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...
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...
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...
An abusive Phone Call
Why aren’t you in Basirhat, you bloody xxxx Muslim supporter, an anonymous caller asked me last night. I normally don’t respond to the abusive callers but for some reason...
The Poison of ‘kuch log’
Last night, I interviewed Junaid Khan's father Jallaluddin when he said something that left me numb: 'why do they hate us so much sir that they kill us because...
Modi govt at 3: Caught between As, Bs, and almost a C!
In the world we live in, where nuance has little space, and where the news and instant opinion is polarised in black and white terms, I am dubbed,...
Boycott Pakistani Mogambos on TV!
Last night, I was watching a familiar face from Pakistan venting bile on Indian news television: a self styled ‘political-military analyst’ Syed Tariq Pirzada has made it his professional...