Blogs

We were searching for waterfalls, cliff diving, and an unforgettable weekend getaway close to Mumbai when our friends Ameya and Arundhati introduced us to Jawhar. They spoke enthusiastically about a perennial waterfall with several natural cliff-diving points of varying heights. Their description was irresistible, and before long, we were on our way to this charming…

Welcome back to another edition of My Take 5, your weekly wrap of international news. This week we are covering the slow crumbling of the US-Iran ceasefire, the reimposition of US naval blockade on Iran, protests in Ukraine over firing of the defence minister, China’s missile test in the South Pacific, and US delisting Syria…

Although India is among the world’s largest producers of rice, milk, spices, fruits, fisheries and several horticulture products, its share in global agricultural exports remains modest at around 2.2 per cent. With vast production capacity the country still struggles to fully translate its agricultural strength into sustained global competitiveness, it is pointed out. The challenge…

A few months ago, I met the founder of a company that had spent nearly two years reinventing itself.  The business had moved beyond its original product, entered a more sophisticated category, hired a  new leadership team and repositioned itself for a completely different kind of customer. Its website  reflected the change. Its sales presentations…

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recently concluded Indo-Pacific tour of Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand highlighted the growing breadth of India’s regional engagement. The visits reinforced New Delhi’s commitment to strengthening strategic partnerships across Southeast Asia and the Pacific in support of a Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP). Yet among India’s expanding network of regional partners,…

I teach poetry. The semesters are named after the seasons — Monsoon and Spring. We collect onomatopoeia, the sounds of water. Our first collection station is often the rains. We say the obvious — it rains differently in the English language than it does in the Indian languages. In Bangla, for instance, the sound for…

The reported departure of several senior scientists from the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has understandably caused concern. Some are associated with important national missions and possess knowledge that cannot be replaced overnight. But we should not view every departure as a national loss. India’s private space and deep technology ecosystem has finally matured enough…

“Give me a lever long enough and a trolley wide enough, and I shall block the entire security line” – Archimedes (if he was ever stuck at Terminal 3 of Delhi’s International Airport) I once watched a man argue with a check-in counter executive about excess baggage the way Indian men argue about cricket selection,…

Tests are seldom pleasant. They are useful, however, in exposing one’s weaknesses, and showing where one can improve. Consider the El Niño a recurring examination of India’s atmanirbharta — its ability to withstand a warmer, less predictable world without being held hostage by empty reservoirs, imported food or geopolitical goodwill. After all, it is periodic,…

Spain will face Argentina in the final of the World Cup. But how did either country get to be a football superpower? How did Norway, with less than 6 million people —the size of Kozhikode or Lucknow—become a feared contender? Why does Ghana mount a serious challenge but not Kenya, with similar wealth and population?…