Blogs

While missiles arc across the skies of the Middle East and oil tankers idle at chokepoints, a quieter catastrophe is unfolding—one measured not in headlines, but in the wasting bodies of children. While the UN is ineffective in today’s wars, it does raise some conscience, collective consciousness. At least, it provides data—the world of hunger,…

To help save the planet, more people are switching from wipe to wash TP or not TP; that is the question. Had Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, been around today, that’s the way he might have phrased his famous existential dilemma.  TP is the abbreviation for toilet paper that people in so-called advanced countries use to…

Jewar, UP, is the latest in a long list of Indian village settlements suffering birth pangs of town-making India’s newest airport in Jewar, UP, has made millionaires – dollar variety – of many farmers near Delhi. A few have got more than ₹20cr for their acquired land, which is $2.1mn at the current rate. And…

Why age cannot wither the names Mir Jafar, Quisling, Judas. They haunt us across time As Kerala, West Bengal, and Tamil Nadu go to polls, SIR has shrunk all their voter rolls. By 3.2%, 10%, and 11.5%, respectively, so far. Behind these cold numbers, lie countless human stories. TOI has reported, for example, that at…

The world’s largest census begins today. It will count us, but also map us with a sharper spatial lens than before. Past censuses were not blind to geography. They used location codes and published many statistics at the village, town, or ward level, which have supported planning for decades. Yet, a persistent limitation remained. We…

The Iran war is, by far, the most important military confrontation of the 21st century , and possibly the most important event of this century. What is at stake is no less than the global order. Specifically, the ability of US to maintain the order established in recent generations, that enabled a large part of…

By Jwalant Swaroop Spirituality has been made unnecessarily serious. Priests, monks, and moralists have turned it into a grave business, as if truth can only be reached with a long face. But existence is not serious. Existence is playful. Look at trees, rivers, and birds. Nothing is tense. Nothing is trying to be holy. Yet…

When the government takes land to build big projects, should it stop caring about farmers after paying them a lot of money? A new airport is being built in Jewar, near Delhi. Because of this, many farmers got huge amounts of money for their land—some even got more than ₹20 crore! That has made them…

Some names never get forgotten — like Mir Jafar, Judas Iscariot, and Vidkun Quisling. Even today, their names are used to describe someone who betrays others. That’s because what they did hurt people deeply — they broke trust. Recently, in states like Kerala, West Bengal, and Tamil Nadu, some people found their names missing from…

For the global economy, the Strait of Hormuz is less a waterway and more a jugular vein. As the conflict in West Asia intensifies, most nations are monitoring developments with bated breath, fearing a total blockade. Yet, in the wood-paneled corridors of New Delhi’s North Block, the mood is one of wary relief rather than…