Where was democracy in ancient India?
Panchayats did exist in certain parts of Bharatvarsha, but these were not national institutions. On 10 May, the newly appointed...
Tejo Mahal? When fiction pretends to be history
The Taj Mahal did take a very long time to build. But it was never a temple. It all began...
Some thoughts on democracy; also on IPL
Nearly two billion people today live in non-democratic countries. Another two billion in semi-democracies. The well-known and widely read American...
As Congress descends on Udaipur in the height of summer
Not one speaker will have the guts even to hint that the party needs a change at the top. The...
Two friends, two autobiographies
Today I am writing about autobiographies of two friends. Both have been published recently and posthumously. “Motivated by Life and...
Exceptional diplomacy by India in these troubled times
We have not abandoned our independent foreign policy. India’s diplomacy, in these worrisome times has been conducted with exceptional courage,...
Letters from P.N. Haksar
I considered him my Guru. P.N. Haksar (1913-1998) was India’s greatest diplomat and civil servant. I owe him much. I...
Imran Khan as PM: An inglorious end?
I was among those Indians who hoped that Imran Khan would put out his hand of friendship towards India. Unfortunately,...
Vladimir Putin has erred on Ukraine
Having thrown humanism out of the Kremlin window, he has razed to the ground large parts of democratic Ukraine. Most...
Gandhis are now a liability
Sonia Gandhi became Congress president 24 years ago. Perhaps a world record for a democracy. The Gandhi family, once adored...
A horrifying war in Ukraine
NATO and the European Union have functioned in slow motion. What is the zeitgeist—the spirit of the age? All I...
Treasured epistles
Natwar Singh Naroji Road Kilpauk, Madras-10 24 November 1966 My dear Natwar, I was so glad to read your letter...
Lata Mangeshkar’s memory will endure
The only time I met her was in London in 1974. She was the first Indian to perform at Royal...
Some gems from my library
There are thirty books on China, including four biographies of Mao Tse Tung, three each of Chou En Lai and...
Musings of a bibliophile
On entering my 20th year, I started jotting down in a notebook, words, phrases, even paragraphs from books I was...
Remembering Ahmed Ali
Ahmed Ali was a novelist, Urdu poet, scholar and diplomat. He was born in Delhi in 1910. Ahmed Ali belonged...
Marquez, Neruda: The literary greats I met
I met Gabriel Garcia Marquez twice. The first time in New Delhi in March 1983. Among the greatest novels of...
Every agency connected with PM security must be held responsible
I do not remember if our security officers go to Israel, the US or UK for training. Israel has an...
Mandela on Tutu
The only time I met Archbishop Desmond Tutu was on 2.3.2005 in Cape Town. I spent a few minutes with...
Some thoughts on Jinnah
Whenever I am asked, ‘Who was the most successful pre-1947 Indian politician?’ my answer is ‘M.A. Jinnah.’ The date of...
In Warsaw, a brush with Bangladesh
No officer of the Indian Foreign Service will forget the horrific and murderous activities of the Pakistan army in East...
Breakfast with Evil: An essential read
Ashis Nandi takes on Satyajit Ray on his westernized Indianness and succeeds to plant doubts in the reader’s mind about...
Some thoughts on Mohan Bhagwat’s views
Does he really believe that Pakistan will ever agree to Partition being undone? Broadly speaking, I read the speeches and...
My tryst with Africa
Our committee came very low in the Ethiopian pecking order and did not merit a canine presence bigger than a...
