Frankthoughts

Scenes of a few Australian cricketers gesturing to the president of the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI), Sharad Pawar to leave the podium after the ICC Champions Trophy presentation had been flashed across all media worldwide. Pawar declined initially from commenting on the issue and dismissed it as something trivial. He however later, asked for a formal apology from the Australian team, because, “If they apologise, it would be a good signal to the people of this country (read India)”, as he put it. As per reports, the Australian team captain sent his formal apology to Pawar and has even tried to contact him personally. All this is fine…but was the Australian demeanour just Aussie arrogance, as perceived by the host nation, or were they just eager to receive the award? If so, then is this freedom of expression universal? Are there any limits to it? Or is just a matter of perspective? Who decides this? Almost all democracies have signed the United Nations, Universal De...

The recent announcement of Tata Steel buying Corus, the erstwhile British Steel, has indeed made a lot of Indians very proud. There are several reasons for this. The deal cost the Tatas $12.1 billion and has propelled them from the fifty sixth to the fifth position in the steel industry!  This post might seem a bit biased and over the top…but what the hell! “Do you mean to say that Tatas propose to make steel rails to British specifications? Why, I will undertake to eat every pound of steel rail they succeed in making” - Sir Frederick Upcott (Chairman, Board of Indian Railways, in 1907 when Tatas proposed to make steel)  Upcott must have turned in his grave after the deal was announced! I’m sure if he were alive today he would be embarrassed about his statement, to say the least. The Tatas have just bought over one of the last few icons of Her Majesty’s Empire. Hence, for a country that was once a British colony for more than a hundred years, what can be better?...