Editorials
by Rajen Kumar
APEDA Rendering Lip Service
For over four years now, we have been making relentless efforts to fill information deficit that painfully exists in the country's Micro, Small and Medium Sector. Encouragingly enough,...
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Special Reports
Feb 2012Streamlining Crowd's Vitality
The economic uncertainty around the world may have been the cause of many a setback but it has also created opportunities for innovation and prompted people to “really”...
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First Person Singluar
Feb, 2012
Too Lively a Wife She Was For Jinnah !
February 20 is not in the days marked for any birth or death anniversary in Pakistan. This day, 112 years back, was born a girl who at age 16 fell for, loved Mohd. Ali Jinnah, eloped with him at age 18, converted to Islam, married him, bore him a daughter, walked out on him at age 28, and died of an overdose of morphine on this very day at the age of 29. She lies buried in the Khoja Shia Isna'Ashari Cemetery, ( Mumbai ). 
Jan, 2012
Should The Winds Roar; Flap Wings & Soar !
I, indeed, savoured, “Whatever The Odds' by K.P. Singh. Not sequentially, though ! My primary pick was the chapter 'Winning Life Back' ( he tending to his wife, the lone survivor of a helicopter crash ). Then, the chapter 'DLF: Growth and Transition' ( his double-dip into the stream of sub-conscious – reconciliation-rancour-reconciliation with Haryana chief ministers of 80-90s, Bansi Lal in particular – incidentally, whom the columnist too had known, once ). Onto 'Building Lives' ( the DLF Foundation, his philanthropic effort ). And a flip back to the the chapter 'Mysteries of Fate' ( he cheated death five times). It was here that I came upon 'K.P Singh on K.P. Singh' in a confessional of sorts:
Nov, 2011
Got to go ? Go the Socrates Way : Nehru !
Mind of the Judge' is a lesser read, lesser known, and not easily available interpretative, though more important an objective literary output, by Jawahar Lal Nehru, put to pen while he was in Jail in 1935. Though serving a simple imprisonment, which on no count was rigorous – my surmise is in his unending hours of solitude, he felt superior to jail mates.
Oct, 2011
Dilip Kumar on Dilip Kumar
Sadly enough, I have misplaced a clip of a legendary movie-quartet -- the tallest among them, leading the three among-the-equals on October 11, 1966: Prithviraj Kapoor, resplendent in regalia, commanding a Pathan groom's procession. Astride the mare was a bejewelled Dilip Kumar. On the flanks were Devanand and Raj Kapoor. All four wore Green headgear wrapped around a skull cap as Pathans do. The bride: Saira Banu. The mare didn't trot much. Saira lived at Pali Hill as well.
Sep, 2011
When Steel Turned Into Spaghetti !
Of course, it is a coincidence of two Septembers: 30 years to the month, I bought a book 'The Terror Network: The Secret War of International Terrorism' by Claire Sterling, Reader's Digest Press. And 10 years to the month, the Twin Towers in New York fell to terrorism, in a never thought before mix of a hijack and coordinated hits -- 21 minutes apart, which has since tore apart the citizenry of the cosmos.
Jul, 2011
Faith Moves Mountains; It Moved Me Once !
Dusk had descended when the cab shifted to a low gear and braked in the hotel foyer. I offered 'bakshish' to the driver. Hesitatingly, he accepted. And asked: 'Ek baat puchun sahib ? Aap arabi ( arabic ) jante hain ? I said: 'nahi, bilkul nahi, kyun ?' He said: 'mein kuch kuch janta hun', and looked at the Holy Quran. I read the plea in his eyes.
Jun, 2011
Mahatma Gandhi's 10 Commandments on Fasting
And thus began my hunt – who inspired the Mahatma, halfway past his age at 45, to unleash his lone 'fast unto death' as a weapon, only after he had stepped on the Indian shores ? Flipping through volumes of his biographies and autobiographies, I did, at long last, found more than I had hoped for – even how to go on a fast unto death ?
May, 2011
Last Words of Nehru: 'What is the matter ?'
The second person, late Mrs Indira Gandhi, who, too, was by his bedside when Jawahar Lal Nehru relapsed into a coma, never shared his last words. I have attempted a scissors and paste job, filtering out falsehoods as much as I could. At the annual Congress session at Bhubaneshwar, he rose to speak and fell head long on the dias.
Apr, 2011
Coins, Calligraphy & A Quarrel !
My second curiosity stood satisfied, too. The complete set of coins with 12 zodiacal signs were in three museums across the world: Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, the Berlin Museum and the British Museum. Some stray pieces were with private collectors in India, or a collector abroad. For instance, the coin portraying the zodiacal sign – Sagittarius – is with the American Numismatic Society. The 'mohar' highlighting my sun sign –Cancer – is in the collection of an Indian, R.D. Bhatt.
Feb, 2011
Indira Cried Her Soul Out But To One !!
“They amuse me and they irritate me and sometimes I find myself observing them as if I were not of the same species at all.” When a film “All The King’s Men” wasn’t hailed, she wrote: “It irritates me intensely, (though) it is silly to be irritated at such trifles. All the same, not having anyone with similar tastes gives one a sense of loneliness and isolation which is not at all pleasant.”
Dec, 2010
‘HE Should Not Have Bothered To Create Another Woman’
Sajjad Hussain, like his contemporaries, opted to stay back. And flourished. Sadly enough, Noor Jehan, once in Pakistan was left with the same immortal voice but no music directors anymore to immortalize her songs. A compact disc or two of post 1947 Noor Jehan is on the shelves but not worth the buy or the ears. Lata, besides Sajjad Hussain became the preferred choice of late Naushad and late Ghulam Haider.
Nov, 2010
Of Indira's Stare & Benazir's Sari !
A greenhorn in Indo-Pak politics, Benazir wondered: “So how should I look?”. Bhutto repeated: “Don't look sad and don't look happy.” The Oxford-Harvard educated daughter argued: “That's very difficult.”
Oct, 2010
And Rest As they Say Is Ramayana?
I come to the climax ! How did Daasgreeva came to be called Ravana when all it means is a ‘scream’ ? Well, of all the peaks he attempted to move Mount Kailash. Atop it Shiva and Parvati were amidst conjugal bliss. Shiva flew in rage, held firm the swaying Mount Kailash with his toe. Beneath lay a crushed Daasgreeva screaming ‘save, save !!’
Sep, 2010
The Forgotten Grand Father ?
The wordsmith in Jawahar Lal Nehru wrote: “A report has appeared in the press about the engagement of my daughter Indira with Feroze Gandhi. As inquiries have been addressed to me on the subject, I should like to confirm the report. A marriage is a personal and domestic matter, affecting chiefly the two parties and their families.
Aug, 2010
August 15, 1947 When British Heels Over Indian Heads Was Hospitality
'Then leave them on,' said Nehru. 'Jusy walk over people. They won't mind. 'Oh,' replied Pamela, 'the heels will hurt them.'…… 'Don't be a silly, snapped Nehru, 'take them off and come across.”……With a sigh, the daughter of India's last Viceroy kicked off her shoes, picked them up and set off across the carpet of human beings…..
Jul, 2010
A Fairy Tale 27-Storey Tower
The Ambani home, called Antilla, differed. No two floors are alike in either plans or materials used. At the request of Mrs Nita Ambani, say the designers, if a metal, wood or crystal was a part of the 9th-floor design, it shouldn't be used on the 11th floor ? The idea was to blend styles and architectural elements with spaces, a feel of consistency, but without repetition.
Feb, 2010
Perks Other Than Perks
Out of the 100 top companies, I plumped for 13: each with perks alright, but above the usual, a supra package of perks. Mind boggled, I thought over and over for a tagline ( also this write up's headline ).
Dec, 2009
About superstitions and Nehru, Indira Gandhi
The Life of Indira Nehru Gandhi, HarperCollins, 2001 – that she was not, sent me on a leather hunt. Having read her actions abiding by superstitions, I looked for her words deriding them. Since the father had brought up the daughter, I edifice the column on his considered views.
RAAG DARBARI Pvt. Ltd.
That the Prime Minister has asked his ministers for a self appraisal is confirmed. That the first draft, as below, prepared by the babudom would also be the final one is not confirmed.
Aug, 2009
Small Time Businessman Meets Big Time Union Finance Minister
The sole inspirational force behind the write up was General Budget 09-10…
The appointment materializes. The businessman reports at 8.30 am sharp. He doesn't mind the body search. In the waiting room, he's offered fresh lime juice.
Jul, 2009
Indian Education System – Macaulay legacy, Kapil Sibal reformer
The Mahatma, vent his sufferance of the Macaulay syllabi, before he sailed to England to study law: “I am firmly of the opinion that the Government schools have unmanned us, rendered us helpless and Godless. They have filled us with discontent…
Jun, 2009
3 Sons of 3 Prime Ministers - Rahul Gandhi, Ajit Singh, Neeraj Shekhar
The three are for three Members of Parliament - the only three elected to 15th Lok Sabha with a unique common denominator -- their fathers were Prime Ministers of India. More important, the three whom I had interviewed.
The Simmer of Summer – Indian summer captured by poets and moghuls
Author recounts how the Indian summer has been described in the past by Kalidasa and the mughal emperor Babur.
May, 2009
THE BOOK BRIDGE
On the sly though, and on a tightrope walk -- an iconoclast, an atheist, an agnostic -- I am, in three equal measures. I have stock answers to pointed questions, if my three-in-one thoughts, are inherited or acquired. But I do look back more than often. Through the dimly lit alley of upbringing.
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The Last Word
Rest in Peace, Ashwin !
What has happened Rajen, you haven't replied to my email I sent some time back?”. It was a frantic call from Ashwin Merchant November last as if something was amiss in his scheme of things. I...
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