Decoding Democracy

"I am rediscovering myself. And I am indeed amused by what I am," says the friend without a trace of humour. Active in the social sector for long and now...

The happy early childhood memories of this middle-aged friend comprises to a large extent experiences with a couple of Muslim neighbours in a government colony. Three kids of the families...

Je ne sais quoi -- in French it means a unique, indecipherable quality. It roughly translates into 'X factor' in English. In case of leaders, it is the magnetic quality...

Politics is a game multi-millionaires play. The entry gates are firmly shut for the poor and even the reasonably well-off. Once inside the gate, the price of staying in the...

The rise of populism has led many to paint a dystopian vision of the future, for India and for the world in general. It is primarily a picture of anarchy,...

Ever wondered why social media conversations turn nasty so quickly and why friends appear so different on social media from what they are in real life? It is in the...

Why is explaining secularism so difficult in a country where secular tradition runs deep? That the idea stands thoroughly discredited and virtually redundant in the new-look India perhaps has less...

Tucked safely in his well-equipped home in the suburbs of the capital city Bhubaneswar during the pandemic, this young man, all of 26, is busy fighting the supposed enemies of...

Social media, powered by networks and 'we' communities and armed with irreverence and belligerence, has exacerbated the popular distrust of the old order. It has teamed up with hitherto marginalised...

The raucous television debate and the explosion of outrage on social media over the death of Sushant Singh Rajput triggers a sense of deja vu. Witch-hunting, malicious personal attacks, fiction...