Harsha Ranjan was standing on the balcony of his first-floor bedroom, smoking a cigarette. The official RBI Governor's residence, a two-storeyed heritage bungalow just off Mumbai's Carmichael Road, had been his home for the last three years. Parked right under the balcony were the two cars that had been provided b...
While kids of their age were busy playing, 12-year-olds Jatin, Vikas and Ritesh joined hands to resolve the problem of garbage disposal and the unhealthy living conditions in their working-class neighbourhood in Shiv Vihar in north Delhi. At the same time, Aatrey, another pre-teen from Nilothi Nangloi, took the initiative to solve the problem of an uns...
My own experience of Sabarimala causes me to rub my eyes with disbelief at the spectacle of what poet Niaz Haider called "badsoorat siyasat", not quite the same as ugly politics. I owe my visit to Sabarimala in 1982 entirely to Bob Murari, the distinguished IAS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre who, along with his brother...
My own experience of Sabarimala causes me to rub my eyes with disbelief at the spectacle of what poet Niaz Haider called "badsoorat siyasat", not quite the same as ugly politics. I owe my visit to Sabarimala in 1982 entirely to Bob Murari, the distinguished IAS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre who, along with his brothers, undertoo...
While the RSS chief, Mohan Bhagwat, has called upon the government to bring an ordinance to facilitate the work, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP is introducing a private member's bill in the Rajya Sabha on the subject, presumably to test the faith of all the Hindus, especially those who claim to be secular -- such as those in the Congress....
Of the 13 novels longlisted for this year's Man Booker Prize, six writers hailed from the UK, three from the US and two each from Ireland and Canada. In the shortlist, there were two novels from the US, three from UK and one from Canada. Does this imply that the prize has little regard for diversity? The Booker Prize Found...
The sharply depreciating rupee amidst rising global oil prices and the massive foreign funds outflow from the capital market are not crises comparable to the likes of the balance of payments (BoP) emergency India experienced in 1991 because the country's fundamentals are stronger than before, its BoP is strong and it has one of th...
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) revels in being in the public eye, and reaps the advantages that come with it. Public scrutiny, however, seems to unsettle it. In a democratic set-up, a citizen who hails and praises a leader also has the right to evaluate and, if necessary, criticise him. Shashi Tharoor, who presented a lengthy argum...
Want to eat like the Bakaasura (the demon in the Mahabharatha epic)? A meal consisting of 63 dishes?Welcome to Kokkarakko, a new restaurant in Chennai. And no prizes for guessing the main ingredient in the dishes offered here....
Adityanath Yogi, Chief Minister of UP seems to be on the name changing spree. In his latest move he has changed the name of famous city of UP, Allahabad to Prayagraj. Prayag is the meeting point of rivers and since this city is the meeting point of Ganga, Yamuna and probably of invisible Sarswati, this name might have been chosen by him in his...
