This week, when I tried to switch my mom’s post-paid (billing) plan to pre-paid, I was in for a surprise! “Customer service” had really moved up in the past few years…

Browsing through the local tabloid, I discovered an interesting article on how some well-known film and media personalities are taking to blogging. Among them were a few names I have quite admired, so I looked it up on the Net and was left pleasantly surprised…

Today India completes 58 years of independence. And, the country’s leading daily – The Times of India – carried a small feature that spoke of India “retiring”. (The official retirement age for most government employees is 58!) It’s not a very pleasant sight when the national newspaper gives up hope on a nation. Or am I making too much of it?

The newspapers reported that Bombay (Mumbai) had not seen this much rainfall – more than 950 mm – in the last 100 years !!! Some of colleagues spent over 30 hours just trying to return from office to their homes, that Terrible Tuesday of 25th July, when the rain gods decided to express their unhappiness…

Bombay (Mumbai) is not a city that comes to mind when one thinks of flamingos. So it was with much surprise that I read an article in the Times of India informing readers of the hidden treasures of Sewri Bay…

I have been born and brought up in Bombay (now, Mumbai) – a city that is full of contradictions. For the longest time, I used to be quite passionate about living in Bombay and couldn’t imagine living in any other town. I guess, somewhere down the line, that changed.

When Manmohan Singh was elected Prime Minister of India, I was pleased. When he appointed Chidambaram as his Finance Minister, I was elated. So, it was a bit disappointing to read in the papers that, in the Union Budget 2005-06, Chidambaram has proposed a tax on withdrawals of over Rs. 10,000 from bank accounts…

Today is the birth anniversary of a man that goes by the title of “Mahatma” (Great Soul) in my country… I thought I should take this opportunity to pay my gratitude to the man who was responsible for my being born in a free India…

Can you believe that?!

A lot has already been said and written on the subject of an Italian-born potentially becoming the Prime Minister of India. Whether it’s politics or personal security that has made Sonia “denounce” her right to the PM’s post, I simply don’t care. I would evaluate it only in light of what it has meant for the country as a whole…

A friend recently forwarded a joke mail on “Things that prove you’re a Bombayite” (i.e. from Bombay). As someone who’s spent all his life in this magical city, I couldn’t agree with it more !!!

In 1981, at the ripe old age of 39, Jan Carlzon became the CEO of Scandinavian Airlines. After 17 consecutive years of profitability, the airline was facing losses of $20 million. Yet within his first year as CEO, he had returned the airline to profitability. By 1984, SAS had been voted Air Transport World’s “Airline of the Year”. What did he do, and how?

The largest democracy in the world is a month or so away from elections. And the last few weeks have seen aggressive campaigning in mass media centered around the theme of “India Shining”. The government in power wants us all to believe that the country is really shining. But is it?

What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places — and there are so many — where people behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.

Satyendranath Dubey was murdered because he dared blow the whistle on corruption in the mega highway project. He wrote to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and requested anonymity. The PMO disregarded that and on Nov 27th, he was murdered… For once, I am glad that good men are doing something about it.