October 2015
The Dark and Desperate State of Uttar Pradesh, Hindustan Times
A recent report in the Financial Times, caught my eye. Headlined ‘India advert for tea boys and guards attracts 2.3m applicants’, it spoke of the desperate desire for a government job among the young men [...]
September 2015
The Enduring Charm Of Independent Bookstores, Hindustan Times
For many years now, I have spent much of my time, and most of my money, on books bought in stores owned by individuals rather than corporations. Within India, I had four favourite bookstores; Premier’s [...]
Why Canada May Be The World’s Most Underrated Country, Hindustan Times
The President of the United States is the most powerful person in the world. This is why every Presidential campaign attracts such wide attention, both the primaries of the two main parties and then the [...]
August 2015
Why Kashmiris Are Disenchanted With India, The Telegraph
On a notice board outside the library of the University of Kashmir, someone had posted a piece of paper with these words, set in bold and large type: WHY NOT AN IIT, IIM, OR AIIMS [...]
Why I’m Not Nostalgic For An Undivided India, Hindustan Times
Sixty-eight years is a fairly advanced age for an individual, but a small span of time in the life of a nation. This must be why, every so often, a book or article appears lamenting [...]
An Opposition to Despair Of, The Telegraph
I spent the last week of July in New Delhi, my first extended trip to that city since the General Elections of 2014. It was a year and two months since the Modi Government had [...]