By PRANAY GUPTE (Published in The Hindu, April 2, 2010) PORT LOUIS, Mauritius – When Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam of Mauritius dissolved the island-state’s 70-member National Assembly late Wednesday evening and called for new elections on May 5, there seemed to be an element of political drama to his announcement. The dra
By Pranay Gupte He was the last of the giants, those tough men of the Bedouin desert who formed a new nation out of a harsh environment, those visionaries who created a country that would occupy a special place in the global firmament. Sheikh Mabarak bin Mohammed Al Nahayan, who died on Wed
Twenty-five years ago on this day, my father died in Mumbai. Had he lived, he would have turned 100 today. I was not with Balkrishna Gupte when he died after a long illness that, to this day, remains mysterious to me. Some physicians said it was cancer of the esophagus, others said it was complications from a botched surgery of the alimentary canal. Still others offered oth
Paul Goldberger, arguably the world's most respected architecture critic, has written a splendid essay on Dubai's Burj Khalifa. It can be found at: http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/skyline/2010/02/08/100208crsk_skyline_goldberger
CLASSIC "DEAR JOHN" NOTE NUMBER ONE: (Woman to Man) There is something the matter. I sense your distance. I sense that this relationship has become a burden for you. Financially, it always was, I guess. But now it is more. Each time we talk, you accuse me of having ill-treated you. I am left feeling guilty that you would come to me but for the fact that my behavior with you has been erratic, neurotic. I accept. </
RAM S. VARMA's BOOK ON THE RAMAYANA By Pranay Gupte Some professional writers – particularly journalists -- will tell you that writing is a breeze. All you need to do is get your facts straight through relentless reporting, sit in front of your computer, and the words will flow. There’s a story – and it happens to be
NEWSNOW PEOPLE The Chronicles of Pranay Gupte <img src="http://www.newsnow.mu/Images/525TJ.jpg" alt="" w
My new book, "Mother India: A Political Biography of Indira Gandhi," has just been published by Viking Penguin (India). The 600-page book marks the 25th anniversary of the assassination of the Indian prime minister. Review copies and author interviews can be obtained by contacting Hemali Sodhi at Penguin. Her e-mail: [email protected]
The Power of “Yes!” By Howard Leedham, M.B.E. (Note: Howard Leedham, M.B.E., is Chief Executive of Burj Holding in Dubai.) During the 1980’s a British Bank used to run a telev
Please check this out: His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, and Ruler of Dubai, has a Facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/sheikhmohammed.
June 21, 2009 Times Reporter Escapes Taliban After 7 Months By THE NEW YORK TIMES David Rohde, a New York Times reporter who was kidnapped by the Taliban , escaped Friday night and made his way to freedom after more than seven months of cap
By Pranay Gupte It all seems terribly familiar, the chaos and uncertainty in Iran these days -- the daily headlines that highlight protests, the television images of vast crowds in a state of agitation, the truncheon-wielding cops plowing through swarms of people, the vague sense that some major social upheaval is being generated, however inchoate.
The wild ride is over but don't rule out Dubai comeback By Roula Khalaf Published in the Financial Times: April 9, 2009 Traffic is thinner, housing prices are in freefall, and hotels are more affordable. Schools that once furiously turned students away are suddenly welcoming, and snobbish sports clubs are unexpectedly friendly. This is the new Dubai - a city that, for the fortunate ones who are holding on to their jobs, now feels a lot more pleasant. The gossip among
April 8th, 2009 Arabia and the knowledge gap By: Bernd Debusmann (Published by Reuters) Think big. Think global. Spare no expense. That could be the motto for an ambitious effort by the United Arab Emirates to close the knowledge gap with the West and eventually restore Arab learning to its former glory. Headlines from Dubai, the second-largest and most flamboyant of the seven emirates that make up the country, have been dominated by the bursting of a spectacular property bubb
Lunch with Chander Rai By Pranay Gupte NEW DELHI—Chander Rai, who makes his living parsing phrases, can also be said to be a man for all phases. That is to say, his professional life has embraced the dynamics of virtually every stages of growth in the United Arab Emirates
LUNCH WITH ANDREW TARBUCK By Pranay Gupte Andrew Tarbuck has one of those visages that don’t lend it to pinning down his age. Of course, he isn’t much older than his early 30’s, but he could jolly well pass off as a younger graduate student at Newcastle Univer
Do not believe reports of Dubai’s demise By Afshin Molavi Published: March 11 2009 22:11 | Last updated: March 11 2009 22:11 Dubai must feel a little like Mark Twain, these days. Upon reading his own obituary in the newspaper, Twain wrote: “The report of my death was an exaggeration.” Dubai has had its share of obituaries as it suffers from a property bust and contagion
Attacking Cricket By Pranay Gupte (Published in Khaleej Times, March 4, 2009) (Note: The writer is a former foreign correspondent for The New York Times, and an author. Based in Dubai, his new book, co-edited with Fatema Hadroom Aleghfeli, “Global Emirates: An Anthology of Tolerance and Enterprise,&rdqu
By Pranay Gupte I don’t know how many business leaders in the oil-rich Gulf have seen “Slumdog Millionaire” -- which won the Oscar for Best Film on Sunday night – but they might want to. After all, quite of a few of the business elite of the United Arab Emirates were born or spent their childhoods in Mumbai, India’s commercial capital, where much of the movie was
Based on projections from the Energy Information Administration's February 2009 Short Term Energy Outlook (STEO), members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) could earn $402 billion of net oil export revenues in 2009 and $530 billion in 2010. Last year, OPEC earned $971 billion in net oil export revenues, a 42 percent increase from 2007. Saudi Arabia earned the largest share of these earnings, $288 billion, representing 30 percent of total OPEC revenues. On a per-
I found the following article surprising in its shallowness and bias. Any reactions? From its artificial islands to its boring new skycraper, Dubai's architecture is beyond crass By Germaine Greer The Guardian, Monday 9 February 2009 If Monaco is, in Jack Nicholson's phrase, Alcatraz for the rich, what shall we make of Dubai? Dubai is a city built between the desert and the pale blue sea, that uses more water per capita than anywhere else in the world, a
1. Barack Obama will take major steps toward fixing the US economy. But very hard times still lie ahead. 2. Shashi Tharoor will replace Pranab Mukherjee as India's foreign minister. 3. If the Congress wins the national elections in March or April, Indian National Congress Party president Sonia Gandhi will choose Shashi Tharoor as the prime minister. 4. Rahul Singh will get married. 5. Despite the global financial turmoil, the United Arab Emirates will do all ri
It’s probably unwise, if not unseemly and unkind, to say it, but the terrorism that afflicted Mumbai these last few days is almost certain to have financial implications for India and the United Arab Emirates. It isn’t untimely, however, to suggest that those implications could be negative and positive for both countries.
When I was very young and single and living in New York, I would visit my parents in my native city of Mumbai from time to time. They would predictably make mighty efforts to find a bride for me in the traditional custom of conservative Hindu families. I was, after all, an only child, and it was understandable that my parents dreaded the prospect – however unlikely – that I would wind up with an American spouse.
There’s a major square in South Mumbai – a complex intersection, really – that mirrors the open, secular and trusting society that India has always been. In and around the square, there are small haberdasheries run by Hindus and groceries owned by Muslims; there’s a Catholic church; there’s a theater that exhibits brash foreign films, and another one that feature
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