Opinion

India’s new Parliament has historical footsteps to follow

It is a bittersweet moment; the old order has changeth yielding place to new. A 96-year-old building that was not just the fulcrum of democracy but also an eyewitness to history has now been replaced. A triangular-shaped four-storeyed structure constructed at the height of the country’s Covid ...

Opinion

The importance of being Neeraj Chopra

When he finally heaved the javelin a mighty 88.13m (Olympics gold was 87.58m), Neeraj Chopra and a billion prayers crossed over to the other side with a silver at the World Championships.The athlete adds the latest medal to an already overflowing but bottomless cup — he is the defending Olympi...

Opinion

India is on the moon and history is made

A big step from Chandrayaan-3 and a giant leap for India. Through the last ‘minutes of terror’ as the spacecraft’s lander approached the lunar surface a nation of 1.4 billion collectively had its heart in its mouth, a pin could have dropped anywhere in the country and be heard. And...

Opinion

The dark side of K-pop and K-drama

The South Korean entertainment industry in the last decade has redefined soft power. The global reach of K-pop and K-drama has not just meant megabucks but a cult following for bands like BTS — before pressure or individual ambitions led them to take a break — has spanned beyond Southeas...

Opinion

Monsoon fury in India: Can the destruction be avoided?

It took just a couple of hours for India’s capital to go under. As rain battered Delhi recording the wettest day in four decades, the city not surprisingly, struggled. Delhi is brought to its knees by almost every downpour seasonal or otherwise and it would have been unusual if it blustered th...

Opinion

For the love of a newspaper

I grew up in a home that smelled of space, books and newspapers. The scent, not the kind to be bottled was in every nook of the ancient bungalow but it all came together in the living room with its high ceiling and cavernous shelves of hardbound encyclopaedia and vintage editions. It was here that t...

Opinion

India’s train accident leaves many unanswered questions

The callousness was heart wrenching to see. Dead bodies were being flung carelessly into an open truck, piled one on top of the other in a stark reminder that in India life is not just cheap but it can also be stripped off all dignity.The images brought back flashes of the second Covid wave where ev...

Opinion

Courage under fire: Listen to the wrestlers’ voice in India

Neeraj Chopra is now the world number 1 in javelin and politicians who have predictably been lining up to get a pie of the flashbulbs will jostle just a bit more. They will take until he gives and then, it is no one’s guess.We don’t know how to treat our sporting heroes, maybe it is beca...

Opinion

From snow to heatwaves: India’s changing climate

No one saw this coming, but heavy snowfall in May in Kashmir is not surprising given recent extreme global weather patterns. Tourists are delighted, but for the locals there is a big worry that the unseasonal snow could damage crops and apple orchards. For the second time this year, scientists have ...

Opinion

Naatu Naatu brings world to its feet at Academy Awards

It was a night to remember. On a stage where divas descend and stardom is sprinkled like fairy dust, Indian cinema not just dazzled but also captured hearts with the ultimate embrace, a standing ovation.The unstoppable Naatu Naatu from SS Rajamouli’s RRR kept its foot-tapping promise, winning ...

Opinion

Why more younger people are dying of heart attacks in India

For long it has been considered an illness that afflicts the old. No longer so and the depreciating age is not just alarming but needs immediate attention away from the episodic panic that greets the news that another high profile young Indian has suffered a heart attack.Beyond the celebrity glare a...

Opinion

India: 75 years later, in search of Gandhi

The Mahatma is dead, long live the Mahatma. In reality, 75 years after three bullets were point-blank pumped into Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi’s chest as he made his way to a multi-faith prayer meeting, he no longer lives among the people for whom he gave his life.Gandhi’s killing was the ...

Opinion

Why adulting is so hard

There are no warning signs, the crow’s feet like an artist’s imagination have long left their indelible mark, to colour or not to colour those peppery strands gone rogue is a dilemma older than even the scent of the pandemic.Yet, there is something different about us, about them. While s...

Opinion

Why 2022 was the year of the good fight

Distractions, diversions and outright defiance though were met by pockets of resistance, hatred the year showed can continue to have its interns but it was the well- meaning who held their own.Rahul Gandhi walked the good walk, his Bharat Jodo Yatra has now criss-crossed 3000 kms across the changing...

Opinion

It was Messi’s date with destiny and privilege was ours

The ink on the legacy will take time to dry, it is not every day that we are bequeathed a timeless largesse. On a night when football won, Leo Messi won bigger. He showed us how the beautiful game was magic but all the tricks had been in his hand, he was the magician.Going into the final, the writin...

Opinion

Morbi bridge tragedy in India

Four days. That is all it took to destroy 135 lives as hands flailing and failing men, women and 47 children plunged to their death in Gujarat’s Machchhu river. A newly repaired suspension bridge snapped so callously that for many it was over even before they could make sense of what was happe...

Opinion

Asia Cup: Abusing Arshdeep Singh is not quite cricket

The game of cricket in India has not always been settled on the field. But events after the recent India- Pakistan match show how sport itself can be made incidental, a mere excuse.In 2007 even MS Dhoni was not spared when his house in Ranchi was attacked after India’s loss to Bangladesh in th...

Opinion

What explains the angst and aggression in young adults

Age of innocence — if ever there was a misnomer today, it is this. In a heady mix of exposure, identity, and gender, a ‘woke’ generation is lapping up content that is predominantly dark and edgy, while it ‘finds’ itself.Glance through shelves catering to young adults in...

Opinion

Why is suicide so rampant in women?

In the almost daily grind of brute muscle power, bigotry, and distraction surrounding us in India, a trail of issues that need urgent intervention are being compromised.In the recent weeks a 35- year- old fashion designer, Prathyusha Garimella killed herself in the washroom of her Hyderabad boutique...

Opinion

The cost of beauty in India

Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, it was once casually said. No longer, for there is nothing casual in the desperation for almost cloned perfection. A 21-year-old woman passed away from complications after a ‘fat- free’ surgery or liposuction to remove ‘excess fat.’ Tel...