Columns

I’ve been away from my village in Himachal for the last three months and am beginning to feel homesick; the remedy, Neerja tells me, is to write about the latest news from the state. I can ignore her advice only at my peril, so here goes. But since there is both good news and bad

Political doctrines, like public buildings, are often named after persons. The United States boasts the Lincoln memorial, the J. Edgar Hoover Building, even Washington D.C. itself. America’s very name owes its origins to the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci (1454 – 1512). Had the cartographer Martin Waldseemüller not appropriated the name America for his map of

The year 2025, vandalised by the likes of Trump, Netanyahu and Putin, is now thankfully history and I earnestly hope we see the backs of these war criminals in the year ahead. But that should not distract us from making our own New Year resolutions. Mine is inspired by that athenian, observant avian of the

There are two ways to legally get a loan from a bank. One, apply for a loan with your credentials, balance sheet, profit and loss statement, statement of assets, etc. If these are not good enough, then one can take the second route- buy off the bank and award yourself a loan. The Indian govt.

Being a dyed in the wool (now a ‘dead in the water’) bureaucrat, I have never been the life and soul of any party. But strangely enough, hostesses kept inviting me frequently to dinners, I suspect because of my village idiot qualities, because I could keep a conversation flowing in the silences when everyone else

In Pakistan, the sun sets and rises in the west. Political meteorologists saw a waning sunset in US-Pak relations in the U.S. National Security Strategy (NSS) encyclical of 2017, issued during President Trump’s first tenure. They notice a false sunrise in his latest NSS paper, issued in November 2025. NSS of 2017 devoted a precious

The privatization of our national airline reminds one of the Greek legend of Penelope’s loom – a continuous exercise designed to tire suitors. Since PIA’s creation in 1955, its history has been a triumph of experience over hope. Initially, PIA took off with enviable success, under Air Marshal Nur Khan (MD 1959-65 and chairman 1973-79)

The Vande Bharat stable of trains is the pride of the Indian railways, and deservedly so. Their coaches are state of the art, comprising the best in the world in technology and comfort, rivalling the airlines at a fraction of the cost. Each set of 16 coaches costs about Rs. 130 crores, ten times the

At nearly 75 years, I have for long endorsed Bob Hope’s dictum: I’m not afraid of dying but I don’t want to be around when it happens. But of late I am more inclined to go with “Death, where is thy sting?” by the Apostle Paul, in 1 Corinthians of the New Testament. The simple reason is that I