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Last week we spoke of Obama’s entry in to the White House. In this piece let us talk of his predecessor. How did he (Bush) fare as a world leader? Most dismissed him as a blubbering, arrogant leader who believed that what can’t be solved by force needs more force. Let us see how he handled the three big crises that he faced and come to our verdict. First 9-11. 9-11 shook and bled America. It required a strong counter response. Bush gave it to the world by launching a blitzkrieg against … [Read more...] about The importance of being inclusive

I was in Belgium as the Americans were casting their ballots. I could see that Europe was waiting like me- anxiously- for the outcome. Not only the blacks, many of the browns and the yellows too wanted Obama to win. Perhaps they did not care who beat the white candidate but just that the white candidate should be beaten. You need some such victories to erase the humiliation which the coloured races have suffered at the hands of the white. There was also some bile against Bush and it was rubbing … [Read more...] about A victory with a new meaning

In the last piece I spoke of why Indian players are so prone to racial abuse and how some Australian cricketers are still grabbing media mileage by keeping the “Monkeygate” issue alive. Gilchrist has accused Sachin of hiding the truth. Did Sachin lie? Let us first try to answer a more fundamental question: Is lying always bad? Let me excerpt a passage from my book, When You are Sinking Become a Submarine. “All lies are not bad. It is the purpose of the lie which ascertains whether it is … [Read more...] about Lies are not bad for a good cause

When Raj Thackeray tried to come to Bala Saheb Thackeray’s defence a few days back, the latter replied the next day saying, “Raj should not try to grab cheap publicity by taking up for me”. Shilpa Shetty also said the same recently when she saw some people getting publicity using her name. It seems Sachin Tendulkar is made of different material. Adam Gilchrist, a retired cricketer questioned his bonafides in his book, got media mileage first and then apologized to him and Sachin took it in … [Read more...] about Stop fawning over western guests

In the last pieces I spoke of how Buddha’s teachings can be summed up in three parts: Sila, morality; Samadhi, concentration; and panna, intuitive wisdom. In the last pieces I spoke of how Buddha’s teachings can be summed up in three parts: Sila, morality; Samadhi, concentration; and panna, intuitive wisdom. Having examined morality and concentration, let us now examine panna, intuitive wisdom. Intuitive wisdom as per Buddha means the ability to see the true nature of things- peeping in to the … [Read more...] about Free the mind with intuitive wisdom

In the last piece I spoke of how Buddha’s teachings can be summed up in three parts: Sila, morality; Samadhi, concentration; and panna, intuitive wisdom and how Sila is the bed rock of spiritual growth. Let us examine Samadhi, concentration now. It means fullness with which we observe phenomenon. In order to cultivate such concentration and see that it does not get uprooted we need to build five protections or nuggahitas. The first is Sila Nuggahita- It is morality’s protection against gross … [Read more...] about Overpower will with knowledge