Blogs

Few nations have bet as boldly on engineering and manufacturing as Korea and won as decisively. The Miracle on the Han River compressed decades of development into a single generation, built not on natural resources but on discipline, investment in human capital, and an absolute refusal to accept geographic constraints. India, arriving at its own…

Strait of Hormuz is 21 nautical miles – about 39km – wide at its narrowest point. Through it flows 20% of world’s oil, quarter of its gas, and fertilisers that feed billions. It’s the most consequential stretch of water on Earth, and it’s currently being held hostage by Iran. The implications extend far beyond the…

On raising free-range kids, with GPS’s help My daughter turned thirteen this year. Which means she is now old enough to go out on her own. Whether it’s school supervised excursions (the bus drops her back at school at 7pm), or hanging out with friends at the mall. I am the parent-Uber, pulling up to…

At a time when agriculture must simultaneously deliver higher productivity, climate resilience, and improved farmer incomes, seeds remain the single most powerful lever of transformation. With agriculture contributing nearly 18% to GDP and supporting over 45% of the workforce, the efficiency and responsiveness of the seed ecosystem directly shape outcomes across the farm economy. India’s…

“When an irrational animal like camel dances at the tune of bell, why don’t you, being the best of creation, attain absorption and ecstasy in the love of God, or go into rapture by listening the name of the Beloved,” exclaimed Hazrat Bu Ali Shah Qalandar (1209–1324), the distinguished 13th-century Sufi mystic revered across the…

I don’t write about politics. Not the daily noise of it. Not the scorekeeping. Not the endless churn of statements and counter-statements. I write when something shifts… Like when politics stops performing for a second and something real shows up. When geopolitics isn’t a map anymore, but a room where you can read people in…

The world is ageing and heating—a defining challenge of this century. Today, 703 million people globally are 65 or older, projected to reach 1.5 billion by 2050. By the late 2070s, the elderly will likely outnumber children under 18 worldwide. Simultaneously, the climate crisis deepens: 2024 is confirmed as the warmest year on record, about…

For the past few days, Noida, UP, has been rocked by industrial workers’ protests large enough to disrupt industrial functioning and civic life. The UP govt has already agreed to one of the main demands of the protesting and striking workers — an increase in the minimum wage rates. Like all stories, this too will…

Among the four states and one Union Territory that have voted or are voting this month, Tamil Nadu is probably the most difficult to assess. The competition in other states is between familiar players, but the entry of actor Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) adds a big unknown to the equation. OUTSIDER APPEAL: Vijay’s non-ideological…

Sometimes, an innocent self-recommendation becomes a recommendation or marketing. I had passed Matriculation in 1966 from a remote village government school in Charkhi Dadri district of Haryana. At that time, there was an acute shortage of science teachers in that area. Our headmaster temporarily employed an FSc (12th Pass) as a science teacher on the…