Re-reading Ambedkar’s biography
B.R. Ambedkar had a razor-sharp intellect. With due respect, neither Nehru nor Patel can be included in the same intellectual...
Thinking of cricket in the time of IPL
The Australian PM introduced me to Bradman. I was surprised to note that he was only an inch taller than...
Re-reading Gandhi’s biography
For me the past week has been one of despair and disgust. To divert my mind from the prevailing political...
It’s over for Congress in Punjab
The mess in Punjab is self-inflected by the Congress. Among the states going to the polls early next year are...
PM spells out India’s Afghanistan policy
The PM was addressing virtually the SCO summit. It happened sooner than later. According to reliable sources, a few days...
Looking back at 9/11
For the first time in history the mainland of the United States had been attacked by unknown enemies. Where was...
India must have a presence in Kabul
Sooner rather than later we should reopen our embassy in Kabul. Afghanistan is no stranger to brutal turmoil, deadly violence...
Afghanistan’s future appears bleak
India is naturally very concerned at developments in Kabul in particular and Afghanistan in general. It is my hope that...
How India was born, in a matter of weeks
‘Here was a task which normally should have taken years to accomplish but which had to be compressed into the...
On Tagore, snippets from a scrapbook
I found several newspaper clippings relating to Tagore’s life and death in my childhood scrapbook. Rabindranath Tagore died in Calcutta...
India’s performance at Olympics frustrates
I watch the Games with considerable annoyance because of India’s dismal performance. I was the only Stephenian who got college...
A letter from Raja Rao
I first met him in New York in March 1963. Earlier I had reviewed his ‘The Serpent and the Rope’...
A letter from Mulk Raj Anand
Mulk was a dedicated Marxist who at the same time venerated Mahatma Gandhi. I had the good fortune to have...
My Dilip Kumar stories
I persuaded him to accept nomination to the Rajya Sabha. Many of us have personal Dilip Kumar “stories” up our...
Gandhi and Tagore
They had fundamental differences on certain issues. Mahatma Gandhi and Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore were born in the same decade. Tagore...
Emergency: A lethal blow to India
I was Deputy High Commissioner in London at the time. B.K. Nehru was the High Commissioner. Drip by drip the...
In memory of Kenneth Kaunda
He visited India several times. On Thursday, 17 June, Dr Kenneth Kaunda, founder President of Zambia passed away in Lusaka...
What we need to know about H. Hatterr
Hatterr is an erratic, well read, endearing soul who is constantly getting into hilarious situations. I have just finished reading...
Foreign policy needs eternal vigilance
Inevitably, in one or two cases, PM Modi has been subjected to wholly unfair blame and criticism. I have no...
Letters from E.M. Forster
‘I still sit about quietly, still have no telephone and though I have a gramophone, it does not revolve as...
Letters from Indira Gandhi
Two letters written in 1976 and 1980. I am, in today’s column, producing two of the many letters Prime Minister...
A letter from Han Suyin
We met by chance in Peking in July 1956 and took to each other immediately. I am 92 years of...
Mamata arrives on national scene
India is in dire need of a strong opposition. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has now arrived on the national scene....
The times they are hard
After the first Covid-19 wave, it was mistakenly thought that the worst was over. Complacency was all too evident. The...
