Those good ol’ days

I thought copy-paste is a simple enough solution in college!!
I remember once my whole batch of 200 people submitted the same copy of the software assignment which the topper had made
I think if the audio CD was pop songs u wud have enjoyd more

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your absolutely right tasneem college is way too exhausting.Although my course in engineering is far too different from BMM but the conditions are equally bad or worse.With six subjects and almost six long assignments to submit every week along with studying and three hours of tutions ,three-four times a week and all this after attending college from 8am to 5pm.
Thankfully my first year is over and I hoping the remaining three years go by as swiftly as this year.
But I am not entirely complaining because this is the course that I chose and I will go through it willingly

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Lovely article…

I totally caught with my college times and I kind of did figure out the expletives wherever needed …

Its been almost 3 years since I left college and I imagine now I have a 100 things to worry rather than my assignments or the terrifying semesters..why the EMIs , why the promotions, why the future , why a car, why a flat…why…and why not the ‘jholachaap’ bag, why not the cricket, why not the lazying on library stairs, why not ..WHY NOT!

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Well its rather ironic that i find this peice of work well written yet sometimes rather too unreal in some matters…believe me for im doing engeerning and im into such trades…
all wat is written is just another height of exaggeration

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too good,it reminds of those horrible submission times.regardless how hard you try there will always be some bits and pieces which will be left for the very last moment ,when you are just about to present the **** in front of the professor.even today it breaks hell out of my mind when i remenber..:-)

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*waiting patiently for next lesson*

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Very true..For students in hostel ,day begins after 10.00 pm. It reminds me the night ,when india were struggling with england in natwest series final 2001. And i was fighting with mechnaical engineering chapters for next day semester exam, As i was very crazy abt seeing cricket so could’t concentrate on my study despite i opened that book first time in that semester.
When india was 64-4 , i played one gamble and said to myself, if india wins that match . i will get fail in tomorrow’s mechanical engineering subject,otherwise not to worry, i will make it successfully.
But god was laughing on me and india won the match which thrown me in deep shock.It was the only match in my life in which i wanted india to loose.
(most of the time my intutions were true in my life so i got scared).

And nightmare starts when light have gone (at that time i was living with one of my dad’s friend house)
then i thought how to say to them that “abhi to meri padai start honi hai”. but somewhow i asked my aunty to arrange a petromax. and that night she must me abusing me for burning full kerosine of her petromax. she shocked seeing me studying till 7.00 am.However somehow i wrote the exam with red eyes and sleepy mind.And my efforts took me to the boundry(40% marks while only 15 % of the students got passed in that subject in that semester).

those were the enjoyful days. and i leaned a lot how to work under pressure.

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Tasneem,

You have done it again

Do u have any personal grudges with me

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Tasneem,
that just what going on with me.
Pursuing my last year in BMM, you remined me abt my one of the many such incidents. This ones odd as i had avaoided my presentation and submission even with the hard copy and ppt right in there in my hand.
reason: My Oh! so great, hardworking” group membars didn’t feel liking presenting it”, it felt disgusting to work overnight and not present it on the D-Day just because those good for nothing Group members mood desnt fit in.
Still see their fate, they have found a place in my Sweet n Sour BMM memories

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m gonna b in 1st year this year and u r scaring me already…..

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hey very true..
i just finished 3rd year of engineerin..n totaly knw wat u’v been thrgh..
bt i guess hostel lyf rocks..its d only place where ur frnds wld teach u one day b4 wen u hav no clue abt ur subjects..at dt tym one feels wreaked bt its al fun..

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lol….

well…..i am just about to start my college, and,actually, i have had my own share of such experiences in school itself.

It was an inter school science exhibition and we were supposed to present our projects through Powerpoint presentations.
We were a group of two, chosen by our teachers, and yeah, we were not the ‘best of friends’…..
So after countless days of bickering, arguing, missing classes, and discovering powerpoint, we managed to come up with, i don’t want to sound pompous, but, we did manage to come up with a pretty impressive project!…

So the D-day arrives….we are on the stage and BanGGg….our beloved CD decides its not in a mood to work; that very day. After convincing everybody that we are some ’stone age fools’ who can’t burn a CD, we come up with plan-B, the divine Pen Drive comes to our aid!!!!!

But it was the devil’s day……the pen drive goes haywire and can you believe it, we return to our school without even getting a chance to show our presentation!

So i think i can completely imagine what you must have gone through….n what greater perils await me in college!!…:P

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n yeah…..this is the first time i visited your blog….and i really like it!!

hope you will reply….tc…cheers! [:)]

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Whatever paul…i too stay in usa for last 12 years and u are absolutely wrong. The single biggest reason for low food inflation in usa is Walmart’s every day low prices and highly efficient technology and logistics efficiency and smaller mom and pop thrives here too. There will be always be small nbr of haters of a company due to their vested interests…you cannot change their mindset. India needs to remove the 5 to 10 touch points between Farmers and consumers. The baniyawalas and trade mafiya unions have been making lot of profit by not paying the farmers and then making consumers asking high price to customers with low quality stuff this has been going on for last 60 years…. In case you do not know 40 to 50 % of india’s vegetables and fruits are damaged before reaching customers. I accolade this FDI opening rule change…this is the best change indian farmers and customers will have…competition is always a good thing. Do not make it far fetched by connecting walstreet demos to these…. You are correct this will be a big inflection point for india…but for good though…

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Bhaiya you are right Congress party and NCP honcho Sharad Pawar are behind this game. All this policy has done has confirmed they have done backroom deal with BIG FDI retailers and Indian corporate and mid term elections are around the corner. Congress LADLA Rahul GANDHY and Ms,Sonia are making HAY while Govt is stil in their hands KAL KA KAUN JANTA HAI!

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i feel i will be benfitted by the move to allow foreign direct investment since i will be able to get quality products at a cheaper price. iam sure that farmers will get better price for the products. also wastage of food grains will be considerably reduced

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sir,

the middle man and the small time traders are also not into the bussiness of helping the so called aam admi

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if u eliminate the intermediate 3+ retailer, u are talkin about complete collapse of economy of atleast 30% population, plus the economy of population{doctors, small hospitals, nursing homes, CAs, lawyers, almost all other smaller professional services, esp in smaller cities} which is dependent on this very 30% population….

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There seems to be another way of stalling parliament for the Bharat Jalao Party! And another criminal waste of money for another day, after the whole of last week was wasted! and that means Rs 8 crores of the nation was lost due to ruckus by BJP in parliament. There are 54 bills pending to be passed in parliament!! and there are only 17 days remaining!! but BJP has not allowed parliament to function, because they are true to their aim of being a political party in India- that is, to not allow progress in this country!! They are basically a destructive force like the Al Qaida! Firstly, there is already multi brand retail in India, for the last 10 years!! And this has not threatened the indian retailers. In fact, it has only thrived because of the increased number of products available. People didnt stop going to the kirana store, just because there is a mall around corner. The whole idea of a bogey of multi brand retail smacks of the same kind stupid swadeshi talk, that was present when MNCs were allowed for the first time in India after the 1991 reforms started by Manmohan Singh, as finance minister then! India completely changed and started growing leaps and bounds after those reforms. And made India the third biggest economy in the world and currently proceeding towards being the second biggest economy by 2050! Not surprisingly, that Swadeshi movement against economic reforms after 1991, was led by the BJP with their sick minded extremist cronies RSS, VHP, Bajrang Dal and Shiv Sena!! And when the positive effects of those reforms started showing effect. The BJP that came to power in 1999, not only speeded up those reforms, but started a ministry called disinvestment to dismantle sick public sector units!! led by Arun shourie!! And funnily enough, even the multi brand retail opening up for foreign players, as a policy decision, was initiated by the NDA govt back in 2001!! So the whole opposition to this policy by the BJP is just plain HILARIOUS! The ways and lengths to which the BJP will go to stop progress of this country, just to score a political point over the Congress and try to show them in poor light, at the cost of national interest in unbelievable!! The media which usually has sh i t loads of coverage about rhetoric and provocative material, should now start acting a responsible corporate citizen! It needs to grill the opposition members who are not allowing parliament to function, and not allowing 54 bills to be passed!! and effectively stalling the progress of this country!! The policy paralysis and the onus of resurrecting it, should now clearly put in the opposition’s court!! THIS STALLING OF PARLIAMENT PROCESS CANNOT ALLOWED TO BE CONTINUED! Its a freaking shame!!!

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The logic applies to Congless too, my bengali friend. Congress is the original Baniya party, and they also get hafta from shopkeepers, more so than any other party. So your informed analysis, is really, just a pile of dung.

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Eventually this will turn into a farmers vs corporations battle with the govt. on the side of the corporations. This battle is in a advanced stage in America, with the corporations close to winning. See this:

http://www.healingtalks.com/health/decades-of-suppressing-and-now-criminalizing-of-raw-milk-sales/

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Eventually this will turn into a farmers vs corporations battle with the govt. on the side of the corporations. This battle is in a advanced stage in America, with the corporations close to winning. See this:
http://www.healingtalks.com/health/decades-of-suppressing-and-now-criminalizing-of-raw-milk-sales/

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guys this is a post by somebody from australia from another news blog

prakash234 (Sydney Australia
13 mins ago (09:06 AM)
You are a fool if you believe that opening up the Indian retail sector will create 10 million jobs. The multinational retailers may employ these many people but it will render many times more unemployed. The biggest losers will be small business owners and ever bigger losers will be the growers and small manufactures. These giant multinational retailers will squeeze the local growers and have no interest in dealing with small to medium manufactures who cannot supply them at the scale and prices these multinationals will get from China. This will render tens of million of small manufacturers out of business while further blowing out India’s already precarious current account deficit. It is true that these multinationals will employ many people but these shop assistants and cashiers are the lowest paid workers how have no further career prospects. A many large business moguls had started their career from a corner shops. Shop assistants and cashiers will not get any opportunity to become the future entrepreneurs. It is pity that the Indian Government did not have the courage to stand up against the tirade of these multinationals. The whole country will pay the price for this timidity for generations to come.

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YOU GUYS SHOULD ABSOLUTELY CHECK WHAT HAPPENED TO THE FARMERS IN THE US.

Farmers in the usa are now practically slaves to Walmart and Target.

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Your comments though correct but are out of context. Where is question of government control or socialism exist in retails sector in India? The retails market in India is driven by private sector and based on market forces. India also has few big retailers- reliance, etc. The issue is of allowing foreign companies. If you think US model is so good then why US is facing unemployment and stagnating economy. It is for these reasons that US is pressuring India to allow its companies to set up shops and boost US economy. The Indian SME sector will suffer as these retailers can and will easily import. Benefits to farmers is unknown at this stage but definetely harm the self employed retailers. New job creation is doubtful rather it will be shifting of employment from small stores to big retailers.

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Check this out why indian states need to participate in Retail modernization otherwise only those states people will be doomed when they look back at other states which welcomed this….
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/services/retailing/fdi-in-retail-to-immensely-benefit-states-like-up-says-cii/articleshow/10894881.cms

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So farmers did get a higher price? Sounds like farmers did get benefits. It takes time for things to trickle down. Once 3-4 big players become dominant, it will put downward pressure on prices. On the specific question of apples, more data is needed to determine causality. There may be other factors in play. But, one the whole, small farmers and small retailers are inefficient users of resources and are a cost to the economy. I get the moral argument. But, inefficient resources should find a way to get new skills, or be simply left behind. Yes – the world is cruel, I get it.

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My god, what a amateurish piece. How can multi-brand companies control the entire supply chain and dictate prices ? At best, this modern trade will contribute to 30-40% of all produce, and this may take a decade or more. As long as consumers and producers benefit, the middle men and traders can take a walk. If people cannot compete, perish

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Very aptly put Chetan. I too have apple farms in Kotgarh area of Himachal Pradesh. Adani is the main buyer in the area followed by Mother Dairy. Some things from a farmer’s perspective I have observed are:

1) Marginal farmers are at a loss when selling to Adani. Firstly the reason being the quality. Having low produce, they cannot cover there losses in another lot of good quality as the produce is limited.

2) It is mainly the bigger farmers who sell to Adanis. Now one would ask why?Main reason is that Adani does not procure apples packed in cartons. The produce is plucked and transported in cartons. With shortage of labor, bigger farmers are the main suppliers to Adanis who do not have means to grade, pack and transport apples to the market

3) Pricing is again a bigger issue. Adani opens it prices in the 1st-2nd week of August. By this time, the plucking in lower and half the middle belts in the region is almost over. So these farmers cannot sell to Adani. Once Adani declare prices, it is 3/4 or 1/2 of the prevalent marked prices. This has happened in past year when the overall production was quite less. In a way, Adani is asking small farmers to not sell to them and only seeking bigger farmers who have no option as stated above to sell to them.

Small and marginal farmers will be at a big loss once MNCs step in. It is ok to say that they will procure directly from the farmer but at what cost? Adani’s experience has not been good for average farmers. But the biggest threat for apple farming will be what if these MNCs start flooding Chinese apples in Indian market. This would be a death knell for our farms here in Himachal.

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Pragmatism is good – and you do not have to break the egg for being a pragmatist as there are various ways of having an egg – like boiling it instead of frying it. So neither the Congress nor the BJP can ignore the historical ties that India has with West Asia – the BJP went out of its way to bypass all old West Asian friends and make freinds with Israel and paid the price for it in the 2004 elections. So have the egg without breaking it – boil it first – be friends with Israel without being an enemy to others – even the American Jews are getting sick of Israel and its extremists, so why are you intent upon licking the Zionist shoe?
People voted out Bush because they had fallen sick of him and brought in Obama in the hope of a fresh perspective. Obama could not do much for India as India never figured highly after 1947 in the US’s scheme of things. Now that the Yankees are suitably disillusioned with Pakistan, both the democrats and the republicans would like India to join hands with America for containing China, that is why Obama allowed australia to sell uranium to us.
The american president, either republican or democrat, would act in the interest of his own country – nobody would support India for altruistic reasons. Bush loved India as he was hated throughout the world. Obama started twisting our arms as he had to sell defense and other things to us. Moral of the story – we have to proceed on our own path without breaking old ties the way the Yankees do. The Yankees can afford to break hearts because they have the money – we can’t as we don’t have that kind of resources.

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1. I agree that US Republican economic nostrums are crazy but Republicans have a global vision which places India near the epicenter (including a Japan-India-Australia-US alliance of democracies). India can really use US support to slay its own demons, for example, the politically paralyzing fear of China and of FDI in retail and to move toward a strategic alliance with Vietnam and yes, Taiwan.
2. As long the US is kicking *** with Pakistan, Pak will try to make nice with India. The moment that stops, Pak will be back to its hate-India, terrorize-India institutionalized habits. Indian policy should be to quietly build offensive military and anti-terror capabilities and encourage the break-up of Pak. After so many years and so many wrong turns, there simply is no other way.
3. India does not have to match China’s military power at every point but it does have to do so at the BORDER and in the NAVY. China does not want to occupy India; their policy is to cow India into psychological submission so India does what China wants without the Chinese having to attack India. Strengthening the border must include capabiity or offensive retaliation as well as political and military readiness to liberate Tibet (dont scream). As Indians and Chinese see that India is serious about defending itself, China will begin to accept India’s rise and Indian citizens will become less hysterical re Chinese intentions.

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Thanks for taking this viewpoint Arnab. It is something our politicians who are still stuck in a pro USSR, anti USA mentality are still stuck with, notwithstanding that there is no USSR anymore, hasn’y been for 20 years, but India’s foreign policy has still to take cognizance of it.
The most important thing we can do to ensure our survival in the new geopolitical reality is Agni V with a 5000+ km range, the second would be to make a trans himalyan road and rail network to rival China’s to ensure access for our military to the border.
The third would be to revise the Indian army’s Pakistan centric stance and raise a Mountain command with 3-4 Corps along the China border. We also need to engage Nepal proactively to establish diplomatic ties.

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As some one living in the US and watching its politics over two decades tells me that this time around the republicans does not have strong candidate to field against Mr. Obama. Let us take the front runners Mr. Gingrich and Mr. Romney. The first one is full of narcissism and many of his ideas are just an idea. He even faces stronger disapproval from the very people he was leading when Mr. Clinton was the President. Simply said he is just too toxic and does not have temperament to be the President. Mr. Romney has his problem and a too long public service with lot of hidden things in his closet. Should he be the chosen one, some of it come to light during the general elections. Last but not the least his Mormon religion does not sit well with other Americans and this could come out in open should he be nominated. As for others in the list, the less said better. In the final analysis Mr. Obama is stronger and at the end of the republicans has to offer a credible plans to how they are going to help this country out of the morass that it is in. As of now none of the candidates have offered anything meaningful other than usual tax cuts for the top earners that we know does not trickle down. I will give Mr. Obama another 4 years knowing what I know today. As for economy it will take another 5 to 8 years to fix it and if republicans are telling you otherwise do not believe them.

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I get it this is only based on your views for your own self interest. If Mussolini was good for the outcome of your country you would want him voted in regardless of what it does to that country. Its an extremely short sighted view which is fine for a 2 yr. old with an attitude of selfishness and wanting only what is better for themselves but not an adult who is trying to articulate a world view. This shows all throughout the article with ridiculous quotes like , ‘ higher taxes vs the American way of life’. So the 70-90s in America wasnt the American way of life? We are simple trying to return to a tax rate based on those years which does nothing to deter our American way of life.
FYI if Bachmann became president simple saying god help us all. That is a paranoid, simple minded candidate that isnt fit to shine my shoes let alone run the country. The ‘anybody but Obama’ moniker is simple short sighted with the crop of candidates who are running against him.

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Both Democratic and GOP have same policies towards India and whoever wins in next election will not make much difference but most probably Mr.Obama will win because GOP does not have any strong candidate.Regarding China we have to take care ourselves on eastern border by strengthen our armed forces with latest weapons and modern infrastructure and ballistic missiles with nuclear weapons.America always thinks her own interest first and there is no permanent friendship with any nation in their books and generally do not change its foreign policy easily.What Mr.Bush did it was good for both countries and not alone for India.My guess is Obama adminstration was disappointed when India decided not to buy 126 fighter planes and change his adminstrations attitude to wards India but it may change soon.

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Arnab?… Who?… Mitra?….
Really who is you? you whether one likes it or not including dysfunctional GOP (add Dems to that phenomenon to that too)…

No one has a clue on how to put country back to where they want… because undoing of this country goes back to Nixon and Senior Bush when they gave more than Chinese desereved…

And now for having to change fundamental ways, like Japanese did to themselves after A-Bombs!!!…. Americans are basically too entitled, previledged and lazy to change themselves… White Empire is on the demise and Chinese on the rise… question how fast it will be before there is a break point…. And in getting to that… ‘O’ had no hand even though he genunely tried to get country back on track… but America is stupid enough to not rally behind a black president… and neither did ‘O’ had charisma of Clinton to make it happen…

So once again… Arnab?… Who?… Mitra?…. no one wants to know what you think…

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Dear Arnab,

Finally a columnist who said what I always preached in my friend circle. Bush was good to India and I find no reason why Indians should be against him.

Mukul

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This is perhaps the stupidest article I’ve read this month. The best corrective to the flawed nostrums about the true nature of the Republican Party is to be found by watching any of the dozen of the debates among the Republican candidates. Almost without exception, their number one priority is to side with Israel to the exclusion of all other foreign affairs. And they have been vocal in their intentions to start war with Iran if possible. They propose doubling down on Bush’s disastrous economic policies and deficits for as long as the eye can see, which needs must cause a drastic retrenchment of any US activities in the Pacific theater. Put very simply–and entirely from an Indian perspective–if you were to side with Republicans, you would lose medium-term certainty of an American alliance (surely you remember that China holds much US debt and may not continue to bankroll its own entrapment) and you would probably also lose attention in the short-term, since they are much worse at prosecuting the wars to your west THAT THEY STARTED IN THE FIRST PLACE. If all the treasure rests between Israel and Iran, you’re only lucky that Obama is ending the Iraq war now so that maybe there can be some oxygen and political capital to tend to the Indian-American alliance.

Just remember: the mountainous debt problem that the US finds itself in was incurred because of Republican policies. That, and the expensive and distracting wars that the Republican war machine started in Southwest Asia has weakened America’s financial (and thus, military and diplomatic) position, exposed it to weakness via China, and distracted America from more determinedly cultivating relationships with partners in South and Southeast Asia. Note that the spiralling debt under Bush was enabled by China and the contours of that relationship allowed China to keep their currency low and embark upon a decade of economic growth by exporting to America. Thus, to the extent that Obama is able to reverse all of Bush’s messes, India and America may very well be brought into closer harmony. (You will remember that without a war in Afghanistan the Pakistan-American partnership would not have gotten so much play over the last decade, especially as India was liberalizing and could have served as a more preferable economic trading partner to China.)

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Why would you “love” Obama? He’s owned by the same private central banks he decries in his two-faced bs speeches. He’s taken more rights from Americans than Bush ever did with indefinite detention. He’s caught red-handed running guns that were used to kill police officers, and who knows who else, to Mexican drug lords; then has the nerve to use it as pretext to take more rights away from Americans. If you can’t see by now that Obama is not the swell guy he poses as for the fools, you’re a fool. He needs to go, and Ron Paul is the only choice that isn’t cosmetic and insignificant. The ONLY choice.

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Your one biggest problem I see is becoming a fan of a politician. You don’t ever become a fan of a politician because they don’t deserve it for a very simple reason, THEY LIE. Anyone who can’t be honest with you and you still become their fan then there’s a fool written all over you. Now you might want a republican to win the white house so India can benefit from it but remember Chinese rise came during republican regime so it is not guaranteed it is going to happen and if you so gungho about it then you being naive. If India wants to benefit from American technology then there is only one way to do it, become their ally in every respect including a member of NATO. If India wants to have independent policy then it is going to be pretty tough road ahead of them. As you mention India is about 15 years behind China but I think it is lot more than that and if retail FDI the way it is designed now is approved then India’s de-industrialization will be at much rapid pace and that 15 year time frame will increase to 25 to thirty years due to massive trade imbalance with China. I think FDI should be open to all the major technology giants e.g. Boeing, Lockheed and all other major producers of arms in India. Secondly FDI should be encouraged in building of infrastructure and all the major highways should be tolled to pay for them. Third FDI should be invited to build massive storage houses instead of wasting most of it what India grows. India should sign defense treaties with Australia, Japan and the rest of smaller players in that part of the world. Andaman & Nicobar should be developed into a major Indian Navy base with capabilities of serving NATO countries. But end of the day we have a bigger threat to India than from China and that is home grown criminals those who have pocketed trillions of dollars illegally and made India much more vulnerable but then Indians don’t even care about their country then who else going to.

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Your one biggest problem I see is becoming a fan of a politician. You don’t ever become a fan of a politician because they don’t deserve it for a very simple reason, THEY LIE. Anyone who can’t be honest with you and you still become their fan then there’s a fool written all over you. Now you might want a republican to win the white house so India can benefit from it but remember Chinese rise came during republican regime so it is not guaranteed it is going to happen and if you so gungho about it then you being naive. If India wants to benefit from American technology then there is only one way to do it, become their ally in every respect including a member of NATO. If India wants to have independent policy then it is going to be pretty tough road ahead of them. As you mention India is about 15 years behind China but I think it is lot more than that and if retail FDI the way it is designed now is approved then India’s de-industrialization will be at much rapid pace and that 15 year time frame will increase to 25 to thirty years due to massive trade imbalance with China. I think FDI should be open to all the major technology giants e.g. Boeing, Lockheed and all other major producers of arms in India. Secondly FDI should be encouraged in building of infrastructure and all the major highways should be tolled to pay for them. Third FDI should be invited to build massive storage houses instead of wasting most of it what India grows. India should sign defense treaties with Australia, Japan and the rest of smaller players in that part of the world. Andaman & Nicobar should be developed into a major Indian Navy base with capabilities of serving NATO countries. But end of the day we have a bigger threat to India than from China and that is home grown criminals those who have pocketed trillions of dollars illegally and made India much more vulnerable but then Indians don’t even care about their country then who else going to.

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Very well written. However, your contention lacks consideration of India’s internal factors. Many Indians, the silent majority, are peasants. The peasant mindset has been proven much harder to change in India than China. With that in mind, how can India hope to catch up with the industrialization of China?

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Unimaginative and ill-informed. The real strength of any Country lies in its People. Mannourished, stunted, ill-educated, ill-informed populace is hardly the prescription for any country to progress with or without support of others. We are going to outpace China in population with a land-mass that is a third of China. Any foreign policy that is unfriendly to its neighbours is fundamentally flawed.

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Utterly moronic!

You write:
“Bush had, indeed, done all of the following:
* Attacked two sovereign nations, Iraq and Afghanistan, without sufficient cause;”

Really?!? Afghanistan wasn’t sufficient cause? You’re almost alone on that one, junior. And, if your #2 point is correct, then I guess the presence of WMD would have qualified as sufficient cause for Iraq as well… leading to my 2nd point:

“* Lied to the world (whether intentionally or as a result of incorrect inputs from the CIA, we will never know) about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq;”

Dumb-***! If it wasn’t “intentional” then it wasn’t a “lie”! Idiot!

“* Committed/commissioned acts, which his critics said, brazenly violated international law;”

You have got to be kidding me. No comment… well, OK, here’s a comment… he should get several medals for that alone. International law is a joke.

“* Waged wars that led, willy nilly, to the deaths of thousands of civilians;”

As opposed to wars that left all the citizens alive?? Um, you mean like World War II? Franco-Prussian? Which war was that, exactly?

“* Arrested, jailed and tortured thousands of innocent men and women in illegal prisons without access to due process of law;”

Who says they were innocent? Who says thousands were tortured? Only Amnesty International.

“* Pursued neo-liberal economic policies that caused, or at least contributed to, the global financial crisis.”

“Neo-liberal economic policies”???? Monkey-man, the financial crisis was brought about by banks giving credit to bad risks (i.e., mortgages to poor black people) because the government forced them to!

In terms of loving Obama… WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU, BOY?!?

NEVER love a coward! He may say ALL the right things on Monday, but when the wind shifts on Tuesday, he’ll be trading spit with your worst enemy. Confused? Here’s an example — the greatest — of a NON-coward: Winston Churchill, who would never abandon or compromise on a principal. Obama? Changes his tune at every stump speech… whatever he had to say. But has he ever sacrificed a single thing for anyone in the world in his whole useless life? Did he ever lead, even a small company, a football team, an army squad? No, no, no, and no. A “community organizer”. In Chief!

You have got to have been a complete sucker to ever believe in the false bill of goods known as The Obamanation. I truly hope you’ve learned SOMETHING!

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It would appear that along with the author everyone else too believes that India is a giant in size only.Otherwise it is no different from all the other weaker and smaller nations who need to follow and be allied to ‘a power’ to safeguard and promote their respective interests total well-being and persona.In that grouping of followers they expect India will be highly stationed in the pecking order. Implied acceptance in this fatalistic thinking is that after the British who ruled directly and controlled India’s internal and external affairs the new India still needs a new power to give it leadership externally plus protection while internally it manages it’s affairs. Of course a price or prices has to be paid for this arrangement and the ‘power’ it allies with will extract as per it’s needs. The British when they ruled directly took all that they wanted including priceless jewels and Indian pride as well. Fortunately for all of India the GOI does not think the way the writer and some of the commentators seem to have fallen into.The GOI leadership believes in India’s greatness and it ’s future as a world leader in it’s own right that can set it’s own goals and direction. The writer sounds naive at times and contradictory at other times. On one hand he says ‘India cant get there without american support’ Get where? Earlier to that he says’If countries of the region accept India as it’s leader,the world will follow’. Does he mean the rest of the world outside the region controlled by the Americans ,the Europeans and the Russians. how would that happen if (as he wants or is promoting) that India be a follower and ally of the Americans who also dominate NATO. It is indeed confusing and lacking constancy.More bewildering is his pride in India having been or having played the role of “jewel in the British crown’..

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If I were the author of this piece, I wouldn’t quit my day job just yet. Does he really believe that a significant difference exists between the two parties on foreign policy? Even if there was such a divide, does it extend to policies towards India? Finally, have you seen the Republican presidential nominee line-up? They are just as devoid of logic and reasoning as this article.

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On the balance of things, President Obama is likely to win the next Presidential term. This article has too many suppositions, assumptions, and presumptions. Even factually, everything may not be correct!

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Arnab,

You have to learn to skin your own catch. India needs to get off depending on someone else. Dependency eventually leads to weakness.

India’s main problem today is political. It is not a united country. It does not move at the speed that it needs to. It does not take its own defense seriously (e.g. its airforce and navy are basically not even equipped to its basic needs). In fact it seems to be backtracking its way to its old “Hindu” rate of growth. Until it fixes these, it will not be a player anywhere.

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Arnab Mitra is assuming too many issues. India – US relations reached their nadir during Nixon (Republican) presidency. George Bush inherited good relations from Clinton (Democrat). The assumption that Bush always supported India has also been laid to rest with the amount of military aid that was given to Pakistan despite evidence of same having been diverted to sponsor terror attacks against India. The real issue is not US position – Obama has also expressesd the hope that India gets ready to take on China & promised support for the same – but of Indian political leadership. Indian leadership has always been timid and this reflects in current lack of strategic intent in the government. Unfortunately, the entire political spectrum , including the Communists,BJP & all other parties, share almost the same thinking in foreign policy matters. The problem is not economic or military strength – India could easily sign a pact with US to counter a China specific aggresion – but unwillingness to take a stand & the resultant leadership role. India’s unwillingness to counter Pakistan’s terrorism by reasonable strong arm tactics – as opposed to its perinial pleadings to the International community top pass meaningless resolutions – is the reason why thousands of Indians have died in terrorist attacks every year for the last several decades. When India , at long last, found a Home Minister who took his job seriously, we find all politicians baying for his resignation. PC has easily been India’s most effective Home Minister, in the last 3 decades, and we see attempts being made to make CRPF & other para military organisations more responsive to internal security challenges. Yet , instead of allowing him to do the job, political parties are more concerned about how to dislodge him. China will be happier with this than with who becomes the US president.

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Please give the whole neo con agenda the proper salute that it merits. Flush the toilet and go on with your day

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