Category: Indian democracy and polity
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Active citizen or a passive cynic- not a choice anymore!
In earlier times, when there was an era of monarchy, the people (actually ‘subjects’) were dependent on the king or the queen for their basic needs like food, water, education, security etc. They had virtually no say in the governance of the kingdom. If the monarch was a generous, wise and judicious person, the people…
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Let there be a war, an eternal war- albeit of a different sort!
In the animal world, whenever any individual animal or a group of animals has(ve) to prove dominance over the other individual animal or a group of animals, there is only one way! No brownie points for guessing- it is the WAR and only WAR! War or synonymously violence, is their only mechanism to resolve the…
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Life of a lie- 5 years or more?
In the election season, many things which don’t even have wings fly from one person to another- like booze, cash, saaris, food grains, mobiles etc etc. But, one peculiar unseen thing also flies from top to bottom- that is, lies in the garb of promises (vaada). As someone beautifully said- वादा पूरा करने का दावा …
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Race to the bottom- for- race to the top
Some people in this world are amazing visionaries. They observe the world and make prophecies which hold true even after they are no more. One of such legends was the poet Sahir Ludhianvi, who wrote beautiful lines in mid-20th century, which goes as follows: ये महलों, ये तख्तो, ये ताजों की दुनियाँ ये इंसान के…
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Why everyone loves a free pap(rev)di!
But, how free should anything be free… Recently, lured by my craving to eat something good, I went to Bikanerwala outlet on a cold chilly evening and I ordered to pack 150 gm of Gajar Halwa. And as I stood near the counter, the person behind it started weighing the Gajar Halwa from a big…
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The enigma behind taxation- are we missing the woods for the trees?
Everytime, at the time of budget presentation, the media is flooded with only one rhetoric! No brownie points for guessing it right, it is none other than how much tax relief is expected for middle class, poor, businesses etc. But, is the budget only about providing tax relief? Or if tax levy is such a…