Sir Alex: Football, bloody hell!

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The greatest manager in world football finally bid adieu to the game in his own inimical style. Contrarian to his aggressive on field personality, the announcement arrived via an official statement at around 9am on the 8th of May 2013 in a subdued manner.The news spread like wildfire and United fans and football lovers across the world were in shock yet were in awe of the great man. Needless to say, his presence has left a vacuum on the minds of the millions of fans across the planet. As I sat over at work wondering about the news, numerous flash points went through my head. Since I have been following the game for a long time, I traced a journey through the years and wondered how everlasting he has been. From my early teens, I have been following Manchester United and at every stage of watching football, the only....

Bangalore blasts and Delhi Rape: What Boston can teach us

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The images flashing over television screens across the world have been riveting to put it mildly. The entire American establishment was on a mission to hunt down the perpetrators of the Boston attack; the entire city of Boston was grounded to a halt till the task was completed. The operation was swift and ruthless. A couple of days before, a similar act of terror occurred on the streets of Bangalore, the pin up city of the tech world in India. Another instance of the crime was the rape of the 5 year old in Delhi. So how was the response in these situations? What are some things we could learn from the Boston episode? Rapid Response: Within hours of the Boston incident, the area was cordoned off completely and the entire area was brought under the control of the investigators. And within 24 hours, the video footage around the area....

RTE: Quality more important than quantity

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The state of primary education in India has always been a point of concern. With the RTE Act being implemented, it was expected that this would enhance both the access and scope of education to all young children across the country. But while the RTE's potential to provide significant uplift to primary education is undeniable, some questions still remain on the quality of education provided to most. And the lines sometimes get blurred. An analysis of its impact could provide a broader understanding of why an increase in quantity does not always equal an increase in quality. The Aser ('impact' in Hindi) report produced by Pratham, a non-governmental organisation, reveals certain important facts. Firstly, it shows an increase in the number of primary schools with enrollment of 60 or fewer students in the last 3 years. This has increased from 26. 1 per cent in 2009 to 32. 1....

Aakash: Same old story

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The ambitious Aakash project had always been of interest to me. It was one of those things that I genuinely believed could change the face of Indian technology especially in education. The Union Minister for Human Resource Development then, Dr Kapil Sibal, proudly pronounced that on March 11th 2011 that "this will be a day that history would remember", on the day of the launch of the tablet. Now its almost on the verge of being dropped and the reasons behind them sounds déjà vu The hype around the world's cheapest tablet was so immense that one would have believed a path breaking event was occurring; if something like that occurred that is. Hype is warranted when there is quality, in this case, it would have been much better had the quality lived up to the hype of the product. When you go to the United Nations with the manufacturer....

Why is India sounding weak to the world?

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The most defining moments over the past week has been the way India has handled countries within its neighbourhood as well as beyond South Asia. The bilateral dispute between India and Italy over the two sailors has triggered a diplomatic war between the two countries and has made us question the need for India to be more reactive rather than proactive. On a broader context, it also makes us wonder, has our diplomatic muscle been disproportional to our economic might? Some of the incidents over the past few weeks might provide a peek into the scheme of things. Italian Marines: The saga of the Italian marines has been an intriguing one. They had gone back for Christmas break as part of their petition at the Supreme Court of India and we had allowed them on the same grounds for their casting of their ballots in their elections. While the....

Why is India sounding weak to the world?

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The most defining moments over the past week has been the way India has handled countries within its neighbourhood as well as beyond South Asia. The bilateral dispute between India and Italy over the two sailors has triggered a diplomatic war between the two countries and has made us question the need for India to be more reactive rather than proactive. On a broader context, it also makes us wonder, has our diplomatic muscle been disproportionate to our economic might? Some of the incidents over the past few weeks might provide a peek into the scheme of things. Italian Marines: The saga of the Italian marines has been an intriguing one. They had gone back for Christmas break as part of their petition at the SC and we had allowed them on the same grounds for their casting of their ballots in their elections. While the SC judgment....

Two months after December 2012: What is the progress?

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It has been more than two months since the infamous Delhi gangrape that shook the people's conscience across the country. While the incident induced a resonance across the country, it's also important to understand what has been happening over the last two months. Has there been any change? Has the outcry been sustained enough to shake up the inertia in the system? Have there been any legislative developments in this regard? These are all important questions that one needs to ask, if we are to have a long term vision of improving the safety of women and the law and order apparatus in the country. What has been the impact on legislative front? The public pressure during the peak of the movement was so immense that it was hard for the state to ignore the calling of the people. In this context, an ordinance was passed that covered....

Viswaroopam: Multi-dimensionional learning curve

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The saga involving the Tamil film Viswaroopam seems never ending. Irrespective of one's personal views on Kamal Hassan, his genius is unquestionable and his freedom of thought much more so. We need to segment this debate into two components, one is the issue with Viswaroopam and another the larger question of responding to criticism of organized religions. Art per say is bound to question things; the root of artistic excellence is its ability in questioning the status quo on any issue. Needless to say, art cinema has always been an excellent medium for critical analysis of major historical issues that confront the country and the world across. As long as artistic freedom doesn't offend the sentiments of people by and large, then license to that art form is a birthright for any citizen in this country. The only way to counter an art form is not by banning that....

Swami Vivekananda and why he is relevant a century later

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The ideas of Swami Vivekananda have been a treasure for people across the world. In the backdrop of his 150th birth anniversary, it is imperative that one looks at his ocean of knowledge to seek more clarity. In my view, even though he lived a century ago, some of his views are applicable to today's young India more than any other era. I am no expert in his works but from my limited understanding thus far of his writing, the relevance to todays world is pretty significant. This might be striking but the visionary was so ahead of his time, that it is important to understand his views on the youth even today. Women empowerment: The progressive agenda that Vivekananda had towards women is very well known. In his own words, he says "That country and that nation which doesn't respect women will never become great now and....

Open Letter to Society on increasing number of rapes

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Dear Society, I know you would be reading this with the recent rape incidents in the capital at the back of your mind. It has been a crazy and horrendous week, both in equal measure. As you sit here and read this, understand that there have been 24.206 rape cases in 2011 and the conviction rate is an appalling 26.6 percent, not even ¼ of the cases are being convicted in this country. 733 rapes have happened in the state of Harayana in 2011 with an average of 61 cases per month according to the National Crimes Records Bureau. Madhya Pradesh reported the highest number of rape cases (3,406) accounting for 14.1 per cent of total such cases reported in the country. So why are we infested with such a mess? Aren't we living in something called a civilized society? Even though I....