Mainstream Weekly

Now Is The Time To Say Goodbye | TJS George

T J S George — 2022-06-17T20:06:39Z

IMPRESSIONS
All good things must come to an end. This column started appearing as an Express feature in 1997. It has been going on without a break for a quarter century. That is a long run, a real long run. A year's 52 weeks multiplied by 25 means that a jaw-dropping 1300 installments of the column have appeared under the "Point of View" title.
There were of course problems along the way. But they did not affect the flow. The call of duty always won. For those whose profession (…)

- 2022

Capitalising On The Greatness Of Modiji | T J S George

T J S George — 2022-06-10T22:32:15Z

IMPRESSIONS
There is something phenomenal about the way literature is building up on Narendra Modi. There is only one viewpoint that is presented in all these books: The greatness of Modiji as prime minister and as leader of people. Typical is Smriti Irani's thesis: How Modi empowered India's women in just eight years.
Modiji, given his background, is unlikely to be embarrassed by the way he is projected for posterity. Former Union Minister Vijay Goel described him as a (…)

- 2022

Where Has Gandhi's, Nehru's India Gone? | T J S George

T J S George — 2022-06-03T20:47:52Z

IMPRESSIONS
Once upon a time there was Mahatma Gandhi's India which dovetailed imperceptibly into Jawaharlal Nehru's India. As a matter of fact, Gandhi's India and Nehru's India were people's India where citizens felt like owners and cheerfully played their roles as owners. It was an India that made Indians proud.
Like all humans, and like all national leaders, Gandhi and Nehru had their weaknesses and those weaknesses often led to blunders of policy. These, too, have led to (…)

- 2022

The Gospel According To Amitbhai | T J S George

T J S George — 2022-05-27T18:56:05Z

IMPRESSIONS
Narendra Modi is undoubtedly the most p. r. conscious Prime Minister in Indian history. Extensive use of TV channels, Twitter and Facebook has always been part of his routine. Doctored images presenting him in glamorous ways have been common. A story once appeared in the papers saying that he saved 15,000 Gujarati pilgrims stranded in Uttarakhand. Another invented story was that Modi was declared incorruptible by Wikileaks founder.
Now we have a whole new book. (…)

- 2022

Secrets In The Taj Mahal's Rooms? | T J S George

T J S George — 2022-05-20T22:57:37Z

IMPRESSIONS
The Allahabad High Court has rejected a petition seeking the opening of the Taj Mahal's closed rooms. The petition was prompted not by archaeological interests but, as more usual these days, by Hindutva interests. They wanted to see if the shuttered chambers were home to Hindu idols and scriptures. There have been enthusiasts who believed that the immortal memorial was originally Tejo Mahal, a Shiva temple, until the Mughals came and violated everything.
The Sree (…)

- 2022

A Langauge To Disrupt India? | T J S George

T J S George — 2022-05-13T23:25:24Z

IMPRESSIONS
Hindi zealots do not realise a basic fact of life — that zealotry is negative in its impact. Its dictionary meaning makes this abundantly clear. "Fanatical and uncompromising pursuit of religious, political or other ideals." Of course zealots do not see this. Their minds are so tightly closed that they cannot see the disserrvice they do to their cause — in this case, Hindi. Some of them allow zealotry to turn them into idiots.
No one with basic commonsense would say (…)

- 2022

Can Congress Stop Working For BJP? | TJS George

T J S George — 2022-05-06T21:57:42Z

IMPRESSIONS
Some of our regional languages have a wisdom saying that goes: "Dad,.don't keep beating me. I won't improve." The current equivalent of that wisdom is: "Fellow citizens, don't prefer this party over that. All are stuck in the same rut of opportunism." For a democracy, this is a tragic situation. But facts are facts, tragic or otherwise.
Prashant Kishore thinks he can change this. Out of a scenario of cynicism, this man has emerged as a game-changer. He has (…)

- 2022

The Age of Crime and Computers | TJS George

T J S George — 2022-04-29T15:25:17Z

Imagine a situation where a household celebrity of Karnataka such as B. S. Yediyurappa cannot be found. That is what happened in the ultra-modern state recently. There is a special court for the trial of cases involving MPs and MLAs. Officials attached to the court failed to serve summons on Yedi, accused in a land denotification case of 2012. Reason: The accused could not be found.
The official visited Yedi's house on three different days. The big man was busy touring the state, (…)

- 2022

Alas, Hindi Will Never Unite India | TJS George

T J S George — 2022-04-22T14:25:12Z

IMPRESSIONS
Amit Shah has cultivated the image of a clever politician. May be he is clever. May be not. The stance on Hindi that he announced a few days ago showed no signs of cleverness. It showed how he could wade into an emotional issue, make a mess of it with his politicking, and gain nothing in the end.
Hindi, he said, should act as India's link language. Mahatma Gandhi said that, too. Where the Mahatma failed, can Amit Shah succeed? The Hindi issue is immersed in (…)

- 2022

The Rise of Communal Nationalism | T J S George

T J S George — 2022-04-15T18:45:11Z

IMPRESSIONS
There was Nehru's India and then there was Vajpayee's India and now there is Modi's India. Same soil, but three different countries as it were. It is useful to keep this transformatory evolution in mind as we struggle to cope with changing notions of patriotism in our country. What Modi's India expects from a patriot is different from what Nehru's India's expected.
Nehru's India had two main characteristics. One, it promoted big-scale nation-building projects, an example (…)

- 2022