A friend’s post on WhatsApp got me thinking. It was about the Hedonic Treadmill – how we keep chasing the next big thing, only to find ourselves back where we started. The more I thought about it, the more I realised: this is our story, playing on a loop like a daily soap. The smartphone…
The Colorado Supreme Court has settled a legal debate that sounds straight out of a satirical courtroom drama. A group of African elephants housed at Denver’s Municipal Zoo were at the centre of a lawsuit filed by an animal rights organization. The group sought to have the elephants declared ‘persons’ and moved to a sanctuary…
There’s a certain charm in Indian politicians swearing oaths on the Bhagavad Gita, the revered Hindu scripture. It lends an air of moral gravitas, a whiff of Dharmic commitment to their otherwise humdrum or dubious political careers. Yet, one can’t help but wonder: how many of them have read the Gita, let alone understood its…
I have always been the proverbial tortoise in the race against technology. It took me an embarrassingly long time to realise that social media existed. My first encounter with Facebook was thanks to an ex-colleague from my Deccan Chronicle days. At the time, I was in Dubai, working for Gulf News and still clinging to…
Few innovations have transformed an art form as profoundly as Leica cameras have revolutionized photography. Born from Oskar Barnack’s vision in 1913, the Leica (originally the Ur-Leica) was designed to test exposure times on short lengths of film. Little did Barnack know that his invention would not only change the technical landscape of photography but…
When Trump sets his sights on something, he doesn’t just shake the tree – he chops it down. The latest victim of his policy axe? Birthright citizenship. His executive order to end automatic citizenship for babies born to non-permanent residents on US soil is sending expectant parents into a frenzy. And if you thought Indians…
India has long lamented its brain drain, with engineers, doctors, and IT whiz-kids heading westwards to chase the American dream. But now, President Donald Trump has added a bizarre twist to this well-worn narrative: wine tasters and waiters on H-1B visas. Yes, the visa traditionally associated with software engineers and scientists might soon include sommeliers…
Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy may dream of a clean, cable-free Hyderabad, but have you ever imagined our city without its signature mess of wires? Every lane, street, and road boasts a generous display of dangling cables – an architectural feature so unique, that even pigeons and crows would be dismayed at its absence. Forget…
What’s better for productivity – burning the midnight oil or clocking fewer hours with maximum efficiency? According to L&T’s Chairman S N Subrahmanyan, the answer is simple: Indians should work 90 hours a week to fast-track national development. His rationale? ‘What do you do sitting at home? How long can you stare at your wife?’…
Vaikunta Ekadasi, observed annually at the Balaji Temple in Alwal, is a vibrant festival steeped in spiritual significance and communal joy. Celebrated on the eleventh day of the waxing moon in Margashirsha (December-January), it marks the symbolic opening of the Vaikunta Dwaram, believed to lead to spiritual liberation and divine blessings. Thousands of devotees throng…
