Crazy secrets.

There is this application called "Post Secrets" on Facebook where users are allowed to post their secrets keeping their identity under cover, which obviously results in interesting secrets that one might have neva told otherwise.

This is how "Post Secrets" defines itself-->"Post Secret allows you to reveal your darkest secret to millions of other facebook users. Each secret can be a hope, regret, funny experience, unseen kindness, fantasy, belief, fear, betrayal, erotic desire, confession, or childhood humiliation."

Hmmmmmmm, Ok. Now here are some random secrets which i found intereseting the last time i peeped into "Post Secrets"--------->>>>>>>


"I have just eaten my pet hamster. He just looked so delicious, all plump n juicy.... I skinned him and fried him in the deep fat fryer. He was delicious... But now I miss him... Why did I eat my little buddy? WHYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!"


"I dont understand love. Its so confusing. I know my girlfriend loves me but I have no clue why. Shes so amazing, she can get so much better then me. But its been 7 months since we started going out, and i've never been happier. Ever since the day i met her i knew there was something about her, and i fell in love with her. I love her so much and i want to be with her forever."


"why do people believe in "the secret" the damn universe DOES NOT create our destiny. we do. if you want something to happen bad enough you'll do whatever it takes. the universe doesn't just say hey ya lets do it. no it doesn't work like that. so stop telling me that if i truely believe in the universe i'll be rewarded because it's all bullshit. never once has the "universe" done anything for me, i do it all on my own.....fucking "secret" "


"I HOPE TO BE GETTIGN MARRIED IN 1 AND 1/2. HE IS AMAZING."



""


"I'm fat because I eat. I eat because I'm alone. I'm alone because I'm fat."



"i like this guy... but don't know if he likes me... and... i have a boyfriend."


"i am so affriad of being hurt that i lied to protect myself cuz i saw something good in a guy and now i am sorry to say that my lie made my heart breake, but i guess thats what i get for not dating but seeing another guy only 3 weeks after i broke up with my babys dad after 2 years"


"he told me i was special.. obviously not special enough to leave his uglyass girlfriend."



"the longest relationship i've ever had was for about two months this past spring. the only reason it lasted was because i kept forgetting to dump him."


"i am so pissed off at my friend right now, i love her to death, but i wish she would see shit through my eyes and relieze that she isnt the best thing in this fucking world, and that there are people that are hurt by the acts she pulls, i love you to death though"


"One second I'm madly in love with him - the next I just want to get far, far away and never have to deal with him again. But I'm learning to ignore the second part!"



"i have a girlfriend. i'm a girl."



"i wish i had personal nuclear bombs to launch at those who spoil Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows!!!!"



"I am in love with a guy from Minneota and that said thing is that I am married!!!"



"I collects books to look and feel smart...I don't actually read them, I look up the summsries on Wikipedia"


"I was never deployed to Iraq...the closest I came was Kuwait for 3 months. I want people to be interested in me, so I lie when they ask."


"I am totally, completely, and utterly in love with Edward Cullen. I don't even care that he's fictional; I want him for myself!"



"im 5'11, 160lbs and i don't think im fat.. why do people that weigh like 90 or 100 or 140 think they are fat? fuck its so annoying!"



"If I new "broken hearts" hurt this bad, I never would have got involved in the first place.."



"I just realized how much I hurt my best friend. I was so mean and selfish to her. She tried to help me and instead of showing my appreciation, I just blamed her and demanded more. And then even after she ended our friendship, I spread nasty rumors about her. It's no wonder she refuses to talk to me now. I wish I realized what a bitch I was sooner because she was the greatest friend I ever had. If I had the chance I would tell her how sorry I am and that I would do anything to have our friendship back. I know I don't deserve her friendship (I don't deserve any friends at all) but I would really like someone as kind and supportive as her back in my life."

"is it wrong to hav an affair with 2 guys at the same time? guys do it all the time!! so who said women cant??!?!"


"Why are the college kids telling the high school kids to get off Facebook? Why are the highschool kids telling the middle school kids to get off Facebook? Why are middle school kids telling the younger kids to get off Facebook? The only people not telling people to get off Facebook are people like myself that have finished college along time ago. This is a open Network open to everyone, sure it was made by a college student, but its open to everyone. So everyone just needs to shut the fuck up."


----------->>>>>Well, how crazy secrets can get. If u find any of them disgusting, Same pinch!! No back pinch.
I have gone through far more disgusting secrets which i've not posted here for reasons best known by me!! Reputation,u know!!

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HOW TO GET SIX PACK ABS WORKOUT ROUTINE.

Well-well-Well. Every1 s goin crazy over 6 pack abs after SRK did it in OSO.Now,here is a workout routine u can try at home.

Wishing u atleast a 4 pack if not 6.

Warning:I'm not to blame for ne consequences(-ve that is ;) ), Even i'm goin for 1.

Advice:Girls keep away.

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My dream......... Googleplex............

Destination Googleplex--Every programmer's dream.

So is mine!!

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Moments to cherish.

(click the pic. to enlarge it)

As i begin the countdown to the Lbs days, these are some of the memories that will stay with me forever.

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Five killer Apps. i cant do without.......

#1 Firefox

#2 iTunes

#3 Picasa

#4 Audacity

#5 Media player classic

While most f u must be familiar with other apps. Audacity is a free, open source software for recording and editing sounds. I rip apart d favourite part of ne Mp3 to use it as my ringtone. Also got conversion functions. Rockzzzzzzzzzz.

To reach the download page for each f d above apps. click on d respective app. pic.
Chillll.....

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Every 1 luvs Beckham........

England footballer David Beckham gets mobbed by a group of Chinese children during a promotional event in Beijing.

How cute.............

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The most spoken human name.

Ever wondered which is that single human name that has ever been uttered the most number f times?? I'm wondering, thats why i'm posting here.

Here are some possible candidates.........

*Mahatma Gandhi- Nah, v utter his name nly during our history classes, on our independence day nd these days after seeing Lage raho Munnabhai.
+Abraham lincoln-Same case wit him. The bloody Americans(not all) utter his name nly on occassions.
*David beckham-Yup, Thats a better suggestion. The crowd chants his name during plays, his fans utter his name, girls utter in their sleeps nd ofcourse when they r awake.
+Tom cruise- Hmmmmmmm, ya he is a superstar. But mostly people utter his name nly when he is in the news, for instance when another f his Mission impossible flicks make news or about to make some.

These r some f d names that come to my mind when i think of the title.

But the one name that comes out the winner for me is "Orkut",that addictive social networking site. Ya its actually the name of the guy who developed it, "Orkut buyukkokten" being his full name. He is a google employee, nd developed this site called orkut for his employer in his office free hours. Great!! hmmmm ya great. But does he deserve this much....... His name being uttered the most number of times ever(according to me , that is).
This social networking site has almost a crore users nd most f them talk about it with their freinds when they r offline as well, they do it everyday in the process uttering the name "Orkut". Its the most visible "Human name" on the internet with crores of webpages starting like this "orkut -..........................". Not to mention the crores f notification mails they send to their users wit the subject lukin like "orkut-............".
Ya there are other social networking sites like Facebook, Myspace,Friendster who has got way more users than what "Orkut" has got. But clearly they are not the name of any human. So that doesnt make ne difference here......

Now the ? is does the name "Orkut" deserve all this ?? Does a bit f Programming brilliance 4m Orkut deserve this much??.......... Mayb he shud change the name of his site......... nd pick a leaf out f sites like facebook. Or if he is so adamant on havin a human name, y not try sum f our above candidates....... mahathmagandhi.com or tomcruise.com would do great ;-)

Nd how abt hisam.com ;

*- Nd if u r wondering wht d above pic got 2 do wit this post, i'm lettin u know tht i have developed this buggy habit of searching the title of the post ("The most spoken human name." in this case) on google images and pick d most catchy image on d first result page and post it along wit the post topic. Ghosh!!

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Happy birthday.

Wishing me a great life ahead....... ;-)

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How to filter ur girlfriend mails??

If you hate seeing those mails( when i say mails these days, it obviously means gmails) 4m ur gf rite inside ur inbox wit her name and d subject line attracting one's attention, well here is a way out to filter those mails into a label. Now start learning how to...

Let’s say that your email address is ‘bolan@gmail.com’, basically everything sent to any of the following email addresses will be forwarded to your primary email.
* bolan@gmail.com * b.olan@gmail.com
* bo.lan@gmail.com * bol.an@gmail.com
* bolan@googlemail.com * b.olan@googlemail.com
* bo.lan@googlemail.com
…
…
* bola.n@googlemail.com

And that’s not all, you can place as many dots as you want, it can be even something like ‘b.o.l.a.n@gmail.com’ and you’ll still get it on ‘bolan@gmail.com’

Additionally, I just also found out that you can embed random text to your email ID using ‘+’ sign. That is to say ‘bolan+logabolan@gmail.com’ can be used as your email address, as well.

Ok I got it. Now what ?

Now what u can do is use the above naming covention 2 ur advantage ( mayb ur gf's as well)....
What u can do for instance is ask ur gf to mail u to the id- "bolan+bolathi@gmail.com" which will be forwarded to bolan@gmail.com (assuming u've understood the above naming convention for gmail).
Step 2 is "create a filter" (this link is availabe on the right side of search mail box inside ur gmail inbox), upon clicking u will have From:,To:,Subject:,Has the words:,Doesn't have:. now in our case we will hv to enter the email id "bolan+bolathi@gmail.com"(which is the email id u askd ur gf 2 mail to, Bola!!) in the to field. Click next step and check the first option "skip the inbox", then......... check the "apply label" nd choose a label if 1 already exist or else create a new 1(bolanteboli is my name for ur label ;)).

Now what this does is all those mails sent to d id "bolan+bolathi@gmail.com" skips the inbox and is forwarded to d label "bolanteboli".

Now u may ask y such hassles when u can directly filter mails coming 4m a particular id say bolathi@gmail.com.
Good question bola!!

Here is a better answer, what if u hv more than 1 girlfriend( which is not at all alien these days)?? u will have to create more than 1 filter, i.e 1 each filter for each gf's mail id (like 1 for bolathi@gmail.com,bolathi2@gmail.com,bolathi3@gmail.com....... bolathi19@gmail.com). well that depends on how many gfs u ultimately have.

So thats y i say the "bolan+bolathi@gmail.com" is the better hack( esecially if u hv multiple gfs). You can give the id "bolan+bolathi@gmail.com" to all ur gfs nd all those "junk" mails will b accumulated in d label bolanteboli.
Hope theres no confusion ;).........

This hack can be used to 1's advantage not only in d case of gfs but also in many other extra usefull cases. like if u r registering at a site nd u dont want their confirmation mails to appear inside ur inbox u can provide the site with a "+" id, say "bolan+site@gmail.com" nd create a filter for that.


Bottomline: Now please dont assume that i personally use this hack .......... ;)

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Five things i luv abt firefox.

Though i cant limit it to only 5, but if you ask for the best 5, this is how they will go........




+ Extensions- i jus luv em, its like adding more hands to your body, it may luk ugly but comes super useful. click here
for a list f my favourite extensions.

+The restore function- this feature is very handy, many a times i was forced to lose a ff session, no more a problem with the restore function. You get back all those tabs just as a u left it.

+ Bookmarks - Really easy to handle your bookmarks, the import nd export r handy. Things like the quick search r revolutionary.

+ Mutliple profiles- Though u can open only 1 profile @ a time. This feature is useful if u have different preferences or want a firefox profile f ur own if u hv more users on ur system.

+ Quick find- press "/" nd u can move to ne link on d page, This one may seem ordinary, but i juv luv it.


Yup thts d 5, but certainly not the only 5, these r d ones come 2 my mind @ dis moment.............


Hey make it 6 please, i left 1 feature that i probaly luv the most- "Undo closed tab". Uff how did i leave it out in the first place. nehow the greatest thing to have inside ur browser.......

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Monkey Trick

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letting go

letting go
Originally uploaded by _rebekka

I just fell 4 this 1........

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Is Airtel GPRS worth the monthly 250 bucks??

I used to wonder if Airtel Gprs was worth the monthly 250 Rupees. That was before i actually started using it, and for those of you who wants to know what i think of it now.............
here is a report card of sorts...........

+ I connect it to my system, browse as many hours as i like(3-4 hrs a day is d current trend) ..
+ I browse on d move 4m my 6233 (AKA opera mini(moreover orkut is now mobile friendly)).......
+I got a cool Gmail app. installed on my 6233, email was neva such fun nd easy.....( i dont even have to login everytime)
+Listen to internet radio stations (AkA Radio bee) on my 6233 ,though only recently into this stuff.
+Gtalk,yahoo messenger all on d move.....
+Ya d download speed is arnd 5-7kbps(considered very low these days), but i dont have any regrets as long as i can plugin my 6233 to my machine nd go dozing all night only to find out in d morning that it  has dwned enuf and still dwning d queue 1 by 1 on my favourite downthemall extension in firefox.
+To top it all, the time limit is not ejjactly a month, it actaully extends beyond. i got a week extra this time around. But never stops before a month, neva!!

So after every month(@ d least) of gprs and a bandwidth of atleast 2 gb and a budget of 250 bucks. What do i actually think of this???
COME ON..............

THIS IS CHARITY IN THE NAME OF GPRS(at least in my case).............
Airtel Gprs Zindabad...............

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Lukin fwd

Gmail is certainly d best email provider out der, no doubts regarding
there. I'm really lovin it there. I have a small world out there in my
inbox wit all those labels nd funky filters. Emailing was neva such
fun.
I'm so much involved wit it that i hav com up wit a blog that is
completely being published by a gmail accnt. Chk out
www.lukinfwd.blogspot.com

--
Hisam

www.hisamonomics.blogspot.com

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As Allah waters HIS Creation,
As Allah waters HIS Creation,
May HE also sprinkle HIS wonderous blessings over you and your beloved ones.(Aameen)

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Its a beautiful Safari...........................

The first thing that came to my mind when my firefox went down last week was "Apple Safari". I knew that everything Apple was cute and very graphical. But i needed a reason to down it and use it, and i got the only reason that a firefox user will get to shift to another browser, it went down. I downed Safari for windows(was d only Apple thing besodes itunes available for windows)and started using it, reminding myself that no matter how good it is going to be, i'm not going to stick with it ( i will have to go back to firefox, cos i knew it wasnt goin 2 b better than fox.). And here is what i found.....

+Yes the effects were eye catching(especially the load status of a page happening right behind the address bar) if not astounding.
+Yes the webpages certainly looked cuter.
+Yes the speed looked a bit better than fox, or was it just an illusion???
+Yes it posses some handy functions which firefox will give you eyes closed.
+Yes bookmarks look pretty neat.

But

-It doesnt shift tabs from the keyboard,infact almost noffin happens from the keyboard- no closing tabs either. Only thing that works is "Ctrl-T".
-No "undo closed tab"(besides it has got its close button on the left side of the tab)
-No status bar.
-Noffin like extensions in ffox(the biggest advantage ffox have over Safari, for that matter any browser).Addons available.
-You wont see your taskbar if its autohidden when safari is open.
-Obviously no multiple profiles.
-I think the Apple folks put all of The "Speed thing" into browsing, Downloads just dont happen( atleast in Airtel gprs).It once showed "1 day,9hrs..........." remaining for a 6mb down.Ghosh!! the downloads never were that bad in ffox even with my so called slow net(these days that is).

The list goes on and on as i step onto just the third day with it, meanwhile my ffox is up again after an xp repair. So happy to shift back..........

Safari is a sort of browser that you should have on your machine, so that you can show children how beautiful Flickr looks. Or just have a little bit of relief for yourself after a bit of power browsing with ffox. So its really handy if you have a Safari shortcut sitting on your desktop, you can get 1 here


Bottomline:Firefox if Firefox.

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Che Guevara-40th anniversary.

By the time Ernesto Guevara, known to us as Che, was murdered in the jungles of Bolivia in October 1967, he was already a legend to my generation, not only in Latin America but also around the world.

Like so many epics, the story of the obscure Argentine doctor who abandoned his profession and his native land to pursue the emancipation of the poor of the earth began with a voyage. In 1956, along with Fidel Castro and a handful of others, he had crossed the Caribbean in the rickety yacht Granma on the mad mission of invading Cuba and overthrowing the dictator Fulgencio Batista. Landing in a hostile swamp, losing most of their contingent, the survivors fought their way to the Sierra Maestra. A bit over two years later, after a guerrilla campaign in which Guevara displayed such outrageous bravery and skill that he was named comandante, the insurgents entered Havana and launched what was to become the first and only victorious socialist revolution in the Americas. The images were thereafter invariably gigantic. Che the titan standing up to the Yanquis, the world's dominant power. Che the moral guru proclaiming that a New Man, no ego and all ferocious love for the other, had to be forcibly created out of the ruins of the old one. Che the romantic mysteriously leaving the revolution to continue, sick though he might be with asthma, the struggle against oppression and tyranny.

His execution in Vallegrande at the age of 39 only enhanced Guevara's mythical stature. That Christ-like figure laid out on a bed of death with his uncanny eyes almost about to open; those fearless last words ("Shoot, coward, you're only going to kill a man") that somebody invented or reported; the anonymous burial and the hacked-off hands, as if his killers feared him more after he was dead than when he had been alive: all of it is scalded into the mind and memory of those defiant times. He would resurrect, young people shouted in the late '60s; I can remember fervently proclaiming it in the streets of Santiago, Chile, while similar vows exploded across Latin America. !No lo vamos a olvidar! We won't let him be forgotten.

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Quit Puffing.

My friends, do you want a reason? here is one(i know you have many) for the sake of it.

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Moving...............

I dont read as much as i would like to, but whenever i did, i was lucky i found some very moving words........ here they go >>>

Mirrors never tell the truth,
They deceive your eyes and tell you lies.
Nothing is what meets your eye
For the truth is hidden deep inside,
Which is only seen by the loved one your heart desires.

Love never keeps a man from pursuing his destiny.If he abandons that pursuit,it's because it wasn't true love.....

Food is almost as good as girls

Standing in a dark room,
I looked at her as she read,
With glowing eyes behind her specs,
Her iris moved gradually, from word to word,
And right to left without even looking up.

Reclined on the couch with a book in one hand,
She bit her nails off the other hand.
Her shadow painted a silhouette on the old stone wall,
And her streaks of hair glistened like the sun’s rays during fall,
It flowed down her shoulders and almost touched the floor.

Gently, with her finger she pushed her glasses up.
That slid down like an avalanche from the mountain top.
Turning around she reached for her tea cup,
And took a sip followed by a puff on the surface of the cup.
The vapour fogged her glasses as she took a sip,
But she closed her eyes as she enjoyed every bit.

I stood there gleaming without moving either side,
When a cold draft shook me off my feet,
That’s when she looked at me with a glint in her eyes.
And put the book away and rushed to my rescue.
She cupped my face caringly and looked towards the door.

Closing the door she walked back and slipped into the couch.
Started reading once again from the page where she’d left.
I jumped and glowed brightly.
My happiness knew no bound.
I just stretched high as though I could reach the sky.

Nobody could have stopped me,
Until and unless it was none other than me;
My face just shone brighter than ever.
I was blazing with joy from deep inside,
And I was literally melting as I knew there was no return.

I could almost feel myself melt and shrink really slow.
But I just couldn’t take my eyes off.
For I was imprisoned as her admirer,
And her admirer forever ever I’ll be.
Trying not to lift my gaze of her till eternity.

That’s when she again looked at me a lil worriedly.
And walked towards me unhurriedly and stood beside me.
Without looking else where she looked down upon me,
It seemed as though this moment would last for time without end,
Just then she reached for another candle that took the place of me.

It's been sometime since we shared a moment together.
And it's been a while since we spoke to each other.
Our parallel lives have torn us apart,
Yet we're one in our thoughts.
Those were the days when we ruthlessly killed time,
While we spoke about everything under the wide open sky,
Learning about each other inside out;
Knowing on which day our next birthday would fall,
Planning surprises by wrapping gifts and writing cards.
And sometimes spending hours in arguments and fights,
That made us look stupid in each other's eyes.
We crawled into the depth of the night conversing in words.
Until the dawn seeped in to remind us,
We still have another day in our lives.
Let's get back to where we began.
When we never had to stare at our dials.
While making conversations or replying to messages.
Those days that had no deadlines to interfere.
Or, the worry about the next assignment
That needs to be completed.
Let's wile away time catching the dry leaves,
Which fall from tall tree tops.
Run along the brook side,
Chasing paper boats before they wreck down.
Tasting those refreshing drops of summer rain
With our tongues pointed out in the thin air.
Drawing faces on fogged window panes,
Erasing them with our sleeves and trying all over again.
If only we were to have the remote control,
We would live life like it were in the movies,
Pause time whenever we want,
And switch onto the rewind mode.

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The true Indian identity.

The following writeup, authored by Mr Shashi Tharoor, portrays the idea of India so beautifully that I feel it is imperative for every Indian to go through it.

When India celebrated the 49th anniversary of its independence from British rule in 1996, its then prime minister, HD Deve Gowda, stood at the ramparts of Delhi’s 16th-century red fort and delivered the traditional Independence Day address to the nation in Hindi, India’s ‘national language’. Eight other prime ministers had done exactly the same thing 48 times before him, but what was unusual this time was that Deve Gowda, a southerner from the state of Karnataka, spoke to the country in a language of which he did not know a word. Tradition and politics required a speech in Hindi, so he gave one – the words having been written out for him in his native Kannada script, in which they, of course, made no sense.
Such an episode is almost inconceivable elsewhere, but it represents the best of the oddities that help make India India. Only in India could there be a country ruled by a man who does not understand its ‘national language’; only in India, for that matter, is there a ‘national language’ which half the population does not understand; and only in India could this particular solution have been found to enable the prime minister to address his people. One of Indian cinema’s finest ‘playback singers’, the Keralite K J Yesudas, sang his way to the top of the Hindi music charts with lyrics in that language written in the Malayalam script for him, but to see the same practice elevated to the prime ministerial address on Independence Day was a startling affirmation of Indian pluralism. For the simple fact is that we are all minorities in India. There has never been an archetypal Indian to stand alongside the archetypal Englishman or Frenchman. A typical Indian stepping off the train, let us say a Hindi-speaking Hindu male from Uttar Pradesh, may cherish the illusion he represents the ‘majority community’, an expression much favoured by the less industrious of our journalists. But he does not. As a Hindu, sure enough, he belongs to the faith adhered to by 82 per cent of the population. But a majority of the country does not speak Hindi. A majority does not hail from Uttar Pradesh, though you could be forgiven for thinking otherwise when you go there. And, if he were visiting, say, my home state of Kerala, he would be surprised to realise a majority there is not even male.
There has never been an archetypal Indian to stand alongside the archetypal Englishman or Frenchman.Worse, this archetypal Hindu male has only to mingle with the polyglot, multi-coloured crowds – and I am referring not to the colours of their clothes but to the colours of their skins – thronging any of India’s major railway stations to realise how much of a minority he really is. Even his Hinduism is no guarantee of his majorityhood, because his caste automatically puts him in a minority. If he is a Brahmin, 90 per cent of his fellow Indians are not. If he is a Yadav, or another ‘backward class’, 85 per cent of his fellow Indians are not. And so on.
If caste and language complicate the notion of Indian identity, ethnicity makes it worse. Most of the time, an Indian’s name immediately reveals where he is from or what her mother tongue is: when we introduce ourselves, we are advertising our origins.
Despite some intermarriage at the elite levels in our cities, Indians are still largely endogamous, and a Bengali is easily distinguished from a Punjabi. The difference this reflects is often more apparent than the elements of commonality. A Karnataka Brahmin shares his Hindu faith with a Bihari Kurmi, but they share little identity with each other in respect of their dress, customs, appearance, taste, language or even, these days, their political objectives. At the same time, a Tamil Hindu would feel he has much more in common with a Tamil Christian or a Tamil Muslim than with, say, a Haryanvi Jat, with whom he formally shares the Hindu religion. What makes India, then, a nation? What is an Indian’s identity?
When an Italian nation was created in the second half of the 19th century out of a mosaic of principalities and statelets, one Italian nationalist (Massimo Taparelli d’Azeglio) wrote ‘We have created Italy. Now all we need to do is to create Italians.’ It is striking that, a few decades later, no Indian nationalist succumbed to the temptation to express a similar thought. The prime exponent of modern Indian nationalism, Jawaharlal Nehru, would never have said ‘we have created India, now we have to create Indians’, because he believed that India and Indians had existed for millennia before he articulated their political aspirations in the 20th century.
many Indians have more in common with foreigners than with other Indians
Nonetheless, the India that was born in 1947 was in a very real sense a new creation: a state that made fellow citizens of the Ladakhi and the Laccadivian for the first time; a state that divided Punjabi from Punjabi for the first time; a state that asked a Keralite peasant to feel allegiance to a Kashmiri Pundit ruling in Delhi, also for the first time.
So, under Gandhi and Nehru, Indian nationalism became a rare animal indeed. It was not based on any of the conventional indices of national identity. Not language, since India’s constitution recognises 18 official languages, and there are 35 that are spoken by more than a million people each. Not ethnicity, since the ‘Indian’ accommodates a diversity of racial types in which many Indians have more in common with foreigners than with other Indians – Indian Punjabis and Bengalis, for instance, have more in common ethnically with Pakistanis and Bangladeshis, respectively, than with Poonawallahs or Bangaloreans. Not religion, since India is a secular pluralist state that is home to every religion known to mankind, with the possible exception of Shintoism. Not geography, since the natural geography of the subcontinent – the mountains and the sea – was hacked by the Partition of 1947. And not even territory, since, by law, anyone with one grandparent born in pre-partition India – outside the territorial boundaries of today’s state – is eligible for citizenship. Indian nationalism has therefore always been the nationalism of an idea.
It is the idea of an ever-ever land – emerging from an ancient civilisation, united by a shared history, sustained by pluralist democracy. India’s democracy imposes no narrow conformities on its citizens. The whole point of Indian pluralism is you can be many things and one thing: you can be a good Muslim, a good Keralite and a good Indian all at once. The Indian idea is the opposite of what Freudians call ‘the narcissism of minor differences’; in India we celebrate the commonality of major differences. If America is a melting-pot, then to me India is a thali, a selection of sumptuous dishes in different bowls. Each tastes different, and does not necessarily mix with the next, but they belong together on the same plate, and they complement each other in making the meal a satisfying repast.
So the idea of India, as Rabindranath Tagore and, more recently, Amartya Sen have insisted, is of one land embracing many. It is the idea that a nation may endure differences of caste, creed, colour, conviction, culture, cuisine, costume and custom, and still rally around a consensus. And that consensus is about the simple idea that in a democracy you don’t really need to agree – except on the ground rules of how you will disagree.

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