My Take - US political miasma

In 2025, my observations align with a shifting landscape of US political communication, characterized by increased friction between executive transparency and congressional oversight.

I have over the last several months been watching with horror the US senate congressional hearings where the Democrats have been sincerely attempting in trying to make sense of unilateral decisions being made by a number of top ranking Trump administration officials heading various agencies and their resultant fall outs. 

Through the medium of these hearings they (the officials) are rightfully being held to task for accountability, transparency and decisions taken in abject violation of what the present law permits. 

So are the pressers being given on a regular basis by the White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt the youngest White House Press Secretary in history, justifying all of the decisions taken by these people at the top throwing caution to wind? She through her adversarial briefings has significantly altered the discourse of the briefing room's tone. Her tenure is marked by a "separation from precedent" in treating traditional media, including moves to admit "new media voices" like social media influencers to challenge established press corps narratives.

Erosion of Procedural Civility - The "common denominator" of declining decorum has manifested in high-profile confrontations between administration officials and lawmakers. Regrettably I observe that there is one common denominator that is being shockingly practiced in both these forums and that is complete lack of and display of any semblance of civility and professional courtesy by the people facing the tough questions. It has now somehow become fashionable to indulge in the use of profanities, evasive tactics, literally make attempts to denigrate the congressman seeking answers and to simply skirt the issues raised by indulging in rhetoric, slandering previous administrations and to let it be known in a unashamed brazen manner that these individuals are untouchables and above the law and accountability is a bygone trait that has now become fossilized and irrelevant. This reflects a broader trend in 2025 where standard oversight mechanisms are increasingly bypassed or met with aggressive push back.

In most of 2025 senate hearings have frequently "erupted" and "descended into chaos" as lawmakers attempt to investigate unilateral agency decisions. For example, investigations into DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) activities have seen officials accused of overreach while they, in turn, challenge the legitimacy of the oversight itself. The sense that officials act as if they are "above the law" has led to several landmark legal and legislative clashes in late 2025. The administration has faced nearly 50 lawsuits aimed at reversing unilateral actions, such as freezes on federal funding and changes to birthright citizenship.

Rhetoric from the White House often frames congressional questions as "attacks" or "weaponization," with Leavitt frequently accusing Democratic members of encouraging government "defiance" of presidential orders. 

House and Senate leaders have criticized the administration's lack of transparency regarding "spend plans" for federal agencies, which are legally required for congressional appropriations.

The administration has moved to control media access more strictly, such as blocking specific outlets from events over naming disputes (e.g., the "Gulf of America" controversy).

A conclusion. All this is happening because the behemoth elephant in the room, the President has become a role model to emulate by his minions for declaring himself an untouchable from any fact finding prisms one may want to pierce through. *Opaqueness is the new normal.* His boot lickers have gotten emboldened due to this. A sliver of a silver lining in all of this is, it will end because change is the only constant. I for one am an optimist on this score.✍🏽

 The Boot Lickers

In contemporary India, a loud, self-righteous tribe parades itself as nationalists, pledging blind allegiance to the present dispensation. Their defining characteristic bordering on ideological lobotomy is an utter incapacity for self-reflection. For them, the regime can do no wrong, despite having governed for over a decade, with a further stretch likely to take its uninterrupted rule close to fifteen years. If, after such an extended monopoly on power, accountability is still deflected elsewhere, then the problem is no longer political it is moral and intellectual.

This echo chamber survives by incessant whining. Every failure, every rot, every institutional collapse is conveniently traced back to 1947, the Congress party, or if desperation peaks the British Raj. The sheer audacity of blaming colonialism three generations after independence, while simultaneously presiding over absolute power, would be comical if it were not so tragic. Nations that were colonized alongside India South Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia have surged ahead in manufacturing, exports, and human development. South Korea’s per capita income today exceeds USD 35,000; India’s hovers around USD 2,500. Colonization did not permanently cripple ambition mis-governance did.

The more insidious argument peddled by these loyalists is cultural self-loathing masquerading as nationalism: that Indians are servile, mentally colonized, obsessed with white skin, and incapable of shedding a slave mindset. This is not patriotism; it is projection. If after 75 years of self rule, a nation of 1.4 billion people with demographic advantage, technological capability, and democratic legitimacy still struggles with unemployment, inequality, and social fragmentation, the blame lies not with long dead British officers or bygone governments, but squarely with the incumbents who have enjoyed unprecedented control over Parliament, states, institutions, and narrative.

Let us speak in numbers, not slogans.

Unemployment remains chronically high, with youth unemployment estimates frequently crossing 20%.

Real wages have stagnated for years, while inflation particularly food inflation has eroded household purchasing power.

Private investment, the lifeblood of sustainable growth, has lagged despite repeated headline-grabbing reforms.

Inequality has worsened dramatically: the top 1% now commands over 40% of the nation’s wealth, levels unseen since the colonial era.

Public expenditure on health and education remains stubbornly low compared to comparable emerging economies.

Yet none of this is discussed with honesty. Why would it be, when scapegoating the Congress and minorities is so much easier? When appeasement politics ironically denounced yet zealously practiced provides a convenient smokescreen for administrative incompetence? The present regime has not merely stumbled into extremism; it has methodically curated an extreme right wing narrative, refined its playbook, and deployed it with ruthless efficiency.

History is weaponized selectively. Congress regimes at the Centre and in the states are flogged endlessly, not to learn from past mistakes, but to permanently absolve the present of responsibility. Minorities are demonized to keep society polarized. Institutions are weakened so that dissent appears treasonous. This is not governance; it is spectacle and all too familiar Indian  tamasha.

The objective is simple and brutally effective: keep the citizen perpetually enraged, permanently distracted, and emotionally intoxicated. A population busy fighting imagined enemies does not ask inconvenient questions about job creation, collapsing education standards, crony capitalism, environmental degradation, or the steady hollowing out of democratic institutions. Critical thinking is the real casualty perhaps the only one that truly frightens those in power.

After a decade plus of absolute authority, excuses have expired. Historical alibis have lost credibility. Colonial ghosts no longer convince. If progress remains elusive, the fault lies not in the past, not in minorities, and not in some mythical slave mentality but in the abject failure of those who promised transformation and delivered division.

That is the truth the loyalists cannot tolerate. And that is precisely why it must be stated without restraint.

My humble appeal to such self anointed crusaders is that if they want leave their mark on the sands of time, and be remembered in posterity for their knowledge, do a rethink at the altar of empirical evidence and the truth and reform✍🏽

Cherry-Picking: The Comfortable Art of Self-Gratification

Cherry picking does not need an annual harvesting season. Most of us do it all year round. Human beings possess a remarkable capacity for reason, but equally remarkable is their talent for selective reasoning. One of the most common manifestations of this tendency is cherry-picking the deliberate selection of facts, experiences, beliefs, or precedents that support one’s preconceived position while ignoring those that complicate, challenge, or weaken it. Though often dismissed as a minor intellectual shortcut, cherry-picking is in fact a profound moral act, because it allows individuals and societies to justify indifference, privilege, and inequality without ever confronting their full ethical implications.

At its core, cherry-picking is about comfort. It enables people to preserve a tidy narrative of themselves as rational, fair, and morally upright, while quietly excluding inconvenient realities. A person may highlight stories of individual success to argue that “anyone can make it,” while ignoring systemic barriers that trap millions in poverty. Another may point to isolated instances of misuse of aid to dismiss the legitimacy of welfare altogether, overlooking the overwhelming evidence of daily survival struggles faced by the less fortunate. In both cases, the chosen facts are not false but they are incomplete but cherry picked and incompleteness can be more misleading than outright lies.

This selective framing becomes especially dangerous in the context of community living. Societies are not collections of isolated anecdotes; they are complex ecosystems of interdependence. When individuals cherry-pick evidence to justify self-serving beliefs, they fracture this ecosystem. Empathy gives way to moral arithmetic, where compassion is rationed based on convenience rather than need. The suffering of others is no longer seen as a shared concern but as an unfortunate abstraction regrettable, perhaps, but not sufficiently relevant to warrant personal sacrifice or collective responsibility.

Cherry-picking also allows privilege to masquerade as merit. Those who have benefited from favorable circumstances education, health, family support, social networks often highlight hard work while downplaying the invisible scaffolding that made that work fruitful. By focusing only on effort and ignoring context, they absolve themselves of any obligation to those who, despite equal or greater effort, remain trapped in cycles of deprivation. This narrative is deeply comforting, for it converts advantage into virtue and inequality into destiny.

The moral cost of this habit is steep. When societies normalize cherry-picking, they create hierarchies of deservingness, where help is extended only to those who fit a narrow, selectively constructed image of worth. The daily struggles of the marginalized hunger, illness, job insecurity, displacement are dismissed as personal failures rather than collective failures. Over time, this erodes the very idea of social solidarity, replacing it with transactional morality: “I help if it benefits me, confirms my beliefs, or preserves my self-image.”

What makes cherry picking particularly insidious is that it often operates under the guise of rationality. Numbers are quoted, examples cited, traditions invoked all stripped of nuance and broader context. Yet true reasoning demands a willingness to confront uncomfortable truths, to hold conflicting facts in tension, and to acknowledge that one’s own position may be morally incomplete. It requires seeing beyond the narrow lens of personal gain and recognizing that community well being cannot be sustained by selective compassion.

A more humane alternative lies in intellectual honesty and moral courage. This means resisting the temptation to choose only the evidence that flatters us. It means listening to voices from the margins, even when their stories disrupt our certainties. Most importantly, it means accepting that living in a community carries obligations not just to those who resemble us or validate us, but to those who struggle quietly and persistently, often without choice or voice.

In the end, cherry-picking is not merely a flaw in argumentation; it is a failure of imagination and empathy. It reflects an unwillingness to see the full human picture in all its complexity and discomfort. A just society, however, cannot be built on partial truths. It demands that we look beyond what is convenient to what is true and beyond what serves us to what sustains us all.

Knocking with Kid Gloves: The Limits of Commentary in an Era of Crisis

As the political atmosphere in the United States thickens with disillusionment and disarray, the collective response of its citizenry remains curiously muted. A cacophony of dissent rings from independent You Tubers, editorials in progressive media, and animated conversations in cafes across the nation. Yet, for all the sound and fury, there is an absence of that one critical element that historically catalyzes change: sustained, nationwide mass protest.

The grievances are not lacking. From systemic corruption and democratic backsliding to the erosion of civil liberties and growing economic inequality, Americans have no shortage of reasons to rise in opposition. But what unfolds instead is a kind of low-grade civic venting. It is intellectualized frustration, measured indignation what one might call knocking with kid gloves on the knuckles of a power structure that remains unfazed.

Critiques and commentary, while crucial for public awareness, have become a form of managed dissent. They allow citizens to feel engaged without the sacrifice or risk that direct action entails. Meanwhile, those in power understand this dynamic all too well. They tolerate, and at times even exploit, this marketplace of opinion as a buffer against real accountability.

History teaches us that transformative change does not emerge from consensus panels or viral videos alone. It arises when people leave their homes, abandon their comfort zones, and take to the streets not for a day or a weekend, but consistently, in numbers too large to ignore. The Civil Rights Movement, the anti-Vietnam War protests, and the labor struggles of the early 20th century all attest to this truth.

The moment calls not just for voices, but for bodies in motion. Until there is a tsunami of mass protests on a Pan-American basis, disruptive, persistent, and coordinated, the machinery of the current political order will grind on, indifferent to the knocks of polite criticism.

It is time to shed the gloves before it is too late. If so much long term damage has been done only in the first ten months of the Presidency, I shudder to even think what awaits the American citizenry if he is allowed to carry out his full term.✍

My Nuts & Bolts & WD-40

At the young age of 71+, I find myself standing at a meaningful crossroad. One that has led me back to my long-mothballed drawing board to craft a fresh life's toolkit for the journey ahead. This is not a one-time exercise, but an ongoing, evolving endeavor. My toolkit will never be a finished product; it will shift and expand as my body, mind, and circumstances continue their inevitable dance with change. It will mirror my personal ecosystem my weathered DNA, the sum of my experiences, my highs and lows, the agility of my faculties, and the quiet realities of age.

I am convinced that this toolkit, a living and breathing companion, will guide me through the ever-changing phases that lie ahead. It will serve as my new North Star and inner moral compass helping me come to terms with my evolving self, my shifting priorities, and the truths that time asks all of us to accept with grace. This is not surrender; it is re-calibration. A deliberate way to draw the best from the years before me and to honour the journey I continue to share with my constant, dearest lifetime companion my wife Meeta, my family, friends and the one most cherished by me now with the arrival of my granddaughter Samaara two years ago.

This toolkit is not filled with spanners and screwdrivers, but with patience, acceptance, curiosity, resilience, and kindness for myself and for those I cherish. It includes the courage to face both the familiar and the unforeseen. In nurturing these qualities, I hope to build not only a framework to carry me through the coming years one year, one season at a time but also a gentle reminder that even now, I can learn, adapt, thrive, and grow as a human being.

One truth remains unwavering: learning, reflection, and the pursuit of understanding have never ceased for me. They are the Big Ben of my faculties ticking steadily, reliably, every hour of every day.

I am certain that many who have reached their own quiet crossroads have, in their own way, have paused to reflect and assembled whatever inner toolkit serves them best for the beautiful, exciting years that still await them.

Peace and God bless. ✍🏾🙏🏽

The Most Addictive Substance Known to Humans

Legal issues aside, when asked at random what the most addictive force available to humans is, most people will rattle off the usual suspects - alcohol, drugs, or perhaps even sex.

I beg to differ and have a contrarian view.

In my books, the most potent, addictive, and ultimately destructive mantle humans can don - whether seized by sheer coercion or bestowed through the veneer of an alleged democratic equitable representation model process which is nothing more than an illusion of democracy - is power, all under the dubious mirage of fair elections but the outcome remains hauntingly similar no matter which playbook is put in motion.

History has shown time and again what addiction to power does to human beings. It plays out in every sphere of life in familiar theaters - from domestic bedrooms to corporate boardrooms, from small states to the grand stage of nations and global empires. History bears silent testimony and is a damning witness to what intoxication and inebriation of unbridled power sans checks and balances does to the human spirit. 

Power seduces before it destroys. It begins by granting the illusion of control, only to end by enslaving those who wield it with a high unparalleled, a cancer of the mind unhinged and metastasized. The higher one rises, the deeper the addiction takes root. Absolute power, as we have seen through the ages, mutates even the noblest of minds into raving, delusional shadows of their former selves. Absolute power changes those who wield it, turning them into psychopathic, raving sub-human lunatics. Exceptions exist, yes - rare souls who wear power lightly and remain on a high moral compass but they are painfully few and far between. And by way of an appendage they are the exception, not the rule.

Habitual cynics will scoff at what has been penned above and condescendingly seek a remedy from me to deep clean the toxic ruling by mandate ecosystem. To them and those who enjoy the pangs of power I beseech them to soak in what Socrates viewed true power. He opined true power as coming from the internal control of one's own soul and the pursuit of a virtuous and just life, rather than from external factors like political might or wealth which by default is temporary intrinsically because of the mortal DNA of human beings.✍?

The Sons of Soil Shelter - Joker in the Pack

Across the world, the political ruling class - whether anointed by an alleged democratic mandate, by lineage, or by sheer seizure of power - shares one undeniable trait. Each governs from the same dominion-centrist playbook, one that prioritizes survival over service.

This handbook is little more than a deck of cards - a well-worn pack filled with misinformation, propaganda, appeasement, and populism - all designed to keep them glued to power.

When one card begins to lose its shine, another is swiftly dealt from the deck - a new distraction, a fresh promise, or a convenient villain to sustain public attention and preserve their reign. Over time, as this arsenal of deception runs thin and the electorate begins to stir with dissatisfaction, desperation sets in.

It is then that the final card is played - the Joker in their pack - the “Sons of Soil” card. Through orchestrated propaganda, a narrative is spun: that the nation’s economic and social ills stem from outsiders, from liberal immigration policies, from those who do not belong. The “true” sons of the soil, they claim, are the victims of neglect and reverse discrimination.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

This card - played time and again across centuries and continents - remains the most divisive, the most cynical, and yet the most effective trick in the political magician’s repertoire. It appeals not to reason, but to fear; not to unity, but to the primal hunger for identity. And as history keeps reminding us, whenever that Joker is played, humanity itself ends up as the loser.

Thought for the Day
When the ruling class exhausts its cards of deceit, distraction, and populism, it plays the final joker in the pack - the “Sons of Soil” card. Cloaked in patriotism but steeped in fear, it blames outsiders for every ill and claims to defend the native. In truth, it’s not protection they seek, but preservation - of their power, not the people.✍🏽

Instant Gratification - A virus more lethal than any pandemic.

My two cents (recently upgraded from one cent through the process of osmosis) are my own observations during the last several decades on humanity’s greed for instant gratification. This mostly encapsulates Gen Y (the millennials) and now Gen Z (Digital Natives).

By the way these penned convictions of mine are by no way an attempt in trying to sully the reputation of these generations but simply putting my views in the public domain.

Instant gratification has become their daily recited mantra in all aspects of their lives. Whether it relates to wealth accumulation, upgrading their lifestyles, initiating relationships, everything needs to be achieved immediately ASAP without the patience. waiting, and inputting of required commensurate efforts. 

Short cuts to glory are the new normal. They have willfully allowed their happiness index to be subjugated by their carnal desires bereft of any spiritual elements. In the background their misery index is having a field day highly nuanced but their self embraced denial syndrome gives them a temporary and momentary high by not acknowledging its existence. This falsehood regrettably inevitably gets metastasized in their grey cells.

Unfortunately now even their widely spoken and written English language communication has fallen in their predatory cross hairs, where crass brevity has become their SOP. This language that evolved over the years is being procreated in a bastardized manner, with scant consideration to grammar, spelling and punctuation.

I pray that it is high time that they wake up and see the writing on the walls. Otherwise over passage of time what will play out is simply that due to sheer neglect and ignorance, there will be a stage reached, where several towers of Babel would have been constructed albeit regrettably. 

As a result multiplicity of coded language variants will be created, where no one will be able to understand each other, and have meaningful dialogs. Expressions achieving traction will be non existent.

Reluctantly, I will be forced take comfort in the fact, that I will not be around to witness such a horror unfolding all thanks to my advancing age.✍🏼

Does the end justifies the means?

A line we’ve all heard far too often and perhaps accepted far too easily. In today’s world, servility and self-preservation march together like inseparable twins, standing as living proof of this age-old but deeply flawed adage. Whether in corporate boardrooms, business circles, bureaucratic corridors, or among the countless boot-lickers who thrive in every ecosystem, the pattern is unmistakable: personal survival and individual gain take precedence over integrity, accountability, and the greater good.

What makes this so toxic and corrosive is not just the behavior itself, but the normalization of it. Ambition disguised as loyalty, manipulation sold as strategy, spinelessness masquerading as pragmatism; all in service of protecting one’s own turf. And in that relentless pursuit of self-preservation, the larger interests of the country, the community, and the collective future are casually tossed aside and scarified with glee.

This mindset has seeped so deeply into our structures that many no longer even question it. The pursuit of power has replaced the pursuit of purpose. The hunger for approval has overshadowed the need for principle. And the result is a society where progress is stunted not by lack of talent or opportunity, but by the sheer weight of small-minded self-interest practiced at scale.

If anything needs to be questioned today, it is this blind acceptance of “the end justifies the means.” Because when the means are rotten, the end no matter how glorified is always hollow. If this is what we have come to, then perhaps it’s time to ask a harder question:

When the means are corrupt, can any end ever truly be justified?