Tushar Mangl

It is a decade now since I started my first blog, My Musings in October of 2006. Over the years, it has transformed into different avatars, some successful some not, but my effort to blog has remained as eager as ever. In ten years, the blog not only changed names or URLs at times but also its themes and genres. It became the launch pad for my first story The Thakur Boy which I wrote in 2007.  The Avenging Act also became possible due to this blog. Whenever I am about to do something new, I like to come back here, the comfort place for all things creative for me. So many people ask me, how did you manage so far. Several bloggers drop down after some time of beginning to blog. In my case, blogging gave me a life I had never known. I never knew I could write stories. I still can't believe I could even attempt to pen poetry (hence I named my poetry collection as The Reluctant Scribbler). There have been a variety of lows, including declining readership with advent of microb...

Nearly four years ago when Cyrus Mistry became chairman of the Tata Sons Board, one of India's largest conglomerate, he inherited a huge mess left over by his predecessor. Nearly any company your pick from the Tata stable, mismanagement from the top is clearly written over them. Like a sarkari company, they all are moving along in a zombie kind of way, knowing that their name would survive them. Indeed, Ratan Tata started off his own stint at Tata started in the 70s with big duds like NELCO and Empress Mills that failed badly. In recent years, his Nano project was by and large a media hype and nothing else. You declare a car for 1 lakh, sell it for more than that, and then the cars keep burning on roads. They are not sold properly, they have quality issues. Again, the name kept him going. In another company, in another country, perhaps the chairman would have been asked questions. Here, things were coated in PR about affordable cars which no one wanted. Look at the Indian Ho...

When some terrorists from Pakistan attacked Uri the other week, the biggest casualty was the image of our Prime Minister. A quick peep into social media would have shown anyone the impatience for action, like he had promised. I was amused to see people bringing out Indira Gandhi's name as someone who was really bold enough leader. That was of course more insulting to Dr. Manmohan Singh then to Mr. Modi as Singh unlike Modi had been at help for a decade yet the Congress had to dig into 70s to find a name to prop against Modi By sanctioning a surgical strike yesterday Modi has really shown his mettle as one of the shrewdest PMs we ever had. What he tried was risky, innovative and immensely successful, First, he took the bitter pill of bad publicity to his name as someone not doing enough. Then with Sushma Swaraj's help at the United Nations, a diplomatic offensive was launched. At the sideline was talks about Indus Water Treaty and MFN status to India. With people hammering fo...

A reporter goes deep into the Maoist's territory and brings out an amazing account of one of the most turbulent movements of Independent India. Rahul Pandita does not simply go by secondary research, indeed most of the reportage here is first hand. He has himself interviewed various people supposedly associated with the Maoists. The cause itself is a lost one now. Even China could not benefit entirely from his vision. It was the men who followed him, truly built the superpower that China is. But the bitter truth also is that the Maoist movement succeeded and failed mostly due to the complete apathy of large urban populace to the plight of the country.  A book I would highly recommend to all who are interested in India's modern history.

Rahul Pandita's Our Moon has Blood Clots is an insightful read into the travails and hardships faced by Kashmiri Pandits over decades. They have been forced into exile time and again, their religion making them an easy mark, their identities always under grave threat. It is indeed true that the Indian State's attitude towards Pandits is mostly to ignore them, as if wishing that ignoring a problem will solve it. In his book, Rahul takes us through his childhood home and how Pandits used to live in the Kashmir Valley.He chronicles the bloody exodus of thousands of Pandits in the 90s and how they were made unwelcome in their own land. The state of refugees is appalling as Rahul describes it, and one wonders why no ever raised a voice against it. His research is well done. He does not stop at one story, he digs up many stories of Kashmiri Pandits to get that right picture, the right perspective. The butchering of Pandits in 1947 add to the text and some how complete...

Curfewed Night is Basharat Peer's first book. It is narrated in a form of a survivor story whose live revolved around some of Kashmir's toughest times. The book mirrors the h ypocrisy of Kashmiris , enjoying subsidised schooling, government jobs, studying in state run Colleges and never being grateful about it. Instead we have romanticism for AK 47s and pride of militancy. The book also throws light on the total aloofness of Delhi politicians towards the hatred of Kashmiris. This is reflected in Army's treatment towards the Kashmiri populace, the torture and rapes. The army it seems has been stuck into this wonderland with no particular sense and plan to do something. Its prerogative is to maintain 'peace' but what can it do for the turmoils within? Read this book, if you want to feel sympathetic towards the Kashmiri cause. Which is to have everything and to do nothing for it. Indeed, when I was reading about the tortures and shoot outs, I wondered, why would...

At a time when the society is discouraging surge pricing by taxi operators, the Indian Railways  has shocked one and all by asserting its monoplistic structure.  It has introduced surge pricing, on so called premium trains even though they are actually overpriced shoddy trains which are preferred by people mostly due to the alternates. The last time I travelled in a Shatabadi, the window in the toilet was absent. Instead they had fixed a paper carton like the ones we use for packaging to fill in the gap. The alternate trains are more shoddy have a poor time table and very badly managed. In most of such trains the tickets are not even checked properly. Thus allowing more indiscipline and chaos. So, by the reason of railways, since it is a monopoly why not loot people in the name of surge pricing? And what better time than the festive season when people are going home to bring this measure in? The central government was expected to bring in effeciency to railways to cut...