Opinions and Editorials

Does India's national identity have a strong economics component? This is a good and interesting question to ask on August 15 because for more than five decades, the invocation of national identity that's mandatory on this day has never had a reason to think about this point.

Over the next two years, India will have equipped itself with a spanking new tax regime that sheds much of the baggage it had acquired over half a century. A common goods and services tax next year and a simpler tax on income and wealth the year after should take the stress out of paying the sovereign its due.

Over the last few days, we've seen hysterical television reporters, clueless government ministers and random doctors commenting on the advance of swine flu. For me it's been a weird personal journey. I was in New York on April 22 when swine flu was first confirmed in Mexico. So it's not as if we never knew it would also travel to India.

I realised that National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) had arrived when I heard two door-men in front of a Delhi building arguing in Bhojpuri about what they called "narega". His wife, one said, was going to get "narega" work this month; the other insisted that women cannot get work, but he seemed to be arguing more on principle than based on any experience.

We editorial writers are no strangers to insults. Every day we have irate readers writing in demanding to know which lamebrain produces the gems that you read on our page. Does this perturb us? Immensely. So it comes as a great relief to know that a study by a university in Texas has found that people handle insults better if they are lying down.

The lawyer in me has always been intrigued about the legal architecture that empowers both our central law enforcement and intelligence services.

It is in the nature of totalitarian regimes to behave absurdly. Thus the 'un-logic' of the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland when she regularly shouts out 'Off with his head!' "without even looking around".

Reports that a Beijing strategist has advocated that China should help divide India have set defence dovecotes aflutter in India. But the more phlegmatic among us are puzzled at all this kerfuffle over this foolish Chinese plan. The fact that the dragon is putting time and money into this endeavour has us in paroxysms of laughter.

Police brutality is among the most 'normal' aspects of Indian society. Open thrashing and blows, especially against socio-economically weak victims are taken for granted with hardly anyone raising an eyebrow.

In April, the Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Environment and Development (CISED) announced that it was going to merge itself with another environmental research organisation in Bangalore, the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (Atree) from June.

Fifteenth August is approaching. We are getting ready to celebrate that great document that forms the foundation of our modern existence: the Constitution of India. As Independence Day rolls around again, let's discuss the most fundamental principle of our Constitution, the principle of equality.

In an age where we mark everything from Friendship Day to Ground Hog's Day, have you noticed that there are not too many queuing up to observe Mother-in-Law Day? The hoary old saas-bahu rivalry is alive and well, according to a new book that says women are hardwired to hate their mothers-in-law.

Population control is a must. We are sitting on a volcano. We don't need so many people. Population is a drag on growth. These are some of the sentiments recently heard from the highest quarters, including from Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad. But we are justifiably proud of our young population, our demographic dividend.

After dithering over whether India is facing a drought or not, the Centre has finally admitted that a crisis is upon us. On Sunday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh confirmed that there's a hydrological drought and 141 districts have been hit; we'll have to wait till September to get a confirmation of an agricultural drought.

I am getting increasingly tired of people - well-meaning Indians and not so well-meaning Americans mainly - telling us that we have to look at the problem of terrorism from Pakistan's point of view. We should accept, we are told, that we have not given Pakistan any proof about Hafiz Saeed or the 26/11 plotters that will stand up in a court of law.

'They just said my daughter has tonsillitis, but they are not giving it in writing. If she doesn't have swine flu, why are they not giving in writing!" The mother from Pune was upset, aggressive and close to tears.

The unconfirmed death of Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud in an attack by a US drone aircraft brings both Pakistan and the US off the ropes and back into the game. For the Taliban, Mehsud's alleged death could not have come at a worse time.

I want to make it absolutely clear that my war is not against the ever-expanding community of morons. My anger is against a few members of that community who have succeeded in banning Habib Tanvir's masterful play, Charandas Chor (Charandas the Thief) in the playwright's home state of Chhattisgarh some two months after his death.

Do you have funny habits - strange, inexplicable, even pointless ones? I must admit I do. But it was only when I saw them through someone else's eyes that I realised just how odd they are. One's own peculiarities feel perfectly normal. No doubt that's why we accept and do nothing about them. But view them from the other side and their weirdness is all too obvious.

The just-concluded Parliament session has shown that the UPA is still struggling to stay on top of things while the BJP, the principal Opposition party, lacks the determination and commitment to play its role effectively.