Governor’s Disgrace

EIGHTEEN hours after Haryana Governor Ganapatrao Devji Tapase committed the most undemocratic faux pas in India’s political history, he was cowering on a sofa in…

Read more

Earthy Tales

Last week I was on a flight to Mumbai About two hours in, the captain an- nounced that there was unseasonal heavy rain ahead and…

Read more

Going for Gold

Seven and a half minutes into the movie Paan Singh Tomar a journalist asks the eponymous hero, played by Irrfan Khan, why he became a…

Read more

SCHOLARSHIPS-POLITICAL COMPULSIONS

Two experts on Soviet studies, both lecturers in major universities, were in­ formed late last month by the University Grants Commission (UGC) that their appli­cations…

Read more

POLITICAL COMPLUSIONS

Two experts on Soviet studies, both lecturers in major universities, were informed late last month by the University Grants Commission (UGC) that their applications for…

Read more

THE ART OF SURVIVAL

Deep inside the jungle in northernmost Mizoram, a lone man brews a tin mug of tea in the early morning haze. He is squatting on…

Read more

THE BHAJAN BLUDGEON

The Sprawling city that Charles-Edouard le Corbusier had designed for bureaucrats and retired people looked like an army encampment girding up for an enemy onslaught.…

Read more

TAKEN FOR A RIDE

No point of no return was so final as the one Charan Singh and Devi La1 reached on July 21. The crusty Jat leaders have…

Read more

GREAT STRESS TEST

Since you all love acronyms for the Good and Simple Tax and the Grand Stupid Thought, the headline is my humble contribution to your lexicon.…

Read more

ANNA DATA

Annadata means “Bestower of food” – a synonym for god. In some Indian languages, Anna means older brother, so you can also take my headline…

Read more