VIGNETTES OF VAJPAYEE, The Hindu
In the last weeks of 1999, I was the recipient of a phone call from a Delhi bibliophile I knew slightly. The Prime Minister’s family, he said, felt that the [...]
PASSAGES THROUGH INDIA , The Hindu
There is a wonderful book waiting to be written about Western representations of India in the twentieth century. Before and after Independence, the sub-continent attracted an array of foreign writers [...]
THE INDIAN TRADITION OF NON-RENUNCIATION, The Hindu
Few people, within or outside her Congress party, expected Mrs Sonia Gandhi not to accept the office of Prime Minister after the Indian elections results were out. Her decision to [...]
FIVE MYTHS ABOUT JAWAHARLAL NEHRU, The Hindu
In this, the week of the fortieth death anniversary of Jawaharlal Nehru, let us consider some of the myths that have gathered around his name and his legacy: Myth 1: [...]
A PLAGUE ON BOTH YOUR HOUSES, The Telegraph
Bangalore voted on Sunday the 20th of April, the first round of polling. Anticipating crowds in the morning, my wife and I went to the neighbourhood booth in the afternoon. [...]
A SALUTE TO SMALLER STATES, The Hindu
Kavalam Madhavan Pannikar was one of the more interesting characters of twentieth-century India. He was a well regarded novelist in his native Malayalam, and an influential historian in English. Perhaps [...]