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Welcome back to another edition of My Take 5. This week we are covering UAE’s exit from Opec, how Ukraine is taking the war to Russia, King Charles’ successful US trip, Syria’s transitional justice, and China’s coercion of three African countries to block overflight of Taiwanese President. So, let’s get to it: UAE to exit…

‘Darkness can rob the glory of a diamond, we are just humans….’ How I wanted that evening to pass quickly! Even after so many soulful conversations we shared, I felt anxious visiting Mrs. Kapoor’s house. I took a floral silk scarf for her as a gesture of courtesy. I knew she loved dressing up. I…

The heavy scent of marigolds and incense filled the air as I sat with my grandmother, Dadi, looking through her old mahogany chest. She pulled out a bundle wrapped in soft muslin, her wedding Saree. It was a Banarasi silk, deep vermillion, heavy with real silver zari that had turned a regal, antique grey over…

For quite some time, the proliferation of technology in educational processes has been affecting teaching and learning activities. Undoubtedly, the substitution and/or supplementation of the traditional chalk-and-board teaching approach by presentation-based teaching, the use of learning management systems, digital learning resources, access to the internet, etc., have changed both the role of teachers and the…

The 250th anniversary of American independence should have been a moment of clarity, a reaffirmation of the principles that gave birth to a republic. Instead, it has revealed a profound contradiction at the heart of contemporary political life. At a time marked by war, economic strain, and institutional breakdown, Donald Trump chose to celebrate not…

‘Summer-time and the livin’ ain’t easy,/Summer-time and the mangoes are high.’ That’s my version of the Ella-Louis classic. April-May is hell in Mumbai if you don’t belong to majoritarian Aam-mangta party . A one-upmanship prevails: who savoured the season’s first Devgadh Alphonso, at the most staggering prices? In my nightmares, I’m drowning in an ocean…

Charles arrived in America, on a mission to repair his island nation’s relationship with King D, somewhat inauspiciously. A man with a gun had gotten close enough to Donald, to raise fears of a JFK fate. But Old Bean has carried with him nicely crafted speeches, punctuated by some Dickens and some Oscar Wilde. So,…

UAE’s decision to quit Opec may have come as a surprise, but it’s a good thing. For, Opec is nothing but a cartel, and cartels take a toll on customers. They’re everything free markets ought not to be – a tacit agreement to not compete. Yet, it is a sad truth that they hide in…

Ruchira Das’s book City, Marginality and Education: Tribal Migrants in Kolkata brings to the centre the social world of the tribal migrants as it is lived, and that attempt is indicative of a minor position in a Deleuzian sense, which doesn’t refer to adopting a position of lesser value, instead alludes to the one that has the…

For years, the debate around the Indian Air Force has been dominated by a single number—42. That is the sanctioned strength of fighter squadrons, against an existing level of roughly 30–31. It is an important gap, but it has also overshadowed a more fundamental question: even if the numbers improve, how far and how effectively…