Passionate About India

A magazine in 14 languages? Everyone even slightly serious about media – the seniors in the fraternity included – had genuinely laughed when we had bounced the idea off them! They gave tens of reasons why the idea was not worth it and why the same would not be successful. The reasons given were very logical ones though. We don’t want to undermine anyone’s intelligence or reasoning; but they were totally right in their own ways and were not trying to pull me down. They were trying to be helpful... it was just that our definition of success differed from their definition. As our magazine The Sunday Indian completes five years, I can say that financially, we haven’t yet become successful – so all of them were right. We started breaking even as a media house only one month ago, after about seven years of struggle. It has not been an easy journey. But financial success was never our benchmark of success. For me, personally, success is always a competition with self-imposed standards of ...

The saga of shame of the Indian Commonwealth Games continues as more and more shameful skeletons tumble out of the cupboard. And it only makes my heart cringe. More so because I believe that sports is literally one of the key routes to a healthy nation. From child health to adult health – both physical and mental – sports has a great role to play, especially in today’s day and time where children are getting addicted to videogames and to the internet. To me, personally, the Commonwealth Games event – good or bad – was in reality a great opportunity for India to develop the Indian sports scene. Instead, we found it a great opportunity to plunder more and more money. And that’s what forces me to take a look at how the Chinese used the Olympics as a great leap forward and how they have over years made sports a way of life. Compared to the Indian games, the 2008 Beijing Olympics actually spoke volumes about China’s commitment to sports. Not only did China refurbish the entire host city to ...

The 10th anniversary of 9/11 was different for the Americans. The decade-long wait is over and even the perpetrator of 9/11 is dead. This 9/11 was also the first anniversary when Americans felt contented by the very fact that their revenge is over and they have again proved their supremacy over the world. But then, this very celebration amidst sorrow is far from complete. Perhaps the chief operative of 9/11 is dead, but the modus operandi is still active and running. Neutralizing Osama is just half the task done, but the very system that allowed Osama to execute the entire 9/11 episode, still thrives. Amidst the entire hullabaloo, what got swept under was the manner in which the entire operation was funded. It is a lesser known fact that the funding for 9/11 had its roots in Africa, and it was all possible because millions of Westerners bought stones that had been (since the last four decades or so) hyped up as the most precious gifts for women. Yes, I’m here talking about diamonds, or...

The strength of the Chinese population can be gauged by the very fact that today around 19.3 per cent of world population is Chinese. But then, such a figure based on the law of averages hides more than what it reveals. The figure that talks volumes about the Chinese sphere of influence, at least with respect to human capital, is that of 50 million plus overseas Chinese who are settled in various parts of the world and playing their bit in accelerating the fast-paced Chinese economy. Today, overseas Chinese not only pump money into the Chinese economy but also facilitate Chinese ambitions of global cultural and political colonisation. Overseas Chinese have made themselves inimitable in almost all spheres of influences – from heading many hard power areas by chairing vital positions in global forums, military and political institutions of many nations to being the face of various soft power areas of influence. One may not be well versed with the Chinese powers-that-be, but at the same t...

I'm the best! That's one line he is known by, said Shahrukh Khan at the launch of my latest book, Thorns to Competition, which I coauthored with my wife Rajita. It was supposed to be a normal book launch with Shahrukh Khan – the man I personally think is the most intelligent, educated, witty and charming superstar the country has. But it turned out to be something else. Not just did Shahrukh launch the book, he also spoke in detail about how he had applied every concept of the book in his life. And his speech became a journey of his life. It sure was special, more so since he is known to be shy and rarely to open up like this in public. I have experienced this special side of him at least a couple of times in the past as well during our events. This time, I felt I must write on it. It’s pure inspiration for one and all to know of this side of his life and it sure will help the masses know this iconic man and his amazing journey better. I thought of writing this piece more so be...

I was too young then to really remember it all; but I have heard from many people that the mass protests generated by the arrest of Anna Hazare are similar to the uprising called Total Revolution led by the late Jaiprakash Narayan in the early 1970s. In fact, it was the Total Revolution and the chaos that followed – and a historic blunder by Indira Gandhi – that led to the imposition of the Emergency in India in 1975. Many people are comparing today’s situation to the Emergency days. The people of India are so fed up and so disgusted with corruption and our rotten and corrupt system that the wave of protests we see is hardly surprising. I have often publicly called India not a democracy but a demonocracy where crooked politicians and their criminal cohorts are openly plundering the nation; well aware that a dysfunctional judicial system will allow them to get away. In almost all cases, they have actually got away and have hence acquired the arrogance and swagger of pirates who know ...

As London burns and USA is downgraded with fears of another recessionary wave hitting the world, there is one thing that becomes amply clear. You can’t have a world full of inequity and live in peace. Never before in its history has the gap between the rich and the poor widened as it has in the last 40 years in America. And every right wing party has only worked hard to enrich the rich. Every time the Democrats have come back and tried to increase even half a percent of tax on the rich to use it for those marginalized by the markets, the Republicans have screamed hoarse. No doubt, Obama has knowledge about economics, but what is happening in America right now is a shame, especially the way right wing fanatics are making the scene look worse than it is. The problem in UK is however another side of the same coin. The whites were sitting happily claiming that the blacks and other minorities live better in UK than they would have in their country of origin. However, happiness is a comparat...