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#BookRecommendations2025 Conclave, by Robert Harris. I watched the movie first and then read the book. I am not surprised that the movie won the Academy award for Best Adapted Screenplay. They haven't deviated much from the well written book.

submitted 7 days ago • 0 comments

#BookRecommendations2025 Annie Zaidi's "Prelude to a Riot". "Please read out of the syllabus. A syllabus is 'set' for you. You understand? It is 'set' by people whose job it is to limit your knowledge." Garuda Sir, a fascinating character now in short supply in India.

submitted 11 days ago • 0 comments

In John Grisham's The Pelican Brief, POTUS is shown to be a weak, indecisive man uninterested in governance, leaving it all to his chief of staff. He spends his time inviting people in his administration to play golf. Only those he can beat and humiliate, ofc. Art or life?

submitted 19 days ago • 0 comments

This is NOT prose, it's poetry. What writing by @willdalrymple.bsky.social in The Golden Road. ❤️ This passage describes the sculpture of Vishnu in the Varaha avataar at Udaygiri. Image from Wikipedia.

submitted 19 days ago • 3 comments

Overstepping.

submitted 20 days ago • 1 comment

Stephen Colbert once asked Keanu Reeves “What do you think happens to us when we die?” Keanu responded with, “I know the people who love us miss us.” Sometimes, it's as simple and profound as this. No philosophical or religious discourses are needed to answer this question. ❤️ H/t Mike Mann

submitted 20 days ago • 0 comments

A 100 years ago, a rich man spent a fortune to publish a newspaper that spread hate and divide society. He was too powerful to stop. Today, another is doing the same. He must be stopped. The first rich man once said "The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing"

submitted 22 days ago • 0 comments

Jim Hacker's on answering Qs: 1. Attack The Question 2. Attack The Questioner 3. Compliment The Question 4. Unload The Question 5. Make It All Appear An Act 6. Use The Time Factor 7. Invoke Secrecy 8. Take Refuge In A Long Pointless Narrative. Which one did he use? The 8th?

submitted 34 days ago • 0 comments

My review and introduction of Manu Pillai's "Gods, Guns, and Missionaries". This is a must read. makarandimpressions.wordpress.com/2025/02/14/g...

submitted 34 days ago • 0 comments

I asked #ChatGPT "How would western media cover the first few weeks of the second Trump term if it were happening in a developing country?" 👇 Is what it came up with chatgpt.com/share/67a89a...

submitted 39 days ago • 0 comments

Does a serious historian, known for his knowledge and research of history south of the vindhyas, quoting the work of a pseudo historian known only for his hagiography of a man who wrote his own hagiography, give legitimacy to the latter? Is this good practice?

submitted 39 days ago • 0 comments

Immigration.

submitted 41 days ago • 0 comments

Deport illegal immigrants, if you must. However, handcuffing and shackling them in planes and not allowing them to move and / or use washrooms is cruelty for the sake of cruelty. Where the fuck were they going to run off to from 30,000 feet?

submitted 42 days ago • 0 comments

Tyrion Lannister: We've had vicious kings and we've had idiot kings, but I don't know if we've ever been cursed with a vicious idiot for a king. #GameOfThrones

submitted 43 days ago • 0 comments

The Trump presidency has 218 more weeks to go!

submitted 44 days ago • 1 comment

Over the last two days have been listening to songs filmed on SRK. Realised (1) how terrible most of them are; and (2) how much Udit Narayan has made them sound the same. The 2nd is not too surprising; SRK played the same character over and over. How would the songs be different?

submitted 44 days ago • 2 comments

If you are walking across (not crossing) a busy road with heavy, indisciplined traffic in the evening when street lights are not working, you wouldn't be talking on a phone. Ofc this is only applicable if you are not Indian. Indians have no value for life, not even their own.

submitted 44 days ago • 0 comments

Saying "he is lying" is just stating the obvious. If you say "he spoke" it also means "he lied" cos the man does not know what truth means.

submitted 45 days ago • 1 comment

The collapse of the USSR meant that there was no longer any need for the 'West' to support and hence influence developing nations. They lectured on governance instead. China stepped into the vacuum with money and their global influence / footprint expanded. Now #USAID is being shrunk. WHY?

submitted 45 days ago • 0 comments

#Pune Pushkar Rangmanch presents Dayashankar ki Diary, a play written by Nadira Babbar. If you are fond of #Hindi theatre and enjoy thought provoking plays, you might want to be at Box Too this evening.

submitted 46 days ago • 0 comments

#BookRecommendation2025 "There are Rivers in the Sky" Elif Safak weaves 3 stories across time and space; bound together by a single drop of water. If you like mystical romance, you will like this.

submitted 47 days ago • 0 comments

Hello #Pune Pushkar Rangmanch presents Manav Kaul's PARK this evening at 815 pm at Box2. If you like thought provoking plays, this maybe for you. #Hindi #Theatre

submitted 47 days ago • 0 comments

I grew up thinking that the State I come from (Maharashtra) was progressive. It boasted numerous social reformers and freedom fighters. It had the most cosmopolitan and diverse city in the country. In my lifetime, all the positive things in the State have been destroyed.

submitted 48 days ago • 0 comments

"We in India don't need to worry much about inequality / corruption / cronyism / discrimination / (any undesirable think) because it is everywhere" ISNT THE KILLER ARGUMENT YOU THINK IT IS. It is an argument that will kill your future though. Demand accountability.

submitted 48 days ago • 0 comments

Well. At least Trump does Press Conferences and takes unscripted questions.

submitted 48 days ago • 1 comment

#Gandhi

submitted 49 days ago • 1 comment

Young people, who have all the information in the world at their fingertips, and still asking "Why is extreme #inequality bad?" make me weep. The question just demonstrates: 1. laziness to find the answer, need to be spoon fed 2. an utter lack of any critical thinking.

submitted 49 days ago • 0 comments

Charles Taylor, Liberian warlord, later President, and now convicted war criminal, campaigned in 1997 for President. Former child soldiers he created and exploited would chant "He killed my ma, he killed my pa, but I will vote for him." Reminded of this. Yet again. Today.

submitted 49 days ago • 1 comment

There are 3 Indias. 1% that can afford to enable Coldplay to make $50M on one tour (wonder how much was really spent what with travel, tickets in black etc) 80% living hand to mouth on rations. 19% thinking they belong to the 1%, but just one setback away from joining the 80%. #Inequality

submitted 49 days ago • 0 comments

In the job market if you hire a marketing person and then expect them to design chips and write code, your sanity might be questioned. What is one to do when you expect governance and management from a bunch that you yourself have hired to fix 'others'?

submitted 50 days ago • 0 comments

Serious question: Indians like to tomtom the 'IT Capital' status that people like Tom Friedman gushed about. In the last 4 decades, what has been a significant breakthrough in IT made by Indians working in India? All I see are wages arbitrage (body shopping) and me-toos.

submitted 50 days ago • 1 comment

Indian filmmakers seem to think that if the main character in the movie is Bengali, Brahmin, and male then they must (1) show a photo of Ramakrishna Paramhans on the wall and (2) have scenes/reference to fish, football, and Pujo. 🤦‍♂️ #IWantToTalk

submitted 50 days ago • 2 comments

Pataal Lok2 is a this is a must watch series. A binge worthy series. My review makarandimpressions.wordpress.com/2025/01/27/p...

submitted 51 days ago • 1 comment

".. educating Indians was contrary to reason, because no intelligent people would submit to our government". Lord Ellenborough in 1858 as quoted by Manu Pillai in Gods, Guns and Missionaries. __ To me, it also seems like current Indian government policy.

submitted 51 days ago • 0 comments

Come on guys. There is no need to body shame Tushar Mehta. The fact that he is a liar, hate filled bigot, coward, fake news peddler should be enough to dis him. No?

submitted 52 days ago • 0 comments

My post on why Pataal Lok 2 is a must watch. It's got great acting, a fairly taut story line with very few loopholes, some memorable lines, and a bold story.

submitted 52 days ago • 1 comment

If you like gritty, police procedurals, watch #PataalLok2 on Prime. The story is taut with few holes, the acting is brilliant, and the story very relevant. #JaideepAhlawat is a superb actor. He carries off some scenes with a gesture or an inflection.

submitted 53 days ago • 3 comments

"I hate the indifferent. I believe that living means taking sides. Those who really live cannot help being a citizen and a partisan. Indifference and apathy are parasitism, perversion, not life. That is why I hate the indifferent." - Antonio Gramsci, born 22 January 1891

submitted 57 days ago • 0 comments

Soon we will have thousands of people who have experienced life in the USA returning home to India. They will bring with them ideas of free speech, liberty, innovation, capitalism, DEI, democracy etc. India is truly on the way to becoming Vishwaguru.

submitted 58 days ago • 2 comments

It is evident why this state of affairs is not desirable. Even so, millions of people, most of them working class, defend this with with "billionaires work hard, are smart, and are deserving". Talk of the trees voting for the axe because the handle is made of wood. www.oxfam.org/en/takers-no...

submitted 58 days ago • 0 comments

In all the thrillers that I have read over nearly 5 decades, a person doing something nefarious never carries any personal identification. However, criminals in Vishwaguru India carry their birth certificates when going to steal from the home of a high profile person. 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️ #SaifStabbing

submitted 58 days ago • 1 comment

It is said that over time pet parents/owners begin to resemble their pets, in appearance and temperament. I think Saki even wrote a story around this theme? My Q: Is it possible that owners want to acquire pets who already resemble them?

submitted 59 days ago • 0 comments

How many movies has #LiamNeeson been in where the plot goes "Someone does him a wrong and he goes on a rampage and kills people and/or does wondrous feats."?

submitted 60 days ago • 0 comments

We, the privileged in India are fast becoming a peoples who cannot stand ANY inconvenience, however brief, no matter what the occasion. Ofc, we keep voting for thugs who ruin our lives, not seeing that as a problem at all. We are fucked.

submitted 60 days ago • 0 comments

Some people have an unbelievable talent for inserting themselves and their emotions and thoughts into EVERYTHING that's happening around them. For instance, a neighbour celebrates a happy, once in a lifetime occasion, and all they can talk of is 'I was troubled by the light'. 😐

submitted 60 days ago • 0 comments

India has around 27-30 crore households. At least 70% of Indians live in or on the edge of poverty (this regime is claiming credit for feeding these many people) The PM claims that 2.5 crore cars are sold in India EVERY YEAR. Something doesn't seem right to me. 🤔🤔

submitted 61 days ago • 2 comments

Continuing my series on demystifying development, I write about Indicators which form the basis of may a decision that we take in our personal and work life. makarandimpressions.wordpress.com/2025/01/17/i...

submitted 62 days ago • 0 comments