If somebody wants to do an instant noodle study on contemporary Indian politics, Shobhaji's book, Battlefield India - 25 years of Politricks and Economix, is the one to look into, applauds M R Venkatesh, the well-known economic and political commentator.
'... to see that young people are gainfully employed. After that, it will become very difficult as we will start ageing much more rapidly.' 'We have a huge proportion of Gen Z. After 2030, every year, we will start seeing a gradual shift towards a slightly older society.'
'It could be in IT, it could be in administration, it could be in legal, it could be in technical services, but entry level jobs are rapidly disappearing because AI is taking them over.' 'So, the big question what would happen if the bottom rung of the ladder is removed?'
'Think of the brain like a machine, and Alzheimer's is like rust.'
'Like a rusty machine breaks down, a rusty brain also breaks down. And when it breaks down, you have memory loss, cognitive issues and so on.'
'We have to pull 80 million workers out of agriculture and go back to where we were in 2014. That itself is going to be a huge task.' 'We have already lost time, and that is a catastrophe impending.''
'The main problem the country faces is not low GDP growth, but low employment growth.'
Jayaprakash Narayan was called the 'Second Mahatma'. He issued the clarion call against government corruption in June 1974 that ignited a fierce student movement that shook the Indira Gandhi government from the foundation to the rafters. His modest home in Patna is almost forgotten, only remembered on special anniversaries.
'After more than 12 years in power, he has been forced to retreat under public pressure. The education minister's resignation is the biggest political climbdown of his government so far.'
'After that the burdens of an ageing population will be upon us, and the share of working age population will shrink.'
'It's very important for India to retain its sovereignty. India should not sign any agreement which compromises its sovereignty.'
'We thought everything will be back to normal within one month. Now it's four months and still a final solution is miles away.'
'It will take a long time to recover from the impact of this war.'
'The real shock is going to be from a deficient monsoon.'
'It all depends on how Shivakumar uses him and treats him.'
'You will have the President's rule for 7 to 8 months, And Annamalai will be the hero in those 7 months.'
'They talked bad about our leaders. They said India was a dead economy. They were not sensitive to the Indian psyche.'
'Control your A, B, C and D.' 'A is A1C, keep your A1C below 7 per cent.' 'B is blood pressure, so keep your blood pressure at 130/ 80 or at least below 140/ 90.' 'C is cholesterol. The bad cholesterol is the LDL cholesterol, and it should be kept below 100, preferably below 70 or 50.' 'D is discipline like diet, exercise, sleep, no smoking, etc.' 'People with diabetes who follow A, B, C and D can live up to even 100 years of age without any complications.'
'The generational shift belongs to Vijay, Udhayanidhi and Annamalai.' 'The BJP cannot fit into the shift.' 'So they threw Annamalai into the situation where he is comparable with Vijay and Udhayanidhi.'
'You have seen the retrenchments by big corporates in the IT industry because they are not getting enough offers.' 'MSMEs in the manufacturing sector are really struggling. They do not know what to do. They are not able to predict what will happen tomorrow.'
'In the (election) affidavit, he had declared Rs 1,400 crores as his assets. He has educational institutions, real estate, malls, etc.'
'Unfortunately, today most ministers are busy with either election duty or praising duty. They are not interested in serving duty.' 'Ministers have become relaxed like retired people still holding onto jobs.' 'Look at how the NEET paper leaked. But there is no accountability.' 'After 12 years, they have become saturated. They are short of ideas.'
'If Congress had aligned with the TVK before the election, we would have won almost a two-thirds majority.'
'There is not a single job role that doesn't require upskilling these days as technology is changing rapidly.'
'Can you believe there are over 26,500 deaths linked to heatwave-driven ozone in 2024?'
'On the day of the results itself, Vijay personally requested Rahul Gandhi for support from the Congress.'
'Once the numbers come out, they fear that the OBCs would start to demand, and articulate what they are lacking, why they are lacking and what should be done to go forward.'
'Unfortunately the treasury is empty, in zero. So we have to first make money for the development activities of the state, and also to continue the welfare measures.'
'Look at the way SIR that was implemented in Bengal. They wanted to entirely curate the voter list in order to suit their purposes and victory.' 'Look at the targeted deletions and the targeted voting list.' 'The difference between the TMC and the BJP was only about 4% but that 4% vote was done so selectively that the difference ultimately showed up as 100 seats!'
'The AIADMK will lose a lot of votes simply because it is aligned with the BJP.'
'98 lakhs in Bengal, 97 lakhs in Tamil Nadu, 2.83 crores in Uttar Pradesh.'
'We should expect extreme heat, extreme rains, floods, landslides and maybe cyclones. Not just this year, in the coming year as well.'
'It is going to be a negative vote against the government rather than a positive vote for the UDF.'
'Even if they align with the TVK now, I don't think the AIADMK leadership will completely surrender to the dominance of Vijay.'
'Even if the war ends tomorrow, which is unlikely, and we go back to the pre-war status quo, the world will still need some time to get over the sudden shock of oil price increases.'
'If you read the TVK manifesto, it is doles and much more doles. But the state has been habituated to this.' 'In no way is he distinct or different from the DMK regime.'
'The most enduring part of Satheesan's personality is he is good at heart. That is the reason why everybody, from the old to small children, get attracted to him.'
'...the enormous responsibility and faith the youth has put on his shoulders, that he is going to solve their problems.'
'The BJP and its allies can decide the fate of many candidates.'
'Among the leaders whose names are going around, V D Satheesan is the leader who will fit this kind of situation.'
'Remember Vijay had never spoke of himself as a Christian when he was a film star.' 'The BJP strategy is they want the Christian minority constituency to move away from the DMK.' 'That is what the BJP wants so that it will be very easy to mobilise Hindu votes.' 'This strategy is to weaken the Dravidian ideology and bring in religion based politics into Tamil Nadu.'
