Documenting 21st Century - India and the World

New Indian Parliament house was inaugurated by Prime minister Narendra Modi in bizarre ceremonial ritual. Built with a budget of $110 million is a vanity project of Indian authoritarian Prime Minister who has worked hard to destroy India's secularism and its Democracy, Economy, sociopolitical tradition and social fabric. The new Parliament House is part of $2.8 Billion 'Central Vista' project of redesigning national capital. The new project is being built by demolishing several existing cultural & historical buildings like National museum and National center of Arts. Built during the Cataclysm of public health emergency The project was built during the cataclysmic period of Covid-19 pandemic in India which overran its weak & almost non existent healthcare system. Official Covid-19 deaths are gross underestimate & deliberately undercounted by Indian Government ( 1 , 2 ). Uncountable number of Indians died at the peak of Delta wave when Hospitals ran out of medica...

Situation in Ukraine Situation in Ukraine turned out to be even worse than what General Ivashov predicted . The massive casualties of Russian military and PMCs (Wagner etc), huge loss of military hardware and equipment (tanks, ships, armored vehicles, ammunition etc) and isolation of Russia. The economy of Russia is decimated although it's being propped up somewhat by China and other nations who are still trading with Russia (Oil & Gas etc) disregarding western calls for sanctions .  The demographic crisis has gotten worse and Russia's standing in the world has been greatly tarnished by the mindless war of aggression. Russia is sending prisoners (human waves) and conscription troops as its resources are dwindling.  The Talleyrand quote fits perfectly to Putin. "worse than a crime; its a mistake". You want to act tough, inhuman and throw international law out of the window. You want to destroy and decimate a modern country with population of more than 40 million....

Mass Psychosis is not an officially recognized mental disease. The term is loosely used by certain analysts and commentators to describe a highly irrational behavior of masses / group of people. A social group (followers of a politician, followers of cult leaders etc) may demonstrate this type of irrational behavior. The behavior can be described as social group detaches itself from objective reality and starts acting in a way that is socially as well as personally destructive to the group itself and its members. A social group can become so paranoid that it can do riots, kill people on large scale, commit crimes against humanity or even commit mass suicide. Followers of Donald Trump (MAGA movement) fit the bill of mass psychosis which culminated into 6th January riots in US. The followers of Donald Trump came to believe that 2020 elections were "stolen" and they shall retake the country by an insurrection.  But before we talk about Trumpism and MAGA movement, let's look ...

Russia finally got in touch with bitter reality on Ukraine. Since last many years and months, Russia made assertions like Ukraine isn't a real country. Russia carved out Crimea in (almost) bloodless military ops in 2014 followed by a referendum to assimilate it into Russia. The Guerilla warfare dragged on for 8 years in the East Ukraine. This year, Russia decided to make a much bolder move - to take over entire Ukraine. What happened next in last 3 months is well known to us. The massive casualties of Russian military, including the Generals who promised a quick victory in Ukraine. A lot of Russian military hardware (Ships, tanks, trucks, armored vehicles etc) got destroyed in battles. And immense damage to Russian economy with collapsing industry, demographics mayhem, isolation from global markets.    Destroyed Russian Tanks outside Kiev     What went wrong for Russia and Why? Convergence of various factors behind Russia's decision to start Ukraine war Russia'...

I am taking a short break from writing. Here are some interesting works of cinema you can enjoy. These are films i have watched through the years (many names have now slipped from my memory). I would recommend getting these films in their original language and using the English subtitles. Some of these old films are now available on Bluray in best quality. I'll be getting back to writing on politics soon.   Network (1976)   You know the performance of madman Howard Beale character. I see some news anchors in right wing media & radio talk shows very similar to this character. But this film was not just about Beale character, its a complex mixture of politics, media culture and society. A film ahead of its time. After nearly 46 years, this film still gives a lot of insight about society that we have today. A must watch.   Advice and Consent (1962) Good old days of Black and white cinema. You can pick up almost anything with Henry Fonda in it and its a gem. You gotta ...