BENCY'S WORLD

VoteLeft 2009, like all great human achievements, is 'over' ambitious. It aims to not only take-on but to defeat the 'big players' of Indian politics in the run up to the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. VoteLeft 2009 has neither the deep pockets of the Congress nor the opulence of the BJP or for that matter any party on the Right or the Center, who are all set to flag off their muti-crore ad campaigns led by the best-of-the-best professional ad agencies. On the contrary VoteLeft 2009 is totally amateur run consisting of an as yet small group of diverse people with a common dream. The group has two students, one business analyst, one young entrepreneur and one social activist who all share the dream of a people's India. We have little or no money to spare and are always looking for free (free as in free beer and free as in freedom) means to counter the campaign of the 'big'. What we are very rich in is our dreams. And the thirst to realise them drives us on. We cer...

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This is a country of nit-pickers. Here was Vibrant Gujarat announcing another huge haul from its latest investment spectacle when critics went into overdrive. The figures were exaggerated and most of the money had not really come in, they carped. Reporters, celebrity columnists and political rivals quoted official statistics from varied sources and Right to Information disclosures to show up the claims of the Narendra Modi government. Some became extremely shrill. Remember, said a Congress spokesman, how well industrialists adored Hitler. There were also references to the 2002 pogrom which took the lives of around 2,000 Muslims. But industry couldn't have cared less. This year's extravaganza, with even more of the cream of Indian business in adulatory attendance, netted promises of investments amounting to Rs 12,00,000 crore (Rs 12,000 billion) -- a colossal tribute to Modi's reputation for ruthless efficiency. His is not the discreet charm of the accommodating politician b...

AN OPEN LETTER TO GANDHIJI ON HIS 60th DEATH ANNIVERSARY Dear Bapu, I really wonder how I am writing a letter to you. Of course, I amsure, were you bodily alive, you certainly would have replied to thisletter in your typical untidy handwriting. Is there an email in theheaven? I am planning to send one addressed to mkgandhi@pureheart.org . I don't believe that you would not have used email. Sure, you wouldhave been aggrieved by the fact that an email does not reveal thecharacteristic handwriting and hence one's personality uncovered fromit; you would have rejected the option of an email to a face-to-facemeeting. But you would not have rejected the countless possibilitiesof a dialogue just to oppose technology. You did not reject the post,nor the telephone, did you?The actual problem lies with me. A civil relation between two personsis a prerequisite for communication through a letter. But, sincechildhood, I had nothing but limitless anger and hatred for you. Had Iwritten a let...