A TV channel asked me, "What did I make of the Modi-Trump meeting?" I gave my take based on what they said, their body language and some back ground information I had, as below. When Modi alighted from the car, his and even Trump’s body language (to some extent) was a language of mending the fences. When Modi cracked a joke, the laughter also seemed a bit forced and a bit overdone. This was expected as the telecons prior to their meet hadn’t gone too well. On the Indian side there … [Read more...] about The Modi-Trump Meeting: Kiss After The Hiss
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Narendra Modi’s Swachh Bharat: A mission without backing of law makes guinea pigs out of eager votaries
On Saturday, Ravinder, an e-rickshaw driver in Delhi, perhaps inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Swachh Bharat initiative, objected to two young men urinating in the open. He requested that they use a public toilet. They responded by returning with a dozen others and bludgeoning him to death. It would be simplistic to attribute their rage to our society’s feudal instinct where offenders from a higher socio-economic class retaliate violently simply because the advice is given from … [Read more...] about Narendra Modi’s Swachh Bharat: A mission without backing of law makes guinea pigs out of eager votaries
Economic Times – Corporate Dossier –5 Stories that have influenced Pavan Choudary
As far back as I can remember I always wanted to play by the rules and win. But as a young corporate executive I was losing. So almost since I started my corporate career, about twenty five years ago, I wanted to develop a system which could make the good man win. Let me narrate five stories, which are like milestones, in this journey I have undertaken. The Girl And Her Drawing: The Crafty corporate games were too much for me to handle. I was bruised and beaten and of course not … [Read more...] about Economic Times – Corporate Dossier –5 Stories that have influenced Pavan Choudary
Is our glitter starving our poor?
The Prime Minister of UK, this week stated, that UK would no longer offer AID to the Indian poor as it is the Indian rich who should help their poor bretheren (Sic). But the Indian rich don’t usually help their poor bretheren. They don’t even consider the poor their brethren. Instead they have so blinded the world with the vulgar display of their wealth that the so far generous Western world is also no longer willing to extend financial aid to India. It is saying that if your rich have so … [Read more...] about Is our glitter starving our poor?
Leash the Pets, Sterilize the Strays to Rid Gurgaon of Dog Menace
One of the first residents of Gurgaon, Yudhishthira (of Mahabharata fame) was in a way a stray dog lover. As the Pandavas, post the war, set East towards the direction of the Himalayas, a stray dog follows Yudhisthira. On the way Draupadi and the younger brothers fall one by one but Yudhisthira trudges along with the mongrel in tow. At the door to the heaven, it is said, Lord Indra welcomes Yudhishthira but tries to deny the dog entry. Yudhishthira pleads the dog's case and says that he cannot … [Read more...] about Leash the Pets, Sterilize the Strays to Rid Gurgaon of Dog Menace
Other Side of Honking: How it helps us to survive
This paper carried news of the launch of a campaign to make the city Gurgaon a no-honking zone by an NGO - Earth Saviour's Foundation and the members of a major horn manufacturing company. They went a step too far and tied a dog onto a post at the busy Shankar Chowk and wrote a mighty offensive line with the cartoon of a dog on a poster – ‘Kutta bhi bina vajah nahin bhonkta. Horn nahi bajayen’. While the initiative is laudable, assuming and generalising that ‘Hum horn bina vajah bajate hain’ … [Read more...] about Other Side of Honking: How it helps us to survive