Slumdog Millionaire? I hate that film!" said a much decorated, liberal and well-travelled former submariner.

"It is poverty porn at its worst. The Mumbai 
marauders are supposed to have done their deed to hurt India, to
challenge its success, to expose its soft underbelly. But this movie
has done the job better"

I was strolling with one of friends , suddenly we started discussing
about recent attack of SHRI RAM SENA on some pub of Bangaluru.
My friend: saving our culture is becoming a conundrum.
Me: is it really?
He: yes look at those girls, they are smoking there. (pointing his finger to nearest shop where some girls were smoking)
Me: is smoking wrong or it has something to do with girls only?
He: obviously yar, one cant expect a girl to smoke.
Me: have you ever visited to any village?
He: yes sometimes.
Me:
well I belong to village and I have seen many women smoking beedis,
hukkas etc. so do you think they are also wrong or just it is
applicable to women belong to cities only?
He was confused what to answer now. He tried to change his point.
He: no I mean, these girls are just *****. Don’t you know behavior of girls. They just try to be gf of every boy.
I sarcastically commented.

When a Government enters the last year of its term, it is expected to
consolidate the gains of the previous four years, accruing from policies and
programmes, and thus present a picture of all-round success to the voters. In
the past, Governments would go on a publicity binge in the fifth year, making
tall claims in a bid to sway popular opinion in the ruling party's favour. But
in this day and age of instant television and increased awareness among the
masses, it is difficult to peddle propaganda as fact and use glib slogans to
swing elections. The NDA learned this rather bitter lesson in 2004; it lost the
general election despite commendable achievements and a hugely admired Prime
Minister. As the UPA Government crosses the fouryear mark and enters the last
year of its term, its political managers, we can be sure, are seeking to collate
achievements that can be showcased to convince voters that the Congress-led

The current controversy over Ram Setu presents an ideal opportunity to probe the
reality of a god whose human incarnation is central to Hindu faith. The deity
who inspired a footbridge wide enough for an army to cross the Palk Straits
poses a powerful challenge to historians who hold that India's first political
states were the 16 mahajanapadas that fought to control the Ganga valley in the
sixth-fifth centuries BCE. The kings of Kashi, Koshal, and the Vrijji
confederacy succumbed to Magadh under Bimbisar (c 543–491 BCE). Much later,
after Alexander's retreat, the Mauryan Empire (322–185 BCE) rose by deposing the
Nanda dynasty.

Can history accept that Koshal (which included Ayodhya) was an older kingdom;
that a prince banished after a palace coup could raise a formidable force and
cross an ocean to recover his abducted wife? Closely linked is the veracity of
Valmiki Ramayan as ‘itihas', not kavya; the existence of a temple in the