I am no fan of bomb-happy Bush. The jury is still out on his much touted war on terror beyond America’s shores, specifically in Iraq and Afghanistan. Al-Quaida remains a potent force, morphing into some kind of an infectious idea from being just a clandestine organisation and O.B.Laden is still at large, though may be a bit shrunk owing to illness.
Browsing: COLUMNS
The MPs are quite a privileged lot. Ayes or nays, they have it good either way. And choosing the middle path of abstinence is even more rewarding, as some of them would have discovered on 22 July. The post of an MP, intended to be an office of service to the people, had long back morphed into an office of profit(CTC — Cost to Country per MP per Year is Rs 32 lakh, by a conservative estimate);
Imagine a Kollywood pot-boiler in which there are only villains and comedians. Now, who would rescue the familiar damsel in distress? And if indeed someone tries, what would be her fate, given the character of the cast? The political parties are currently playing one such tragic joke on the nation, a distressed damsel ever in the dumps, thanks to them.
That Nero fiddled while Rome burned is familiar history. Chennai, last week, wasn’t exactly burning, thanks probably to the fuel shortage, but it came to a complete standstill, literally on the roads. Yet Nero’s modern counterparts in power here were engrossed in a preview of a film scripted by Kalaingar.
3…2…1… The 123 Agreement of the Indo-US nuclear deal has become some kind of a countdown for the UPA regime at the Centre. With the clock and calendar suddenly racing, the air is thick with talk of the imminent fall of the Government. Of course, there is the basic question: Is there a Government at all for it to fall? Sure, there is a ruling alliance in place …
Dr Radhakrishnan Saalai in Chennai has always fascinated me as a geographical metaphor for the political trends in TN. Entering it from the Gemini flyover end, there is a spot on the road wherein, if you take a left turn you reach the residence of CM K … Gopalapuram, not CIT Nagar.
I have no clue where in the sky cloud nine is, but that is where the BJP is supposed to be residing presently. With back to back victories in successive State elections, Delhi is no longer a distant destination as it seemed after the electoral banishment of ‘04.
Crawler, yesman, toady, slave, parasite, cringer, fawner, hanger-on, apple polisher, groveller, boot-licker, truckler, goody-goody, adulator, lackey, sponger …
Love it or hate it, but no other political party, regional or national, can match its imprint and impact, good, bad and ugly, on the nation’s polity, society and economy. The political history of India of the last hundred and twenty five years or so runs parallel to that of the Indian National Congress.