The face is the index of the mind, they say. Which is exactly why rulers across history made it their life’s mission to ensure their portraits showed nothing of the sort. From the glowering grandeur of Mughal emperors to the permanently serene smugness of British viceroys, India’s art galleries are filled with royal faces that…
The Nobel Peace Prize committee may soon have to open a new category: ‘Most Oppressed Elected Leader Who Achieved Absolutely Nothing But Claimed Everything.’ Arvind Kejriwal would walk away with it – perhaps ahead of even Donald Trump, who has already been proposed for the Peace Prize by both Pakistan’s army chief Asif Munir and…
India, the land where unity in diversity is a motto, has now updated that to ‘uniformity through division’. The latest frontier in our great civilizational squabble? Language. Yes, we have now outsourced regional pride to our vocal cords. Every linguistic state wants visitors, migrants, even tourists to ‘respect the culture’ by doing the verbal equivalent…
Donald Trump, now in his glorious second term as President of the United States, has always had a way with words. Or perhaps just one word: Beautiful. It is the adjective that keeps on giving. When he met Pakistan’s Army chief General (now Field Marshal) Asim Munir at the White House called him ‘a beautiful…
Keif haalak, habibi? Why Hindi is fine in Dubai, but not in Chennai When we fly out of the country – be it to study engineering in Stuttgart, perform heart surgeries in Shanghai, or drive taxis in Riyadh – we suddenly become paragons of linguistic adaptability. ‘No Deutsch, no degree,’ says the German university. ‘Ni…
When the Centre floated the idea of Hindi as a third language in schools, a predictable linguistic tempest erupted. Tamil Nadu, the perennial first responder to any mention of Hindi, raised the battle cry. But this time, it wasn’t marching alone. Maharashtra and Karnataka, otherwise busy quarrelling over Belagavi, suddenly found common cause in opposing…
If Prime Minister Narendra Modi were even a fraction of what Ramachandra Guha believes he is, this column would not exist. And if it did, I would be writing it from a prison cell – if not under house arrest, then certainly under gag order. There is a strange new game in India’s elite drawing…
Let us raise a glass to Rahul Gandhi, who turned 55 last week – and is still Congress’s designated youth icon. Some men age like wine. Others ferment in the sun and still call themselves grape juice. In honour of the occasion, the birthday boy offered us a fresh philosophical insight that Japan’s train engines…
Once the preserve of paan-stained alleys, Lidcap counters and roadside tarpaulin emporiums, the humble Kolhapuri chappal has now arrived, clad in privilege and priced like a latest 150cc bike, at the glittering runways of Milan. And no, not as a tribute. Prada simply ‘discovered’ it, rebranded it, and, for good measure, forgot to mention where…
At a time when global crises demand clarity, restraint, and the gravitas of leadership, President Donald Trump has once again chosen expletives over eloquence. His public use of the F-word the other day about the Iran–Israel conflict marks yet another low in presidential rhetoric, dragging the discourse around international conflict into a space more fit…
