The 73rd Republic Day was celebrated amid the ongoing celebrations of the 75th year of Indian independence. The Beating Retreat ceremony was the finale, and the evening of music ended with a light show playing on the backdrop of the Raisina Hill.
Making a clean sweep against the Indian National Congress (INC), the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) is set to win about 300 of the 543 seats in parliament all by itself. In 2014, a Narendra Modi wave had swept th
The 2019 parliamentary election in India is a humungous affair: about 890 million voters, nearly thrice the population of the United States, many months of planning, over a month of actual voting and a few days of tallying of results. Some seats h
The fifth of the seven phases of general election 2019 is currently underway and a total of 51 seats across seven States have gone to polls. Voting will take place in a number of seats in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madh
As you walk through the lanes near the Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai, you can see hope and despair living in the same place. With ID cards listing their case numbers hanging around their necks, numerous cancer patients and their family memb
“Voting is an important constitutional duty and a right that turns our voice into an effective tool. I think everyone mu
The world`s largest democracy goes to vote this summer. Polls are taking place in India`s 543 constituencies from April 11 to May 19, in seven phases.The first phase of polling on April 11 saw 91 Lok Sabha constituencies across 20 sta
Quarters for government officers are notoriously drab. For a long time, Lodhi Colony, in Delhi, was no exception. In 2016, art and colour came to the large walls with tall arched openings that flank the rows of flats. The public works departme
Using 150 tonnes of metal scrap and industrial waste, artists have created smaller replicas of some of the world’s well-known monuments at the Rajiv Gandhi Smriti Van in Sarai Kale Khan, New Delhi. The Rs 7.5 crore project was undertaken
Indian movies have often used the idea of brothers separated from each other at melas. Sometimes it is members of a family who get separated. Events like the Kumbh mela, now on in Prayagraj, prove the trope true, though the drama here ends in
The Kumbh Mela being held in Prayagraj this year has seen lakhs and lakhs of visitors, drawn here by faith. They believe a holy dip in the Sangam, during this auspicious period, can rid them of sin and point the way to salvation.
A businessman recently announced that he would open a cinema hall in Srinagar. The Guardian newspaper of the UK reported it. The event made news because, since the rise of militancy in Kashmir in the early 1990s, cinemas in the valley have a
Whether we need Republic Day parades or not is debatable. But there is splendour in the spectacle. Olives, khakis, fatigues, crease and polish, brocade and shining metal, guns greased and oiled to parade perfection, orders piercing the cold Delhi
No expert would hazard a guess as to when humankind began to spin cotton, wool, and other fibres into yarn. But it is accepted without much doubt that the spinning wheel was invented in Asia, probably in China or India. And Mahatma Gandhi turned t
Diwali, and Delhi is again awash in grey. Smoke from crop stubble and fireworks burdens the cold air, thick with emissions and construction dust. Moods hasten towards the sombre, time slow
The first semester in Art School was all about the history of photography. Eadweard Muybridge was a key component in understanding our roots and how capturing of swift movement on screen (Sallie Gardner at a Gallop, 1878) actually came into being.
With a prayer on their lips and tears in their eyes, these men and women plead for mercy and seek the blessings of the divine. As they bow down their heads in devotion, they hope their miseries will be wiped away by the Sufi saints – t
Most of them are children of migrants who have come to Delhi in search of work on construction sites or as casual labour. They live on the margins, in shanties hidden from the view of those who drive by on the vista-wide roads of the city, shantie
Any mention of Rajasthan evokes many images: the ultimate princely state, the land of grandeur and valour, but also a place where life can be difficult. The state is going to polls soon. Administrators are busy organising camps in