Radio and TV in India have both made tremendous gains ever since they were freed from government monopoly. With freedom has come abandon, which is at times becomes recklessness.
Continue reading “TV and FM radio are becoming base” »
There is need to make students skilled workers through career-oriented course and in India, we have done precious little to provide vocational education to our students. As a result, there are thousands of students with degrees and no jobs. Heightened expectations after obtaining college degrees, lead to a tremendous amount of frustration, more so since these students find it “demeaning” to take up jobs that require skilled workers, not degree holders. We must provide proper vocational education at home, even now tens of thousands of Indian students are going abroad to study courses that promise jobs, sometime becoming targets for racists, the government must allow private players in the market and provide facilities to government-run institutions.
Continue reading “College degree not the only option” »
Nigella Lawson has a great following among people in India, I realised, after I had written a short middle on her, which was published in The Tribune on June 5, 2009. The call and comments that I have received were very emotional, from people who are fans of her show to some who appreciated the middle and an elderly gentleman who said “I ate into my inheritance”, quoting from the piece. Here, I have posted the original version, not the slightly edited one that was published, and a link to the review of Hardeep Singh Kohli’s book.
Continue reading “Cooking up a story” »
In India, the expression “do number ka mal” roughly translated as “number 2 stuff” is often used for underhand dealings and the like. The Palace of Westminster shook as the British public reeled from the exposures by The Daily Telegraph, about the misuse of the fund meant for expenses for a second home for the Members of Parliament. Writing a middle was one way of giving vent to what one felt about this issue….
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Summer often reminds Stephanians like me of the good times we had and of Rothas’ Nimbu Pani. “There is hardly any nimbu, some sugar and a lot of water in Sukhia’s Nimbu Pani, but we all love it,” said a fellow student, yet the dhaba is rightly a part of college lore. I wrote a little piece [...]
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Marshal of the Indian Air Force Arjan Singh, DFC, my biography the living icon, has been reviewed by Dr I J Singh for a prominent Canadian-run website called SikhChic.com.
The reviewer, Dr. I. J. Singh, is Professor and Coordinator, Anatomical Sciences, New York University, NY, USA. He is also the author of four books on Sikhism [...]
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Yes we can, seems to be the new mantra with Indian politicians. What works in the good ole US of A should also work in India, be it slogans or blogging. Age no bar, blog karo bar bar, is the new mantra. Please click here to read my take on this:
Continue reading “Blog on, blokes!” »
Even those who have met Marshal of the Indian Air Force Arjan Singh, DFC only once cherish their encounter with him and read whatever is written about him with great fondness. I received many calls, starting with one by Mrs Rama Sharma of Shimla early on Saturday morning, when my middle on him was published [...]
Continue reading “Marshal of the IAF: Some reminiscences” »
The Marshal of the Air Force Arjan Singh, DFC, turned 90 on Wednesday, April 15, 2009. As the nation salutes its only living 5-star general, whose dignity, philanthropy and upright moral conduct make him an exemplar, let’s go back to the day the Marshal was given his baton by the President of India at Rashtrapati Bhawan, New Delhi.
Continue reading “Baton for the Marshal” »
Good politician is not an oxymoron, though many Indians, indeed most of the world, treats what our political leaders say with a pinch of salt. The ninth death anniversary of Jasdev Singh Sandhu is an occasion to remember a multifaceted man who was a political leader of yore, and an old family friend.
Continue reading “Gentleman politician” »