Gray Smoke

  As a child I was fascinated with spy thrillers and one of the oldest spy thriller is Rudray Kipling’s book Kim . I first came across the word “Great-game”, and it has been a subject of interest to me. The “Great Game” originally described the 19th-century rivalry between the British and Russian Empires for dominance in Central Asia. Today, this concept has evolved into a multifaceted competition among major powers — primarily the United States, Russia, China, and regional actors — for global influence. Historically, Britain’s role in the Great Game transitioned to the U.S. post-World War II, with America inheriting the mantle of maritime power and the strategic imperative to prevent a single power from dominating Eurasia. It is important to understand how this has played out over the last century in today’s geo-politics. It provides context for current events, reveals power dynamics, highlights historical patterns, and supports informed decision-making.   The Gre...

  In my intellectual evolution, I find myself between ideological conviction and philosophical doubt. The progressive worldview — that intricate tapestry of compassion, justice, and transformation — contains values I have long believed in and still hold dear. Yet over the years, as I’ve focused more on implementation, I have become increasingly troubled by its internal contradictions, not as abstract curiosities but as tangible barriers to the very world it claims to envision. The progressive imagination constructs cathedrals of ideals — soaring spires of justice, delicate arches of inclusion, and stained-glass windows that filter the harsh light of reality into something beautiful yet distorted. Standing within this edifice, one feels simultaneously elevated and constrained. As a practitioner rather than merely a theorist, I have slowly recognized that this cathedral, for all its beauty, may be architecturally unsound — its foundational elements working against each...

On May 29th, our esteemed opposition leader attacked the govt and particularly PM Modi for the failed demonetization. [ India Today ] They were based on widely circulated report that the fake notes of 2000 and 500 had increase 50% and 100% respectively. Some of the headlines were eye catching ·        Cash you hold could be fake. ·        Banking Central | Counterfeit notes are back in full swing and that’s worrying ·        This denomination saw the highest increase in counterfeit notes in FY22 This could be bad news for the Indian economy and as I am interested in numbers, I decided to dig deeper.  One thing which struck me as I looked at other new reports was none of them reported about the magnitude of the problem. For example during demonetization in Nov 8 th 2016, the estimated amount of notes in circulation was Rs 15,44,000 Crs. [ PTI news ]. The top 5 pages of google...

I was in Goa couple of weeks back and was amazed that the beaches were pretty clean compared to what I remember few years back. Next morning I realized that the secret of the cleanliness is that in the morning (8:00 - 9:00 AM), you would find actually sweepers picking up the thrash the tourist had thrown the night before. However if you went to the more remote parts of beach, you find plastic packets and broken bottles. My son however would insist of collecting few of them every time, in his pocket to throw in garbage. I did not necessary like this as I was not sure what went into these packets and if it was hygienic to pick them up in his pocket. However he is at an age were I cannot command him to do anything and honestly I was a bit proud of him. On the morning of 12th October,  I found an interesting new news item popping up on my phone which talked about the PM Modi was " Plogging " on Chennai beach. I had never heard of this word and went searching for it. More im...

Facebook has 1.4 billion users spend 20 billion minutes per day on it. Twitter has 240 million users who send an average of 145 million tweets per day. YouTube users upload around 4.5 million hours of video per month and in the same interval, 6 billion hours of video get viewed. WhatsApp boasts of 465 million active users in less than 4 years. “May you live in interesting times” – Chinese curse In the history of mankind, it has never been easier for people to communicate with each other, at such a low cost. Information which was available to a select minority is now available to the masses for free and through multiple channels.  Not only is it easy to publish our smallest thoughts, but with technology it has also become trouble-free to find a niche audience, however geographically dislocated. And remember, social media is not just a tool for spreading knowledge; it also helps us share basic human emotions...

“If the Jan Lokpal Bill is not passed then….I would quit as the Chief Minister of Delhi.” “If power politics is not sorted out in Delhi, Kejriwal will quit his CM office and sit on a Dharna” “If the police officials will not obey his orders, Delhi CM will quit from his primary duties and will stage protests.” All these statement have been made by Delhi Arvind Kejriwal in fewer than 2 months of being the CM of Delhi.  I have had a lot of respect for Mr. Kejriwal and the fact that he was able to organize the India Against corruption movement. His political acumen is par excellence as he has able been able to tap the anger of the middle class against the established political system. When he was a activist, I supported his call to Sheila Dixit to quit as she could not control the law and order situation especially among women in Delhi. I supported his call for her to quit over the CWG scams. I even supported his initial action to form a political party as I thought he woul...