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Across the World, Let our creed be
Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram (Truth, Goodness, Beauty)




Miscellaneous Articles







5 November 2009

This is about some personal friends of the author. May everyone be blessed with such friends! And, the city where one has such good friends is truly livable and lovely.







17 April 2009

Being cool and mean is the goal of young people - media, both print and audio-visual, wants us to believe. What is it to be cool? Is the desire to be cool as widespread as media would have us believe?







14 February 2009

A protest against women in pub turned nasty with some women being roughed up. This led women activists to cry hoarse. While no one can argue for hooliganism, it is time we looked at the broader issues of alcohol consumption and women empowerment. Are the women who drink in pubs the empowered ones or is it the ones who protest against liquor shops?

The above article has attracted some interesting comments. Please read what others have said.







28 August 2008

This small article in Hindi is about the different cultural and social contexts of Hindi and English. Language is not just a medium for expressing one's thoughts. A person's language also provides the environment or operating software for his / her mind and heart.

Please download printer-friendly pdf file (4 pages, 103 kB) by clicking on the link above.






9 July 2008

India has changed in the last decade. Nothing illustrates it better than the scenario in telecommunication sector. An article that describes the change and inspires hope for future.




and Vipin Dixit

Prime Minister and his cabinet colleagues are trying hard to push the Indo-USA Nuclear Deal. A petition was filed in the first week of July 2007 before the Supreme Court against the deal. The petition raises fundamental questions about the deal as well as about treaty-making powers of the executive wing of the Union of India.

It was with great difficulty that the petition (W.C. 391 of 2007) was listed for hearing. On 3rd August 2007, a 3-member bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) was scheduled to hear the petition. Advocate P.N. Mishra, Retired Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court, rose to speak on behalf of the petitioners. Before he could even utter a word, CJI announced that the relief prayed for could not be granted. In spite of this unique announcement of judgement before the start of arguments, the petitioners' advocate tried to press his point for almost twenty minutes. Surprisingly, the CJI engaged in active argument with the advocate, even going to the extent of citing a case law. The CJI said that it was settled in Berubari Union case that treaty making powers are not subject to judicial review. In our humble opinion, the CJI was wrong. The advocate said that the judgement was otherwise, but CJI was in no mood to listen. The CJI expressed the opinion that the subject-matter of the petition should be deliberated upon by the Parliament. In spite of expressing such an opinion, the lords refused to issue directions to that effect.

Finally, the CJI announced that the matter was indeed serious and hence he did not want to dismiss the petition. He advised the petitioners to withdraw the petition. The petitioners had no other option but to accept the advise of the Highest Court of India.

Kindly download the petition and make your own judgement. Petitioners hope that they are more fortunate in the court of your wisdom and intellect than they were in the Supreme Court.

Please download printer-friendly pdf file (38 pages, 85 kB) by clicking on the link above.

In case you would like to have the complete set of documents, you may download the zip file (3.8 MB) by clicking on the link below. The set includes all declarations made by the two countries, various answers provided by the Government in Parliament, Hyde Act, a large number of articles by experts, copy of judgement of Supreme Court in Re: The Berubari Union And Exchange Of Enclaves.







15 May 2007,/span>

Socialism might have become a dirty word for many. Globalisation, capitalism and economic reforms are the buzzwords today. Sunil Sherlekar takes a historical view and argues that the old slogans about 'Workers of the world' are still relevant though they need to acquire new meanings and context.






18 July 2006

Indians and Mumbai residents may not say THANK YOU and PLEASE as often as Americans and Europeans do. They may appear rude, but they can be most helpful and human when one needs it. Is that not better than all the hollow mannerisms that are parroted around?






20 December 2005

Sting Operations have exposed the corruption that has settled deep in the indian political system. But instead of taking steps to reform the system, politicians are shedding crocodile tears and are sacrificing the small fish who have been unfortunate to be caught by the eye of the camera.







SHIFT FROM TORTOISE CULTURE TO EAGLE CULTURE

VT Joshi
August 2005

India needs to move from being a tortoise to being an eagle. This needs a change in culture. Contentment and security have to give way to aggression and killer instinct. An article based on a speech by Sharu Rangnekar, renowned management guru.





Red gulal (coloured powder)

Holi Prayers
Anil Chawla
26 March 2005

 Green gulal (coloured powder)

Holi is an Indian festival of fun and frolic. Behind the revelry, there is a profound philosophy of life. Written with colours on the face, this prayer points to that philosophy.






Tsunami Waves
MOURNING AND CELEBRATION
Anil Chawla
28 December 2004

India mourns as thousands have died due to disaster caused by Tsunami waves. A small piece in the memory of all those who lost their lives.





Stray Thoughts On Gerontology

VT Joshi
22 December 2004


Managing old age is a social as well as personal problem. Societies have to find ways of caring for the aged. Each individual must prepare to live through the evening of one's life. And lastly one must also prepare for the final sunset. Some loud thoughts on this complex set of problems!





An Open Appeal to BJP And NDA Leaders
16 May 2004


Results of Indian parliamentary elections have not thrown up a clear winner. NDA has surely lost. But Congress and allies have also failed to get a clear majority. They are depending on Left Front and socialists to form a government. Sonia Gandhi is on way to becoming the Prime Minister. This has saddened many who view it as an hour of national shame. The appeal asks BJP and NDA leaders to support a communist-led non-Congress government to prevent Sonia from becoming the PM.






Simhastha - Jhoot, Phareb Evam Paakhand Ka Jamavada
(Hindi)
Author - Anil Chawla

Government and politicians are falling over each other to touch the feet of the assemblage at Simhastha Ujjain 2004. A very small article that is sharply critical.

(2 pages, 57 KB)
Printer-friendly pdf format.





Why is Common Sense So Rare?
Bala Pillai
September 2003


A philosophical article that looks at the way we think and the way we perceive reality. The author argues against ditheism - habit of looking at opposites.






BACKDOOR EMERGENCY IN INDIA
Anil Chawla
23 October 2003


Indians can no longer access groups.yahoo.com On instructions from Government of India, Internet Service Providers in India have blocked the site. This is not an isolated incident. Falling levels of tolerance in Indian ruling class are a cause of serious concern.

P.S. Yahoo Groups can now be accessed from India.






GLORY FOLLOWED BY BIG HIT FOR SAMARTHBHARAT
Anil Chawla
19 August 2003


Hackers attacked samarthbharat.com immediately after it was put first in the list of Patriots Online by rediff.com - suspected to be handiwork of Pakistanis. India has to learn to stand up to such attacks.






STRAY THOUGHTS ON A DARK POWERLESS NIGHT
VT Joshi
4 April 2003


As electricity plays truant and nights are dark, VT Joshi tries to look at the brighter side. Is it optimism tinged with cynicism, or is it the other way round? Judge for yourself.





SAVING MEDIA FROM ITSELF
VT Joshi
25 March 2003


As power of media increases, it becomes hostage to commercial and marketing forces. There is a need to save the media from itself.





TOGADIA'S MONKEY TRICKS AND SECULARISM
VT Joshi
14 February 2003


Indian polity has to bear with two extremes. On one hand is the extreme and virulent form of Hinduism espoused by Togadia, VHP and Narendra Modi. On the other hand are the extreme secularists who equate secularism with Muslim-appeasement. A moderate voice that condemns both.





HINDUTVA VERSUS "MODITVA" : A LETTER FROM AHMEDABAD
VT Joshi
22 December 2002


Results of Gujarat elections have sent shockwaves through Indian polity. Hindutva and Moditva seem to be the new buzzwords. Liberal Hindus need to assert themselves and stop the Islamisation of Hinduism.




PETROL PUMP ALLOTMENTS AND HOT POTATOES
Anil Chawla
14 August 2002


The Prime Minister acted in haste and cancelled all allotments of petrol pumps etc. made during the past two years. Was the Prime Minister justified in cancelling the allotments? Was any other course possible?







BAN ON GUTKHA AND THE LIMITS TO STATE ACTION
Anil Chawla
12 August 2002


Gutkha (a mixture of betelnut and flavouring agents, with or without chewing tobacco) was banned by High Courts of some states. The matter is now before Supreme Court. Can a ban on gutkha be implemented? Does it stand the test of common sense? Can we not learn a few lessons from the unsuccessful attempts of enforcing prohibition in India and USA?




BSNL AND VSNL - OLD HABITS DIE HARD
Anil Chawla
1 August 2002


BSNL and VSNL, public sector Internet Service Providers impose restrictions on the number of recipients in an email message as well as on the size of attachments in a message. Analysis of the action of the ISP's.





Artist - Shrikant Apte

Shrikant Apte's collages on freedom struggle of India are unique in various respects. One cannot believe that bits of paper can be pasted to give such rich images that have depth and convey the mood of the times. There are 28 collages. Please click on any of the thumb-images to go to bigger picture and also to read a short description of each of the personalities / events. Going through all the 28 pages is like taking a quick and colourful refresher course on India's independence movement.






March 2006

This speech was delivered to political workers and leaders of BJP's Anusoochit Jati (Schdelued Caste) Morcha in year 2002. It quotes extensively from Hindu scriptures to prove that the caste system is a bad aberration of the original varna vyavstha. This is a scholarly speech, which remains relevant four years after it was delivered and will surely be of interest even decades later.

Please download printer-friendly pdf file (26 pages, 335 kB) by clicking on the link above.

There is a problem with one of the letters in the Hindi font in pdf file. "prakruti" always appears as "prakuti". In case you find this irritating, please download the file in MS WORD format. This will work only if you have Narad font on your system. Sorry for the inconvenience. If you know how to correct this problem in the pdf file, kindly let us know.









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