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Truly a pickled piece of the past!

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Rajdeep Sardesai shared this video on X (formerly, Twitter): https://x.com/sardesairajdeep/status/1878710051218903289?s=48. Circa 1990 of a 17-year old Sachin Tendulkar who was then being hailed as the next Gavaskar. To have so many cameras and spotlight and expectations thrust on you from the age of 16, and still be very grounded, is an amazing thing. I remember writing in my diary during my school days that I wanted to be like him - never let things get to my head.  And so many wonderful childhood memories and stalwarts mentioned in that one single video - Ramakant Achrekar, Madhav Apte, Madhav Mantri, the Sassanian Club, the Anjuman Islam team, school cricket, the Harris Shield...! One thing led to the other, and soon I was reminiscing about the '90s - the legendary tournament called the Kanga League played in Bombay in the monsoon. It was absolutely crazy and unique, and I always looked forward to reading about it in Mid-Day! It was a time when everyone followed the Ranji,...
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Privilege in the legal world

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Iqbal Chagla, such a legend in Indian legal history. What tenacity and integrity! I grew up in awe of the big names of Indian legal history.  But I have also always had mixed feelings about the illustrious legal families - the Chaglas, Chandrachuds, Jethmalanis... Even our current CJI Sanjeev Khanna comes from a long lineage of prominent lawyers. (His uncle was Justice H.R. Khanna, the legend who spoke truth to power during the Emergency with a dissenting opinion in the ADM Jabalpur case and thereby lost his opportunity to become CJI. The last CJI D.Y. Chandrachud's father, Y.V. Chandrachud, was also on that same bench and was part of the majority opinion.)  Coming back, like politics, it always felt like a famous last name was the best leg-up you could have in legal circles. Privilege really helps in what is otherwise a cut-throat field. I have often consoled myself by thinking that privileged though they may be, with each new generation, at least they help liberalise our leg...
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Ah, the joy of going through old magazine covers...!

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I am going through some old magazine covers on the internet. Brief note only, just to note down the two things it prompted me to think of immediately: (1) "Miyan, captain banoge?" and (2) hurt pride or not, there was no parting with the poonal even for a photo shoot (thread believed to be sacred by Brahmins).  (Pic credit: internet)
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MMS - my own tribute to the nation-builder

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A lot has been said about the legacy of Manmohan Singh, both as Finance Minister of India in 1991 when he announced the opening up of the Indian economy, and as Prime Minister of India from 2004 to 2014. As a lifelong champagne socialist, this note is to offer my thoughts on THAT Union Budget of 1991 that proved to be the turning point for India in myriad ways. In 1991, India was a country that followed Soviet-style five-year plans. From an ideological perspective, the Cold War had just ended, American capitalism had triumphed, the USSR had fallen, and as Francis Fukuyama boasted, "It was the end of history".  From a realism perspective, the Indian economy was in tatters. India had a few weeks worth of forex left. With the perceived end of socialism and a weakened Russia (its main international ally then), only the institutions of the Washington Consensus (IMF, WB, US Treasury) could have bailed India out. That bail-out came with conditionalities.  What followed has been stud...
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Pleasantly surprised by Heretic!

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A bit late in capturing this but highly recommend Hugh Grant's latest movie called 'Heretic'.  On the face of it, is a survival horror-thriller. But actually is an excellent exposition of religion. A multi-layered discussion on the evolution of religion (especially monotheistic ones), and the concepts of 'belief' and 'disbelief'. Unfortunately, as is the fate of many good movies, the makers were clearly stumped as to how to create a befitting climax to their intelligently-crafted movie - the last 20 or so minutes are disappointingly silly. But the performances are superb. And the narrative is well-paced. And there is the added bonus of watching Hugh Grant in a departure from his well-worn bumbling upper-class Englishman roles! And well worth watching as opposed to, say, Gladiator 2 which made me both laugh and cry but not the way the film-makers would have wanted me to. Terrible performance, non-existent story and screenplay, and laughable historicity. (Pic ...
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