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Faithful idols

THESE days some people go about introducing themselves as ‘thought leaders’. This claim is neither determined nor tested by the number of followers they may have; it is completely self-assessed…

Boarding schools

BOARDING schools have long been an integral feature of the educational landsc­ape worldwide. These schools provide education and boarding facilities for children aged six to 11 years or 13 to…

Cricketers who also win hearts

THE school-going cricket enthusiast in our Lucknow neighbourhood was the only one to own a decent radio in the 1960s. Rajiv Puri, Bappal to us, would wait for daybreak to…

The sacred

THE concept of the sacred (muqaddas) means ‘sanctified’ due to association with holiness and religious veneration. The sacred evokes a lot of mystery that needs to be reflected upon to…

Home thoughts

IN South Asia’s patriarchal societies, writings by women giving their perspective on sociopolitical issues in the early 20th century are not easily available. Diaries are even rarer. Happily, we now…

Pride and prejudice

HALFWAY into his term as prime minister, Imran Khan had proudly hyperbolised that, ‘I am democracy’. He had praised the military and security agencies for their services and threatened to…

South Asia media landscape

The storm in India over a carefully researched and crafted BBC documentary had barely begun to die down when the international broadcaster’s offices in Delhi and Mumbai were raided by ‘tax authorities’.…

Writing about ideas

The history of ideas is an interesting field; you traverse from concepts to definitions to ideas to philosophies – and the universe before you appears to be unending. It is…

A journey through fiction

Historical novels can be a good source for understanding our past depending on who has written them and how. In modern world literature, there is a fine example of Hilary…

More than change

PRESIDENT Joe Biden insists that he is still running. He has not said in which direction. He needs to decide quickly before someone makes up his mind for him. Some…