Stan Swamy and Death of Humanity

“Our justice system even in grave cases, suffers from slow motion syndrome which is lethal to ‘fair trial’ whatever the ultimate decision. Speedy justice is a component of social justice since the community, as a whole, is concerned in the criminal being condignly and finally punished within a reasonable time and the innocent being absolved from the inordinate ordeal of criminal proceedings.” Justice V.R.Krishna Iyer  How one reacts to death

 

Cinematograph Act, CBFC, Amendment Bill 2021 – do they have a place in democracy?

“…there ought to exist the fullest liberty of professing and discussing, as a matter of ethical conviction, any doctrine, however immoral it may be considered…fullest liberty of expression is required to push arguments to their logical limits, rather than the limits of social embarrassment” – John Stuart Mill I don’t plan to get into merits and demerits of CBFC and Cinematograph Act. Or do I intend to discuss the Amendment

 

COVID Times – Random Thoughts

COVID Cures – Cumin to Cow In our country, even during normal times due to lack of access to doctors and cost of healthcare, there is always a space for fakes, and magical remedies. While science-based medicines have made phenomenal improvements in the last 2 centuries, we still have diseases where either we don’t have a cure yet or we can only manage them with or without some side effects.

 

COVID, India, Vaccination – How did we end up here?

Let me start with a success story. Not one but two. First is small pox vaccination and eradication from India. India was one of the few countries where small pox still existed in the early 70s. With collaboration with WHO, focused program was launched in 1972. By May 1975, the last known Indian smallpox patient, a 30-year-old female, was identified. By April 1977, two-year search and active surveillance activities confirmed

 

COVID, India, Religion and Tinted Glasses

Two events. Spaced across one year, one happened Mar 2020 and second in April 2021 (ongoing). Attendees of both failed to follow COVID protocol. Both can be considered as super-spreader events, along with many other super-spreader events (shouldn’t single them out) – I don’t think any detailed data analysis done or available on  impact of these events on the COVID infection numbers. Similarities stop there though. It is little unfair

 

#ToolKit – What a Tool Kit or a Tool Box can do to you?

Arrest of 22-year-old this week has sent chills, the way she was arrested, sections filed against her, five-day police custody granted by the court just like that. Yes, major newspapers have condemned and heavily criticized the arrest. Yes, there are opinion pieces being written by eminent personalities. But I don’t think any of these denunciations is going to change the ways of the current leadership. This is not the first

 

Rihanna, Greta, Meena, Mia, and fortified India

“Democracy doesn’t work if we constantly demonize each other….for progress to happen we have to listen to each other, see ourselves in each other, fight for our principles but also fight to find common ground, no matter how elusive it may seem” – Barack Obama Rihanna Fenty, Greta Thunberg, Meena Harris, Mia Khalifa are all in news this week in India. Capturing the frontpages of print, online, and social media

 

2020 Came with a Humble Message

(Author: Vikas Sethi) 2020 came with a humble message:             “Little is more” by having us                          Value our Health,                          Value our Loved ones,                          Value our Planet,                

 

Kamala Harris – Chain of Events

Disclosure: This article also published within the organization I work for. Posted here with permission from organization “I do not pretend to understand the moral universe; the arc is a long one, my eye reaches but little ways; I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight; I can divine it by conscience. And from what I see I am sure it bends towards justice”

 

Short Takes – By Years – Nov 2020

25 years of Kuruthipunal: A taut police thriller from Kamal, Arjun, and P.C. Sriram. Those who went in expecting a typical police thriller were in for a rude shock. Kuruthipunal, when it came out, was completely different from a usual police story movie from Kollywood heroes including Kamal and Arjun. With its hard to swallow realistic portrayal Kuruthipunal stands apart from movies that came before or after that where the