Following are edited excerpts of an interview with Mr. Rashid, author of “Pakistan on the Brink.”

In your book, you write that Pakistan is now considered the most fragile place on earth because of what might happen there politically and what it can foster elsewhere. You say it’s not yet a failed state but if it continues the way it’s doing right now… it’s sliding down the path of becoming one quickly. Why is Pakistan unraveling so rapidly now… more so than any other point in its history?

I think there is an internal crisis that has really not been addressed and this is the failure of the Pakistani elite, both civil and military, to cope with the end of the Cold War and the consequences of that. The end of the Cold War presented a lot of benefits to many countries but it passed Pakistan by completely. The whole era of economic reforms, globalization, high-tech, new industries, regional trade and peace attempts, it just totally bypassed Pakistan. So we are suffering from a 20-year lag, basically, of a failure to address the problems and the advantages and the benefits that the end of the Cold War produced.

Is this because Pakistan has been so focused on India?

I think the main problem has been internal. It’s been a failure of the elite to want to change its monopoly on power, on income, on the lack of taxation, on the lack of responsibility the elite has for development and the people. If you look at all the major indices, they have all gone down… whether it’s education or health.

Since 2004… India has not been such a major issue. Certainly, the budgetary focus, the defense spending is aimed at India, and if there is a foreign-policy dilemma in Afghanistan, it’s partly India-driven. But I will say it’s an internal crisis shown by a lack of vision by our politicians and generals who have not been able to wake up to reality.

If there has been a failure on the part of the elite, then what about regular people? Is there a possibility of something like an Arab Spring in Pakistan, where young Pakistanis take to the streets and demand accountability from the government?

The fear in Pakistan is on the contrary. That if there was a mass movement like that, it would probably very quickly fall into the hands of the Islamic parties and the extremists. We should remember that in the Arab world, Islamic parties were crushed and driven underground for 30-40 years and they were partly responsible for the Arab Spring, in that for the first time, they saw the freedoms and reacted in a very modern way. They are talking about democracy and women’s rights and education and industry.

On the other hand, Pakistan’s religious parties are not talking about any of these issues. They are not talking about issues that really concern people and, if there was an Arab Spring, they are the most organized force. Civil society is certainly there in Pakistan and has a powerful voice, I would say, through the media, through the NGOs and human rights groups, but they are not organized.

Read the rest of my Q&A for The Wall Street Journal here. 

Currently the co-host of cooking program MasterChef India 2, Mr. Khanna spoke to India Real Time about returning to his roots, the evolving food landscape in India, and why Indians can never drift away from “Mummy Ka Khana” (Mom’s dishes.)

Edited excerpts:

At last count, there were more than 250 cooking shows on Indian TV. You yourself are co-hosting MasterChef India 2. What do you make of our sudden interest in cooking shows?

As Indians, we are deeply passionate about our cuisine. Now, when we have a stage to express that passion, there is an immense excitement about the different types of food we can showcase. It’s like giving an instrument to a child who has been listening to music for several years. It’s in his subconscious, but now he can express it.

What are the key ingredients to a successful cooking show? In India, do you get a sense that as we cook less in our own kitchens, we consume more culinary shows?

A cooking show can’t just be about lectures and recipes. It has to be entertaining. As a culture, just like America, we love entertainment. The show must also have emotion – something we can connect to as regular people. It should also be about inspiration and should have a factor of relatability: Viewers should be able to relate to the food, the contestants and the judges.

I don’t agree that we are cooking less. Those people are in a minority. There are still people who cook three meals a day and these are the people to whom shows can be tailored to. People will watch shows they can relate to. My mother might say, “Oh this chef is cooking simple food, I like it,” while you might say “Oh, this chef is really entertaining. I am going to watch him.” There is a need for a lot of different types of shows and everyone will find a show to their liking.

Read the rest of my piece for The Wall Street Journal here. 

A few weeks ago, I witnessed the unfortunate collapse of my weakly-structured exercise regime. A bout of laziness steered me away from the gym. Too many “cat poses” and “downward dog” postures saw me crawl away on all fours from my power yoga class and some pointing and laughing at my dancing abilities at my salsa lessons saw me slink away in shame. 

I was back to square one: shuffling around the house in track pants, noisily eating cereal out of a box. I needed a new exercise routine. Then came “Kalaripayattu,” an ancient South Indian martial arts form that not only trains you in unarmed combat, but also teaches you how to handle daggers as well as herbal medicines.

Kalari, how Kalaripayattu is also known, burns calories and whips you back into shape – all while training you to become a warrior.

Read the rest of my piece for The Wall Street Journal here.

Higher fuel prices and a poor electoral performance in key states have saddled the Congress-led UPA government with a political tinderbox at home, while it also is being asked to pick sides between old friends Iran and Israel.

New Delhi is walking a tightrope.

Trita Parsi, the founder and president of the Washington-based National Iranian Council, assesses India’s diplomatic performance so far and offers a view of how the U.S. can defuse the tension over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

Mr. Parsi is the author of “A Single Roll of the Dice: Obama’s Diplomacy With Iran.”

Edited excerpts:

India imports 80% of its petroleum needs and buys $12 billion of Iranian oil annually. How damaging to oil prices is Iran’s saber-rattling?
The U.S. has been trying to get sanctions on Iran and what the Iranians want to do in response is hurt the West. And one of the ways to do that is through saber-rattling that gets oil prices to shoot up. The Iranian government benefits because it’s an oil producer and exporter and the Western countries take a big hit because they are consumers. Obama takes a particularly big hit because higher petrol prices mean higher gas prices. And higher gas prices mean it’s going to be more difficult to create jobs in the United States.

Can OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia make up for the shortfall in Iranian oil production?
I’m not an expert on Saudi oil and their capacity to produce but what is clear is that whatever their capacity is, the markets don’t seem to be convinced and petrol prices are shooting up.

Despite the Iran-Israel standoff, India is pressing ahead with its economic agenda with Tehran. We’re looking at refurbishing the Chabahar port in Iran and we also managed to find a way around the West’s oil sanctions by making oil payments in rupees. How are these moves being perceived in Washington — who India has great relations with — and in Israel, from whom India buys its arms?
Both Israel and the United States are annoyed that throughout this period, India has managed to keep a neutral position and have good relations with all sides. At the same time India is such an important country that it has become difficult for the United States to increase its pressure on India too much. Obviously there will be some increased pressure but the question is how far the West can go on this issue. I’ve heard that the U.S. will now tell India that they view the relationship with Iran as “offensive” which is a step higher than how it has been viewed in the past.

And how might that impact U.S.-India relations?
The question is how far the U.S. is willing to take this and it seems unlikely that the U.S. is willing to risk a conflict with India over this issue. At the same time how far is India willing to take this? Is India willing to forgo the Iranian market and Iranian energy in order to retain its position with the West? I feel the Indian government’s calculation is that it feels it is completely unfair for the West, and the U.S. in particular, to put India in a position where it has to choose one friend over another. And some of India’s resistance is that it simply refuses to yield into such a pressure that perhaps smaller countries can succumb to, but for a rising power like India, it would be a bit embarrassing.

This piece first appeared in The Wall Street Journal’s India Real Time Blog. 

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that major textbook publishers are in the process of inking deals with software company ScrollMotion Inc. to transfer their textbooks into an e-reader form that can make it compatible with digital devices like Apple’s iPad. The publishers are tapping the know-how of ScrollMotion Inc. to develop textbook applications and test-prep and study guides for the iPad (WSJ). The publishers on board, include Kaplan Inc., which is best know for its test prep guides and the education unit of McGraw Hill and Cos.

So far, the Journal reports, college kids have been slow to adapt to digital e-textbooks, partly because of mobility problems- the desktops and laptops and netbooks were too large to lug around. But with the iPad’s portability–that issue could be addressed. So now college kids can download their e-textbooks and school kids could “enhance” their learning by taking notes online, recording lectures and taking tests online.

The iPad also will be helped by the interest that schools have always had in tablet-form computers. Science teachers, for example, could use them for taking lab notes, which often use a combination of sentences, charts and mathematical equations, while others could use them on field trips. “This is the beginning of handheld education,” said John Lema, chief executive of ScrollMotion (WSJ).

BARF! Try getting kids to pay attention when they have access to video online–it’s hard enough already to get them to get their digits off their cell-phones, you think they’re going to pay attention when they have a shiny iPad? And didn’t we all buy into that study that said that multi-tasking actually makes the kids more ADD? What are we doing to our kids?!

I know. We’re developing a breed of attention-resistant, multi-tasking brats, who won’t know how to use a pen or remember what they learnt two minutes after exiting class. And I should know- I read on the internet all the time to never retain information and my hand-writing sucks. There- game, set, match! Over.

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The iPad is Finally Here

Yes, You are hired! Now, can you do headstands?

Yes, the economy! Still tanking, still reeling under the economic crisis, still sucking! So if you are out there still looking for a job, The Wall Street Journal has some ideas on how not to suck at an interview.

Tips include the famous

- Don’t arrive late

-Don’t dress sloppily

-Don’t act over familiar

-No typos in resume

-Don’t talk about salary or benefits off the bat

-Don’t be fidgety, keep a pen and notepad handy, and always take a copy of your resume with you

- A follow up thank-you email is enough, no need for cards and balloons.

But more than these tips, I found this survey- of 500 HR managers of the Society for Human Resource Management- insightful.

• 30% of hiring managers will decide whether to hire you within 15 minutes (Aha! So need to babble about thinking out of the box, or being a team player, post 15 minute mark, methinks!)
• 40% of hiring managers say a cellphone ringing in the middle of an interview is a “deal breaker” (Duh!)
• 70% prefer job candidates to have unpaid internship experience directly related to their companies’ work versus paid employment in an unrelated field (Yes, so please slave away at an unpaid internship, denying yourself the chance to make any real money, to keep your head above water, in a sinking city; so that when you meet said HR manager, you can show them how serious you are about finding a job in the field you are applying for.)
• 39% say “chemistry” with a job applicant accounts for half of their hiring decision

• Choose your application round carefully. Most schools have several windows in which applicants can apply. The deadlines start in November and can go as late as April. The key is to zero in on your top choice and work on that application before the others, says Stacy Blackman, founder of Stacy Blackman Consulting, which coaches individuals during the M.B.A. admissions process. But don’t wait until the third round to apply to a school you’re serious about. By that time, schools are looking for very specific types of people to round out the rest of the class, says Jennifer Hayes, senior associate director of admissions at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

• Break the news to your employer. Applicants with letters of recommendation from a current employer are much stronger than those without. Ideally, you have discussed your long-term goals with your employer, so this won’t come as a surprise. Ms. Blackman recommends telling your supervisor about your ambitions two years before you apply. However, if you feel as if sharing your goal will endanger your employment, include an additional letter addressed to the admissions committee explaining your concerns.

• Work harder in the office. Truth is, not every applicant will get into their dream school. Scott Shrum, director of M.B.A. admissions research of Veritas Prep, an admissions firm in Malibu, Calif., suggests finding ways to make your candidacy even stronger while waiting for a final answer. If there’s a new workplace project that needs a leader, volunteer. It will give you more to talk about if you make it to the personal interview at your choice schools, says Mr. Shrum.

Read the rest of the piece here.