Panag - The Bike thief with a white cap Actress in a Leading Role:  J. Jayalalitha - Amma sollai thattathe #winner Mamtha Baneerjee - Didi will send you to jail Sonia Gandhi - Back to Italy, Italian Hindi Actress in a Comic Role:  Rabri Devi - Lallu mera Husband so no ullu banawing  Rakhi Sawant -  Movie list too awkward to be listed here  Mayawati - No time for statues #winner  Actor in a Supporting Role: Chandra Babu Naidu - Seemandra ki bidda Naveen Patnaik - The eternal chief minister of odisha, The immortal #winner Uddhav Thackeray - Piggy back on Modi's shoulder Actor in a Leading Role:  Narendra Modi - Ab Ki bar Modi Sarkar, Gujarat Model #winner Rahul Gandhi - Women empowerment, RTI, youth in politics Arvind kejriwal - A

Missing the woods for the trees - The story of Ganga

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Why politicize Ganga aarti issue, Kejriwal asks Modi - The Hindu.  I don't care what Modi thinks of Kejriwal or the common man thinks of the chaiwala. I am certainly not going to justify the act of one over the other. As an ordinary man caught between the swing of modern development and the calling of ancient traditions, I am more worried about the fact that the leader of a party that promises to bring about change has missed the woods for the trees here. The woods - the river itself - has been largely ignored in the past for the trees - the rituals and the worst part is the man who some believe is the future has fallen prey to this culture to win in the present.  As an Indian, I love the river Ganga. India, as we know her today, would certainly not be here without this mighty river. A sneak peek into history and mythology would reveal this obvious fact.  The historical Ganga: In the second millennium B.C, the harappans faced a grave danger - extinction. The Indus dried, cli

The man behind Jana-Gana-Mana

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Perhaps the two reasons India still remembers Rabindranath Tagore is his nobel prize and the national anthem. Outside Bengal, his home, he is known very little for what he did to this country and even less for who he was. So here is a small article on the man on his birthday. 1) In his younger years, Rabindranath Tagore attempted to blend spiritual and romantic notions in the human soul and the mystic divine in his poems, before he moved on to write about oppression and imperialism. 2) He was a fierce critic of nationalism. Power, according to him, is a scientific product made in the political laboratory of the nation, through the dissolution of personal humanity. He often compared the world with a hydraulic press which can unleash an impersonal but effective pressure. 3) He was a humanitarian and the voice of the voiceless India. He spoke for the poor and the slaved and firmly believed that rural reconstruction through basic education and application of scientific methods to agric