India doing an Isreal – wishful thinking by a wistful Indian

By now everyone must be aware of what’s happening in the Gaza strip, including criticism of Israel’s actions. Yet, I defy any Indian not to feel a modicum of wistfulness at the forcefulness of Israel’s reaction, wishing we had the nerve to do the same with Pakistan. Sure, Israel had come under a lot of [...]

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Political correctness…taking it too far?

Sometime ago, I had written an article on the perils and pitfalls of political correctness. Following the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, international media described the perps as assailants, gunmen, militants etc. They consciously shied away from using the word terrorists. Indian media cannot be accused of having any such qualms. Of course, they can’t be accused of objective reporting [...]

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INFLATION IS ON THE DECLINE?

My house has been in a state of turmoil these past few days. It began with my maid’s son’s school graduating to class 1. With the promotion came a change in school timings. While earlier he used to attend school for a couple of hours in the morning, he now goes from noon to 5.30. [...]

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INTERACTIVE WRITING SITE

I guess this post is in response to my readers’ constant queries about chucking their jobs and taking up writing and how I feel about it. My usual advice is caution. Not because the proposition is dicey – I have written a post sometime ago about how aspiring writers in India have never had it [...]

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How to Write the Prefect Query Letter

I get lots of emails and calls from people saying: I’ve written my novel, now what? How did I go about identifying a Publisher? How did I contact them and what did I say to them? To begin with, the query letter is the most important document you’ll ever write, perhaps more important than your [...]

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I wrote this for MiD-Day

I AM MAD AS HELL AND I WON’T TAKE IT ANYMORE So, what are we going to do? Because if we don’t, this too shall pass. While it is commendable that are venting our outrage so forcefully, let’s face it, it is not possible to sustain this kind of pressure indefinitely. And the politicians know [...]

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This appeared in Femina

Coming in the wake of the Bombay terror attacks, this picture only adds to my post traumatic stress. Nevertheless, here it is. Me, the social butterfly snapped after a night of hard partying.

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What are our options?

Much has been made of the presence of the FBI and Mossad in India in assisting with the terror investigation. But I don’t think it’s going to amount to much. I think it’s only a token gesture because the FBI is supposed to investigate the death of Americans nationals abroad. Let’s be very clear about [...]

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This appeared in the Hindustan Times Brunch

  Read the online version here.

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Is it time to change the constitution?

Heads are rolling in the Government. The first political casualty in the aftermath of the Bombay terror strikes was Shivarj Patil. This comes as no surprise. After all, while it is the entire government’s failure, a fall guy was required. And he fit the bill perfectly considering he’s been an ineffective Home Minister, known more [...]

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