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

Ok, that's a rather tacky title. I'll be the first to admit that. But jokes apart, the film Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara has some interesting takeaways for most people. So I couldn't resist the title. This movie is about three friends who decide to reconnect and go on a road trip across Spain. There is plenty of banter, some hilarious comedy combined with some clever dialogues that make the film truly enjoyable, though it was a little over-stretched, especially towards ...

One of the common arguments put forth by many is that anti-corruption must start from within, at a very personal level. "When you are stopped by a policeman for a traffic violation, would you stop paying a bribe? When you want to get ahead in the line in a government office, would you stop paying a bribe?" they ask. In other words, they believe that in order to eradicate corruption, everyone must pledge not to encourage corruption in any form ...

It's the year 2013. A top Union Minister is at his secret farm house, sipping scotch on the rocks and smoking a Cuban cigar, while his men stealthily shunt bags full of currency notes. Suddenly, the door swings wide open and a man barges in, walking with a noticeable swagger, sporting dark glasses despite the night lights, and wearing a sleek leather jacket. He jumps and seats himself onto the table in front of the Minister in a jiffy. "Mera naam ...

“The civil society members are an inflexible bunch. They have their set ways as far as their draft bill is concerned and are unwilling to compromise. They want their draft to be accepted in toto or they will resort to fasting. The government, on the other hand, is comprised of seasoned law makers. They might be corrupt, but they know what it takes to pass laws. They are familiar with the ins and outs of law making. They understand the ...

A friend of mine said to me at a social gathering recently that Jayalalitha would have learned her lesson from her past defeats, and so this time around, he thinks that she will change for good. His comment, coupled with recent events, led me to explore two related issues -- a failure on the part of the media and the possibility of “Jayalalitha 3.0” being different from its previous incarnations. Click here to read the rest of the article in the ...

One of the common refrains echoed by those who are ambivalent of the anti-corruption movement is about the legitimacy of the civil society members on the joint draft committee. They are not elected representatives, so what gives them the legitimacy to represent civil society or demand laws? A follow-on comment is that these civil society members must contest elections if they want to make their voices heard. Click here to read the rest of the article in the Economic Times

One can't help but wonder if India's grand old party - the Congress - is simply a rudderless ship wobbling from scam to scandal, or a carefully planned and well-orchestrated organization with extreme prescience, or a hodge-podge that lies somewhere in between these extremes. As you look at the party and its functioning, one witnesses a series of mixed signals that is bound to confuse even the most casual observer. Click here to read the rest of the article in the ...

We live in a time when corruption in India has reached such incredible levels that even educated Indians can't get the number of zeros right when asked to write the extent of the 2G scam in numbers. It is universally accepted that there is a serious issue of corruption from the highest levels of government to the most mundane levels of everyday life. The "aam aadmi" is faced with corruption on a day-to-day basis and is simply resigned to the ...

It is universally accepted that politics is "messy". Getting a bill passed by the Indian Parliament is ultimately a political issue. All the political parties and their constituencies need to agree on the various aspects of any bill. The Lokpal bill is an unprecedented bill in Indian history for many reasons. For the first time, we have a bill that is being openly discussed in the public domain -- on the Internet, at social events, in yoga groups, and even ...

How could the world's most wanted terrorist be living in the midst of army personnel in Pakistan for over 5 years? When the US has been pouring billions for years into Pakistan for a whole host of reasons how could Pakistan play a double game? If it was not a double game how ridiculously incompetent is the country's intelligence agency? These questions just scratch the surface of a barrage of questions that Pakistan is bound to face in the weeks ...