Blogs

The entry of Dalit, Bahujan, and Adivasi (DBA) students into the citadels of higher education is now a reality. Many of them are the first in their families to attend university. Due to their historically marginalised social status and modest economic conditions, they often lack the ‘social capital and professional networks’ required to navigate academic…

I turn 65 this month, and the ever-vigilant US social security administration already sent me a letter laying out my retirement options. I could retire now if I wanted and start to enjoy the publicly provided pension, though they would prefer if I waited another five years to claim my benefits, and offered higher pension…

Most of the commentary on the India-EU free trade agreement (FTA) has highlighted the likely boost to India’s exports of labour-intensive products and certain services to the large EU market and welcomed it. There is also consensus that in the context of the current turmoil in global trade, the agreement sends a constructive signal about…

We have mastered predictable panic. Every winter, Delhi’s air turns toxic on schedule. Schools close, offices empty and construction freezes. The timing and meteorology are understood, yet like clockwork, we respond as though ambushed: with emergency bans. We blame the weather, promise action, then quietly wait for next winter’s repeat performance. Air pollution is no…

Why AI can push up the cost of your next smartphone If we could make only one Budget wish this year, it would be that govt remains mindful of the global memory crisis. Not the kind that’s related to social media overuse – duly noted in Economic Survey – but the shortage of DRAM chips…

There is something quietly enduring about the flavours that emerge from a region’s soil, climate and daily life. Long before food became a statement or a trend, regional cooking took shape in home kitchens, guided by necessity, seasonality and shared knowledge. What people ate was dictated by what grew nearby, what sustained the body, and…

The disappearance of the word “Mughals” from a Class 7 textbook has triggered a predictable national reaction. For some, it signals erasure. For others, overdue correction. The decibel level rose instantly. But before we treat a syllabus revision as a civilisational rupture, it is worth pausing. What is the purpose of a school textbook in…

I first met Mark sahab when he came to Gujarat to shoot a TV documentary on the anti dam movement called Narmada Bachao Andolan. It was 1992 and I had taken a year off from my journalism work to try to understand the country. I grew up in a small coal mine town in eastern…

Any city based photographer or painter will vouch that some of the most beautiful landscape compositions are captured while travelling into the countryside. The lush green fields kissed by the yellow morning sun, white and black cows grazing as silver and grey from bustling water is punctuated with brown huts. Those pleasing usually fixed colours…

4. Imperfect isolation can’t eradicate smallpox The lack of laser-focus on isolation meant that many avoidable gaps remained in the way isolation was practiced. First, insufficient surveillance. Dr Charles Chapin noted in a 1912 textbook: “unrecognized cases … are so numerous that isolation of recognized cases often seems to be a complete failure”13. Without strong…