'I wish somebody would tell the prime minister that peace with Pakistan is a good thought. Indians and Pakistanis can be friends, but India and Pakistan can never be friends in our lifetime,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Having traversed through the DMK bastion of Thiruvarur and the AIADMK stronghold of Srirangam, Saisuresh Sivaswamy concludes his poll journey in Peramabalur -- the hometown of jailed former telecom minister A Raja -- which slowly seems like slipping out of the DMK's hands.
The popular perception is that A Raja will be fighting with his back to the wall, given the enormity of the charges against him in the 2G scam, but all it takes is for one to follow his campaign trail for 12 hours to be disabused of such a notion. Rediff.com's Saisuresh Sivaswamy spends time with the controversial former telecom minister's road show in Ooty on April 19.
'It was Ramji's blessing that we got darshan.'
'Hazare is not the issue, and the government should not make him into one. Rather, it should focus on the issue he has voiced: Corruption that is depriving people of the mind-boggling welfare funds but for which India would already be a member of the Comity of Nations the prime minister often speaks about.'
It is a party whose growth in just four years has impressed many. It first came into notice in the 2009 Lok Sabha election, when it put up an impressive show in some seats in eastern UP, and in the Domariyaganj assembly by-election the next year it stunned everyone when its candidate polled more votes than the Congress and Samajwadi Party candidates.
It is a party whose growth in just four years has impressed many. It first came into notice in the 2009 Lok Sabha election, when it put up an impressive show in some seats in eastern UP, and in the Domariyaganj assembly by-election the next year it stunned everyone when its candidate polled more votes than the Congress and Samajwadi Party candidates.
It is a party whose growth in just four years has impressed many. It first came into notice in the 2009 Lok Sabha election, when it put up an impressive show in some seats in eastern UP, and in the Domariyaganj assembly by-election the next year it stunned everyone when its candidate polled more votes than the Congress and Samajwadi Party candidates.
The film is less about reservations and more about education.
Saisuresh Sivaswamy, who is accompanying President Pranab Mukherjee on his trip to Mauritius, reports on the spectacular celebrations of the 45th anniversary of independence of the island nation
On Sunday February 19, when Uttar Pradeshi-ites will be voting in the fourth round of assembly elections, a small village on the outskirts of Lucknow may choose to sit it out.
Mayiladuthurai in Tamil Nadu might still lack basic amenities, but lack of development has not deterred its MP Mani Shankar Aiyar from embarking on a flamboyant campaign.
Rediff.com's Saisuresh Sivaswamy, who travelled with Vice President Hamid Ansari as part of his media entourage during his recent trip to Vietnam, shares his experiences.
The women who unburdened themselves of their anguish on television won't win a gift hamper sponsored by a corporate; but if it could make us pause and think, Aamir Khan's effort will not have been wasted, says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Keeping his secular credentials in mind and his love for all religions, a special prayer will be held at the Rameshwar temple and the Mohideen Aandavar Masjid.
Can an active politician like Pranab Mukherjee ever be an apolitical President? Dilliwalla took questions from Rediff.com's Saisuresh Sivaswamy and Abhishek Mande.
Shah Rukh Khan's latest film offers no emotional connect with the audience even as its story flops in the telling says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi's daughter Selvi is sweating it out in Thiruvarur, seeking votes for her father. Despite odds stacked up against him, her father's AIADMK rival K M Rajendran is confident about causing an upset in the DMK chief's hometown. Saisuresh Sivaswamy reports from Thiruvarur.
Saisuresh Sivaswamy, who was in New York on 9/11, relives the day that changed America and the world.
'The prime minister's worst achievement is that in the one year of his second government, he has not sent out the message that he means business,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Dr Mohamed Ayub Ansari, the founder-president of the Peace Party, hopes to make waves in the Uttar Pradesh elections. Having fielded 240 candidates, and with a wide spectrum of allies in all the remaining seats, Dr Ayub expects to be the new kingmaker in Lucknow. In the first of a two-part interview with Saisuresh Sivaswamy and Sharat Pradhan in Lucknow, he elaborates on his views.
All the behind-the-scenes action in the Uttar Pradesh elections is taking place in a non-descript room in Lucknow, reports Saisuresh Sivaswamy
All those castigating the government for a feeble reshuffle are missing the point. Which is that the exercise was not meant to be anything more than a message, says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
The summit in Korea, Ahluwalia pointed out, was the first to be held in a newly developed nation, as well as in Asia, home to many emerging nations. With the financial crisis that necessitated the meeting of minds in 2008 a thing of the past, Korea is keen to bring development to the forefront.
Saisuresh Sivaswamy discovers that you can take a Tamil director out of Tamil Nadu, but you can't take Tamil Nadu out of him.
'True closure will come only when we as a people, as a civilisation, can relax in crowded, public places without fear, when the ugly metal detectors that greet us at the entrance of every single public space goes forever. That is a distant dream, towards realising which Kasab's sentence is but a baby-step.'
Vipassana will surely take you to your destination; but it is not going to take you any sooner than the other paths you have chosen. The important thing, according to me, is to get on the path, not the road you are on.
For the Congress, at 125 years, there is double good news. One, the dynasty is back and in control of things. Two, the BJP is in terrible disarray. But it also faces crucial challenges, writes Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Today's India is vastly different from the one most of us grew up in. There is a new India that is rising, a young India that is yearning to join the international ranks of the brightest and best.
In the final part of an interview conducted days before the Supreme Court fast-tracked the SIT probe into the 2002 Gujarat riots, Chief Minister Narendra Modi talks about national security, vote bank politics, terrorism and the riots.
'The impression I get is bread and butter matters more than freedom and choice. And China is providing bread and butter in plenty.' Saisuresh Sivaswamy/Rediff.com takes the road less travelled -- to Tibet.
Apple Inc can look to an equally exciting future as it did under Jobs.
Saisuresh Sivaswamy travels to temple town Srirangam in poll-bound Tamil Nadu, a seat which former chief minister J Jayalaithaa has chosen to contest. But will she be given a red-carpet welcome?
'Politics is playing a very big role in keeping communities apart in terms of religion,' says Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
From the humble cycle to reality television, Archana Masih points out the signs of a new Indian mindset.
'The theory of karma and the principle of dharma go hand in hand,' says Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
Part II of the Kanchi Shankaracharya's exclusive interview to rediff.com
'In spite of enormous problems, there is still compassion, there is still the sense of serving the needy,' says His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
A special court on Thursday held that the prosecution "miserably failed" to prove the charges in 2G scam case.
The meeting in New Delhi etc is just the BJP being nice to the man who helped it realise its dream by stabbing Uddhav in the back, notes Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
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