NB Blogs

The average reader, say the average Indian, is either most gullible or at a loss to understand what’s really going on! So many sides to every story, you are left only asking for more. Read between your favourite newspapers and see the difference. Hear your channels and note the different twists to the same story, or at best selective reporting on only what they consider is most important. I often switch on DD news for pure unfiltered reports on happenings of the day. In all the shifting sands of politics, casualty number one is the truth, and we never get to the bottom of it. Truth is a Truth, and Truth never Lies. And often when you bundle half a dozen lies together, you can hope the truth is somewhere in between. Sample some of the stories current in the last fortnight. Why Elon Musk decided to stay away? The more we think, the more uncertain it gets. For instance, why did Elon Musk cancel his much-hyped visit? It would have been some boost for the present government had he come, ann

Whom am I backing this IPL season? Am I a fan, of whom and why? I live in Delhi but is Delhi Capitals my team? Is the loyalty factor decided by the city we live in. Or, have we transcended city barriers to say we belong to all, any or none? Who are my favourites? With this season well past the half way mark, I am still wondering, pondering over these questions. In fact, the intensity of the questioning grows with each match, as answers become even more difficult. In a moment of quiet reasoning, they become clearer, transparent motives to an open agenda, arguably motivated by my desire to watch the best quality of cricket, as best as can be displayed in the IPL format! So, what am I looking at? Who inspires me and whom am I backing? Youth, passion and talent! The old order is giving way to new; support those who show grace in moving on. Be supportive of those who are embracing change. Admire and appreciate contemporary folklore. Where these young men have come from, with what aspiration

Infrastructure First. Ensure ease in Travel. Tourism will Follow! A Holistic Approach and Understanding have Brought New Growth Opportunities for Indian Tourism, opening new destinations with new found access. As this government ends its second five-year stint in power, much can be said of its push for tourism. Not perhaps as how the industry would like to see it; it embraces the larger picture of which the contours are beginning to emerge. From the very start, PM Modi identified tourism as one of the 5-Ts of his government, well before 2014. Indeed, whether one agrees or not, to each his own. Modi has been consistent with his belief that infrastructure first, ensure ease in travel, and tourism will follow. So, this story in now unfolding. In the last several years, the push has been towards creating infrastructure that provides comfort and speed, both, with safety and surety in travel. There is some that people may not agree with. Like the Bullet Train project, for instance. However,

The Countdown has Begun, and the Dice is Rolling. In the shifting sands, as the dust brings its haze, clarity of outcome remains fudgy, at best. The Dice is Rolling! What number will it settle upon? Is it really going to be 370? It could be more, or less! Only the Heavens know, or in a more practical sense, only the average voter knows. Which is not you and me! We, sitting in our urban cocoons, are not the average voter, that we all know. Any poll, any survey is not likely to tell us the end result. Just look back at 2019. It seemed to be going close but in the slog overs, all the remaining results came in favour of the ruling BJP, and the PM returned from Kedarnath from his prayers, more than answered. This time, with 2024 elections towering upon us, in the last few weeks, if all was understood to be known, some new factors have emerged and what impact will these have, is difficult to tell. The arrest of Kejriwal and freezing of Congress accounts First is the arrest of Kejriwal! Is he

These are excellent times for the hospitality industry. On a personal note, I can share modestly that I have witnessed the hospitality industry from up close from the mid-seventies to now, which is a good span of 50 years, right from the top, meaning even then and now. I have been an editor of a hotel magazine and I’ve had the privilege of knowing and interacting and engaging with the hospitality czars of that time, as even now. So, with that vantage point, I can share or say that hospitality has seldom seen such a good environment to grow. There is no looking behind. I see only an upside, no downside unless we plan our own demise. The market has boomed beyond recognition, the number of hospitality majors then were a handful, now almost a hundred of them. Brands were unknown except just a few, today each brand has its own 20 and more! Hotels are no more ‘oases’ in a land of poverty; today, they are mainstream as part of the social and economic fabric of the economy. The pipeline, howso

This is that time of the year that comes every five years. When passions are highest, often reason takes a back seat. There is so much at stake, as the voter choice will decide who and how the nation will run its course for the next five years. A third term for PM Modi appears the most likely outcome, but then there can be surprises, and how and by whom? Why the 2024 elections are important, even more so than before? Even if we look back to five years ago, at 2019, much has changed. There is a more aspirational India, a Bharat on the rise; stakes are higher for all political parties, some for their survival as this may well be their last year to stay in circulation, for others to break free from old alliances that are no longer relevant, and yet others who have fire in their belly, see themselves as harbingers of a new India. And, it is time to see what is happening to the world around us? Currents around us: we are different and how? Look at what is happening in Pakistan, post their n

After a hiatus, we were back to watching a five-day series, a far cry from the quick fix T20 and its older version of ODI, the 20 overs and 50 overs miracles introduced to the game only recently. Before then, it was only the five days’ matches, tending to become monotonous and long drawn out, tuk-tuk, with the likes of Bapu Nadkarni bowling 26 of his 29 overs as maidens. Easily, looking back, the time had come for a disruption and it did. Another remarkable ‘Made in India’, the T20 brand of cricket. Much like the 2-minute instant noodles that changed the history of how Indians changed the game in Indian food. But, what did we see during these games. As we go into print, four from the five-day matches have concluded. Not long drawn out draws, as we used to encounter long time back, but invariably, not even entering the fifth day! What a change to see and consider. The term ‘bazball’ has been invented with the English thinking they were inventing that form of fast cricket. But whosoever