tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15571759719943247522012-03-07T20:58:18.922+05:30Ekoham Bahusyam!Amit Bhaskarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08581759425698958974noreply@blogger.comBlogger461100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1557175971994324752.post-13933608139095463232011-07-30T02:20:00.000+05:302011-07-30T02:20:48.839+05:30

I have been meaning to stay a lot more connected to my hometown. Despite intention though, physical visits have been few and far between. Thus, it was a direct call to action when the W alerted me to my expected housebound status for the next few weeks. I planned a trip in a jiffy, managing to cover Patna, Muzaffarpur and our ancestral village - all in the space of one weekend. Hurried as it may

Amit Bhaskarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08581759425698958974noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1557175971994324752.post-89753809215575296502011-06-23T00:27:00.053+05:302011-07-16T18:50:11.967+05:30

I plead guilty to mentioning the Real Estate sector in less than laudatory terms in recent posts. This comes partly from personal experience: some investments where I was promised the Moon have yielded negative to negligible returns. At the same time, I understand the caveat emptor argument – perhaps my ventures were ill-advised, risk-reward are proportional etc. It could equally be sour grapes –

Amit Bhaskarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08581759425698958974noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1557175971994324752.post-49690045787689942012011-06-16T00:02:00.005+05:302011-06-21T23:35:00.714+05:30

History repeats, or almost. The story starts many moons ago, in a conversation between two highly unequal individuals. The first of them was first in many respects. An idol for many, he had chosen to strike out on his own despite not-so-humble moorings. Starting from scratch thus, he had risen through the ranks by virtue of sheer grit and effort, never compromising his values in the face of

Amit Bhaskarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08581759425698958974noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1557175971994324752.post-85594454585337163782011-06-12T22:23:00.337+05:302011-06-30T15:43:22.028+05:30

I would stop short of calling myself a gadget geek. I do, however, have a deep-rooted belief in Technology's game-changing abilities - at work and otherwise. This, coupled with a proclivity towards things new, often leads me to play early adopter to techie products and concepts. One such acquaintance I made in the late 90s was text messaging. In fact, I evangelized its discreet convenience,

Amit Bhaskarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08581759425698958974noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1557175971994324752.post-66918969424341648002011-05-23T05:56:00.601+05:302011-06-30T18:56:30.265+05:30

Urban infrastructure in Delhi NCR is a question-mark that lurks behind corners, like a sly predator waiting to ambush you in an unguarded moment. Step into Gurgaon where I live, and it will be clear what I mean: global and gobar are concurrent realities that, despite the paradox, coexist peacefully in Millennium City. Its tall office towers with imposing green-glass facades, or glitzy

Amit Bhaskarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08581759425698958974noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1557175971994324752.post-49958781942999326672011-05-15T11:34:00.008+05:302011-06-30T18:57:52.034+05:30

I did not know much of this story until February this year. In fact it came to light with its hero's sad demise that month. For a lot of my contemporaries this was not too late though. It merely added to folklore, much like the eternal creations this protagonist had put to paper; a story that must be told. But I get ahead of myself - lets start with an anecdote. The year was 1967. A 37 year old

Amit Bhaskarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08581759425698958974noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1557175971994324752.post-68605108032640681232011-05-07T00:06:00.001+05:302011-06-21T23:42:48.361+05:30

The PA crackles out loud: "...the outside temperature is 33 degrees" in a typically disjointed flight attendant's voice. It sounds ominous for the Cinderella hour, but Delhi May heat is rarely for the faint-hearted. Nonetheless, it offers me little succour: an uncommonly rude landing has woken me up rather unceremoniously, arms flailing, a few moments back. Perhaps its one of those pilots

Amit Bhaskarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08581759425698958974noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1557175971994324752.post-74949355514436830462011-04-29T21:51:00.467+05:302011-07-01T12:18:19.029+05:30

I have been off the air a few weeks. Assorted reasons drove my idle state: I can safely say that paucity of time and not lack of noteworthy content would rank high in them. In fact, our national mood has stretched the arc of the pendulum in this hiatus. A cricket World Cup victory transported India to euphoric seventh heaven. The other extremity was equally tested by a sustained corruption soap

Amit Bhaskarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08581759425698958974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1557175971994324752.post-71763971526322035252011-02-18T00:18:00.022+05:302011-07-01T14:19:17.528+05:30

In context of the controversy regarding Shri Justice KG Balakrishnan and his family's recently acquired munificence, I heard a few judicial fraternity old-timers urge him to go the extra mile in clearing the air. 'Caesar's wife should be above suspicion' was the shibboleth they asked to be upheld; exhorting the immediate past occupant of the exalted chair of India's Chief Justice. Messrs Iyer,

Amit Bhaskarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08581759425698958974noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1557175971994324752.post-80475174677123788232011-02-10T23:34:00.015+05:302011-06-21T23:53:13.015+05:30

This Saturday, HT City carried a page depicting eleven gamechanging Hindi movies from the last decade. I am not sure if these movies, or at least all of them, were pathbreaking in the fashion described, but they nevertheless make a fair representation of popular cinema between 2001 and 2010. It would also be in order to mention their marked commercial success, remarkable for me in the sense that

Amit Bhaskarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08581759425698958974noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1557175971994324752.post-1972729191990634312011-01-22T17:47:00.290+05:302011-07-05T14:24:55.993+05:30

Last week, following a rather spirited discussion on the economics and politics of interest rate ceilings (albeit in a Malegam context) I was sent a recent NYT article by Prof Muhammad Yunus (Sacrificing Microcredit for Megaprofits). In it, the Nobel laureate and visionary-founder of Grameen Bank lamented recent trends in Microfinance, calling special attention to developments in India to

Amit Bhaskarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08581759425698958974noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1557175971994324752.post-49786934519879492852011-01-09T11:23:00.260+05:302011-07-05T14:58:55.426+05:30

It is never easy to connect the dots in various socio-political and economic trends in the world around us; and least as it limps back post massive upheavals a couple of seasons ago. On the balance, at the dawn of 2011, the mood in India is sombre: the scars from a slew of high profile scams last year yet to start to heal. At the same time, we are much better off globally than end 2009 (and most

Amit Bhaskarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08581759425698958974noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1557175971994324752.post-38095685882504774202010-12-24T19:20:00.278+05:302011-02-09T16:11:51.234+05:30

The calendar's fourth quarter is notable for its disproportionate share of festivities; occasions when circumspect purse strings loosen, accumulating significant spends that greatly aid the cause of private domestic consumption! This is an established phenomenon in the West, building to a Christmas peak, with accepted socio-cultural-economic benefits. Not merely due to an Anglophile tilt, but

Amit Bhaskarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08581759425698958974noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1557175971994324752.post-32533754926742057022010-12-20T22:43:00.124+05:302011-01-07T12:04:02.936+05:30

My idea of a delectable meal often subsumes a meat-rich diet. This has worked well for the foodie in me, providing latitude for wide (some would say wild) experimentation in cuisine and ingredients over the years. Indeed, it would be difficult to think of occasions in the past that would have found me shy of conspicuous consumption of the non-vegetarian kind. It is equally easy to remember my

Amit Bhaskarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08581759425698958974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1557175971994324752.post-47657164848766559942010-12-17T22:32:00.441+05:302010-12-20T22:26:03.324+05:30

Vir Sanghvi's Rude Food is part of my reading staple most weekends. To get to it is not always a cakewalk though: one has to negotiate other HT Brunch features that are often hopelessly inane. Of course, Shri Sanghvi himself, his broad repertoire on his sleeve, is capable of giving any self-respecting foodie more than enough cud to chew. Frequently, his fare is extravagantly esoteric in choice of

Amit Bhaskarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08581759425698958974noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1557175971994324752.post-9445990771299068842010-12-09T23:11:00.003+05:302010-12-24T19:08:38.101+05:30

There's something to be said for junior siblings who harbour grand-motherly ambitions: not only are their intentions unfailingly above board, but they often provide you with eminently sensible advice. My younger sister, forever trying to overtake the few years that separated our births (and not merely due to her head-start in child-rearing experience), gave me one such invaluable tip some seasons

Amit Bhaskarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08581759425698958974noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1557175971994324752.post-65820353592215535012010-12-04T22:12:00.328+05:302010-12-07T22:05:40.025+05:30

This one is dedicated to two childhood friends, each with canine companions that went by the name Snowy. Both wore crowns of flipped up tufts of hair that settled into a more orderly mop by the time it reached the back of their heads (though one believed he took it after Shashi Kapoor!). Both wore their principles on their sleeves, embodying all thought good in boyhood – much the kind that

Amit Bhaskarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08581759425698958974noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1557175971994324752.post-30643303428082859902010-11-23T22:21:00.004+05:302010-11-27T13:32:15.246+05:30

Generally speaking, from the universe of my acquaintances in the thirty-some years on the planet, the set from School would be in summary the oldest and most valued of relationships. To boot, a majority of this group would rate higher than average in terms of phrenic acumen as well as worldly success. Hence, when no less than three such friends seek me out in the space of a few weeks with queries

Amit Bhaskarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08581759425698958974noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1557175971994324752.post-68713348149933577282010-11-19T23:42:00.002+05:302011-01-07T12:08:12.173+05:30

Having tread the more familiar, beaten end of the path last week, ambition drives me to talk glitzy and stratospheric today. My motivation in changing gear from the Bicycle to a Bugatti is not entirely random though. It comes from realization, grudging as much as bizarre, that the Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport that drastically redefined the automobile pricing summit in India, is not merely about

Amit Bhaskarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08581759425698958974noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1557175971994324752.post-40176374713595185822010-11-13T11:45:00.001+05:302010-11-18T19:40:07.047+05:30

My apology to Che-lovers for the title, but the pull of the wheel has been strong in this space these last few days, and it sounded like a good time to talk 'cycle politics' in my beloved home state! For the politically disinclined or oracularly averse (you would be hard put to find self-respecting Biharis willing to go by either description) the crucial eastern state is mid-way through polls to

Amit Bhaskarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08581759425698958974noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1557175971994324752.post-21197315653209504222010-11-04T20:56:00.003+05:302010-11-05T11:02:53.625+05:30

My credentials as a backseat driver are rather suspect, to say the least. Hence it is not easy for me to put to paper experiences of a driving kind, but a Zen moment this Tue morning, amidst Cyber City rush hour traffic, did cause me a pause - hence this. (To make a full confession, one must add that it helped that this was also a week when Delhi formalized its intent to - finally - bid adieu to

Amit Bhaskarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08581759425698958974noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1557175971994324752.post-65790094188508998932010-10-15T22:41:00.038+05:302010-10-20T21:05:01.057+05:30

Its official now. In a widely reported 'confidential' note, Cabinet Secretary KM Chandrashekhar has mandated against indiscriminate use of Indira and Rajiv Gandhi’s names for government initiatives to "prevent proliferation of such association." The directive has not come a moment too soon. By one count, over 450 schemes have been blessed with these prefixes since 1991 alone, a fact that had drew

Amit Bhaskarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08581759425698958974noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1557175971994324752.post-82100244192728057652010-09-10T23:02:00.013+05:302010-10-02T20:08:13.339+05:30

One more scandal. In Cricket. And with origins in our north-westerly neighbor. Before you yawn and throw the newspaper away, cursing them for rehashing old copy, pause a moment. Media baiting apart, recycling strategy does not sell newspapers, at least on a sustainable basis - and mine certainly wears its readership high on its sleeve. If this be the truth, there must be more to it, including a

Amit Bhaskarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08581759425698958974noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1557175971994324752.post-36891686286625240982010-09-05T20:07:00.438+05:302011-02-09T13:20:19.728+05:30

Months ago, the draft of a new Direct Taxes Code for India had drawn much public acclaim, including in these pages. This was not without reason. For starters, the existing system was visibly knocking the doors of obsolescence. Hence, any review intended to simplify its archaic tenets (thereby reducing repeated recourse to judicial interpretation) was hugely welcome. Next, a forward-looking

Amit Bhaskarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08581759425698958974noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1557175971994324752.post-7869773109640189112010-08-08T10:35:00.119+05:302011-02-09T13:16:56.936+05:30

An article, tucked away in the inside pages of the newspaper two Sundays ago, rekindled some of my fondest childhood memories. It bespoke an impending rewrite of ten bestsellers from the 'Famous Five' series originally authored by the iconic Enid Blyton. Yet, news of the tweak, planned to better their appeal to contemporary pre-teen palate, left me somewhat disquieted. To talk joys first, my

Amit Bhaskarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08581759425698958974noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1557175971994324752.post-36621671180152343342010-07-25T01:01:00.006+05:302010-08-29T01:23:35.467+05:30

One of India's more watched news channels and its leading English daily recently ran an expose on the pitiful state of our food distribution system. Given the sheer emotive value of rotting grain in a nation home to the world's largest concentration of the hungry, yet with superpower ambitions, public interest was bound to get fired up. Again, the backdrop of runaway food inflation (that has

Amit Bhaskarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08581759425698958974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1557175971994324752.post-33324984180720207922010-07-18T15:42:00.003+05:302010-11-04T19:00:15.270+05:30

Well into the 21st century, the first impression for anyone walking into a government office in India is likely an image of a deluge of paper, embodiment of its creaking infrastructure. A proliferation of overflowing cupboards, dusty files stacked wall to wall, cobweb-tarred piles kissing the roof and reigning over every spit-stained corner; it is an ugly and telling sight. The obvious: a grim

Amit Bhaskarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08581759425698958974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1557175971994324752.post-84589311993510050042010-06-27T15:39:00.111+05:302010-08-28T18:39:06.424+05:30

A couple of smug rookies posturing as 'Relationship Managers' at my banks, an almost equally miniscule minority that seek me out for speculative advice, and hordes of DNC disdainful telemarketers peddling insurance - all can stand testimony to my ULIP agnostic investment strategy. My stance is hardly original: most financial experts of any standing shun from including ULIP in their shopping cart

Amit Bhaskarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08581759425698958974noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1557175971994324752.post-19541264501969750592010-04-18T00:49:00.071+05:302010-08-29T01:00:14.209+05:30

Incessant appetite for scurrilous gossip and celebrity obsession can hardly be classified as inventions of contemporary vintage. However, the heights (or depths, as seems a more apt description) this theater of the Absurd has attained of late is certainly without precedent. This is mostly an inevitable fall-out of advances in Media – its breadth leads some of its participants to stoop (

Amit Bhaskarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08581759425698958974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1557175971994324752.post-65066524064986616002010-02-13T23:09:00.291+05:302010-08-15T14:46:05.747+05:30

For a prolonged period in the Nineties the powder train of India's growth story provided a discernible fillip to equity values, including a booming primary market. To boot, some aggressive issue pricing meant even neophyte investors made a fairly consistent killing through a buy-IPO-sell-listing strategy. It was too good to last, and the market eventually turned a great leveler as it must. Some

Amit Bhaskarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08581759425698958974noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1557175971994324752.post-19337437961757463272010-01-31T16:36:00.144+05:302010-10-16T09:54:21.605+05:30

Looking back the last few months, it is impossible to miss a humbling feeling of being amidst epochal events. Personally, last September was a heady high, a celebration of creation that rendered me well nigh unequal to the task of putting it to words! Time has flown since, each day a nouvelle discovery of wondrous joys, yet occasionally tinged with an undefinable sense of vulnerability. In my

Amit Bhaskarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08581759425698958974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1557175971994324752.post-3572848663312819812009-09-06T00:42:00.036+05:302010-07-15T01:19:51.147+05:30

Some people are difficult to please. And when they belong to the tribe of left-leaning issue-hunting chatterati of our country, woe betide those that seek to propitiate them. So ran my thoughts on getting a buzz from the same Economics Einstein friend of mine who had played catalyst to my last. He was incensed my conciliatory gesture of a post – and at the suggestion of using a credit/ debit card

Amit Bhaskarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08581759425698958974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1557175971994324752.post-53594944714215520032009-08-30T22:01:00.004+05:302010-12-29T19:01:28.048+05:30

In response to Friday evening post, one of my left-leaning intellectual (tautology, really!) friends called me for a not-so-quick tete-a-tete. Though certainly short of acrimony, the censorious tone of this conversation was hard to miss. The upshot of the lesson in economic history - or indeed its trigger - lay in how my blog piece in question had seemingly glossed over the Black Economy of India

Amit Bhaskarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08581759425698958974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1557175971994324752.post-36664504822341759802009-08-29T01:27:00.021+05:302010-07-14T22:03:53.071+05:30

Earlier this month, the Government of India placed a paper on a new Direct Taxation Code in the public domain for discussion. Such progressive procedure is as uncommon as it is laudable in a nation where administrative opaqueness has often been used to create latitude for backroom manouvering. In fact, the play in influence-peddling is believed so potent and widespread (it is difficult to ignore

Amit Bhaskarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08581759425698958974noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1557175971994324752.post-4811727645070080162009-08-08T11:32:00.317+05:302010-12-30T19:40:47.472+05:30

Long years ago, when the trials of my Tentative Teens had not yet become an amusing memory, a family trip got me to the Royal land of Rajasthan. The architectural delights were a dime a dozen, almost too many, as one tried to take in those majestic forts, intricate carvings and imposing columns. Yet, apart from the breathtaking grandeur and wonders of craftsmanship, the hearty hospitality (

Amit Bhaskarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08581759425698958974noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1557175971994324752.post-10353470332778597452009-07-13T00:04:00.047+05:302011-06-27T18:44:15.112+05:30

Our Republic's General Budget for 2009-10 is now in the public realm. Predictably enough, the debate it has generated has been far from secular, pitting commentators along predictably political lines. In fact, this periodic posturing, while repetitive, also provides moments of insight. As sample, tune in to the laborious constructs of the presumably neutral mainstream media (or at least its

Amit Bhaskarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08581759425698958974noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1557175971994324752.post-2582515745177920992009-06-28T20:14:00.028+05:302011-06-27T16:50:53.535+05:30

If ever my fuddy-duddy credentials need reiteration, a blissful hour at Books & Beyond amidst routine Sunday frenzy today, is on offer. Note that dying weekends usually propel us to action, a last wistful hurrah of sorts (it also means you've procrastinated all Sat)! Nestled in a corner of Spencer's at Mega City on Gurgaon's Mall Mile, this minor merchant establishment is soon to be history, to

Amit Bhaskarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08581759425698958974noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1557175971994324752.post-55468574506376614682009-05-30T23:31:00.016+05:302011-06-27T15:11:15.151+05:30

As the decade turned into the millennium's last, the country and my life was delicately poised; deliverance a few tantalizing months away. Individually, it was a cusp between hitherto sheltered school life and college plus the big bad world beyond - and not bereft of birth pangs. Yet, the winds of change about to be unleashed on a somewhat ill-prepared nation made those life defining moments pale

Amit Bhaskarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08581759425698958974noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1557175971994324752.post-63497765847576518182009-05-21T02:23:00.002+05:302011-06-27T14:29:03.742+05:30

My first tryst with the ballot box, albeit vicarious, is one of my clear preteen memories. It had followed a few years of two arguably toxic influences. The first was not really of my choosing - an accident of birth in India's likely most politically active state indelible imprints ome's social DNA. It also begot a marked proclivity to opinion-sharing as my later day acquaintances would vouch!

Amit Bhaskarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08581759425698958974noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1557175971994324752.post-11550871097743681402009-03-11T14:23:00.016+05:302011-06-26T09:47:23.248+05:30

My quasi-holiday mood made for a most leisured read of the newspaper today morning. Naturally, the wide latitude catered more to random wanderlust urges than cogent commentary. Much of this was focused around idle journalistic chatter over Elections 2009 and the futile brouhaha over IPL hosting probabilities. What struck me most though was the comedy of vanities over the overhyped 'legacy' of our

Amit Bhaskarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08581759425698958974noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1557175971994324752.post-86342679254177585082009-02-07T00:22:00.022+05:302011-06-26T10:31:59.113+05:30

And so, naturally, it was with more than a slight spring in the step and twinkle in the eye that we scuppered up the steps of the little bird soon to soar in the sky. The half-hearted greeting at the door made for no pause and it was in the same upbeat mood and benign eye that we inspected our transport's relatively miniature confines. Indeed, the token row of Club Class seats elicited a friendly

Amit Bhaskarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08581759425698958974noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1557175971994324752.post-70853487958942229512009-01-31T23:02:00.027+05:302010-01-10T00:09:16.684+05:30

This one goes back a few weeks. The first-born of a new generation in our family was planning to tie the knot, and the Missus decided uncharacteristically late - perhaps my eminently avoidable influence - that we ought to make the trip to Ranchi to add to the congregation assembled in Jharkhand's capital city for the occasion. Post the usual motions that accompany such marital confusion-making (

Amit Bhaskarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08581759425698958974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1557175971994324752.post-91342440576681102952009-01-23T22:05:00.043+05:302011-06-26T09:26:46.549+05:30

A rather sagacious colleague of mine, told of my virginal attempt at a blog, prophesied that sustenance would be the key question to face down the line. Frankly, my initial response was to summarily nix such doubt-mongering. My confidence stemmed from my usually liberal abuse of the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of Expression, especially dissembling opinion in conversation. Allowed

Amit Bhaskarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08581759425698958974noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1557175971994324752.post-20129844340952687692008-09-21T12:40:00.009+05:302011-06-25T23:11:42.319+05:30

A lazy July afternoon two years ago, a sortie on the Net while planning a trip to Shanghai, got me the news that a certain Roger Barrett was no more. "For those who knew him, and certainly some of us had spent many an evening reveling in the joys of the company of Syd and his kinsmen..." was how one mourned his pioneering genius, in the poignant knowledge that the Madcap Laughs, but now in a

Amit Bhaskarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08581759425698958974noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1557175971994324752.post-84395406546715899962008-07-26T20:02:00.020+05:302011-06-25T22:41:35.513+05:30

It has been four weeks off the air - but one doubts if any piece of history has been missed waiting to sprout. Sundry stories of 'human interest' - that quaint journalistic quirk - have jostled for mindspace with a strangely muted run-up to the Olympics and quintessential theatrics of a US presidential race. Elsewhere, a roller-coaster of oil prices has been the headline in an overall gloomy

Amit Bhaskarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08581759425698958974noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1557175971994324752.post-82613675798980278292008-06-29T22:25:00.013+05:302011-06-25T19:15:14.097+05:30

A journey of a thousand li begins with a single step. And for a blog, one must perforce start with a title. Having flirted with the idea of starting one for long, it surprised me yesterday afternoon that this seemingly minor detail had missed attention. The evening went by musing more the volume of traffic on saddi Dilli's roads on an otherwise uneventful evening. The mind, though, kept going

Amit Bhaskarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08581759425698958974noreply@blogger.com6