That’s What Friends are For

17

"It's often been said, the most beautiful things in the universe are the starry heavens above us and the feeling of duty within us." As he raised a toast to Indo-US friendship at the White House banquet with those words - slightly, ever so slightly, the US President's shoulders seemed to droop. The night was perfect, despite the rainy day that preceded it, and forced him to cancel the grand ceremonial welcome he had planned for his first state guest Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. There was a galaxy of stars from the Indian-American community, a sprinkle of stardust from Hollywood, food, arrangements, music...all planned to the last detail. Obama quoted Nehru, Singh quoted Lincoln, and the evening was complete, except it lacked one thing. The US President's full attention. For weeks before the big visit - an AfPak-shaped distraction has been big on everyone's mind in Washington, with....

Desi Down to the Last Detail

7

10 Downing Street may have been 'balti-fied' ages ago- clearly it's now the White House's turn to be 'currified'- and so the State Dinner for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Gursharan and their two daughters (Upinder Singh and Amrit Singh in attendance) is as much a celebration of India as anything else. Not just the guests (from Deepak Chopra to Jhumpa Lahiri) to the menu (curry prawns and coconut basmati) to the entertainment (AR Rahman), but to the little details too. The floral decorations on the table are purple in 'homage' to the peacock, our national bird, magnolias are chosen because they are apparently native to both India and the US, and Michelle Obama's ivory dress is made by Indian-born designer Naeem Khan. (Earlier, for the ceremonial welcome and joint statement, she wore a rust dress that together with Mrs Gursharan Kaur's green, seemed to denote the tricolour!) ....

On Board Air India 001

4

Deal-ing with expectations Here were are, taking off on one of the longest Prime Ministerial trips in recent times-eight days, including three days in transit--as we go Delhi-Geneva-Washington-Port of Spain-Geneva-Delhi. The trip is itself going to be all about the atmospherics, I am warned. The powerful symbolism of the Indian Prime Minister being welcomed as the first State Guest of the Obama White House; the symbolism of two world leaders who share great vibes and two countries poised to leap forward in their relationship, should be enough, say the diplomats to stop us looking for the one big deal that will cement the visit. Is it? So far it seems the biggest one will be the finalizing of the reprocessing agreement (yes the nuclear deal is still not done!) when they meet. Desis in the House Already, the number of visitors to the state banquet has crossed....

26/11 never again

16

It's a recurring nightmare: Mumbai is under siege, hundreds of people are being held hostage, and I wake up morning after morning asking the same question...is it over yet? Is it over Yet? Is It Over Yet? But while the last commando and the last hostage may have left the scene, and the last burnt tile or broken door been replaced months ago, the truth is 'Mumbai' will not be over until we are able to squarely face what happened to us during those three days. In the next couple of weeks, we will look closely at all that we found out in the year since the Mumbai attacks - why our intelligence failed, where the investigations have led, why more has not been done by Pakistan to catch the guilty. And victim-by-victim we will trace the families of those that suffered, and find out where they are....

A Tale of Two Fatwas

55

Intolerance, like the animals off Noah's ark seems to come in twos. Probably why the past week saw two distinctly different expressions of it - in two distinctly different places that only underscored just how similar practitioners of extremist thought are. First there was the congregation of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind in Deoband's Dar-Ul-Uloom seminary - a conclave of thousands of Islamic scholars and clerics from across the country - that produced a slew of resolutions against terror, education (allowing girls to continue studies beyond 10 years but strictly veiled following Sharia laws), politics (rejecting 33 per cent reservations for women in legislatures as "bringing women into the mainstream would cause social problems"), entertainment (calling on youth to shun television and cinema), and AIDS (condoms are the root cause of sexual anarchy, said the resolution). Of course, it was the endorsement of a 3-year-old fatwa by the Dar-ul-Uloom against....