In a country where even Lord Rama’s Maryada Purshottam status has been subjected to scrutiny for his decision to cast his wife into wilderness and then insist on an agni pariksha, it is surprising how easily we let the debate on Jashodaben fade away into insignificance.
It has been almost six months since her husband became the Prime Minister. But apart from the fleeting interest in her when Narendra Modi finally accepted his marital status while filing his nomination papers, we let Jashodaben disappear from our discourse.
It's almost as costly as gold and as lucrative a commodity to smuggle. The rich and the blueblooded around the world have loved it for millennia. The richest country in the world, the United States, loves it so much that even (clandestine) imports from Iran are okay. India's elite loves it, too, and it provides the most pleasing link between politically troubled Kashmir and the rest of the country.
It's, therefore, a super-premium product that trumps geopolitics. So, what is it? More clues. Cleopatra bathed with it, Alexander the Great used it to heal battle wounds, it adds that special touch to Indian biryani and Italian risotto, to super premium cakes and lavishly cooked kheer, and it enhances the quality of your skin as well as that of your sex life - if you can afford the Rs 2 lakh/kg price tag.
One concern for us humans is how harmful species – diseases or pests – are responding to a changing climate.
We live in a time when our climate is warming more rapidly than ever before. Rising temperature and associated changes in weather are driving shifts in the distributions of species on Earth. Some are thriving in these new climate conditions and have even moved into new regions that were historically inhospitable. One concern for us humans is how harmful species – diseases or pests – are responding to a changing climate.
Just imagine that one fine day you send your car for servicing, and a couple of hours later get a call that your car has been turned into ashes! Well, this nightmare is Venkatesh’s reality.
It was a usual day for Mr. Venkatesh from Bangalore before he got a call at night from Lakshmi Hyundai service station that his car (Hyundai I20 magna petrol, 2009 model) had met an accident at the service centre.
He never imagined what was awaiting him, as it was a simple bumper replacement job, what could possibly have gone wrong?
So, President Obama is coming to town. And how!
Over the past 24 hours, the nation has been treated to a blitz of fawning headlines and breathless commentary about how, thanks to Narendra Modi's "out of the box thinking" and "unconventional diplomacy", a US President would be attending the R-Day celebrations for the first time.
In its excitement to play up the event ("unprecedented", "momentous", "unthinkable") the media has not allowed facts to come in the way resulting in a deluge of half-baked theories, absurd analysis and disputed claims.
L&T said it might exit, there are rifts aplenty, how is Hyderabad Metro still upbeat on target?
Sitting in his office at Cyber Towers, HiTec City, L&T Hyderabad Metro Rail CEO Vivek B. Gadgil seems slightly on edge. Talking about L&T’s work in construction of Metro lines across several of India’s cities, Gadgil wonders why only in Hyderabad the media is “nosy”, and keen to run down every aspect of the Metro.
If a woman's complaint accusing her husband and in-laws of cruelty under the dreaded Section 498A of Indian Penal Code turns out to be false, then the man is entitled to divorce, the Supreme Court has ruled.
Allowing dissolution of marriage between K Srinivas and K Sunita, the court said, “We unequivocally find that the respondent-wife had filed a false criminal complaint, and even one such complaint is sufficient to constitute matrimonial cruelty . We accordingly dissolve the marriage of the parties.“
INNLIVE brings you the first instalment in The Great Indian series. We start by tackling the Chamcha, that infuriating species which lurks in every office. `It' usually surfaces when the boss is around and holds a PhD in LBDN -Looking Busy Doing Nothing. If you're part of Sycophants Anonymous, stop reading now. The India of today might well be called the `India of toady'.
Many years ago when he was accused of being a `chamcha' of then prime minister Indira Gandhi, with characteristic aplomb Khushwant Singh said that he was not just her `leading chamcha' but an entire cutlery set. The savvy sardar knew only too well that in India chamchagiri had long replaced Gandhigiri as the unofficial code of state conduct.
