When Amit Shah set March 31 as the target to eliminate Naxalism, it signalled a moment of unusual confidence in India’s long battle against leftwing extremism. Yet, the story of its decline is less about a single deadline, and more about a slow, uneven recalibration of state strategy – one that has steadily narrowed both…
Is politics the only endgame for those seeking justice in a country where issues often get buried once the camera lens swivels to the latest viral story? It is an unsettling question, not least because many politicians thrive precisely by riding that difficult wave, aided undoubtedly by the short attention spans of both the media…
Ah, retirement—the golden parachute that often feels more like a deflated balloon animal than free bird soul. One minute you’re dreaming of endless golf swings, tracking in hills and beachside margaritas; the next, you’re staring at your cup of tea, wondering if it’s too early for a nap… or a rebellion. Take Arijit Singh, the…
On social media, there is a controversy raging around an unusual person. She is an Instagram reels sensation unlike any other. A married woman from rural Bengal who gives us a peek into her daily routine while talking about things. The films of Takeshi Kitano and David Lynch. About the importance of menstrual leave. About…
I was talking to a senior onco-surgeon, who must have operated on thousands of patients, to seek his advice on what should one look for in a surgeon for a complex case. As he was seventy-plus, he himself wasn’t keen to take up long and complex surgeries, so he suggested that I should look for…
Higher education is a transformative experience. Not only is there the opportunity to earn a qualification, master a new skill and gain access to much-admired profession, there is the advantage of learning in an entirely new environment, experiencing new cultures and making friends that become family. A university experience offers a life beyond the one…
India didn’t just fight Left Wing Extremism. It made it irrelevant. For years, Left Wing Extremism in India was seen as a law-and-order problem. It never really was. It was a vacuum. Where the state didn’t exist, something else stepped in—and for decades, that “something else” ruled large parts of the country with fear. What…
The sun, the sea and now the slots. Goa, India’s only legal casino playground, is quietly rewriting its own rules again. This time chief minister Pramod Sawant’s government isn’t merely tweaking licence fees or tightening audits. It is literally taking water away from farmers’ fields and handing prime irrigated land over to a gaming company….
As US and Israel’s war continues against Iran, Gulf countries are really suffering. So dire has their security situation become, that there are leaked reports of Gulf officials pondering military action against Iran, and these have to be taken seriously.How can a region full of US military bases, personnel and hardware, be so vulnerable to…
Ashok Vohra Jainism is one of the oldest religions of the world. According to it, every living being is a soul and has the potentiality of attaining liberation from the cycle of birth and death. Mahavir, the twenty-fourth Tirthankar of Jainism, treated men and women equally. There is no gender bias in his teachings. However,…