Tag Archives: society

‘Zombie ideas that caused the near-meltdown of financial markets are still driving policy’

Posted on January 3, 2011 by Venky

(This interview, with John Quiggin, professor of economics at the University of Queensland in St Lucia and author of Zombie Economics: How Dead Ideas Still Walk Among Us, was published in DNA edition dated January 3, 2011.) The arresting cover … Continue reading →

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Behind China’s ‘bamboo curtain’ is an amoebic God

Posted on November 28, 2010 by Venky

(This review of two books on China was published in DNA edition dated November 28, 2010.) Venky Vembu Prince Charles, whose own personality is far from sparkling, once described Chinese leaders as “appalling old waxworks”. The validity of that judgment … Continue reading →

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Dim sum days in Delhi and Mumbai

Posted on October 25, 2010 by Venky

Venky Vembu For four days from today, Delhi and Mumbai will wake up to dim sum delights and showcase other cultural aspects of Hong Kong, as the chief executive of Hong Kong, Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, arrives on an official visit … Continue reading →

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Writing about sex…

Posted on October 18, 2010 by Venky

Venky Vembu …is, well, like “dancing about architecture” (to borrow a phrase from the superb scriptwriter of the romatic comedy Playing By Heart: you can watch the opening sequence from the film, where a bewitchingly beautiful Angelina Jolie, tossing her … Continue reading →

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Why Mr Lee is learning Chinese – in India!

Posted on October 17, 2010 by Venky

(This feature article, about a Chinese-origin man in Mangalore who is now learning Chinese – from an Indian tutor in Bangalore – in order to connect with his extended family in China, was published in DNA edition dated  October 17, … Continue reading →

Posted in China, India | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

What language will you curse in when China rules the world?

Posted on September 10, 2010 by Venky

(This column was published in DNA edition dated September 10, 2010.) Venky Vembu A new dictionary, out from Oxford University Press, incorporates some very earthy Chinese slang expressions and new words, including some that you can’t invoke without having to … Continue reading →

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‘Rent-a-womb trend is exploitative, neo-colonialist’

Posted on July 24, 2010 by Venky

(This interview with Dr Catherine Waldby, Professorial Research Fellow at Sydney University’s School of Social Sciences, on the bio-ethics of commercial surrogacy, was published in DNA edition dated July 24, 2010.) Commercial surrogacy – the rent-a-womb industry in India, where … Continue reading →

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Bunty and Bubli in Beijing and Bandra

Posted on June 23, 2010 by Venky

(This column was published in DNA edition dated June 23, 2010.) Venky Vembu The writer Mark Twain recommended travel as an antidote to “prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness.” Stirring out of one’s comfort zone and interacting with other cultures, he believed, … Continue reading →

Posted in China, Columns, India | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

We’re all strangers in a strange world

Posted on February 17, 2010 by Venky

(This column was published in DNA edition dated February 17, 2010.) Venky Vembu Last week, a 26-year-old female acquaintance, a child of the Internet Age who lives more in the virtual world than in the flesh-and-blood one that I inhabit, … Continue reading →

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‘Superpoor’ India

Posted on November 6, 2009 by Venky

(This column was published in DNA edition dated November 6, 2009.) Venky Vembu Recently, a US-based research agency that claims it is committed to promoting “political, economic and individual liberty in the developing and transitioning world” came out with with … Continue reading →

Posted in China, Columns, Economy, Geopolitics, India | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments