Do it yourself

Thought for the day "Most of us spend too much time on the last twenty-four hours and too little on the last six thousand years." —Will Durant (American, 1885-1981) Word for the day Autarky (n) The condition of self-sufficiency, especially economic, as applied to a nation. A national policy of economic independence. Malice towards none Other things aside, one thing is very clear - most experienced Indian politicians are thick skinned and shameless! First random thought this morning In popular perception, both PM Narendra Modi and CM Nitish Kumar have an image of honest and development oriented administrator. It is for the first time they have joined hands. It would be interesting to see if this holy union metamorphoses Bihar out of BIMARU status and in the league of MP and Jharkhand at least. Would also be interesting to see, whether it is the end of the road for Lalu Yadav, or he will rise agai...

Thought for the day "History is mostly guessing; the rest is prejudice." —Will Durant (American, 1885-1981) Word for the day Highfalutin (adj) Pompous; bombastic; haughty; pretentious. Malice towards none Bankelal from Bharatpur, Rajasthan: "Maharana Pratap defeated Akbar." Rajesh from Agra, UP (45miles from Bharatpur): "My history book says Maharana Pratap fought valiantly but lost to Akbar." Bankelal: "I hate you, you are a traitor. Go to Pakistan." Rajesh: "You bloody, Sanghi, go to hell". First random thought this morning I do not have any data to support this thought, but my hunch is that in past 10years or so, the weather pattern in Thar dessert has changed materially. The area has received much higher than average rains, frequent floods, and cooler winters. I do not know if authorities have taken note of it and planned to take advantage ...

Thought for the day "Civilization exists by geological consent, subject to change without notice." —Will Durant (American, 1885-1981) Word for the day Tarn (n) A small mountain lake or pool, especially one in a cirque. Malice towards none Media (print, electronic, digital and social) does not appear to be presenting true state of Indian affairs. The reporting and commenting seems to suffering from deep prejudice, partisanship and ignorance. Oversimplification and blatant generalization have become norm. How do I get the true picture? First random thought this morning Police and society could not protect me from being raped. But courts order me to give birth to the child that resulted from that rape, so that I never forget what kind of society I live in and how insecure and unprotected I am, and shall remain. And you know the worst part, if my child want to mention his father's name in his passpo...

Thought for the day "It may be true that you can't fool all the people all the time, but you can fool enough of them to rule a large country." —Will Durant (American, 1885-1981) Word for the day Polemic (n) A controversial argument, as one against some opinion, doctrine, etc Malice towards none Could you also hear a clear, shrill and unpleasant sound of sexism and machoism, in all this extraordinary praise for women cricket team? Somehow I did! First random thought this morning His Excellency Pranab Mukherjee has completed one of the most non-controversial stints at Raisina Hills. I have not heard anyone complaining about his conduct as President of the Republic of India. To the contrary, most people are appreciative of the fact that he restored the dignity of the post, that was arguably damaged by his predecessor to some extent. Now, if I juxtapose this status with all controversies, conspiracies and a...

Thought for the day "We are punished by our sins, not for them." —Elbert Hubbard (American, 1859-1915) Word for the day Ovine (adj) Pertaining to, of the nature of, or like sheep. Malice towards none If things go as per plan, it will likely be NaMo vs NiKu contest in 2019, and a long European vacation for RaGa.   First random thought this morning Government wants to sell Air India. Good intention. Government wants to consolidate PSU upstream and downstream petroleum companies. Good idea. Government wants to consolidate PSBs. Good strategy. Government will continue to exercise control over management of these enterprise. Poor idea. Why not make a super holding company. Transfer all government holdings to that company, and let individual companies be managed professionally, without any interference from the government. Beyond Sensex "Though stock markets in general a...

Thought for the day "Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped." —Elbert Hubbard (American, 1859-1915) Word for the day Etymology (n) A chronological account of the birth and development of a particular word or element of a word. Malice towards none Why this pretense that President, Governor and Vice President are nonpartisan? First random thought this morning I met a midsized chemical company's management last week. The people were generally very bullish on the prospects of their business in near to midterm. When asked about "what could be the key risk to their business outlook"; the instant reply was 'Modi not winning election in 2019". When I asked them what specifically the incumbent government has done to promote their business and that could change if Modi is not re-elected in 2019, I got no reply. Who needs more investment? Re...

Thought for the day "To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing." —Elbert Hubbard (American, 1859-1915) Word for the day Harrumph(v) 1. To clear the throat audibly in a self-important manner. 2. To express oneself gruffly. Malice towards none Digvijay Singh is doing 3300km Narmada Parikarma and Lalu Yadav's family is performing a variety of religious rituals. It is comforting to note that in India, still "Secular" does not mean "Non-believer". First random thought this morning A number of opposition parties in India facing existential threat. They can clearly see that another term for the incumbent government will materially erode their base. They are therefore naturally in a hurry to unite so that they could at least present a realistic challenge to PM Modi. The unfortunate part is that in their desperation, they seem to have forgotten that they would need a...

Thought for the day "Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive." —Elbert Hubbard (American, 1859-1915) Word for the day Uptalk (n) A rise in pitch at the end, usually of a declarative sentence, especially if habitual. Malice towards none Have seen or heard of Digvijay Singh lately? First random thought this morning "Good is a noun. That was it ....Good as a noun rather than an adjective is all the Metaphysics of Quality is about. Of course, the ultimate Quality isn't a noun or an adjective, but if you had to reduce the Metaphysics of Quality to one sentence, that would be it." — Robery Pirsig in LILA I feel that this book should be made mandatory for all politicians, media persons and civil society members. "You have done much worse than me" should not be tolerated in defence of any action or argument.