Reality

It is hard to imagine that India, a country of over billion people, is not a part of an event that has attracted viewers from across the world. We have failed to make an impact in the sport of football. We are not even on the game's map. Currently placed at 146 th  in the FIFA rankings, the future doesn’t look too bright either. The last time we qualified for the World Cup was in 1950. As the story goes, the players pulled out of the competition because they weren’t allowed to play barefoot. Now, with the tournament going on in Brazil and to see a fair share of Indian fans supporting other countries, donning jerseys of different nations, evokes variety of emotions. Most of us know the reasons why we have failed to produce world class football players. For those who don’t (I don’t think you are interested in knowing anyways). Still, these are some of the very basic reasons:   Poor infrastructure  – Just look at India football stadiums. It lacks basic amenities....

A true admirer of Chanakya's tactics, BJP's general secretary Amit Shah has now established himself a prominent player in the saffron party politics. Under his supervision, BJP won with an overwhelming majority in Uttar Pradesh, bagging 71 seats in the state, leaving other major players biting the dust.   The victory in UP was nothing short of a miracle. The state’s politics driven by caste was mostly dominated by regional outfits - Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). Therefore, ousting these two political heavyweights in their own game deserves commendation. Shah’s grasp in ground level politics and his relentless work in the remote areas of the state swung votes in BJP’s favour. He made most out of Narendra Modi’s wave and ensured that people gave his party a chance to bring change in the state.   From being a state-level leader, Shah has now emerged as the second most important man in the BJP. He calls the shots in current scheme of thing. Ruthles...

Many would call him the weakest Prime Minister India has ever had and a lot more will blame his famous silence as the cause of UPA's defeat this general election. Having resigned from the position on 17th May 2014, Dr. Manmohan Singh was one of the longest serving PM of the nation. He has described his tenure in office as an 'Open book'. So, let's go through some of the chapters, shall we? I am an honest man In 2004, when the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) came to power, its chairperson Sonia Gandhi under pressure from the Opposition had to relinquish the top position to Manmohan Singh. In a book written by Sanjaya Baru, the Media Advisor to Dr. Manmohan Singh during UPA-1, he stated "why Sonia Gandhi chose Dr Singh to be the Prime Minister, his answer is simple: “she needed to bury the controversy over her Italian birth and retain control of the Congress Party till her son or daughter was old enough to take charge. She required, therefore, ...

“It has always been like this for us. We generally tend to ignore minor incidents of racial discrimination on a daily basis,” said Apamee Barua, who is from Guwahati, Assam, and works in Delhi. Her words deserve attention. When discrimination becomes something people expect and learn to ignore, the problem extends well beyond any single incident. What some dismiss as harmless teasing can become a daily reminder to others that they are treated as outsiders in their own country. The death of Nido Tania, a student from Arunachal Pradesh, brought that prejudice into sharp focus. He was assaulted in Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar on 29 January 2014 following an altercation reportedly involving remarks about his appearance. He was found dead the next day. His death prompted protests and demands for justice, raising urgent questions about the safety of people from Northeast India in the capital. But why should it take a death for everyday discrimination to command public attention? Barua’s account poin...

My father has always been a man of faith. Prayer is a part of his daily life, and he takes an active role in church activities. Growing up in a Christian household, I saw how much his belief meant to him. I did not share the same certainty. After graduation, I moved to Delhi to study journalism and later began working. Away from home, I had more room to decide what faith meant to me. I was not a regular churchgoer. I believed God could be found anywhere, and I did not feel the need to prove my belief to anyone. Yet I often found myself praying when I was in trouble. That made me question my own relationship with God. Why did I turn to Him most readily when I needed help? Was it faith, fear or simply the comfort of feeling that someone was listening? I did not have a clear answer, but I could not dismiss what prayer meant to me. There is something comforting about sharing your deepest fears and secrets with someone you cannot see. Saying those things in prayer sometimes helped me under...

I confess that I don’t have anything to confess. I am a movie lover and most of my lines are stolen from movies. I don’t know what kind of testimony people want me to write; I am not a religious person. Maybe I haven't been enlightened yet, I believe in almighty but I cannot go on preaching religion. I want to serve the people but it has to be on my terms. Why does one have to prove his faith to anyone? Why is there a need to be spiritual to get into the life of providing community service? Humanity and religion are two very different things. I am not questioning the existence of God; however I do h ave a problem when it becomes a criterion of selection. I was told that ‘you just need to have the will to join this profession’ and I completely agree with it. Nevertheless, if all you need is will and determination to get anywhere then why it is necessary to submit a testimony which speaks about your encounter with the divine. Anyways, this is really frustrating because I do...