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My Friend Sancho

My first book, My Friend Sancho, was published in May 2009, and went on to become the biggest selling debut novel released that year in India. It is a contemporary love story set in Mumbai, and had earlier been longlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize 2008. To learn more about the book, click here.


If you're interested, do join the Facebook group for My Friend Sancho


Click here for more about my publisher, Hachette India.


My posts on India Uncut about My Friend Sancho can be found here.


Bastiat Prize 2007 Winner

Recent entries

Heavy Fuel

Mid Day reports: In an attempt to prevent animal abuse, the state government has instructed petroleum giants Indian Oil,…

The Dalit Cartel

Check out this piece by Shikha Dalmia on the role that market forces play in perpetuating the caste system.…

Ban Nudity! Ban Nightlife!

Our right-wing lunatics are so funny sometimes that it’s hard to hate them. Balbir Punj has a bizarre (but…

City News

Having resumed blogging, it was natural for me to head over to the ToI site for the potential double…

The Ill-Effects of a Rave Party in Udupi

The Hindustan Times reports that two Karnataka ministers were caught watching pornographic videos “when the house was in session.”…

25 April, 2007

The spaced-out APJ Abdul Kalam

I had commented in an earlier post on APJ Abdul Kalam’s desire to explore Mars, aghast that someone would propose such a terrible use of taxpayers’ money in a country where millions don’t have access to drinking water. (If Mr Kalam went himself, of course, that would justify it somewhat.) Well, this ToI report gives us a better understanding of why Mr Kalam wishes to spend your maid’s taxes on space exploration:

Addressing a packed lecture hall at the International Space University (ISU) Tuesday evening at the edge of this northeastern French city, famous for being the seat of the European Parliament, Kalam told the students drawn from around the world that space has no borders: “When we explore space, (it) can act as a motivator for national collaboration between nations.”

Space is a “platform for sharing ideas and technologies and to work towards a sustainable world with peace and prosperity,” said Kalam.

Hmmm. So let’s spend hundreds of crores of rupees so that we can collaborate well with other nations, an aim that can obviously not be achieved by any other means. Joy.

(Here are some earlier posts on Kalam. And look, if Kalam is our prototype for president, let’s please make Sanjaya Malakar our next head of state. At least he’s got the hair.)

Posted by Amit Varma in India

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