I think democracies, in general, get the kind of governments the people deserve. I say 'in general' because what is generally meant by 'democracy' is the government elected based just on a simple majority –  and not on a proportional representation – but that is a column for another time.

Prime Minster P.V. Narasimha Rao: The Scholar and the Statesman

So, finally someone in Congress(I) learned to say the word 'sychophancy'! I wonder why it took them so long when the whole country has been witnessing this phenomenon for god knows how long.

I know it sounds too damned far-fetched and unthinkable that India could ever become a Germany or an Italy during the early part of the last century. For one thing, the ethos of those societies was completey different from the Indian ethos of respect for freedom, human rights and truth. Well, hold on a minute (I am telling myself this) before lapsing into a fantasy.

I generally tend to agree with the views of 'The Hindu' (and 'Frontline', as well) - most of the time, that is...But not this time when they've chosen to criticise President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam's decision to send back the bill to Parliament for reconsideration.

Whenever I see or read about all 'exciting' news about India's economic growth, and the insane and vulgar competition for claiming credit (more by the supporters of political parties and ideologies than the politicians themselves), it really puzzles me and annoys me greatly that no one talks about the phenomenon of 'artificial scarcity' that has always been maintained for various goods and serv

Mani Shankar Aiyar is one of the handful of ministers in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's cabinet who just got down to business with no politicking around. So it came as a great shock when he was dropped from the Petroleum Ministry and was replaced by Murli Deora.

Almost seven years after she was killed in April 1999, all the accused are out - the Delhi police apparently did a lousy job at building and sustaining the case, and with witnesses turning hostile, forensic evidence messed up, there is no justice yet. So the killer(s) of Jessica Lall are still out there.