VINDICA

A few recent books, including one by Richard Dawkins are reviewed.

I had linked to this book review a long time ago when the book initially came out. Over time, I have realized this piece is a true classic. I am linking to this again. Hats off to the reviewer (Matt Taibbi), this is the funniest review I have ever read! Some examples: (Friedman writes) I stomped off, went through security, bought a Cinnabon, and glumly sat at the back of the B line, waiting to be herded on board so that I could hunt for space in the overhead bins. Forget the Cinnabon. Name me a herd animal that hunts. Name me one. Here is another quote: It's not for nothing that Thomas Friedman is called "the most important columnist in America today." That it's Friedman's own colleague at the New York Times (Walter Russell Mead) calling him this, on the back of Friedman's own book, is immaterial. Friedman is an important American. He is the perfect symbol of our culture of emboldened stupidity. Another master stroke, questioning the use of "flat...

"Viji, are you awake", asked Chetan. I opened my eyes, and looked up into the cloudless, brilliant sky. A sky unlike anything visible from habitation. The city lights are bright and intoxicating, but the greatest beauty of the world may yet belong to its subtleties. Chetan and I, the "before" photo. This was after Madhura's sharp comment to tuck my tummy. In my defense, the camera adds 5 pounds and so does the backpack! There, all tucked away! Trailhead. 6600 feet. On the hike up to the high camp, I had let out a silent prayer to the weather Gods, asking for a clear sky on my summit day. The rain Gods were smiling on me. But the wind Gods were not. A chill wind was blowing across the face of the mountain, freezing everything in its path. For the millionth time that night, I wished I had carried a heavier tent, rather than the light weight bivy sack. Even with three layers of clothing on me, all I could manage was a couple of hours of fitful sleep, dr...

This excerpt it taken from a review of Jaswant Singh's new book, A Call To Honour. The review was publised in Asian Age. This is Mr. Singh responding to Madeline Albright's comment that "India and Pakistan should climb out of the hole they have dug themselves into." I must point out that civilisationally, we in India do not dig holes to bury ourselves in, no, not even metaphorically speaking. Therefore this observation exemplifies yet another fundamental lack of comprehension about the Indian stand and about addressing Indian sensitivities.

Sandy started her own company. More info can be found at her website at www.UncoverU.com .

A very detailed story in Newsweek about Mukesh Ambani's plan to expand into Retail and Agriculture. While the rest of the country has been obsessed with IT, this plan aims to make money in a decidedly Old Economy way. It is a tantalizing vision that has the power to spread India's growth to its villages, where most of the country still lives. One astonishing tit-bit: Soon after the (Jamnagar) plant came online in 2000, India not only stopped importing refined oil products, it started exporting enough to more than pay for its crude-oil imports, becoming a net energy exporter for the first time.

This one is from Scot Adams' book, God's Debris. Thanks to Soggy for pointing me to this absolute treasure. Best of all, it is a free ebook. Google it and get your copy. I was no longer surprised to find unlocked doors in the city. Maybe at some subconscious level we don’t believe we need protection from our own species. I am also informed that Scot Adams is famous for creating the Dilbert cartoon strip.

From Wilbur Smith's "Elephant Song" about aid to Africa. Foreign Aid usually means poor people in rich countries helping rich people in poor countries bolster their swiss bank accounts.

A Bangalorean at a party I was at recently mentioned in jest that Tamils cleaned the public toilets in that city. I am a fan of such incendiary remarks myself, using them to stir things up at a party. However, I did not have enough beers in me to launch on a fight below the belt. Perhaps because of this, I responded with a tame "Kannadigas in Madras are like anyone else", and left it at that. Jest aside, it is a curious anomaly of Tamil Nadu that it does not have any strong reaction to the presence of outsiders at all. There are multiple instances where Bangaloreans have lamented to me about the decline of Kannada culture in the city. The rare few would venture into dumping the blame on the Konga Blakie Tamils from the south. One could point out that it takes an especially retarded monkey to heap such abuses on a people. However, I have learnt not to bother. Irony is not the bigot's strong suite. They don't know it when they are thus insulted. Chennai too, ha...

Amartya Sen talks against classifying people purely based on their religious identity.

An interesting article about poverty in rich countries, and how it could be just as damaging as poverty in poor countries. Amartya Sen is quoted. Being relatively poor in a rich country can be a great capability handicap, even when one’s absolute income is high in terms of world standards.

42% of the rural residents in Tamil Nadu have TVs. Only 14% have toilets.

Kissinger writes this piece in the wake of President Bush's visit to India. Some ideas expounded here are novel, and I have never seen them expressed anywhere else. Kissinger believes that India and America differ in their perception of the world. America believes itself to be the "shining city on the hill" whose ideas are relevant to the entire world. India on the other hand, has no interest in spreading its ideas and is interested only in creating a secure bubble within which its diverse society can thrive. Hindu society does indeed also consider itself unique but, in a manner, dramatically at variance from America’s. Democracy is not conceived as an expression of Indian culture but as a practical adaptation, the most effective means to reconcile the polyglot components of the state emerging from the colonial past....Huns, Mongols, Greeks, Persians, Afghans, Portuguese and, in the end, Britons, conquered Indian territories, established empires, and then vanished, le...

In a sign of increasingly close relations between India and the US, the two countries recently signed a nuclear deal that would enable US companies to cooperate with India's civilian nuclear program. In return, India designates 65% of its reactors as civilian and agrees to have the IAEA inspect these facilities. The deal has come under vicious attack from leading left-wing newspapers like New York Times was well as by right wing commentators like Pat Buchanan . Such bi-partisan attacks make Bush's courage in making the deal during a weak time for his Presidency even more impressive. Now, finally the deal is getting some traction, and positive opinions. A recent column by Robert Kagan of the Carnegie Endowment of International Peace argues that non-proliferation concerns should not come in the way of the US Congress approving the deal . As an Outlook India article points out, watching the deal being made is like watching a hurdles race. The next hurdle is the Congress, whe...

In a sign of increasingly close relations between India and the US, the two countries recently signed a nuclear deal that would enable US companies to cooperate with India's civilian nuclear program. In return, India designates 65% of its reactors as civilian and agrees to have the IAEA inspect these facilities. The deal has come under vicious attack from leading left-wing newspapers like New York Times was well as by right wing commentators like Pat Buchanan . Such bi-partisan attacks make Bush's courage in making the deal during a weak time for his Presidency even more impressive. Now, finally the deal is getting some traction, and positive opinions. A recent column by Robert Kagan of the Carnegie Endowment of International Peace argues that non-proliferation concerns should not come in the way of the US Congress approving the deal . As an Outlook India article points out, watching the deal being made is like watching a hurdles race. The next hurdle is the Congress, whe...

A brilliant essay detailing the atmosphere in Damascus during the days leading up to the start of riots protesting the Danish Cartoons.

A very nice article about the Indian capital.

KPS Gill argues that the Muslim community must rise up in rage against those who are calling for violence as a form of protest against the cartoons. He also mentions that the radicalization of political discourse and demonization of non-Muslims in islamic countries creates an atmosphere for terrorism, even though it is obvious that terrorists are a miniscule proportion of the Muslim population. There is an American Indian saying: 'it takes an entire village to raise a single child'. Similarly, it takes a very large community, often entire nations, to raise a single suicide bomber. Instances of enlighted opinion among the Muslim community have been documented elsewhere. However, they have been drowned by the violence of some of the protests.

The story is about the politics of cricket, and India's attempts to muscle into the high table of the game's backroom. One startling insight however, was not about cricket at all: With Non-Alignment, South-South cooperation and third world-ism, India finds itself burdened by the legacies of history. It realises its natural seat at the high table is not compatible with endless engagement with lesser powers. As in diplomacy, so in cricket: the BCCI wants to play Australia and England more often than it does Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. It sees this as a mutually-enriching, profitable enterprise, the old "Asian alliances" be damned. This, in short, is the dilemma of India's Foreign affairs ministry.

Tariq Ali explores the darker side of Enlightenment Philosophy, which is widely cited as in Europe as the driving force behind the Freedom of Expression movement there. Blacks are inferior to Europeans, but superior to apes. The quote is attributed to Voltaire, and there are others in similar vein from many different Enlightenment writers. Tariq's argument is that the Cartoons had more to do with this darker side of the Enlightenment Philosophy than it does with the whitewashed and varnished side that seeks to promote Freedom.