BJP- The dilemmas of victory?
As the Modi government completes three years in office, it finds itself in an enviable position. It boasts of a charismatic leader who has a committed mass following, an electoral machine that has...
View ArticleThe WhatsApp group – India’s emotional pipeline?
Every morning, all over India people are waking up to roses, inspirational quotes in pink and pious sentiments trimmed to fit in verse. Through the day, we receive a barrage of opinions, memes,...
View ArticleThe burden of restraint?
Being a soldier in Kashmir cannot be easy. Putting oneself in the shoes of Major Gogoi is not a simple thing to do, but it is something at we must attempt to do before taking...
View ArticleMann Ki Baat and Brand Modiji
If there is one thing that all the 3 year report cards issued to this government agree on is that Narendra Modi is an extremely popular leader, who generates a level of trust and respect...
View ArticleA media moment of truth
The government’s action against NDTV is like many other elements in the BJP government’s conduct post their stunning UP victory, puzzling. Why act against the channel now, and why do so with such...
View ArticleDivorcing our streets?
The streets have invaded the restaurants. Chinese Bhel, Wada Pav sliders, Pav Bhaji Fondue, College Van Spring Rolls, Bread Pakoda with Teriyaki glaze & Potato Sphere Galangal Chaat- these are just...
View ArticleThe unresolved past
Perhaps the past never goes away. It waits in the shadows, gathering evidence of its relevance, and slides back into the present when the time is right. The current climate of division and resentment...
View ArticleProtest as strategy?
Is a protest along the lines of #notinmyname the best way to counter the current climate of anger and hate that seems to have gripped the country? At one level, a protest like this is...
View ArticleGPS and the new maps of the world
The taxi driver had absolutely no idea about the city he called his home. It had been 2 years since he moved to Mumbai, but he was clueless about the most basic destinations- Fountain, Nariman...
View ArticleThe solution as problem?
The newspaper is one place where events happen to rub shoulders with each other and sometimes it becomes possible to discern a pattern among these. Currently, for instance there are several unconnected...
View ArticleA world beyond the Men in Blue?
Harmanpreet Kaur exploded on our screens last week and women’s cricket in India came to the forefront in a dramatic fashion. Through the course of the Women’s World Cup, attention on the performance of...
View ArticleBihar: Future Tense?
It is hardly as if the Opposition was brimming over with hope, but Nitish Kumar’s effective defection to the other side has made 2019 a lost cause. The only plausible leader of a possible coalition...
View ArticleThe family holiday then & now
Come summer vacation time, and social media is full of people wearing bermudas grinning at us as they sip something lurid some place exotic. Vacation snaps are to social media what show-cases are to...
View ArticleGoing medieval, worldwide?
It has become a ritual of sorts. Wake up every morning to track the fall-out from the latest abomination from the House of Donald Trump. He rarely disappoints, if that is the word one is...
View ArticleThe things that don’t change: The oldness of new India?
For the first time in the last few months, the government seems to be losing control over the political narrative. A series of different events has forced this change of emphasis, away from the usual...
View ArticleThe age of the private army
The mayhem unleashed by the supporters of Ram Rahim is an emphatic reminder of how a parallel structure is building legitimacy, and finding ways of challenging the state with impunity. What we saw in...
View ArticlePrivacy as human impulse?
A big victory was won privacy some weeks back. Some important principles governing the issue have been articulated, but it remains to be seen as to what kind of implications this judgment will set off....
View ArticleThe alcohol genie
The Supreme Court has clarified its order on banning liquour sale within 500m on highways, and many parts of India are sighing with relief. That such a ruling caused such anxiety is a sign of...
View ArticleThe politics of strength
On social media, PM Modi continues to follow all those who sent some highly abusive tweets to critics, including the person who addressed some particularly vile comments about the slain Gauri Lankesh....
View ArticleDistrusting the Young?
Does the Modi government have a fundamental problem with universities and the young people studying there? The recurring episodes of unrest at different University campuses seem to point in that...
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