New Delhi, Oct. 31 -- My fascination with the distinction between the Left and the Right began during classes XI and XII. At an age when one's political understanding is still taking shape, I found my... Read More
New Delhi, Oct. 23 -- Cruelty no longer feels obliged to conceal itself. One of the most unsettling features of our contemporary political life is that cruelty frequently arrives dressed in the langua... Read More
New Delhi, Oct. 15 -- The reason democracy is thought to be a stable system of governance and preferred over other forms is it is founded on an implicit bargain between citizens and the state. Politic... Read More
New Delhi, Sept. 25 -- A student protest is political, even when its demand seems administrative. A delayed examination, a paper leak, an arbitrary cancellation, an uncertain recruitment process, a sh... Read More
New Delhi, Sept. 9 -- Every protest starts with a feeling. When a crowd gathers, something happens inside people. There is anger, certainly, but there may also be humiliation, fear, grief, compassion,... Read More
New Delhi, Sept. 1 -- India is often described as the world's largest democracy, but numbers alone do not explain the extraordinary complexity of Indian democracy. To understand India, one must begin ... Read More
New Delhi, Aug. 17 -- From the ramparts of the Red Fort on Independence Day, the Prime Minister said armed naxalism was nearing its end but warned of a "dimagi naxal" mindset. Such people, he said, mu... Read More
New Delhi, Aug. 8 -- Some books remain with us long after we have turned their final page. Robert Louis Stevenson'sStrange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hydeis one such work. It is first encountered as a p... Read More
New Delhi, Aug. 5 -- There are biographies that faithfully assemble facts yet somehow fail to animate the life they seek to capture and present. And then there are rare works that persuade us that bui... Read More