Debarth's Den

The rain Gods are no longer as benevolent as they have been for India. The writing is large and ominous on the wall. India can no longer afford to lie back and hope that the clouds from the South West will come knocking at our doors on the dot, year after year. El Nino is one explanation for the aberration this year, but there are sure to be other reasons that may crop up in the future for Mother Nature’s inability to quench our thirst. Politically appropriate statements from ministers and statistical jugglery from the meteorological department have never done anything, or are ever likely to do much to assuage the despair and despondence of the millions of Indians whose very survival depends upon the timely arrival of the rains. Agriculture is the very foundation upon which the economic and social well being of the entire country rests. To allow this foundation to be held ransom to the Monsoon winds, which are threatening to be more whimsical than ever, would be the undoing of this co...

What does one do at the end of a fruitless day, inconsequential and mundane; when one is in the company of none but solitude, enveloped by the monotonous silence of mute confines; when one has to strive hard to prevent his or her spirits from being dragged down under a quilt of gloom. Moments like these can be frequent, yet always unwanted visitors in one’s existence. When I have had the misfortune be in the throes of such torment, my mind always sought refuge in the ever-faithful realm of music to battle my blues. Western slow rock and country music has always been very close to my heart but the lyrical gems of Hindi film music are in a league of their own, and the one can never be compared in relation to the other. I can never tire of listening to my favorite Hindi mp3 music on my laptop – a collection of priceless melodies from the days of Kishore Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar. It is amazing how the sublime poetic thoughts of the seventies and eighties, which was, without doubt, the gol...

Kapil Sibal seems to have embarked upon a route that might change the face of Indian education forever. On the face of it, the new reforms do promise relief for young minds stressed with the ever increasing burden of expectation and the pressure to perform. It will certainly ease the trepidations on an exam day and on the dreaded day of results. As it is, the race for higher percentages has already begun to undermine the actual purport of knowledge acquisition. The minimalization of the importance of the class X exams, the first big test in a kid's life, and the clubbing of percentages under the broader system of grades will go a long way in alleviating the pressures of modern-day education as also in preventing students from getting into an ugly rat race of marks. Notwithstanding its obvious advantages, Sibal's innovative new reforms does have their flip side as well. There is hardly any doubt that, along with the moderation of stress, the fire of competition too would cool do...