There was a young lady who could sing so beautifully that she would enchant every listener. Her songs could be heard everywhere. She was very good for the music lovers.
She became rich and famous. Lots of people wanted her to sing their songs. Because she was in demand, she began demanding things — such as not allowing any of her competitors to sing. She silenced her opposition.
Time goes by, and the young lady became an old lady. Her voice had become shrill and painful to listen to. But …

In a few days, Indians will vote in a general election. The result of the elections will determine who gets to make the policies for India. The Congress-led UPA performed dismally over the last five years. No surprise there. The UPA has as good a shot at winning this time around as does the NDA or the Third Front. I wouldn’t vote for the Congress for an enormous number of reasons. Here’s one reason that M J Akbar spelled out in August 2008. The original is from the Khaleej Times …

Development inclusive of people in rural areas is not really distinct from development in general. Indeed it is not possible to have real development while excluding the majority of the people — the majority of Indians are rural.
Generally speaking, Indian rural populations and subsistence agriculture are almost exactly congruent notions. As long as that equation persists, India will continue to be underdeveloped and poor. The reason is that subsistence agriculture does not scale, and therefore the productivity is bounded by a very low limit.