Feasting on divine light
“Fasting is half the prayer, the other half is patience,” said Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya (1238–1325), the revered Sufi saint. During the holy month of Ramadan, fasting acquires deeply spiritual...
View ArticleF-47: Sixth-Generation Stealth Fighter
F 47 Artists Impression (Source Wikipedia) On March 21, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that Boeing would be awarded a contract valued at more than $20 billion to develop the F-47, a...
View ArticleWhy is Bulldozer justice dangerous
With apologies to the poet Bashir Badr, Log toot jate hain ek ghar banane meinTum taras nahin khate us ghar ko girane mein(People get broken in building a house/You do not take pity while you...
View ArticleMani Shankar Aiyar – a tale of the triumphs and disasters of a maverick
Politics is said to be the last option of the scoundrel. It can also be the first choice of the gentleman and the noble minded. Mani shows the way. “A Maverick In Politics”, the second...
View ArticleWe the wheatish people
Kerala’s top government official just showed us how to fight back against unfair ideas about skin color. A few years ago, a famous skin cream called “Fair and Lovely” changed its name to “Glow and...
View ArticleSantoshes everywhere
Movie on police misconduct doesn’t get clearance. Survey showing police misconduct makes same point Finding a police procedural film on Indian cops reportedly potentially disruptive to social harmony,...
View ArticleTruth about police misconduct
A new movie about police violence in India has been banned from releasing in the country. Why? Because it tells a story that some people don’t want to talk about. The movie, Santosh, is about...
View ArticleWe the wheatish people
Kerala’s chief secy shows how to respond to India’s insidious prejudice about skin colour Fair and Lovely was rebranded Glow and Lovely a few years ago. Was that some kind of national inflection point?...
View ArticleSeasons’ greetings
In north India the yearly changes of weather are marked by rites of ceremonial passage In north India, spring is a brief interlude between the chill of winter and searing summer. Trees shed their...
View ArticleIndian manufacturing sector has potential to reach $1 trillion by 2025-26 –...
Manufacturing in India is emerging as an integral pillar in the country’s economic growth following the performance of key sectors like automotive, engineering, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and consumer...
View ArticleCorporate narcissists
We’ve all heard the term ‘narcissist’ by now, mostly referenced to personal relationships. Enter: ‘The corporate narcissist.’ They are amongst us. Hidden in plain sight. Spotting the corporate...
View ArticleDeath of a liberal scholar
The iconic Khuda Bakhsh Library (KBL) in Patna is an island of hope amidst depthless decay afflicting institutions in Bihar. Much of the credit of making a turnaround in this library, a treasure trove...
View ArticleWhy can’t money buy happiness? Ask Finland (Or perhaps don’t ask America and...
Shakespeare wrote, “Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown,” but if he’d met a Finn, they’d probably shrug and say, “Not really—our crown comes with free healthcare and trust in strangers.” The World...
View ArticleAre Indian families still saying ‘Hum Saath Saath Hain’ ?
When one wakes up to a news report that the Supreme Court laments the concept of family eroding and fears the country is on the brink of ‘one person, one family’, one feels uneasy, especially...
View ArticleResilience of Indian banking system
India has a long tradition of banking, traces of which are in ancient literature. In modern times, India is probably the only country that has many commercial banks that trace their history of more...
View ArticleBastar burial case: Ramesh Baghel vs State of Chhattisgarh; A relook
In our oral storytelling tradition, children are often given the example of the mythological figure of Shravan Kumar as a standard bearer of filial piety, from whose case they must learn and therefore...
View ArticlePoetic Justice
SC speaks clearly & eloquently for free speech That the Supreme Court quashed the case against Congress MP Imran Pratapgarhi isn’t a surprise. That the case had to reach SC was the real shock. As...
View ArticleOff The Menu
Pricing is best left to markets, not courts Restaurants and hotels up and down the country were served a blow yesterday. Delhi HC ruled that service charge can’t be mandatory on food bills. Who wins?...
View ArticleWhat’s Our Future Gonna Look Like?
Bill Gates talks to rich guys, techies, activists, scientists… Amidst existential anxieties about inequality, climate change and genAI, the pull of ‘future porn’ is enormous. We want to know which...
View ArticleFreedom of Expression: A Poem and a Lesson
Imagine writing a poem, sharing your thoughts, And suddenly, you’re in trouble—who would’ve thought? This happened to Imran, a man in the news, For sharing a poem—he got accused! The police said his...
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