Indian Nuclear Saga
A couple of pieces from Outlookindia which i think illustrates the debate better.
Interview with Dr.Santhanam
An Article about NSA's claims. From OutlookIndia:
It is worthwhile to read both of them fully.
Interview with Dr.Santhanam
He was head of the DRDO. He is a missile man, he’s not familiar with nuclear issues. You must have seen the statement of Dr H.N. Sethna. I think Dr Kalam was put up to give a statement and Dr Sethna from Bombay gave such a whack after which Dr Kalam does not know where to hide his face.
An Article about NSA's claims. From OutlookIndia:
Thus, the AEC—as it is constituted today—does not have a member with the experience or expertise to pronounce on the erroneous calculations made by Kakodkar on the yield from Pokhran-II. This is why I say Narayanan is misleading the nation when he said that a peer group in the AEC confirmed the success of Pokhran-II and there’s nothing else the government can do. Whether further nuclear tests are needed or not, the DAE, AEC and BARC definitely need to be reoriented in the national interest.
It is worthwhile to read both of them fully.
India's Perfect Nuclear Storm
The unfolding Nuclear Saga in India is much lamentable, if not for the shocking revelations, atleast for severely damaging the credibility of the few institutions left with any credibility in our country. However, it is much more important at this point that all the revelations made by Dr.Santhanam be properly and honestly addressed. Per Dr.Santhanam we need atleast two more tests before we can claim to have mastered the Hydrogen bomb technology.
From DNA India
Some raise questions about Dr.Santhanam's claims and his motives, including why he waited for 11 years before coming out. Though there is some legitimacy in questioning about the delay before he came public, i think no one can rubbish his claims since he has the expertise and the insider information. The way govt (NSA) has quickly come out to deny any such gaps in our deterrence is sad. Denial has never solved any problem. When much respected personalities like Anil Kakodkar, Abdul Kalam (i know he does not have the technical expertise) are in one camp while Dr.Santhanam and Dr.P.K.Iyengar in another, it only exacerbates the public's anxieties.
Anil Kakodkar (from TOI)
P.K.Iyengar (from TOI)
These are people who are held at high esteem and considered beyond reproach. In my opinion, Dr. Santhanam is doing a great service to our nation by highlighting the inadequacies in our nuclear deterrent even if its 11 years late. This is significant now due to the US's renewed interest on NPT and CTBT.
Obama's call the other day in the UN for all the nations to join and ratify NPT met with unanimous support. This also calls for signing and ratifying CTBT. With the nuclear treaty between India and the US hinging on India not testing, among other things, we are bound to get a lot of heat from the US and other Western Nations before the NPT summit next year. Though India has reiterated its official position of not joining these treaties, how much longer would we be holding out is to be seen. (Note:- The call is for India to join NPT as a non-nuclear weapon state).
From Indian Express:
Added to this already high pressure situation for our policy makers is the new revelation that Iran has a secret Uranium enrichment facility. This would only make the NPT hawks within US State department and Foreign Affair ministries across Europe go into a tizzy and want everyone to join NPT and CTBT asap. This would only give them more momentum in arm-twisting India.
From BBC
This is an emerging story, there will more that will be coming out in the next few days and it doesn't look like what will would help India's stand. It is for this reason India should quickly do a quick review, conduct a few more tests if need be, and sign the treaties as a FULL NUCLEAR WEAPON STATE. It won't be easy for the next couple of years for India on this front, and S.M.Krishna and Shashi Tharoor have their job cut out for them. One can only hope they are good enough to handle the upcoming Perfect Storm.
From DNA India
At least two more trial tests are required for India to perfect the thermonuclear, or hydrogen, bomb, says retired scientist K Santhanam. The scientist created a furore last month by claiming that the H-bomb test conducted in 1998 was a dud.
Santhanam believes that there is still time to do so before the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty is ratified by the US and China. "I have recommended the crossing of the rubicon," Santhanam told reporters during an interaction with reporters organised by the Indian Women's Press Corps (IWPC) in the capital.
Some raise questions about Dr.Santhanam's claims and his motives, including why he waited for 11 years before coming out. Though there is some legitimacy in questioning about the delay before he came public, i think no one can rubbish his claims since he has the expertise and the insider information. The way govt (NSA) has quickly come out to deny any such gaps in our deterrence is sad. Denial has never solved any problem. When much respected personalities like Anil Kakodkar, Abdul Kalam (i know he does not have the technical expertise) are in one camp while Dr.Santhanam and Dr.P.K.Iyengar in another, it only exacerbates the public's anxieties.
Anil Kakodkar (from TOI)
"We have enough data. We have comprehensive simulation capability and therefore there is no need for any more tests," Kakodkar said days after K Santhanam ignited a controversy that Pokhran-II was a fizzle and did not give the desired yield.
"We used the data of Beneberry nuclear tests of US of December 18,1970 to validate our 3-D simulation for earth motion and displacement and this validated tool was used for bench marking," Kakodkar said.
P.K.Iyengar (from TOI)
There is a "strong reason to believe that the thermonuclear device had not fully burnt and, therefore, further testing was called for," Iyengar, a former Atomic Energy Commission Chairman, said in a statement yesterday.
...
He said, "If he (Santhanam) says that the yield was much lower than projected, that there was virtually no crater formed, and that these reservations were formally presented by DRDO in 1998 itself, then there is considerable justification for reasonable doubt regarding the credibility of the thermonuclear test and, therefore, of our nuclear deterrent."
These are people who are held at high esteem and considered beyond reproach. In my opinion, Dr. Santhanam is doing a great service to our nation by highlighting the inadequacies in our nuclear deterrent even if its 11 years late. This is significant now due to the US's renewed interest on NPT and CTBT.
Obama's call the other day in the UN for all the nations to join and ratify NPT met with unanimous support. This also calls for signing and ratifying CTBT. With the nuclear treaty between India and the US hinging on India not testing, among other things, we are bound to get a lot of heat from the US and other Western Nations before the NPT summit next year. Though India has reiterated its official position of not joining these treaties, how much longer would we be holding out is to be seen. (Note:- The call is for India to join NPT as a non-nuclear weapon state).
From Indian Express:
Ahead of next year’s review conference on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), US President Barack Obama on Thursday successfully piloted a resolution in the UN Security Council, calling upon all countries outside the treaty, like India, to join as ‘non-nuclear weapons states’.
The resolution, adopted unanimously at a rare summit meeting of the Security Council, evoked a sharp reaction from New Delhi, which, in a strongly-worded letter to the president of Security Council, said India would not comply with non-proliferation obligations to which it has not provided its sovereign consent. Additionally, it noted that India was a nuclear weapon state and that there was no question of it joining the NPT as a non-nuclear weapon state.
“India cannot accept externally prescribed norms prescribed norms or standards on matters within the jurisdiction of its Parliament or which are not consistent with India’s constitutional provisions and procedures, or are contrary to India’s national interests or infringe on its sovereignty,” said the letter from Hardeep Singh Puri, India’s permanent representative at the UN.
Added to this already high pressure situation for our policy makers is the new revelation that Iran has a secret Uranium enrichment facility. This would only make the NPT hawks within US State department and Foreign Affair ministries across Europe go into a tizzy and want everyone to join NPT and CTBT asap. This would only give them more momentum in arm-twisting India.
From BBC
Iran's decision to build a secret facility represented a "direct challenge to the basic compact" of the global non-proliferation regime, US President Barack Obama said, making a statement in Pittsburgh, where he is hosting a G20 summit.
Despite Iran's assertions that the facility was for peaceful purposes, the new plant was "not consistent" with that goal, the US president said.
This is an emerging story, there will more that will be coming out in the next few days and it doesn't look like what will would help India's stand. It is for this reason India should quickly do a quick review, conduct a few more tests if need be, and sign the treaties as a FULL NUCLEAR WEAPON STATE. It won't be easy for the next couple of years for India on this front, and S.M.Krishna and Shashi Tharoor have their job cut out for them. One can only hope they are good enough to handle the upcoming Perfect Storm.
The Great Indian Myth
For people who are interested in ancient Indian History and have been digging around in the internet this might not come as a surprise. There has been a lot debate between Aryan Invasion Theory (AIT), Aryan Migration theory (AMT) etc., This report from Times of India which says the basic Aryan-Dravidian Separation is a myth is pretty interesting, in that it not only dumps one of the most controversial theories - primarily AIT, which the British used to legitimize their colonization of India. Also, it would be interesting to see what this does to the prevailing theory which attributes everything from vedas to the invading Aryans and that the Dravidians who were in the NW part of India were pushed down to South India. What would this do to the Dravidian politics as practiced by DMK, ADMK, MDMK and so on in Tamil Nadu? Perhaps nothing, but still i will keep an eye.
From TOI:
From TOI:
The great Indian divide along north-south lines now stands blurred. A pathbreaking study by Harvard and indigenous researchers on ancestral Indian populations says there is a genetic relationship between all Indians and more importantly, the hitherto believed ``fact'' that Aryans and Dravidians signify the ancestry of north and south Indians might after all, be a myth.
``This paper rewrites history... there is no north-south divide,'' Lalji Singh, former director of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) and a co-author of the study, said at a press conference here on Thursday.
Mr.Obama says, " Yes You Can" to Financial Industry
Paul Krugman has already panned Obama for such a ridiculous statement. From Krugman's column in NYTIMES:
Mr.Obama, for the sake of America, i hope you are smarter than this. The more cynical side of me says you are and are either bought by the Financial Industry or as Krugman suggests in his column, you are not up for any kinda fight. I just don't know which among these three choices can be given a good spin.
I was startled last week when Mr. Obama, in an interview with Bloomberg News, questioned the case for limiting financial-sector pay: “Why is it,” he asked, “that we’re going to cap executive compensation for Wall Street bankers but not Silicon Valley entrepreneurs or N.F.L. football players?”
Mr.Obama, for the sake of America, i hope you are smarter than this. The more cynical side of me says you are and are either bought by the Financial Industry or as Krugman suggests in his column, you are not up for any kinda fight. I just don't know which among these three choices can be given a good spin.
Its Bombing everywhere...
I don't know how many of you have read Shock Doctrine, but for those of you who has read it know how exactly how IMF, World Bank and other institutions are used by developed countries to gain access to markets within developing and under-developed countries in the guise of development loans. The loans come with severe conditions that the countries cannot meet and that leads to further requests for loan waivers or loan modification which come with even more conditions.
In any case, this piece raises a lot of valid questions. We all know India survived this economic crisis and came out a lot better than most countries and it was due to some sound regulations imposed by The Reserve Bank. Now, we might be seeing the liberalization lobby making a back door entry. From The Hindu
A much more important piece from The Hindu again is a piece by Dr.Santhanam. It is too important for me to excerpt it here. Please read the full piece here.
In any case, this piece raises a lot of valid questions. We all know India survived this economic crisis and came out a lot better than most countries and it was due to some sound regulations imposed by The Reserve Bank. Now, we might be seeing the liberalization lobby making a back door entry. From The Hindu
Central bank oversight has ensured that the Indian banking sector is in good shape. But in a strange policy twist, the government has approached the World Bank for a loan to recapitalise the nationalised banks that may well come with conditionalities for extensive financial deregulation.
A much more important piece from The Hindu again is a piece by Dr.Santhanam. It is too important for me to excerpt it here. Please read the full piece here.
Vani - I
(My attempt at fiction)
Vani closed her eyes trying to sleep. She has been tossing and turning for the last hour or so. She could intermittently hear the men outside at a distance in the hall laughing. She couldn't hear exactly what they were talking, but she knew they were playing cards. Otherwise, she could only hear the ticking of the wall clock. She was not alone in the room. Latha Athai was there sleeping next to her. Athai, who has been a support to her, was too tired to allay her fears on the night before perhaps the most important day of her life.
By now, Vani was used to the darkness of the room. There was a beam of light that entered the otherwise sealed room through a crack in the window. Next to Vani's cot, near the dressing table were all the paraphernalia needed for the next morning. The Jewels, though carefully placed in the jewel box, was not concealed from prying eyes that might enter the room. Vani gazed at the red jewel box.
It was a rainy Deepavali that year. Vani who was 12 years old had woke up with her sisters by 4 am, getting ready for the oil bath. Appa had returned last night from Madras with new clothes, pattasu and some sweets. Amma for her part had made murukku. Appa, though a farmer with meagre income, had always tried his best to keep his daughters happy. The relationship between amma and appa weren't so smooth, but Vani never thought much about it. To her, Athai Latha's house is a safe haven when things weren't normal. Athai for her part, embraced the sisters as her own and treated them like her kids. Vani never understood the subtle differences and motivations for how people reacted to each other. All she knew was that Appa was closer to her, for some reason, than her sisters and that anytime she feels bad, she can run to Athai. Early that morning, after the perfunctory pooja after bath, Vani was all gleaming in her
new dress. She was ready to run to athai and show her new dress. Just then appa called her in. He opened a small red box and took two small ear rings in what looked like Gold. Amma took the ear rings, placed on the pedestal with pictures of Gods from the Hindu pantheon. Vani was checking out herself in the mirror with her ear-rings. She could hear her mother in the Kitchen telling her to ,"be careful, this is for your marriage, if you lose it, you will be the one without it."
Just then, the noise from the Hall became a little louder to draw her attention away from the Jewel box. Next to it lay the Kanchipuram pattu sari. It was violet in color with designs of peacock. Vani has always wanted a Pattu pudavai for herself. Even during her sister's marriage, appa couldn't manage a new one for the sisters. She had to do with one of her mother's sari. In all the other marriages she had to attend, she was never allowed to wear any of her mother's five saris. Though she was in her teens, she had to do see her athais, periyammas and cousins from Madras flaunting their wealth with their silk saris and Jewelry. she always wanted a sari of her own so that she can wear it to all these weddings.
Latha Athai had by this time started to snore. Athai had come from Madras 10 days earlier for the wedding to assist in the preparations. She had problems with her knee, but that did not stop her to do any less for the marriage. Madras Athai was sleeping next her. Between these two, Vani saw shades of her mother. Latha athai in her unquestioning love for her, always being there for her. Yet, she could at times be harsh when Vani didn't exactly follow her instructions or wanted to have a lazy day. Vani's mother too was a workholic and expected the same of her daughters, even in their pre-teen days. Madras athai was the other side, she was a small women in size, like her mother, but she always gave the freedom to have her own space. Madras Athai, in ways complemented Latha athai.
The louder ding dong from the clock marked the passing of yet another hour. It must be 12 AM now, only 5 hours before the muhurtam. Vani wanted to go to sleep, but the more she thought about sleep, the more awake she seemed to feel. Even the men outside seemed to have packed up and slept. The thought of the men playing outside led her to think of the man sleeping in the other room. She wondered whether he too would be having trouble sleeping and what is going on in his mind.
Rajkumar was sitting on the folding chair sipping coffee, a little shy, a little scared Vani thought, because of her Grandfather. Her Grandfather could be an intimidating man, especially for unsuspecting young men, who expect a jocular old guy for a thatha. Thatha always had a temper, and never easily opened up to new people. This included the fiance of his grand-daughter. Luckily for Vani, her village had long ago moved beyond coffee giving routine of the yesteryears. She was also part the group sitting outside when Rajkumar had come to see her for the first time. She didn't feel out of place since all she could see was her relatives and neighbors. Maybe her confidence at that gathering was even more off-putting for Raj. She could surely see him fidgeting and looking for ways to be let out.
Raj turned out to be a sweet guy in the days she spoke with him since the Nitchayadartham. She didn't like his smoking habit, but she figured she can change him. He called her daily on athai's cell phone and she could speak with him for a few minutes in private. He has still not been able to break ice with Thatha. On the two occasions that he found a reason to come home to visit her, one for her birthday and one when he called on visit athai, thatha stared at him throughout his stay. He later told her that he felt like thatha might any time pounce on him and bite his head off. Vani couldn't stop laughing. This is what she liked about Raj, his charm that doesn't overwhelm, but which makes her comfortable. He made her forget her situation, made her feel special for those two minutes that she got to speak with him on the phone.
Yet, as the clock ticked, she couldn't get past this inexplicable fear that started to only grow. She had grown comfortable with Raj, she couldn't say whether she was falling in love but she has started to trust him, was not enough to let her go to sleep. She needed someone to confide her fears, to get a reassuring word. She wanted to sleep for a few hours. She didn't want to wake her athai up. She knew how hard she had worked to get this wedding going. She appreciated it with all her heart. She wanted someone to understand what she was going through and to check on her at this hour. Vani, for the first time since the wedding talk began, missed her mother. More than her mother, she missed her father's reassuring presence.
to be continued...
Vani closed her eyes trying to sleep. She has been tossing and turning for the last hour or so. She could intermittently hear the men outside at a distance in the hall laughing. She couldn't hear exactly what they were talking, but she knew they were playing cards. Otherwise, she could only hear the ticking of the wall clock. She was not alone in the room. Latha Athai was there sleeping next to her. Athai, who has been a support to her, was too tired to allay her fears on the night before perhaps the most important day of her life.
By now, Vani was used to the darkness of the room. There was a beam of light that entered the otherwise sealed room through a crack in the window. Next to Vani's cot, near the dressing table were all the paraphernalia needed for the next morning. The Jewels, though carefully placed in the jewel box, was not concealed from prying eyes that might enter the room. Vani gazed at the red jewel box.
It was a rainy Deepavali that year. Vani who was 12 years old had woke up with her sisters by 4 am, getting ready for the oil bath. Appa had returned last night from Madras with new clothes, pattasu and some sweets. Amma for her part had made murukku. Appa, though a farmer with meagre income, had always tried his best to keep his daughters happy. The relationship between amma and appa weren't so smooth, but Vani never thought much about it. To her, Athai Latha's house is a safe haven when things weren't normal. Athai for her part, embraced the sisters as her own and treated them like her kids. Vani never understood the subtle differences and motivations for how people reacted to each other. All she knew was that Appa was closer to her, for some reason, than her sisters and that anytime she feels bad, she can run to Athai. Early that morning, after the perfunctory pooja after bath, Vani was all gleaming in her
new dress. She was ready to run to athai and show her new dress. Just then appa called her in. He opened a small red box and took two small ear rings in what looked like Gold. Amma took the ear rings, placed on the pedestal with pictures of Gods from the Hindu pantheon. Vani was checking out herself in the mirror with her ear-rings. She could hear her mother in the Kitchen telling her to ,"be careful, this is for your marriage, if you lose it, you will be the one without it."
Just then, the noise from the Hall became a little louder to draw her attention away from the Jewel box. Next to it lay the Kanchipuram pattu sari. It was violet in color with designs of peacock. Vani has always wanted a Pattu pudavai for herself. Even during her sister's marriage, appa couldn't manage a new one for the sisters. She had to do with one of her mother's sari. In all the other marriages she had to attend, she was never allowed to wear any of her mother's five saris. Though she was in her teens, she had to do see her athais, periyammas and cousins from Madras flaunting their wealth with their silk saris and Jewelry. she always wanted a sari of her own so that she can wear it to all these weddings.
Latha Athai had by this time started to snore. Athai had come from Madras 10 days earlier for the wedding to assist in the preparations. She had problems with her knee, but that did not stop her to do any less for the marriage. Madras Athai was sleeping next her. Between these two, Vani saw shades of her mother. Latha athai in her unquestioning love for her, always being there for her. Yet, she could at times be harsh when Vani didn't exactly follow her instructions or wanted to have a lazy day. Vani's mother too was a workholic and expected the same of her daughters, even in their pre-teen days. Madras athai was the other side, she was a small women in size, like her mother, but she always gave the freedom to have her own space. Madras Athai, in ways complemented Latha athai.
The louder ding dong from the clock marked the passing of yet another hour. It must be 12 AM now, only 5 hours before the muhurtam. Vani wanted to go to sleep, but the more she thought about sleep, the more awake she seemed to feel. Even the men outside seemed to have packed up and slept. The thought of the men playing outside led her to think of the man sleeping in the other room. She wondered whether he too would be having trouble sleeping and what is going on in his mind.
Rajkumar was sitting on the folding chair sipping coffee, a little shy, a little scared Vani thought, because of her Grandfather. Her Grandfather could be an intimidating man, especially for unsuspecting young men, who expect a jocular old guy for a thatha. Thatha always had a temper, and never easily opened up to new people. This included the fiance of his grand-daughter. Luckily for Vani, her village had long ago moved beyond coffee giving routine of the yesteryears. She was also part the group sitting outside when Rajkumar had come to see her for the first time. She didn't feel out of place since all she could see was her relatives and neighbors. Maybe her confidence at that gathering was even more off-putting for Raj. She could surely see him fidgeting and looking for ways to be let out.
Raj turned out to be a sweet guy in the days she spoke with him since the Nitchayadartham. She didn't like his smoking habit, but she figured she can change him. He called her daily on athai's cell phone and she could speak with him for a few minutes in private. He has still not been able to break ice with Thatha. On the two occasions that he found a reason to come home to visit her, one for her birthday and one when he called on visit athai, thatha stared at him throughout his stay. He later told her that he felt like thatha might any time pounce on him and bite his head off. Vani couldn't stop laughing. This is what she liked about Raj, his charm that doesn't overwhelm, but which makes her comfortable. He made her forget her situation, made her feel special for those two minutes that she got to speak with him on the phone.
Yet, as the clock ticked, she couldn't get past this inexplicable fear that started to only grow. She had grown comfortable with Raj, she couldn't say whether she was falling in love but she has started to trust him, was not enough to let her go to sleep. She needed someone to confide her fears, to get a reassuring word. She wanted to sleep for a few hours. She didn't want to wake her athai up. She knew how hard she had worked to get this wedding going. She appreciated it with all her heart. She wanted someone to understand what she was going through and to check on her at this hour. Vani, for the first time since the wedding talk began, missed her mother. More than her mother, she missed her father's reassuring presence.
to be continued...
Naresh Goyal's Verbal Diarrhea
So, if you don't agree with your boss all the time and follow his diktats, apparently per Naresh Goyal, you are a terrorist too. You are no different from the those who kill, maim and dismember innocent people for some twisted ideology. You are the same as those who tortured and killed people in Mumbai in 26/11, those who attacked our parliament, those who set bombs in Mumbai trains, in Varanasi, in Assam, in Bangalore and so on.
For a country that has to deal with terrorism on a daily basis, knowing full well the tragedy and violence it represents, I expect we Indians to be mindful when labeling someone a terrorist. Much like calling anyone Nazi for any reason trivializes the pain Jews had to go through in Germany, calling anyone who doesn't agree with you a terrorist trivializes the real victims of terror in our country. And here we have a guy, however legitimate his claims in this whole issue might be, calling employees who don't agree to some corporate policy as terrorist is just mindless. I hope he soon recovers from this verbal diarrhea and starts speaking with his mouth than through his ass.
From TOI:
For a country that has to deal with terrorism on a daily basis, knowing full well the tragedy and violence it represents, I expect we Indians to be mindful when labeling someone a terrorist. Much like calling anyone Nazi for any reason trivializes the pain Jews had to go through in Germany, calling anyone who doesn't agree with you a terrorist trivializes the real victims of terror in our country. And here we have a guy, however legitimate his claims in this whole issue might be, calling employees who don't agree to some corporate policy as terrorist is just mindless. I hope he soon recovers from this verbal diarrhea and starts speaking with his mouth than through his ass.
From TOI:
Jet chairman Naresh Goyal was blunt: "They are behaving like terrorists. They cannot hold the country, passengers, the airline hostage."
NO FIRST USE
Are we seeing a great tectonic shift in the security scenario right in front of our eyes here. I know the whole nuclear debate right now is pretty complex and the Pakistani angle only adds to the complexity and urgency. Throw in the revival of CTBT and we have a perfect storm building up for India within the next year.
From TOI:
More thoughts on the nuclear issue coming soon...
From TOI:
Army chief Gen Deepak Kapoor may have opened a fresh discussion on India's nuclear posture and preparedness with his recent remarks
that if reports of Pakistan's expanded arsenal are correct, then New Delhi may well have to reconsider its strategic stance.
....
Kapoor's implied suggestion that India could have to revisit its no-first use policy in case the strength of Pakistan’s nuclear was close to what had been claimed, will challenge a long held position. The need to think afresh is also linked to Pakistan deliberately blurring its red lines to maintain a nebulous doctrine.
More thoughts on the nuclear issue coming soon...
Does our non-chalant attitude help?
Being somewhat of a news buff myself, i have tried to have conversations with few of my friends about the current policy debates that is doing the rounds in the US about healthcare. Much to my chagrin, barring a very few, most were not even interested in knowing what is being debated, and why this is one of the most important issues in any society. What surprises me the most is that these are the same people who have already applied for their Green Cards and plan on settling down in the US.
Given the high cost of healthcare, and tales of how it could financially ruin a family in case of a medical calamity, I supposed that these new settlers in America would take a particular interest in the debate. After all, if there is a good public option, then i don't think people would be so reliant on employer based health insurance. So, why are we desis, who want to settle down here and just beginning to make financial headway being so indifferent to policy debates such as these? Why aren't we looking 10 years down the line and see that there might come a time when the healthcare policy of this country would impact each of us in a big way at some point.
There are two different responses which i typically get. 1) I will go to India to get my treatment in case something is major (which is a foolhardy approach. Emergencies don't give you advance notice). 2) I am not even a citizen here (which does not make sense either. most of these people are going to settle down here, and citizenship would be a step that would come down the road). All the responses i usually get reflect our attitude toward public policy and responsibility - one of escapism and excuses.
Is this is a cultural - the typical desi non-chalance towards anything that is not personal - thing?
Why are we again digging our own financial graves by being apathetic towards such issues?
Isn't it time we left our cultural baggage at the door, and atleast look at issues that has grave implications to our own future?
Given the high cost of healthcare, and tales of how it could financially ruin a family in case of a medical calamity, I supposed that these new settlers in America would take a particular interest in the debate. After all, if there is a good public option, then i don't think people would be so reliant on employer based health insurance. So, why are we desis, who want to settle down here and just beginning to make financial headway being so indifferent to policy debates such as these? Why aren't we looking 10 years down the line and see that there might come a time when the healthcare policy of this country would impact each of us in a big way at some point.
There are two different responses which i typically get. 1) I will go to India to get my treatment in case something is major (which is a foolhardy approach. Emergencies don't give you advance notice). 2) I am not even a citizen here (which does not make sense either. most of these people are going to settle down here, and citizenship would be a step that would come down the road). All the responses i usually get reflect our attitude toward public policy and responsibility - one of escapism and excuses.
Is this is a cultural - the typical desi non-chalance towards anything that is not personal - thing?
Why are we again digging our own financial graves by being apathetic towards such issues?
Isn't it time we left our cultural baggage at the door, and atleast look at issues that has grave implications to our own future?
Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus....
If you ever doubted this assertion, here is a proof :P,
From TimesofIndia
From TimesofIndia
Japan's next prime minister might be nicknamed "the alien", but it's his wife who claims to have had a close encounter with another world.
"While my body was asleep, I think my soul rode on a triangular-shaped UFO and went to Venus," Miyuki Hatoyama, the wife of premier-in-waiting Yukio Hatoyama, wrote in a book published last year
Media Hype Desi Style
(from Times of India)Hmm..i don't see any connection between the score and headline, nor is it highly unexpected or is a huge upset.
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