A phenomenon called Sridevi

There are three movies I remember falling in love with as a kid. The undisputed No 1 amongst these was called `Okavango - The Jewel of the Kalahari´ and it did not feature human beings. Fellow bipeds had their work cut out if they were to come any close to the superheroes of this film who survived the incredible place, which was for one part of the year a scorching desert and the other a savage forest! Only a superhuman act – even by Bollywood standards – could come close.

Sunday Musings

I think it was in 1997 that father called to say that he was bringing home our first car - a second hand Premier Padmini numbered MH-01-A-18. It was so unexpected, but such a delight that we had finally climbed up that step of the social ladder. It was also the one step that brought to us the freedom of private and convenient movement before it was usurped by traffic jams and lack of parking space a few years later.  Alas, none of us then knew how to drive!

Supreme but not infallible

“What a slap on the faces of the corrupt” exulted a jubilant journalist friend, reacting to Supreme Court judgment in the 2G public interest litigation. The statement aptly articulates the sentiment of the Indian judiciary. The sentiment is anger. However, the rule of law has never been about slapping faces – a rather passionate reaction for a democratic institution which is required to be dispassionate. The Supreme Court’s decision to cancel the 122 telecom licenses suffers from several fundamental flaws which fly in the teeth of a constitutional democracy.