Reflections of Passions

The BEST Transport Museum is one of the lesser known museums that are located within the immediate suburbs of Mumbai. The transport museum is situated in Anik Depot in Mumbai and is a treasure trove of information which documents the rich heritage and the strong cultural legacy of an organization that anchors the road transport scene in Mumbai. The BEST Museum was founded by the late. P.D. Paranjape, a BEST officer and a collector of coins. The museum was initially set up in 1984 at Kurla Depot which was later shifted to Anik Depot. Unlike many other popular museums, the museum has suffered from lack of representation and been located between dusty wooden doors. The museum has a huge exhibit of the BEST mascot which represents the spirit of red buses which dot the streets of Mumbai. The museum also houses scaled representations of various bus depots situated across the city.  The museum preserves rare memorabilia which document the growth of the Bombay Tramway Company in 1873 to t

Indian politics has always been viewed as a political theatre by observers and political scientists. Hence, the bizarre political circus surrounding the Railway Budget fiasco showed absolutely no sign of ending peacefully. Mamata Banerjee may have been rapped on her knuckles for failing to see reason in the rationalization of fares, but that does not deter her from flaunting her power as the largest party with 19 members in coalition with the UPA in Delhi. The changing relationship with the UPA government highlight the brazen attempts to destabilize the government at the central level. Dinesh Trivedi presented his maiden rail budget on the floor of the Lok Sabha on March 14 2012. In his immensely bold speech, Mr. Trivedi proposed an across-the-board fare hike in passenger fares to a raise a much-needed Rs. 4000/- crore this year. It is a known fact that a fare hike was inevitable considering the financial health of the Railways. For nearly a decade, a national asset like the Indi

`   Indian spiritual wisdom has come down to us in its value and content. Just as the river Ganga flows down from the heights of the Himalayas, the knowledge or Jnana Ganga too flows from time immemorial to benefit all, irrespective of caste, creed, colour, race and nationality. A new television serial "Upanishad Ganga" directed by eminent filmmaker Dr. Chandraprakash Dwivedi (of Chanakya fame) launches on Doordarshan's satellite channel DD India on Sunday, May 19, 2013 at 13:30 p.m. and repeat telecast at 04:30 a.m. on Monday mornings.  Upanishad Ganga consists of 52 episodes which depict the essence of Upanishadic teachings as well as the hoary cultural, intellectual and knowledge traditions of India. Upanishad Ganga is a mammoth effort covering the entire gamut on Indian culture, heritage, philosophy and wisdom which spans for more than 5000 years. In this serial, the knowledge of Upanishads is explained in a modern context through stories. The episodes a