On February 16, 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took questions from students at Talkatora Stadium in New Delhi. The event was called Pariksha Pe Charcha, a discussion on exams. The students asked about exam stress, pressure from parents, concentration and self-confidence. “Don’t think of me as the prime minister but as a friend,” he told them.
Eleven Vows
Mahatma Gandhi asked the residents of his ashram to keep eleven vows, the ekadash vrat. They were truth, non-violence, chastity, non-possession, non-stealing, bread labor, control of the palate, fearlessness, equality of religions, swadeshi (the use of goods made at home) and the removal of untouchability.
The Doscos
Former students of the Doon School are known as Doscos. Rajiv Gandhi and his brother Sanjay, ThePrint writes, “brought this elite network of ‘Doscos’ into vogue in politics.” Arun Singh, from the school’s 1959 batch, served in Rajiv Gandhi’s cabinet.
In January 1985 the Christian Science Monitor described two men around the new prime minister: “One is a trusted cousin. The other, a former schoolmate.” The cousin was Arun Nehru. The schoolmate was Arun Singh.
Sundays at the Office
In October 2023 the Infosys co-founder N.R. Narayana Murthy said on a podcast: “My request is that our youngsters must say, ‘this is my country, I want to work 70 hours a week.'”
In January 2025 a video of S.N. Subrahmanyan, chairman of Larsen & Toubro, reached the public. He told employees he was sorry he could not make them work on Sundays. “How long can you stare at your wife?” he asked, Moneylife reported.
Business leaders, among them Harsh Goenka and Harsh Mariwala, criticized the remarks. L&T replied that “extraordinary outcomes require extraordinary effort.”
The Kashmiri Mafia
P.N. Dhar served as an adviser to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. According to Wikipedia, he “was one of her close advisors, who were collectively known as the ‘Kashmiri Mafia’.”
Extra-Constitutional Authority
During the Emergency of 1975 to 1977, Sanjay Gandhi, the younger son of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, held no constitutional office. The Shah Commission later investigated the Emergency. Its reports, in the words of an editorial in The Sentinel, documented “the rise of extra-constitutional authority, particularly the influence exercised by Sanjay Gandhi.”
Salaries After 26/11
In November 2008 terrorists attacked the Taj Mahal Palace hotel in Mumbai. Employees of the hotel were among those killed. Their families “were entitled to receive full salary” until the date of the employee’s retirement, The Week reported.
Ratan Tata, then chairman of the Tata group, “visited his injured employees at hospitals and wholeheartedly embraced those who lost kith and kin to the violence.” He also “ensured the children of his late employees received a good education.”
The Private Secretary
R.K. Dhawan was the private secretary of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. When he died on August 6, 2018, at 81, obituaries recalled his power. IANS wrote that he “wielded enormous clout with his presence in the PMO and the household,” by “keeping a hold on who got access to the Prime Minister.” The Tribune noted “some claiming that he controlled information and access to the then prime minister.”
In Nandi’s Ear
In Shiva temples, devotees whisper their wishes into the ear of Nandi, the bull who sits facing Shiva. “This act is based on the belief that Nandi, being Shiva’s primary guard, carries the message directly to Shiva,” according to Wikipedia. Nandi is also “the guardian deity of Kailash, the abode of Shiva.”
I Am Your Disciple
Early in the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna is confused about his duty. He turns to Krishna: shishyas te ‘ham shadhi mam tvam prapannam. “I am Your disciple, and am surrendered to You. Please instruct me for certain what is best for me.”
The verse is chapter 2, verse 7.