Yet Another Point of View

Time Magazine apologized earlier this week to Indian-Americans for publishing an article by Joel Stein that was offensive and derogatory to the community. I agree, the article IS offensive in parts. Its like Mr Stein started out writing a humor column but somewhere midway he gave in to the strands of subconcious racism that he can't deny have woven themselves into his diatribe against the Indian onslaught in his precious New Jersey hometown. Come on, "dotheads"?!! You cant imagine you'll get away with language like that in a magazine like Time. Celebrities get flak for using politically-incorrect terms all the time. Mel Gibson was in trouble for using the 'N' word recently. Public figures are made to apologize for using the 'F' word. So, I am glad Joel Stein was required to tender an apology for using the 'D' word. Not that the apology sounds sincere to me. He says "I truly feel stomach-sick that I hurt so many people." What? He didn&

And, as if that justifies everything. As if it justifies that 12-year old Rouvan Rawla was repeatedly rebuked, harrassed, humiliated and finally caned by Principal Sunirmal Chakravarthi of Le Martinere school in Kolkata. He was caned so hard that the cane snapped in two. Worse, it broke the spirit of the boy so badly that he hung himself in his room four days later. In response to the protests and outcry, the Principal has now "apologized". He said, ""I have to admit that when I caned this boy, I made a mistake and am willing to face consequences of that. But to link the caning of this boy to his death 4-5 days later is stretching it." Really?!! Is it really such a stretch to understand the connection between a 12-year-old's fragile, impressionable psyche and the emotional trauma caused by physical and public humiliation? Hmmm, doesnt sound like rocket science to me. And the Principal is supposed to be the expert of children's education, personality de

There's this guy who decided to focus on a bright twinkle in a dark sky. Everyday. For a thousand weekdays. I stumbled upon an online write-up in The Huffington Post on Neil Pasricha's book The Book of Awesome . He had started it as a website 1000 Awesome Things back in 2008. In each post, he writes about "one simple, universal little joy" like "snow days, bakery air, or cashiers opening up new lanes at the grocery store, the smell of rain on a hot sidewalk, and waking up and realizing it's Saturday." Most of the posts are bang-on and just about everybody, from every part of the world, could relate to them. He also peppers the post with personal vignettes and that makes them all the more endearing. They are well-written and that's probably the reason why the book works. "Awesome!" is not usually my chosen exclaimation of sheer delight, but were I to use it, what would be my top 10 instances? Its actually tough to shortlist ten, leave alone

How does one say "India should be more generous" and also say "I can't change anti-India sentiments", both in the same breath? Bangladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina's statement, in a most I-am-helpless-what-can-I-do manner, puzzles me. She also implied that the anti-India sentiment in Bangladesh has been festering since the 1950s. The soundbite is here . Lunch-hour conversation over Sheikh Hasina's stuttered remark brought India's relations with our other (dare I say, angrier) neighbor to the table. Someone mentioned the recently launched The Times of India initiative Aman ki Aasha . Its hogwash, he said. The anti-India sentiment in Pakistan is so deeply embedded that its not going to change for several generations to come. So, let me get this right. Because you believe that your neighbor hates you from the core of his being, you are never going to do anything about the situation. Never take any initiative, never try to understand, never make overtures or for