It has been raining continually for the last 48 hours; almost the same duration has elapsed since we had the last flicker of electricity and water. My laptop is completely drained of power. The BSNL network for over a week has been a rarest of the
A small (by Indian standard) news caught my attention yesterday while surfing Google News. David Cameron `shoved` in Leeds: I was just a jogger, says Dean Farley, as police launch security review, said the
Is it guts and glory or plain cowardice? The jury will stay out on this issue for a long time and we may never get a unanimous verdict. But the post retirement ‘kiss and tell’ publishing option in sport has now become the norm. Two boo
In the good old days, it used to be the pigeon which used to be the carrier of information followed by foot soldiers and then the branch of a tree, which used to be the medium of expressing thoughts, followed by the ink pen and the holder pen (G-n
I have worked with Rekha Ji in “Supernani” but Rekhaji made an impression on me because my grandfather had asked to watch Umrao Jaan six months before he died, and I was told, that he always enjoyed it. Movies being a scarce commodity
Was the recent beating of three African students at the Rajiv Chowk metro station just a stray incident? I think not. In four years of living in Delhi, it has become quite clear to me that the national capital, instead of celebrating its diverse p
“Sheer Parochialism,” said my father instantly when I read to him the statement of Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat on the opening of the Nathu-la pass in Sikkim as an alternate route to Kailash Mansarovar. Munching the fresh pe
Picture this from the 1973 blockbuster Zanjeer: As Pran attempts to sit down, Amitabh Bachchan kicks away the chair. “Jab tak baithne ko na kaha jaaye sharafat se khade raho... yeh police station hai... tumhare baap ka ghar nahi
Was there a delay of a day? That’s the question nudging the elbow of every Indian today as ISRO turned around 180 degrees from being an acronym for Iss row (ke last me baithiye) to YES!RO for millions. The achievement was so great that it fo
Was there a delay of a day? That’s the question nudging the elbow of every Indian today as ISRO turned around 180 degrees from being an acronym for Iss row (ke last me baithiye) to YES!RO for millions. The achievement was so great that it fo
The foundation for any form of urbanisation is a good and efficient system of public transportation. The proposed development of 100 smart cities in India has renewed the focus of the states on urban transport solutions. In fact, the urban road tr
Love Jihad is being seen, or rather perceived, as a worldwide phenomenon. We get to hear of it from various corners. In the UK as in India it is being seriously talked about and strong opinions being formed around it. What if Love Jihad exists? Wh
Priyanka Basu, a resident of south Kolkata, regularly haunts the busy shopping destination of Gariahat. Amid the chaos of traffic, pedestrians and hawkers are numerous roadside eateries and a few good book stalls. But when she has to use the toile
In Chennai, there are very few public toilets that we can use and most of them are filthy. For women who work outdoors all day – such as vendors, saleswomen, construction workers and policewomen – there is hardly any facility in the ci
Bursting at its seams, India’s financial capital is marred by inadequate public infrastructure. Ironically, our municipality (the richest civic body in Asia) and our administrators have not been able to provide the bare minimum facility of t
In December 8, 2008, Delhi assembly election results were to be announced and, working as a correspondent for a television channel, I had to report at chief minister Sheila Dikshit’s residence at seven in the morning. This was going to be on
Much before dalit assertion became an everyday political reality, there was Amritlal Nagar. Among the writer’s most famous works is ‘Nachyo Bahut Gopal’, the story of a brahmin woman falling in love with a manual scavenger and ge
I have never liked Teacher`s Day. If you ask me, though there`s little reason why you would do so and even less reason why I would ask you to enquire of me, a teacher`s day – in lower case, mind you – should be meant for teachers only.
His airline in the red, and grounded, for years now, September 1, 2014, has become a red-letter day for Vijay Mallya, the original fisher of the kingfisher and a self-claimed king of good (fishing?) times. On that day, which happens
After Tapas Pal’s rape and murder threats to CPI (M) supporters – he apologised later, which was equally condemned – another leader in Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress has triggered controversy by his remark that as &ld
