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| December 16, 2010 | |
The humble American
'Talk of American decline and loss of influence is both premature and overblown.'
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| October 14, 2010 | |
Indians please note: Why are Brazilians so happy?
Brazilians don't read the international press and unlike us, they don't unduly worry about what others think about them. Nor are they concerned about their pecking order in the world.
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| July 01, 2010 | |
Had Mukesh, Anil got together earlier...
'The diplomatic observer in me rejoiced in the clear and unmistakable evidence about the spread of wealth to hitherto unconventional regions and individuals in a fast changing world.'
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| May 18, 2010 | |
Does memory matter anymore?
Memory was the most important endowment and instrument in the process. And here was someone, questioning the very value of memory?
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| April 01, 2010 | |
Dancing alone at the Carnival
'Where does the energy and the compulsive gaiety come from, I begin to wonder despite the mind numbing sounds.'
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| February 23, 2010 | |
Looking for meaning in multilateralism
As one surveys the changing face of mulilateralsim today, we see mutation and multiplication. The underlying reality is that the world is multipolar and with more poles, you tend to get more constellations.
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| December 30, 2009 | |
Have you switched off your book?
'Think of all the school children saddled with books, voracious readers with huge appetites for current best sellers and so on, and you can see the potential one day in India.'
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| November 09, 2009 | |
Join the party in Rio!
'The World Cup in five years and the Olympics thereafter will be the call for Brazil to resurrect Rio to its full glory.'
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| October 06, 2009 | |
Obama and your grandmother
'Delayed gratification' is a fancy psychological phrase for an old lesson to forego immediate pleasures for later benefits. 'No gain without pain.' We have been brought up by our grandmothers believing in this. 'Don't waste all your time on the movie/television/cricket. Work now and if you do well, rewards will come later.'
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| July 29, 2009 | |
Can you be greedy and good?
Ultimately life is finite and though money is important, it is not everything. Didn't our grandmothers always tell us that?
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| June 12, 2009 | |
What tweets tell us about the human condition
'First, it reminds us about our essentially narcissistic nature. The basic premise is that others care about what we are doing and hence the instinct to broadcast. Second, the incessant urge to remain connected, to be part of a network that modern communications tools are driving us towards.'
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| May 29, 2009 | |
Brazil: Pele, Ronaldinho, Samba
'That India would get ruled by the British and not by Portuguese except in some parts was a historic destiny. Why, even Mumbai was given away as a dowry gift by the Portuguese, when their princess, Catherine de Braganza married Prince Charles of England in 1661.'
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| February 10, 2009 | |
Is hard work worth it?
This financial world, experts now tell us was sometimes almost a make believe, a maya, which had got disconnected with the real economy of homes and factories.
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| January 12, 2009 | |
Can BRIC save the world?
BRIC represents the recognition that new perspectives were emerging in the world, that these emerging economies had their own weight and views.
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| October 20, 2008 | |
Fission, Fusion, Confusion?
I had been told that academic fashions are even more fickle and consequential than sartorial fashions. It is as important to keep up and know the current trends in discourse, and a researcher still stuck in colonial studies is as lost as a designer bringing out mini-skirts when the hemline is two inches below the ankle, says B S Prakash.
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| September 30, 2008 | |
Hey, where did my country go?
I look for signs of India or Indians. And see none. To live in this day and age without the daily diet of Bollywood masala, cricketing capers, and fellow argumentative Indians seems strange.
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| May 09, 2008 | |
Finding love on a flight
'My best friend just moved to San Francisco, doesn't really know anyone there. You guys should really get together,' the passenger was telling the air hostess, who he had first seen, half an hour back.
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| April 08, 2008 | |
Understanding the hyphen
Are there some unique aspects which make a hyphenated identity possible in the US compared to elsewhere in the world?
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| March 25, 2008 | |
Excess in Vegas
I landed in Las Vegas among counters, not at its casinos, but in a convention hall.
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| January 15, 2008 | |
The mind in a burger
'Understand a McDonald's and you will understand America,' said Paul sounding like an ancient rishi with a key mantra.
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| November 01, 2007 | |
Rock Star Rocket Scientist
With all of Dr Kalam's American interlocutors, the idea that a scientist could reach such a high public office in a democracy evoked awe and admiration.
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| October 16, 2007 | |
The UN at its cradle
The UN Secretary General was greeting me in Hindi. He had started his foreign service career in the Korean embassy in New Delhi and had retained a love of India. | | | |
| August 19, 2007 | |
Videshi Dosa
`Globalisation had brought the Udupi to the West, but not the sensibility and samskriti to truly appreciate its blessings.'
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| August 14, 2007 | |
Which part of India are you from?
After 60 years, we know from our own everyday experience that there is 'an idea of India' which transcends sub-identities and unifies us when needed.
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| July 18, 2007 | |
Weaving it together: Web 2.0
'It is early days as yet and what is certain is that like all technology Web 2.0 will irrevocably and irreversibly change the way we interact with the Web and with each other.'
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| June 19, 2007 | |
The Chinese Encounter
'The manifest curiosity about India in a near exclusive Chinese audience in America was a new experience for me.'
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| May 30, 2007 | |
America: Guns and Losses
The US has fought many wars. But more Americans have lost their lives as a result of random domestic shootings than all the loss of lives from all the wars!
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| April 19, 2007 | |
Neti Neti or Indian identity?
The most useful word to describe Indian identity and reality is 'multi'. We are multi-ethic, multi-religious, multi-linguistic, multi-cultural and any other multi that can be thrown at us.
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| March 29, 2007 | |
Get up and get rich
'No wonder I had not grown rich. My one or two untutored adventures in the past in this direction had disappeared like Harshad Mehta from the financial pages.'
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| January 30, 2007 | |
Abhinaya, Arjuna, Google
'To meet someone in Silicon Valley without Googling them in advance is the professional equivalent of declaring that you don't use a computer. It is suicidal as I have learnt.'
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| November 28, 2006 | |
India -- Shining or whining?
It is difficult even for us as Indians whether the image of India that is being evoked is accurate, true-but-selective, untrue and deliberately distortive, or plain bizarre.
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| November 01, 2006 | |
The allure of an MBA
'In the US, it is a different business model for business management.'
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| October 11, 2006 | |
'Acting' a President
'I was curious about the concept of a Presidential library, an American institution which every President since Roosevelt has had virtually as an entitlement, to store his papers, keep his memorabilia.'
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| September 20, 2006 | |
The Indian-American Gen Next
'Can't you just say to your daughter -- Do whatever you want,' I don't care? I asked. 'For me, for an Indian to get to that attitude, it will take another generation,' said my friend.
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| July 06, 2006 | |
Samman for Rahman at Stanford
Rahman changed the sound, utilising new musical idioms that can be understood by Westerners and Indians alike, she said.
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| May 31, 2006 | |
Only an exit visa
Irfan had nothing, no passport, money, visas. He just wanted to go back.
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| March 07, 2006 | |
The Indian success story
In the Diaspora 'To each according to his English' had some relevance. This enables Indians to be at the top among Asian-Americans.
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| February 07, 2006 | |
'Just a passport, sir'
'Will you tell some one in the office here? After all you came with the VIPs,' said Kulwant.
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| January 19, 2006 | |
Can America afford to shop?
America's net savings rate is minus 1% percent. People spend more than they earn and put the deficit on their credit cards.
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| December 20, 2005 | |
An UNhappy Birthday
'Sixty is a time for aches and pains, for arthritis, for retirement, I reflected. Is this true of the UN?’
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| November 11, 2005 | |
War of the Geeks
'Some of this is universal, but some of it, I guess, is uniquely American. Is this good or bad?'
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| October 21, 2005 | |
Protocol for alcohol
'Wine has always spelt trouble, literally so. Who can either spell or pronounce Bordeaux or Cabernet Sauvignon.'
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| September 29, 2005 | |
The lady on seat 17A
'If you die, remember what I said. You will go straight to heaven,' said the lady on the flight to LA.
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| September 01, 2005 | |
E-mail disabled!
Web-based ready access means in church, concert or cemetery, the restless mind can find its comfort in the gizmo in the pocket.
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| August 11, 2005 | |
'What do diplomats do?'
India has changed so much that new paradigms need to be internalised. But the craft of diplomacy remains the same.
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| July 13, 2005 | |
Reversing the call culture
Globalisation is indeed a two-way street and Udipis will be as ubiquitous as Pizza Huts one day.
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| June 10, 2005 | |
How to become a millionaire!'
'I had no ideas, skill, and was utterly bereft of ambition. But the sheer energy at Tie Con made me perspire.'
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