Swachh Bharat-A critical analysis

There was a flurry of activity in the media on October 2, 2014, when the newly elected prime minister Narendra Modi launched his pet project- Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. Social media was full of opinions from netizens, Bollywood superstars extended their support to the initiative, print media started devoting an additional page for op-eds on the issue, ‘experts' were testing the limits of their vocal chords on Arnab's Newshour and even the members of parliament were undertaking the arduous job of cleaning the (already clean) footpaths of the Lutyens and then tweeting about it. Now that the initial hysteria has somewhat subsided, it is a time opportune for questioning the conscience of the nation's citizen and also for looking at ‘Swachh India' from a vantage point.
        

Skepticism

The Rigveda, one of the four Vedas in the literature of Hinduism, ends with some radical doubts on the creation of this world and the issue of existence of God- ‘Who really knows? Who will here proclaim it? Whence was it produced? Whence is this creation?....perhaps it formed itself, or perhaps it did not- the one who looks down on it, only he knows- or perhaps he does not know.’ Today, after approximately 3016 years, these questions are still unanswered. More importantly, over the course of time, these questions pertaining to religion and God have become increasingly pertinent.

An Ode to Mathematics (In English, Urdu and Hindi)

The Whistling Schoolboy

The Whistling Thrush is a mystical bird found in the Himalayas and the Western Ghats that whistles at the onset of dawn and dusk. Interestingly, it's whistle is identical to that of humans! Owing to it's awe-inspiring gift, it is also known as the Whistling Schoolboy. Read Ruskin Bond's intriguing understanding of how this nature's marvel got it's talent.


From the gorge above Gangotri
Down to Kochi by the sea,
The whistling thrush keeps singing
That same sweet melody.

He was a whistling schoolboy once,
Who heard god Krishna's flute,
And tried to play the same sweet tune,
But touched a faulty note.

Said Krishna to the errant youth-
A bird you must become,
And you shall whistle all your days
Until your song is done.


                                          -Sir Ruskin Bond,
                                           Himalayan Tales

The Whistling Schoolboy.

Bag of Peanuts: My ChunMUN team!

It was in a recent reunion party that I realized how much I miss my school days. On encountering my entire MUN team, I urged them for a hug and we hugged each other in the 'Indian cricket team' format. I resolved to write a post on those good old days, just for a keepsake. 

So, before I proceed it would be helpful to mention that all my MUN teammates are from the southern part of the country and therefore have the most unpronounceable names on the earth. The irony is that they do not wish to be recognised by their south-Indian names but being a veritable blogger I have pledged to reveal their real names and show the derivation of their alias. They are (drumrolls):

1) Nandwati Menon Kocharriputtam (alias: Nandita Kochar)

2) Shubhraman Kumaran Gulpaati (alias: Shubhit Kumar Gulati)

3) Ayushmswami Warihastam Tirupuchi (alias: Ayush Tiwari)

A letter to Dadi.

The following letter has been written challenging the mindset of abandoning parents in the age of their dependency. The letter has been written by a C-suite employee of an MNC whose parents were gallant enough to abandon his grandparents and fly off to The United States, expecting to mint money there. His grandparents have ever since held the inhuman family in low regards. 

Speechless at India International Centre

I woke up at 8:00 in the morning, collected the paper and prepared a glass of kesar milk since no one was at home. I read the paper, had my milk, took a bath and left for the American Centre Library to study. It was an average day for an average boy but little did I know that fate had something else in store for me.