An Indecisive Indian

  There is a famous quote, often attributed to Winston Churchill , that “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” In today’s climate of hype and headline-making announcements, one might well add a fourth category: declarations that fall into four convenient shades, the truth, the lie, the hype, and the half-truth. Indian Railways (IR) , it would seem, has not merely learnt the craft of presenting hype and half-truths but has elevated it to something of a performing art, complete with drumrolls, confetti cannons, standing ovations. First the hype. There are innumerable examples, but let us stick to the latest one. It was announced this week that building on the success of Vande Bharat trains, a new era of high-speed freight transport is going to begin with Vande Bharat-based freight trains. IR is gearing up to launch India’s Vande Bharat freight EMU, and Integral Coach Factory, Chennai, will soon roll out the first prototype for testing and trials. The fre...

Khwateen o hazraat (ladies and gentlemen), how fortunate you are. You were born in Hindustan, and in your virasat (heritage) you received not merely a language but a living, breathing tehzeeb (culture), zaban-e-Urdu (the Urdu language), or better still, Hindustani. And with it came that exquisite inheritance of adab (literature), sher o shairi (poetry). Such is this adab that one can only marvel at this khushnaseebi (good fortune), that countless poets have adorned the husn-e-ghazal (beauty of the ghazal), and will continue to do so for ages to come. Thus was created this luminous khazana (treasure) of ghazals, and among those who carried it to the hearts of people with unmatched grace, the name that rises above all is Jagjit Singh. What is a ghazal? It is as if a husn-e-be-misaal (peerless beauty) has gently shaken her rain-kissed tresses, and in that fleeting moment the air is filled with a lateef (delicate) freshness, a roohani kaifiyat (spiritual mood). Like droplets slipping...