Contradictions scar life in India. Contrasts mar any satisfaction we may derive from our achievements, our strengths, things we can take pride in. This is a sad truth. It is also an old truth. Can th...

The report of the States Reorganization Commission, submitted to the Government of India in September 1955, is remembered above all for recommending that provincial boundaries be redrawn on linguistic...

The term, ‘terraforming’, derived from the Latin, terra (‘earth’ or ‘land’), and formare (to shape or form) has long had currency in the vocabul...

The evocative idol of Durga as a refugee being transported in a truck together with her children and her belongings is a far cry from Goddess Durga, all-powerful, astride a lion. But this is precisely...

I recall the collective gasp of dismay that ricocheted around Islamabad in early February 2004 when A.Q. Khan appeared on television, confessing that he had acted against Pakistan’s interests in...

Browsing online, I came upon an argument about how far into a book you need to go before you can abandon it as unreadable. I was pleased to see that the consensus was that if the book hadn’t hoo...

Historians of Nazi Germany have always been troubled with one central question: how could one of the most advanced, sophisticated countries of Europe descend into the depths of barbarism in such a sho...

We have entered the era of big data. This era, which is just beginning, will have a greater impact on our lives than the advent of the computer did. Giant technology firms have access to a vast amount...

The five days of Durga Puja in West Bengal constitute one of the largest street carnivals in the world. It is undeniably a Hindu religious and cultural festival symbolizing the triumph of good over ev...

On the face of it, asking a question appears to be a simple act of responding to things with curiosity. Except for what linguists call ‘phatic communication’, such as ‘how are you?&r...