Yantra , Tantra, Mantra

  Another day ,another news of an irritating , dull upcoming movie about the life of a prominent politician- this time Indira Gandhi played by Kangana Ranaut.  Telugus to their credit have rejected movies about NTR and YSR Reddy rendering them utter flops.  The problem with such movies is that they are completely one dimensional and lacking in any insight or artistic merit. The critic Baradwaj Rangan said it best while describing the awful cardboard film Rang Rasiya- "its like reading a wikipedia page". Most of these movies are glorified documentaries or rather hagiographies. A somewhat interesting feature would have some less than appealing details about its main protagonist. Will we explore the well-founded rumor that Indira Gandhi was a sex fiend for which she was expelled from Shanti Niketan? Or her son's obsession with forcible mass sterilization? Of course, no, the Congress government would call for bans and arrest of all involved. Other parties such as BJP, TDP, DM...

 I am sure our patriots can read out a list of Indian origin CEOs of major corporations across the world. And use that to promote meritocracy and lambast reservations. I personally am for meritocracy in principle. Obviously the most qualified individual should get the seat in college or job in the company. Especially in a hyper competitive society such as India. But there is a caveat to this. With regard to college admissions the vast majority of colleges require an acceptable grade (this is subjective) in school boards and entrance exams. The vast majority of these exams are a crammer's delight. I personally was bored to death in high school as I absolutely started to hate a subject that I loved- physics. The information overload was unbearable, and most students walked around like zombies. They couldn't get a chance to enjoy the subject but had to cram and solve problems from door stopper sized "guides". I find it incredibly amusing that they were termed guides as t...

 I am a supporter of Israel. To the extent that I believe that Palestinians in the West Bank or rather Judea and Samaria should be relocated to Lebanon and Syria .  Though I dont think the same about Gaza. Israel offered Gaza to Egypt as part of the Sinai accords, but Egypt cleverly refused. A small highly dense strip of land filled with desperately poor people is not exactly a Christmas gift. Unlike Judea and Samaria there is not even a historical basis for Israel to hold onto Gaza. Neither the ancient Israelites nor the Zionists had much interest in Gaza. Of those who wished to hold onto it oddly mentioned its ties to Biblical characters though none fit to reside in it. It was considered the realm of barbarians known as "Philistines" (who are not Arab or even Semitic). The rationale of settlement in Gaza was the folk hero Samson whose connection to Gaza was that he often visited prostitutes there and, in the end, but was caught down and blinded but managed to bring down the...