My Columns: Without Fear and Favour

Save our culture from filth EDITORIAL NEWS Share on facebook Share on blogger Share on linkedin Share on twitter More Sharing Services 10 Save our culture from filth May 13, 2012 11:16 PM By Deepak Parvatiyar NEW DELHI: Soon after I entered the class room for a guest lecture to the mass communication students in a reputed Delhi college, I noticed a bubble gum wrapper lying on the floor. It was easy to find the gum chewing culprit. He was a lanky teenager attired in casuals and a pair of chappals. When I asked why he didn’t use the litter box, he came up with a stunning reply: “It is not in our culture sir.” Taken aback by his reply, I asked if he ever visited his place of worship without taking a proper shower. The youngster got the point and apologized. But what about the policemen of our national capital region, who are on an overdrive these days to remove dark films from the window panes of cars? They must have planned their drive quite meticulously – their te

Why Arrogance? EDITORIAL NEWS Share on facebook Share on blogger Share on linkedin Share on twitter More Sharing Services 7 Why Arrogance? May 20, 2012 05:30 PM By Deepak Parvatiyar - Would you hurl expletives at others in front of children, especially your own daughter? Ask Shahrukh Khan! - Would you support someone accused of offending the modesty of a lady? Ask Siddharth Mallya! - Would you walk out of a television show if asked some questions about your certain actions?Ask Mamata Banerjee! - Would you get outraged by a cartoon on late BR Ambedkar when Ambedkar himself had never found anything objectionable about it when it was first published way back in 1949?Ask our MPs! So what is common between Shahrukh Khan, Siddharth Mallya, Mamata Banerjee and our MPs? It’s anybody’s guess. They are the people who are looked upon as our icons. Shahrukh is a great entertainer, Siddharth, a scion of an influential business family. Mamata is a crusader par excellence who

Presidential talks EDITORIAL NEWS Share on facebook Share on blogger Share on linkedin Share on twitter More Sharing Services 4 Presidential talks May 29, 2012 06:27 PM By Deepak Parvatiyar Who should be our next President? A Brahmin? A dalit? A tribal? An OBC? A Muslim? A Christian? A Sikh?  Why not a Parsi? We never had a Parsi president. On second thoughts, why not yet another woman? Afterall, we only had just one woman president in the last sixty years! Another question... What should be the qualification of our President? Political exposure? Social stature? Exemplary achievement? Proximity to the rich and the powerful? Or, sycophancy? Yet another question… whose candidate will emerge victorious this time? The UPA’s? The NDA’s? or a perceived third front with the Left’s support? Please don’t misunderstand me. We have had some great luminaries as our Presidents. They have been extraordinary intellectuals, freedom fighters, scholars and educationists, s

Why are we so corrupt? Why are we so corrupt? June 04, 2012 11:53 PM By Deepak Parvatiyar Who is ‘more’ corrupt? The prime minister and his cabinet ministers, the erstwhile NDA government, or the social activists Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi, Baba Ramdev – who alongwith Anna Hazare sat on a day long fast against corruption in New Delhi on Sunday? Mark the word ‘more’ in my question. What does it mean? It means that corruption is all pervasive and the question revolves around who is ‘more’ corrupt of the lot. I beseech my question to be answered. But before we proceed, let’s first address the issue of ‘all pervasive’ corruption in our country. Doesn’t this sound like a game of musical chair? Team Anna charges that 155 coal mines were given to the private companies without bidding when the prime minister was also holding the coal portfolio between 2006-2009. The Congress claims most of the scams including the 2G scam and the latest coal scam were originated during the