Ideas & Views

the arrest of swami sri jayendra saraswati and the consequent news reports and coverage of the case had made me rethink some notions i had held about our indian society. while the spiritual considerations still prevail, i should not be mistaken here for an anti-hindu or for that matter anti-anything. can all those who had put their faith in the sanyasin be totally sure that he is not involved in the sankararaman murder even 0.01%? if the saint-fanatics rule out all possibilities, then we need to be ashamed that we are worse than those fighting from across the border. let us question ourselves honestly before pledging our support and shouting in front of the jail. what if he is really involved? do we have the sophistication to forgive the saint ? can we be like the americans who forgave Clinton in his sexual affair in the White house?? (now, the analogy may sound poor to some but dont chide away the issue in context) let the faith be more on the institution than on the person. let...

The tsunami that struck the asian coasts is no story, it happened. Tsunami has struck the unprepared coastlines along the Indian ocean. An unprecedented event. Now, welcome to the fiction tsunami. State of Fear, the latest novel/book/work by Michael Crinchton, is a long environmental science lesson. For the usual readers of Crinchton and the casual fiction freaks, the book is a big bore!!! There is a group of environmentalists, who, for appropriating money from rich, environmentally concerned and charitable people, create a state of fear. This is a Fear of the drastic effects of global warming, abrupt climate change, sea level rise, deforestation, land slides etc. The recent asian tsunami and the landslides in california could turn out to be a big push in marketing the book but for the message Crinchton tries to convey is quite contradictory to the real picture. However, the book is a bold venture to spread the word that nobody actually understands the environmental changes and their e...