Understanding the virus

When COVID-19 goes to villages

In Maharasthra's Beed district dedicated frontline staff and an ill-equipped health system are the only defence as migrants return home.

Clouds over the new dawn

The May 2018 election was a landmark for Malaysian democracy. But events over the last few weeks show that there is still a long way to go.

A study in transitions

The appointment of JP Nadda to replace Amith Shah as working president of BJP calls to mind the term of another party chief in a time of change.

The vanishing delta

Hard life in the Sunderbans

A bunch of thoughts

Unity and diversity are very much in the air, as if the ruling party is trying to open up old wounds by pushing a sectarian agenda on everyone.

How to challenge Hindutva

The rising wave of ethno-nationalism is viewed with alarm by liberals but there is an answer to their concerns in re-interpreting texts like the Mahabharata.

Viral transgressions

Caste in campus

How Dalits are denied an equal education

Citizen kaun?

The latest amendment to the citizenship law adds a fresh chapter of discord to an issue on which even the founding fathers found little common ground.

The witches of Dahod

Women always get the worst deal, but in Adivasi society their life is in mortal peril if they are branded as witches.

A singer travels to herself

Aruna Sairam, one of the greatest of Carnatic singers, speaks about how music has been her vehicle of self-realisation.

The freshwater capture

Ornamental fish and poor choice of exotic aquaculture is endangering the native species of Indian waters.

Democracy's reckoning

The liberal order is on the retreat, its place taken by right-wing populism which not only provides a clear plan but demands less cognitive investment from its subjects.

Prisoners of the state

In jail with their mothers, children grow up in a hard school.

Siva's small red hill

Filled with seekers of all kinds, Tiruvannamalai’s spiritual life is a blend of metaphysical concerns and the puzzles of street life.

TikTok TikTok

The promise of fame and the march of a Chinese giant.