Opinion

There was a front page advertisement in the newspaper yesterday. It had ‘Let’s fight corruption’ written in big bold letters alongside a picture of Narendra Modi, prime ministerial candidate of BJP for the General Elections 2014. It also had three other sentences which went like this, Let’s minimise government and maximise governance. Let’s use technology for greater public scrutiny. Let’s ...

Partition was probably the saddest thing that has ever happened on this pure land. While some claim that the Partition should have never happened, some see it as a successful culmination of a national movement for the achievement of Pakistan. However, it was uniquely tragic, no matter from which side of the border one looked at it. It divided a ...

For more than 1000 years, Hindus and Muslims have inhabited this ancient land in somewhat perfect harmony. Their dwellings occupied a common landscape in primordial villages. Their children played and learned together. A chunk of stories are told about the comity of these two, tales of their acceptance of each other abound,  of donation of land to wealthy merchants from ...

“Confession is good for the soul even after the soul has been claimed” (p. 381).” ― Mona Rodriguez “A fair, beautiful, 5’5, educated girl wanted for a groom of a wealthy family”, an advertisement that perfectly defines our so called perfect society. Everyone in our society wishes a pretty bahurani. Weird as it sounds it is actually true.  For marriage, ...

[Editor’s Note: This column is in response to the death of Nido Taniam, a student from Arunachal Pradesh, believed to be the victim of a race-related hate crime in Delhi.] I have witnessed many parents lament their child’s misbehavior with the phrase, “Where did we go wrong?”. This is usually when their child talks back to them, or gets into ...

I was getting ready for college when the news flashed on TV: “A 20-year-old tribal girl gang-raped by 10 members of a Kangaroo court as a punishment for loving a boy from another tribe in West Bengal.” What I felt was neither disgust nor anger. It wasn’t even a chill down my spine. What I felt can be vaguely described ...

On the afternoon of January 13 this year, I went to the Nehru Memorial Museum & Library (NMML) at Teen Murti Bhavan in central Delhi, with a friend to find out the procedure of getting a library membership card. I am an Mphil student in the Academy of International Studies at Jamia Millia Islamia, and I thought a library membership ...

In our lifetime we have been either exalted or shattered by our names on a list. Our entry on lists starts from birth. First it’s the male or female list at the hospital. Then on an admission list for school. While in school, we are on the pass or fail list. In our social life our politics is decided through ...

Back in September, Yuva Sena president, Aaditya Thackeray submitted a proposal to Mumbai’s municipal authorities to keep open shops, eateries, chemists and milk services 24×7. [Link] This makes good economic sense since India’s service sector is no longer in-sync with a conventional work day. So it is natural that support services such as eateries would adapt to a new business ...

Plants and trees are pieces of the earth’s green soul as a gift of nature; like a loaf of bread for human life without which imagination of existence is out of thought. We are not only breathing because of this greenery but thousands of other activities and needs are being fulfilled by the lending hand of this greenery. In spite ...