Lovin’ Pakistan
Tuesday, 9. June 2009 - 1:57 AM
India-Pakistan bhai-bhai is one of the themes close to the secularists’ heart. They don’t even need an excuse to trumpet this theme into our collective ears. And so here’s Turdesai talking about the joys of fatherhood in Pakistan at a cricket match, and discussing momentous matters over state-sponsored mega food orgies, and such other indulgences.
In the last overs, as it became clear that India was winning, some visibly frustrated Pakistani supporters handed over a Pakistani flag to my son. The offer was promptly accepted, and on our way home he had two flags in his hand: the Tricolour and its Pakistani equivalent. Call it the innocence of a nine-year-old, but the Indo-Pak equation has always had a romantic edge. [..] The dualism was starkly driven home when I was interviewing then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the midst of the Kargil war in 1999. The interview saw a few sharp, testy exchanges over just who was responsible for the war. With the camera off, Sharif was back to being his gregarious self. As we ate a several course feast in the luxurious prime ministerial gardens overlooking the Margalla hills, the tone was anything but bellicose. Instead, Sharif proceeded to reminisce on his favourite Hindi film star, Rajendra Kumar. “Waah, kya actor tha!” (perhaps the only time anyone has recognised ‘Jubilee’ Kumar’s acting capabilities). The conversation then drifted to Sharif’s other great obsession, cricket, and he appeared awe-struck by Tendulkar’s batting. Finally, while leaving, I mentioned that I hadn’t eaten better kebabs. Sharif, the foodie, smiled, “Not as good as the ones I once ate in Purani Dilli. And the gajar halwa was something else!”
Heart-warming stuff eh? I mean, the innocence of a 9-year old boy, the lavish spread, vintage Bollywood, and the innate goodness and warmth and humanity of Nawaz Sharif even in war time.
Turdesai, like all secularists wants us to dream. Unfortunately, the reality of sixty-plus years of neighbourly love is a daily nightmare for India.
Just so that he doesn’t drift too far on the dream track, Turdesai makes the right amount of right noises at regular intervals.
Perhaps, the food and conversation was only meant to soften an Indian journalist in a time of war…
But immediately lapses back into stupor in the same sentence.
…but the affection has always felt just as real as the enmity over the years.
The rest of the piece is mostly predictable blah blah blah.
Has 26/11 changed that? Are we now as a people less inclined to give our Pakistani counterparts the benefit of doubt, less prepared to distinguish between the Pakistani State and its civil society, less willing to get carried away by nostalgia and shared interests?
It’s always us. We get routinely killed and horribly maimed. And we need to give them the benefit of doubt. Benefit of what doubt is the right question. Let’s get one pesky issue out of the way before we proceed: there is no civil society in Pakistan. The civil society Turdesai refers to exists in the bungalows of the likes of Nawaz Sharif and a few other wealthy and powerful people. A robust civil society doesn’t shut up when fanatics turn streets into battlefields like it’s business as usual. A civil society first and foremost is courageous. This applies to India in varying degrees but there’s a glue of tolerance, spirituality, and humanity that holds us together. That glue has its firm roots in thousands of years of conditioning by Sanatana Dharma. Which is why we aren’t on the verge of rapid disintegration like Pakistan: all it took was Musharraf’s departure from power.
Like most secularists, Turdesai adopts the time-tested “middle” path. Of sitting on the fence. Of trying to sound saintlike but spouting cowardice upon cowardice. Of not calling the monster by its name. Of using heresay and liberal sleights of the hand.
For those who had been affected by Partition, the love-hate relationship with the ‘other side’ was connected with their collective memories of childhood. But for those who lived south of the Vindhyas, with no real connect with Pakistan, the obsessive relationship always seemed a little incongruous.
I can’t fathom what school of logic Turdesai graduated from. Collective memories of childhood and south of the Vindhyas and incongruous. Let’s see. I’m at least 2 generations removed from the Partition. And I live as south of the Vindhyas as south is possible. And I still experience no incongruity that Turdesai so confidently proclaims as fact. And I’m sure there are a few thousand folks who share my sentiment vis a vis the Partition and Pakistan. Doesn’t Turdesai remember how Pakistan covertly abetted the Razakars who wanted to carve out a mini-Pakistan right next door in Hyderabad? See! sitting on the fence. Actually, no, these are the precise ingreidents that make up Turdesai’s romantic India-Pakistan potion. He says that right in the next paragraph.
Take cricketing ties for example. In the afterglow of that heady 2004 series when chants of “Balaji zara dheere chalo!” were heard across Pakistani stadiums, the romantics believed that there had been a tectonic shift in attitudes, with the average Pakistani ready to embrace the idea of India.
Isn’t the word choice amazing: tectonic shift? The last time I wrote about mountain weed was about a year ago. Looks like Turdesai never climbed down that mountain. I don’t blame him. Secular weed is addictive. Secular mountain weed is purer, and compulsively addictive. The following is just a symptom.
And yet, it is difficult to accept the extreme view that all Indo-Pak sporting and cultural contacts be abandoned as a demonstrable measure of our anger post-26/11.
Correct. We should release Kasab forthwith and hold a Grand Presidential Banquet to atone for the sin of inflicting inhuman torture on Afzal Guru. We should invite the finest quawwali and/or ghazal singers from Pakistan to perform at the Banquet. Perfect cultural contact. The angels will smile and peace will reign in the subcontinent.
What’s most notable in Turdesai’s discourse is the way he upholds the very thing he paints as deplorable. In secular annals, cricket, Bollywood, music (the Nusrat, Ghulam Ali, et al variety not the classical), and food (again, Mughalai etc) are Great Unifiers and shining symbols of the “inherent unity” between India and Pakistan. Turdesai realizes that these themes have been milked dry. He therefore exercises utmost caution.
The truth is that cricket has its limitations beyond the boundary. Cricket matches cannot be a substitute for statecraft, an Indian cricketer being cheered by a Pakistani crowd does not mean that the terror infrastructure has been dismantled. It is too much in the first place to have ever expected our cricketers to achieve what politicians on both sides of the border cannot: a permanent peace.
The very fact that he talks about cricket as a peace-vehicle gives his game away. But like I said, utmost caution is the way forward. So what does he advocate?
The challenge then is to strike the right balance. We must hold the stick of sanctions — economic, sporting and cultural — if Pakistan refuses to cooperate with the 26/11 investigation but also offer the carrot of even greater interaction if there is concrete proof that Islamabad is acting against the jihadis. Above all, we must all live in hope that sanity will ultimately prevail.
Toot toot toot. This is straightfaced Managementspeak. To strike the right balance and sanity will ultimately prevail sounds sickeningly familiar to let’s be on the same page or let’s get into a conference room and thrash this out or let the team reach a consensus. An illusion of feeling noble by employing lofty language. In reality, it is the fear of facing the problem. Thus: no concrete solutions. You read ten such “analyses,” make a list of some “catch” phrases, read news regularly, use healthy doses of creativity and bingo! You have a job in a secular media outlet.
This piece is proof yet again that the media is the mouthpiece of the secular party. Each time Pakistan bullies us, the peace process (sic) starts from our side. Funny how I’m yet to read just one piece from the Pakistani media that criticizes its own government. Instead, they blame the omniscient “Indian hidden hand.” But our media heroes (including a certain superheroine who shall not be named lest I get a legal notice from her) are paragons of forgiveness and loving neighborly behavior who fault us even when we as much as breathe “punish Pakistan.” Which is what Turdesai advocates. He uses the example of his 9-year old son, now back in the picture.
Above all, we must all live in hope that sanity will ultimately prevail. My now teenaged son certainly does: he still has the Pakistani flag in his room.
See, a small boy is sane enough to understand the finer values. Shame on us grown ups.
Such lovin’!
Tags: Commentary, India, Indian Media, Indian Politics, Intolerance, Islam Watch, Media Watch, Pakistan, Pakistan Watch, Politics, Pseudosecularism, Pseudosecularism Hall of Shame, Rajdeep Sardesai, Secular Media, Secularism, Society & Culture, Turdesai
9. June 2009 - 2:12 AM
I have never understood why Pakistan must always be treated like a child, not fully responsible for its actions. In India, the Gujrat riots are replayed over and over by the media as if nothing else happenes in India (not to say I condone the riots). Do you ever hear of Pakistani press expressing concern about the killings of Sikhs and Hindus in Pakistan? Never. But the seculars in the media and government keep dreaming that Pakistan will grow into an adult to be held responsible for what it does…
9. June 2009 - 8:18 AM
If there is one thing true for the ELM (a.k.a. liberal progressives) worldwide then that would be pissing in their pants when faced with aggressive, ruthless display of power. And, by that I don’t mean the Bajrang Dal types street demonstration – I mean real bombs and guns. True for NDTV to BBC to NYT. They’re all sh*t scared of being bombed to oblivion by the Mullahs. Hence, the MF Hussain can paint whatever he wants whereas Taslima has to leave the country. And, this is one example in a list that goes into millions. How many times did the BBC admit to being biased for the Mullahs?
As for this article by Turdesai, this is old wine. The article by Vir Sanghvi is a “fitting??” reply that Pak and India are different people. Honestly, both these people are secular, liberal, progressives and hence, equally obnoxious to me. But, I wish them good luck to fight each other to their end!
9. June 2009 - 9:17 AM
Porkistan is a disease that needs to be cured, not a diseased animal. We love pukistan soooo much, we want 6 of them
and mashallah these porkis are going to self destruct for us! “Managed deconstruction” should be the ONLY guiding principle in our interactions with the pukis, NOT anything else. Arms for the Baluchis & Sindhi nationalists, heck small arms for talibs too if they willing to blow up ISI HQ. Sindh, Baluchistan, Greater Afghanistan, Kashmir, and Punjab, and floodistan on the other side, Yeap, Jinnah had the right idea.
9. June 2009 - 9:17 AM
Ah, the secularists again !
Face it Sandeep, there is something seriously wrong with the people in this country. Bomb blast after bomb blast, invasion after invasion, and we still don’t want to face reality.
Why blame these “mainstream media” anyway ? Where is the public indignation at these of articles ? Why haven’t our right thinking intellectuals occupied a more prominent place in the public eye.
My own suggestion to you,
a. Formulate a long term strategy.
b. Reach the right kind of audience. Let’s set up better networking. Currently we are a disorganized lot, individuals who occassionally rant on blogs and some editorials.
c. Think about what it would take to have atleast one TV channel which opposes this kind of bullshit.
9. June 2009 - 10:54 AM
Some people never learn things. Pakistan cannot be a friend of India’s atleast not till the time we take over the country
9. June 2009 - 12:09 PM
A little off-topic, but you may be interested in the below article in today’s Pioneer.
http://www.dailypioneer.com/181704/Lanka-Buddhists-take-on-Church.html
Its raining good news from Sri Lanka. First the decimation of the LTTE, and now this! What are the odds of India following suit with a similar legislation? Less than zero I would say, under the current dispensation.
9. June 2009 - 12:52 PM
Great article Sandeep.
Turdesai states –
“For those who had been affected by Partition, the love-hate relationship with the ‘other side’ was connected with their collective memories of childhood. But for those who lived south of the Vindhyas, with no real connect with Pakistan, the obsessive relationship always seemed a little incongruous.”
I wonder if Turdesai has ever read history. It was not just about West Punjab and Sindh (now Pakistan), but also about East Bengal (now Bangladesh). It is estimated that about 1.5 million Hindus were massacred by the loving Muhammadans in West Punjab, and .8 million (80 lakhs) in East Bengal. More than 10 million people were displaced from West Pujnab alone. It is not just about West Punjab, it is about East Bengal as well. And these figures are from 1947, not from 1971 – when more than a million Bengali Hindus were murdered by the loving Ummah. In both these “Lands of the Pure”, the Hindu population has steadily declined since 1947, whereas in India the Muhammadan population is growing at an alarming pace.
Perhaps Turdesai is above such mediocre things as reading up on the history of one’s own country. Perhaps he should do some reading on what happened in Serbia just about a decade back. Perhaps he should read up on what happened to Serbians in Kosovo.
Maybe Turdesai can’t be bothered to read up about a small European country that does not have a colonial past. In that case, perhaps he should be reading “Londonistan” by Melanie Phillips.
9. June 2009 - 12:53 PM
Typo in my post above. .8 million (80 lakhs) should be .8 million (8 lakhs).
9. June 2009 - 1:48 PM
Reminds me of Advani’s famous Pakistan visit in 2005. He even offered to resign after doing a Turdesai.
9. June 2009 - 2:03 PM
Well, the dude is just showing off, that’s all. The point is to tell you how influential he is so you yokels all get impressed pronto. Multicourse meal for him from the PM of Pakistan. Wow.
In his book “Among the Believers” Naipual recounts how generous Pakistani hospitality really is. His hosts even offer him an upmarket hooker. We don’t know if Turdesai got that kind of treatment, but surely, the Pakistanis seem to have thought he was a very very important guy.
9. June 2009 - 7:27 PM
Stupid idiot, I wonder how he won the Padmashri
let us get one more cricketing fact straight – Balaji, the Indian cricketer was not cheered by the Pakistani crowd. He was jeered and the song was clearly a taunt. Not that it matters, but I wonder how Turdesai thinks of it as a cheer!
10. June 2009 - 3:10 AM
Off Topic:
Something about Advaita
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20126911.300-our-world-may-be-a-giant-hologram.html?full=true
10. June 2009 - 6:40 AM
>>>>>>”My now teenaged son certainly does: he still has the Pakistani flag in his room.”
Such patriotism!
MMS must be considering ashoka chakras for both father and son, with the blessings of the holy ghost(formerly of Rome, Italy).
10. June 2009 - 7:12 AM
For the benefit of some main some cross guy
This is what Advani said – “There are many people who leave an irreversible stamp on history. But there are few who actually create history. Qaed-e-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah was one such rare individual. In his early years, leading luminary of freedom struggle Sarojini Naidu described Jinnah as an ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity. His address to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan on August 11, 1947 is really a classic and a forceful espousal of a secular state in which every citizen would be free to follow his own religion. The State shall make no distinction between the citizens on the grounds of faith. My respectful homage to this great man.”
This is what Jinnah said in the 11th August constituent assembly speech – “You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place or worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed that has nothing to do with the business of the State. As you know, history shows that in England, conditions, some time ago, were much worse than those prevailing in India today. The Roman Catholics and the Protestants persecuted each other. Even now there are some States in existence where there are discriminations made and bars imposed against a particular class. Thank God, we are not starting in those days. We are starting in the days where there is no discrimination, no distinction between one community and another, no discrimination between one caste or creed and another. We are starting with this fundamental principle that we are all citizens and equal citizens of one State. “
10. June 2009 - 9:26 AM
Fear, Fear, Fear, India is infected with deadly virus “Fear”.
Some are dead in Mumbai,Delhi and else where,So what? No one can escape one’s Karma, those who ate salt have to drink water. I’m the world , I’m the GOD, Why care for others?
Cowardice,selfishness mixed with shallow spirituality is killing our civilization.
Haling traitors have become the tradition of India since recent past,slavery has continued till date,it is starving for freedom and I don’t see it in near future.
10. June 2009 - 10:11 AM
good post, Sandeep. India , Pak relationship is like a abusive relationship, where the victim does not know it is being abused. the victim gets caught up in the making up phase and honey moon phase that always follow the abuse. But the cycle of violence will continue. So what if Balaji was cheered (or jeered or some say). Would that be exchanged with a life of an Indian. If Sharif throwing a lavish dinner is sufficient to make him a good man in the eyes of Turdesai and give him hope of reconciliation, Turdesai does not care for the thousands of lives lost in our side of the border.
Poeple get so star struck by the attention they recieve, and they forget the real nature of the host. Yes, it is part of the job of journlists to meet politicians of other countries.. but to elugize the politicians forgetting the atrocities they committed (just because they treat the journalists well) is sheer delusion.
one of my friends that visited Pak in 2004 said it was a life changing experience, as the people treated him like a brother and the mosque had a seperate prayer session for him just to honor the bhai from India. But, does these hospilatily wash away the rivers of blood from the murders committed by Pakistan?
Yes, there could be romance between both the countries due to shared lauguage, food, movies and due to the lower-middle class life struggles.. But, that is where the common thread stops. When there is no mutual respect, romance cannot blossom. When victim forgets the sins of the perpetrator and warms himself in the polite show of hospitality, abusive relationship begins. And the cycle will continue. Victim has to demand dignity and respect first and be convinced that sinner really atones for the sins, before taking baby steps towards normalizing the relationship. Sadly, with the strong influence of religion and mullahs in pakistan, this will never happen.
Even 3 years in different colleges changes perception among friends and friends loose lot of thing that they had in common before going to different colleges. Talk about 60 years of seperation… and three full generations and living with relatively well run institutions in India. Let no one ever say Indians and Pakistanis are the same. Would anyone say Cubans and Americans are teh same, just because they are seperated by few hundre miles or Mexicans and Americans are the same. It is like Turdesai comparing his children going to international schools to grand-sons of his father’s friend that still remained in the ancestoral village.
10. June 2009 - 7:50 PM
Geez, our country men have Goldfish memory! Relations with Pak have after all been promoted as the romantic coming together of two souls who are at present fighting each other.
No respite in sight, India’s delusion of a friendly relation with Pak is rooted firmly in this generation at least.
11. June 2009 - 12:19 AM
“…but the affection has always felt just as real as the enmity over the years.”
- How does one ever get to think like that? Is it normal? I mean psychologically? Stockholm syndrome? Probably.
He’s Secular and Liberal alright.
11. June 2009 - 3:43 AM
@Palahalli: No, it ain’t psychological a bit. Its money. In business, money talks and media is no different. I bet that the reason he (and his likes) talks like that is because he’s got enough financial incentives to keep talking like that.
PS – One may ask, what about future? If India is destroyed, how’s he going to survive? Well, people like him (w/o a spine) don’t need *anything* to survive. Today he’s Rajdeep, tomorrow he (or his son) can have some other name & identity. As long as they have money, the rest will be okay for the Turdesais and their progenies.
11. June 2009 - 5:41 AM
Your choice to highlight “Turd” everywhere is very mature… Not a comment on your overall article though.
11. June 2009 - 7:55 AM
I can agree with that Bhavananda. Sometime back while watching his show on TV I was shocked to hear him say (the discussion was around Muslim demographics)”So what?” when someone said that Muslims will approach Majority status by 2050.
So yes, I don’t think he cares one way or the other. He’s a true Liberal. A true Global Citizen. And I’m not being sarcastic at all.
11. June 2009 - 8:10 AM
I’m not sure why one would ascribe the liberal trait to someone like him as per this discussion. For example, Noam Chomsky is a liberal, so is Christopher Hitchens. **Liberals have an ideology**, no matter how much we disagree with them. They ascribe to something, and money by itself, takes a second seat. This in my opinion does not apply to these journalists, and for that matter, the entire ELM.
11. June 2009 - 8:21 AM
I see what your saying. However I find it difficult to believe that Sardesai would become a Hindutva-vadi if he got enough money.
11. June 2009 - 10:57 AM
These journalists will always have an axe to grind. Personally I care a whit whether they eat Hyderabadi Biryani at the Pakistani PM’s palace or they suck up to Pakistanis by writing these kind of feel-good stories.
The real issues are far deeper than any of these journos will ever fathom. We can beat our heads all day long trying to explain our point of view, but the fact that they cannot even understand the basic premise means that it’s a lost cause trying to convert them from their warped world-view
11. June 2009 - 11:07 AM
I agree. It’s not about money or material things. The secular media and particularly the English news channels has a world view that is warped beyond remedy. They accept so many false premises as absolutely true when it has repeatedly proven that they are wrong. Their view of the world is moral relativism and a complete rejection of morality and religious values of Hinduism as “outdated” or “outmoded” and rejection of our culture and way of life as part of “superstition” which is the worst intellectual and moral malady of our times.
The old saying about not being able to wake up somebody who pretends to sleep has 100% application in this case.
11. June 2009 - 11:42 AM
“agree. It’s not about money or material things. The secular media and particularly the English news channels has a world view that is warped beyond remedy. They accept so many false premises as absolutely true when it has repeatedly proven that they are wrong. Their view of the world is moral relativism and a complete rejection of morality and religious values of Hinduism as “outdated” or “outmoded” and rejection of our culture and way of life as part of “superstition” which is the worst intellectual and moral malady of our times.”
Hari, it is not about the world view of these so-called “secular journalists”. Any idiot with half a brain and access to the internet can research for himself the violent history of Islam and muslims, and the state of any muslim country that does not have oil, a natural resource that the Ummah of these countries is unable to drill and sell for themselves ; this job is also being done by the Kafirs (Infidels).
It does, however, require some effort on the part of an average individual in order to see through the smoke-screen of confusion regarding another faith, Christianity. This is because the Church is constantly buying Media sources and trying to project a positive image of itself in the psyches of masses. The RC church controls quite a lot of newspapers and channels, and their sole purpose is to discredit Hinduism, and to this end they are applying all their efforts.
I suspect Turdesai to be in the pocket of the RC church, because he certainly does not come across as a dense person. He knows if he questions the barbaric practices of Islam, he will be beheaded. The sole purpose of CNN-IBN is to spread confusion in Hindu masses, so that the RC church (and other churches as well) finds it easy to get new converts.
We should not take the power of the Churches lightly, or think that Christianity is a peaceful religion. If Christianity were peaceful, it would not have been responsible for genocides across continents ; if Christianity were peaceful then these missionaries would be trying to find converts in educated people, not tribals. Do keep in mind that Prabhakaran was a Christian, that Prachanda is likely to be a Christian, that Su Ki is a Christian whining about “democracy” in Buddhist Myanmar. The Church is trying its best to destabilize this region since China won’t allow these “holy missionaries” to operate in their country.
The history of the cult of Christ -
http://freetruth.50webs.org/
The history of Jihad -
http://historyofjihad.org
11. June 2009 - 1:48 PM
That’s a good explanation. Thanks for those links. Will go through them later.
Still my point is that even if their world view is a product of subversion and bribery and corruption as you say, the end result is the same.
In effect, I don’t see much difference between the agnostic Liberals/Lefists and the allegedly Christian-funded secularists with an agenda, as their fundamental world views are warped in a similar manner.
11. June 2009 - 4:00 PM
hari – “In effect, I don’t see much difference between the agnostic Liberals/Lefists and the allegedly Christian-funded secularists with an agenda, as their fundamental world views are warped in a similar manner.”
- And this is why the Hindus will have to fight for “minds” and not “pockets” necessarily even though “pockets” are important. But “pockets” cannot gurantee victory..”minds” can.
12. June 2009 - 12:18 AM
What a wonderful blog! Very well written.
Why are Indians tolerant (to evil)?
Why are Hindus human (and no one else is)?
Answer, according to me: A certain Mr Macaulay.
16. June 2009 - 5:47 AM
@S:
Gee. Prabhakaran was a Hindu. His son, “Charles Antony” was named after the first LTTE fighter who died.
Su ki is a Buddhist, come on. Do your home work at least.
16. June 2009 - 4:26 PM
“Arjun says:
@S:
Gee. Prabhakaran was a Hindu. His son, “Charles Antony” was named after the first LTTE fighter who died.
Su ki is a Buddhist, come on. Do your home work at least.
Posted on June 16, 2009 at 5:47 AM. ”
Buddy, do your homework. Prabhakaran was a crypto-christian and so is Su Ki.
16. June 2009 - 5:18 PM
Sure man. Now that the pigs have started to fly. Swine Flu, of course!
16. June 2009 - 10:12 PM
Sandeep ,
Is it a coincedence that all these nehurvian secularist like cricket but dont feel shamed at india ‘s performance in the olympics !!! think ram guha who is “world renowed cricket historian ” .. i can bet anything that guha will never think bindra’s gold has one of the most historic things independent india has done but will give historic status to anything related to cricke
Disclosure : i have began to dislike cricket post IPL which become business not sport but i guess for rajdeep cricket is one thing which “unites ” india
Cheers
Sandeep
18. June 2009 - 10:26 AM
S. Wrote:
We should not take the power of the Churches lightly, or think that Christianity is a peaceful religion. If Christianity were peaceful, it would not have been responsible for genocides across continents ;
Christianity is quite simply western war propaganda; please take a a look at this site:
http://ascendantasia.blogspot.com/
19. June 2009 - 7:03 AM
The best way to target the Christist warriors is to target them economically, because that is their prime method (though not their only one) of waging war in India. To do that, ideally one would want to hold enough of their debt, such as the Arabs and Chinese have done.
I’m not sure if Hindus understand just how precarious the economic situation is in the West. The Chinese, if they can figure out an economic model more viable then exporting a bunch of useless toys to the debt slaves of America, will likely deliver the final blow. And Europe, rest assured, is in an even worse position.
Watch the treasury market and you will see the last gasp of the – mostly illusionary due to it being so debt based – power of the American economy.
28. June 2009 - 5:48 PM
Managementspeak. Ah Sandeep! You nailed it there and then.
I sometimes feel that we actually do a great service to these ‘mainstream journalists’ by attributing some sort of agenda or ideology to them (after all, even ‘pseudo-secularism’ requires some sort of conviction in its beliefs, however skewed they are).
My hypothesis is that these journalists could never get out of the “essay writing” mould of their college days – where all that was needed (and encouraged) to fetch marks was high-flown english, a lyrical / emotional structure (where constructs like starting on a highly personal note – child, personal experience et al. – progressing to the general discussion and ending again with a personal flourish are quite typical), no side taking and “all will fall in its place on its own” ending. If you look closely, all op-eds of the dutts and the sardesais follow this general template. In fact, events like kargil war, gujarat riots provide a perfect opportunity for them to show this literary creativity of theirs.
I am sure I can produce articles like these a dozen a day. But the last time I wrote that genre was the essay in my class 12th “english language” exam !
P.S: As an aside, Guha has been surreptitiously promoted from “world renowed cricket historian” to a general purpose “historian” by the sardesai ilk ! It was irritating to recently hear him give his ‘expert opinion’ on Indian elections on CNN-IBN.