India, April 7 -- First of all, let me congratulate you for successfully piloting the Waqf Bill, now rechristened UMEED, which in both Hindi and Urdu means "Hope." I am sure President Droupadi Murmu w... Read More
India, March 31 -- I used to write a fortnightly column for The Indian Express, where I was in charge of the editorial page. One of my regular readers was my relative and theologian, the late Dr John ... Read More
New Delhi, March 24 -- I was a student of St Thomas College, Kozhencherry, in the early seventies when the private colleges in Kerala went on a strike. The organisation under whose auspices the strike... Read More
NEW DELHI, March 17 -- On the ninth day of the Russia-Ukraine war, I wrote a column in this magazine criticising the Government of India's neutrality, which only benefited the aggressor. I argued that... Read More
NEW DELHI, March 10 -- First, a disclaimer. Emperor Aurangzeb was not my great-great uncle. Nor is Maharashtra Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Asim Azmi my nephew. I have no reason to defend either. But what ... Read More
NEW DELHI, Feb. 17 -- There is a demand to rename Akbar Road in New Delhi. I used to take this road daily while commuting to and from the office. Given the alacrity with which the BJP-led Central and ... Read More
NEW DELHI, Feb. 10 -- We were seated in the last but two rows on an Air India flight from Paris to Delhi in the year 2000. After almost everyone had taken their seats and stored their luggage, two Fre... Read More
NEW DELHI, Feb. 3 -- When I read about Pope Francis' autobiography "Hope," co-authored with Carlo Musso in Italian and translated into English by Richard Dixon, I decided to get a copy. Amazon said it... Read More
NEW DELHI, Jan. 27 -- During the last 30-plus years that I have been writing this weekly column, I have chosen to write on foreign issues only very rarely. I decided to make an exception this week as ... Read More