Schemes like waiving farm loans count as freebies too WE LIVE in the age of spin. Given this, it is hardly surprising that the Aam Aadmi Party’s victory in the Delhi state election has been spun into a victory of freebies. Freebies work, but Arvind Kejriwal wasn’t the first person to figure this out. The […]

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DELHI VOTERS HAD DIVERSE REASONS FOR VOTING FOR AAP. WHILE MANY DID SO AS AN ANTI-BJP VOTE, BECAUSE OF ITS VITRIOLIC CAMPAIGN, THIS ALSO GOT THE PARTY SOME SUPPORT “WHAT WILL happen to us Hindus when Muslims take over?” These words, uttered by a voter from Rohtas Nagar, one of the eight constituencies which voted […]

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Could it be that the alternative narrative put out through social media and digital news websites actually found purchase? IN MY last column, I asserted that Delhi was not India. After the Aam Aadmi Party’s spectacular victory in the elections, one wishes it was. And perhaps it will be. Who knows? But this is not […]

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Delhi Central Vista plan turns democracy on its head. India could learn from how Britain plans to refurbish its Parliament and decentralise its government LIKE INDIA, the United Kingdom is doing a massive refurbishment of its 150-year-old Parliament. Planning has begun and work starts in 2025. It will take six years and cost £3-5 billion. […]

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Independent candidates —who contested the just concluded Assembly Elections — were oddly confident, yet missed the mark I MUST have asked more than a couple of times, “Why do you think you have a chance to win”? And each time, the answers did not justify the energy put into a contest defeat is almost a […]

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Kashmiri cuisine is a blend of authentic ingredients, spices and tradition, surprisingly they can be found far from the valley — at relatively unknown places within the capital Aghar Firdaus bar roo-e -zameen ast, hameen ast-o hameen ast-o hameen ast” -Amir Khusrau  THE FAMOUS couplet translates to, “If there is a paradise on earth, it […]

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An academic and an artist, both educators, join hands to transform a conflict-ridden settlement of migrant workers at Kapashera, by encouraging them to express themselves artistically.  ART IS a powerful instrument of change for the better. It gives expression to the repressed, and many argue more authentic a reflection of the times than the written […]

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Voices belonging to the LGBTQ community share their stories of struggle “I GOT sick of the intense pressure to get married and finally told my mother that I have no interest in girls. You know what her retort was? “Why? Do you like boys then?’”. Today, Deepak chuckles at the memory, recounting how his courage […]

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