Barking blogs seldom write facts

7 pilgrims have been killed by terrorists. They were on their way to Amarnath. It’s saddening. It makes me sadder than other forms of killing since it was a pilgrimage. Moreover Amarnath is a high profile, strenuous ‘Yatra’ meant only for the chronic Hindu devotees. Civilians, on a pious trip, would be the softest of all targets, even for the hardcore terrorists. Hence it must be condemned harder than other forms of homicide. And that’s what the media is doing. When the Mumbai massacre (26/11) happened in 2008, we were all hooked on to the TV set. The nomenclature was an obvious derivation from the WTC attack on 9/11. Our indigenous ‘dd/mm’ format gave us a boon. Let me not repeat a ‘Mumbai Meri Jaan’ line here, though I’ve deep respect for the makers and the content. Today’s newspaper headline reminds me of a few incidents around that time. 1.    RGV went to an affected area along with the erstwhile CM and spotted by the media. He wasn’t supposed to accompany a CM. He h...

Arnab Goswami has listened to Mr.  Narayana Murthy's plea . India, Mr. Goswami's nation, has found an answer to the charges on lack of innovations. Mr. Goswami is spearheading a movement in his new avatar. After a brief hiatus from public eyes, he is back with a news channel which claims to have snatched the numero uno spot in no time. For the last 1 week, its only line is India vs Pakistan. It's a hard line as opposed to the carefully crafted diplomatic ones being watered till now. It's a pseudo war (albeit verbal with slurs being the only weapons) that gets played out on national TV everyday. In aggression it can beat even a real army on a scorching summer day, in warmongering an Alexander or a Kublai Khan. I'm not going to raise fingers on his (or his financier's) ulterior motive behind running such a high octane show. The typical questions his rivals ask e.g., whose money is it, are the fierce exchanges scripted, why just one hea...

Dear Sir, How are you doing? Being a senior citizen, you’ve every right to enjoy your retirement. I know I may be disturbing your sojourn, but who else? Indian media have left you high and dry once they were done with their coverage. The fall from the grace, in front of the public, must have been painful and humiliating. The only face-saver was the bail and coming out of those dingy walls. You still have all the wealth you possessed. But romantics claim money can’t buy love. Do you miss the demi-God status of a business icon, earlier offered by your ex-employees, their families, the government and the rest of this nation?

Amitabh Bachchan is in jitters, will he or won't he be the brand ambassador of 'Incredible India' after his name got entangled in something called Panama Papers. Mr. Bachchan, who was declared by a court as anyone but a farmer from Barabanki, UP, is a role model to a billion plus.

Mr. Narayana Murthy, the founder of Infosys and proponent of value-based-service in India, has blamed the Indian software industry for acting as "immigration agents" guaranteeing visas and green cards. He was addressing at the ISB, Hyderabad.

1. The 'face of 4G' chirpy girl all over TV channels - does she think she is luckier than Abhijeet Sawant? She's so happy, so shiny, so all over India (covered Himalayas, Lakes, Forests for the sake of 4G technology, brave girl!). Don't feel depressed honey, 10Y down the line. You probably don't have a lot of airtime left!

Top 'N' funny moments of 2015, in India? Here you're:

Bihar elections turned utmost important - the icons of Indian media lost sleep to run its pre-poll and post-poll analyses. Bihar has traditionally been considered major during elections, but minor in any social or economic context. This time around, the number game aroused enormous excitement – way bigger for any state election campaign. Let’s see what our media fed us in the run-up to this extravaganza.

Handling uneasy questions on a hapless day could be another high risk, high reward job among political parties like stock market trading. With the media losing sleep to reveal truth over any controversy, the skill of being the face of the party on a bad day is becoming so precious that there may be a reality show to showcase such a talent or even a grooming course for the new aspirants.

It was a quieter month. Indrani/Peter took a breather, Maggi was cautiously silent, Rahul Gandhi went to Aspen (CO) on a conference, Mamata Banerjee was busy working on the poll strategy and Amma has not been keeping well.

Little did Sundar Pichai or his professors know when he was doing his BTech in IIT Kgp on Metallurgical Engineering that he would end up being the CEO of tech giant Google. Life carves out its own path; decisions are taken to bid goodbye to the world of blast furnaces and flux. Pichai had all the talents of this world to shine. In his illustrious academic journey (IIT, Stanford University, University of Pennsylvania), he never acquired any formal training on Computer Science. This is one of those cases when a heart, a soul and a brain met each other, decided not to part ways and all the forces in the universe gave in.

India is a crazy-busy state. Lalit Modi is not tweeting (maybe he has grown a Tennis Elbow!) and we still have to survive. Let’s see how I’m coping with his absence.

Respected Sir,       You’re a living legend, a real-life hero to not only me, but to the entire nation. You’re a towering example of entrepreneurship. It’s redundant to write anything about you or your creation, Infosys. Having read the report on your convocation address at the IISc, I must say that it’s both enlightening and simple, as we always expect from you. I’m not able to suppress the urge to ask a few questions though. Sir, pardon me for my audacity.

A new friend named 'Firstpost' is giving me company for the past 1M or so. Historically my friendship sagas are short-lived barring a few odd instances. Let me thank the team for some of their solid work that caught my notice in last 1W before things get murky!

 A few suicides that caught media glare last 3 months: Congress VP, Rahul Gandhi, visited the family of a debt-ridden farmer in Punjab who committed suicide after losing crops due to unseasonal rain. [ June '15 ]   J Jayalalitha was sentenced in a case of DA in September '14. She was subsequently acquitted and re-throned as the CM. AIADMK announced that it has disbursed Rs. ~7Cr to the families of 244 persons who ended their lives at the news of her sentence. [ May '15 ] In September '14, there were reports of at least 16 suicides within first 2 days of her conviction. < suicides-JJ-sentence >   A farmer from Rajasthan committed suicide at a AAP rally in the presence of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, by hanging himself down from a tree. He had a story of debt plus damaged crops. [ April '15 ] "If I had no sense of humor, I would long ago have committed suicide" - MK Gandhi 

Almost all quiet on the Maggi front. I wink fast not to fall in love at first sight, I roll fast not to gather moss, I move fast not to get stuck in the mud. I am the great Indian butterfly who loves flower-hopping in search of honey. If plants end up reproduced due to my restlessness, it's not my fault. The media reads our pulse and presents us colorful flowers. We help them breed.

In last one month, food safety has hogged the limelight compared to all other forms of safety. The 'Maggi' episode is bigger than usual, partly because a government agency found something fishy in a few samples and partly because the brand was such a trusted name in Indian households that the shock value was on the higher side. The other reason for this controversy not dying down easily could be absence of earthquakes or other calamities in these weeks. FSSAI is a SEO sweetheart, thank s to Nestlé India. It can safely be called the first anniversary gift of the Modi government.

The event and the chain it triggered: Nestlé India, the Indian counterpart of the Swiss giant, is in the soupy noodles. Some government agency from UP has found traces of lead and some other substance (MSG) in excess in 'Maggi'. The nation has reacted with shock. It had to. We read papers, we watch news, we socialize on the net, and above everything else we are conscious about health. Quite naturally, a chain of events have been triggered.