Feast for Thought

Truly bemused. At the multiple versions of progress and development in my country. We 'progressed' from a smaller car to a small car about 10 years ago, that takes us conveniently on short road-trips to simple destinations, for down-to-earth purposes. Roads, cars, water Earlier this week, we traveled to Rameswaram and Dhanushkodi to take in sights of the bluest expanse of seas, temples tiny and huge, holy theerthams, cyclone-ravaged ruins, and awesome achievements in infrastructure. Salt in the making  A modified salt-making process could provide potable water, surely? Ruins at Dhanushkodi Azure seas - sight for city-sore eyes, but livelihood for fisherfolk  For faster and smoother progress But with the senses long awakened to the rather obvious 'downsides' of tourism, we have returned with less solace (not that we went seeking any). Women and girls with water pots in their hand and heads are a familiar sight all over arid regions in Indi...

Did you get to read " War of the worlds in the theatre of the mind "?  I did, and sent a mail message to the author, appreciating the article, and the power of the radio. ( The author is a retired Deputy Director-General of AIR and former Station Director of AIR, Chennai).  I share the author's reply - " I greatly value your comments about my article on the radio play 'War of the Worlds' and your appreciation for AIR's Public Service Broadcast.As you have rightly said AIR, Thiruvanathapuram is an acclaimed leader in broadcasting. I had the privilege of heading that station during 2003-2004.You may be surprised to see the attachment to this mail (Letters to the Editor-The Hindu dated 13 Nov.2009) which always finds a mention in my presentations on how AIR is held in high esteem by the intelligentsia. " The attachment contained a digital copy of one of my letters to the editor (can be accessed online here ).  So have no doubts at all tha...

A couple of recent print ads seem quite insensitive / ironical,  or a combination of both, given the glaring and present reality. Farmer, forgive the MoA for they know not..... Own a piece of earth? cosmos? universe? Indeed!

A little contrived I thought, but I wish them all the best.

Shimshipa Vrksham, the species of tree associated with Sita at Lanka Flowers of the Shimshipa tree The canopy of the Shimshipa tree

" One major reason for this difference is the KPK. Since it began operating in 2004, the KPK has investigated and prosecuted well over 300 cases, including dozens of members of Parliament, ministers, heads of government agencies, governors, mayors, judges and police officers. It has an astonishing 100 per cent conviction rate and has recovered state assets worth hundreds of millions of dollars."  Surely all our well-meaning whistle-blowers can get together and bring about a similar organization? A ‘gecko’ with a taste for corruption - The Hindu

In the defense organization where I served, every meal prepared in the mess for serving personnel is tasted by the officer on duty, well before meal time. I am sure there must be such procedure in the MDM system of the HR ministry. It is possible that such a routine is not followed by (the mostly) indifferent staff? Have a look at the MDM website . All features of the site relate to budget and monetary aspects of the scheme. A message to the new MOS - "In your tenure can you please make the HRD ministry’s MDM website relate much better to the human aspect?" did not elicit any response, of course. Tragic incidents will continue to take place, while the website continues to offer, at best, bland / cold / hard facts transferred verbatim from the paper files at your ministry. Achievements would get recorded, and these unfortunate incidents will be found in only news archives. Utterly saddened.... What it takes to deliver midday meal | Down To Earth