December 2022 could be the last Christmas for Santha Bakery, a business drawing its lineage from the first Christmas cake baked in Kerala.
The country may become militarily impressive, pile on GDP and the durbar of the ruling party may fill with the wealthy indebted to the rulers for their riches. But the spontaneous camaraderie of a free people will diminish and with it, our shared ownership of the country, warns Shyam G Menon.
Population is a touchy issue in India. Anybody will notice the crowded rat race we live in, notes Shyam G Menon.
A great war memorial goes beyond the list of dead, to contemplation of the phenomenon of war. To me as a civilian, it didn't matter that our war memorial stood under India Gate, a creation of the British; it didn't matter that it didn't name all the fallen. The fact that we embraced it and respected it made it an unforgettable war memorial, notes Shyam G Menon.
So, what's the problem if our present is screwed up when the future promises to be profitable? It's an Indian habit, notes Shyam G Menon.
It doesn't make sense to view the womb through the prism of religion, community and tradition, warns Shyam G Menon.
Rainbow has a usual storyline but is dreary because of average storytelling and performances by Rahul, Sonal Chauhan and Sindhu Menon. The film lacks colour and punch.
'What would we feel if we found the world behaving the way it has?' 'Forced to fight our own prolonged battle; nobody from outside really demanding that the war end or actively working to make it end, and above all, a completely toothless United Nations reduced to pleading for a halt to the violence,' notes Shyam G Menon, exactly a month after Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine.
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The film may have worked better as a documentary.
What we have in the Congress is a useful glue to hold a non-cultural, unified Opposition together. That is the sacrifice the Congress must be willing to live with if showing the BJP the door is what the collective Opposition wants, observes Shyam G Menon.
Beginning with the bird's eye view of itself -- a narrow state of hills, rivers and high population density, in a tapering part of the Indian subcontinent. It can be a beautiful place shaped by aesthetic founded in appropriate lifestyle and progressive views, or a junkyard shaped by money and what money buys. The choice is Kerala's, notes Shyam G Menon.
Sure we understand that isolating affected communities is part of the pandemic protocol, but we don't wish our life and freedom to be tossed aside at the slightest excuse, states Shyam G Menon.
Notwithstanding how the current impasse is solved, at some point in the future, Russia will realise that just as centuries ago it developed the paradigm of securing its heartland's safety through annexing vast buffer zones between itself and the enemy, a more modern security is possible only through friendly relations and sustainable peace, observes Shyam G Menon.
One of the chapters in the document titled 'Asian Theatre' has quite elaborate comments on China, and opines that India's China strategy has to strike a careful balance between cooperation and competition, economic and political interests, bilateral and regional contexts. Rediff.com publishes verbatim a part of the chapter 'Asian Theatre'.
Like ants declining to question the rules of the anthill, they feel innately justified in their approach, notes Shyam G Menon.
College is where the manicured view of the world provided by one's family, encounters new trends. It is the dawn of exploration. Wishing for a sanitised bubble on campus appears hypocritical. The correct strategy, one would assume, is to weed out the violence while retaining the right to political debate, argues Shyam G Menon.
It's Mohanlal versus Manju Warrier this weekend.
While sport climbing made its debut in the Olympics only this year, it has had a popular home in India for many years now.
It appears India and China have decided to step back and take a deep breath, writes Shyam Saran.
It was amusing to hear Minister Jaishankar's argument of tech companies being influential non-State actors. If only he looked at his own party before saying what he did, notes Shyam G Menon.
To win the war against the Maoist insurgency, the underlying issues of tribal alienation needs to be addressed first, writes Shyam G Menon.
Director Aashiq Abu talks about life after the success Salt N' Pepper.
The Opposition must understand that while 2024 may draw mileage from the growing resentment towards the BJP, the real battle and proof of how well India learnt from its disastrous dalliance with the Right-wing, will be in 2029, observes Shyam G Menon.
'The urge to name the upcoming Navi Mumbai airport after well-known personalities and the equally strong urge to rally in large numbers supporting this name and that; all of this amidst COVID-19, felt deplorable,' asserts Shyam G Menon.
'Three decades after liberalisation kicked off, my friend's son and niece -- both born well after that historic shift in economic policy -- find themselves newly off the beaten path for no fault than listening to their heart,' notes Shyam G Menon.
Ageing is a funny process. After rebelling and exploring, the human being drifts to the ordered arrangement, he/she once left. As a youngster I outgrew ABBA while my mother continued to like them. In September 2021, when ABBA's first single in 40 years was launched, I sent the video link to my mother. Meanwhile, now in my fifties, I find myself curious to hear ABBA's new songs, notes Shyam G Menon.
Personal competence, where it should have been acknowledged and appreciated, was sacrificed for that oft heard line: Party-is-supreme. It angered that at a time when lives are at stake amidst the pandemic, the government didn't deem continuity in leadership important for the health portfolio, observes Shyam G Menon.
I wondered how being scientist-mathematician helps one cycle better. Perhaps the self-discipline helps; perhaps it is the scientist-technologist perspective of breaking down the whole into separate pieces, identifying specifics and working on them for improved results, mulls Shyam G Menon.
As a model of transport, the A380 strikes a parallel -- a shared fragility -- with giant container ships, observes Shyam G Menon.
'Both have a very nationalistic view of foreign policy.' 'They think they are shrewd and clever diplomats.'
'These reports of cases being very low in other states, is it true? Are the numbers believable?'
'Somewhere, I have to be true to myself. At this point in life, I am more interested in human drama.'
Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran met President Musharraf and briefed him on the outcome of the talks.
In this pandemic, why can't we have multiple locations for various disciplines, all of it then merged into a virtual convergence called the Olympics instead of one massive event in one city, asks Shyam G Menon.
'It is astonishing that such a serious issue be handled in so casual and cavalier a fashion, but this has become what is expected of this government,' observes Aakar Patel.
A look at the ceremony that was held on May 10 in the presence of the Kapoor clan and their film industry friends.
Several officers in the intelligence agencies want the role of the National Investigation Agency clearly defined to avoid lack of cooperation between the Centre and states.
Malavika Sangghvi gives us fascinating glimpses from Dilip Kumar's life.
'Our strategy should be to 'hold the line' in the north on the Sino-Indian land frontier, but maintain and, if possible, enlarge India's current edge in the maritime south.'
The judgment was reserved after a marathon hearing which went on for 38 days spanning four months.
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