Wit Wisdom and Whoop

In 1947 the British left behind two enduring messy legacies. One was in creating Israel but without creating Palestine fully even if the UN created a map. The solution was so messy, that Jordan and Egypt managed the area which the Palestinians today claim but as having been taken by Israel. Reality is that none of the Arab states wanted either Israel or Palestine. In this existential game Israel took control over the Golan heights, west bank and the Gaza strip. The second was a problematic situation in Kashmir, with the partition of India and Pakistan. The mess we have seen over the decades was significantly India’s own making, actively exploited by Pakistan. Before the reader jumps, read on a bit. Just as the Hamas attacked Israel and plundered, raped, killed people earlier this month, tribals were encouraged by the Pakistan army attacked India for Kashmir. These irregulars were not paid, and so they plundered, raped, looted, killed and owing to this delay, reached the outskirts o...

  Sometimes more than one event sets off a chain of thoughts, and so this is a short commentary on different topics. G20: Undoubtedly this was the highlight of the year. 100+ events were held across 41 cities in India over a year long period, 220+ meetings were held across 60 cities. The sheer breadth and scale of the arrangements which occupied the entire year involved 15 million Indians in some form of activity. Many have griped about making this as a personality cult, waste of money etc. They could not be more wrong because this year long event had a huge benefit which nobody likes to talk about – the MARKETING of India. Every visitor would have had experiences and hopefully the good would have been more in number. But every visitor – as representatives of their countries across various segments – would have noted the arrangements, planning, efficiency, culture, people,  and the scale at which this was held. Many would go back with admiration for Indian capabilities a...