The Bihar Wave: My takeaways
A) Elections are always about arithmetic, occasionally about chemistry. 2015 Bihar has been about a bit of both: the caste arithmetic of the...
Jai Khanistan
Long before Sharukh Khan, there was the original post Independence superstar: Dilip Kumar, or rather Yusuf Khan. There are two stories as to why Yusuf became Dilipsaab. The first...
Bihar 10 takeaways
After almost a week of criss crossing Bihar, the big question remains: who is winning the battle for one of the country’s most politically significant states? So, here are...
Lalu-Nitish joshi: twist in a Bihar tale
There is a wonderfully poignant story, possibly apocryphal, about the original Hindi cinema ‘phenomenon’ Rajesh Khanna that reveals the limits of superstardom. During his peak years, Khanna would hold...
Dadri vs Moodbidri
The pseudo-patriots are at it again. Having behaved disgracefully after the Dadri murder — witness the statements made by leaders that either played down the incident or deliberately stoked...
This is not Cricket
Should India and Pakistan play cricket in times of terror? Ask me this question eleven years ago, and I’d probably have replied in the negative. Indo-Pak cricket at the...
Modi, Bihar And Reforms
A year is an eternity in Indian politics: a year ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi could literally walk on water. His remarkable 2014 general election win had given him...
The Silence of Mumbai
Long before Sudheendra Kulkarni, there were the likes of Nikhil Wagle and your humble columnist. In 1991, the Shiv Sena dug up the Wankhede cricket pitch to protest against...
Open letter, part 2
What a fine letter you have penned (without wasting any ink!): it is reassuring to find that a graduate degree from Xaviers still has its benefits. Allow me to...
My Dear Aditya
Since this seems to be the season of open letters, I thought I'd write one to you too. Especially since we went to the same college: as a fellow...