Category Archives: Uncategorized

Saving the Awas

Human greed and mindless destruction of woodland are nowhere as stark as in the dirt roads of Amazon, in Brazil. The world’s greatest rainforest and its most endangered tribe, the Awa are teetering on the edge of extinction.
The existing 355 members of the Awa tribe (100 of who have no contact with outside world) are waging a grim battle for survival.
Mercenaries pour into the Awá’s land, building illegal settlements and running cattle ranches. Hired gunmen – known as pistoleros– are reported to be hunting the Awás who stand in the way of land-grabbers.
Awa members are being wiped out.

Discovering Harpers Ferry

Do you enjoy being outside? Are you a history buff?
Then plan a trip to Harpers Ferry in Western Virginia.
It was not on my tour itinerary while I was in the US in June. Our friends Suparno and Malabika decided to take us to a scenic spot in Virginia. We left our friends’ Silver Spring (Maryland), home at 10 in the morning. The June sun was beating down on us.
Suparno was driving his Honda Acura. Suddenly, it dawned on him that they (he and Malabika, his wife) haven’t visited Harpers Ferry Park in Western Virginia even though it wasn’t far off from their hometown. We changed our destination and began heading toward Harpers Ferry Park.

India rising story isn’t over

With the Indian rupee over the past few months continuing its losing streak against the dollar, and foreign investors leaving Indian shores, sentiments about the Indian economy are gloomy and bleak.
A world renowned economist, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, has taken over the finance portfolio. There is no reason whatsoever to see the writing on the wall.
India rising story isn’t over yet.

US Presidential poll: leadership deficit

While travelling in the US last month, it came to my mind why current world leaders have failed to inspire their countrymen and why the quality of political leadership has declined.
Thomas L Friedman in his column in New York Times says there are many explanations for the ‘global leadership deficit’. And he’d focus on two: “One generational and the other technological”.
But, I’d like to add a third to this deplorable decline in leadership qualities: lack of humility and knowledge deficit.

Singapore: Second Coming

For me it’s Second Coming.
We landed in the city-state, where ‘LEARNING is a passion’. We’re wonderstruck by Changi international airport Terminal 3 facilities. Last week I was at JFK, New York.
But, Changi is an architectural delight.
Wow! Plush interior, swank décor and user-friendly utilities
Passenger comfort is Changi’s priority.

Pleading for the Planet

Even as world leaders continue empty and highfalutin talks on global warming and climate change, the spat between the developed and the developing nations persists. And humanity remains the loser.

Can we spare a thought about our kids?

Do we care about our mother earth? Are we worried about the future of our children? If we do, the consensus between the developed and the developing countries could have been reached long ago.
It’s time we stopped bickering and made sincere efforts to save the world.

Nobel Prize and Obama

President Barack Obama’s Nobel win was a sad commentary on the Nobel Award Committee. I wonder how it slipped the minds of distinguished members of the Committee and how they could put President Obama on the same pedestal as Mother Teresa, Bishop Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela and Dalai Lama (earlier recipients of Nobel Peace Prize) so early?
Does Obama possess any sterling quality that can be compared to that of those great recipients or has the President made any signal contribution to the humanity or global peace?