Full many a gem...

Thomas Gray wrote thus in An Elegy Written In A Country Churchyard

“Full many a gem of purest ray serene
The dark unfathom'd caves of ocean bear:
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air.”

It is my dad, a writer, who introduced me to these seemingly beautiful lines... but the poem bothered me in a profound way. It portrayed a very grim picture of small town lives. Our country sides are full of geniuses that perish without being discovered. As a boy who grew up in one of the smaller towns in India, I sincerely hoped that one day I will make myself renowned in the world for whatever that I am good at but I feared the curse of the small town.

Thankfully my dad also introduced me to a Malayalam translation of these immortal lines. In it, the poet, a wishful thinker perhaps, added one additional line that loosely translates to "Of those one gets noticed one day".

My observation over the recent years have taught me that it is no longer wishful thinking, it is not just the occasional odd gem that gets discovered but these days several gems are getting discovered in regular intervals, thanks to the internet and the networked world that we now live in. And even some of those gems that have been shining for decades without getting a glimmer of attention are now being spotted with ease. Can anyone forget Susan Boyle?

Today, I would like to introduce one such gem from Madurai: Mr. U. Subramaniam. He is a writer who has published six short story volumes over the years. Here are a few short writeups about him that have appeared recently in the popular press.

Hope this gem gets discovered soon and gains all the accolades he so deserves.

Legacies of Indian Prime Ministers

Most Indian prime ministers who held that office for at least 5 years have left a long lasting legacy... It is Jawarhalal Nehru's vision for an educated India that gave us the IIMs, IITs and AIIMS. It was Indira Gandhi's vision for alleviating rural poverty that gave a strong rural banking network. It was Rajiv Gandhi's vision for a technologically advanced India that paved the way for technological behemoths like Infosys and TCS. It was Narashima Rao's shrewd political acumen at the time of an imminent national crisis that showed that coalition governments can last for the whole term and more importantly, pulled India out of an abyss of poverty and self-destruction and charted a bold new course towards a vibrant India. I fear to imagine what India would have looked like today had he not been at the helm in 1991. It was Atal Bihari Vajpayee's vision for a connected India that saw the sprawling national highways of India transform into an efficient highway network that seamlessly connected India's big cities. Also to his credit was the revival of India-US political relationship. It was Manmohan Singh's silence that exposed the many weaknesses of the ailing congress party and brought an end (hopefully) to the Dynasty's control over Indian politics. Our current prime minister, Narendra Modi, I am sure will leave a legacy that far exceeds that which most of his predecessors have left... His vision for a powerful India will see India becoming a permanent member of the UN and eventually transforming into a superpower to reckon with. His foreign policy is of the kind that we have longed for all these years.

To eat or not to eat a cow, that's the question...

I am a vegetarian, but I respect the rights of others to eat meat or whatever they choose to eat (with the exception of a cannibal's diet, I suppose). As they say, one man's food is another man's poison. Just because I don't like a certain food, I have no right to force others not to consume it. Most importantly, the government doesn't have any business telling people what they should eat and what they shouldn't. If cruelty to animals is what you are bothered about, then why be selective and if cruelty to cows is what they are bothered about, then shouldn't they also ban artificial insemination of cattle, which is widely used in India to breed high yield milch cows and cattle. But hell no, where will the vegetarian get his milk from? India is not like the Arab world or Israel which bans people from eating pork... It is also not the Vatican which bans people from having a freedom of choice in matters other than eating food. We are a secular country and religion doesn't have a place in determining what is lawful and what is not...