Jug Suraiya
From blood and sand to flaming heart of Spain
What redeems bullfighting from being an act of senseless cruelty is the courage of the matador who while dealing death coolly faces it himself.
14 Jul 2018
Madrid represents all of Spain—or none of it
Perhaps the best aperitif to the city is a morning stroll through the Plaza Mayor, the vast, cobblestoned square designed by Philip III in the 17th century.
16 Jun 2018
The state has lost its monopoly on violence
In one of the most dangerous developments facing the country today, a fundamental public sector undertaking (PSU) of the nation is being subversively privatised: violence.
19 May 2018
Mauritius: Caught in the crosscurrents of time
A lot of change to be crammed into so small an island, measuring only 1,865 sq km in area and with a population of little over a million.
21 Apr 2018
The obscene ‘Spirituality’ of the terrorist
In Kashmir or in Palestine, in Syria or Sudan, one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.
24 Mar 2018
There is no inappropriate laughter
Renuka Chowdhury has been rebuked by the ruling party for her ‘inappropriate’ laughter in Parliament.
22 Feb 2018
Slang happens when language walks the talk
When John le Carre was asked by a British interviewer why he did not immigrate to France or some other country where taxes were less punitive than in the UK, the novelist replied with an anecdote.
06 Jan 2018
To be or not to be: the question of suicide
In approximately the time it takes you to read this article, someone in this country will have committed suicide.
30 Nov 2017
Whether we know it or not, all of us are Plagiarists
Educationists and academics are up in arms about the increasing incidence of plagiarism in theses and dissertations submitted by post-graduate students doing higher research.
07 Oct 2017
AI, Frankenstein’s monster, and an electronic Milton
Have humans created thinking machines (Artificial Intelligence, or AI) that are smarter than us and could end up enslaving us?
09 Sep 2017
The fatal mistake Romeo made, and the cosmic lifetide
That death is a shadow of a shadow called life has long been the central tenet of many spiritual credos.
13 Aug 2017
Midas, Cloning and the quest for eternal life
Midas, king of Phrygia, was granted a boon by Bacchus: Whatever the king touched, would turn to gold.
15 Jul 2017
Prohibition and cutting people down a peg or two
Prohibition is like the Nehru jacket: an ideological costume that keeps returning despite periodic setbacks.
15 Jun 2017
A voiceless requiem for the growing graveyard of language
This is the way the world ends, not with a bang, but a whisper. And it’s a dying whisper.
18 May 2017
Humour, and the funny business of mathematics
The mathematics of humour, or the humour of mathematics? You’re kidding, right? They’re as different as chalk and cheese. Or are they?
22 Apr 2017
Poets and prophets aren’t subject to copyright laws
In the film Il Postino, the village postman gives the girl he loves a poem he passes off as his own, though it has been written by Pablo Neruda.
25 Mar 2017
Real illusion: Incredible rightness of non-being
His haunting absence pervades the crowded, noisy café and renders it meaningless except as the place where Pierre is not.
25 Feb 2017
‘Crowd’ versus ‘mob’; village bazaar versus communal riot
A crowd is the antithesis of a mob. Which of the two is more appropriate for India?
28 Jan 2017
My grandmother and her famous encounter with dreaded Bandit chief
After dinner my grandmother would tell us stories.
24 Dec 2016
