Having a grand time – The Hindu
Be it grandkids or grandpuppies, there’s plenty of love to go around! | Photo Credit: Getty Images Whenever I attend a wedding, or meet up with relatives or friends, the talk invariably veers around to kids and grandkids. There is a silence when I say I am yet to become a grandmother. Then there are … Read more
Sugar and spice and everything nice
Research shows that sugar is as addictive as drugs. It activates the reward centre of our brain by giving us the same pleasure. | Photo Credit: Getty Images Ever since I can remember, my biggest vice has been sugar. I am fond of sweets of all shapes and kinds. Maybe it started when my mother … Read more
The monkey and Shakespeare, and why the twain won’t meet
Research has worked out that the time it would take for a monkey to write Shakespeare would be longer than the lifespan of our universe | Photo Credit: AFP There is a rite of passage in life that has been generally ignored. I was told when I was a child that beating your father at … Read more
Dealing with China’s weaponisation of e-supply chains
‘Given the scale and the development trajectory of India’s manufacturing sector bearing potential similarities to that of the Chinese experience, Beijing realises the need to limit the rise of its geopolitical rival’ | Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto In mid-January this year, news emerged of China preventing travel by its citizens working as engineers and technicians … Read more
Catching a break: On the inflation dip and households
A healthy winter harvest of vegetables reined in food inflation to a five-month low of 6% in January, driving down India’s consumer price inflation to 4.3%, tantalisingly close to the 4% median target pursued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). For urban consumers, in fact, inflation eased to 3.9%, while rural consumers faced a … Read more
The Teesta dam and the long shadow of climate change
The Teesta. File | Photo Credit: The Hindu On January 27, 2025, an expert committee constituted by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change recommended a proposal to rebuild the Teesta-3 dam on the Teesta river in Sikkim. In October 2023, a powerful glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) from the South Lhonak lake had … Read more
Peace imperatives: On President’s Rule in Manipur
In Manipur, with the Bharatiya Janata Partyunable to identify a successor to N. Biren Singh for the post of Chief Minister and the Assembly also not having been convened even six months since its last sitting, President’s Rule was imposed in the State with the Assembly under suspended animation. Since mid-2023, in any case, a … Read more
Letters to The Editor — February 15, 2025
President’s Rule With some much-needed steps in conflict-ravaged Manipur having been initiated, the Government of India must leave no stone unturned in expediting the economic advancement of the region. Making sincere efforts to get to the root of the conflict, paying heed to the legitimate concerns of the locals and taking steps to integrate them … Read more
Devdutt Pattanaik column | Tales of marriage and murder
Stories of the folk goddesses of India are often lost in myriad oral versions. Which ones do we consider authentic? A common thread is some form of sexual violation followed by brute violence. We can say these are tales of (almost) marriage and (almost) murder. Are these to be taken literally or metaphorically? In Jammu, … Read more