Bollywood In Grip Of ‘Historia’
Spurred by the failure of formula films, the Hindi film industry catches a new-found obsession
The Subcontinental Menu
How much can rape convict Gurmeet Ram Rahim singh's followers pay for 'blessed' items? Aroma in the name of RSS leader Indresh Kumar? Cath all the juicy tidbits...
It Takes A Quake To Tango
The old Liberal Order is under great stress from global economic convulsions. Desai runs through the past century to provide its socio-political context.
When The Devil Wore Feldgrau
English fiction makes a rare rendezvous with the eastern front in WWII. This journey through a corner of occupied Ukraine is a harrowing one.
At The Mainland’s Stolid Defence
Cruelly barred from joining cricket’s mainstream for long, Northeastern states have decided on a final fling of the ball
No Space For A Cigarette Trick
Short accounts of the four cinemas of the South discuss threadbare the caste and political realities underpinning them. Only, a colossus is missed.
Homicidal Railwaymen
Ashwani Lohani, the new railway chairman, is a turnaround specialist with a proven track record. Here is an opportunity for him to turn his own home department around.
In Andheri, A Centrifuge of Dissent
Shanbag has perfected the use of music and drama in his productions over time. The show is also accompanied by interesting graphics.
Can’t Smoke Out Scary Strains
The rains again expose factors plaguing India’s healthcare in rural and urban spaces
Uttarakhand Diary
Dominic Asquith, British High Commissioner to India, shares his 'Valley of Flowers' experience...
Grab It By The Grassroots
Now No. 2 in Bengal, the BJP’s plan to reach the top hinges on its ground workers and the Muslim vote
Laying BRICS On China Road
Modi’s decision to attend the BRICS Summit helped defuse Doklam. It can be used as a platform for peace.
Gatekeepers’ Wild Fantasy
A proposed US anti-immigrant bill puts in impossibly high barriers. Indians might be hit, but it isn’t law yet.
Walk Gently Along The Line
The magic of diplomacy lies in the trick of mutual concession. Doklam was riven with mistakes on both sides, but its resolution was managed admirably.
Convicted By People’s Court
Kashmiris refuse to forgive a ‘peer’ accused of rape. Even the high court upholding his acquittal failed to get him out of jail.
Middlemen In God’s Market
People largely err in finding their spiritual master. The guru shouldn’t be a rockstar with fans willing to obey anything. The case isn’t different outside India too.
Thirst Beneath The Red Lips
Her dressed-up ways are signs of not just luxury. From running a sex racket to embezzling money to threatening witnesses, the allegations against Radhe Maa are many.
A Scary Cort Of Bliss
The Ananda Margis’ ‘path of love’ was strewn with a frightening trail of blood and crime
Bleeding Plots Narrate It All
Girl leaves her ‘rapist’ swami bobbitised, a devotee in another math found murdered
The Unascetic Swami Of Pelf
Chandraswami-- the 'Godman' after whom the word assumed disreputable connotations.
Tantric Rites In The Bed
A boy from a pilgrim town went on to become a master in making his followers sex objects
Goddamn!
He is the man with all the answers, who has the masses and the ‘classes’ eating out of his hands. He pushes the envelope of profit and power that piety and fealty draw like nothing else. But this heady combo of cult and clout also makes the godman’s fall as a common criminal just as spectacular.