India - Opinions Unrestricted by Manavendra

Martina Hingis - Originally Published 12th July, 2015 on Facebook & Twitter after she won Wimbledon after 17 years.  Every night in my dreams... Down the memory lane. 17 years ago she was 17. I had a crush on her. Titanic had released at that time. Just like Jack Dawson , I sketched her. Abba used to be my favorite then. And the song I liked most .. You are the Dancing Queen... Young and sweet, only seventeen. She was having the time of her life then. She is having it now again. Was on top then, she is on top now. 17 years later she regained glory. You can dance, you can jive. Martina Hingis , many congratulations for winning Wimbledon again. And thanks Sania Mirza. Far across the distance and spaces between us, you have come to show you go on. Every night in my dreams...

Originally published 24th November, 2015 on Facebook # AamirKhan  " My God " why did you say it ? To be honest guys we are way too moderate. I do not know if Taslima Nasreen actually said about Amir Khan and PK which is appearing in FB. "If he had mocked Muslim religion in Pakistan or Bangladesh he would have been hanged." But it is actually very true. Even if he had tried to mock Muslims in India there would have been tremendous backlash. And so they didn't even take a chance. Though we would believe what little they tried to d o , showing Amir walking toward a mosque with liquor in hand , this itself was brave. My heart was pounding in anticipation of how far would he go. But they could not go beyond that. While we kept on laughing at the mockery of Hindu religion. You know why? BECAUSE WE ARE TOLERANT ! Really sad that we need to shout to tell "we are tolerant" ! Is it that only celebs are living in fear ? Why is this not ...

I just read a column by Suhel Seth and was quite impressed. The message is quite clear media needs to be responsible. He puts it very mildly while actually this is quite serious. Media creates perceptions and can fuel hatred and anger. Yesterday I read an article by Atish Taseer on similar issue, however he remained in his elitist journalism and illusion. He seemed to be away from ground reality and part of coterie who is flaming the issue. So whythere is such a sudden outburst of hatred in India? Is it that this started after Modi came to power? Is this his agenda? Is it that our country is so bad that seldom there is good news on front page? Why the sahitya akademi awards never on front page when they are awarded but are very conveniently used on the cover when returned? Why suddenly corruption disappeared from the news and communalism is rampant? If communalism is so rampant then why am I not afraid when I go out of my home? Why a newspaper conveniently stops covering a story re...

Bhandardhara - As usual we planned the trip just a week in advance and could not get accomodation at MTDC resort. There were just handful of accomodations available on the net and we went with the option that if the accomodation was too expensive or if it was bad then we would head back same evening. I am glad we did not came back same day. Onward journey from Mumbai - We took Eastern expressway - goti - Bhandardhara route , though on google there was another option available, Eastern expressway - Bhandardhara via SH44. The latter was not known and many people had doubts so we took the former. The journey was way too smooth with main stretch on the NH3 and greenery on either side. Goti to Bhandardara was as expected bumpy , but we did not mind as the drive was very scenic and weather pleasant. Accomodation Below are the options we got from the internet - MTDC, Anandvan, Yash resort, Amruteshwar hotel. We checked Yash resort first as it was first on the way and for 4 people in on...

Success has many fathers while failure is always an orphan. Who can stand by this saying better than the government of India. In this 2G case, Raja "the orphan" has been reduced to chor and sipahi is in the pockets of mantri. To mantain the pseudo status quo of transparent governance , Raja has been relegated to the ranks of criminal. Centre pulled the ace CBI card from the deck only when media built the pressure and the nation got dispassionate about Congress. One scapegoat has already been offered , according to government the matter should rest. But the latest Supreme court rap on the Centre's knuckles may loosen its grip once more and Chidambaram too may get the stick. Nobody has started questioning carrots as of now which may be sitting pretty at a Swiss bank. Raja has been all along saying the approval has been taken from the the EGOM, where are the minutes of the meetings which could unleash yet another embarassment to the government. PM knowingly approved a loot u...

going by the facts, Mr Manmohan Singh (with no disrespect to him) is not the one who takes important decisions. i think apart from the capability its the capacity to take the decisions, that gives mr advani the edge. The only decision which mr manmohan singh took despite the protests from some of congress quarters, is the nuclear deal. THATS IT.From the economic and the development point I think Mr Narendra Modi is the better incharge because of the way he has turned around Gujarat, this can be a model for the country also. But given the bad perception regarding Godhra, he should not be considered for the top post. Mr Lalu Yadav has also given indian railways a lease of life , although he must have only signed the papers and the ground work was done by someone else. But his credentials as a comic person far outweighs his achievements (only if i can add "s" to that word). SHOULD NEVER BECOME PM or we all will become the laughing stock in such a serious development era.I think ...