In gardening, it is common for saplings to be initially planted in controlled, ideal conditions and once they outgrow their initial station, they are transplanted into open locations which offer unlimited potential for growth. The process comes with its own set of risks, and not every plant or tree will survive this abrupt change; those that do, flourish. The choice […]
Author: raman
What it takes to be a Martial Artist
What does it take to be a martial artist? Perhaps there are many factors that work together to make one. To identify these, and their relative importance, we can begin by looking at what keeps many from being the martial artists that they want to be. I have met people who claim to be interested […]
Victims of Political Correctness
What are the similarities between British biochemist Sir Tim Hunt and American biologist James Watson? Both have made great contributions to their respective fields and both are victims of political correctness – both paid a heavy price for holding and expressing views in areas that are considered sacrosanct by society and in which a different […]
What Makes A Loser – a Nonsocietal Perspective
It was a long time ago (well, at least in the scale of time that I have lived through) that someone told me that I am a total loser. I was not happy at being told that, and retorted that there may have been times when I have found myself to be totally lost, but […]
Bargaining with Street Vendors – Exploitation or Prudence?
Today, a video was brought to my attention through WhatsApp and it wasn’t difficult to find the same on YouTube. It carries a message which at first seemed to be perfectly valid. The comments on this YouTube video also showed that many or most viewers agreed with it. However, if we think a little deeper, […]
On Sports, Patriotism, and National Heroes
I find it very interesting when sports stars who play in national teams are not just praised for playing and winning medals, but elevated to the status of unrivalled patriots and national heroes. If the so called Indian cricket team represents the country in the world cup (and say, brings home the cup), do they […]
Response to a Viral Video on Rape
I recently came across an extremely stupid video in which a lady who pretended to be funny was trying (in her own retarded way) to explain why “rape is a joke in India”. The only credit I would give her is that by the end of the video you’d understand clearly that it is people […]
How Noble is your Patriotism?
Today, the 26th of January, is celebrated as the Republic Day in India. My social network streams are flooded with posts that involve patriotism and love for the nation, TV channels broadcast the parade live from Rajpath followed by movies and programmes based on the same theme, children on the road have a tiny national […]
Layoffs and Unionization Threat
In the last few days, those in India’s technology industry would have come across reports of a massive layoff in India’s largest IT services company, namely, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). While several of these reports were unconfirmed and unverified, many in the field have already expressed their support for the “victims” of this layoff. Interestingly, […]
Compulsory Voting – Democracy at its Atrocious Worst
An ardent supporter as I am of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and strong as my faith is that his government can take India to greater heights, I must, in most emphatic terms, record my disagreement with the Gujarat Local Authorities Laws (Amendment) Bill of 2009 that was first introduced and passed in Gujarat assembly during […]