I speak to students at Delhi Technological University formerly Delhi College of Engineering on personal growth in this pandemic on July 4th. May the Forth be with you!

On the second day of the #BaluchistanDialogues hosted by @tilakchronicle and CASS, Pune has Mr. Hyrbyair Marri of The Free Baluchistan Movement speak along with Human Rights Lawyer Arif Ajakia. The session is moderated by Major Gaurav Arya.

Day one was an introduction with Major Arya speaking on India’s responsibility towards the Baloch cause called upon our government to act. Air Marshall Gokhale spoke as well to commence the online seminar.

Arif Aajakia rips apart the underbelly of the architecture of oppression in Baluchistan. From forced conversations to the wobbly basis of the idea of partition, he focused on the raw realities of a colonial state. He focused on the top down nature of the Pakistani state to implement its strategic objectives.

Mr. Marri speaks about the rejection of all shades of foreign occupation in Baluchistan from the Chinese, Turks to the Pakistanis. The speakers reject the Pakistani claim of a religious state, stating they are also of the same community of faith, but have an identity.

The two sessions spread across the weekend brought the vital topic of this space of aspirations to the spotlight of policy conversations. Excellent questions were asked and apt answers enlarged our collective understanding of the historical and contemporary dynamics of Baluchistan.

Major General Shishir Hari of CASS, Pune offered his vote of thanks in conclusion to the online seminar.

On the day 1 of the #BaluchistanDialogues presented by @tilakchronicle and CASS, Pune- Mr. Mark Kinra gave a comprehensive overview of the sociopolitical terrain of the fraught region. Major Gaurav Arya stressed India’s role in supporting the cause. He was blunt in emphasising the power politics of the global order. India should show it’s fighting side rather than the harmless angle, which only shows weakness. We tell ourselves falsehoods of peace when the real story is different. He wished tribes unite and don’t fight each other, and fight the oppressor.

This is the third election in Singapore I am following closely as I was there on the ground blogging and on social media in 2011 and 2015 while I was working at world class policy think tanks. This time I am overseas, but synced in with Singaporean Digital Public Sphere closely with friends contesting the polls as well.

2011 was a watershed election, with George Yeo helmed GRC falling to the Workers Party. Nicole Seah made a flash as well, who is back this time around with a different party. I saw election rallies in Clementi where I lived for years.

2015 was after Ah Kong passing away and was a hugely emotional tone, with Al Juneid GRC going down to the line, with the results declared post midnight.

2020 is an election which will be in the ‘new normal’ of the pandemic with four budgets. The parties have started releasing the candidate lists with interesting choices. The quality of the leadership talent amazes me across the board.

As a Singapore-Phile having studied on tax payer dollars which funded my NRF scholarship and my grants, the island is in many ways ‘This is Home’ in the spirit of the famous NDP anthem 🇸🇬

I watch the August 9th festivities on livestream every year too. I work with non profits there and help partner with specialists to take them to new markets in the Gulf. I few of them are on my digital feeds.

Looking forward to working in/with Singapore. I like that issues such as inequality and climate change are front and centre on the agenda.

It’s easy to be resilient
When rich
For the precarious
Resilience is normal
As there is no choice
The peans are cheap
When Dalgona is what is cared for
The retrenched worker thinks where his next Chai
Will be bought
Migrants can’t even imagine that