Who doesn't know that casteism is all-pervasive in India. However, when one talks of casteism, often things boil down to the intensity of untouchability, officially abolished after India became a republic, found in not just in rural areas but also in towns and cities. I found it existing when I settled down in Ahmedabad, living in a two bedroom apartment in a supposedly posh area. The person who would come to pick up trash daily at our doorstep would be given food leftover in the evening. While we wouldn't have any leftover, the next door neighbour would give it in such a way that she or he doesn't come in direct contact (touch) of the person, who would belong to the Valmiki community, "lowest" in the Hindu social ladder. That was in mid-1990s. We are now living in the third decade of the 21st century. It's a middle class society where I live in Ahmedabad. I often hear phrases like "these scheduled castes" from persons belonging to upper castes to de...

Kirit Parikh, Kaushik Basu Yesterday I attended Prof Kaushik Basu's lecture on global economy, after which I did a story on what all he said. I don't know the reason, but he was extremely cautious on issues on which he is known to be vocal on India. I pointedly asked his during the question answer session whether he saw India was slipping into hypernationalism, and if yes, what would be its impact on the Indian economy. Prof Basu had already spoken about hypernationalism in Argentina and how it had harmed the economy. He just said, there was certainly a "risk", but refused to say more. A little later he referred to hypernationalism in the US under McCarthyism in early 1950s. He said, the country overcame the phenomenon before it was too late, and the economy survived. However, he remained cautious on India. A former economic adviser to the Manmohan Singh government, was he told to not directly talk about India in any negative manner? It would seem so, if one goes b...

Dummy schools? Well, this is the new term that has been coined -- and they are a "happening" in Ahmedabad, vibrant Gujarat's business capital. An insider who happens to occupy an important position in one such school told me the other day, what are known as many "classes" -- the after-school coaching shops -- have "tied up" with recognised schools. "The children are helped by enrolling them in regular schools, which for them operate as dummy schools. They don't have to attend classes. Their attendance is marked as present. They appear in regularly in all examinations. Only once a week they are required to go to their dummy schools where they are enrolled, that too if they are science students, as the coaching classes don't have lab facilities", I was told. I have no idea if the Gujarat government is aware of this development. However, it is highly unlikely that the politicians associated with the ruling BJP don't know about it, as...

  Despite official propaganda, in a significant revelation, MLAs of the Gujarat state legislative assembly and the Gujarat government appear to be totally indifferent towards issues related with environment and climate change, a study by two advocacy groups, Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel (MAGP), released in Ahmedabad, has said. The study, titled “Performance Report of Members of Legislative Assembly Gujarat”, seeking to analyse questions asked the the Gujarat assembly by MLAs, finds that out of 38,121 starred and 10,224 unstarred questions for which answers were sought from various Gujarat government departments over the last five years, only 55 starred and just three unstarred questions related with climate change. The Gujarat government – which formed climate change department with great fanfare when Narendra Modi was state chief minister – appears to be equally indifferent towards the questions related with climate change. Thus, out th...