Tailorbirds stitch together a nest from hibiscus leaves, bits of cotton, and soft scraps. | Photo Credit: Getty Images I made a silent dash to the window as I heard the loud chirping — or rather, chattering — of birds. At last, they were here! A tailorbird and her mate had perched beside their nest on … Read more
Low engagement, high relevance, and zero drama on social media help get peace of mind. | Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto Having spent my formative years as a boarder and then a lifetime in uniform, I found myself brimming with social energy upon superannuation. Naturally, I was drawn into the sprawling, chaotic world of what is … Read more
As viewers and citizens, all should strongly protest the normalisation of familial abuse, and call for a boycott of such content. | Photo Credit: Sreejith R. Kumar It’s 2025, and yet prime-time Indian television continues to glorify cruelty against women under the garb of “traditional values”. There is a deeply disturbing serial currently airing on … Read more
Organic food is often derided as being expensive, which it can be, and elitist, which it isn’t, the focus in such categorisation being on the consumer. Yet, there is little understanding of the systemic and human consequences of conventional agriculture, as chemical-centric farming is termed. For instance, there is little acknowledgement of what a farming … Read more
(This is the latest edition of the Political Line newsletter curated by Varghese K. George. The Political Line newsletter is India’s political landscape explained every week. You can subscribe here to get the newsletter in your inbox every Friday.) As distance grows from their freedom movements, both India and Bangladesh are reshaping what it means to be anti-colonial … Read more
In the reports, “CMFRI to study eco impact of sunken Liberia-flagged vessel” (Online edition, June 4, 2025) and “Expedition to study ecological impact of Kochi shipwreck” (early print editions, June 5, 2025), the references to the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) in the heading and the text were incorrect. They should have been the … Read more
The theme of World Water Day 2025, a day observed every year on March 22, was ‘Glacier Preservation’ . The year 2025 has also been declared the International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation by the United Nations (March 21 is World Day for Glaciers, observed for the first time this year), which also marks the beginning … Read more
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee’s decisions, on Friday, show that the central bank is now unequivocally choosing growth in the perennial growth-inflation trade-off. This is the correct approach at this time. The first major decision was to cut the repo rate by 50 basis points to 5.5%. It comes on the … Read more
Celebration to tragedy I would like to share my grief with the family members of the persons who died and also the injured during the celebrations of RCB’s win in the Indian Premier League 2025. It is distressing to write such a letter. The roadshow was unwarranted. Basic crowd control measures were lacking. There was … Read more
President Donald Trump’s decision to ban citizens from 12 countries from entering the United States, citing national security concerns, is yet another attempt by his five-month-old administration to tear down legal migration. Mr. Trump’s decision in 2017, during his first term, to ban citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries had triggered chaos and protests at America’s … Read more