No doubt, we deserve the self-congratulation. But how about some reflection too? Can 'inclusive India' be less an abuse, more a priority?

An eminent jury picks out Sixty Great Indians in 60 years of our Republic

At the stroke of the midnight hour, as the world slept, a thousand flashbulbs popped to capture that moment which was to become the most defining one in the history of independent India...

The prosperity of the nation comes with economic growth and improved quality of life. But, above all, it manifests in the elevation of the minds of its people.

Alive with halftones of Empire, India took a slow hold of the British imagination. Raj nostalgia then played out as a curious re-initiation.

India is still hyper-sensitive about its sovereignty. This has to be tempered with realpolitik if it wants a greater role in world affairs.

India can go ape—or it can learn to talk to itself and the world

August 1947, and a 20-year-old with a camera. A never-before-seen album.

A nation of great entitlement in history is at the crossroads. The ideals it was built on have weakened, contradictions are rampant.

We still struggle with freedom—we have to defeat the sins within

Just 100 kilometres off the nation's capital, infants die of hunger; in Purulia in West Bengal women are sold as sex slaves; in Juhapura in Ahmedabad Muslim riot victims slum it out; in Jammu, Kashmiri Pandits search for dignity...

Those born in the Year look back on 60 years of their, and the nation's, lives

Far from spawning mere skilled professionals, education must give us wise, sensitive citizens. Only then will democracy become valid.

Indo-US relations have traversed tough terrain and endured

Desani stirred the first Indian literary storm abroad, later Rushdie smashed a few literary barriers. After Vikram Seth and Amitav Ghosh, the deluge.

Aah... the race of this century. China's breathless, maniacal, cocky pursuit of greatness. Versus our mix of sloth, doubt and free oxygen.

India-bashing is out. A post-Partition generation, more comfortable with issues of identity, wants a more profound look at things Indian.

Proximity is not reason enough for the big brother to consider Bangla bhai a member of his family. The Partition has widened since 1971.

Brahmins take to—and transform—business as knowledge acquires value

We've made up for what we lost in the 30-plus years of Nehruvian socialism. Economics on track, the next challenge might be political.

Architecture in India is a play of forms, and a disturbing one at that

The great political scams of the last 60 years reflect their times, but also fit a timeless definition of corruption: abuse of public power for private gain. A trip down murky memory lane.

The Indian drawing room has been caught between heirlooms and handlooms, cut glass and plate glass, Faberge and Fabindia...

From the Royal '50s, Casual '60s, Hippie '70s, Gypsy '80s, Designer '90s to the Toned 2000s, it has been a long catwalk home for Indian fashion.

More misses than hits. Worse, we live too comfortably with our failures.

From puri-aloo to McAloo Tikki burger, from Raj to rajma, fusion to confusion, we have run the gustatory gamut.

The life of this nation has been studded with grand romances. These are love stories that have caught our fancy and satisfied the voyeur in us. Some have even, in an understated way, set an example by bridging social divides. Sixty years of Indian in