Columns

It’s not working, for either the INDIA alliance or the Congress. Current trends and mood postulate that 2024 is lost for them, and after that they are dead in any case. The problem is that INDIA stands for everything and therefore for nothing; one can’t be all things for all voters and still hope to […]

Amidst the ongoing cacophony of news and Deep Fake news, claims and counter claims, dissemination and dissembling, it is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish between fake and genuine democracies. What makes a country a real democracy? Is it a “progressive and liberal” Constitution? An “independent” judiciary? A “fearless” press and media? An “elected” government? An

We therefore commit this body to the ground, earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust…” [ The Book of Common Prayer] You are dust and unto dust you shall return.” [ Genesis] These quotations from the Bible, which have soothed generations of grieving relatives, are of little comfort in the age of global

The Parbati is the best known and biggest of the four GHNP rivers, meeting the Beas at Bhunter, just below Kullu. It is the only one that does not originate from a glacier- its womb is the huge, forbidding Mantalai lake at 14000 feet, at the foot of the Pin Parbat pass which divides the

Animals have always featured prominently in Indian culture and mythology, and have added immensely to their richness and mystique. Garuda is the loyal friend of Vishnu, the peacock is the vehicle for Kartikeya, the lion is Durga mata’s fearless steed, the elegant swan is the vehicle of Brahma and Saraswati, the snake adorns Shiva’s neck

If you’ve been a keen observer of public discourse in India, as I have been for some years now, you are probably immune to the bizarre and outlandish statements made by the worthies holding public office. Like the Scowling Sherpa’s revelation that “there is too much democracy” in India, or a Minister in Davos claiming

There’s something other-worldly about the body. It is like a fantastical building which, after being attacked and cracked by the elements of nature, works very hard to try to patch itself up. On being hurt, the body heals – at least, that is so if the damage isn’t so extensive as to result in death.

In my blog last fortnight (World Leaders and War Criminals) I had opined that what Israel and the USA were doing in tandem in Gaza was a war crime. Since then the criminality has only intensified and two thousand more innocent Palestinians have been murdered, with the world-global north, south and middle- either remaining silent

Dear Friends, thanks for doing me the honour of asking me to speak to you today. Whenever I’m asked to do something like this, something I’ve not done before, I always feel a stab of fear and my shadow-self tells me that I’m not qualified to do it. Whether it’s to be the trustee of