Passionate About India

Stephen Hawking fabulously said: “Before we understand science, it is natural to believe that God created the Universe. But now science offers a more convincing explanation.” Though he metaphorically referred to God in his book A Brief History of Time, he clarified multiple times later that he was an atheist and that he didn’t believe in the existence of God or afterlife. He believed the human brain to be like a computer and said that just like a broken down computer doesn’t go to Heaven, similarly, a brain that stopped working has no afterlife. Thus, as I saw thousands of RIP messages on my Facebook page and hundreds of them from celebrities and film stars that the masses look up to and idolize, I couldn’t help but feel sad for Stephen Hawking, the greatest physicist that our generation witnessed. The man who thought up ‘We are just an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet of a very average star’ has left behind billions of mourners, who don’t seem to even be in the category o...

Yes, you read it right! This is an article in praise of unparliamentary language. In simple words, in praise of filthy abuses. They normally begin with an ‘F’ in English and ‘B’, ‘C’ or ‘M’ in Hindi. And yes, they are playing a crucial role in the revival of the Congress party’s fortunes. In 2014, BJP swept to power, and I – as the head of a media house and in individual capacity – believed in Modi’s development promises and backed them wholeheartedly. Of course, instead of development, a wave of nationalism and religious fanaticism took over. So much so that today, there are ministers with the audacity of stating that we must drop the word ‘secular’ from our Constitution and that BJP would change the Constitution of India – while in the name of development, we got some slogans around Swachh Bharat (mind you, no real cleanliness). This poisonous wave of nationalism and religious polarisation was orchestrated mainly through the social media through a two-pronged strategy. On one ...

We, at The Sunday Indian, were perhaps the first to do a serious cover story warning the BJP government of the looming agrarian crisis. And we believe it's necessary to repeat the same given the seriousness of the issue and that despite only 15 percent of GDP coming from agriculture, the fact is that India still resides in villages and agriculture remains the livelihood of about 50 percent of the population. Forgetting about those marginalized masses could be equivalent to inviting catastrophe – not just humanitarian, but also political. Two weeks back, the Kisan Panchayat was held in Delhi and it is more than clear that the farmers' movement is gaining serious momentum across the country. As many as 187 regional kisan forums gathered on Parliament Street under the umbrella of the Kisan Panchyat. The forum, headed by Raju Shetty MP, VM Singh, Hannan Maulah former MP, CPI General Secretary Atul Kumar Anjan and Yogendra Yadav, yet again reminded the government that farmers acros...

Ever since Indira Gandhi’s death, one has clearly seen that the Gandhi family has been dragged into politics by the party despite the family members being extremely reluctant. It’s no secret that Sanjay Gandhi was the man interested in politics while Rajiv clearly wanted to be far away from it. Unfortunately, the one who was to be in politics went to fly and met his end. And the one who was to be flying, went into politics and met his end. An ironic but perfect mismanagement of resources that, since then, has become a hallmark of the Congress party! Again, after Rajiv, Sonia was completely disinterested in politics and left the party to P. V. Narasimha Rao. But unfortunately, after the initial stability, the party became shaky; and in the absence of any leader, went back with a begging bowl to the family for support. Reluctantly, Sonia took charge and Manmohan Singh had a double run at the office. But with massive corruption charges flying all around, an anti-corruption movement st...

As our PM Modi calls for strict action and immediate FIRs against Gau Raksha vigilantes, we need to think far beyond. Such acts won't vanish till we allow secularism to be mocked and in fact become fashionable through the use of words like "sickulars" to describe secular people. Our PM now needs to clearly and loudly state that not only would killing of human beings in the name of cow protection be treated with an iron hand but even any statement against our constitutional pledge to be a secular state won't be tolerated. Secularism should be the only religion of this nation till people become atheists – that is, till they give up their immature and illogical religions based on the false concept of existence of different varieties of man-made Gods.  In fact, leave alone religion and god, to me personally, it's a shame that in 2017, we still have a word called atheists. I mean, do we have a word for those who believe that the Earth is round? Do we have a word f...

I await good cinema! And I await commercial cinema with a hope they will be good! I love Ray’s Pather Paanchaali and have seen it as many times as I have seen Sholay! And I love Irfan Khan and I adore SRK! So when the mini-trails of Jab Harry Met Sejal were released, I was very excited. SRK hasn’t delivered something exceptional in a long time. And this looked like it. It’s got the Badshah of Bollywood SRK, the empress of acting Anoushka and the undisputed king of poetic direction Imtiaz Ali helming it. In fact, the second mini-trail was indeed exceptional. It gave a feel that this would be fun to watch!! In the same, Sejal comes to Harry with an indemnity bond stating that in case they were to have any sexual intimacy or full intercourse, Harry would be absolved of all legal charges. Harry obviously finds it very exciting – specially in these days of over the top definitions of date rapes and false accusations worldwide (without trying to trivialize the same – BBC News; Does India ...

At 80, my father, Malay Chaudhuri, finally finished writing his dream book in which he presents a forceful argument for an exploitation free world with a maximum wage ratio of the highest paid to lowest paid worker at 3:1. The book by itself is no less than a revolution by itself. I genuinely believe that it has the potentiality of unleashing many an Arab Spring across the world. I am a proud son who just came back from London, where Nobel laureate Leymah Gbowee launched his revolutionary book, What Marx Left Unsaid, A Theory of Economic Justice at the Power Brands Global - London International Forum for Equality. It's a pleasure, as a proud son and lifetime student of Malay Chaudhuri, to share my thoughts in this editorial on this amazing revolutionary theory of economic justice. I have grown up at home hearing from my father about his theory of production of skills by skills… literally from my early childhood; just like my son, who now has been hearing it from my father si...