CATEGORIES

DISPLACED, DISTRESSED

The lockdown hit some 200 million migrant workers the hardest, pushing them into unemployment and a long journey back home

Drumbeats Of Destiny

An event, a tragedy, failure or deprivation... anything can shape or alter the course of our lives. On the occasion of our 45th anniversary, we approach 45 achievers to find out what set them on their particular life journey and how they used it to achieve success in their chosen path

“I started writing to escape the monotony…… of working in an international bank. It was not meant to launch me on an author's career”

His first novel, Five Point Someone, became a runaway hit in 2004. Since then, the IIT Delhi and IIM-A graduate’s subsequent books have also become bestsellers, even leading to blockbuster film adaptations like 3 Idiots and 2 States

“I worked among the poor families in Kalighat... ...along with Mother Teresa's missionaries and it was an eye-opening experience for me”

His work as a social volunteer shaped his thinking and led him to confront the rampant corruption in the government. He quit the IRS and formed an NGO to address people’s grievances. That laid the foundation for the Aam Aadmi Party

“‘That motor garage is no place for you'... ...is what Bimalda said to me. Nobody had spoken to me like that before. He was like a father. He extended his hand and picked me up—it transformed my life”

This momentous encounter with director Bimal Roy led the lyricist—and later filmmaker—to give up his job as a mechanic, give songwriting for films a chance, and imbue it with a sensorial richness never seen before

“The first time I went into a 10-day silence... ...it was life-altering for me. To find oneself, one has to find silence”

The result was the spiritual leader’s ‘Sudarshan Kriya’, which went on to become the signature course at his Art of Living Foundation which operates in close to 155 countries and has over 370 million followers

“The turning point in my and Reliance's life was when India embraced economic reforms... ...Liberalisation freed the suppressed entrepreneurial energies in our country and gave us the hum kisi se kam nahin spirit”

The 1991 reforms enabled Mukesh to fulfill his father Dhirubhai Ambani’s dream of Indians building world-class and world-scale businesses. Mukesh went on to build Reliance Industries Limited into India’s most valued company, at $172 billion, and made it a market leader in several key sectors

“There was nobody to run the business... ...and so I had to leave Stanford without completing my degree”

Diversifying the family business his father founded away from cooking oil and soap, Premji entered the information technology sector in 1982. Today, Wipro is an IT powerhouse, India’s third-largest software company

“My professor advised me to join MIT......but I was too ashamed to tell him I did not know about the college. A friend told me it was the Madras Institute of Technology”

His decision to join MIT led him to study aerospace engineering and subsequently join ISRO where he made a mark in launch vehicle systems and rose to become chairman

“I inherited my father's responsibilities, not privileges… …but what I learnt from him was how to interact with people and deal with their problems effectively and efficiently”

When his father Biju Patnaik died in 1997, Naveen gave up his jet-setting life and shifted base from Delhi to Odisha to take on his political mantle. As chief minister since 2000, he has brought about an economic and social transformation of the state

“I had no choice but to grow up fast… …when my father died. At the age of 28, I had to run the businesses he had built”

As chairman of the Aditya Birla Group, he has transformed the conglomerate from a $2 billion business into a multinational behemoth spanning 36 countries and businesses as diverse as textiles, cement, chemicals, retail and telecom with an annual revenue of $46 billion

Gearing Up For The Vaccine

Since the very beginning of the pandemic, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath has taken on a very hands-on role in the state’s Covid management efforts

A Sweet history

Author Lizzie Collingham traces the journey of the biscuit from being sustenance to becoming sweet treats

UNITED COLOURS OF ARMED FORCES

THE CHIEF OF DEFENCE STAFF AND THE DEPARTMENT OF MILITARY AFFAIRS COMPLETE A YEAR IN ONE OF THE MOST CHALLENGING TIMES. WILL INDIA GET THE INTEGRATED MILITARY STRUCTURE IT NEEDS?

THE ART. 356 DARE

Three attacks in three days, two of them fatal. BJP president J.P. Nadda’s convoy is attacked by stone pelters in South 24 Parganas; a BJP booth president is beaten to death in North 24 Parganas; another party activist is murdered in East Burdwan—all in a span of three days (December 10-12). If the news stories were playing up the possible imposition of President’s rule in Bengal, invoking Article 356 of the Constitution, it was by no means beyond the pale.

SAFFRON'S SOUTHERN SOJOURN

THE BJP CUSTOMISES PLANS TO BREAK INTO THE BASTIONS OF THE ENTRENCHED POLITICAL PARTIES

FIXING THE BANKING MESS

Public trust in India’s banks has been shaken by all the bad news about bank failures, misgovernance and a gargantuan Rs 9.4 lakh crore pile of bad debts. How to avert the impending catastrophe

THERE-WILL-BE-NO-COMPROMISE

In his first detailed interview after taking over as Chief of Defence Staffon January 1, GENERAL BIPIN RAWAT tells Executive Editor SANDEEP UNNITHAN about what his Department of Military Affairs (DMA) has achieved, the border standoffwith China, his plans to transform the armed forces, the road ahead and the resistance to change.

THE PROMISE OF CHANGE

Actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan kicked off his party Makkal Needhi Maiam’s poll campaign on December 13 from the temple town of Madurai.

THE BIG STORY OF 'LOVE JIHAD' : LOVE AND HATE

A CONTROVERSIAL NEW LAW IN UTTAR PRADESH, OSTENSIBLY INTENDED TO HINDER FORC IBLE CONVERSION IN INTERFAITH MARRIAGES, ISSEEN BY MAN YAS A COMMUN AL TACTIC AND A THREAT TO BASIC CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS

SALE TO TAKE WING?

Unlike in 2018, when the Centre’s attempt to find a buyer for the beleaguered Air India saw no takers, there are several bidders in the fray this time around.

A WAKE-UP CALL FROM THE WILD

One of the scores of camera traps inside Rajasthan’s Ranthambore National Park clicked a photograph early December that shocked both wildlife officials and activists. It showed a tiger struggling in a wire snare. The big cat was immediately tracked down by officials, tranquilised, rescued from the snare and released into the forest.

Rajinikanth Coming Soon

Superstar Rajinikanth, Thala­ iva (literally: leader) to the legions of his fans, turns 70 on December 12. Much is being made of the political timing of his latest announcement that his much-awaited political debut, frozen now for a while in ‘Coming Soon’ mode, is indeed, finally, coming soon.

From Within The Deep State

Traditionally, writers believe there is no such thing as fiction—a first novel generally tends to be autobiographical. Be that as it may, Asad Durrani, Pakistan’s foremost military intellectual, has produced a work of true grit, comparable with a spy thriller.

Why Punjab Is Angry

As the farmers of India’s premier agricultural state protest strongly against central farm reforms, the Opposition unites behind them to challenge the Modi government

WOOING THE TRIBALS

TRIBAL COMMUNITIES ARE BECOMING AN INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT POLITICAL DEMOGRAPHIC—A TREND ESPECIALLY VISIBLE IN MADHYA PRADESH

THE NAVY RUNS INTO A BUDGET BOULDER

The Indian Navy’s planned acquisition of a third Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC-2) is at risk of running aground.

DON'T WRITE PUNJAB OFF

CAPT. AMARINDER SINGH, the chief minister of Punjab, spoke to India Today Group Editorial Director RAJ CHENGAPPA on December 8, the day agitating farmers called for a Bharat Bandh to protest against the Centre’s new agriculture laws. Excerpts

She's Funny That Way

Mallika Dua, soon to be seen in a new Hindi film Indooki Jawani, on being a woman in comedy and doing more nuanced roles onscreen

FILLING THE PATEL VOID

The search for a new version of the late Ahmed Patel is on in the Congress. But with the party out of power and a generational shift in the works, the post comes with huge challenges