The Colony Strikes Back at the Empire

 The circle is complete.. India overtakes UK to become the world's 5th largest economy.

They took away our spices and textiles, so we invented software, which cannot be removed.

They gave us a cold shoulder, so we warmed up their Summers to 40 degrees centigrade.

They were too serious, so we let them elect a buffoon to rule over themselves.

They left us with an archaic school education system, so we got ourselves Edtech.

They boasted about their (neighbour's) Scotch, so we made Amrut.

They are still learning how to cook..where those spices went is an unsolved mystery.

Visa Madness

This is related to the stamp required to travel from one country to another, and not to the credit card or debit card by that name.

Britain has set the cat among the pigeons by hiking the asking rate for visas to some 2.7 lakh rupees, taking care to call it a 'deposit' that is refundable. I have a few views that I wish to express on this visa diplomacy that threatens to rival all other kinds of diplomacy that preceded it.

My first doubt is, who in his right mind would want to visit the U.K. with or without the 2.7 lakh deposit and fingerprinting and all the other accompanying nonsense? I have survived close to 53 years without having gone there, and I am quite certain I can live out a few more without having to fork out a fortune to do the needless. So can all the others, of any age.

In case they have not heard it yet, the Sun has set on the British Empire, a few decades ago. The only export that people still want from them is produced in Scotland, and it's known as Scotch. All the rest, including the awful weather, they can have to themselves.

This is going to help tourists think of all the better places they have been missing out on-such as Australia, New Zealand, Greece, China, Turkey, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, ....you get the point. The food is better in most of these places too.