-
The three faces of Sanjay Dutt: Which one do we punish?
The 1993 Mumbai blasts which left 257 people dead with its diverse cast of characters from film, crime and media had all the makings of a Russian novel. But it is Time -- the spans of time spent waiting for the verdict -- that is the true protagonist of this #Mumbai 1993 blasts #OnOurMind #Sanjay Dutt sentenced to jail
-
Sonia Gandhi and the Italian stereotype
Two events, this week, collided improbably to create a moment of reflection. On 13 March, Mrs Sonia Gandhi completed 15 years as the President of the Indian Congress. As an act of survival and leadership, it was a major achievement, demanding its own collection of editorials. When she became President, #Indian National Congress #Italy #Sonia Gandhi #TheLongView
-
Narendra Modi’s bully tirade: Crude, effective and unsettling
Narendra Modi gets high on the prospect of power. With the future as adrenalin, he attacks the past. For him the edifice of rottenness, the core of decay is predictably the Congress. Modi sees himself as a seer reading the entrails of the Congress to diagnose the nation's ills. There is #BJP National Council Meet #Congress #Narendra Modi #Sonia Gandhi #ToWhatEffect
-
Allahabad and Kumbh: Where governance and illiteracy meet
Governance is a recently invented term. It was coined by Plato and reinvented by Harlan Cleveland monographs and acquired solidity in World Bank monographs. There is arrogance about its use. World Bank agencies and nation states talk about governance. Multinationals hold seminars on governance, but few look at pilgrimages and #Allahabad #Governance #InMyOpinion #Kumbh Mela #Maha Kumbh Mela #Stampede
-
Pillorying of Ashis Nandy: His critics need hearing aids
The Jaipur literary festival is almost notorious for creating storms in a teacup. To its credit though, if offers a different flavor of literary tea every year. Last year, it was a variant of the Rushdie phenomenon, where a group of aspiring litterateurs read out passages from the Satanic Verses and #Ashis Nandy #Corruption #Dalit #Jaipur Literature Festival #JLF #JLF2013 #OBC #ThatsJustWrong
-
Amitabh Bachchan at 70: The Peter Pan who grew up
Continuity demands incessant reinvention. A body remains a body because the cells work overtime to regenerate themselves. Amitabh Bachchan understands the cultural wisdom of biology. He is the only perennial star in the Bollywood firmament who remains himself because he reinvents the self. The magic of Bachchan is not that #Amitabh Bachchan #Amitabh Bachchan's birthday #Inpraiseof
-
The False Piety of Ambika Soni
Secular movements feel a desperate need for the sacred. They need rituals which mimic those of religion and yet create a parallel sense of solidarity. Communist regimes in particular have sought to create a sense of magic, of taboo around movements, texts, dates which create a sense of legacy and #Ambika Soni #Aseem Trivedi #National symbols of India #OnOurMind
-
Ajmal Kasab and Naroda Patiya: A tale of two verdicts
August 30th, 2012 was a historic day. India witnessed the almost simultaneous release of two verdicts. The Supreme Court confirmed the death sentence on Ajmal Kasab and the Gujarat High Court indicted 32 people in the Naroda Patiya case. Each judgement in itself offered high drama, but the juxtaposition of #Ajmal Kasab #ConnectTheDots #Mayaben Kodnani #Naroda Patiya
-
The tragedy of Anna Hazare: Why we all should care
When Anna Hazare first exploded on the political scene with his anti-corruption campaign, he created ripples of excitement. People witnessed an icon behaving like an icon: Anna as the image of the whole movement was more than the sum of the parts. The charisma of the man was overpowering, and #Anna Hazare #Aruna Roy #Baba Ramdev #BJP #Congress #UPA #WideAngle
-
Gangs of Wasseypur: A metaphor for all that went wrong in India
A friend of mine once told me, when India has Dhanbad, it does not need a gulag. Dhanbad as a city is a metaphor for all that went wrong with modern India. In an ironic sense, Dhanbad is a guarantee that every wave of reform is only #Anurag Kashyap #CultureDecoder #FilmCrit #Gangs of Wasseypur