06 Nov 17

Long Road to Fiefdom

I grew up in difficult times, the seventies. My grandmother had coined the famous slogan – Garib Hatao. It pained me as a kid to have to watch garibs being hataoed from our zones, LBZ in particular.

Recently I read a scholarly article in my favourite newspaper Hindustan Times.… Read more

06 Nov 17

A Mellow Ray of Hope

JP thinks the answer to bad politics is good politics, not no politics

A few minutes into Satyajit Ray’s Jalsaghar and there comes a moment that defines JP, Jayaprakash Narayan of the Lok Satta Party. The genial bhadralok, the sole audience, is enraptured by the raag being rendered to perfection by the sitarist sitting opposite.… Read more

06 Nov 17

Et tu, Evolution?

Fifty years ago, roughly 30 babies in 1000 found it physically impossible to emerge from the birth canal. Today that figure stands at 36. We are therefore stuck in a compromise, and C-section babies are living proof of this.

Life has no purpose.… Read more

23 Oct 17

Gujarat’s health has not met ‘Vikas’

The state’s health indicators have been abysmal from Narendra Modi’s CM tenure.

Four years ago, this author had scrutinised Gujarat’s health and found it in a sorry state. At the time, its sitting Chief Minister had left no stone unturned in projecting Gujarat as a model for the rest of India to follow – a prosperous state populated by uncomplaining, hard-working people, backed by an able, hands-on administration, scaling heights the other states could only dream of.

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19 Aug 17

Brahmachari: The Forgotten Saint Of Calcutta


Upendranath BrahmachariSnapshot
  • This is the story of a forgotten genius of Indian science who saved millions of lives but went unrecognised by both government and people.

The gleaners spread around, and here and there,
Spike after spike, their sparing harvest pick.

The story of Upendranath Brahmachari is the story of a forgotten man, remembered only when a street in Kolkata that bears his name shows up on Google Maps.

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29 Apr 17

Farook And The Art of Selectivity

The Left and the Right are two sides of the same coin – emotional, impulsive, hypocritical, entrenched.

 

You believe what you see, but unfortunately what you see is written by those who see what they believe.

A recent article by columnist Sadanand Dhume is proof if ever it was needed, that Objectivity is a metallic object that must be left behind before the writer passes through the op-ed threshold.… Read more