Dear policeman who issued the advisory on how to be safe in Salt Lake, I am so scared of Salt Lake that I cannot remember the last time I was there. In fact, I routinely scold a female friend of mine who frequently goes there and even has the audacity to take sharing cabs from that locality. God pray if some mishap happens, I cannot blame you for not being there. She should and m
This August 23 was a sad day. We lost a great writer who was rooted enough in his tradition to interrogate aspects of it with courage and affection, and who was modern enough to challenge the dominant, Euro-centric conceptions of modernity, even while upholding its universal aspects and values both in his creative writing and in his role as a public intellectual. He was openly sceptical of much
On August 18, in an unexpected move, the Narendra Modi government called off the foreign secretary (FS)-level talks scheduled to be held in Islamabad on August 25. The sudden twist of events left most surprised, including the ministry of external affairs (MEA). The reason cited was the meeting between the Hurriyat Conference, represented by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Shabir Ahm
Much is being made out of Rohit Kumar Yadav`s ascent to presidentship of St Stephen`s College Union - Students Union Society, as it is described within the community. Much should be. For those tuning in late, Mr Yadav is the son of a gardner in the College - the first time since 1881 that a Group D (described as `Class IV` by the Times of India this morning) pa
The board of control for cricket in India (BCCI) has come a long way from being a governing body of all cricket in India to analysing the inner minds of the cricketers – psychoanalysing them for every other failure or success. The board officials seem to have done and known it all. After the debacle against England in the ongoing series, the BCCI has come out with its own
The back-to-back visits by the US secretaries of state and defence have set the ball rolling for prime minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming trip to Washington. The meetings with John Kerry and Chuck Hagel have also set the tone for the government’s engagement with the United States. On a swathe of issues from intellectual property rights (IPR) to defence, the Modi government has made i
There’s so much denial around Narendra Modi in the media that we should be glad his opponents concede he exists in flesh and blood! It’s been nearly 13 years since Modi took political executive office. Not for a day in these years, till about six months ago, could the so-called national media associate anything good with him. Modi was the devil incarnate, a rabid righ
Two reports in 42 days in two newspapers belonging to the same group haven’t helped the civil aviation ministry dismantle the billboards that are obstructing Air India’s Boeing 777 long-haul flights take off from Mumbai airport without huge losses. On June 26 the Hindustan Times put out a bizarre story – of Air India losing Rs 100 crore annually on its flights t
It is yet to be fully appreciated that the key difference with the past has been Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s willingness to act rather than just petition, request or react. At Fortaleza, India agreed to the New Development Bank being located in Shanghai, recognizing the largely symbolic nature of that decision -- to secure an Indian head to shape the rules that really m
In 2009, when the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) extended its services to Noida city, it brought relief for many people. A respite from the never-ending traffic jams, hours of waiting at bus stops or arguing with autorickshaw drivers, who did not have permit to enter the city and thought it was their right to charge exorbitantly. A clean, punctual and efficien
The second political revolution – that of the Aam Aadmi Party, or AAP – in the history of democratic India seems to have fizzled out. The party has finally announced that it would not contest the assembly elections in Haryana, Maharasahtra, Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand – all due in the next few months, with Haryana going to polls sometime in September-October. To pu
Mornings for me are almost always rushed – the half-an-hour waking up session with the daughter, packing her lunch box, filling the water bottle and helping her get ready before rushing out to make it in time for the school bus. Today was even more rushed. Husband and I had to be in time for her assembly. We made it in record time – beating even her school bus to the school
Being an unabashed admirer of Dilip Kumar, it is quite difficult for me to cast a critical eye at his work. Though limited in my understanding of cinema, Dilip Kumar remains the ultimate superstar; his dialogue delivery and mannerism still hold me in trance. My training as a journalist dissuades me to get overawed by any personality, particularly with those in power. But this training failed wh
A sense of déjà vu hit hard while reading a news report on Infosys being sued in the US. Infosys is an equal opportunity employer: that was the ‘strong’ defence offered by the Indian multinational giant, taken to a US district court for allegedly discriminating against US citizens who did not know Hindi. The former employees have alleged they were
The ongoing crisis in Iraq posed the first serious external test for the NDA government. New Delhi’s handling of the rescue and evacuation effort has been commendable. Yet the government needs to look beyond the immediate crisis. In particular, it should reconsider some fundamental assumptions that have long underpinned India’s response to instability in West Asia. Such an exercise
It was not only the people of the country but opposition political parties were also eagerly waiting for the Union budget to be presented under the leadership of prime minister Narendra Modi. With the budget in the public domain now, people are rejoicing but the opposition appears to be clueless and searching for loopholes to take on the budget. But as the PM said, the budget is a sanjeevini to
The PM’s blog on his first month, the foundation course for members of Parliament and now the budget have begun to shift the balance between subsidies for the rural poor and growth that will provide employment in industry and move the agrarian population to cities and into the middle class. Whose ‘ache din’ is a question that has remained unanswered? Th
The prime minister’s blog entries on completion of first month in power, the foundation course for MPs and the railway budget have all been a lost opportunity to begin a national debate on our longer term future to build public opinion that will enable long term investments and ensure implementation, an area where we have failed many times in the past. Decisions have so far
Gujarat was allocated 9 million acre feet (MAF) of water from the Sardar Sarovar dam under the Narmada water dispute tribunal award. The state plans to use that water through the main canal. The level of the main canal is 110 metres. The moment the water in the dam is above that level, it will enter the canal and after that Gujarat can make use of it. Gujarat already has more th
So there I was, standing outside, smoking, when it fell in front of me. A one-rupee coin. I looked up, saw a pigeon flying off the building’s high ledge in a hurry, as if scared of me. Truth be told, I tried to move off faster – as fast as my big-fat body allows – lest it poop on me. I looked up. Realising that the bird had had actually taken fligh
