Cultural Symbols and Platforms

Often the dhaba is described as Punjab's answer to the French bistro. But the dhaba plays a more substantial role than being a mere eatery. In India this culinary institution serves a socioeconomic purpose...

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 Poll campaigns, politicians and public ire

let us not forget that we are a democracy and there are very effective, constitutional methods for registering our ire against government's policies and actions...

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 Kabaddi is not the cure for drug addiction

Feudalism is alive and kicking in Punjab. The sixty odd years of socialistic policies and emphasis on egalitarianism has hardly made a dent on the Punjabi mindset. This thought assailed one's mind while watching the Kabaddi World Cup (!!!) on PTC News. Anchors and invitees missed no chance of singing hymns in praise of the presiding deity Sukhbir Singh Badal, who was invariably present with his consort, along with the retinue comprising courtiers and nobility from the state's Akali-BJP pantheon. There were film stars and dancers performing in the improvised durbar, with minions fawning all over him at every available opportunity. Even the modest kabaddi grounds reminded of the Roman Empire amphitheatres wherein gladiators fought for the pleasure of the Potentate...

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 Youth, women & nation building

Endeavors need to be made to find out why our youth prefer to slave in inhuman conditions abroad to working in Punjab..

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 Waiting for Punjabi Godot

Punjabi television and cinema lack skills in content management and human resource development. Only committed persons with vision can remove these deficiencies. Will the Punjabi entertainment industry's wait for Godot ever end?

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 Haryana can become a truly ideal state

Haryana has come a long way from being a nondescript laggard of the united Punjab days. From being a civilizational, economic and political back-of-the-beyond the state is ranked among the most progressive in the country today.

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 In search of lost glory

Going the bounteousness of her ancient educational traditions India should have been the most advanced country in terms of education today, but reality is completely different. Despite its rich tradition, education in our country is in a mess. What went wrong and where? And most importantly, what can we do about it and how?

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 Television versus literature

It is true that most of the private channels are cashing in on popular demand for westernized music by selling airtime to various music companies. Naturally, editorial scrutiny is given a goby and the product’s quality suffers.

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 Seeking out amusement

Audiences expect a stand-up comic to provide a steady stream of mirth and a performer is always under great pressure to deliver.

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 Bizarre and untenable

Debates on The Sikh Marriage Act and the withdrawal of notification on Sehajdhari Sikhs generated heat but no light.

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 A sensitive poet of protest

Truly, Maikash has emerged as a leading poet of protest who seamlessly merges the personal grief with the universal agony even as he gives self-respect top priority

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 Anna: agony and anodyne

It was observed that the Anna Hazare phenomenon owes its genesis to an abject abdication by the UPA-II government...

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 Systemic transformation it ought to be!

Indeed, the entire governmental edifice is crying for renovation. It will take strong political will, statesmanlike vision and unstinted support from the civil society to usher in a systemic change...

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 Cops, crime and social conscience

How does one go about reforming the Punjab Police and make it accountable? To discuss the issue the panel had Dr. GS Aujla the ex-DGP of Punjab, Jagdish Singh Sran the ex-DIG (intelligence wing) of Punjab Police and Satinder Bains a journalist.

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 Dealing with the dragon at our doorsteps

Recently China has acquired an aircraft career of mixed Ukrainian-Russian pedigree. Presently, it is undergoing sea trials and would become fully operational in the next few months - expert estimates vary from three to six months. It goes without saying that this event directly impacts India's strategic configurations. Capable of carrying three dozen aircraft plus an array of missiles of variegated ranges and roles, it is bigger than the two aircraft careers with the Indian Navy. This does not call for sounding the war bugle but certainly should impel us to take notice of the increasing Chinese reach - not just in the Asia-Pacific region but also across the Indian Ocean. Let us not forget that China has been developing a port facility in Myanmar at Sittwe as well as helping develop ports in Sri Lanka's Hambantota and Pakistan's Gwadar. There are indications of Chinese interests in Bangladesh's Chittagong deep-sea port too. While we may reassure ourselves that these developments are only to protect China's mercantile interests (more than 60% of its energy supplies come by the sea lanes) it would be unwise to ignore the strategic-military consequences. Nothing that China does is without long term military calculations; we learnt this to our great cost by the series of events that led to the 1962 Chinese invasion of India.

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 Geet, Kali, and the ostrich

More than forty years ago it was to deliver the Lokpal Bill unto the parliament. It should have done so within the ordinary course of parliamentary time - six months at the most. But it had forgotten all about it as it got busy with coping with scams and rip-offs bursting upon the body politic like pustules.

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 Love and politics in Sawan

With the possibility of elections being held in December there is a sense of urgency to ensure a level playing field.

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 A pearl in the oyster

As an experienced practitioner of the art has said, “Poetry heals the wounds inflicted by reason.” This is what good poetry does. Some of Khullar’s verses trigger catharsis and thus heal the hurt psyche.

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 IIFA awards, officers and scams

Glam quotient of the IIFA Awards function in Toronto was considerably diluted because the Bachchan family was missing. But there were other stars like Shahrukh Khan, Bipasha Basu, Dia Mirza, Anupam Kher, Chunky Pandey to lend éclat to the proceedings.

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 A touching odyssey

Set in a village in north Malabar, this the story of 75 year old Abu (Salim Kumar) and his wife Aysu (Zarina Wahab) whose dream of going on Haj is all set to materialise.

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