Pakorakorner | A personal portal with a strong Asian Indian flavor on a whole range of topics.

A number of people have been wondering why the Tamil-English song “kolaveri” has been a runaway hit. Fueled by social media and Youtube, the song has had over ten million views in a matter of a few days. Interestingly, the singer, lyricist and actor, Dhanush, has described his song as “absolute nonsense.” Nevertheless, the song surely has struck a chord. Kolaveri is a Tamil word that means murderous rage. In the case of this song (and very often), it is used in ...

The word “High Command” is so out of place and sticks out like a sore thumb in this day and age. It is the first thing that needs to be curtailed from its overarching control of Indian politics before India can embark on a path of genuine reform. Firstly, the term “High Command” has strange connotations almost of a higher, supernatural power which commands and controls our destinies. This is is ludicrous, to say the least, in a democratic country.   Secondly, ...

"Anna demands Bharat Ratna for Sachin," screamed the headlines. According to the same news report, Anna's exact words were as follows: "Sachin Tendulkar is an icon for Indian youth. He has made India proud with his exploits in cricket. I feel he deserves the Bharat Ratna," This is a sentiment expressed by many, especially Sachin fans. There is nothing wrong with what Anna has said in this case, and surely there is nothing controversial either. But is that what the ...

As the year draws to a close, one can't help but wonder what a phenomenal year this has been for democracy. Starting with Tunisia, the clarion call for the right to self-determination and democracy has spread across the Middle East and north Africa and continues to transform the region for good. Syria is fast headed to the brink, while Saudi Arabia and the rest are probably terrified as to when these mass movements are going confront them as well. While ...

The last couple of weeks have witnessed a pitched battle between seasoned, time-tested, political operatives in the ruling party and the relative novices of Team Anna. It was like Dhoni's boys belting the English on slow turning Indian wickets. The harder Team Anna tried to defend itself, the stronger the Congress party came at them. The attack has been relentless, Kiran Bedi's travel-gate, Kejriwal's employer dues, a cameo by a previously embarrassed Swami who switched sides (or did he need ...

There has been some discussion lately about excluding the lower bureaucracy from the Lokpal. One of the main reasons being bandied about is that the Lokpal will be overloaded should it include the lower bureaucracy, and it will fail as a result of this overload. There are two sides to this issue -- the politics and the feasibility. Let us first look at the politics behind this move. The government, or for that matter, most political parties, are keen on ...

A number of people have expressed their discomfort with Team Anna’s involvement in the Hisar by-election. Some have suggested that the team should continue to remain apolitical. It is widely believed that being apolitical and non-partisan is what earned Team Anna its lion share of support and goodwill among the people. So it is natural to infer that should Team Anna get involved in elections, it might lose some of the mass appeal that it has garnered over the last ...

I had the privilege of recently participating in a discussion co-organized by the American Leadership Forum (ALF) and the Indians for Collective Action (ICA). The topic of the discussion was "Celebrating Democracy and People Power" with special reference to the rise of the anti-corruption movement in India and the "Occupy Wall Street" movement in the US. One of the aspects that was discussed was the role of the media in the success of the movement in India. There is little ...

The ruling UPA has more than received its share of brickbats for the complete lack of leadership over the last several months. The dismal handling of the various scams culminating in the inept response to the anti-corruption struggle, championed by Team Anna, has been etched permanently in the UPA-II's history. Unable to effectively handle its own dreadful corruption woes, the UPA has unleashed the CBI on its enemies, the Reddy brothers of Karnataka and Jagan Reddy of Andhra being the ...

Shehla Masood, the RTI activist from Madhya Pradesh who was shot and killed recently, joined the unfortunate list of seventeen other known cases of RTI activists who have suffered the same fate over the last couple of years. According to a close associate of Shehla, she filed more than one thousand RTI applications in diverse areas ranging from the judiciary, the tendering process, the enforcement of Wildlife and Forest laws, heritage conservation, the lavish spending of public money, and human ...