A Dragon and an Elephant

It’s in the global interest that India and China, where a quarter of world population resides, are friends. Meanwhile, Chinese president Xi Jinping has become a de facto monarch. ‘The Chinese dragon and Indian elephant must not fight but dance together,’ said the Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi while discussing Beijing’s foreign policy’s ‘new era’ […]

How to get away with murder in parliament

All the MPs are responsible for ensuring that money bills are discussed thoroughly before they are passed. But they have collectively reduced the process to a farce For the past seven days, we saw Parliament — both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha — getting consistently disrupted by members of certain Opposition parties. On the eighth […]

Relation amiacle

Macron’s trip to India led to signing of 14 pacts worth $16 billion in defence, security and nuclear energy based on shared values of democracy, freedom, rule of law and respect for human rights The historic visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to India to commemorate 20 years of India-France strategic partnership was a great […]

When death is the cure

The Supreme Court of India has legalised ‘passive euthanasia’, ruling that a person cannot be allowed to continue suffering in a comatose state when he or she doesn’t wish to live. A story of a mother who embraced death to make sense of her life There are situations when life becomes burdensome and death seems […]

How the farmers forced CM Fadnavis to blink

  The 180-km march generated much noise across the world and hassled the BJP government into accepting major demands within hours of the rally reaching Mumbai. A week-long Gandhian march by the farmers of Maharashtra in the scorching sun under the banner of a Left party — blisters on foot, bleeding toes, broken slippers and […]

Can I buy a home?

The answer to the question: if you’re under 35, unmarried and not working for a multinational firm: “Most probably not, not in Delhi”. That, anyway, is what realtors and real estate consultants of Delhi-NCR say. They haven’t come across a single, single individual wanting to buy a home. All echoed a spouse’s income as paramount […]

NO LIBERTY FOR A STATUE

The toppling of Lenin’s statue and the desecration of Periyar’s statue at Vellore provoke some angry thoughts and quite a few humourous digs at the mentality of those indulging in mindless destruction Dear Thambi, First of all, you might wonder who the hell I am. Well, let me introduce myself. I am the (recently promoted) […]

HAPPILY NEVER AFTER

A close encounter of the intimate kind opened up a whole new world for the writer, with abundance of both joy and heartbreak, and changed his life forever I’m probably a coconut when it comes to emotion. The overall tough impenetrable exterior that keeps the whole world and all there is to it at bay. […]