'Don't you know I am a VIP?'

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Representatives of "the people" are outraged that former president APJ Abdul Kalam was made to pass through security checks on a flight from New Delhi to the US on the American airline, Continental. The government of the aam admi is indignant that khaas admi priveleges are not being maintained. In fact, irony of ironies, just a day after Hillary Clinton's feel good "atmosphere-defining, optic-resetting tour of India where the people to people contacts between the world's oldest democracy and the world largest democracy were renewed and set on course for further closeness, both houses in parliament erupted in anti American nationalism over the "treatment" given to former President Kalam. Never mind that Kalam himself seemed to have experienced no such "humiliation" of his "national honour" and "insult" to his national pride. Kalam's aide has said as far as he was concerned, it was no problem at all. Bless that wonderful....

FTN Blog: Bahuguna Joshi's words were horrifying, but not anti-Dalit

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Thursday was a day when we heard two kinds of words. On the one hand, meaningless words of diplomatic gobbledygook from India and Pakistan about "debracketing" and "cautious optimism". On the other hand, words of ancient violence, words that can turn our society into a warring landscape, primordial words that echo in our innermost subconscious and have created our society's invisible apartheid. "Chamaar" "Achhoot" "Shudra" "Bhangi". On Face The Nation, we asked did Rita Bahuguna Joshi's words (Joshi herself being a Brahmin) become yet another example, or did they invoke the memory, of that ancient hatred that the Dalit has borne through centuries? In fact, Congress state president Rita Bahuguna Joshi did not say anything anti-Dalit. In fact she said if the compensation awarded to a raped Dalit woman is only 25,000 then should Mayawati be given 1 crore of she is raped. Undoubtedly, her language was vicious,....

FTN Blog: Our cities are geared for the rich

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The metro accident in Delhi and the waterlogging in Mumbai motivated us to start a discussion on which way our cities are heading. Face The Nation on Tuesday was about 'Are We Following the Wrong Model of Urban Development'. The discussion really set me thinking. The government is supposed to be promoting "inclusive growth"- its supposed to be a government for the aam admi. But is there any attempt being made on the part of our urban planners and managers to make our cities hospitable, humane and habitable for the aam admi? I live in Delhi and I can tell you if you are a pedestrian in this city, you have to fear for your life! There are no subways, no walking paths and almost no pavements. And have you ever seen senior citizens trying to cross a flyover? It's a horrifying spectacle watching....

The Morality Budget

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Transforming Indian attitudes might have to be as slow as reforming the economy The reinterpretation of Section 377 by the Delhi High Court, decriminalizing consenting adult homosexual sex, is a judgement justly hailed for its wisdom. By saying that it was the same spirit of `inclusiveness' that also motivated Nehru, the judgement has reminded us of the truly radical freedoms that form the foundations of the Indian nation. In 1947 when India's constitution-makers gave universal adult franchise to a poor, tradition-bound illiterate country, they set us on course for a constantly evolving contract with freedom. The reinterpretation of Section 377 could become a trigger for a larger debate about the balance between sexual freedom and traditional society and how to achieve a middle ground. Today, personal freedom and "traditional morality" seem to be on a collision course. The attacks on women at a Mangalore pub led....