Do it yourself

Thought for the day "Violence among young people is an aspect of their desire to create. They don't know how to use their energy creatively so they do the opposite and destroy.' ‑ Anthony Burgess (English, 1917-1993) Word for the day Meritorious (adj) Deserving praise, reward, esteem, etc.; praiseworthy. Malice towards none An equity analyst's comment on La La Land's performance at Oscars - "Results below expectation, all positives priced. Downgrade to Hold."   First random thought this morning The latest round of elections is drawing to close. In next two weeks we would know the broad winners and losers. The local body elections in this round have mostly gone in favor of BJP. A win for BJP in UP will decimate the Congress Party, and we may see a fresh round of desertions. Whereas a win for SP-Cong alliance will keep it alive, though still on life support system. in the meanwhile the side...

Thought for the day "Only on the edge of the grave can man conclude anything." —Henry Adams (American, 1838-1918) Word for the day Excoriate (v) To denounce or berate severely; flay verbally: to strip off or remove the skin from, e.g., H er palms were excoriated by the hard labor of shoveling . Malice towards none Recent newspaper reports have frequently proclaimed that Yamuna is dead and Ganga is good only for walking on Ghats, and dangerous if you take a dip. I did not see anyone's blood boiling over this. Neither self claimed protectors of Hindu interests; nor the custodians of Ganga-Yamuni tehjeeb; nor any politician; and nor those NGOs who have gulped billions in the name of cleaning the two rivers. First random thought this morning Nowadays everything happening or not happening is seen as a referendum on PM Modi. The AIDMK crisis in Tamil Nadu, Assembly elections in various states,...

Thought for the day "Politics, as a practice, whatever its professions, has always been the systematic organization of hatreds." —Henry Adams (American, 1838-1918) Word for the day Craquelure (n) A network of fine cracks or crackles on the surface of a painting, caused chiefly by shrinkage of paint film or varnish. Malice towards none Sasikala seeks transfer to Chennai jail, so that she can run the state government more efficiently. First random thought this morning The so called intellectual commentary on the standards of political debate and the narrative of public discourse set by prominent political personalities is amusing. The regular faces on TV, preposterously claiming to be intelligentsia and rightful custodians of the interests of the billion plus people of this country, are telling us that this degeneration is unprecedented. Nothing could be far from truth. I can vouch from personal experien...

Thought for the day "He too serves a certain purpose who only stands and cheers." —Henry Adams (American, 1838-1918) Word for the day Fress (v) To eat or snack, especially often or in large quantities. Malice towards none The second season of Yadav Family drama in UP will start after Holi. Regardless of the election results. First random thought this morning Potato farmers in UP and Punjab are in deep distress. The standing wheat crop promises to further escalate the problem, as prices are likely to fall post harvest. Pulses are now trading below MSP in many states. The pressure to allow import of duty free sugar to overcome the shortfall in production to poor cane crop in southern India, may curtail the honeymoon of sugarcane farmers also. On top of all this, some international agencies are predicting revival of El Nino later in the summer of 2017. Hope of any remarkable recovery in rural spending might remain e...

Thought for the day "Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time" —Thomas A. Edison (American, 1847-1931) Word for the day Sine die (Adv) Without fixing a day for future action or meeting, e.g., The assembly adjourned sine die . Malice towards none ISRO launched 104 birds in the space. A record of sorts. I wonder, do we already have a traffic protocol for outer space! At this pace, the traffic there could be as bad as Chandni Chowk, in a few years. First random thought this morning A record 27 Us Congressmen are scheduled to visit India from February 25. It could be anything, but is certainly not a sign of hostility towards India. The statement of foreign secretary, after a second extension of term, that president Trump needs to be better understood, clearly points to deepening and strengthening ties. Anyone who is worried ...

Thought for the day "I never did a day's work in my life. It was all fun" —Thomas A. Edison (American, 1847-1931) Word for the day Spoony (adj) Foolishly or sentimentally amorous. Malice towards none Entire country seems to have fallen in love with Taimur. After all, what's in a name! First random thought this morning The coverage of Tamil Nadu events and UP elections by TV channels in past one month raises many questions. While the national English channels devoted disproportionately longer hours discussing the TN events, national Hindi channels did not give any prominence to the drama. Similarly, while Hindi channels are devoting more than 50% airtime to UP elections alone, English channels are not assigning much importance to the these election, especially after the SP family soap opera ended. So what is the message here?   Miles to go before you sleep   Last evening a visit to the local ga...

Thought for the day "To have a great idea, have a lot of them." —Thomas A. Edison (American, 1847-1931) Word for the day Calliopean (adj) Piercingly loud; resembling a calliope in sound, e.g. a calliopean voice. Malice towards none Pakistan threatens to boycott US!!! Well....hmmmm....duh. First random thought this morning Out of the five states currently going through elections, Manipur has virtually stayed out of the national discourse. While Uttrkhand and Goa have seen multiple opinion polls, psephologists have completely avoided the north eastern state. To me it means three things: (a)   In spite of all brouhaha over mainstreaming of north eastern region, the work on ground still remains mostly notional. (b)   Many of opinion polls might have been done on phone and Google. (c)    In this digital age also, the intensity of national news is directly proportionate to th...