Should smoking be banned in public places? There are people who smoke and people who do not. It is in public places that individuals form these groups inevitably meet and are forced to interact. And in such places, whose will is to prevail- a smoker’s or the non-smoker’s. Considering  the matter objectively from the angles of environment, health, as well as individual rights, it is the non-smoker’s will that should prevail....

Human Ability “No one know what he can do till he tries”. This was first said by Publics Syrus many year ago but it has survived as an eternal truth to this day. Trial and endeavor are the acid test  for deterring ability. Never judge a book by its cover’ goes the proverb and indeed it is impossible to know the contents of a book by merely looking at its cover....

Should there be Liquor Prohibition? In a democracy where the concept of individual freedom is an integral part, any talk of general code of conduct becomes ticklish. Perhaps in a Utopian society and issue like liquor prohibition will be found both desirable as well as feasible but in a real society, notwithstanding the possible calamitous effects of liquor, the issue generates lot of heat and sweat. But of maintaining individual freedom...

The Global Village The ‘global village’ is a term in current usage that is acquiring the quality of a cliche. Indeed, in many ways, national boundaries have become irrelevant. Money markets and multinational corporations, satellite television, internet and intercontinental missiles, all seem to mock at boundaries that are no longer scared. In the circumstances, people may be justified in wondering if the nation-state has outlived its utility and is in the...

Criminalization of Politics  The leaders who achieved independence for India spent long years in jail; many a politician today ought to, justly, be in jail. The former were imprisoned for fighting a just cause against an alien rule; the latter is no better than common criminals- petty thieves, gangsters, murderers, and rapists. For politics today has become not the last but the first resort of the scoundrel.           An important reason...

The world needs more Tolerance “Tolerance is the only real test of civilization”. It was Arthur Kelps who thus extolled the virtue of tolerance. Man in the 21st century believes he is more civilized than his ancestors. But is he also more tolerant than them? Unfortunately, the virtue of tolerance is not abundant in the world of today and the world is in dire need of it.           Tolerance can be...

Teaching September 5 is Teacher’s Day, commemorating the birthday of scholar and philosopher and the second President of India, DR S. Radhankrishnan. What is the day meant to signify? Recall the importance of teachers? Show them respect, at least for  the day? There is a tradition in many schools to give the teachers a day off from teaching; instead, the senior students take on the mantle of their teachers and do...

Child Welfare  November 14, Children’s Day. It no longer gets the attention it used to even a few years ago. The media- print or electronic- mention it, hardly. No colour supplements tracing the origin and significance of the day; nor interviews with famous personalities about the importance of children , their own memories of childhood, their experience with children and so many other things our original thinkers in media come up...