'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.'
The film is less about reservations and more about education.
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.
Shah Rukh Khan's latest film offers no emotional connect with the audience even as its story flops in the telling says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Saisuresh Sivaswamy, who was in New York on 9/11, relives the day that changed America and the world.
The Ayodhya verdict, far from legitimising the deeply divisive rath yatra Advani set out on, has tried to repair the damage he did to inter-community relations in India, says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
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?
The Pakistan-Australia match, analysed by Manu Shankar, Abhishek Mande and Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
'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.
'The government may backpedal for now to stave off bad international press and diplomatic demarches, but that it will go ahead with putting religion at the centre of citizenship rules is certain.' 'For it is convinced that this is the magic bullet that will ensure its return to power in 2024,' says 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.
'On the Kashmir and Pakistan question, it is startling that Vajpayee and Advani did more than anybody in Indian history.'
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.
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.
'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.
From the humble cycle to reality television, Archana Masih points out the signs of a new Indian mindset.
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.
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.
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.
'The road from Zhangmu via Nyalam to Tingri is everything a Himalayan drive should be. With tall peaks as the backdrop, switchbacks yielding to roads that stretched into eternity, passing by some of the most scenic views on the planet.'
Thanks to Sharad Pawar and him alone, Maharashtra has shown that the Modi-Shah duo can be halted. The next step is to take the battle to Dilli, says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Manoj Bajpayee simply lives, and loves, the role -- of a man who life is fast passing by, and who continues to live the lie of a simple government servant, observes Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
The costs involved in putting together a successful rally are bizarre.
'In spirit, and more importantly in its DNA, this is the Congress Inc, or Incorporated, a family-run entity,' notes Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
The question wafting in the winds over the Vaigai riverbed is, has Karunanidhi's disgraced son accepted his fate? A Ganesh Nadar and Saisuresh Sivaswamy find out.
Other strong men have stopped Modi and his hordes in states before, but none of them with a footprint or battle cry to shake up New Delhi, observes Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
'Politics is playing a very big role in keeping communities apart in terms of religion,' says Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
Watching a Rajnikanth film in Mumbai's Aurora Theatre can only be compared to watching a Salman Khan film in Bandra's Gaiety-Galaxy, but multiplied 100 times over, feels Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
'The BJP is the most progressive force within Hinduism today.'
What does one do when one day, out of the blue, one is told to go on a road trip to the Everest Base Camp?
'Certainly if Advani had agreed to Vajpayee in sacking Modi, then we would never have been talking of Modi today.'
In a lot of ways, Tamil Nadu votes exactly as do other states. But at places there are crucial differences.
'The theory of karma and the principle of dharma go hand in hand,' says Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
President Kalam was loved by the youth of India. Something evidenced by the mass of student volunteers who have arrived in Rameswaram to mourn and to help out other mourners who have arrived in the island town to pay their last homage to India's 'Missile Man.'
Stalin has given due respect to seniority in the pecking order, but has also taken into consideration the demands of individual ministries and the suitability of individuals, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
If you'd like to know more about Rajini the actor, Saisuresh Sivaswamy offers a wide selection.
'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.
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