What gives

 I am down with a bad bout of viral illness.Have not had conjunctivites forever and having had my flu vaccine ,I have hardly had flu-like symptoms for close to a decade.Suddenly yesterday my sister noted that my eyes were red and today I have a full fledged eye symptoms.I have my dark glasses on ,so to avoid drama. I am trying to make my public appearance as less as possible. Early morning I got called to see my cousin who was down with  pain abdomen.I took her to the casualty and was joined by another cousin who had a pain in the right hypochondrium.It all started at six in the morning and by the time we rounded up it was around eight thirty.Reached home just to find that it was a full house there too .A little caught up for a sunday morning. The war in Ukraine is appalling to say the least.For this time and age, wierd would be the word.It is very difficult to understand the dynamics but the sheer proportion of refugees and war victims leave one's mind numb.Is there a need fo...

 I have often asked my uncle ,a veteran congressman,during his hay days ,as to why the congress is so dependant on the Gandhis.His answer was that ,'without the Gandhis,the party would fall into pieces because there would be so much infighting .The  Gandhis keep the party together.' Indian politics and geopolitical scene has undergone  a mammoth change in the last decade or so.Grass-root politics has become the essence of the day.Are the Gandhis,a problem as the dissidents make it out to be?I guess not.They are doing their bit ..but the aspiration of the congressman that sheer Gandhi charisma and nil work at the grassroot level should win them elections is a myth. I have lived in UP for almost a better part of two years and have seen a vague caricature of what goes on.The truth is,there is no congress presence there. Nearer this election we heard a few Samajwadi noises ,to be precise exactly one brahmin farmer who had just come back from the farmer's agitation in Delhi.I ...