WHO AM I?
on Nov 11, 2009I keep my home clean by throwing garbage out of the window!I grumble about corruption in public life but do not mind bribing my way- for a berth in a train!- when a traffic cop cops me for a traffic violation!- to get an errand done in a government o...

M. F. HUSSAIN – SECULAR HOLY COW OR MARKET-DRIVEN PEDDLER?
on Nov 4, 2009ART IS BIG BUSINESSThe organisers of India Art Summit 2008 decided to exclude MFH’s paintings from the displays for fear of protests by Hindu organisations. Even in the 2009 summit MFH’s paintings were officially excluded. The exhibition was cond...

NOBEL FOR OBAMA – DOWNSIDE FOR INDIA?
on Oct 12, 2009 in Kashmir Indo-US Nuclear Deal Obama Downside for India Nobel At about this time last year Obama was still campaigning, sweeping the world and his opponents in the floodtide of his ornate verbal imagery.The Indian media did not have enough of Obama’s election campaign and presidential inauguration. It was as...

An LeT operation in J&K and a detention in the US
on Oct 4, 2009 in LeT Operation Sociology Shah Rukh Khan US Terrorism Secularism Primetime News Debate Nine-eleven America Kashmiri Pandits The following is the transcript of INTV’s Primetime News Debate on August 15, 2009. The day was quite eventful. A group of LeT terrorists surrounded, Pulwanpur, a border village in J&K holding its entire population hostage. Indian security forc...

Deccan Chronicle Apologises - Hussain Doesn't!
on Apr 11, 2009There is a quaint mix of irony in the features that Deccan Chronicle front-paged on February, 24 and March 8 this year and their sequels. And the contrast couldn’t be as stark. The occasions were, in the first instance, a British film and an Indian...

The letters they rejected!
on Feb 5, 2009 in Letters to the editor; editorial ideology; business interests in newspapers; vested interests in newspapers Letters to the editor are one of the most widely read columns in newspapers, probably next only to sensational crime and sex stories. These columns by and large reflect readers’ yearning to vent their opinions on various contemporaneous subjects an...

This Was How We Were Fooled!
on Jan 17, 2009 in Beware; Phishing Modus Operandi It all started with an innocuous e-mail we recieved. It was one of those occasions when we fell for the trick. We innocently replied the e-mail with our details. All hell broke loose the next morning! The fraudster sent an SOS e-mail to all contacts...

Are Hindus more sinned against than sinning?
on Oct 20, 2008 in Newlife Church; Proselytization; Secularism; Bajrang Dal ; Managalore; Hindu-Christian violence; Kandhamal The backgroundFor nearly two thousand years the Abrahamic faiths have been seeking to extend the hegemony - odd as it may sound, of their respective philosophies - by proselytizing people for love or for money and quite often by the sword. They have...

Indo-US Nuclear Deal Demystified
on Sep 17, 2008 in Indo-US; Nuclear Deal; 123-Agreement; Hyde Act; US Atomic Energy Act; Energy Security Introduction The Indo-US civilian nuclear deal is hailed as a landmark in the relations between the two countries. America imposed sanctions against us after we tested a nuclear weapon in 1974. As a result of this we were not able to import nuclear m...

Obiter Dicta on Artistic Freedom and Social Responsibility
on Sep 13, 2008 in MFHussain;Artistic Freedom;Delhi High Court;Amnesty? This is a sequel to the article "Artistic Freedom & Social Responsibility", which examined the question as to what happens when the artistic freedom of an individual (or a famous painter) militates against the collective human rights of a multitu...