RESEARCH

The metaphors he used in Parliament during the debate for the confidence motion were far-fetched, on the verge of being laughable _________ M Ratan _________ W hen the handsome crown prince of the ruling party, the Indian National Congress, Rahul Gandhi stood up in the Lok Sabha on July 22 to expound on energy security while defending the India-US civil nuclear cooperation deal, in the debate on the trust motion, I said to myself that the young leader had the best chance to prove his mettle. He was on the live television with a captive audience and friendly news channels to glorify him. He took us to the poor homes of Sasikala and Kalawati in Vidarbha, which he toured recently in his "discover India" journey. He talked of Sasikala and her husband's meagre daily wages and their three children's big dreams. He also narrated details of Kalawati's large family and her farmer husband's suicide. He tried to trace their misery to their lack of access to energy. What ...

______________________ Indraneil Roy Choudhuri ______________________ Today with a lot of gratitude, I share with all of you my experience in dealing with the passing away of my father. It all started the beginning of last month when during his regular check ups, the doctors found that my dad’s blood count was unusually high. My father had been diagnosed with the cancer of the lymph nodes in 2005, and through timely treatment of chemotherapy, he was totally cured. However, as a part of his routine, in the gap of every two to three months, he had to go for regular blood tests to check if there were any further occurrences of growth. This increase in blood levels suggested the onset of leukaemia and since it was detected somewhat early, the doctors suggested that it would be best to "nip it in the bud". They suggested a cycle of chemotherapy, which would be augmented with an experimental drug, to expedite the recovery. I felt that this was a time for me, to prove to everyone th...