By LIKHA VEER | INNLIVE
Nothing prepares you for the disappointment of meeting Hardik Patel, the 22-year-old leader of the Patidar reservation movement.
You go to meet him expecting an anti-reservation crusader, a fiery orator who plans to unite "27 crore" Patidars under his leadership and an ideologue keen to dismantle the existing caste-based quota system and replace it with a new idiom of social justice.
By RAHUL UPADHYAY | INNLIVE
On the second day of his three-day fast at Gateway of India, the leader of Other Benaam Celebrity (OBC) Himesh Reshammiya has reaffirmed his demand for 75% reservation in all bollywood movies on annual basis. He alleged, “Roles are being offered solely on the basis of contact and looks, leaving us nothing.”
He has threatened to sing loudly in public, if his demands are not accepted by the end of this three-day fast. Experts are considering this threat more severe than Hardik Patel’s agitation and anticipated sleepless nights and unproductive days.
By SWARNAM JOHN | INNLIVE
The traditional backdrop of Onam is quite intriguing. If you are new to all this stuff, then spare a moment to hear about this great festival. Onam is a Hindu festival celebrated with great pomp by the Keralites.
According to ancient records this festival marks the commemoration of Vishnu and the subsequent homecoming of the mythical King Mahabali, whom the Keralites consider as their king. Onam is considered to be a harvest festival, reminding of Kerala’s agrarian past.
By LIKHA VEER | INNLIVE
Like most Indian festivals, Onam is typically celebrated with food—lots and lots of it, consisting of at least six courses.
So much so that a proverb in Malayalam on the harvest festival goes “kaanam vittum onam unnanam.” It means a man must host a sadya—or a grand vegetarian lunch banquet—even if he is forced to sell his property.
The sadya, which is served on a banana leaf and relished best without the use of cutlery, is historically known to have included 60 dishes. Over the years, however, the number of dishes has reduced and several recipes forgotten.
By M H AHSSAN | INNLIVE
The violent agitation by the Patidar Patels in Gujarat demanding OBC status and quotas in education and jobs is one more indicator that the whole business of affirmative action has become counter-productive in India. Instead of helping the really backward classes overcome their historical handicaps so that they can lift themselves up by the bootstraps, India's caste-based quotas have become the route for the relatively well-off to demand special treatment and deny them to the more deserving.
By NEWSCOP | INNLIVE
From India’s commercial capital Mumbai to Pune in the industrial heartland of Maharashtra is 75 miles. An energetic crow can make the trip in five hours. A flight on Air India Regional could take longer.
“India is a country with various infrastructural constraints,” says Milind Sohoni, who specializes in operations management at the Indian School of Business (ISB) in Hyderabad. Among them: Airports are far away from city centers; it could take two hours to reach them. Check-in proceedings could account for another hour. Compared to this, the flight time of 50 minutes between Mumbai and Pune is practically negligible.
By M H AHSSAN | INNLIVE
India and Pakistan cancelled a high profile National Security Adviser meet this last weekend, much to the disappointment of many who were expecting to finally see a thaw in bilateral relations.
The run-up to the cancellation was filled with much acrimony, some of which has in fact been unseen since hostilities following 26/11. Officials say that there have been as many as 52 violations of the border ceasefire so far this month. This comes at the back of repeated cross-border infiltration of terrorists into India and terror attacks in Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir.
By DINESH RAO | INNLIVE
India is about to lose a piece of its rich medical heritage forever because of the whims of a politician.
Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao recently ordered the demolition of the Osmania General Hospital located on the banks of the river Musi in Hyderabad, on the grounds that the structure is falling apart.
Rao wants multi-storied towers to replace the existing heritage building, constructed in the typical Osmanian style of architecture as part of a riverfront development plan a century ago.
