Indian Revival vs. the West

R Jagannathan of FirstPost critiques Pankaj Mishra's recent article in New York Times. Well, I think I need to critique both!!!

First, Pankaj Mishra claims that there is a ressentiment within the Indian elites that is subterranean, which is potentially more dangerous than Taliban and ISIS etc. In reply, Jagannathan thinks that it is the West who is afraid of a revived liberal & democratic India who is about to find its Hindu-Buddhist-Jain cultural moorings, and that Mishra is just attending to pander to this fear.

Emergence of UPA-III

After all the codswallop, we have UPA-III, garnished with RSS-education. In a matter of four months, it is the Nth time that the current government choose to follow the earlier regime.

It's their prerogative, but it is a bit funny to see some of the blind followers still choke themselves out of admiration when they pronounce "The Name". There is a very recent successful politician who peddled HOPE & CHANGE to win two consecutive terms, but now having an approval rating so low that even George Bush found very difficult to stoop to.

I wonder if the Nobel committee mistook Kailash Satyarthi for someone else from India. Otherwise, it would have a perfect start for a possible repeat.

Or would not have been. Approval is hinged only slightly on performance, but largely on carefully crafted perception & even deeper cultural currents. So, who cares?

Nobel Peace Prize

A question on Quora: What has Malala Yousufzai done to deserve Nobel Peace Prize? My answer here.