Dip in voters turnout. Is it political apathy, alienation, institutionalised...
This is the season of the festival of democracy. On April 26, 2024, the second phase of polling for the Lok Sabha elections, I cast my vote along with Jyotsna Sahay Anand registering 100% participation...
View ArticleVasuki Indicus and the divine serpent
By Narayani Ganesh Vasuki indicus is the name given to the 47 million-year-old, 15m-long fossilised vertebrae of the now extinct longest snake that ever lived, found in a Gujarat coal mine in 2004....
View ArticleMeta-Worse: Forget fractured vote. Pity ditto voter
My metaverse is currently less Zuckerberg, more Iyengar. What began with Zubin Sir culminated with Birjoo Sir. In the early ’90s, I signed up with Zubin Zarthoshtimanesh. The unlikely name was attached...
View ArticleNot just Patanjali in the Dock
It has taken continual SC push for the company to apologise. But misleading ads are rampant across the pharma industry. Commercial interests widely prevail over public health interests. The concept of...
View ArticleCops need schooling: Bomb hoaxes are cybercrimes that need cross border...
Yesterday, schools in Delhi received emails about bombs on their premises. Delhi Police contacted all schools who were told to check emails. Close to 200 schools in Delhi-NCR reportedly received such...
View ArticleSweating the turnout
Above-normal heatwave days were forecast in advance. Poll logistics can’t escape changing climate. It’s been a scorching summer so far in south India. April heat, as measured by average maximum...
View ArticleUnemployment: The berojgari riddle
The persistent spectre of unemployment, ‘berojgari’ in Hindi, has been haunting both the nation and our state for generations. The residents of Uttarakhand, particularly educated youth and skilled...
View ArticleIndian agriculture as fascinating as ever despite all odds
Cultural history tells us that Adi Shankaracharya with barefoot travelled from the tip of Kanya Kumari to the tiff of Himalayas. If one dares a similar attempt, one will hardly witness the enchanting...
View ArticleHeading: Hand of God in democracy
“Religion is all-too-often a refuge for scoundrels,” an American journalist Neal Boortz had once reminded us. His warning is coming true in the world’s oldest and largest democracies. In Boortz’s...
View ArticleEquality of wealth is a bad idea
To imagine wealth can only be created through unfair means and therefore it’s fair to expropriate it, is unfair to anyone who adds value to their enterprise. Only a handful inherit their wealth in...
View ArticleWhere goes the Lingayat vote
As the third phase takes polling from Karnataka’s southern regions to the northern, it enters a very different political terrain. For BJP, the election moves from Vokkaliga-dominated constituencies...
View ArticleMy marriage, my way: Laws make marriage complicated. State’s role should only...
Divorce can be the true test of marriage. This was one takeaway from a case SC judged this week. It was hearing a couple that on its path towards divorce, took a singular leap, and...
View ArticleParadise regained celebrates landscapes
Palette Art Gallery in Delhi, opened with an exhibition Paradise Regained that runs through the month of May. In the stunning show are landscapes that have been mined and re-envisioned as the...
View ArticleEven this result will pass away
It is that time of the year when board examination results are likely to be announced soon. Millions of students wait to see their fate sketched before their roll numbers. As the results loom on...
View ArticleBullying and Hectoring: Why West cannot lecture India and East
When American and European countries lecture to us in the East with their -so called- Judeo-Christian values, it denies that Asia has a much longer tradition of secularism and human rights that existed...
View ArticleRahul Gandhi gets it right this time
For a man who has often been accused of getting his theme song, tactics and timing all wrong in politics, Rahul Gandhi has got it just right this time by seeking to fight the Lok...
View ArticleLadakh makes it large: This cold constituency promises a hot battle
Expect 100% turnout here? Five electors. One family. A poll booth all their own. India’s northernmost poll booth is at village Warshi in district Leh. At an altitude of 15,000 ft, Anley Pho-296 poll...
View ArticleBloodsucker City Book Review
For my first book review on the site, it was only fitting that it ended up being a horror novella with clear influences by my favorite author: Stephen King. Remarked as a “Shawshank Redemption with...
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Silent Night, Deadly Night Novel Review
A monster in the garb of holiday merriment, Billy Chapman (Robert Brian Wilson) slashes his way through 1984’s Silent Night, Deadly Night. This cult classic among horror fans was as controversial as...
View ArticleMy marriage, my way: Laws make marriage complicated. State’s role should only...
Divorce can be the true test of marriage. This was one takeaway from a case SC judged this week. It was hearing a couple that on its path towards divorce, took a singular leap, and...
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