Panorama

Frederick Noronha A few days ago, the postman brought in what seemed like a packed book that had travelled quite some distance. This took me a bit by surprise. Normally, when a book shows up, you’ve been already informed that it’s on the way. So, from whom was this unexpected, small packet? On opening it, the first thing to strike …

Mark Tully The litigation over the Ayodhya title dispute finally appears to be heading towards a conclusion. The chief justice has targeted completing the hearing this month, and pronouncing the judgment next month. Whether this will mean the dispute is settled will depend on the reaction of both sides to the judgment. The only way to prevent this leading to …

Maneka Sanjay Gandhi Ants and bees have become paragons of a system that’s coordinated but without central control. Intelligence does not belong to one dictating alpha, but is distributed across the group. Two types of intelligence operate in a group: adaptive – which means decisions stem from the interplay between individuals, and collective – a group of agents acting together …

Biswadeep Ghosh Patna Blues, Abdullah Khan’s debut novel, encompasses many themes. The story of aspirations, romance, heartbreak and stagnation, it also examines communal fault lines as it takes us through the streets of Patna, Bihar’s capital that was in desperate need of development in the 1980s and 90s, and still is. At the outset, the reader is introduced to Arif, …

Ramachandra Guha Mahatma Gandhi famously claimed that “India lives in her villages”. The focus of his political and social work, and his philosophical writings, was that India was essentially an agrarian civilisation, and that it must remain that way. In fact, India had always lived in her towns, too. Our epics spoke of the fabled cities of Ayodhya and Indraprastha. …

Gandhi realised the power of photography early on, for he used it strategically during India’s freedom movement later Paroma Mukherjee Being one of the world’s noted photographers did not earn Margaret Bourke-White the right to photograph Mahatma Gandhi. In 1946, she had to also learn how to work the charkha before being allowed to photograph Gandhi doing the same. Gandhi, …

Anesha George Mahatma Gandhi spinning khadi on a charkha might have been an icon of the Swadeshi movement, but the fabric is no longer the humble, coarse, dull-beige sack-cloth of the history books. It’s bold, bright, soft and wrinkle-free. And in these new weaves, it’s made its way to runways in India and beyond, as well as to bridal trousseaus, …

Indians may have a soft corner for ‘maa ke haath ka khana’, but the urge to gorge on street side pav bhaji topped with a dollop of butter or check out that new restaurant serving greasy Chinese food has almost been irresistible. But it is changing, albeit slowly and for just a section of upper crust urbanites who can afford …

Dhiman Sarkar ‘Chotu’ is a common nickname, but to call Vikas Khatri that? The India and Delhi Hurricanes rugby captain stands nearly six feet in his socks and has arms intimidatingly wide sticking out from a T-shirt. Even during the 86th All India and South Asia Rugby Championship, at the Calcutta Cricket and Football Club (CC&FC) from September 21-28, Khatri …

Amrit Mathur That MS Dhoni is the most admired Indian after the Prime Minister, confirms the keeper has caught the attention of the country. He connects with fans, inspires cricketers and is an ambassador of hope and possibility for youngsters dreaming big. MSD is a limited edition celebrity whose aura is sustained by maintaining distance and rationing information. MSD lives …