Team Modi: ten big takeaways
Every cabinet reshuffle gives us a sense of the state of play in a government and its chief executive. So what did we learn from the Modi government’s reshuffle...
Who will speak up for Hemant Karkare?
Asking inconvenient questions is what professional journalists are meant to do, so let me ask it upfront: Was Hemant Karkare, the Maharashtra police officer who was “martyred” during the...
Where really is ‘new’ India?
One of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s great skills as a political communicator has been his ability to constantly summon up catchy buzzwords. If 2014 was the year of ‘acche...
When Politics is ‘War’
As a 24×7 news journalist, late nights are an occupational hazard. After almost three decades as a newsman, you think you’ve seen it all. And yet, when a Rajya...
Corruption and Communalism: No False Binary please!
“We are coming together to defend secularism by defeating Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and the RSS,” proclaimed Lalu Prasad with typical bombast in September 2015 just ahead of the...
Decoding Gujarat’s ‘resort’ politics
If Bihar’s business is politics, then Gujarat’s business is business. The sharpest Gujarati minds have usually gone into ‘dhandha’: the stock market ups and downs worry the average Gujarati...
The six lies of Bihar
No political journalist’s education is complete without understanding Bihar. If Mumbai’s business is business, then Bihar’s business is politics! In no other part of the country — not even...
Cricket’s chak de moment
In the early 1980s, Diana Eduljee, who was then the Indian women’s cricket team star bowler, would bowl at the Cricket Club of India nets in Mumbai. “Whatever you...