Personal change

Here's a very interesting read on why change at a personal level (e.g., switching off the lights when you leave a room) alone is not going to help us change our world for the better. Read the comments too.

Minister of State for External Affairs

Today's Deccan Herald carries a story on the Nilekanis and the MoS for External Affairs, Shashi Tharoor, releasing a book called Study in America: The Definitive Guide for Aspiring Students.

Doesn't this strike anyone else as odd? Shouldn't our esteemed MoS release books titled Studying in India: The Definitive Guide etc etc instead? Perhaps someone should tell Mr Tharoor that External Affairs does not mean working for other countries...

More than just an airport

Today's Deccan Herald carries a piece I wrote on Devanahalli fort, one of my favourite places in Bangalore.


"Mention Devanahalli and everyone thinks ‘International Airport’. But Devanahalli is also where one of Indian history’s most colourful personalities, Tipu Sultan, was born. Indeed, the town is quite a heritage hotspot, with a history stretching back several hundred years even before Tipu.

A fine fort famous for its association with Tipu Sultan and Hyder Ali lies just off the national highway, about 10 km beyond the airport exit."


You can read the rest of the article here.


Incidentally, we (by which I mean Intach, not the royal we!) conducted a heritage walk at Devanahalli just two days before this article appeared. Sunday saw me and two colleagues from Intach talk to 48 (yes, 48!) children about Devanahalli. Of course, it wasn't just us; volunteers from SECA were there, too, to keep an eye on their flock and make sure all 48 came back!

We had a blast and I'd like to think at least some of the kids did too. A few of them came up to me at the end of the walk to tell me this wasn't like any history lesson they had ever attended. I'm certainly glad they thought so.