This November, I complete 26 years in journalism: it’s been quite a journey and I wouldn’t trade it for anything else (actually I might, if I could only have been good enough to play cricket for India!). I was trained to be a lawyer but my heart was always in current affairs and writing.
The Indian army has always been reviled in the Kashmir valley. The army has been accused of human rights violations, of fake encounters, of oppression and being a symbol of an Indian state which most Kashmiri Muslims see as ‘occupying’ their land. And yet, today it is the men in uniform who have saved hundreds of lives
It is now almost seven months since Delhi hasn’t had an elected government. Arvind Kejriwal’s act of political harakiri in February 2014 pushed the Lieutenant Governor into the spotlight. Under the constitution, the LG has to make every possible effort to see if a government can be formed
Boxing films have always enthralled me. As a teenager, the Rocky series was inspirational. Raging Bull, the story of Jake La Motta, is probably the gold standard for all sports films, with Robert de Niro at his histrionic best. Other boxing films like The Fighter and Million Dollar Baby have also been captivating.
Welcome to my world of breaking views! This personal website is a space to share my journalism with you, to share my videos, blogs and columns. I belong to what I can best describe as a ‘penumbral’ generation of journalists: those who started in print, gradually moved to television, and are slowly coming to terms with the digital age.
Politicians are notoriously schizophrenic: I have met any number of netas who can be wonderfully warm and polite when they are off camera but turn into rabble-rousing venomous public figures the moment the camera is switched on. A Raj Thackeray, for example, is very generous with his hospitality when there is no camera in the vicinity. But the moment he is on air, he transforms into a different political animal: He can be rude and abusive, almost as if he is compelled to perform before a wider world. Mani Shankar Aiyar is another. He will make personal attacks in a television debate and then next morning, almost mysteriously, transform into a genteel man of the world.
We live in an age where a Hindi film is declared a hit if it has a strong opening on its first weekend: The era of the silver jubilee is well and truly behind us.Politics too, is experiencing a similar compression in time. So, Narendra Modi’s first 100 days are already being seen as a verdict on his government. A 100 days is just over 14 weeks.
A few months ago, I went for lunch to the new Maharashtra Sadan in the national capital. The first look was impressive: marble flooring, bronze statuettes, spiral staircases, you could have been in the lobby of a five star hotel. This was no staid government accommodation and the extravagance seemed to confirm reports of how the local contractor had inflated the construction costs well beyond the original sanctioned budget.
A former UPA minister relates a delightful story of an ex-judge who had been identified to head the contentious ‘Snoopgate’ probe. The judge declined the offer but had an alternative proposal in mind: “Why don’t you make me a governor instead!” suggested the venerable judge. The reason was obvious: As head of an inquiry commission that was politically controversial, the judge would be in the line of fire.
Forget power cuts, ‘Ache din’ are here for the Indian sports fan. Over the next few weeks, the world will be tied into football fever. We will be dazzled by the artistry of a Messi and Ronaldo; fans in Kolkata will wear Brazilian shirts; pubs in Mumbai will have special screenings; and life in Goa and Kerala will revolve around a ball. We will celebrate the spirit of the beautiful game even as the national team won’t be playing it yet again.
