Of late, the concept of EQ is transcending to Spiritual Quotient — which is even more abstract. Words such as empathy, sensitivity, awareness are part of the new vocabulary.
“I saw Priyanka Gandhi 2 weeks ago. She has got streaks of grey hair aka Indira Gandhi. Striking resemblance. If she leads Congress they will win”
At the other corner of the restaurant was Dileep which, no doubt, Dileep possessed. I think this is a picture that pretty much defines Dileep and will stay with me always.
If Priyanka Gandhi is brought in as a reincarnation of Indira Gandhi, that itself will be a retrograde step far from making a quantum leap forward, which the party desperately needs to survive.
Thanksgiving — like many other American terms and customs — was alien to the Indian-English lexicon. This would include Halloween and, on a lighter note, “rest-rooms” (recall the hilarious confusion between the Chief Engineer of a leading MNC and its US collaborators on where rest-rooms should be located — while discussing the layout of a diaper factory that was to be set up near Pune).
When we were upwardly mobile youngsters in Mumbai, some of us would joke after socialising on a Sunday evening — thank God tomorrow is Monday we can go to work and relax. But, Monday Blues is a chronic afflicting affecting a vast majority of working folks all over the world.
I have often wondered with a great deal of admiration how great leaders manage to be focussed (on a goal) while staying in the present.
Only this morning, one read a former Union Minister of the Congress in the UPA 2 government say — the Prime Minister should have cut short his foreign trip and returned to India in the light of the chaos and commotion that ensued following demonetisation. Hearing Narendra Modi’s speech in Goa — he must be cursing himself for saying that. Sometimes one has to careful about wishes.
Ours is an amazing nation. First, we dare the Prime Minister to act on black money. When he doesn’t, we accuse him of ‘jumla baazi’. Amnesty schemes are announced and we taunt the Government for the poor response. If raids follow, we cry foul of “tax terrorism”. When demonetisation happens champions of banking inclusion suddenly remember they never asked their domestic staff to open Jan Dhan Yojna accounts. And, finally, a generation that made a virtue of standing in line for everything — rail tickets, cinema tickets, football tickets, water, kerosene, ration, temples and Ganapati pandals — suddenly realise queues are the worst form of oppression.
The demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s most audacious move till date, is mind blowing in its impact and mind-boggling in its implications.
When the Prime Minister had warned “Don’t blame me for tough action on black money after September 30 (the last day of the amnesty scheme)”, not too many people would have paid heed to his words. Later he even spoke of a ‘surgical strike’ on black money. What people expected at best was a step-up in tax raids and seizures for a while. There were sly attempts to put the Government on the back-foot by coining terms such as “tax terrorism”.
As children we used to look forward to the Pujas which were a right blend of festivity and solemnity. Today, it is a circus. But, it is not nostalgia alone that makes me sad.