Political Quartets

Here's a good article by Ramachandra Guha on how the political scenario in India changed over time and on how the country survives despite the not so favorable changes.

"Where the original idea of India rested on the work of Tagore, Gandhi, Nehru and Ambedkar, the degradation of the idea of India has been inspired by the work and example of, among others, M.S. Golwalkar, V.D. Savarkar, Indira Gandhi and Laloo Prasad Yadav."

India Together

Finally found a good magazine that has well-thought out opinions by people who write very well and one that is not cluttered by annoying ADs or pop-ups. Here's India Together

And here is an interesting article on the marginalization of PV Narasimha Rao's legacy in the Congress party by Ramachandra Guha

Healthcare bill

Here's a very good PBS documentary on how the Obama administration passed the historic healthcare bill. However, like all Frontline documentaries it slightly dramatized though!

Lack of Balance

Here's an article from David Brooks, who reviews the Obama presidency and subtly bemoans the lack of balance that people have when reviewing it.

I think striking a balance is one of the most difficult things to do for it makes one appear indecisive and wary of risk taking. In my opinion, people tend to extol greater virtues than necessary for people who take quick decisions and form fast opinions for their positions are more likely to be based on overtly simplistic and, perhaps even, self-serving interpretation of information. Below is an excerpt from the article.

"In a sensible country, people would see Obama as a president trying to define a modern brand of moderate progressivism. In a sensible country, Obama would be able to clearly define this project without fear of offending the people he needs to get legislation passed. But we don’t live in that country. We live in a country in which many people live in information cocoons in which they only talk to members of their own party and read blogs of their own sect. They come away with perceptions fundamentally at odds with reality"

O' Reilly Vs Letterman

Whoa...am I losing my mind or is Bill O'Reilly actually making sense. Here and here are his recent interviews with Dave Letterman. Listen to what he says in Part (2) of the interview!

Obama on Leno

Check it out here, here and here...

"Being President is like being on American Idol, except that everybody is Simon Cowell"

"Smart kids coming out of school, instead of wanting to be an investment banker, we need to them to decide that they want to be an engineer, they want to be a scientist, they want to be a doctor and teacher...."

The Obamas were supposed to get a dog for their daughters when they moved into the White house.

"Leno: When is the dog coming? I keep hearing about the dog. When was it supposed be there by? I thought it was as soon as you moved in (to the White House)"
Obama: Well....listen, this is Washington and that was a campaign promise......."

Responsibility as the best response?

Here's an article by Ramesh Ramanathan that appeared on Livemint
"We ask for a tough state, when we ourselves are a soft people. I mean it in the harshest sense: Most of us are selfish, inward-looking cowards who quaver at the slightest hint of risk to ourselves or our family."

Valid but uncomfortable questions...

Here's an editorial in the New York times.
"How can their government have ignored the warning signs? A 2007 report to Parliament warned that the country’s shores were poorly protected — and some or all of the attackers arrived by boat. Why weren’t the police and the army better prepared to respond? Sharpshooters outside the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower Hotel did not have telescopic sights, so they could not get off a shot for fear of killing hostages rather than the terrorists."

Here's an article that appeared in the WSJ on this topic
"The country's antiterrorism effort is reactive and episodic rather than proactive and sustained. Its public discourse on Islam oscillates between crude, anti-Muslim bigotry and mindless sympathy for largely unjustified Muslim grievance-mongering. Its failure to either charm or cow its Islamist-friendly neighbors -- Pakistan and Bangladesh -- reveals a limited grasp of statecraft.

Nonetheless, the reflexive Indian response to most every act of terrorism is to apportion blame rather than to seek a solution that will prevent, or at least minimize, its recurrence."

Here's an interesting article on LeT by Steve Coll of the New Yorker
"I was at a conference this morning where another panelist well-versed in these issues said he would not be surprised if it turned out that Lashkar conceived the Mumbai attacks as a way to pull Pakistani Army units and attention away from the Afghan border and into defense positions in the east, to protect the country from the possibility of military retaliation by India. In any event, if the evidence does show that uncontrolled Lashkar elements carried out the attacks, it would force India’s government to judge how to calibrate policy toward a civilian-led Pakistan government and Army command that may have little control over the very same Islamist groups that it purposefully built up and supported just a few years ago."

Perhaps, it is time to look inwards, acknowledge flaws and start developing capabilities that enhance our national security instead blaming a bad neighborhood, which grapples with its own incompetence!

Indecision 2008

The US Presidential elections are in two days. It has been a very interesting campaign for the last several months. I have been following it a little too keenly and people who know me also know that I am a strong supporter of Barack Obama - not that it matters for I don't have right to vote.

However, even as I support him, I do acknowledge, there are inherent risks in voting for Obama. It is not as much as he is an unknown entity as it is about the highly probable gulf that exists between what he believes and what he can actually do. We have seen him give thoughtful answers to complex problems but will the lack of his executive experience affect his ability to execute them? He has shown the ability to attract some exceptionally talented people around him, but will their opinion matter in a possible liberal era of a democrat congress and democrat senate? These are legitimate concerns, but no one, including Obama, can really answer these questions convincingly.

While the way he carried himself through a grueling twenty month campaign under intense scrutiny does assuage some concerns, I do believe that the possible Obama administration is likely to have surprises that not all people will like!

And here's a very nice editorial from The Economist on this topic.

Great Articles

Here's an article about Obama by a noted conservative commentator, David Brooks.
"There has never been a moment when, at least in public, he seems gripped by inner turmoil. It’s not willpower or self-discipline he shows as much as an organized unconscious. Through some deep, bottom-up process, he has developed strategies for equanimity, and now he’s become a homeostasis machine"

And here's an article by Suresh Menon on Tendulkar after his test record.
"As remarkable as his record is his self-possession. His head hasn't changed size, his boots haven't grown smaller. He alone knows what it means to be Tendulkar, with its frustrations, its sacrifices, and the need to be Tendulkar at all times. He is a one-man university that teaches sportsmen how to handle money, fame and pressure."

Elections lections!

I really like elections. They offer the best reality TV. It is mega-serial running at pace of Usan Bolt!
Politicians vehemently state that they absolutely love motherhood and apple pie. Political analysts then split hair into million pieces and conclude that nothing can be concluded. Spin artists bamboozle everyone including themselves. Talk show hosts yap their way to glory. You get hear of weird things like psephologist's prediction, pigs with lipsticks, bridges to nowhere! Newspapers put everything in red and blue. Small talk industry booms. Cocktail party topics go beyond the weather, the game and the traffic. And finally each of us go to bed with a feeling of comprehensive competence and accomplishment!

Unfortunately it seems all ends in November and there is nothing else to forward to! However, there is always good news around the corner. After Hollywood it's Bollywood's time . I only hope we will be entertained by our own version of Palin-Drones

Oh btw, I am Deepak Srikumar and I approve this message, in case you are left wondering!

Emperor Barack - I

Barack Obama has a chance to do what no one has ever done before - Become the world's first democratically elected Emperor!

Think about it. He got rousing welcome every single place he visited over the last couple weeks. Over 200,000 Germans turned up for his speech there is a dessert in Palestine called the "Obama cake", the King of Jordan chauffeured him and unofficial polls in New Zealand show that he is more popular than the candidates running in that election. With his Kenyan ancestry, he has parts of Africa covered as well and penguins in Antarctica wouldn't give too much of a damn either way! There is a real chance for Obamasphere around the world!

But to be a little more serious, in this age of widespread information, will denizens of any nation or region temporarily lease out leadership/executive positions to a more competent individual even if that person is not a native of the land?