Avay Shukla

There are rare occasions in a country’s history when one event, one freeze-frame moment in time, encapsulates and captures its “weltanschauung” and prevailing state of affairs. Two recent examples in recent times are the protests by women in Iran against the mullahs’ hijab diktat, and the citizens’ movement in Israel for the rolling back of […]

Pardon me if I’m sounding like a latter day Cassandra wrapped in a wet towel, but my heart does not leap up in joy, unlike the poet’s, on learning that both Air-India and Indigo have ordered 500 additional planes each for their fleet. Nor did said heart do a backflip when the Civil Aviation Minister

William Shakespeare (aka William Sexpeare in Waste Bengal) had got most things right, especially when it came to portraying the seven deadly sins, as per their revised version in India’s Amritkaal. Whether it was “honour killing” in Othello or “love jihad” (by Romeo, naturally, trying to entice a Capulet to become a Montague) in Romeo

I have no hesitation in confessing that I’m a very confused man these days. It has nothing to do with Mr. Amit Shah’s suggestion of a “middle path” for the BJP and the Opposition to engage in a dialogue, which is perplexing enough. For Mr. Shah’s middle path is not the one propounded by the

In my house in a village above Shimla I am treated to an orchestral performance every evening when it rains. The musicians are a myriad of cicadas who have taken up residence in the lush greenery all around. It is a very choreographed show: first the lead cicada starts clicking his tymbals, a rasping sound,

THE RAFALE DEAL-FLYING LIES by RAVI NAIR WITH PARANJOY GUHA THAKURTA PUBLISHED BY PARANJOY GUHA THAKURTA, 2022 SIGNED, SEALED AND BURIED Given our robust eco-system of corruption and the still lingering memories of Bofors, it is inevitable that our increasing purchase of defence equipment/ arms would attract public scrutiny. India is the third largest spender

We did it again last Thursday- for the seventh time India abstained on a UN vote that asked Russia to cease hostilities and vacate its invasion of Ukraine. It was, of course, not unexpected, because under Mr. Jaishankar fence sitting has become an essential ingredient of our foreign policy, thinly disguised as “national interest.” We

DNA  sequencing has established conclusively that humans share 99% of their genomes with chimpanzees and bonobos monkeys, and 98% with gorillas. In other words, only 1% is the genomic difference between the creatures swinging in the trees and those piddling on them. I suspect the difference may be even narrower in cities like Delhi and

A disclaimer is in order before I venture into the rest of this piece. These days, any hack of standing has to begin with a disclaimer to show that he is someone to be reckoned with, that his background is of interest to his readers, that he is pure as the driven snow, and that