Community voices and perspectives, republished from Ottawa-area and diaspora writers.
Posts on this page are republished from external blogs, each with a link back to where it was originally published.
Every nation lives with two parallel realities: the private world of individuals, their personal joys and grievances, and a collective world – say, the “National Mindset.” The National Mindset is the belief that a countr…
Read moreThe caption begs the question - Why? A Shift Outside the Overton Window! The Overton Window is defined as the range of ideas, policies, and political narrative that the public finds acceptable at any given time. Ideas wi…
Read moreThe US Deputy Secretary Christopher Landau recently hinted that America won’t repeat with India the economic blunders it made with China, meaning, America can’t afford another rising challenger. Arthashastra by Chanakya…
Read moreThe US, China, and India: The Realpolitik Equation Unless America gets its act together, China could, in theory, move to take over Japan and Taiwan in the future. The goal would be to control key industries and dominate…
Read moreThe defining moment in the recent legal and peaceful student protest at Jantar Mantar that overflowed onto the streets and transformed into an unlawful and awful anarchy was marked by verbal diarrhea by some of the prote…
Read moreIndia’s steady foreign policy is widely misunderstood. That is an irony: while public debate often mistakes its intent, India’s external strategy has been one of the few constants since independence. Rooted in Nehruvian…
Read moreMost happiness rankings put India at the bottom of the list. The 2025 global poll, conducted by French research firm Ipsos is one with a difference, it places India at the very top! It begs the question: how is that even…
Read moreThe names of some of the non-democratic and notorious dictators that stand out are often associated with communist regimes: Think Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Pol Pot, and Idi Amin. They claimed to pursue equality by redis…
Read moreFrom the outside, that caption captures the typical Westerner’s impression. Yet many outsiders fail to see that India is neither monochromatic in character nor monolithic in structure. Its vast landmass and people are th…
Read moreSome claim that I was "ecstatic" about Trump 2.0, but now I'm suddenly not. Well, that's somewhat putting words in my mouth. I live in India, and Trump means nothing to me - nor does Modi, for that matter. From my perspe…
Read moreRaGa-baba said that he wants more of democracy in Congress. Modi on the other hand is accused by some of having reduced democracy in BJP. Democracy is a sweet dream at best & nightmare at worst - in politics (as in b…
Read moreLet's get it: We are, what we were. To understand a community's culture in the present context, one also needs to get its' past, namely: A) Ontological understanding - the way the culture came into being. B) Epistemologi…
Read moreIt is unfortunate that many Indians haven't understood their own national foreign policy. That's also an irony, as perhaps it is one of the very few policies that haz remained consistent since the time of independence. T…
Read moreThe language wars in India are so sad. Most of us don't realize the gravity of the situation we're dealing with. Words are energy pellets. Words can be translated but not the connotations they carry. The connotations als…
Read moreThose who seek inspiration from a Western (or the Islamic or Communist) model and use their lens to define Bharat don't understand what this land and its people are all about. That includes many Indians who have only bee…
Read moreRoughly 40 plus percentage of all first marriages in the United States are estimated to end in divorce over time. Some persons divorce multiple times. By comparison, divorces in India are rare, very rare - about 1%. It's…
Read moreWherever the British have ruled, they have attempted to reduce the locals & force fit all practices into their binary model, i.e., practices can be classified as religious or secular. Period. The reality is that Hind…
Read moreThe Liberals have no idea how & from where did thiz sudden Hindu resurrection occur & hit them so hard. Well, Hinduism waz never dead, had just gone a bit dormant, and awaiting for an opportune moment to rise aga…
Read moreMost business owners fail to find their core values that, when lived, make them feel fulfilled. If they do, they cannot offer a farsighted vision and cannot confidently articulate the same. The journey from values to vis…
Read moreDharma haz no direct translation in other languages. The approximate one is : Innate Law or Principled Duty. The sun's Dharma is to shine, the fire's is to burn, burn's is to emit heat. The sun cannot, not shine. The fir…
Read moreIndia is still the safest country in the world, at least if we choose to view her through a Western lens, that, for its own convenience & simplicity often uses the hyphenated term "Islamic-terrorism" as a single enti…
Read moreJust after winning the historic mandate in 2014, Narendra Damodardas Modi said, "Mera samay ka har kshan kshan, aur sharir ka har kan kan - is desh ko samarpit hai." He declared himself to be a "Pradhan Sevak" 101. India…
Read moreNotwithstanding the fact that it is much maligned by certain political parties, the Left-leaning media & the so called Liberals - the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the political mentor of BJP, haz time & again pro…
Read moreDo people really want the government to govern them? People can't seem to govern themselves but have disproportionately high expectations from the government to govern over them. But ... when they do, we-the-people don't…
Read moreThere are so many movies - watch Gestapo's Last Orgy; you'll get a sense of repugnancy, i promise. There are both stationary & moving museums (they go city to city) on the atrocities on Jews arising from antisemitism…
Read moreLord Krishna holds a soothing flute in one hand and the sharp Sudarshan Chakra in the other. That contrast is worth pausing and pondering over. After the brutal Battle of Kalinga, Ashoka won a title but not the experienc…
Read moreDr. Shashi Tharoor in his latest book "The Battle Of Belonging" makes a case for both Patriotism & Nationalism and who should it belong to. Patriotism, he says is less thought out & more out of sheer - as say, a…
Read moreIt has to be taught before it can be caught - democracy. But democracy is not conducive to all cultures. The teacher's of democracy need to be taught that first. We should hope that the world doesn't engage on a pre-cond…
Read moreAt best, democracy can be the least evil system. A benevolent dictator is far better than the best democracy. Democracy with strong vigilant opposition is a brilliant hypothesis. In reality, not recommend anywhere as it…
Read moreHere they go ! Someone in some foreign country did it again : They say that India is less free now. Really? Why India, the world is moving away from democracy & it's manifestation through "freedom of expression". The…
Read moreOnce upon a time, there lived a remarkably determined king named Alex. As a child, he had grown up believing that the world was flat and that the last enormous empire located at the edge of the earth was this fertile lan…
Read moreRace is indeed an issue in America. Some political liberals who compare Black-White race relations in the United States to Hindu-Muslim relations in India need a reality check. Every society has fault lines, but they are…
Read moreLet's be clear - stupidity is secular. It was, is, and will always be true that in every group, tribe, or community, a few will go deviant. At that moment, the first job of the many is to condemn the few who have gone ro…
Read moreThank God there is no absolute democracy in running homes, schools, offices, courts, religion, or Dharmic institutions, nor is there total freedom of speech in those places. If there were, we would be handing out lollipo…
Read moreTrump had won & has now lost, not just the election but his way too. He's still the US President and so we can say that as the First Citizen, he's a representative of America that's lost it's way. Trump's detractors…
Read moreIt’s important to recall the story of siblings Kartikeya & Ganpati. They had decided to race each other & whoever went around the world thrice, would be declared a winner. As soon as the race began, the more agil…
Read moreWe Indians are the only ones that make fun of our own ancient traditions. And even as we laugh say at a tradition, we are not free from it totally i.e. we too may have our own other tradition fetish - our hypocrisy is fu…
Read moreWisdom has many definitions. It is also belief & behavior alignment; knowledge in action. Else it's just a racket in the mind. The racket is - my knowledge is working even if untested or my belief is aligned to my be…
Read moreMr. Trump is not a status quoist - the weight of the presidential chair is not on him, it's t he other way around. Finally, the American people have a President - one who is not crushing under the burden of the system…
Read moreA day before my 40th birthday, a stranger called me, claiming that he worked for one of my close friends. He sought an appointment from me, but refused to disclose the reason for it. I found this request rather strange.…
Read moreAmerican president Ronald Reagan is famous for saying "Politics is the 2nd oldest profession in the world. It got inspiration from the 1st one" ! The more a prostitute sells her service, more the customers she will attra…
Read moreEver since the outbreak of the Coronavirus, world over, the China bashing narrative has gained momentum & become a hobby. Amidst that, scuffles were reported in the first week of May on the Indo-China border near Sik…
Read moreEver since Modi delivered a resounding victory- the Left, the Liberals and the Islamists (all collectively against him) have turned into an angry lot instead of introspecting. They are now spooked by the Modi-man who has…
Read more"Just because of a few fellows, don't brand us all" they had explained. But that same explanation had to be kept very handy as incidents of civil disobedience from the community never stopped. Let's be clear, stupidity i…
Read moreIn today's India, the constitution may perhaps be the least read, amongst the most quoted book ! Nani Palkiwala an eminent jurist had challenged the powers of the said constitution, when it was abused and he won decisive…
Read morePeople don't like politicians. Yet Modi broke all records and came to power, even stronger than before. A worthy ponder - what's his secret sauce? The Moditva doctrine appeals much to the Bharat-bhakt creed, those seekin…
Read moreThe peculiarity of the world is that they claim to desire Law & Order...well, that's getting it all backwards. In reality they pursue Order & Law. The world talks Law, but walks Order. China is a ripe example of…
Read moreThe Male Trinity are : Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Nurturer, Shiva the Destroyer. The Female Trinity are their respective consorts : Saraswati with Knowledge, Lakshmi with Wealth, Durga with Strength. At the Creative…
Read moreThe more a prostitute sells her services, the more customers she gets, and the worse her reputation becomes. A politician is elected by us. His job is to practice politics. The more he does it, the more he is vilified! S…
Read moreThe oxymoron of the season is that Indian economy was found sputtering in the recent past just before the election & yet India delivered a historic win to Modi - unprecedented pro-incumbency ! So even as almost all I…
Read moreA moral person will not kill. A soldier, guided by ethical duty, may kill in combat. A person with principles uses both morality and duty as foundations for action and judgment. Thus, a soldier may kill enemy combatants…
Read moreThe entire world had been transfixed on this man called Barack Obama & not necessarily just to the American election of 2004. It was definitely a case being made of, potentially the 1st Afro-American person winning t…
Read moreYashwant Sinha said that "My son is incompetent, thus was removed from the finance ministry" Harvard Business School educated son Jayant Sinha, who has been entrusted the mammoth task of the newly launched UDAN Scheme to…
Read moreJust after winning the historic mandate in 2014, Narendra Modi said "Mera samay ka har kshan kshan, aur sharir ka har kan kan - is desh ko samarpit hai". He became a "Pradhan Sevak". India was at once divided into believ…
Read moreCan Status Quo ever be the other name for God? I ask that, as most seem to be following that & with great faith. The inherited customs, conventions, protocols, and policies go on & on. Status Quo is actually the…
Read moreWhen George Bush introduced Dr. Manmohan Singh to his wife Barbara, he purportedly said "Meet Dr. Singh the Prime Minister of India, a country with the highest number of Muslims in the world, but not a single Al Qaeda op…
Read moreOnce upon a time... some school-days friends and yours truly went to this high-nosed, snob-end restaurant. For starters, the first beer was served warm. I ignored it as it reluctantly sat on my table. It got annoyed &…
Read moreEconomists are rattled as price has dropped from over USD 100 to below half that price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, in such a short time. The ponder is, where will it go from here? Some may recall that the beautiful…
Read moreBeware - the ISIS knows it's enemy well ! Sadly the world's & in particular India's "Softies" ie the Left Liberals who feed the popular media, do not. Btw, the softies bestow the rather appealing to senses title of '…
Read moreSon, You are going to the same college where your grandfather had studied. I am proud that you are also going to the University of Michigan ! I am reminded of my day, when I left on a journey for America to purse my educ…
Read more@ Home Before I had gone soft spoken in voice, I recall it had gotten hoarse & that's when my tale had begun. I recall vividly, my wife had given me that look & said in that all too infamous old wives' tone "You'…
Read moreIt is said that - 'If there is anything ever true about India, its opposite is also true'. Thus, India with it's vagaries and complexities & over the years bloated bureaucracy, is a very difficult country to govern.…
Read moreOnce upon a time, there was a so-called 'unsinkable' ship called the Titanic. Alas, it was found to be sinking! To make matters worse, there were too many people on board and too few lifeboats. The men in charge pulled o…
Read moreMark Zuckerberg of Facebook, Bill Gates of Microsoft, and Steve Jobs of Apple have taken over our lives. And how! All three have no college degrees to boast about. I find it amusing that parents of young children fret so…
Read moreAt the onset, let me clarify that I am not anti-minority of any kind, in fact I belong to one of the smallest minority community in India. I own a Christian first name, a Muslim last name & but am a non-practicing Ja…
Read moreJams - the saying " The older I get, the wiser my father becomes" applies to our dear departed principal or as we called him "princi" as well, for it is only now that we begin to appreciate the depth of the wisdom of thi…
Read moreChina's stock market recently fell by almost half, hurting many. Their economic growth rate is at a 2 decade low. Is this India's time? Let us understand, it is not a zero sum game - loss of one is not others gain. Besid…
Read moreAs an undergraduate engineering student in a very democratic America, I a foreigner, was yet "forced" to learn American history ! I am an unabashed admirer & critic of America today. Talking of history, the 1971 war…
Read moreWhat an American taught me about India's cultural wealth. Many years ago, an American colleague was visiting India from the company I worked with. One evening in Mumbai, we were driving through Bandra for dinner and pass…
Read moreGreece - a soap opera, was building up since few years & is now finally the first page headline in all mainstream Indian newspapers. We learned that the earlier 'No' referendum of Greece, was akin to just a lady's su…
Read moreMy name is Kevin Shah & I am a businessman ( that too a Guju one ) & in the business of making "Chemical Processing Equipment" called "Mass Transfer Products" like Fractionation Trays & Random or Structured P…
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