My interaction with Jatin Sheth, who claims to come from Gandhian family

Today I was called for lunch by Jatin Sheth, who runs a citizens' organisation, seeking to address people's common issues ranging from poor roads to gutters going berserk. After I told him about my Soviet experiences on his insistence, he said, he wanted a person who could help him out with everything that he was doing -- from writing letters to authorities in English to representing before them. He said he could pay "up to Rs 50,000."
Since I was surprised at the amount he said he would pay, out of utter curiously I asked Sheth if his organisation was registered and from where he would be collecting funds, and whether it was registered under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act ((FCRA), and he said no. Registration, according to him, is a big botheration, adding, he "managed funds". Belonging to a Gandhian family attached with the Congress in Kalol, a town about 35 km from Ahmedabad, it seemed to me he wanted me to help him out. Before he could make a direct offer, I told him, the days have gone when I was interested in working post-retirement. I just do my Counterview, and relax. I don't want to be tied up for any work, I added. It don't know if he got the message.
We talked a lot -- ranging from my Moscow experience, my maternal links with 1942 martyr Vinod Kinariwala to why he finds portions of Quran -- as translated by Maulana Maududi -- problematic. He even showed me the Gujarati translation of Quran by Maulana Maududi, whose antecedents we used to question as student activists. Was it a Quranic interpretation? I don't know.

He was surprised when I told him Bible and Quran had similar stories. However, he regretted Gujarat's progressive Muslims refuse to criticise the manner in which women are treated as second class citizens in Islamic countries. I agreed, problems existed. They had failed to come out of the mullah grip.

Living in a sprawling flat of three bedrooms off Drive-In Road, quite big according to current standards, he said, he got the flat after the old dilapidated apartment in which he lived went in for re-development.

"I was quite active for taking up citizens' cause when I had a shed in the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) estate in Naroda. I was secretary of its association. Ramnikbhai Ambani, Dhirubhai Ambani's brother, helped us a lot... That experience has helped me. I brought a good builder for redeveloping this apartment", he told me.

Comments

Irrational? Basis for fear among Hindus about being 'swamped' by Muslims

I was amused while reading an article titled "Ham Paanch, Hamare Pachees", shared on Facebook, by well-known policy analyst Mohan Guruswamy, an alumnus of the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, and the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University. Guruswamy, who has also worked as an advisor to the Finance Minister with the rank of Secretary to the Government of India, seeks to probe, as he himself states, "the supposed Muslim attitude to family planning"—a theme that was invoked by Narendra Modi as Gujarat Chief Minister ahead of the December 2002 assembly polls.

Why's Australian crackdown rattling Indian students? Whopping 25% fake visa applications

This is what happened several months ago. A teenager living in the housing society where I reside was sent to Australia to study at a university in Sydney with much fanfare. The parents, whom I often met as part of a group, would tell us how easily the boy got his admission with the help of "some well-meaning friends," adding that they had obtained an education loan to ensure he could study at a graduate school.

Tracking a lost link: Soviet-era legacy of Gujarati translator Atul Sawani

The other day, I received a message from a well-known activist, Raju Dipti, who runs an NGO called Jeevan Teerth in Koba village, near Gujarat’s capital, Gandhinagar. He was seeking the contact information of Atul Sawani, a translator of Russian books—mainly political and economic—into Gujarati for Progress Publishers during the Soviet era. He wanted to collect and hand over scanned soft copies, or if possible, hard copies, of Soviet books translated into Gujarati to Arvind Gupta, who currently lives in Pune and is undertaking the herculean task of collecting and making public soft copies of Soviet books that are no longer available in the market, both in English and Indian languages.

Gujarat slips in India Justice Report 2025: From model state to mid-table performer

Overall ranking in IJR reports The latest India Justice Report (IJR), prepared by legal experts with the backing of several civil society organisations and aimed at ranking the capacity of states to deliver justice, has found Gujarat—considered by India's rulers as a model state for others to follow—slipping to the 11th position from fourth in 2022.

Punishing senior citizens? Flipkart, Shopsy stop Cash on Delivery in Ahmedabad!

The other day, someone close to me attempted to order some goodies on Flipkart and its subsidiary Shopsy. After preparing a long list of items, this person, as usual, opted for the Cash on Delivery (popularly known as COD) option, as this senior citizen isn't very familiar with online prepaid payment methods like UPI, credit or debit cards, or online bank transfers through websites. In fact, she is hesitant to make online payments, fearing, "I may make a mistake," she explained, adding, "I read a lot about online frauds, so I always choose COD as it's safe. I have no knowledge of how to prepay online."

A conman, a demolition man: How 'prominent' scribes are defending Pritish Nandy

How to defend Pritish Nandy? That’s the big question some of his so-called fans seem to ponder, especially amidst sharp criticism of his alleged insensitivity during his journalistic career. One such incident involved the theft and publication of the birth certificate of Masaba Gupta, daughter of actor Neena Gupta, in the Illustrated Weekly of India, which Nandy was editing at the time. He reportedly did this to uncover the identity of Masaba’s father.

Not just Haren Pandya, even Dhirubhai Shah, youngest assembly speaker, wanted to be Gujarat CM

Dhirubhai Shah with Keshubhai Patel When Keshubhai Patel was sought to be replaced by the BJP high command in 2001, everyone knows that Narendra Modi became the final choice. However, someone who was part of the top circles those days now tells me something I had no knowledge of—that the choice was between Modi and a Kutch MLA, Dhirubhai Shah, who served as the 16th Speaker from March 1998 to December 2002 during the 10th Assembly, the youngest to take the office.

Of lingering shadow of Haren Pandya's murder during Modi's Gujarat days

Sunita Williams’ return to Earth has, ironically, reopened an old wound: the mysterious murder of her first cousin, the popular BJP leader Haren Pandya, in 2003. Initially a supporter of Narendra Modi, Haren turned against him, not sparing any opportunity to do things that would embarrass Modi. Social media and some online news portals, including The Wire , are abuzz with how Modi’s recent invitation to Sunita to visit India comes against the backdrop of how he, as Gujarat’s chief minister, didn’t care to offer any official protocol support during her 2007 visit to Gujarat.

Area set aside in Ahmedabad for PM's affordable housing scheme 'has gone to big builders'

Following my article on affordable housing in Counterview, which quoted a top real estate consultant, I was informed that affordable housing—a scheme introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi—has deviated from its original intent. A former senior bureaucrat, whom I used to meet during my Sachivalaya days, told me that an entire area in Ahmedabad, designated for the scheme, has been used to construct costly houses instead.

Search This Blog