Blog@GraceJunction

Like every other civilised person I was horrified by the senseless carnage that occured in Mumbai this week. The slaughter of innocent people can never be justified irrespective of who commits these hideous crimes.One fact is very clear however, the so called “War On Terrorism” can never be won! That may sound like I am prepared to hoist a white flag in our efforts to eliminate this scourge. Far from it, the battle has got to continue but I humbly suggest that the way this “War” is being waged only encourages would be terrorists to join the fight against who they see as their oppressors. (more…)

The pictures of half burnt bodies, torched houses, damaged churches in Orissa, is bound to send horrifying chills in anyone irrespective of what religion we follow. These acts makes one question, are we living in the most modern of centuries? Or are we in some savage land, where there are no morals, no humanity, no law and order. Eventually all our beliefs result in acts, we ultimately are transformed to the likeness of what we believe as truth, be it Jihad, Religious terrorism or any kind of evil. Clearly evident from the convictions and faith of the religious groups that participated in the recent riots, one can easily trace the roots of these actions/riots to the beliefs and faith of the people in the act – beliefs which state that there exists no absolutes, every one can be true in their own terms, ultimately there is nothing called reality and its all an illusion. (more…)

His glittering teeth would have got him millions of rupees had he been noticed by any toothpaste/toothbrush manufacturing companies. I had always found it one of the most endearing smiles in the world. But that day it was devoid of all that spirited charm and excitement.

I asked him, “What happened Pappu?” (that’s what they called him. Plus, I never bothered to ask him his real name)

“I was really enjoying my vacation back home in Rajasthan. I had really begun deciphering my cousins’ school textbooks but my uncle called me back to Ahmedabad,” said the 7-year-old.

Like many boys of his age, Pappu has been working at this tea-stall in front of my office building. And while I may try to be righteous enough and complain to my colleagues of how these kids are deprived of their basic rights, I end up like others apparently doing nothing about it (while it is now I realise I could have done something about it…not that it’s too late.) (more…)

The government has proposed a possible nine (9) more IITs across India looking at the growing need and demand for engineers of the standard and level that IITs produce.

Directors of the existing IITs have however requested that the new institutes be given some other name so that the brand image of the existing IITs didn’t get diluted! They and their supporters argue that IITs have a recognition at par with American Colleges like Harvard etc and argue that institutes like Harvard have maintained their ranking as one of the top institutes of the world for many years together just because they have not added more Harvards anywhere else nor significantly increased the seats. If they had done it companies would have stopped recruiting from Harvard! (more…)