Cardinal Ivan Dias, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church in the Mumbai region while reacting to the Pope’s remarks on rising religious intolerance has remarked candidly that while seeds of the truth are visible in all religions, Christians believe that the inner yearning of the human heart can only be satisfied by Jesus Christ […]
Modernity and Heritage
In the United Kingdom, which has many historical structures, the buildings which are listed or which lie within a conservation area are protected by law. Any repairs, alterations and modifications that are required to be done are meant to be done by firms and architects who are qualified in restoration work and who will keep […]
A US Visa for Dr. Amte
Some time back, to apply for the schengen visa to enter Europe, I was told that the German Embassy wanted a copy of my income tax returns for the last three years, bank statements for the last 6 months, evidence of a credit card apart of course from an invitation letter from my sponsors and […]
Rahul Gandhi vs Rahul Mahajan
I was remembering the other day of the show on my TV scree two years with Sushma Swaraj wailing that if a foreigner were to become the Prime Minister, she would eat gram, sleep on the floor and cut off her hair remembering the occasion as a day of mourning when Indian culture and values would […]
Amitabh Bachchan’s Sunshades
Two newspaper items that I read in the last week or so make think. The first one was after it became public that Rahul Mahajan had taken drugs and was having a bash the night before he was to proceed to Gauhati to immerse his late father’s ashes in the Brahmaputra. The drugs bit apart, […]
the Bookseller of Kabul
In the fall of 2001, Norwegian journalist Asne Seierstad spent six gruelling weeks in the Afghan desert following soldiers of the Northern Alliance–sleeping on stone floors, bumping over pitted roads in the back of trucks, tramping in the heat on foot. After the Taliban fell, she arrived with the soldiers in Kabul, where she found, […]