Gandhi was a schizophrenic at best and a crazy guy at worst. He was shrewd and knew how to get his work done and get his way without ever taking any responsibility for any decision. I want to bring here some quotes from books, people and Gandhi himself which make it clear as to what I just said. Jews, Hitler and Palestine "But the German persecution of the Jews seems to have no parallel in history. The tyrants of old never went so mad as Hitler seems to have gone. And he is doing it with religious zeal. For he is propounding a new religion of exclusive and militant nationalism in the name of which many inhumanity becomes an act of humanity to be rewarded here and hereafter. The crime of an obviously mad but intrepid youth is being visited upon his whole race with unbelievable ferocity. If there ever could be a justifiable war in the name of and for humanity, a war against Germany, to prevent the wanton persecution of a whole race, would be completely justified. But I do not believe in any war. A discussion of the pros and cons of such a war is therefore outside my horizon or province. " Article that Appeared in Harijan on November 26, 1938 (Source: Gandhi on Jews) Then he writes a letter to Hitler in 1941 to say:[1] "Nor do I believe that you are the monster described by your opponents." But what surprises one is the prescription his gives then to the Jews later on. I mentioned the subject to Gandhi in 1946 when Hitler was dead. "Hitler," Gandhi said, "killed five million Jews. It is the greatest crime of our time. But the Jews should have offered themselves to the butcher's knife. They should have thrown themselves into the sea from cliffs… It would have aroused the world and the people of Germany… As it is they succumbed anyway in their millions." Read more

We in India just pretend to be secular or communal. Indeed that is true of the rest of the world as well. Every one has an ideology and sticking and pushing one's ideology is always considered "Secular" and the other pushing his/her ideology is considered "Communal". That's about it. However, in this election, as in many, the parties have made a big deal about the BJP and that it is "Communal". That others have done worse treatment of others doesn't matter. I was reading the thoughts of Cho Ramaswamy [1] - one heck of a thinker - and he has a nice way to put the "Politics of Secularism and Communalism" in the context of Poll Numbers. If the BJP gets around 170 seats, they will be secular. If they get less than 150, they will be communal as far as the other parties are concerned. 150 will be a communal number and 150 and above will be a secular number! I agree with that assessment. I also agree with him that the chances of BJP being a "Secular" party by his definition is also a big possibility now. The confusion over Mamta Bannerjee, AIADMK, RJD etc will surely affect Congress and help BJP. In the end, Naidu may not be in the Third Front anymore. I too feel that it will be a hung parliament and very unstable. But as the elections went ahead the chances of BJP have become better. One of the things that people have not missed is the Congress consistently asking Left to join in post-poll alliance. Now, after the drama of the Indo-US Nuke deal and the way the country was held at ransom by the Leftists.. when they pushed COngress and UPA into the ditch (and the country as well), the Congress is going back to join with Communists.. to .... "keep BJP out"!?? You know, if an opportunist like Ram Bilas Paswan or Mayawati use such a phrase I can understand.. but Dr. Manmohan Singh? This is height of opportunism. Well, even the Communists after all that drama are making noises to cozy up to the Congress![2] Read more

A young 24 year old guy Pradeep Shukla has done a Slumdog Millionaire! His father Chandan Guru (60 yrs) used to sell paan outside the gates of the District Magistrate's office. Now, his son, has passed the tough Indian Civil Services exam and may well end up in an office like that DMs office! What kind of hard work and effort must have gone in making that happen... Read more