Ravi Velloor is the author of ‘India Rising’ – a book on India from a Singapore perspective. It is a well researched book and showed the author’s efforts.
But the author is also an Associate Editor with The Straits Times.
It was Doklan crisis time. Ravi Velloor wrote an extremely below-standard article that said the following:
- China would attack India.
- Pakistan would join China in attacking India.
- Singapore Air Force, that has its training facilities in India’s Kalaigunda Air Base, should look at other options for its training.
None of the above happened. The article was under-researched, alarmist and lacked details.
How could the author, who writes a great book, write such an article that reeks of arm-chair analysis and advertises lack of clear thought processes?, I thought.
I got the answer. Arun Shourie, author of many exemplary books, and importantly of a book on China that brought out how and why Nehru prostrated to China and allowed the 1962 disgrace to happen, said during the same Doklam crisis, that India was preparing to get yet another slap on the face. And we know what happened in Doklam.
I got my lesson – Authors are good at hindsight, but, are not pragmatic and not worthy of contemporary analysis.
May be I am wrong. Point me to journalist-authors who are right in both roles at the same time.
Here is the article that I had referred to.
Amaruvi's Aphorisms 