Vaish Words©

Open Letter to Indra Nooyi, Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo

2013-06-19T06:19:00.000-04:00

“This above all, to thine own self be true.” <!--[if gte mso 9]>

Can cricket save India?

2013-05-29T05:29:00.000-04:00

“The price of greatness is responsibility.” Winston Churchill Cricket is still considered a gentleman’s game. It is one of the oldest and largest global sports still steeped in tradition and old fashioned sporting values; derived from its 16th century origins in Southern England (source: Wikipedia). Ironically, cricket’s dominance and governing power

The American Idea

2013-04-30T16:30:00.000-04:00

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” United States of America Declaration of Independence Why was America not completely outraged by the charades that were played out at both political conventions in this last

Review of the 2013 Oscar Best Picture Nominees

2013-01-31T13:31:00.000-05:00

“Everything I learned I learned from the movies.” Audrey Hepburn Beasts of the Southern Wild Wow! Rarely, do I use the word spectacular to describe a film but if there is one must watch movie in this crop of Oscar nominees, then this is the one. I had no idea what to expect when I walked in, other than it being recommended by a number of

The New Social Revolution

2012-12-31T00:31:00.000-05:00

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The Real India

2012-11-30T11:30:00.000-05:00

“This is indeed India; the land of dreams and romance, of fabulous wealth and fabulous poverty, of splendor and rags, of palaces and hovels, of famine and pestilence, of genii and giants and Aladdin lamps, of tigers and elephants, the cobra and the jungle, the country of a thousand nations and a hundred tongues, of a thousand religions and two

The Grand Old Ghost of George W. Bush

2012-10-05T22:05:00.000-04:00

“I will not speak with disrespect of the Republican Party. I always speak with respect of the past.” Woodrow Wilson <!--[if gte mso 9]>

Why It Is Time To ban Mayor Bloomberg.

2012-09-17T21:17:00.000-04:00

"A nation which has forgotten the quality of courage which in the past has been brought to public life is not as likely to insist upon or regard that quality in its chosen leaders today - and in fact we have forgotten." John F. Kennedy Late last week the New York City Board of Health passed a ban, pushed by Mayor Bloomberg, on the sale of large

Open Letter to the Prime Minister of India: Dr. Manmohan Singh

2012-08-30T20:30:00.000-04:00

“Yes, ’n’ how many times can a man turn his head Pretending he just doesn’t see?” Bob Dylan Dear Dr. Singh, You recently stood outside parliament and invoked an Urdu couplet saying that your “silence is better than a thousand answers; it keeps intact the honour of innumerable questions.” Perhaps, there is some honour in not responding to each

Barack H. Obama: The “Non Partisan” Report Card

2012-07-26T07:26:00.000-04:00

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A Tale of Two Laptops: Sony VAIO and Apple MacBook Pro

2012-06-30T18:30:00.000-04:00

“If you do build a great experience, customers tell each other about that. Word of mouth is very powerful.”Jeff Bezos Our household purchased two laptops at exactly the same time in 2007. One was a MacBook Pro, made by Apple, and the other a VAIO laptop, made by Sony. Both cost around the same and were expensive machines because at the time they were the fastest and best available. The

In Defense of Humor

2012-05-31T17:31:00.000-04:00

“A joke is a very serious thing.” Winston Churchill I come not to defend racism but in defense of humour. I fear that people, particularly in America today, are finding it harder and harder to make a distinction between laughing at ourselves and feeling offended; and there is a difference. Firstly, I firmly believe that comedy should have no boundaries or restrictions, because it is

The Good, the Ad and the Ugly

2012-02-26T02:26:00.000-05:00

"There are a lot of great technicians in advertising. And unfortunately they talk the best game. They know all the rules ... but there's one little rub. They forget that advertising is persuasion, and persuasion is not a science, but an art. Advertising is the art of persuasion." Bill Bernbach It used to be that a good advertisement made you laugh, smile or cry but a great ad was one that

U.S. Political Wall of Shame: 2000 to 2011

2012-01-12T12:01:00.000-05:00

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Reflections on Two Thousand and Eleven

2011-12-31T23:31:00.000-05:00

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.” Albert Einstein Two thousand and eleven feels like it will be remembered largely as the year in which humanity’s integrity and honour fell by the wayside and everything in the world seemed to be off kilter as a result of the great precipice created in our world. It was a year filled with company destroying financial revelations,

There is a pill for that...

2011-11-30T23:30:00.000-05:00

"I'm addicted to Altoids. I call them 'acting pills."Harrison Ford Got heartburn? There is a purple pill for that. Having intimacy issues? There is a blue pill for that. Feeling a little depressed? There is a yellow pill for that. In fact, no matter what you may feel or not feel there is likely a pill for it. While the US and most global economies are expected to continue either negative or

September 11 - Ten Years Later (Part 2)

2011-10-30T22:30:00.000-04:00

Read: September 11 - Ten Years Later (Part 1) If Oscar Wilde were around he might say “To start one war, Mr. Bush, was a necessity but to start two seems like recklessness”. As we continue to examine the impact of the decisions made by our government in the months and years after 9/11, it is important to look back at some of missed warning signs and lost opportunity costs for America that

September 11 - Ten Years Later (Part 1)

2011-09-30T23:11:00.000-04:00

“If we were about to be attacked or had been attacked or something happened that threatened a vital U.S. national interest, I would be the first in line to say, ‘Let’s go,’ I will always be an advocate in terms of wars of necessity. I am just much more cautious on wars of choice.” Robert Gates This is what George W. Bush’s Secretary of Defense said on being asked if he had any words of

There is Something Rotten in the State of our Democracy…

2011-08-27T20:11:00.010-04:00

"What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?" Mahatma Gandhi The people’s version of the Lokpal bill was finally debated and accepted by our parliament today. The Lokpal bill has been brought forward and quashed eight times before over the

Integrity, Honour and other Arcane Notions...

2011-07-26T07:26:00.003-04:00

“Man must cease attributing his problems to his environment, and learn again to exercise his will - his personal responsibility.”Albert Schweitzer I fear we live in dark and troubled times. A time when the inner conscience of the world seems to have deserted us. Ours is a generation that has been starved of great leadership; one where the persistent famine of visionless stewardship prevails.

My Cheating Heart

2011-06-13T18:13:00.012-04:00

“Men cheat for the same reason that dogs lick their balls... because they can.”Kim Cattrall I was in my early twenties when I got the chance to work with a famous actor. This guy was quite a legend, known in the industry as one of the greats who had cemented his reputation with a series of huge hits in the 1970’s. Sure, we were now in the 1990’s, but fame can last longer in the film industry,

An Education: Part 1

2011-05-18T05:18:00.030-04:00

"One of the few things a person is willing to pay for and not get.” William Lowe Bryan “Double, double toil and trouble. Fire burn and cauldron bubble. Fillet of a snake, In the cauldron boil and bake; Eye of newt and toe of frog, Wool of bat and tongue of dog, Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting, Lizard's leg and owlet's wing, For a charm of powerful trouble, Like a hell-broth boil and bubble

Of Defiance and Fairytales: 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup

2011-04-02T23:11:00.012-04:00

"Sachin Tendulkar has carried Indian cricket on his shoulders for 21 years. So it was fitting that we carried him on our shoulders after this win…"Virat Kohli Unlike my fellow billion plus countrymen I got my perfect fairytale ending to the 2011 cricket World cup. My fairytale was not contingent on the Little Master getting his 100th International century, but on MS Dhoni rightfully taking the

Open Letter to India

2011-02-14T14:14:00.006-05:00

“The accomplice to the crime of corruption is frequently our own indifference.” Bess Myerson A social revolution is afoot around the globe. People, who have been stepped on, downtrodden by top-down economic prosperity that never trickled down to them and brow beaten into years of giving up their hard earned wages to corrupt officials and wretched politicians, are saying no more. Granted

Rethinking Possible with AT&T Wireless

2010-11-15T11:15:00.024-05:00

“What kills a skunk is the publicity it gives itself.”Abraham Lincoln I was watching TV the other day and came across a new advertising campaign for AT&T Wireless. The campaign seems like a bold push to dispel the myths, and counter the myriad complaints about the poor performance of their network. A fact that has been amplified by their exclusive Apple iPhone agreement. It has been widely