Wit Wisdom and Whoop

There is a rather inappropriate but very appropriate saying in Kannada which when translated means – “The grandmother was in such a hurry, that she ended up getting her menstrual periods back”. This rather appropriately explains two major events of the past few days. Bangalore Stampede: The IPL is neither an international or national tournament, the winner is neither a nation, state nor even a city by definition. It’s a private inter “club” event where each club is owned by an humungously rich individual or corporate but still run by the individual who runs the corporate. It’s the ultimate ego boost for an individual and for the corporate the cheaper option for advertising with higher returns. The cricket played is entertaining and including me, millions enjoy it. After 18 years Royal Challengers Bangalore won the title and their star player was Virat Kohli a much-admired batsman. This lack of victory for 18 years was such a sore story for all cricket fans that the victory this time dr...

You don’t choose experiences, experiences choose you. When you come out of it unscathed, they become memorable. Here are a few from my life. Filmy style negotiation: My employer had taken a project order from a public private partnership organisation for a technology that was experimental, first time in India. There was a risk that it may not be suited for India and could fail. The project included a process plant with machinery, tanks, pipes, fittings – a complete factory. The cost around 35 yrs back was about Rs. 2 Cr (about 1.2 million USD then). If it succeeded, could be a game changer, but if it failed, we would take back the equipment and refund the cost. We agreed, implemented the project, but finally agreed it had performed sub optimally and hence a failure. We refunded Rs. 1.75 Cr (about 1 million USD) but the client had not allowed us to take back even one item. We had not even been permitted to dismantle the plant. That is when we doubted the intention of the client. As the ...

Trump Trade Tariff Time Tact Tantrum USA was veering towards the left, with a high woke quotient, was dangerously poised, even if those who felt so were called crazy. Anti semitism was rampant in top universities but anyone pointing that out was branded Islamophobic. The rules of the society were changing right from definition of gender and anyone talking to the common man in USA, reading their comments could feel the undercurrent of discomfort in a society that was famed for its freedom, and openness. If anybody has any doubts about the past, just see this picture I clicked in New York in August 2015 - just 10 years back. Today such a poster would result in riots and god knows what phobia court cases.  USA was funding NATO disproportionately to protect European Union which between NettZero and other socialistic idealistic programs was in danger of losing its identity itself. Hypocrisy, craziness and lack of self-awareness was rampant. China was taking USA for the ride of its life...

Talking about what happened on 22nd April’2025 is irrelevant since enough and more has been said about the incident. This is an attempt to ruminate on the incident from a different perspective. While every such attack is obviously planned, the micro level planning seems different from other terror attacks on Indian soil. The unique features. The terrorists did not kill a single woman or child. They targetted only men and that too after ascertaining their religious identity with a 3 way test. The killings were not generic or random – but with a clear target. They wanted to convey a clear message of challenge when they told the women they spared – Go Tell Modi. The other features of the attack which even if conjectures are as below. The terrorists knew that PM Modi would be in Saudi Arabia. Coincidence or otherwise, the last time an attack happened coincided with the visit of the Saudi Crown Prince. The day coincided with the presence of USA VP JD Vance. The time selected coincided with...