A code of conduct issued by the government of Maharashtra for the teachers in secondary, senior secondary schools and junior colleges is another example of the mindless distrust of people that...
Of Life, Letters and Politics
The recent Pakistani elections bring to mind the play called Teesri Dastak (Third Knock) that showed how after every so-called return to democracy in Pakistan, the military knocks on the door. Will...
In his election campaign, Narendra Modi provided a celebration of the anti-political in the highly urbanised state of Gujarat. The Congress, even in its use of the vernacular, showed how inept a...
The Indo-US nuclear deal seems to be dead. The Congress has now realised that it did not read the left very well. The party may try to revive the deal after the next elections if it retains office,...
The controversy over the existence of Ramsetu was generated by the government's attempt to settle a matter it was not called upon to settle.
Radicals used to argue that there is politics even in sexuality. In our postmodern times, the self-styled opinion-makers seem to think that there is sexuality even in politics.
The bizarre arguments taking place over the presidential election have all the trappings of a morality play. Amidst the din and the noise, political discourse in India is distinctive in its...
Our politicians and in some cases their families have always had a fascination with the arts.
The royal family syndrome that characterises the Congress Party makes it incapable of dealing with the problems and challenges of contemporary India.
Whether it is cricket or the presidential election, Australian experts and diplomats have been indulging in some undiplomatic language. But such indiscretion received little notice in the media. This...
Three Indian playwrights found themselves travelling to the 'Nizam-e-Mustafa' in January. The 10 days they spent in Pakistan convinced them that the divides between the two countries are minor,...
With his candidates winning both the recent by-elections in Maharashtra, Narayan Rane's ambitions of becoming chief minister have been further strengthened. Yet, he can do little to erase his Shiv...
It is time the dalit leadership stopped allying with one party or the other and thought through the issues confronting the dalits. There are many interested groups who want the dalits to react in a...
Kanshi Ram's ideology seeking power for the "bahujan" can too easily be seen as opportunism. But his was a strategy defined on winning political power for the bahujans, which implied reaching an "all...
Festivals celebrating ethnicity no longer attach themselves to a "native" destination. That non-resident Kannadigas are now organising their own jamboree in faraway Seattle, where Basaveshvara's '...
