Biography

What does it feel like to face Thapar? No wonder, a politician has a tough time facing him. Are those just questions one has to deal with? No, they are venomous stings of the deadliest kind. What's more, Thapar is frighteningly sharp giving his guest absolutely no chance – whenever he tries to tactfully avoid a question or slyly insert a subtle lie. Lashing his dangerous fangs whenever one tries to do that. Most are at a loss for words fumbling in front of his relentless attacks. Karan Thapar breathes fire as he speaks and his eyes glow in the dark too, I can bet.

Like most CNN-IBN programs the presentation is just too good. The key dialogues are shown in a ticker below the screen esp. useful when the politician concerned fumbles and mumbles inaudibly. The only commercial break used to be very short in the beginning but has now lengthened - which I don't mind. But what I am not liking is that the total show time has been chopped off by a whopping 5 minutes! Before it ended at 8:58 or 8:59, nowadays Karan stops at 8:55. Otherwise it is a program that just rocks. Even those least interested in politics must watch it.

Perhaps his most recent and famous interview has been with the Congress Minister for Human Resources Development Mr. Arjun Singh over the issue of increasing caste-based reservation quotas in all universities and institutions of higher education for the members of the so-called Other Backward Classes (OBCs), at the expense of compromising merit. His critics have humorously claimed that Arjun Singh was eaten alive or ripped apart by Thapar, wherein at least seven questions were answered by Mr. Singh as "I don't know" and many others by "I am a servant of the Parliament". The entire interview on IBN can be read here.

Incredibly stupid India 'What on earth is going on?' Pertie sounded intrigued but I could tell he was also exasperated. It was past midnight and there was an edge to his voice. "Have we all gone mad?" As you know, this is how Pertie's rhetorical conversations usually begin. So though I was tempted to reply flippantly, I bit my lip and kept silent.

"They're attacking women for drinking in pubs near Bangalore. In Bombay they're closing down shops called Karachi Sweets and banning the sale of Pakistani books. Elsewhere, courts are issuing notices to the producer of Slumdog Millionaire on the grounds the name is offensive. Doesn't it seem as if, suddenly, everyone's lost all sense of balance and perspective?"

"Oh come, Pertie," I replied soothingly, trying hard not to tut-tut. "These are separate and isolated incidents. You can't add them all up!"