hindi chini bye bye ...

so ash makes the cover of the beijing review and it's big news. why? because this comes at a time when delhi and beijing are already getting ready for talks that involve, among other things, economic cooperation and (egad!) the establishment of a Free Trade Zone
reading through the articles on the beijin review site, brings up some insightful facts:
China's Backbone Industry: Manufacturing sector (talk about the obvious:

)
India's Backbone Industry: IT sectors (ok i get this), motion pictures (but, i DON'T get this) do we really have to mention motion pictures given that there is space for just 2 "backbone industries"?
the articles go on to ask such profound questions as this by a certain highly noted American scholar. Dr. Elizabeth J. Perry, Director of the Fairbank Center for East Asian Research at Harvard University: "We are exploring questions such as why Communist China has been able to achieve such a markedly higher ?quality of life? (measured by such indicators as literacy, health care and life expectancy) when compared to democratic India. And why, we ask, has recent economic liberalization in both China and India resulted in notably higher growth rates in China?"
so quality of life is literacy, health care and life expectancy? how about some true freedom and equal right to life?
this about where i stopped reading the articles and turned to other things that take up my busy schedule.
like wondering what is happening to this world???