Of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity
On November 25, 2011, we formally launched Democratic World (DW) after months of planning and effort. The evening was a great success and I’d like to thank all you generous people who gave us your time and support. I look forward to continued involvement from our well-wishers, readers and contribu...
A young man from a well-off Parsi family acquired his Bachelor's degree in Economics, but instead of a sense of achievement, he felt only dissatisfaction. In retrospect, he would have preferred to study literature or philosophy. The 20 year old had lost his father the year before, and he found himse...
Russia Protests against ‘Rigged Polls’
Calls For Re-electuion Thousands of Russians flocked to the streets of Moscow and approximately 95 Russian cities allegedly demanding an end to the 12-year-old “autocratic rule” of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin after he registered himself as an presidential candidate. Around 50,000 protestors s...
Patients Die as Fire-fighters, Slumdwellers Scramble to Save Lives Approximately 93 people, mostly patients, lost their lives to a fire that started in the basement of the privately-owned AMRI Hospital, Kolkata. Though the reason behind the blaze is yet to be ascertained, the fire reportedly star...
Maoist Top Gun Kishenji Killed
CRPF-Maoist encounter in West Bengal brings the end of an era With the death of top Maoist leader Koteshwar Rao, alias Kishenji, the third wave of the Naxalite Movement has reportedly come to an end. He was killed in an encounter with Central Reserve Police Force jawans in Jhargram forest in West M...
Sehwag does a Sachin, Scores a Double Ton
Virender Sehwag became the second batsman to hit a double century in One Day International cricket after scoring a fast and furious 219 off 149 balls against West Indies. He reached this milestone at the Holkar Stadium, Indore, on December 8, 2011. The dashing Indian opener raced to the elusive mark...
The Centre’s decision to allow 51 per cent of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the multi-brand retail sector met with protests in Parliament in November. The Centre had also decided to remove the cap on the single brand format which could pave the way for global chains such as WalMart, Carrefour...
Mission India is about giving kids a dose of life”
I went to the United States of America in early 2000 to pursue a super-specialisation in Neonatology, a branch of medicine which was not as advanced in India at that time. Settling in to a new environment was certainly difficult. But I wouldn’t say I got a culture shock. It was more about adapting...
Is It Anyway? A bunch of algorithms seem to be in control of your persona and clout on the social web. But you could take charge and make it work for you On the social web, everyone is not born equal. And indeed what would be the whole point if they were? Right from the start of the social networks...
In theory, the arrival of a new year and the opening days of January are meant to signal hope, optimism and renewal. Life and politics don’t always pan out that way. India begins 2012 with trepidation, as it has done several times in the recent past, but also with a new form of trepidation. The gl...
My first day on this planet was chaotic; I was born on the fourth day of May in 1956, while my mother was still trying to finish a manuscript. She was a famous Bengali author, while my father was in the publishing business. Born into a ‘bookish’ family, I was surrounded by tomes. And I was a boo...
The Battle for Peace March 2000: Unknown people come into a village located in Anantnag district, Kashmir. They round up the Sikh men and massacre 36 of them. Five days later, military forces state that five “foreign militants” responsible for the crime have been gunned down. After allegations ...
The Politics of Representation And its transformation to an active ideal
One of the recurring themes in the debates that have surrounded the Anna Hazare-led movement against corruption is the supremacy of the Parliament by virtue of its being the only genuine representative of the aspirations of the people of the country. This is a powerful argument, for in a country as ...
Trilogies seem to be making a mark in Indian fiction, and Amish Tripathi’s sequel to The Immortals of Meluha reportedly had 80,000 people pre-ordering the book. The Secret of the Nagas, the second book out of three, is finally in bookstores and selling like hot-cakes. The first book was a national...
Vinod Mehta is one of the most respected editors in India, known for his honest and outspoken style. It comes as no surprise to anyone, then, that his memoir Lucknow Boy, has both these qualities in abundance. It certainly makes for interesting reading, as in a career spanning more than four decades...
Some time in the early ‘90s a few women in a village in Bihar were working as bonded labourers under a zamindaar. Their crime: they had borrowed a petty amount of `500 from him 20 years ago. These widows would work all day and yet, somehow, the amount would never get paid up. Spinning the yarn day...
Delightfully suprising at every turn, a trip to Bhutan is never short of an adventure If anyone had told me a few years ago that I would be driven around a beautiful country by a movie star who shared my penchant for hip-hop bhangra music, I’d have told them to go take a hike. But after taking a f...
Renowned French urbanist-cum-architect Le Corbusier worked his magic and Chandigarh was born. It is easily among the best-planned cities in India and that is a well-known fact. What is perhaps largely unknown is that Le Corbusier also designed the Government Museum and Art Gallery in the heart of th...
