The year 2020, according to the Chinese zodiac, was the Year of the Rat; it actually turned out to be the year of the Bat, but that’s another story. In India it was the year of the Rat- race, and the race is nearing the finish line in 2021. The participants are all our constitutional […]
RACE TO THE BOTTOM Read More »
Jogishwar Singh ( IAS 1976 ) is the bureaucrat who literally came in from the cold- from his almost ten thousand feet high perch as Deputy Commissioner of Kinnaur to the pleasant cantons of Switzerland. He is also a most unusual civil servant, probably the only one who was selected twice for the IAS, rejected
BOOK REVIEW: KINNAUR-UNLIKELY TALES by JOGISHWAR SINGH. Read More »
It’s impossible to get 10 IAS officers to agree on anything except the virtues of the Apex scale, which is why any contentious matter is passed on to a committee of such officers, to bury it for all time. But there is one thing they will agree on: ask them which was the most memorable
OF PROBATIONERS, PATWARIS AND PROPHETS. Read More »
I am at a loss these days to decide whether to vote for the Congress, or to vote directly for the BJP. I don’t like middle men. Why should I vote and help a Congress candidate win, only for that candidate to be “bought” in a matter of months by the BJP? Isn’t it a
Election Reflections in a Lighter Vein Read More »
The times they are a-changing – no one makes New Year resolutions any more, except perhaps Mr. Amit Shah and Mr. Adani. The former naturally resolves to fell a couple more Opposition governments in the states, and the latter to double his income yet again in twelve months. They are becoming so predictable I wish
A New Year Resolution – Do not let the book store die Read More »
In times of stress, it relaxes the muscles and de-clutters the mind to look elsewhere. So, Hamlet comes to mind. His soliloquy, ‘To be, nor not to be…’ haunts me these days. When anything haunts you, the best you can do for yourself is to modify it. That is the academic’s version of exorcism. I
To Laugh, or to Cry; That’s the question? Read More »
I bought my first car in 1982, a second-hand FIAT, for Rs. 32,000/. It was easy buying a car then: there were no NPAs, and you didn’t have to do multiple KYCs or reveal all the secrets of your life in order to get a loan, which is pretty much the SOP today. Assessing the
A New Tool-Kit for your Car. Read More »
While most people are right now thinking of Pratap Bhanu Mehta, I am thinking of two of my fellow Stephanians: Sanjeev Bikhchandani and Harsh Mander. Let me briefly explain why. I know how much of himself, together with his associates, Sanjeev invested into founding the Ashoka University. Whenever he referred to the institution in the
It’s Sanjeev Bikhchandani, I’m thinking of these days. Read More »
My wife and I took our vaccinations on the third of this month. I was a bit apprehensive of the jab because I’d read somewhere that nine out of ten vaccines are in vein, but Neerja didn’t bat an eyelid – she said that she had been dealing with pricks all her life. She gave
Vaccination Ke Side Effects Read More »
