BY ALEXIA JAMES This rather silly viral story about Indians ‘owning London’ in the Mint newspaper from earlier this year is a classic case of a statistic being weaponised to feed a narrative, while completely obscuring a far more powerful and entrenched reality. The ‘karma’ jibe it refers to is not just simplistic; it is mathematically and economically illiterate. The report states that Indians are … Continue reading Misleading Headline from India
BY DR KAUSTAV BHATTACHARYYA I frequently pondered my failure to write even a single article on Indian Civil Service (ICS) officers, even though it is a central theme of my doctoral dissertation. This close connection to the subject has hindered me from producing anything since I completed my doctorate nearly a decade ago. The ICS was the administrative body responsible for the bureaucratic governance of … Continue reading A Tale Told By An Idiot
BY RYAN LOBO On January 4, 2007, columnist Tavleen Singh was ordered to pay a fine of Rs 500 when her dog defecated on Marine drive in Bombay. She refused, arguing that when the city was overrun with stray dogs pooping at will in public spaces, it was unfair to fine her. An animal rights activist feeds dogs on Morjim beach in Goa as a … Continue reading Who Let the Dogs Out?
BY KENNETH ARTHUR MILN Dr Babu, better known as Old Cha Cha by the jute wallahs living at Meghna Compound during the 1940s, was our much-respected company doctor and a most dignified Bengali gentleman. The old man stood pole straight to over six feet. His spare frame usually supported a white cotton suit with the trouser bottoms held in place by bicycle clips: the good … Continue reading Dr Babu and the Catla Fish
Madhav Das Nalapat (born 1950) aka M D Nalapat is India’s first Professor of Geopolitics and the UNESCO Peace Chair at Manipal University, where he is Vice-Chair of Manipal Advanced Research Group and Director of the Department of Geopolitics & International Relations. A journalist and a former Editor of The Times of India and of Mathrubhumi, he is currently the Editorial Director of ITV Network … Continue reading The MD Nalapat Interview
BY DR KAUSTAV BHATTACHARYYA In these troubled times of pandemic, when mourning for the departed has become a painful feature of our lives, we had to come to terms with the loss of our very dear Mr Shanbhag, an institution for the bibliophiles of Bengaluru. Mr Shanbhag was the owner of Premier bookstore located in the prime area of Church Street in a street corner … Continue reading Shanbhag of Bengaluru
BY RAMA KASHYAP The news of the deadly virus spreading its tentacles all over the globe started trickling in to Chandigarh from January last year, creating fear amongst the people in the country. The reality hit us really hard when the nationwide lockdown was imposed on March 24 bringing life to a standstill. It was an exceptionally tough period marked by panic and anxiety, not just in … Continue reading Locked Down in India
