Wit Wisdom and Whoop

It was about 2 years ago that a small frail old man Anna Hazare shook the nation with his decision to oppose the rampant corruption in India. His wagging finger galvanised an entire country especially the young who rose as one to support him. That this same  finger shook the establishment is also fact. Anna Hazare to be honest was an unknown entity except to those of us who have had a long relationship with Indian politics and history. But yet the youngsters many of them teenagers saw in him a messiah and a gandhi reborn.  His propulsion to the national stage and capturing of the young crowd would not have been possible but for the herculean efforts of the India Against Corruption movement which leveraged the internet, social media, mobile communication to telling effect. This movement was supported and nurtured by many but 3 names stood out like the Ashoka pillar. Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi and Prashant Bhushan. The reputation and capability of these 3 very worthies was...

A alumni group raised a question on the subject that has been attracting much attention in India and USA - namely the maid and diplomat imbroglio. Rather than respond in detail on the group post I chose to pen down my thoughts here. Firstly we have this tendency to confuse issues which is convenient for each of us to muddy the waters. Lets look at the various issues involved. The officer is alleged to have done certain wrongs that would attract attention from American law. How serious and enormous the crime is, is debatable and there are no right answers.  OK lets say a crime in American law and from USA social attitudes has been done but there is a procedure to be followed since the person involved was a diplomat. Global conventions regarding handling diplomats is clear on this. The crime however serious was not something that could not have been handled quietly and with no smoke. Would USA have reacted similarly to other Westerns or Chinese or Russian diplomats simila...