CATEGORIES

The Last Days of Ayodhya

In the first half of January, I spent a few days in Ayodhya. I wanted to experience the city for myself, and to think about what it meant to be an Indian and a Hindu (or, as seems to be the changing paradigm in our times, a Hindu and an Indian) in the weeks leading up to an event, which over the last four decades has become central to our political discourse. I also wanted to spend a few days immersed in the Ramasphere-that religious culture, mainly in north India, steeped in the language and lore and preeminence of Ram-to understand how it was changing in the light of the new Ram Mandir; whether it was becoming deeper or more superficial, whether Hinduism itself is morphing into something new and more centralised under the influence of a Ram whom we are told was returning to his people for a second time in history.

The Question of Democracy

At this crucial time, the weaknesses of India's liberal democracy need to be urgently addressed and corrected

How the BJP is Consolidating Voters

Though the Bharat Ratna to Karpoori Thakur may have come close to the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP has been trying to own Thakur for quite some time

A (Non) Ideological Journey?

Nitish Kumar's act of shifting ideological positions evokes a very complex question - does ideology matter at all in contemporary politics?

The Emperor's New Clothes

Politicians use a carefully constructed dress sense to send out targeted messages and build a distinct image

To Win Beyond the Vindhyas

Voting patterns in Kerala reveal a gradual impact of cultural Hindutva on the state's electoral landscape

What Makes Modi the Phenomenon He Is?

Because he is unbeatable, unassailable and he has no equals in Indian politics today

Morphing and Morphology...beyond the Modi Mandapam

ON an astrologically appropriate date three months from now, watch every TV channel as our new prime minister strides towards Parliament just days after having taken his oath of office outside Rashtrapati Bhavan. The new cabinet has still not been announced, but this is the moment that the faithful have been waiting for.

Everywhere, All at Once

The Prime Minister has successfully crafted a particular kind of image which is key to the BJP's electoral success. But in the process, the distinctive line between the government and the PM is getting blurred

Undiluted Adulation

The Prime Minister gets the media's undivided attention, except when the BJP or the government has suffered a setback

Formula One

He is not a conventional politician, but an ideologue who draws his mandate from the promise of hyper-capitalism

Phantasmagoric Appeal of the One

HE is everywhere. There are his cutouts in which the prime minister is holding a broom. In others, he is waving at nobody in particular. And then, there are the selfie booths at airports, in institutions, and at railway stations, with a 3D life-size replica of Modi.

Epitaph on the Tombstone of Allah Jilai (1337 Hijri/1919 AD)

This is the strange and painful tale of Allah Jilai If you pay close attention, these are all miracles of love

Wild Smelling Flowers

Heavy, ruthless blades haul and push debris away, excavate ghosts of history, demolish mosques, minarets.

War On Gaza: The Politics Of Language In Media Coverage

Mainstream media uses different sets of words for the two sides when reporting on the Israel-Palestine conflict

Born and Raised in Bambai 17

Farmers staging a 'Zameen Satyagrah' near Jaipur in 2017 to protest against the forced acquisition of their land by the government

What Age Has Taught Me: Silence

Farmers from Tamil Nadu staged a protest in 2017 against farmer suicides

Bhatti (Furnace)

In the furnaces of their homes Women offer their entire lives And keep thinking Perhaps!

On Elsewhereness

Mother walks through a military curfew upon shattered windows bearing no address. Upon little rocks still lugging the memory of the mountains they once were a part of.

Losar Greeting

The family of Arsalan, a nineteen-year-old from Zaldagar, Srinagar protests in 2022 against his arrest by the National Investigation Agency

Ninna Dakhale Yaavaga Needutte? (When Will You Show Your Documents?)

Those queueing for aadhar-ration-cards between thumb-scans and monkey-tricks of servers who lose their lives–their documents you demand, When will you show your documents!?

My Mother

A gathering resolving to form Hawkers Union in Shillong, Meghalaya in 2016

Blood of Other Days

In the by-gone days of the other life  Before the advent of the WORD  Spilling the blood of foes  Was the honour-code

I Want to be killed by an Indian Bullet

I heard the news long ago that they were looking for me; in the morning in the afternoon at night. My children told me; my wife told me.

My Invented Land

My native soil was created from tiny sparks that clung to grand mother's earthen pot which conjured savoury dishes I've been looking for all my life in vain.

Native Land

First came the scream of the dying in a bad dream, then the radio report, and a newspaper: six shot dead, twenty-five houses razed, sixteen beheaded with hands tied behind their backs inside a church . . .

Ayodhya: A Personal Account

The homogenisation of Indian culture and the seizure and erasure of history will only get stronger in times to come

The Sounds of Silence

The mystical desert of Jaisalmer, the majestic 12th-century fort palace, and a juxtaposition of sounds and silences from 20 different countries the story of a unique 'museum' within a museum

REQUIEM FOR A DREAM

The Equator Line (TEL), a themed, quarterly magazine of non-conformist writing blazed a brilliant trail of its own before shutting down

Through the Looking Glass

Nearly 40 years on, Govind Nihalani's memorable social and political satire Party unravels the hypocrisy of India's urban elite and raises vital questions about art