Columns

21st February or Ekushe February in Bengali usage is an iconic day in the history of the Bengali speaking people like me. The history is worth recalling briefly. In 1948, the Government of Pakistan ordained Urdu as the sole national language for the newly formed country sparking extensive protests among the Bengali-speaking majority of East […]

I have for some time been convinced that Moses (of Old Testament fame ) was THE original bureaucrat. The anecdotal evidence is pretty convincing. He offered to his peoples the Promised Land, and then made them wander around in the desert for forty years. If this is not the classic bureaucratic run-around then what is

If you’re wondering how deep the rot has set into our society, and how autonomous the radicalisation of even the educated sections has become, you have to look no further than the open letter written by 32 assorted retired IFS officers on the 5th of this month in response to an appeal by more than

I am gradually getting convinced of two things: one, all this ozone rattling by various COPs is getting us nowhere; and two, that economists do not live on the same planet that you and I do. This was brought home to me conclusively last Sunday night when I was listening to Ruchir Sharma being interviewed

Something curious seems to be happening in my home state, Ulta Pradesh or Attar Pradesh, depending on whether you are standing on your head or breathing deeply in Kannauj. The curious part does not refer to the Yogic Yogi doing the 100 meter sprint behind the Prime Minister’s bullet proof car on some expressway or

INDIA’S LONG WALK HOME Edited by Ishan Chauhan & Zenaida Cubbinz Published by Paranjoy Guha Thakurta. 2021. Rs. 595.00 About once in every generation, an event occurs which is so tectonic in its scope and intensity that it cries out to be chronicled for posterity. Not merely recorded or reported by news media and television

Mr. Ranjan Gogoi, who earlier graced the Supreme Court and now adds gravitas to the Rajya Sabha ( when it functions, that is, or when he attends it- both of which are seldom) has come out with his statement for the defence in a book titled JUSTICE FOR THE JUDGE. For the last few days

An article in The Guardian recently caught my attention. It had comments from doctors and nurses in the UK saying that most of the patients admitted to the ICUs with Covid or Covid related issues were those who were unvaccinated. They lamented that anti vaccine protesters held out on supposedly religious or pseudo-scientific grounds for

As one keeps piling on the years ( I am now at three score and eleven ) one also imbibes some wisdom along with the evening pegs. And these days there is no better fount of wisdom than our seraphic Prime Minister who persists with casting his pearls before the swine even as they have