Spot “Kiss of Fire” in India’s corridors of power; Try it out on the Valentine’s Day

HAVE you spotted “Kiss of Fire” in India’s corridors of power?  And if you thought Raisina Hills is all about power, politics and politicking, think again. India’s Presidential Palace Rashtrapati Bhavan grows Kiss of Fire, Eiffel Tower and Taj Mahal -- all varieties of roses, and also houses as many as 10,000 Tulips in red, orange and yellow mixed with red, pink, purple and white. And the good news is that the Mughal Gardens inside Rashtrapati Bhavan premise will be open for public from the Valentine’s Day onward till March 15, 2015. Read the following to know more about John F Kennedy, Queen Elizabeth and Mr. Lincoln, all blooming inside India’s Raisina Hills:

#ModiSpeech in Red Fort: 5 messages to babus of the corridors of power

PM Modi interacting with school children after his I-Day address 

DOES every GoI secretary have his or her own fiefdom? Or how less (or more) capable a government peon is, if compared to cabinet secretary’s power? And, is there a difference between a “job” in private sector and “service” in government? A day after prime minister Narendra Modi’s hour-long extempore speech in Red Fort on the occasion of 68th Independence Day, BoI presents here excerpts of the speech that relates to babudom:

Happy New Year, 2013: 5 things you may expect in corridors of power

NOTHING is predictable in today’s corridors of power. Maybe, the regular appointments of the empaneled officials could be the only exception. Yet, BoI presents 5 things that you may expect in corridors of power during the New Year, 2013.

Who is babu blogger? A retired IAS attempts to imagine and draws a cartoon

babu blogger as imagined by an ex-IAS

FOR two and half years, there have been intense speculations about the identity of babu blogger who has broken news, spotted trends and analyzed hits and misses of India’s corridors of power. Amid the raging controversy over Indian government’s recent move to regulate online content, and social media’s continuous attack on communications minister Kapil Sibal who had announced the move, babu blogger has demonstrated how you can remain anonymous and yet become highly objective, formal and impartial.

But what’s about babu blogger’s identity? Is babu blogger a serving government officer with a passion to chronicle events of Raisina Hills? Or is he, or she, a retired babu who is well versed with power equations? Or is he/she a smart private secretary of a powerful politician? If not so, is babu blogger a female journalist with an easy access to high and mighty of Lutyen’s Delhi?

Hold your breath. Here is the first serious attempt to imagine how babu blogger looks like, and who he or she could be. And the guesswork is done by none other than a veteran ex-IAS officer. Look at this babu blogger’s caricature made by 1962 batch retired Maharashtra cadre IAS VS Gopalakrishnan who passionately sings, blogs and paints even after 16 years of retirement. Here is Gopalakrishnan’s guess: “The BB (babu blogger) is retired. So, not young looking. Wears specs (thick due to reading habits). Prefers polka-dot shirt. Hails from Bihar, worked in UP cadre and settled down in Delhi!”

babu blogger often receives emails with various guesses about who he or she could be. Everyone is convinced that babu blogger is well versed with action-packed Indian bureaucracy, and he or she is impartial and has also a nose for news. But is babu blogger an outsider, or very much a part of the Great Indian Babudom? Any guess? You can post your comments below this write-up, and also take part in BoI’s Guess Game placed at the left top corner of this site. Enjoy every moment of your visit to BoI action zone.