India in Googletimes

By Vijaya Pushkarna


Why has Asha Devi, the gutsy mother of Nirbhaya, lost faith in the judiciary in exactly 10 days?
On Jan 7, after a Delhi courtissued death warrants for the rapists of her daughter Nirbhaya—the fearless one—Asha was happy  that she had won a 7-year long battle for justice , she said it was  victory for all women. She acknowledged there was delay, that she would have liked it fast-tracked, but reposed her faith in the judiciary.

Nirbhaya was  gangraped and left to die in Dec 2012. The brutality of it, the sadistic pleasure of a juvenile among the six rapists numbed the nation. Like Asha, many Indians wanted the harshest of punishment for them. One rapist committed suicide in the jail. One was a juvenile, whose punishment under laws __ rehabilitation__ governing the juvenile, angered many. 
 Saturday, Asha Devi was on many television channels,  at once sad and angry.She tried to reach out to  Prime Minister  Narendra Modi. “You came to power in 2014 promising safety …

By Vijaya Pushkarna



The late Bharat Ratna M S Subalakshmibecame the first Indian to sing before the delegates at the United NationsGeneral Assembly on UN Dayin 1966.
The demure lady was a picture of her usual self in New York. With her trademark sparkling diamond nakshtra ear rings, the8-stoned “besari” flashing on her nose, deep hued Kanjeevaram silk saree with a contrasting border modestly draped around her shoulders, big vermillion bindi on her forehead, jasmine braid around the bun her hair was styled into , humility on her face and divinity in her voice, she began her concert with a Sanskrit prayer, that the Shankaracharya at Kancheepuram had called an “anthem of universal friendship”.
Among the songs she sang there was an English hymn composed by C Rajagopalachari. Handel Manuel, was producer of Western Music at the All India Radio in Madras. The idea had come from Gen K M Cariappa.

M S also sang a ghazal she had learnt from Begum Akhtar. Written by Mirza Ghalib, “Ishrat-e-qatra ha…