Mumbai 26/11: Years Come and Go

New Delhi, 16th October, 2009: “India still Vulnerable to Mumbai Like Attacks” – P. Chidambaram, Home Minister, Republic of India.
If, this is the kind of statement made by our Home Minister, then what do you think: India is safe and can counter Mumbai 26/11 like attacks? Can India protect itself from such kind of attacks [...]

Theft of a “Stone Well” – Tamasha of the Great Indian Loan System

In the late 90s a farmer from Odisha filed a First Information Report (FIR) on Theft with the Nayagarh Police. Without knowing what theft was and without going through the complaint letter, Nayagarh police accepted his FIR. For them it was just an FIR on theft, an ordinary FIR, a source of income, not at [...]

Business Sense and Culture Shock: Life Stranger than Fiction

“Have you ever been in a life outside the campus?“
“Have you ever thought of commuting without your own vehicle or commuting on a shared public/private transport on a daily basis?” I guess, many of us will say YES to this. If your answer is “yes“, why don’t you share your experiences with aamjunta?. After July [...]

Beer bar, Liquor Shop and Aamjunta

Are yaar, chalo… yahan so jate hain,
Haan, achhi jagah hai… kyon hostel jayenge? yahan hi so jaate hain..
This was the post job treat conversation between two students. They fell from their cycle on their way to hostel from the main gate, after taking a heavy dinner and nice cock-tail in a reputed bear bar. [...]

Truth – a Rare Commodity

Recently I shifted from Mumbai to Bhubaneswar. For me, shifting to Bhubaneswar was not only a shift involving cities; it was also a shift from my hostel life to a realistic family life, a paradigm shift in thinking and looking at the world. It is a shifting from an ideal place to a practical place. [...]

Racism: Ignorance or Complex

“Since Hitler emerged from obscurity and became the Fuehrer of harmony, we have heard of a great deal about racialism and the Nazi theory of the herrenvolk. That doctrine has been condemned and is today condemned by the leaders of UN. Biologists tell us that racialism is a myth and there is not such [...]

“Married and my Husband has no other wife living”: Bigamy in India!

While browsing through the Placement Blog, I came across Coal India Limited’s Management Trainee Joining Form. It is a 26-page document with so many blanks to fill in declarations, personal details and professional details, etc. But, what surprised me is the declaration that the new employee has to sign at the time of joining:

That I [...]

Aamjunta (Re)Actions: “Lessons or Atma-manthan”

Victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan.
John F. Kennedy

The recent Indian Lok Sabha elections have been trend setting in a unique way. Actually, it was aamjunta who was victorious in the last election against nefarious combinations and opportunistic alliances. It was the win of individuals who have actually “worked” against the arm-chair [...]

Waste Mat Karo, Taste Karo…

It was 8th Aug, 1990, I joined hostel at Ravenshaw College, Cuttack. Was stepping into a new life — a life other than my home. I had just completed my 10th at the time. In the initial days of my hostel life, I was unable to cope up mainly with the life style and hostel [...]

“Mumbai Blues”- Aamjunta’s Aankhon-dekhi

It was almost quarter to eleven on a regular working day…
I had a tough day at lab and hostel trying to juggle with balancing my time and thesis writing. Additionally, summer seems to take toll on one’s energy level. That evening I got so irritable, stressed and exhausted that was unable to utter [...]