'Modi is a symbol of Asia Rising; and, for the first time in decades, a non-white has the potential to be the most compelling global leader.'
Rajeev Srinivasan on how India has continued to disappoint, but could outdo Singapore one day.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Nepal visit was an eye-opener for most Indians, as it appears as though the hard feelings of 17 years of neglect by Indian PMs has been overcome by this single, sincere visit, says Rajeev Srinivasan.
'To consider BRICS anything more than a temporary club with some common interests would be folly. The goal should be to induce others (Japan, ASEAN, South Africa) to align with us -- a non-threatening, democratic nation, rather than with malevolent China or waning America. For us to consider aligning with either China or the US would be absurd. India is just too big to be a sidekick,' says Rajeev Srinivasan.
'India should think big: About how in a multi-polar world, India can indeed be one of the poles, rather than being a secondary power that has to worry about 'alignment' with one of the poles. A G3 in other words, India should look to getting others to align with itself rather than the US or China,' says Rajeev Srinivasan.
'Both nations have a common problem: A rampaging, jingoistic and hostile China which is making substantial territorial claims. In the long run, Japan and India are going to be the victims of Chinese aggression -- so they might as well hang together to contain China,' argues Rajeev Srinivasan.
Japan has the capital and needs to pull out of China, which has been its major destination. India, on the other hand, desperately needs capital especially for infrastructure, argues Rajeev Srinivasan.
'A plausible American tactic,' Rajeev Srinivasan suspects, 'would be to try and prevent the BJP and Modi from coming to power by splitting the anti-Congress vote using the AAP, and in case that fails, to follow up with a Plan B to make India ungovernable, to create mass conflict through their agents.'
'The book was NOT banned. There were NO book burnings. There were NO riots. The author was NOT sent death-threats. On the contrary, the plaintiffs pursued due process. The case is a textbook example of how to proceed with civilised, democratic dissent,' says Rajeev Srinivasan.
Since 2004 the Congress has hung onto power in a situation in which it was on track to be out of power. In each case, it effectively gamed the system through Constitutional coups, argues columnist Rajeev Srinivasan.
Rajeev Srinivasan on the disastrous after-effects of a made-up spying incident
Rajeev Srinivasan on whom the Congress might put forth as its leader in 2014.
Rajeev Srinivasan on how Indians are satisfied with illusions, not reality.
Rajeev Srinivasan wonders why the Nehru Dynasty's usual Teflon isn't working for Robert Vadra
'We were optimistic that if only that single missing, magic ingredient were to be found -- leadership -- India would once again rise from the ruins. We looked forward to the day that India became a leading economy and power in the world.' Rajeev Srinivasan's personal tribute to his late friend Varsha Bhosle.
Who can motivate and appeal to the young and idealistic who are willing to work hard to create an India that matches their ambitions? Who is their role model? Someone like Modi who has worked his way up from the lower middle class, and has shown steely leadership and produced results? Or some child of privilege? You be the judge, says Rajeev Srinivasan.
'Without demeaning Einstein, I believe the most astounding achievement of a single human mind in all of history was that of Panini, 2,500 years ago. He achieved a Grand Unified Theory of Language: An even more daunting task... Computer scientists in the 1950s rediscovered the Paninian rules for formal languages; for instance, the C language is defined by 100 or so rules in the Panini-Backus form.'
The proximate cause is the Budget, with its Black-Swan event of a 50-year rollback and retroactive taxation of deals. This strengthens the notion that India is still a Banana Republic, says rajeev Srinivasan.
'Well, what can be done now, when the economy is tanking? 'Austerity', the officials cry. That would be fine, but austerity by whom? Normally, the answer is: Belt-tightening by the common man (Indians already pay some of the highest prices in the world for petroleum products, and a lot of that is punitive taxes), but ostentatious spending and extravagance by the political classes and their cronies,' says Rajeev Srinivasan.
'Indian education has, after Independence, produced nothing whatsoever -- yes, absolutely nothing -- of global calibre. Not one earth-shaking discovery or invention, not one outstanding theoretical insight!' Rajeev Srinivasan on how Indian education is unable to anticipate what the future holds.
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