All stories by SHOBHA WARRIER
'Not a shining India, but there is a feel-good factor'
Rediff.com15 Nov 2018'Life will not improve overnight; it will happen in a gradual manner.'
Sabarimala: 'It's very difficult to go back to normalcy'
Rediff.com14 Nov 2018'Sometime back, there was not much empathy for communal sentiments or traditions in Kerala.' 'The situation is totally different now.' 'The forces which were not so powerful earlier are getting more powerful now.'
Want to save water? Give it a price
Rediff.com11 Nov 2018'In India, we are paying a price for not managing water as we are not willing to pay the cost for it.'
Why Indians stayed away from festival shopping this year
Rediff.com9 Nov 2018'In the last 4, 5 years, ever since online companies started online shopping in a big way with heavy discounts, our sales are affected badly.' 'As there is no control over the way the online companies operate, they were able to destroy the domestic retail market to a great extent.'
'Centre should come out with a special Act for Sabarimala'
Rediff.com31 Oct 2018'Hindu unity is possible without any external forces playing any role if their faith is questioned.'
'Under BJP CBI has become Controlled Bureau of Investigation'
Rediff.com29 Oct 2018'The government made a mess.' 'When there is a director, how can you have an in-charge director?' 'Then, they shifted all the 14 officers who were working on the Asthana case which has never happened in the history of the CBI.'
'Real tragedy is the attitude of railways to people'
Rediff.com20 Oct 2018'The accident happened because the railway track was at the same level as the ground, so the people walked over it.'
'Sabarimala temple is not discriminatory at all'
Rediff.com19 Oct 2018'It is wrong to assume that it is only after 1991 that we started following this ritual.' 'Ayyappan himself instructed where the temple had to be built, the rituals that had to followed and the route that had to be taken by devotees to the temple.'
'Sabarimala issue is dividing Hindu society'
Rediff.com17 Oct 2018'The first time a ban on women aged between 10 and 50 entering Sabarimala came was in 1991 and was by a high court judgment.' 'So, it is only a 27-year-old ban.' 'The high court can fix customs and the Supreme Court can overturn it.' 'I don't see this as an attack on religious freedom or the practice of a religion.'
'Nobody can take Balabhaskar's place, ever'
Rediff.com11 Oct 2018'I had always felt he was on par with international musicians.' 'Everybody realised his worth as a musician only after he left us.'
'Not even the Supreme Court can question our beliefs'
Rediff.com11 Oct 2018'The Supreme Court should not have come out with this kind of order and in my opinion, the court should correct it.'
'Balabhaskar was a true legend, a great musician'
Rediff.com5 Oct 2018'I told him, "Balu, you have to get out of the hospital. We have to do a lot of programmes together".' 'When I kissed him on his forehead, tears started rolling from his eyes.' 'I wiped the tears away and prayed.' 'I didn't know that was the last time I was going to see my friend alive.'
'Reservation is just one aspect'
Rediff.com2 Oct 2018'The common belief in political circles is that if you provide reservation to somebody, s/he will automatically come up.' 'This is a very faulty understanding.'
'Caste has become a beacon of democracy in India'
Rediff.com28 Sep 2018'Every person has two identities in India, that of his caste and nation.' 'It is understandable in a multi-caste, multi-religious society and I don't mind this.' 'What I mind is the State has failed in doing enough to melt these two identities in such a way that everybody has access to citizenship which is more important than your caste.' 'That is why people remain in the narrow identities of his caste or religion.'
'Why India MUST send an Indian into space
Rediff.com12 Sep 2018'When the Americans are talking about colonising Mars by 2030, India cannot be lagging behind.'
Does Modi want to hijack higher education?
Rediff.com5 Sep 2018'Everything will be decided by the Centre.' 'Universities will have no autonomy to start a new course or introduce a new syllabus.'
Why we must salute Kerala's fishermen!
Rediff.com29 Aug 2018'The entire rescue operation was very dangerous, and something we have not experienced before.' 'It was different from what we experience on the seas.'
'Dams played a major role in this flood'
Rediff.com27 Aug 2018'The rivers that caused the maximum problem were the ones that had dams built on them.'
The Indian Navy Commander who rescued pregnant women
Rediff.com23 Aug 2018'One wrong input meant instead of rescuing one person, four people in the helicopter would gone down.' 'That was the risk I was supposed to take.' 'It was like balancing on a pin.' 'In an ordinary situation, I would not have done that operation at all because it was extremely risky. But this was an emergency.'
The bridge that saved 100 lives
Rediff.com22 Aug 2018'Nothing differentiated us, neither religion nor money.' 'We were all in a crisis together and we survived together.' 'We plan to assemble on the bridge every year on the same day, to thank for giving us a second life.'